Chapter Eighteen: I Finally See the Dawn Arriving

Marc was walking outside near the vegetable garden beside the cabin. He had asked Rynan if he could go outside and clear his head. He needed to think. She had told him so many things this morning that helped him to understand his situation, but also many things that were concerning. For one, his status as a Dimensional Traveler was a complication. Back at home, if he had advertised that he was a transplant from a parallel world, at worst he would have been locked up for a few days before the hospital threw him back out on the street. More likely he would just be brushed off as a nut. He lived just a few hours drive from Roswell after all.

In this place, it looked like it would not be so easy to stay incognito. While incredibly rare, Travelers were a known thing here. There had been other transplants in the past and there was history. Not a good history. If he was not careful then he could get locked up, hunted, or worse. Staying under the radar was an absolute must. At least for now.

One reason why Travelers got that kind of treatment was because of their abilities. Rynan had explained that his use of his inventory worked differently than the storage skill that was known here. Marc experimented by taking out his iPod and then putting it back into his inventory. He repeated the action three more times. He pulled up his status window while he was playing hide-the-mp3-player. He had noticed earlier that his Stamina declined when he exerted himself and slowly refilled while he rested. It was odd watching his exhaustion in real-time while he had been on that forced Army march with Grenn. He appreciated that he could see his condition quantified in real-time. He knew how much he had left in the tank so to speak. This was an amazing tool he would have loved to have back home. He chided himself for thinking of that place as “back home”. He had committed himself to the path ahead. He needed to break away from his old way of thinking and start afresh with this new life. Maybe this cabin in the forest wasn’t his new home, but neither was a run-down double-wide in another dimension.

Next to his Stamina indicator was his Mana. From Rynan’s description, he assumed it worked the same way as his stamina, except for with Magic. When he used Magic there would be a glow corresponding to the Mana used and Magic would be expended from his Core. Except he did not have a Core. He did not know how to use Mana or Magic. But then how was he able to use his inventory or his interface? His Mana indicator did not change no matter how many times he used his inventory. That is one heck of an exploit he thought to himself, remembering having to deal with bugs in the game that allowed players to cheat until the system was patched. He supposed that it makes sense that Dimensional Travelers were treated with such fear and suspicion. He had seen some players do some crazy things that threw off the whole balance of the game until they were shut down by the developers. The fallout had included lifetime bans for hundreds of players, many of whom just copied what they saw on the online forums. Shuddering, Marc redoubled his determination to keep his head down.

Of course, those cheat powers were his compensation for not knowing anything about this world. To survive here he needed some advantages in his corner. After all, he got trounced by those petting zoo rejects which apparently could be taken down by your average grade schooler. This world was obviously more Sylvester Stallone from Demolition Man and he was more Sandra Bullock from Demolition Man. While he did not relish the thought of going all bodybuilder, he also hated the thought that people here thought he looked like a middle school girl and a weak one at that. Maybe learning some real magic could compensate. He now had an honest-to-Gandalf Magic teacher. One with hundreds of years of experience, possibly the greatest magician alive in this world. If he could learn how to use magic that did not stick out, then he should at least be able to defend himself.

His other priority was also to level up and master his interface. He knew from experience how bad it was to play a game without understanding the basic system. People who just blindly started playing always wasted key resources and time messed up their stats and builds and usually ended up deleting their characters to start over again once they learned what not to do. Marc had done that when he first learned how to play the game during training. At that time he used his own time to redo everything from the start, heavily leaning on the public forums about the game as well as some of the internal developer’s notes that he had access to. The difference in his test account after he started over was night and day. He wasn’t sure he could restart here, so this time he needed to get an understanding of the rules, and then work on a strategy to level up.

It wasn’t much, but he felt he finally had some kind of a strategy. He needed to increase his knowledge, of this world and the social rules, also how to use Magic and other things to fit in. He also needed to stay invisible. He needed to blend in and not draw attention as a = Dimensional Traveler. That said, he wanted to travel. Maybe not immediately, but there was an entire world to see. Full of things that were pure fantasy. Magic, elves and dwarves, mysterious towers… and killer bunnies.

He needed to learn how to defend himself. Learn how to use his magic and his special Traveler powers. He hoped that Rynan would be able to teach him enough, but it occurred to him that he had nothing of value to pay her. It seemed that she was offering to take care of him, at least temporarily without expecting any money, but he didn’t even know what kind of money they used here, let alone how to earn any. He added learning how to be financially self-sufficient to the priority list. As he thought that, a pop-up appeared with a short list of items next to check boxes appeared to the side of his vision. He focused on it to see.

TASKS:

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

GAIN BASIC COMMON KNOWLEDGE

LEARN HOW TO FIT IN

ACQUIRE BASIC SELF DEFENSE SKILLS

BEGIN MAGIC STUDIES

MASTER THE INTERFACE (GOOD LUCK WITH THAT)

GET A JOB

Why was this thing that was all in his head so damn snarky? Was this a result of poor self-esteem? Or was there some magical developer out there programming his brain and taking out their frustration by taunting him? Still, the fact that the task list just appeared when he wanted one was pretty cool. Marc would use it, even with the attitude.

As he wandered around the garden Marc noticed several plants, about as high as his waist that had five or six fronds that grew out of the earth. About halfway up large branches shot out in every direction with leaves covering each branch. His interface identified these as Charnall Plant. That was the plant that Rynan had used for the tea he remembered. He bent over and sniffed at the leaves, but couldn’t discern anything. It smelled like wet leaves to him.

He was started when he heard a voice from a few steps away.

“That’s my prized Charnall. Those bushes over there are Hepic. Can you go over and find me around ten ripe berries? They should be a deep red color when they are ready to be picked.” Rynan had come out while he had been thinking and was now picking some plants that looked like spring onions.

They spent the next few minutes picking things out from the garden. Rynan had brought out a large wooden bowl and they collected their pickings as she explained the various plants that filled out her garden. Marc was impressed by the variety of plants that she had cultivated. Not just vegetables and herbs, but according to his Interface, also plants that could be used to make medicines to improve the healing of cuts and wounds, poisons and antidotes, and even some that could be turned into a tonic that increased the natural absorption of Mana. Of course all of the information that appeared in his interface he kept that to himself while listening to Rynan’s narration.

He did take note of how she picked and harvested the plants that she gathered. As he pitched in he took care to copy her movements. He didn’t want to damage any of the plants due to his clumsiness. He had never really done anything like this before. Some of his uncles in Las Cruces had done some farming once, but like everyone else, they switched to ranching when the megafarms in California undercut the market. He had visited the farms a few times when he was a kid but had no interest in it and eventually, they stopped dragging him out there.

Soon he was very interested in the garden. Especially after he got the pop-up message

【ACHIEVEMENT: GREEN THUMB. PROPERLY PICK 10 HERBS】

【SKILL ACQUIRED: FARMING - HARVESTING (PASSIVE)】

YOU HAVE A GREEN THUMB! WHO WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THAT? HARVESTING ANY PLANT IS A BREEZE WHEN YOU INSTINCTIVELY KNOW HOW TO PICK HERBS, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER PLANTS IN THE BEST WAY TO PRESERVE THEIR FRESHNESS.

Sure it was not the most exciting skill, but it was nice to get some praise from Rynan after picking a small gourd that she planned to put into the stew. He was wondering if he could pick up a cooking skill. Maybe he could get some work as a cook.

As they started to walk back to the cabin Rynan suddenly stopped. She waved her hand around the clearing and looked back at Marc.

“I need to warn you. This area is protected by my magic. Neither beast nor people can enter this clearing without my permission. If it is raining do not set out of the cabin unless I tell you it is ok. If there is a fog you will never find your way until I direct you personally. These are not restrictions to keep you here, but to protect this place from the beasts in the area, and to keep away prying eyes.” She put on a casual air while explaining it as though she did not want him to be alarmed, but then she continued.

“I like this place because it has privacy. Something you can never get when you are inside the walls of a city. Out here near the forest, the beasts can get very strong, Not vorpal rabbit strong…” she gave him a knowing look, “but much more powerful beasts live here, enough to keep away annoying pests. You don’t need to worry. My wards are more than enough to protect this valley.”

Marc stared at the trees with a worried look.

“Don’t worry. It is not my intent to trap you here.” That was not Marc’s initial concern though. “I know what it is like to feel trapped somewhere after all. But until we get your magic skills ready it is just not safe out there alone, so please bear with it for a while.” She tried to reassure him.

“Really? I will be able to use magic?” He asked hopefully.

“Of course! I told you I am a magic professor right? If I can’t help you no one can.” Her confidence overflowing.

“But, you said I don’t have a Mana Core right? How can I use Magic?” He said concern in his voice.

“I have no idea!” She exclaimed loudly. Then grinned as his face twisted into a confused frown. “But I know it is possible. That much is clear in the historical records. Not only are travelers able to manipulate Mana, but they are able to use pure Mana, not the filtered Mana we all use that limits people to just one type of Mana.” She waved her hand a a pyramid of clear water appeared floated by her hand. Then she created a thin wall of mist a few steps away. While looking up towards the sky she repositioned the pyramid and the wall, and then after a few moments, she looked satisfied. She snapped her fingers and the wall instantly froze into a solid white wall. Then the pyramid rotated and a small rainbow appeared on the wall. The pyramid continued to reform and rotate and the rainbow switched to a blue block, then to a green block, then yellow, then red.

“Every person can only use a fraction of the Mana they absorb. They are also limited by the size and quality of their Mana Core. But from what we know of Travelers…” She swung her arm and the pyramid smashed into the wall and they both exploded into a misty smoke which quickly evaporated.

“Travelers don’t have Mana Cores because their entire body is a Mana Core.” She stared at Marc hungrily. You should be able to use Mana with more versatility and power than anyone alive.” She said excitedly.

“Really? How?” Marc was dumbstruck. The developers screwed up this game if that was true. This was beyond a little bug exploit. This was a totally broken game.

“I have no idea!” Rynan laughed maniacally as she walked back toward the cabin.

A shocked, chagrined, but cautiously hopeful young man followed his strange new teacher carrying the bowl of produce.

It was finally time to make lunch.