Path To Radiance; First Ascent

"Ten on one isn't fair. Besides, if the NPC's here put a Player up for the night, they must be worth protecting, right?" I shrug off his thanks. "Never know when a crash pad may be beneficial." I am breathing deeply. The adrenaline still coursing through me.

We both sit in the grass until we catch our breath and can dispel our blood lust. He stands up first and reaches a hand out to help me up.

"I was very lucky you decided to step in. I'm Brick." As he says it, his name appears above his icon. His health bar shows up too. He had lost some HP but not too much. I guess as I learn more information about other Players, the more I can see around their Icons. I hope it doesn't get annoying after a while.

Grabbing his hand, I let him help me up. "I go by Jut," I said. I continue with "to be completely honest, if you hadn't been here, I most likely would have retreated to my tent instead of fighting." I brush myself off, my face burning.

Brick let out a chuckle. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't normally take on ten Goblins either. All of who were a whole two levels higher than me, I might add. I didn't have a choice though as I was sleeping on the couch. I kind of thought there would be only one intruder until I was out here." He glances around at the carnage, taking it in.

With that, lantern light flickers on in the front room of the house and floods out onto the porch. The light has to be magical because a single lantern shouldn't have been that bright. My suspicion is confirmed quickly.

An old and lanky man in an ankle-length grey nightshirt hurries out the door carrying the lantern. He hangs the basketball-sized light on a peg I missed in the dark. It sticks out just above and to the left of the door. It works like an electric porch light back home, only brighter. The entire yard is illuminated. The scene around us looks much worse in the light. I cringe internally, almost feeling sick with the gore.

"Mister Brick, are you all right?" The old man asks as he approaches us. He's at least six foot five and very skinny. He has a ring of grey curly hair around the sides and back of his head and the top of his head shines in the porch light. His large glasses are round and golden.

A short and pudgy woman comes out the door as the old man reaches us. She is very frantic.

"Oh, I hope you're unharmed, Mister Brick!" Her voice is thick with her concern. She has curly hair too, but it's nowhere near as curly as the old man's. She has it pulled back behind her head and it's more of a salt and pepper color rather than grey. Her glasses are more elegant, too, and are framed in silver. She's shorter than I first thought, only coming up to my chest.

The older lady touches the old man's back as she passes him and steps up to Brick, looking him over thoroughly for damage. She then steps back next to the old man once she's satisfied Brick is unharmed. "You saved our farm. Thank you, Mister Brick." She bows to him.

Brick turns and bows at the waist himself. "Thank you for your concern, Betty. Without the help of my new friend, Jut, things would have gotten messy." He says as he gestures towards me.

They both turn to me and look me up and down. Betty steps forward and bows toward me now. "Thank you, mister Jut, for aiding mister Brick in protecting our farm." She holds her bow as George joins her in it.

"Yes, thank you mister Jut and mister Brick." George straightens and looks at Brick. "Do you wish to share your reward with mister Jut, mister Brick?"

Brick doesn't hesitate. "Yeah, man."

One of the settings I had adjusted on the long walk was what prompts were minimized automatically and what ones would open no matter the circumstances. Everything from the fight was automatically minimized until I desired to review it. Quest Notifications and Updates, however, were set to interrupt anything else. I didn't want to miss my first one. A golden window opens in front of me. Brick has a window open in front of him too, but I can only see the back of his. It's solid black.