Returning to that odd feeling that was what I could best explain as an inventory, I extended a figurative hand and tried to grab something. Surely enough, I could 'sense' the cold and smooth surface of metal. I tried 'pulling'.
A set of brownish leather clothes materialized at my feet. Something that resembled socks, pants, a vest, and gloves. After that, the loud thunk of heavy metal armor resounded as whitish silver pieces of armor fell on top of the leather.
"Figures I have to dress myself instead of it just auto equipping." I did my hair in a single braid, then crouched and started the process of wearing clothes.
I noticed pretty quickly that leather chafed my more sensitive parts, so I looked for the 2017 summer event underwear/swimsuit I got in a gacha box to protect them. To my surprise and relief, my new partner down there seemed to shrink to nothing when I wore the thong that was the lower piece of clothing. As for the increase in bust size, the bra was a perfect fit, so all was good under heaven. The leather pieces fit like a glove and were as comfortable as second skin sportswear. They even had the feeling of elastic cotton on my skin.
I would have stopped there if not for the fact that I felt too exposed, as if not having armor made me queasy.
Then came the hurdle of figuring out how the clasps and belts worked for the armor. After a long few minutes of mental gymnastics I managed to figure out the order of things.
The metal pants went first, then the boots, then the shin guards, then the knee coverings, then the breastplate, then the gloves, the arm guards, the elbow guards and finally the shoulder plates. I spent more than an hour wearing the armor on. Too time consuming.
The end result, however, was way more comfortable than I initially expected. It clearly weighed more than it should, and it made me think it would be too cumbersome to move around with, but things turn out different. I tried stretching and the armor pieces didn't interfere at all, plus they felt unreasonably light. I moved around and it was as natural as being naked, but with the ease of mind that heavy metal armor brought with it.
The armor was silvery white and all the pieces connected to each other, not a single piece of leather to be seen. It looked like an exoskeleton rather than heavy plate armor. The chest area sported a golden sun. Straight lines of the same color imitating rays of sunlight stretched outwards.
"As expected of a fantasy world." I said to no one in particular, once again.
As I posed in various ways, a thought came to mind.
"My weapon…"
I performed the insightful exercise of reaching for the unfathomable inventory and soon enough found the pike I got in my last hours of life back on earth. It materialized in my hands with a weird effect much like a reverse of when the big bad titan snapped people into dust. As it settled, I felt a rush through me. My muscles surged, tightened, and then relaxed. A jolt went down my spine and my legs quivered with energy. It lasted less than an instant.
"Is this how steroids feel like?" I asked the air.
It was a thick, light blue pole with a pointy bottom. The head proper was a bladed tip around 80cm long, twenty centimeters at the widest, making it a mean weapon to stab and swipe with. The material of the blade was bright orange, heavily contrasting with the body. A gritty surface ran along the pole for better grip. At 3m long, it was a pretty good pike.
What do I do now? I thought as I looked around me. Is it the classic 'water, shelter, food'? Or should I follow flowing water and see if I can find sentient life? Will a small life form come to aid me? Ahh… I just found food and water in my weird pocket dimension inventory thing.
A dumpling fell into my open palm from thin air. It was warm and releasing steam. Taking a bite off it, I started walking towards the sound of flowing water. The rich flavor of meat and various vegetables filled my mouth as I thanked all living beings above divinity for the existence of food in MMOs. Using the pike to sometimes move shrubbery or branches out of the way, I started humming to kill time.
Looking around, a lot of flora was surprisingly colorful. Violet glowing mushrooms, plants with almost neon-bright flowers, so on and so forth. Birds were harder to spot, and mostly just sat in branches chirping and flying around. I saw what looked like woodpeckers, hummingbirds, sparrows, thrashers, and many, many others I had no idea the name of. I eventually stumbled across a turkey sort of bird, but at least five times bigger, easily reaching my shoulders.
I stopped to look at it and it just glanced at me and went on its way as if I didn't exist. Its feathers were shiny and had an almost magical glisten to them. I watched as it came to a stop a good ten meters from me and dipped its head on water.
The stream is there! I lowered my position and closed in on the turkey. It merrily drank from the stream with no worries about the mortal realm. As I stood next to it, it lazily turned over to me, stared at me for a good five seconds, then slowly dipped its head in the water, stared at me again and tilted its head towards the stream.
"Oh, are you giving me permission to drink?" I asked the turkey.
It made turkey sounds back at me.
"Well, I thank thee, mighty feathered leviathan of the forest. Such grace is wasted upon one such as I." I bowed exaggeratedly and used both hands to support myself as I went on all fours and dipped my head in the water.
The cool water was refreshing and a mouthful left me quite satisfied.
The turkey nodded at me and once again made turkey noises. It then turned around and walked off with the pompousness of a king. I noticed a goofy smile on my face as I watched such a regal bird leave downstream. Standing up, I decided to follow it.
"My feathery King, I beg thee to allow one such as this lowly one to ask thee a question." I said to the turkey.
It responded with more turkey noises.
"I see! Well, then. Do you perchance, in your vast wisdom, happen to know of any settlement nearby? Perhaps humans? Elves if they exist in this realm of yours or any sentient creature who may be of aid to me? You see, your excellency, I happen to not be from your mighty realm and find myself quite lost." I was starting to get a hold on this.
Again turkey noises.
"Aha! I shall follow thee if thou would excuse such daring behavior."
Right… I thought. Thee, thy, thou.
More turkey noises.
The conversation went on for what felt like hours. Sometimes the turkey would drink from the stream, after which it would graciously allow me to get my fill and I would profusely thank it. Other times it would pick the soil for seeds or whatever turkeys ate, an activity I would embarrassingly reject, stating that such fine dining was not fit for one as lowly as myself. Instead, I would summon a dumpling and feast on it.
The stream, though, was one of the few things that changed from our routine. It widened and became more tranquil the further we walked. The day, too, saw some changes as it became brighter, leading me to think I arrived in early morning. As the sounds of birds quieted down and trees started growing further from each other, I questioned my sanity when the thought of the turkey actually guiding me crossed my mind.
But wait. I thought. This might very well be a magical turkey that guides the lost. I haven't seen any other turkey since meeting this one.
I stared at the bird in question with new eyes. Of course, this could be one big coincidence. Or not. It didn't really matter. I was fine with both outcomes.
As I was absorbed in such thoughts, I noticed the stream narrowed and the sound of water becoming louder than our footsteps. Some thirty meters in front of us, another stream, or rather, a river, ran its course. The stream we'd been following joined the river after descending a few rocks. Opposite of us, a few meters beyond the river bank, was a road. Well, to call it a road was too much. It was a beaten path. Greenery gave way to pressed dirt in a thin line along the river. Its brownish color a give away in such a green environment.
As I was staring at the path, the turkey made some turkey noises. I turned to look at it and sure enough, it was staring at me as if expecting gratitude.
"Oh! Thy Highness! How can I repay such good graces you have laid upon this lowly one?" I bowed and put a knee on the ground. I quickly checked my inventory to see if I had anything that would please a turkey. I found grapes and summoned them.
I offered the grapes to the turkey and it instantly went for them. It grabbed the main stem in its beak and flapped its wings a few times while turning away, not without glancing at me one last time and nodding its head. I nodded back.
"Well… fuck me," I whispered as I watched the bird walk away. "It really is a magical turkey."
I let myself laugh for a bit and stood up. I had a river to cross. How? No idea. I could jump over the water or swim across. Though the latter option wasn't very attractive.
"Jumping it is," I said as I walked back a bit, returning my weapon to my inventory.
The river was easily thirty meters wide. Jumping to the other side should be impossible, but I had yet to check my physical prowess so I had nothing to lose. If I fell in, I'd swim. If I sank, I'd walk underwater as fast as I could. Something inside me made me feel as if I could jump across no problem.
I started sprinting and as I came to the last step of land, I pushed myself.
I flew across. I didn't even gain altitude. Much like a bullet, I shot forward. It didn't even take a second. I slammed on the river bank. I heard water splashing behind me, most probably perturbed by the shock wave of my 'jump'. The crash formed a crater with me as its center, obliterating most of the unfortunate terrain I landed on. Dirt, stones, and more raining down on me as I pushed myself up. I could've sworn I heard the distant gobble of the turkey as if laughing at me.
I kept quiet as I checked myself to see if anything broke or needed fixing. All was fine. I didn't even feel the impact. At first I thought it was good old adrenaline numbing the pain, but after a few minutes, nothing came. I stretched to double-check and everything felt fine.
"Huh," was all I could utter.