The World Which Is

Chapter 10

Well, that's unexpected.

The armor fits me with barely any adjustments from the multiple buckles, but it's the belt pouch that really catches my attention.

Traveler's pouch, Quality: Excellent, Type: inventory

The traveler's pouch is a pouch designed for those who travel while wanting to keep encumbrance to a minimum.

Slots: 16

Perception check successful

The pouch has been enchanted to double the number of slots

Not that it changes anything, but it's nice to know I can succeed a check once in a while.

I'll get back to that in a bit. Aaron wrote that his sword's magical. I pull it from its scabbard at my hip.

Searcher's Bite, Quality: Good, Type: Weapon, Enchanted

Searcher's bite is a one handed-sword with little to mark it as more than a normal sword

Perception Check Failed

I swing it once, then hold it before me. The weight's good. The leather for the hilt is comfortable. Aaron wrote it does more damage, and gets through some of the armor, so that's good. [we need to work out how bladed weapons affect damage soak. Right now, Denis does 11 points of damage, and soaks up 21, which, on paper, means that a knife would have to add a lot of damage to hurt him, which feels unrealistic even with the System, should blades device soak by some number?]

I sheath it. Grandmother will be able to tell me more about it... if I can show it to her. Dad's not going to be happy about this.

I access the traveler's pouch and my inventory opens at the same time. It's sixteen slots, with my four next to it. Immediately, the firewood, tanned hides, fatwood and pitons catch my attention since there's thirteen of each, which is the maximum a slot can use in an external inventory unless magic's used to increase that. Each slot in my personal inventory can hold a hundred and sixty-eight, but I only have four of them. It's one of the reason I want to invest points in my strength. The pouch is good, but it still limits how much I can carry.

There's five coils of twenty meters of ropes, eleven grappling hooks, eight snares, a firestarter and a bedroll. There's also four slots with food and two with animal hides, or at least, they were. They're now identified as rotted, which means I want nothing to do with them.

I step away and drop that and the hides out of the inventory and I'm surprised at how little they stink. How long does it take for food to go beyond rotted? That frees five spots, giving me seven to work with.

I step to the skeleton, which is still in one piece, even if all that's left are the bones. I crouch next to it.

"Sorry about that, Aaron." I place a gloved hand on its sternum and think; access.

He only has sixteen inventory slots. I expected more. Aren't all adventurers strong? Well, much stronger than I am? All he'd need is a strength of twenty-six for that, without taking into account strength training.

But our class doesn't give us a strength bonus. What level would his skill need to be to have sixteen inventory slots? Thirty, forty? Okay. Maybe it makes sense. He was born after the system, so he can't be much older than thirty.

He has over a hundred firewood in a slot. "Not a fan of the cold, I take it?" I transfer what's in the pouch to that. We have indoor heating, courtesy of Base, at home. The twenty-eight empty vials I leave there for the moment. Glass is something that's always useful, but I want to go through the rest first.