Path To Radiance; First Ascent

Chapter 4 - Brick: Part 1

I never knew a human can walk nearly fifty miles in a day until after doing so. My feet were complaining the whole time, too. The thought of how feeling discomfort could even be possible crosses my mind again and again.

I also notice that my stamina bar takes longer to refill if I am worn out or tired. I pushed myself hard for the rest of that day after I saw the tower. I did the same from dawn until dusk the next day too. I had been right when I guessed I'd be heading west very soon. I'll have to pay myself a copper.

I only stop for some water and to eat a brief lunch. I am still kind of full from the dinner I had the night before. It takes me about thirteen or fourteen hours to even feel a little hungry after one of those slices. The Well-Cooked Boar meat is still as fresh and sweet every time I pull it out. It's even still warm, which blows my mind. How something like this is even possible, I do not know. The bag isn't even bloody or stained either from what I can tell. Despite its sweetness, the meat does strike up a few guilty pangs within me. I doubt the feeling will stop until my supply runs out.

While walking, I play with my watch map thing. Come to find out, it's called an "Adventurer's Companion and Encyclopedia". This was too long of a title for me so I started mentally calling it my ACE. The title is only visible from the map's options window which I can only access when the map itself is open.

I can easily make more information visible on not only the map but the watch's face too. After I finish tinkering with this function for a while, I can cycle through time, date and distance traveled in a day. All it takes is a press of the display.

The ACE could also be put into "elegant" mode which makes the physical part of the device more slender and graceful. I leave my ACE in its original, bulkier shape. It feels more secure that way. I also change the way to open the map. I now have to hold the display down for three seconds. I don't want to accidentally press the button while trying to do something else.

On the map, I can see everywhere I have been in vibrant colors. If I zoom in, it's like a satellite's three-dimensional image. My starting clearing looks identical to my last memory of the place. I can't see movement though, so I wonder if the image is the exact rendering from when I was there last or a current view. Anywhere I have not been blacked out.

I can select a point on the map then immediately press another part of the map with my finger and have that distance displayed for a short time. This only works on the colored portions.

I spent a third boring day walking. I've been in this game for almost a week and I'm still level zero.

I'm not going nearly as fast as the days before due to my fatigue. I had pushed myself farther and harder than I had ever pushed myself in the real world, and it shows. This makes me think that my stamina bar is equivalent to the stamina I had in real life before starting this game. I'm a little disappointed in myself.

On one of my numerous breaks, I look around me to absorb my surroundings. I had come down out of a mountain forest onto a plain. The plain stretches out farther than I can see in all directions. The wind plays with the grasses gently. All of the wild plants I can see are taller than me and obstruct my view significantly.

The mountain behind me keeps increasing in altitude as it reaches farther and farther South. I am glad I had descended when I did, not that I had a choice. If the path hadn't veered to the west, I'd have been climbing ever higher. I doubt there are people up there either. The peaks of the mountains are bald and ice-covered from what I can make out.

I set my camp up just off the road after staring at the Tower for the hundredth time that day. I am careful to leave a thick row of the high grasses between my camp and the road. I doubt anyone could see me from a distance. It makes me feel safe.