With a sharp intake of breath and jerking of muscles, Julien startles awake. The first thing he sees is a furry shape jumping away from the entrance to the pagoda. He leaps to his feet, fingers clutching the hilt of his sword, and runs to the door.
He is just in time to see a rustling of tall grass as it obscures the flight of whatever is stalking nearby. Idiot! How could you? Falling asleep when you have no idea what might be lurking. I could have never woken up.
Was it a rat? Would they chase him to take revenge? Or did whatever ran off find him by accident? Whatever it was, it had fled from him. Taking some small comfort in that, Julien relaxes slightly. As long as I make sure not to be caught asleep, I should be able to put up a fight.
Shelving his concerns about the spy, he refocuses his attention on what had occupied him before he had fallen asleep. His health and magic bars. One look gives him an unexpected but welcome surprise. Both are completely full! Was it the food? The brief nap? Both?
Julien grins. Why speculate when I can find out right now?
“Synthisa activa!”
The Fool’s suit materializes around him while a familiar figure appears in front of Julien.
“You’re still alive. Good. Maybe you won’t die before you’ve achieved anything useful.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. When was the last time you took on a pack of giant rats?”
“Oh, quite recently. You see, since you fully bonded to the Fool-suit, whatever you do, I do. In a way.”
“Really? Maybe I should leave the fighting to you next time, then.”
The Fool scoffs. “I’m sorry, Jules, but it doesn’t work like that. You have the more physical role, I’m afraid. You do the stabbing, slashing, and such. I am the lamp of knowledge here to enlighten your ignorant mind. At the price of fuel, of course.”
“Speaking of which,” says Julien. “I think it is time for you to do your job. To reduce that growing list of questions I have.”
“As you wish.” The Fool bows. “Where do you want to start?”
“Let’s start with these things.” Julien points to the bars in the corner of his vision. “How do these fill up again?”
“What do you think?”
“I just asked you.”
“And I’m trying to teach you something. Think!”
Julien frowns, his mind going over all the occasions he noticed a change in the meters. The magic energy was depleted when I stepped through the mystery gate. Still, the Fool reappeared in the room with the collapsed ceiling. The only things that had changed were the passing of time and the fight with the Salamanders. The second time, there was an increase while fighting the rats. The same applied. And then there was the food and the nap…
“Can you confirm or deny my guesses?”
The Fool nods.
“Both energies replenish over time with enough rest.”
“Correct.”
“Killing gives me a bit of magical energy.”
“Only in the case of monsters.”
Let’s hope only monsters need killing here. “And eating certain foods can replenish life energy.”
“Maybe. Why don’t you find out?”
“How?”
“Why don’t you take a good look at what you’ve been eating?”
Of course. Julien grabs one of the leftover mango-looking-apple-crisp-melon-taste-fruits and looks at it with intent.
‘Qami fruit. A crisp yet tasty outside layer protects the sweet and rich, slushy interior flesh. Restores life energy.’
So I merely need to look at those others to find out exactly what their effects are. “Brilliant.” But… “That’s all nice and well, but once I deactivate the active mode of the suit, I lose the lens. I don’t want to activate the suit and deal with its high energy demands every time I need to investigate some strange object. Is there not some way to access it in the passive mode?”
“Now that is an excellent question. To answer it, I think it is time for your next lesson. You just leveled up, right?”
“Yes. About that. Those screens popping up. Do you have any idea how dangerous they are?!”
“What do you mean?”
“Imagine fighting for your life against monsters when suddenly a screen filled with letters pops up right in the middle of your field of vision. Your visibility goes to shit, and the next attack takes your head off.”
“You’ve… Well, you’ve got a point there. I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, I want you to look at the centre of your Fool-suit.”
Julien looks at the Fool questioningly.
“The card in front of your chest!” The Fool sighs. “Just when you have me thinking you’ve got some intelligence.”
“What will happen?”
“Do you want more information or not?”
“Yes, but not at the potential cost of my life.”
“Don’t worry. Your vision might be a bit occupied, but your hearing is still fine. Besides, it won’t take long.”
“Alright then.” Julien looks at the card. The rectangle around it lights up. The number now reads 1.70. “Now what?”
“Focus harder!”
Julien does. A screen pops into view almost immediately.
‘You have leveled up recently. Do you wish to inspect your status?’
“Yes?”
A large version of the card takes the place of the screen. In the window, he sees himself mirrored. Above his image hover two familiar bars – one red, one blue. The blue one is no longer full. Underneath, he sees a few tabs. One says Stats, another says Skills, and the final one reads Suit Upgrades. All three blink. Having played more than a few computer games, Julien has a fairly good idea of what to expect from the first two. The last one, however…
“How do I…”
“Focus and intent. That’s the key. Thought you would have picked that up by now.”
A few seconds later, the heading in the area underneath the window reads Fool Suit Upgrades. Underneath are four lines. Card Slots Occupied: 0. Available: 0. Artifact Augmentation Slots: + 1. Lens of Knowledge. Then a line that simply reads + 1.
Alrighty. So simply focus and …
‘Lens of Knowledge. Through the eyes of the Fool, you can see the true nature of the world around you. Active upon activation of the Fool Suit. Access in passive mode by saying “Synthisa Lensiro Activa.” Requires activation and upkeep cost.’
Julien’s head is swimming. So much knowledge had been so close yet kept out of reach. “Couldn’t you have told me that before?”
“If you hadn’t noticed, I don’t work that way. You don’t ask, I don’t tell.”
Grumbling, Julien decides to let it go. “Does that mean that I can use the Lens of Knowledge to not just inspect objects but also my status whenever I want to?”
“Indeed, it does”, the Fool corroborates his suspicion. “Anything else you wanted to ask? My time is not exactly cheap, remember?”
Julien quickly reprioritizes his questions. “Yes, actually. Do you have any idea where I am?”
The Fool does a quick pivot. “Not a clue. Some garden shed?”
“Maybe you could put a bit more effort into your assessment? Maybe look at the type of wood used in the structure?” Julien walks towards the entrance and points at the latticework. “Or the design of the decorations? See that symbol? It looks a lot like the one depicted on that mystery gate you keep reminding me I should not have taken.” He starts pacing inside the pagoda, poised to point out more details, when a small but brilliant display of colors on the floor leaves him speechless.
“Or some random colors on the floor?” The Fool fills the void.
“Yes,” Julien replies slowly.
“Well, I can stay here while you find more things to point out. How much time will that take, do you think?”
“You know what, never mind. Synthisa Passiva!” The Fool disappears, leaving a frustrated Julien behind. I’ll make sure to uncover everything I can before calling upon him again. Besides, now that I have the lens, I have a much cheaper way to get some of the answers I want. I wonder though…
Julien walks up to the colorful display on the sandy, leaf-covered floor of the pagoda. A timid gust of wind whips up a layer of dust, launching countless dust motes to swirl around. The particles are blessed to dance as a colorful procession on a path of light. Struck with wonder, Julien squints and traces the light to a point hidden between the vines crowding the pagoda’s walls.
Hello there.
Then, just as quickly as the light had appeared, it is gone. Looking at the huge mass of vines, Julien sighs.
I suppose I’ll have to clear it away to uncover that mystery.
Julien lays a hand on the tangled mass and groans, considering the task of clearing it all away.
You know what? It can wait. I think sticking around here is a good idea. There’s food and water nearby. And no sign of monstrous creatures. Apart from whatever was stalking around earlier… He shudders. What if it was a rat? What if they picked up my trail and are following me?
Remembering those pointy, whiskered noses in the air makes him pause. Scent. If they can find me by scent…
He looks at the grime and dried-up blood that still clings to his clothes and body.
Okay. That needs to go.