after my deal with the locals, i walked with amara back home i noticed that this village had the fun atmosphere of morgue. and the day was colder than yesterday, i was sure in few days or weeks the village and the surrounding area will look like SKYRIM-ish snowy land.
i looked around at the empty streets and stone long-house's, they looked like homes made by vikings, some looked empty or abandoned, yet most are still used.
'why is it so empty? is it just bad economy!?.' i wondered about this place, this world, a world full of unforeseen things and mysteries, and i still find my self confused from the lack of information am facing.
i hate this world, but not the world more like the ignorance, i have hundreds of books and documents memorized in my mind, yet in this world i feel like an ignorant fool.
so much to know, so much to unlearn, and my broken mind is the worst of it all. am no expert at mind transfer between earth and wherever this hell is, but i know it wasn't perfect.
a different body a different mind biology with the same consciousness from my world, i think am having compatibility issues, i seam to be missing few drives, and there is no costumer support.
my consciousness was built around a Specific biological structure, and now it has changed. at least am slowly adapting.
i looked around, it was depressing, i noticed the strange wards on the corners of every home, those made me fell really nervous, and i can't understand why?. what am i missing?, i looked at them they where on every home we passed. on the stones that formed the walls, on doors, and i have seen them on the inside of the homes, not just the outside.
"hey amara have you ever wondered about the nature of these symbols on the houses."
he looked at me then at the closest house and nodded his head.
"yes, the wards of protection, they are almost worthless with the low purity mana the villagers use."
then he looked at me and i saw it in his eyes, a memory of my mana.
shit, i just accidentally open a conversation about my mana. he kept looking, but i was shameless so i ignored his look. i worked in tech with shity managers and a corrupt human resources department, so i learned few mental tricks from the bastards, like how to be hypocritically inhuman.
as we walked in silence amara suddenly turned a corner and enter a shop and i fallowed.
we entered what looked like an old half empty Chinese-style herbs shop, and amara started talking first.
"hello mister vlond, my grandma needs more blue tea for her stock."
an old ancient looking man dressed in simple clothing smiled at amara.
"ha young amara, i haven't seen you in sometime, you must be tired, i heard about your father, i didn't know him long enough yet he seem like a good man."
amara lost his smile the shop owner winced. idiot even i know not to talk about the freshly dead people.
"thank you mister vlond"
shop owner smiled and started walking to the back of his shop.
"please be patient, i will be back." he shouted at us.
the shop owner went to the back of his shop, leaving me and amara waiting.
'i wander what the hell is blue tea?', i really didn't want a replay of the deflation path thing, and feel stupid, so i asked.
"whats blue tea?"
i asked and looked at amara, he looked a bit surprised then disgusted? that's not a reaction i expected from him. this should be good or not.
"you never had blue tea?", he asked.
i didn't like his condescending tone of voice.
"no, what.. is... it?"
now he look worried he shouted to the shop owner,
"Mr. vlond, triple my order of blue tea"
Mr. vlond responded in worried voice.
"triple?... i will, i hope its just for storage."
"me two"
amara responded quietly making me feel stupid and worried. in my most nice polite voice i asked
"amara what is blue tea?", i insisted.
finally the little shit answered.
"its a mixture of anti-parasitic herbs, every sane person drinks it, everyone. even if they boil the water from the river, they still drink it, just to be absolutely sure"
oh shit, i don't like where this is going, i really hope my previous host had some, because i didn't have blue tea, and didn't boil most of the water.
"anti-parasitic, what type of parasitic" i asked with a bit of panic in my voice.
"flesh larvae, gut worms, for us men there is the nut eaters. but mostly the prostate worms, its those fuckers that you should worry about, unless you like shitting your guts"
.
.
nut Eaters, PRO...STA...TE WORMS.
.
.
his words echoed in my mind, i started to feel a hot wave in my chest.... prosta,,, of course they have prostate worms. of course, of fucking course, why not. this fucking world wants to kill me,
will this ever end, this surprise after surprise shit is getting on my nerves.
reincarnation, why not get reincarnated, see other worlds, get isekied see a new realty's to be experienced.
will here i am trying to survive a harsh prostate worm infested world, fuck you reincarnation, fuck you. 'get isekied more like get fuck'
okay new priority, drink blue tea, i don't care about the plans to fight and save the village, i will just save my prostate first. the villagers can save there own prostate.
"how much is the cost of the tea" i asked.
"a small bag is for 5 copper coins". amara ansowerd
as the shop owner entered and placed three small fist sized bags, i moved closer to him.
"give me two of the biggest blue tea bags, for personal storage" i placed the silver coin on the counter-shop, "and make more, i will buy more. and give me some of that dry meat" i pointed at the meat.
*****
we left the shop, the owner tolled me he will prepare the two bags, and they will be delivered later.
we walked towards amara's grandma house, amara kept giving me a look.
"what?" i asked.
"you really never had blue tea" from his voice i can clearly hear he was disbelieving me.
"i will, your going to ask your grandma to make us some"
"i am?, oh yes that's good idea you probably need it, how are you even alive?".
"its that serious of a danger?"
"yes it is, why do you think tamort became known to the first settlers as the island of the red Latrines. red shit island"
i felt nauseous just imagining it. "am not familiar with your history"
"i can see that, its as if you lost your memory's, if it weren't for the blue tea tamort would have been abandoned by every human. and the imperial decree to force the merchants guild sell it for a low price"
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
"THATS NICE", it was my code word for i dont give a shit.
we walked and i kept looking around remembering the symbols and keeping an eye on any potential attackers. after i was gut punched hard enough to send me flying, i discovered new fears, and a new level of paranoia.
i made sure amara was between me and every alleyway an attacker can jump from. i did this to make sure i can skip any fight.
where's the fun in skipping a fight?, its in Not dying. combat is something you frequently want to avoid, like shitting blood.
we arrived, and amara just enter the house like he owned it. kids these days no respect.
as i fallowed in, i noticed the cat yanyan, the white cat with black paws was on table watching us with strange arrogant blue eyes look only a cat can radiate. cold.
i ignored the harmless cat, and looked around for the strange elderly woman, that old bag was clearly delusional, but nice.
i didn't see her, "is your grandma here." i asked.
"am not sure " he looked around then shouted, "GRANDMA"
"yes over here" a shout cam from the back of the house, "stay in, i will be back"
we looked at etch-other and i shrugged, why not, this old lady is strange one.
'should i stay, or go home, and keep my aluminum safe', i still can believe i walked around in the open with aluminum a metal clearly to these people is more loved then gold.
that's why i made 350 coins of aluminum from extra leftover aluminum i had. so am rich, but unsafe, and its about time to buy that safety.
i was lost in my thought when the old woman cam in.
"oh, amara you brought your friend, amarys how are you" she eyed the talismans ring she gave me and nodded in approval.
"yes grandma and your blue tea." he showed her the bag.
i was doing my best to remember her name the i lost hope and just spoke "hi it nice to see you again, amara invited me to have some tea"
he gave me a look i ignored, "yes grandma he needs it he clearly hadn't had any in some time"
the old lady looked at me worried "what no blue tea, are you stupid or do you just like shitting blood, kids these days." she grabbed the tea bag and went to what probably was the kitchen i don't remember the layout of this house.
"your shameless ass, you know that wright" amara told me in cold voice
"yes, its good way to live, no one bothers me, and i never lose anything i want." yeah the soft fools finish last.
the cat yanyan was eyeing me strangely and i pulled some dry meat from my pocket and why not added some mana into it just a hint of pure mana i had in me from the core. making the cat happy will keep the old lady happy and i love cats.
"no don,,,'t" amara was about to say something but i ignored him.
the cat sniffed then was suddenly interested in me and came closer, it looked as if it was considering something then started eating the meat from my hand, amara jaw dropped he just looked at me feeding the arrogant cat.
the cat must have hated amara, i enjoyed the feeling of superiority for moment.
the old woman came back and was just standing, holding the tea pot and three cups, "your feeding yanyan!?, you can feed yanyan!".
oh shit what did i just do, is it a tabbo?, did i just marry the cat?, i looked at both of them then the cat it was still enjoying the meat.
the old woman remembered what she was doing, and suddenly became very nice as she served us tea, yeah shes a bit more happy, " here you go" she filled my cup first.
the blue tea was actually very good it had a sweet taste and was blue. "this is some nice tea."
amara agreed his eyes on the cat, "yes Mr. vlond only sells the best"
"and your grandma is good at making tea". i complemented her.
the granny smiled and took the complement, "make sure to drink it all, as they say one cup a day keeps shitting blood away".
oh god she had to open her big mouth, that image will never leave my mind.
"tell me amarys was it, you like cat's." the granny asked in a sweat voice the am about to scam your ass voice, i was on full alert.
"yes there cats you cant hate them even if they hate you. they still own you."
she blinked then cackled like witch that just kidnapped a virgin. she probably just did, i need to learn about this world am too ignorant, the perfect mark for scam.
"yes, i know what you mean, so you like cats"
"cats are cats, they are independent animals who like to scavenge and explore on their own terms, and they can be very affectionate with people they trust"
"amarys am getting old and yanyan, like you just mentioned his independent yet very affectionate with people he trust" we both looked at the cat and it looked back at me then at her it went to her showing its affectionate, that special unique permission to stroke and pet him as if he was doing the old woman a favor. she continued "am getting old and he needs someone to take car of him after am gone."
amara looked sad, now am starting to feel sad, 'shit its that empathy thing'.
"sorry granny but am not sure i will be here in this village and you look like you still have long years ahead of you."
she smiled at me, amara didn't.
"oh young one, i don't see my self lasting that long, and yanyan was my husband's, am just taking care of him but not as well as i should."
am not as informed as i should be, but now am starting to understand, "mana, yanyan feeds on mana!, that's why you want me to take him." and amara can't feed him and no one else would give mana to a cat, its not something you share, mana i basically gold, but why is this cat in need of mana.
"yes, but my time is not now, and if you accept yanyan will find you on his own, just open up you aura and you two will share destiny."
'on his own? what will he smell me!?', i considered it and didn't see why not i like cats, "i don't see why not, i can afford the mana, yes i will take care of yanyan if i find him."
i looked at the cat its blue eyes looked back then lost interest and jumped off the table and went out of the house.
we talked and talked sharing story's and memory's with a smile, amara was strangely less Talkative, but it was nice moment, and time passed, then as if in a blink of an eye it was sunset.
eventually it was time to go, i did my best to be nice and used some words i memorized to be used with people when i have no idea what to say.
"oh its time for me to go"
the old woman seemed surprised at the passing of time "oh yes i lost track of time with my rambling."
"oh no no your home makes me feel as if i am home its comfortable experience, Thank you so much for the wonderful blue tea."
yes amarys aqisol is probably looking for you
"I had a great time, thank you for your hospitality."
"i should be the one thanking you for accepting yanyan"
as i walked home to my wagon, i considered what i was doing, am selling cocaine, selling cocaine sounds wrong, so i did what every god fearing capitalist would do in my place re-branding, its good way to push away any feeling of guilt because no competent greedy capitalist fears god, why?, because they haven't seen hell, not yet.
should i call it the white lie or white truth.
Stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines were widely used in all of the 4 European Wars even the small wars to increase alertness and suppress appetite, and yes they where European Wars wars they where just re-branded as world wars but lets be honest, European Wars.
my point is it is a proven fact that Drug use can negatively affect combat readiness and reduce the performance of troops. but this world has mana in it, i was sure that mana-healing should probably fix it. probably. am not a doctor, and it's not my problem if it's addictive or not.
as i was thinking my eye looked up and noticed the fucked up apocalyptic moon, what the hell did that to a moon, an asteroid?!?!,
i imagined how it must have looked like a rock blast in from space at a hyper-sonic speed impacting the moon vaporizing the impact point into oblivion and and shattering the moon, any fragment that feel of into this world must have turned the impact area into fiery hell.
if the Original asteroid had hit this Planet everyone would be dead, so the wisdom is this 'its cool when an asteroid hits the moon, but its a fuck when an asteroid hits the earth.' an APOCALYPTIC fuck.
this 'isekai my ass' situation am in is a deadly situation to be in, and it get's worse, 'what has an aluminum wagon and no clue, the answer: A noob, also known as ME,' but how can i fix it?.
i looked away from the sky, and focused on earth this earth, as i walked home i saw a group in my way home, there were there of them two men, one looked like skinny humanoid rat, the other was big the body of boxer his rough-looking face had the marks of someone that gives more punches than he takes. and the woman she was tall strong, clearly a fighter with red hair, and they all had leather armor. the basic bandits.
They all give me the stink eye, then walked closer, my body was that of fourteen year-old, so they all looked taller to me, one more thing to fix.
"are you the one selling these pills" the rat man showed me one of my own pills.
"yes that is my hard work in your hands, why?, you need more!."
"how did you make them?."
"with love and care."
the rat man frowned.
"its family recipe, i don't have new name for it, not yet." i said "maybe the Profound white lie pill."
"how about the Tranquil soul pill it makes hector calm and happy, or the dragon's hardening horn pill." the rat man said with a perverted smile as he looked at the woman Diana, she didn't like the joke.
"it must be a truly small horn." hector said to the rat vensent.
i smiled "you like it, yeah its like Viagra for the soul isn't it." i spoke to the rat man.
"whats Viagra?."
thats why your single.
Diana interrupted "were getting off topic". she said in a cold voice. then looking at me, "tell us whats the real price for more pills?."
"what is the price!?,,,, silver, gold, cores, information, LOYALTY." the last world made them all tense up. "what?, do you fear marvan?, did you piss your selves this morning when he passed by?."
"kid, your about to kill yourself." the boxer looking man hector told me in his rocky voice. the rat man added, "tell me why we shouldn't just take the pills"
Diana just looked at me.
i puled the glass ball, with mana stabilized fluorine. "let me explain something to you, about fluorine,," befor i finished my sentence, they jumped away in one movement. as if i screamed grenade.
"holy forest" the rat man shouted "is that glass, you have fluoride in glass"
"fucking alchemists" Diana had her sword out "kid lets all calm, no one is taking anything from you, okay"
"fuck no they won't take shit, i have all the fluorine i need to start a fluorine mana fire, even the wagon has lightning wards next to gunpowder with alchemical fluorine around it. any tampering and everything,,, gets showered" i can see it in there eyes, they know what alchemical fluoride is. they all went pale in the face, what bunch of pussy's its just fluorine.
just fluorine!!!,,, oh then i remembered the cave and the mana fire fueled by oil and mana, i started that fire that moved as if its in zero-g. oh, fluorine + zero-g + mana = everyone would be fucked.
oh shit i see there point. i may have done the math wrong on this one, and am holding it in my hand, i didn't think this as carefully as i should have.
"i hate alchemists" the rat said.
"i see i don't have to explain what happens when mana gets mixed with fluoride. what happens to bones!!!?"
"of course we know, we have seen it in wars that alchemists were involved in, mana fluoride it eats rocks like wood." Diana said.
good thank god you know because i don't not really know.
the boxer licked his lips nervously "kid we see your point no need to get violent ,will pay for the pills and go."
that's not how i see this story end.