Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Mana.
Chapter 3: Information Gathering
"I guess that's it then, huh." Sean thought with resignation, having found the note telling him to restore the Tree of Mana. He came across it when he decided to see if the treasure chest by his kitchen would give him more inventory space, as well as allowing him to better sort out any and all future items.
Upon opening his inventory window, Sean had placed the chest inside and checked to see how much additional space it had given him. His inventory was now 20 spaces larger and the note appeared in the first spot.
Though Sean had expected this to happen, he was still bummed out.
"Oh well," Sean said, putting the note back into storage. "At least one good thing happened this morning."
Indeed, it did. For when Sean tested his idea, he had received a new notification.
For using your head, you have gained +1 WIS
"I don't feel any different. Or am I even supposed to?" Sean wondered before shrugging. "I've got better things to worry about."
The first item on his list was, of course, finding a job.
Sean had decided to look for a notice board before scoping out the hotel. "Please let daily quests be a thing here." He prayed, hoping that they were since most jobs were a drag. If neither the notice board or the hotel panned out, Sean figured he could track down Duelle for help.
The hotel was his second and only other option, having already shot down both the item shop and the pub.
Sean knew firsthand just how annoying working in the food industry could be. True, Domina was a much smaller town than he was used to seeing, but the description given by his "Observe" skill said that the town was "lively" and frequented by traveling merchants and entertainers.
That being the case, working in a hotel should provide him with enough income whilst not taking up so much time to where he couldn't train. Unlike the hotel, the pub would more than likely stick him with an 8 AM to 5 PM shift thus hampering his growth. In the end, Sean shelved this option since he knew how much of a pain in the ass it would turn out to be.
For thinking ahead and planning your time wisely, +1 WIS
The second thing was training. Or, again, allowing himself enough time for it.
Yesterday, Sean didn't just twiddle his thumbs once he was home. He started training his observe skill again by using it on whatever mundane item he came across and had gotten the skill to Level 5.
During this time, Sean discovered that the observe skill wouldn't gain experience if he kept looking at the same object repeatedly. By extension, there had to be enough of a difference between two of the same item for Sean to be able to level up the skill. For instance, if Sean had a box of pencils, there would be no benefit to using "Observe" on all of them. But, if say, one had been gnawed on, then the skill would grow stronger.
At Level 5, Sean could now see the Synchro Effect of others.
He had also gained 2 levels in "Fire" and 1 level in "Cure," bringing "Fire" up to Level 3 and "Cure" up to Level 2. With the new levels, more information had been revealed on his "Fire" spell.
Fire (Active) Lvl 3 [33%] Cost: 5 MP
This is the most basic fire spell and deals a small amount of damage to enemies. This spell can be altered to form different attacks. At higher levels, the spell will deal more damage.
Deals fire damage according to this formula: Total = (SPI + Fire Affinity)
DMG = Total + (Total * 6%)
Current Level: Deals +6% Fire Damage
Effect: Has 3% chance to inflict Burn status
Further leveling up, Sean concluded, would reveal even more information. His spellcasting led to his SPI to go up from 5 to 7 and his STR went to 10 while VIT climbed to 13 and DEX advanced to 30. WIS even went up by 1 due to casting the "Fire" spell next to a well he had found outside, bringing his total WIS up to 14.
Normally, Sean wasn't one to do much exercise. He would jog or do push-ups sometimes and was in decent shape, but until now he hadn't truly felt motivated towards really building himself up physically.
"Yet another effect of Gamer's Mind," Sean guessed, which was helped by Gamer's Body.
Whereas before, Sean would get exhausted just like anyone else from a workout, now he would recover his stamina within seconds.
The increase in his STR, VIT, and DEX came from an activity he had taken up about a month prior to his arrival here. It had even turned into two new skills after a few minutes of doing it and the experience from his time back on Earth carried over.
Yoga (Active) Lvl 7 [89%]
At first a group of Hindu disciplines that originated in ancient India, the term "yoga" refers to Hatha yoga in the Western world which is a branch of Yoga that focuses primarily on asanas (the physical positions) to exercise the body. Yoga also incorporates breath control to help relax the mind.
Passively increases STR by 21%
Passively increases VIT by 21%
Passively increases DEX by 21%
Breath Control (Passive/Active) Lvl 3 [23%]
This ability allows the user better control over the intake of oxygen and over the regulation of air in their bodies. Breath Control also increases the time that the user can hold their breath, making it possible for them to spend greater lengths of time underwater or in other areas where oxygen is absent or where toxic fumes may reside.
Current Limit: 3 Minutes
+15 Wind Affinity
Yoga was something that Sean took up at the suggestion of his therapist to help him keep his temper in check. Sean liked her although the hippie vibe did get slightly annoying.
There were two other skills he had gained the previous day. Sean had gotten them due to dicking around with his Menos Sword, losing his balance and stumbling a couple times due to overextending.
1H Sword Mastery (Passive) Lvl 2 [15%]
This ability allows the user to freely handle 1H swords. This skill only applies to the user when wielding a single 1H sword at a time.
Effect: +10% increase in attack damage with 1H swords
Techniques:
Iai Strike -1H Sword Technique- (Active) Lvl 1 [0%] Cost: 200 TP
A sudden lunge, followed by a slice through the enemy.
DMG = STR * 102%
Even though Sean possessed the 1H Sword Mastery skill, he felt it prudent to hold off on practicing the Iai Strike technique for the time being.
"At least until my sword mastery goes up a few more levels."
Thirdly, there was the matter of Li'l Cactus.
Upon turning in for the evening, Sean had said good night to the smiling cactus, not really expecting a reply.
"What time is it?" The voice sounded like that of a 6 or 7-year old boy.
Now, Sean knew that Li'l Cactus was capable of speech and movement, but because he wasn't paying much attention, he missed it. Sean did, however, see the "Cactus Diaries" entry the next day.
Find Your Bearings
My master forgot what day it was today. I think he should get a calendar. Especially the one with the little smiley faces. Those ones are the best.
Sean just snorted when he read the entry the next morning and made to move on, but paused. "How did Li'l Cactus know about what I did?" "Wasn't there something about plants being connected?" He tried asking the Sproutling outside his house about it, but just received some advice on using your imagination.
"Maybe one of the Sproutlings in Domina can tell me."
While this was concerning, the real issue was how to take care of a cactus.
Back home, cactuses didn't need a great deal of care, mostly just sun and some water now and then. But regular cactuses didn't have mouths. "Do I just give him water or is there special food I'm supposed to get?" Sean paused. "Would it be cannibalism if I fed him another plant?"
Quest Alert!
Plant Care 101
Li'l Cactus is a shy little cactus who happens to be thinking about many things, but not enough words to spare. Find out how to take care of your cactus and what sustenance he needs.
Reward: 50 Exp, Produce Encyclopedia, 100 Lucre, ?, ?
Bonus: Find out how Li'l Cactus knew about your trip to Domina.
Failure: None
"I'm going to need a list pretty soon." Sean thought before bringing up the options menu. The mini-map option was still enabled, evidenced by the circular map in the upper right-hand corner of his vision. Event notification was also on, something that Sean was glad didn't turn off, as he looked at the rest of the options menu.
Options
Difficulty: Normal
Sound: On
Mini-Map: On
Event Notification: On
Time: Off
Help
Sean quickly turned the Time option on causing a watch to appear in the top left-hand corner opposite the map. The time was shown to be 9:03 in the morning. He closed the options menu, deciding he'd look at the Help selection later, and stood up from the kitchen table.
Looking down at his clothes, Sean still felt relatively clean as he had taken a shower just prior to his kidnapping. "I'll have to get some new threads soon though." Not to mention food as well.
Heading out the door, Sean felt that the temperature had dropped at least 10° from the previous day.
While yesterday had been hot and muggy, today was cooler with a light breeze combing through Sean's hair. The moon (1) showed itself more clearly today with the sun having been too bright the previous day to see it.
Sean turned his sight away from the moon and left for Domina, his departure accompanied by the blowing of leaves.
Around the map, there were three new additions.
Just below his position at Home, there were 8 moving characters. Each of them corresponded to a different element. Going from left to right, they were the following: Wisp (Light), Shade (Darkness), Dryad (Plants/Wood), Aura (Moon), Salamander (Fire), Gnome (Earth), Jinn (Wind), and Undine (Water).
Beneath each of them, there was a circle graph composed of three slices. Each slice stood for a point for that particular Mana Spirit towards whatever location you were on. Different locations had different levels for each element. In game, the placement of the different artifacts had an effect on various things such as unlocking the top level for the shops, making farming easier, and making certain quests and pets available.
"I can't remember what all of the effects are." Sean hadn't actually played the game for some years.
Over to the map's left, there was a circle with a green frame, kind of like a locket. Within the circle, there was the image of a large seed resting on a hill. From the seed, a tiny stem and two green leaves had already sprouted. In the Legend of Mana, this was one way of letting the players know how far along they were and how close the Tree of Mana was to being restored.
"You didn't even need to complete every quest in the game." Sean had actually missed some when he was younger, to his irritation. "Some could be missed or even failed."
To the upper right of the map, there was an object similar to the circular pendant except its frame was shaped almost like a conch shell. In the middle, there was the image of the Mana Spirit Aura with the color gold surrounding it.
Changing his mind from earlier, Sean consulted the Help menu from the options screen.
A lot of the menu was either blank and yet to be filled or was just a refresher of things Sean already knew. Looking further, however, he happened upon a page detailing the days of the week.
In the Legend of Mana, there is a seven-day week cycle. Each of the seven days is represented by a different elemental spirit. On that spirit's day, the magic of the element might be slightly stronger. That doesn't mean, however, that the opposing element is necessarily weaker. (2)
The days are in the following order:
Salamander Day—Fire magic is stronger
Aura Day—Moon magic is stronger
Gnome Day—Earth magic is stronger
Jinn Day—Wind magic is stronger
Dryad Day—Plant/Wood magic is stronger
Undine Day—Water magic is stronger
Mana Holy Day—All elemental magic is balanced
The two other elements, Wisp and Shade, are represented by Day and Night respectively.
"In game, I'm pretty sure the days didn't affect attack power." Sean rubbed his chin. "Something to ponder later."
Dismissing the Help menu, Sean left the map and entered the town of Domina.
The peaceful atmosphere was quickly shattered by a commotion coming from the direction of the marketplace. An angry, reverberating shout rose above the din of noise, tearing through Domina and scaring off a nearby flock of singing bluebirds.
Were it not for this, one might think the town abandoned since there was barely a soul in sight.
Sean managed to find the notice board well enough on his own to the left of the hotel. It was planted in front of a rather nondescript building. What tipped him off to it was Duelle's sad attempt at pinning a notification to the board using his polearm, the punctured paper flapping in the wind.
"Need a hand?" Sean asked rhetorically, casually walking up to the notice board.
What happened next was an unforeseen consequence.
Duelle pulled away from the notice board in surprise, a slight frown on his face birthed from frustration. The paper, no longer pressed to the wood, was snatched away by the wind. Sean's eyes widened and he shot forth to grab it, not having seen the concentrated expression Duelle now wore.
Duelle, eyes focused on the paper, failed to register Sean's actions and he stabbed his weapon upwards. The blade pierced the paper just as Sean grabbed it, resulting in his weapon cutting into Sean's palm.
Due to a certain action, you have gained a new skill!
Physical Endurance (Passive) Lvl 1 [12%]
This skill increases the body's durability and lessens the amount of physical damage inflicted on the user.
Effect: 3% decrease in damage from physical attacks
-15 HP
"Fuck!" Sean hissed in pain, immediately pulling his hand to his chest and holding it firmly with the other one.
Duelle winced. "Jeez. Are you okay?" With a concerned expression, Duelle examined his spear since he couldn't get a good look at Sean's hand and found no blood on the blade. Tilting his head in confusion, Duelle questioned why there wasn't any as he had thrusted his polearm with enough force to have done so.
"Fucking wonderful," Sean spat out, finding no wound on his right hand, despite still feeling rapidly receding pain. He unclenched his hands and shook out the last vestiges of soreness, eyes narrowed in anger.
"I'm really sorry about that," Duelle apologized. He scratched his head in bewilderment, no less perplexed when he saw Sean's hand was free of any injury. "How come you aren't injured?"
"What?" Sean asked, having caught Duelle's question just as his hand returned to his side. "Oh, uh, I just got lucky I guess?" Sean couldn't lie to save his life.
Duelle gazed at him in suspicion before shrugging. "It probably doesn't matter."
"What's on that piece of paper anyway?" Sean inquired, his anger giving way to calm. (3)
Duelle pointed his weapon towards Sean, who carefully grabbed the sheet of paper so that he wouldn't be stabbed again. "Jennifer wanted me to put this up since Mark's running the store today."
"But you can't even reach the board." Sean questioned why Jennifer, a grown woman, couldn't have done it herself. He turned his attention to the notice in his hand and read it over.
Quest Alert!
Quest Chain!
Robbin' Hood
For the past two weeks, there has been a string of thefts and break-ins within Domina, making some residents fearful and driving away business. Find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Success: 300 Exp, 500 Lucre, Item Encyclopedia, Equipment Encyclopedia, ?, ?, ?, ?
Failure: Potential Death(s), Chance of quest failure: Bring Home the Bacon, Further Damage to Domina, Possibility of Missing Later Quests
This quest cannot be refused
"Really putting on the pressure there," Sean thought, pinning the paper to the notice board himself rather than allowing Duelle another attempt, saving everyone time.
Duelle sighed. "With Mark's constant doting over Rachel, Jennifer can never seem to get out of the house fast enough." He shook his head with a frown. "She's probably out in the marketplace again, where she always is when not managing the shop."
"Well, hopefully it'll all work itself out," Sean replied swiftly, not wanting to get involved in the family's affairs because really, "What business is it of mine?" "So, what can you tell me about the crimes going on?"
"An adventurer, eh?" Duelle would have said with a raised eyebrow had he had any. "You don't look like much of one." Duelle stated skeptically, glancing over Sean's attire.
"I sure hadn't noticed." Sean responded sarcastically. "Look, I'm new to town and I'm a bit strapped for cash all right." He took a calming breath and exhaled. "I really need the money."
"Why don't you just work at the pub?" Duelle asked.
"Because I've worked in a restaurant before and after I quit, I promised myself that I would never work in such a place again." Sean had waited tables in a certain place once upon a time and outside of politics, the customers there were the whiniest people he had ever had to hear or deal with. That wasn't to mention his lazy coworkers and inept manager either.
Sean paused. "There's also having to watch that beetle guy repeatedly express his love for his daughter." He didn't think he could ever get used to that.
"I don't blame you." Duelle completely understood where Sean was coming from.
Sean gave the notice board a once-over, seeing that all of the other quests were in places he couldn't yet get to. "I did think about working at the hotel though, but with business being driven away, that might not be a good idea."
Curiously, the notice for the Robbin' Hood quest changed in appearance when Sean wasn't looking at it. The general message was still there, but the text that only someone with the Gamer ability could see, such as the Success and Failure lines, disappeared.
"If you really want to do this, then you'll end up going there anyway." Duelle said simply. "Most of these robberies have taken place in the early evening or at night. I'm sure Miss Yuka's seen something."
"Is there anyone else I should speak with?" Surely more than one person had kept an eye out.
"There is Rachel, but…she's a bit shy," Duelle informed awkwardly, his words matching up with the description the Gamer system had given him. "You'd also have to get her away from Mark for her to say anything."
"Would she even speak to me if I did?" Rachel's description had also said that she didn't become too friendly with anyone. Seeing as Sean was a complete stranger, he assumed he wouldn't get anything out of her.
"Not unless someone like a family friend was with you," Duelle replied.
"Then why don't you go with me then?" Sean asked the obvious question. "I won't get anywhere by myself since, again, I'm new here. And whose to say that Miss Yuka will speak to me either?" "And to what extent will things differ from the game?"
Duelle nodded, figuring teaming up would be the best course of action. "Okay, it's been a little while since I've been on an adventure."
The pair left the notice board and took a short walk over to the hotel.
Similar to most of the other buildings in Domina, the two-story hotel had a yellow, thatched roof made of straw. The rest of the structure was painted white with an orange trim and window frames and round, red double doors at the entrance.
Before they entered the "Mana's Blessing," Duelle assured, "Miss Yuka is the owner of the inn and she's a nice woman. You should have no trouble talking to her." Duelle's expression became pensive before shifting to a mild scowl. "Mr. Moti will try to get something out of you. Probably make a deal in exchange for information."
"I'm sure I can handle it," Sean said confidently.
Inside, Sean saw the turbaned man from the other day standing behind the check-in counter. He was busy conversing with a big yellow bird with a pink beak. Her eyes were black like a doll's eyes and each had a smaller white area to indicate a pupil. She wore a pair of baggy blue pants with suspenders over a white blouse and there was a red bowtie on her neck.
The back of her head was decorated with a pink bow and other than the little bit of green hair growing from the top of her scalp, she would've appeared bald. The only other detail of note were her green tail feathers which curled back in on themselves like a spiral.
'Observe'
Name: Miss Yuka
Race: Chocobo (?), Canary (Claims to be)
Title: Hotel Owner
Age: 35
Level: Lvl 3
Description: The owner of Domina's only inn. She insists that she is a canary, but there are rumors that she is really a Chocobo. Addressing her as "Miss Yuka" is a must.
"Might as well get the other person," Sean thought. "Since I didn't yesterday."
Name: Mr. Moti
Race: Human
Title: Entrepreneur
Age: ?
Level: Lvl 6
Description: He is everywhere doing everything.
Mr. Moti made eye contact with Sean during a lull in conversation and cleared his throat, signaling to Miss Yuka that someone else was present.
Miss Yuka spun around in surprise, evidently not having heard their entry. "Hello. I'm Miss Yuka, the keeper of this inn." She spoke in a welcoming tone. "I apologize for not seeing you before." She then took notice of Duelle. "Hello, Duelle. How are you today?"
Sean just waved it off. "It's no big deal."/ "I'm doing fine." Duelle replied.
"Who's your friend?" Miss Yuka asked, looking between the two.
"This is Chumpy." Duelle answered, having forgotten his name already.
"My name's Sean actually," Sean replied, shooting Duelle an annoyed glance from his peripheral. "We just wanted to know if you've seen anything suspicious lately having to do with the recent string of thefts."
"Inspector Boyd is on the case." Mr. Moti spoke in an even tone, betraying no emotions in his expression.
"Inspector Boyd?" Sean asked.
"He's a detective who's currently looking into this," Duelle answered. "The angry shouting from the marketplace was him."
"And he came here alone," Miss Yuka informed, not sounding too certain of the Inspector's competence. "I haven't seen any other officers around."
"He'll catch the ones responsible." Mr. Moti sounded more like he was trying to convince everyone else of that than actually being serious.
Duelle gave a subtle shake of the head. "He'll arrive at the last minute." He whispered just loud enough for Sean to hear. Mr. Moti barely narrowed his eyes at Duelle.
"Have you seen anything, Miss Yuka?" Sean asked, getting things back on track. "Any information would be greatly appreciated."
Miss Yuka took a moment to recollect. "As a matter of fact, I did see someone running towards the Western End of town last night. I thought it was Miss Lurry's son, Arthur, trying to beat curfew at first, but then I saw they were carrying a bow with a quiver full of arrows on their back."
"Were they wearing anything? Did you see their eye color? Any distinguishing features at all? Sean asked slowly, trying not to overwhelm the matronly woman.
Miss Yuka crossed her wings in rumination. "The only other thing I remember is that they were wearing a piece of cloth on their head." She said in a warm tone. "It might have been one of those Chobin Hoods that some of our guests told me about."
Sean vaguely remembered a monster species by that name. "What's a Chobin Hood?"
"They're a demi-human species of rodent-like creatures who are well known for their archery skills." Duelle enlightened helpfully.
"And for being a race of nothing but thieves," Mr. Moti said in disdain.
"Mr. Moti! You shouldn't say such things." Miss Yuka gave him a look of reproach.
"What? It's true." He replied with a deadpan expression. "All they do is rob people of their goods along the various trade routes, chief among them Luon Highway."
"Just because some of them are that way, doesn't mean they all are." Miss Yuka didn't look too pleased by his words.
"The day I see one legitimately work for a living, then I may change my mind." Mr. Moti snorted. "If such a thing could ever happen."
Sean, not wanting to watch their argument, caught Duelle's attention with a hand gesture when he saw that they had been forgotten and inclined his head back towards the entrance. The two of them then made their exit, the sounds of squabbling cut off by the quietly closing door.
"That was easier than I thought it'd be," Sean remarked, thinking beforehand that he'd have to jump through hoops or do another quest before he could get anywhere. "What was the deal back there anyways?" Sean pointed his thumb over his shoulder.
"Moti dislikes anyone and anything that impedes his chances of making money," Duelle replied. "He's not the worst guy around. He just…" Duelle paused to consider his words. "…loves money too much." Duelle scowled. "Though he's not as bad as Niccola." Duelle mumbled angrily.
Sean heard the last part, but chose not to ask. "But seriously, if we could figure out who's been stealing from the town so quickly, then why is this an issue?"
"There's more than one Chobin Hood tribe," Duelle informed. "I've seen them at Lake Kilma and near Luon Highway. There are probably others."
"Which one is closest to here?" Sean suspected it was the latter of the two places.
"Luon Highway," Duelle confirmed. "The entire tribe might not be in on it despite them becoming bolder lately."
Another booming yell rang throughout Domina.
Sean rubbed his ear. "He does realize that creating that much of a ruckus could alert the thieves, doesn't he?" He had to question the Inspector's intelligence.
"Inspector Boyd isn't that great at his job," Duelle commented before sighing. "But a lot of people would rather just bury their heads in the sand and let him deal with the problem. Much of the town is that way."
"Are there no other officers at all?" Sean asked, remembering what Miss Yuka said. "What about a police force?"
Duelle shook his head. "Boyd usually ends up leaving backup in the dust because he's always in a hurry."
"At least he takes things seriously, from the sound of it." Sean thought. "Town Guard?" He queried, receiving another shake of the head in return.
"Domina is a smaller town than places like Geo and Lumina," Duelle explained. "A majority of the town's goods are also transported from bigger cities so the Chobin Hoods and other bandits really become an issue." He readjusted his spear, the weapon acting like a substitute walking stick. "As a result, not as many people want to live here and the people who are here would rather just use the police instead of defending themselves."
"Is there anyone in town, anyone at all, who would defend it if we were attacked right now?" "These people," Sean thought, surprised by the citizens' stupidity. "Are lucky that a monster hasn't attacked them because if so, they'd be fucked."
"Mark is the only person who I know would." Duelle replied certainly as the two approached the entrance to Rachel's house. "Warriors and fighters sometimes pass through, but there aren't any around right now."
Before they could continue their conversation, a big teapot-looking creature suddenly threw open the door, nearly slamming into Duelle.
The creature lacked any legs, instead having its body rest on a small platform with blue, flower-like petals extending from the platform to about halfway up her round body. She had thick, muscular arms and a chain of blue diamonds painted onto her surface around her "neck." Her eyes were simply round lines, similar to Brock from Pokemon, and she sported an eternal, circular blush beneath them.
On the back of her head, there was a giant metal handle. The top of her head was the same shade of blue as the petals and a smaller golden handle was attached to it. Her head, upon closer examination, looked as if it could be opened and her whole body, sans the handles, appeared to be made of some type of stone.
Name: Teapo
Race: Magical Golem
Title: Jewelry Collector (?)
Age: ?
Level: Lvl 2
Description: A magical life-form with a kind heart. She thinks she is a jewelry collector, but most of them are glass fakes that Niccola sold to her.
"Oi! Duelle!" Teapo said nervously in a distinctive English Cockney dialect. "Where 'ave ye been?" She had the voice of an older woman.
"What's going on?" Duelle asked calmly, not the least bit worried by Teapo's behavior.
"It's bloody terrible!" Teapo replied, hopping closer from out of the house. Water could be heard sloshing around inside of her. "A rough-looking gentleman came askin' questions about Rachel. He looked like 'e might try to take Rachel away." She started gushing water out of her head similar to tears.
"He's just asking her some questions," Duelle said patiently. "Now where did Rachel go?"
"Mark picked 'er up from the pub and took 'er o'er to the marketplace," Teapo answered, her crying slowing down. Sean and Duelle had stepped back just in time to avoid the splash zone. "She didn't look too 'appy."
"Ah, jeez." Duelle knew things would get ugly if they didn't get there soon. "Teapo. You should stay and watch the house while Steve and I go make sure she's okay." Duelle smiled at her. "Brew some tea while we're gone. Rachel will enjoy some when she comes home."
Her crying finally ceased. "You're right," She said, wiping her eyes. "I'll 'ave a nice pot of me special orange blend for when she gets 'ere." Teapo hopped back into the house excitedly, the door closing behind her.
"How many times are you going to get my name wrong?" Sean asked, staring at Duelle in mild irritation.
"That's not important right now," Duelle replied with urgency. "We need to get over to the marketplace before things get any worse."
Sean watched Duelle waddle along and picked him up by the back of his shirt since he was much taller and faster. Height wise, the top of Duelle's head came an inch or two short of Sean's hips. Duelle was slightly miffed by this, but simply hung in Sean's grasp with a firm grip on his spear. Sean, meanwhile, held Duelle out in front of himself so the spear wouldn't cut him.
Entering the marketplace, they could both immediately see the damage that the thieves had caused.
A fruit cart had been knocked over with some of its produce squished into the dirt while other stands had been set on fire as evidenced by their blackened remains. The fish tent had been torn down and taken, the wooden pegs still embedded in the ground with small shreds of blue cloth on them. The thieves had even broken a few windows on the surrounding buildings.
A few of the townspeople were going about cleaning up some of the damage while fixing what they could.
Standing by where the tent stood, there was a short mouse man speaking with a smiling Mark and an angry Rachel, her hair once more hiding her face.
'Observe'
Name: Boyd
Race: Mouse Man
Title: Inspector
Age: ?
Level: Lvl 11
Description: A little man with a really loud voice that could reach a nearby "land." He might be the most honest and kind-hearted man you will ever meet.
Inspector Boyd was a man with white fur covering his head and big mouse ears. A pipe rested in his mouth below his thin moustache and blue eyes. He sported a large blue overcoat with green sleeves and baggy grey pants. Boyd also wore a plaid, light green vest and a red tie. Perhaps the most noticeable article of clothing, however, was his blue-green deerstalker cap, reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes.
"Just take your time, Miss," Boyd said gently, wanting to make things easier since he saw how uncomfortable Rachel was.
"Hahaha! Nonsense, officer." Mark spoke in an unintentionally condescending tone. "I'm sure my little pumpkin can tell you exactly what happened. She inherited my sharp eyes you know."
"…" Rachel made no sound, but she started to shake in fury with clenched hands, her glare going to a blond-haired woman who was chatting with Meimei.
Name: Jennifer
Race: Human Butterfly
Title: Co-Proprietor/Angry House Wife
Age: 37
Level: Lvl 3
Description: Mark's wife, who likes spending times outside his shop. She says anything that crosses her mind.
The blonde woman had green eyes and wore a white blouse. Over this, Jennifer had on a long pink dress which flowed past her feet. She had two loops of hair to both sides of her face and a bun on the back of her head. On her back, a beautiful pair of purple and yellow butterfly wings flapped slowly in the wind.
"Mark!" Duelle called, standing on the ground since Sean let him go.
Both Mark and the Inspector turned to face him. "Ah, Duelle. My fine friend. How are you faring today?"
"Just living life's adventure," Duelle replied, slowly but surely defusing the situation. "Sean here found out who has been stealing from the town."
"My name i—Huh, you actually got it right that time." Sean blinked.
"Is that true?" Inspector Boyd asked as Sean drew the peoples' attention, allowing Duelle to lead away the ticking time bomb known as Rachel.
"I am not good with crowds." Sean felt nervous in front of so many people, Gamer's Mind easing his anxiety enough to where it wasn't a problem. "Well, I spoke with Miss Yuka earlier and she told me that she saw a short figure carrying a bow and arrows run towards the Western End of town last night. She thinks it might have been a Chobin Hood."
"A Chobin Hood? I was sure it would've been someone else." Boyd said, taking a puff of his pipe. "I've had several reports come in saying that they've been acting strange lately, more aggressive, but until now they've never come this close to town, let alone enter it."
"Do you know what caused them to change?" Sean inquired.
Inspector Boyd adjusted his hat, the little glasses sitting on its brim reflected the sunlight. "One report did say that a giant talking bug was spotted along Luon Highway." Boyd shook his head. "Bah! It's probably just some random monster. Most monsters aren't sentient and the bigger ones are always more vicious."
Sean looked around and saw some townspeople were still watching them. "I think it'd be a good idea if we continue this discussion elsewhere." Sean gestured to the crowd with his hand. "I don't want to drag any of the regular citizens into this."
Inspector Boyd nodded. "Good idea. By the way, my card." The inspector handed a white card to Sean from his trench coat. Sean looked it over.
Inspector Boyd
Detective and Police Officer on Duty!
Sean pocketed the card as Boyd said, "I appreciate the information. Will you help me arrest these criminals?"
Sean nodded. "That's what I'm here for." Sean reached out and shook the Inspector's hand. "I'm Sean Rent by the way."
Author's Note: Here's Chapter 3. In this chapter, I wanted to cover more of the game's mechanics, some of which will come into effect later. In Legend of Mana, an RPG that was released by SquareSoft in Japan on July 15, 1999 and North America June 6, 2000, the main goal is to restore the Tree of Mana to its former state. Pretty much all of the quests in the game have nothing to do with this goal and the Tree of Mana falls into the background.
Some people didn't like the game because of its loose plot.
In this story, Gamer's Mind will affect Sean in terms of preventing extremes such as going into a blind rage or making him be completely fine with killing. Most stories I've read never address that. Sean knows that killing is necessary in certain situations, but will avoid it if he can.
In the Legend of Mana, there are days of the week, but I don't think they had any effect on battles or stats. This idea of days of the week influencing spell/attack power comes from the game Trials of Mana, which I might have barely played years ago.
Also, I'm not trying to make Sean OP from the start and he'll have to be creative when it comes to defeating various enemies. He won't suddenly shoot to Level 100 or get stronger or more skilled at using a sword than people who have been training for decades in the time span of 3 days. These various skills are meant to keep him alive.
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