A soft wind blew past Reece's small frame with that cooled moist air but he was kept warm by an old cloak. It's another thing he found within the bag at the bottom and hidden from him because of all the clutter. This meager heat stops that creeping cold claiming him in the wilderness.
'This world is so weird, It's always green but has phases of cold like this? Why couldn't it just be permanently summer...' Reece pulled the cloak shut against the breeze passing over him.
[It's likely important to regulate the ecosystems in this world! Isn't that interesting?]
'I understand that but freezing everything off except your tail makes it hard to find it interesting.' Reece's face wrinkles pushing forward down the cold road.
[That's fair I guess? We're probably lucky you're able to use the castle then!]
'It's much easier than starting a campfire but I should've waited a bit more for this cold phase to end.' Reece starts to realize that he might've moved on too soon for his goals and a sour expression takes over him upon this thought.
Daylight turned to dusk throughout his walk making the little heat within this forest fall even more. Reece held his cloak tightly together fighting against freezing so soon, every step was valuable in his journey. His pointed kobold ears lifted slightly as a voice was faintly heard from further down this road.
'This might be a mistake since I just gained this power but this might be good practice.' Reece closed his eyes while reaching out his abilities.
[It should be easy for you
Like a supernatural limb that covers your body
Focus on what you want erased and it fades from the world.]
The system's text resounds in Reece's mind, everything about that felt right while focusing on what she suggested. 'No Sound' was his command to what felt like a cold fluid coating over his skin and with it comes from silence. He opened his eyes in amazement before feeling his chest at the fact that even his heartbeat couldn't be heard by himself.
'I didn't even notice I was hearing it until my ability silenced the sound, my whole body feels odd like this.' Reece stared at his hands while pondering this new state of existence.
It would be barely visible to another person but he could notice a thin barrier of shade from the dusk light around him formed around his whole body. He'd step off the road without a single crunch of decayed tree litter even if directly placing his foot on some. This wasn't some illusion as he'd assume but a membrane that erases aspects of his presence completely.
He makes his way towards those faint voices while hiding between the shadows of the ancient trees forming this forest. Reece finally sees the pair speaking being a pair of middle aged gnomes, given the massive wagon parked beside their camp seems to be merchants. They talk over an aged campfire pit, one that a traveler probably set up decades in the past for people like them.
"... And that's why I wanted to visit that village, can't believe only one of her kids made it." One of the merchants says, his body shape being lanky and thin compared to the other one.
"Aye, that's a real shame to hear, mate, didn't know you had cousins out this far." The shorter and robust one said pulling a waterskin and drinking it. "Bah, If only the alcohol we had wasn't apart of our stock!"
"You say that every time sipping from that old thing but... I feel bad for leaving her there in that state even if we couldn't take her along." The lanky gnome spoke with a deep somberness in his voice.
"Quiet your bleeding heart, you'd need to speak with your family back at the gnome capital and get aid that'll help the whole village." The robust gnome pointed a finger at his business partner with the hand carrying the waterskin.
"I know... However, I'm worried they'd send her to the Solar Idol's Church like what my grandfather went through saying it's tradition..." He poked the campfire with an aged fire poker as his voice grew softer.
Reece could hear these two engage in another topic after that shorter one suddenly went on a rant about the Solar Idol's alcohol cultures. He listens quietly behind a tree until night fully sets in with a small idea brewing inside his mind. It wasn't long until a single celebration at the end of their long conversation that night caused his heart to go cold.
"... For the Spellmeyer Trading Company!" Those merchant gnomes said in unison as they cheered from something they agreed about.
His head whips towards them with him biting his tongue. Every inch of his heart wanted to speak up and ask but an anxiety crept in remembering who could be that her from before. He knew only one person who fits that description and it meant that Volker's fate was clear to him.
A silent exhale escapes him, to the world this breath physically happened but no person would know. 'I cannot afford to get hung up on what ifs'
This thought became a tool for his mind to block out a vile thought he couldn't bear to have. He gulped down it into a pit since now isn't the time. Reece looks at the now quiet camp of those two merchants who seem to have started sleeping in their own tents. Now is the time for his plan!
[Reece! Are you planning something illegal!?]
'What? No, I'm stealing a ride on their wagon.' Reece raised an eyebrow while sneaky around some trees into their camp.
[Oooh, That's clever! How do you plan on doing it without being caught?]
'Well, I can just attach one of my castle doors to the wagon's underside without issue.' Reece scratches the side of his reddish hair.
He moved without anyone around him even hearing a crunch of old leaves or branches while sneaking up behind their wagon. If his doors could be placed on surfaces then it should stay on once that surface starts moving but testing was never really an option until now. One thing about this however meant crawling under something pulled by horses.
'Just hoping I'm lucky when exiting the castle when they finally get there...' He shudders at his own idea.
It was a simple process moving under the merchant wagon to place a trapdoor into his castle on this thing's underside. Thankfully in his mind this area was clearer than expected before pushing open his castle's entrance and pulling his small frame into a nicely warm room. If he wasn't planning on doing a few things while here then his body would've collapsed instantly on the floor.
"System, pull up my current stat window, I should plan out my stat load out knowing the kinds of threats I have to deal with." Reece announced while stretching, finally being free of the outside cold.
[One stat window coming right up!]
[Stats -
Might: 1.4 (1)
Agility: 1.6 (1)
Endurance: 1.4 (1)
Spirit: 2 (1)
Sense: 2 (1)
Coins: 41]
"Eh? When did my sense stat increase?" Reece raised an eyebrow but then it just clicks in his head. "Oh wait, I did strain myself watching that fight."
He smacks the side of his hair with an opened palm upon that clicking because events have blurred as exhaustion begins weighing on him. It'd turn his face a slight red at embarrassing himself to nobody but his own eternal companion. The hidden giggle from that system could be felt much to his displeasure.
"Not a single word, Just invest 15 coins into sense and agility then put the remaining 10 in might or endurance." Reece says moving through a hallway that compresses with each step.
A realm of red velvet carpets and colorful moves via his whims, this specific area around him has a personal touch as his most visited section. In the room at this hallway's end houses his dream bedroom. A large bed with blankets woven by his soft memories or the large shelves filled with copies of every book he's read in the past. It's messy from just general desires for a living space that's purely his to relax in.
"I feel like this place will keep me asleep for the next week, make sure to wake me up when the door detects movement." Reece mutters out before bodily flopping onto his castle's bed and sinking a bit into the fluff.
[Stats -
Might: 1.4 -> 2.4 (1 -> 2)
Agility: 1.6 -> 4.6(1 -> 4)
Endurance: 1.4 -> 2.4 (1 -> 2)
Spirit: 2 (1)
Sense: 2 -> 5 (1 -> 4)
Coins: 41 -> 1]
[I couldn't really decide between endurance and might, so I just put 5 coins into both.]
"That's fine, being a bit stronger is better than having next to no po-" Reece's words catch in his throat as everything starts to burn. From his bones to every inch of his muscles feels this ripping and burning sensation. His scream deafens even himself before his vision goes....
Dark....