Slowly, Alex opened his eyes…and then immediately closed them as an bright blue screen appeared in front of him.
“Way too fucking bright” He mumbled.
He stayed with his eyes closed for a few more minutes, memories of the previous day rushing forwards. All of it felt like a dream, but…the blue screen in front of him was proof enough that it wasn’t.
With a thought, he dismissed the thing, deciding to take a look at it later when he woke properly, then, he sat in his bed, looking around where he was.
He was in a wooden room, it was fairly small, only having a small desk on a corner, a small chest and his bed.
He stood up slowly, then walked towards the only windows in the room, which…wasn’t an actual window, and more of a hatch that he could open and closed, still, it was easy enough to do so, then, he looked at the snow covered village which seemed to be in the process of waking up. All of it felt surreal for him, but…it was his new reality.
His thoughts went back to earth. He missed many things from it. A hot bath, for one, but in the end, all that he truly missed were modern luxuries.
Then, his mind went to the things that he did not miss, and he could not help but be glad that this happened. A fresh start, without all of that baggage.
“You are awake.”
Alex jumped in surprised, and then quickly turned towards the door, seeing an amused looking Sky staring at him.
“Don’t do that. You startled me.” Alex said.
He had been a bit too lost in his thoughts beforehand.
“Sorry. “ Sky said, an completely unapologetic look on their face.
“All right, why are you here, anyway?” Alex said, glaring at them. “Also, how did you even enter?”
“You forgot to lock the door.” Sky said. “And I came here to check on you; see how you were holding up.” Then, the saint’s expression changed to something kinder. “If you want to talk about the subject, I am willing to listen.”
Alex stood silently for a few seconds, there was something oddly…comforting about Sky’s presence, and he couldn’t help but feel paranoid about it, still, before he knew, he felt words leaving his mouth.
“Just…bad memories. Thinking about home.”
“I can relate.” Sky said.
Neither of them said anything else, but Sky had a knowing look on their face, eventually, the saint seemed to figure that Alex didn’t really want to elaborate.
“Anyway, I have to run a few errands; would you like to accompany me?” Sky said, and then paused. “It would be a good time to buy appropriate stuff for you.”
“Sure, but what about Alice and Wind?”
“Alice will take a few hours to wake up; she isn’t exactly a morning person. And Wind has something that she has to do.”
Alex nodded; honestly, it was not like he had a whole lot of things that he could do right now…which probably was part of the reason that Sky asked him to come to begin with. It was not as if they needed his help for anything.
“I will go. Quick question, is there a bath anywhere? A shower? Hot springs or something?”
“There are baths in the bigger towns and cities; unfortunately, this village is far too small for something like that.”
“I expected as much.” Alex said, sighing.
Sky started walking, and Alex followed them, down the stairs of the inn, towards the first floor.
“Are baths common in your world, then?”
“Pretty much. Most houses have one.”
“Sounds difficult to believe, but then again, I’m no architect or engineer.”
“Yeah, there are a lot of stuff like that that I think I will miss.”
The inn seemed to be empty this early in the morning Sky immediately went towards the door.
“I want to grab something to eat. If…it isn’t too big of a problem.”
Sky turned towards him a bit flustered. “Sorry, forgot about that.”
Soon, both of them were in a table eating bread with some kind of jam on it, much like the food yesterday, it was delicious.
“So…you skip breakfast often?”
“High level adventurers don’t need much food.” Sky said, and then took a bite of a bread. “But I don’t mind eating for pleasure, I just forget about it sometimes.”
Alex nodded, considering how tasty the food around here was…he couldn’t really judge Sky.
A couple minutes later, both of them were outside the inn walking trough the snow covered streets, Alex shivering slightly as he followed Sky. Thankfully, the cold was affecting him much less now, and it was rather easy to ignore.
“Anyway, what kinds of errands are we doing, anyway?”
“First we will buy stuff. Then, we will see what we find to do.”
“Odd, but alright, what kind of stuff are you going to buy?”
“Proper clothing, armor, a weapon.”
“Why the sudden interest in gear?”
“Don’t you wish to become an adventurer?”
That made Alex pause; he hadn’t been sure what he wanted to do to begin with, but...
“I think so.”
He wanted to go out and do something, he didn’t want to get stuck in a menial job again.
“I figured out as much with how much you were talking about the system yesterday.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Alex nodded, but could not help but feel suspicious about Sky’s generosity, he had been screwed over far too many times by this kind of thing…but he wasn’t exactly in a position to refuse it. He didn’t have any money or resources, and he doubted his ability to acquire it in the short term.
As they talked, they walked through the streets, it seemed that most people were still asleep at this hour…what hour was it, anyway? Unconsciously, his hands moved to his pants, where his phone usually was…and it was still there.
“I can’t believe it…” Alex mumbled in disbelief, picking and holding his phone in his hands. He had completely forgotten about it until now. His thoughts were busy with everything that had been happening.
Sky looked curiously at him. “What is that?”
“It’s a phone, it’s…”He paused for a second, trying to figure out how to answer Sky. “Kind of like an artifact from my old world.”
He activated it, everything was normal, and the charge was at 50%, it probably would only last a few more days he did not use it. Unsurprisingly, there was no Wi-Fi or signal.
“What does it do?”
“A bunch of stuff. But honestly? It’s mostly useless here.”
“Why?”
“It’s…difficult to explain, but basically, most of the stuff it’s used for needs…other stuff to function, and that stuff doesn’t exist in this world.” He felt embarrassed by how poor his explanation skills were
“You remind me of Alice when she is talking about magic.” Sky idly noted. “No offense, but don’t bother trying to explain to me.”
“Fair enough, I don’t think I would be capable of explaining it well to you to begin with. There are a few interesting things that it can do, though.” Alex said, pointing his phone towards Sky.
Alex pressed a button, and then turned it towards them, showing them their picture.
“That’s…me.” Sky said, staring in disbelief. “It looks like a prestige painter made it…”
“It’s called a photo. It’s about the most impressive thing that I can do with it, besides…playing music, and some light, I guess.”
“That sounds more and more useful.”
“Maybe, but…it kind of has a charge, and it will probably break on its own in a few months either way.”
“That sounds very magical.” Sky asked, seemingly amused.
He briefly wondered if he could use magic to recharge the cellphone, somehow. However, considering how little he knew about its inner workings, he had a feeling that it would end badly. Plus, he didn’t even know how magic worked in this world to begin with. One more thing to ask Alice.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguible from magic.”
“What?”
“Technology can become so ludicrous that it might as well be magical.”
“You should show that to Alice later, she will obsess over it for a few hours.” Sky said. “Here it is.”
Alex was about to ask Sky something, but his thoughts went to the building in front of him, with a cloth symbol in a sign in front of it.
Both of them entered the store, the place was somewhat similar to clothing stores back stores back on earth, but with a whole lot of white leather and fur, which were the materials that most of the clothing seemed to be made out of.
“I think we are a bit early.”
Alex noted, noticing that the place was empty.
“Perhaps. Do you want to come back later-“Sky was interrupted by a loud shuffling in the back of the store, a very tired young man appearing behind a balcony shortly afterwards, he opened his mouth to say something, and then froze staring at Sky.
“Are you all right?” Alex slowly said, feeling a bit worried about the boy.
“Y-yes, sorry, it’s just…I wasn’t…err...expecting the living saint in the store.”
“It’s fine. I came to buy clothing for my friend over there.” Sky said, pointing towards Alex. “By the way, what’s your name?”
He flinched at being called friend, but didn’t say anything else.
“R-right.” The boy said, staring at Sky for a few more seconds, and then remembering that the saint had asked him something. “M-my name’s Eric.” He said, then looked towards Alex.
Alex could not help but be amused about how star struck the boy was, even if it made him wonder a few things.
“Aren’t you a bit young to be working here?” Alex asked, a bit curious.
“I’m not that young.” He grumbled. “I’m 15, and…well, my father didn’t think there was a lot of movement this early, so he told me to take care of things for him…”
Alex could not help but feel like it was kind of a dick move, especially during winter, but then again, it was a medieval society.
“Anyway, what are looking for in clothing?”
Alex stared at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…being the living saint-“The boy was cut off by Sky.
“Call me Sky, please. No need to keep repeating my title.”
Eric nodded eagerly, his face red. “R-right, um, you must be an adventurer too, right?”
“Probably. Why?”
“T-that’s because we have some pretty good stuff here.” Eric said, then entered the same door that he came from, returning a few moments afterwards, a breastplate in his hands. “This here is a leather armor made from a forest devil, tougher than steel but much lighter.”
Sky stared at Alex. “So, what do you think?”
“Yes? I think it’s good…right?” Alex asked, staring at Sky, whom didn’t say anything. After a few seconds of that, he continued. “But first, I need some clothing, please.”
“R-right.” The kid nodded, put the armor in the corner then walked in the store, grabbing a bunch of different clothing. “What you are looking for? Comfort? Protection?”
“A…mix of both, I think.”
Soon, Eric was in front of him, a pile of clothing in his hands. Alex took them and walked into a side room, testing them out. While he did that, he heard the two talking.
“Err…this might sound weird, but, how did you start adventuring?”
“It’s kind of a common question; actually, it was a…mixed start. I got a good weapon from an adventurer, killed a few monsters, explored a dungeon, and, well…the rest is story.”
Alex himself paid attention to Sky’s words as he tried the clothing. It fit him surprisingly good, on top of being oddly comfortable; the one problem was that it was a bit loose, but it wasn’t a big deal.
Soon, he was in the middle of the store, wearing his new clothing and holding his old one and plus a few others that he had liked in his hands.
“I kind of forgot to ask, how many should I buy?”
Sky shrugged. “As many as you like”
Feeling a bit guilty, he bought three pairs of clothing; if he needed more, he could buy afterwards. Hopefully.
“I was kind of curious, why do you sell armor in a clothing store?”
“Why not? In an area like this everyone needs a bit of protection, and my father tells me that since he is already making leather clothes, might as well make leather armor.”
“How very capitalist of him.” Alex said as he grabbed the armor.
“What?” Sky and the kid both stared at him, confused looks on their faces.
“Long story, anyway, how do I put this on?”
Eric guided his trough the process, Alex had a feeling that he would need help the next few times until he got the hang of it, far too many straps.
Soon, Alex was staring at the store’s mirror, albeit one made out of some polished metal rather than glass. His armor and clothing were all different shades of white, both shirt and pants were a darker shade of white, his coat was as white as snow while his armor was closer to gray.
He stared at his armor, now complete after Eric had went again to the back of the store to grab the rest of it, now, most of his body was covered, only his hands, feet and face hadn’t armor in it, although he was wearing an helmet that didn’t hinder him too much. Over the armor, he was wearing an white fur coat, all in all, it was surprisingly comfortable.
“It’s…nice, I think. But why is everything white?”
“The leather from most monsters in the region is mostly white, and it’s actually kind of difficult to change the color.”
“You look like you are copying my style.” Sky said.
Alex noted that most of his clothes looked like leather versions of Sky’s outfit.
“So…you are the…I mean, Sky’s apprentice?”
“I’m…not sure. Maybe?” Alex replied staring at Sky.
Sky shrugged, but Alex felt like that was accurate, it seemed like Sky was taking him under their wing.
“Something like that. Anyway, here is your payment.” Sky said, throwing a gold coin towards the kid, whom seemed to get frozen in place as he stared at it.
“T-this is a bit much, sir…err…miss…err, Sky.”
“It doesn’t matter, you can keep the change. Plus…I have a feeling that you want to become an adventurer, yes?”
“Y-yes. How did you figure it out?”
“You made it obvious. Use the change to get something good once you awaken, and be sure to ask for the hunters for help to get your early levels, all right?”
“Y-yes. T-thank you very much for the advice.”
Sky shook their head.
“It’s no problem. So, do you need anything else?” Sky looked, staring at Alex.
“I…don’t think so, no.”
“Good, let’s go then.”
Sky said, leaving the store, leaving a very confused Alex and a very flustered Eric. Alex followed them, soon he was back to walking through the snow, the clothes that he bought in his hands, unfortunately, this world didn’t have plastic bags to carry things.
“Is that kind of reaction common?”
“It…varies. I wouldn’t call it common, but in some places that happens often.”
Alex hummed in acknowledgment as he followed behind Sky, as they went…wait a second.
“So, how are you handling the cold now?”
“I can’t even feel it anymore, to be honest.”
“Good.”
“So…where are we going now?”
“You got armor, what do you need now?”
Alex thought for a second, before almost slapping himself. It was rather obvious.
" A weapon."