Chapter Twenty-One: I Don’t Know Where I am Goin’ To
It was a little embarrassing that not only was he wearing children’s clothing, but he also couldn’t quite dress himself. He gave up on the garters and stuck with his own socks for now. He wasn’t used to suspenders either and wished he could just use his belt, but there were no loops to hold it up, so he just had to go with it. He kept his t-shirt on to save him from the Brillo pad texture of the shirt. At least the hole in the side was now covered. Skipping the hoodie for now, he tried to tighten up what he could. The jacket, he just considered it a unisex jacket now, was truly the centerpiece. It had straps along the bottom that he could tighten up, keeping the clown pants from flapping around. It allowed for a full range of movement and was very comfortable, having previously been worn in, but it also felt quite robust, with pockets and leather pads protecting vital areas. It was a size or two too big for him, but Marc was more than fine with it. He moved around and stretched to test it out and the ensemble seemed to work acceptably.
《Hardly the cover of Teen GQ, but it’s a lot better than that homeless crack addict look you have been pushing.》
“Wait. Can you see even see me? How can you see me? Aren’t you inside my head?” Marc protested.
《Do you think I have actual eyes? Like a Cyclops eye sticking out of your forehead?》
Marc thought about it for a second.
《I don’t see things, I know them. Everything within around a hundred meters of you, down to the atomic level.》
“Wait… how much is that in feet?”
《That’s what you want to… I really shouldn’t expect too much. Anyway, you should really start to use metrics. It’s way easier to deal with here. That crazy Imperial system you Americans use is so archaic it’s just going to cause you trouble. While you are at it, you should also learn how to calculate time here.》
“Wait, time is different here?”
《Of course, it is, well, the measurements at least. What did you expect? They are just some arbitrary measures put in place by people thousands of years ago. Why would a completely different civilization, one that evolved in a separate dimension use miles, minutes, and thirty-day months?》
Marc’s mind was spinning. For some reason, this was more disturbing than the whole rabbits have horns thing. It was easy to forget the whole dimensional travel thing.
“Wait, so when I say give me a minute…”
《I have to translate it to be more like “Give me 0.9009 minutes. Trust me, it’s weird. Makes you sound like a freak.》
Marc sat on the bed, dumbfounded.
《Anyway, we can go over that stuff later. It should only take a few minutes to be honest, children here learn how to do it in an afternoon, I think it took you a whole year of kindergarten to learn all those crazy archaic systems back on Earth. For now, you should get back out there before Grenn breaks through the door to show you how to use the garters.》
He bolted up at that thought. He had so many questions now that the Interface was talking to him, but he could come back to that later. He went back through the door to show his new look off to Rynan and Grenn.
----------------------------------------
The rest of the day was far less eventful. Grenn would be staying a few days while they came up with a strategy for helping Marc adapt to this world. With Marc’s permission, Rynan explained Marc’s situation and identity as a Traveler. There wasn’t a better option as Grenn was the only one who could help him establish a real identity in this world. He has also earned some trust by saving Marc in the first place.
Of course, when he found out, Grenn did show more than a small amount of concern. He had been raised, as everyone else in this world had, to believe that Travelers were inhuman monsters. He had suspected there was something strange about the boy, but this was an order of magnitude more serious. Marc noted however that it just took a firm statement and a threatening glare from Rynan and he calmed down immediately and soon just accepted the information they had shared as indisputable fact.
Grenn had been an orphan Marc later learned. A survivor of a merchant caravan that had been besieged by beasts while in transit to the nearby city, Rynan had been the one to stop the attack and rescue Grenn when he was just eight years old. Initially, he had gone to an orphanage in the city, but one day he had shown up on her doorstep, begging her to take him as a student so he could use magic the way she had.
Things didn’t exactly go according to his plan, however. Grenn Awakened at twelve years of age with an affinity for fire Mana. He had an affinity. But not much talent. While he was able to manifest some skills, mostly internal energy enhancement types, he had great difficulty with higher skills like external manifestation. Still, Rynan had mentored him for many years, teaching him how to use his limited skills to expert levels. Eventually, Grenn had even risen to a high rank in The Guild due to his overall competence.
It was because of his background that he couldn’t help but want to assist Marc, despite his tribal fear of the legendary destroyers. That said, both Rynan and Grenn felt it was best to keep Marc away from the city for now. At least until he had a good enough understanding of the environment and culture that he could avoid too much scrutiny.
While Grenn had reported finding a boy to the Guild Head in Clearwater, he had only mentioned that he was a suspected former slave. It was certainly an administrative concern, but not without recent precedent. Grenn would be able to manage the information and should eventually find a way for Marc to gain independent access to the city.
The other thing that they discussed that evening was helping Marc defend himself properly. Even with magic, Marc lacked the basic survival skills that most children were taught from an early age. Clearwater was located in a wild and underdeveloped area of the Republic due to its proximity to the steelwood forest of Breen and the Ged mountain range, both resource-rich areas, but also dangerous due to the number of powerful beasts that inhabited the area.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
It was decided that Grenn would spend the next few days teaching Marc basic survival skills, not just for moving around outside the City Walls, but for life within the city as well.
While they talked about their plans, Marc prepared dinner for the three of them. He tried to replicate fried chicken with Vorpal Rabbits and the experiment had worked out rather well. Grenn was beyond impressed and in the end, Marc went to sleep a bit hungry as he had given up half his portion to the giant man. Despite that, Marc was extremely grateful that he had some allies in this world who he could rely on.
It was a strange feeling, something he had never experienced in his old life. He had plenty of teachers, counselors, and relatives who said that they were there to assist him, but in the end, no one ever really seemed to want to help. It was either a job or some unfortunate family obligation. But this felt very different. Both of his protectors had acted as though this was simply the basic expectation, to help people who need help to the limit of their ability, not just the bare minimum. Alone in his room, Grenn having chosen again to stake out the area near the fireplace, Marc wondered if this was also an aspect of the different values of this world.
《There are indeed rules regarding hospitality and civility for those on the Path.》
“Then does that mean everyone I meet will be like this?”
《I can’t say for certain, but I wouldn’t expect that. People are all the same, at their core they are selfish and fearful, and foolish.》
“Ouch. Now who is being rude?”
《Whose experience do you think I am drawing upon for that conclusion? You know yourself what people are like. I see no physiological difference between you and Grenn that would account for a more enlightened outlook. I would assume that the differences are entirely cultural, trained, and learned.》
“Wait so Grenn and I are the same, physically?” Marc asked incredulously.
《Fundamentally yes. Practically, don’t make me laugh. He could snap you in two by flexing his pinky finger.》
“That’s better. I was getting worried when you went more than three sentences without a snide or sarcastic remark.”
《I was created to serve.》
Marc ignored the petulant response.
“Then why is he so huge? Why is everyone so huge? Why am I wearing kids section hand-me-downs?”
《That should be obvious. The Mana Cores. Mana is present everywhere in this world and is concentrated by the Mana Crystals that grow in the bodies of living organisms. Even without the ability to use magic, the crystals process enough Mana to enhance many aspects of their hosts. The people of this world should all be healthier, stronger, and live longer than in your world.》
“So if I stay here I’ll get buff like Grenn? Sweet!” Marc imagined having a build like that. This was almost as good as the magic powers, which he had, but still did not work.
《Of course not.》
“Huh? What do you mean?” Marc braced himself for some sarcastic insult.
《You won’t. You can’t. Mary told you, your body won’t change. You are a fixed point. You can regrow a limb, but you’ll never have a full beard. Not like you were ever destined for that anyway.》
Marc couldn’t believe what he just heard.
“You mean I will be like this… forever?”
《No, just until you die. Or until you finish your mission here and Mary pulls your plug.》
No. No, no, no, that couldn’t be right. People thought he looked like a kid here and now… he was going to be like this forever? Well as long as he was on this planet.
Marc stared at the jacket. He was immortal. But an immortal stuck in a girl’s size 2 for life.
What the actual F… “Wait. What about…”
Marc pulled up his stats again.
Grenn was a base level 72. Rynan was 267. He checked his own level. He noticed before that while his interface was leveling up and some of his skills like the cooking skill also seemed to go up when he used them, his base level and stats stayed the same as when he arrived.
《Correct. Your base level and stats are fixed. Levels aren’t actually real. I just used game systems to show you relative ability levels in a way that would be easy to understand. Since you are fixed, your “level” will never change. Get it?》
This was bad. Very very bad. Monumentally bad.
So no matter how much he worked out or hiked, or lifted weights or whatever he did…
《…Your body, your level, and your stats will not change.》
Then he noticed something else. Something just as disturbing.
“Wait. No, aren’t the numbers… lower?”
BASE LEVEL: 1
STRENGTH (STR) [4]
CONSTITUTION (CON) [4] +2
INTELLIGENCE (INT) [7] +3
AGILITY (AGI) [5]
DEXTERITY (DEX) [6]
LUCK (LUK) [0]
HEALTH RECOVERY (HR) [1.203%] (HR)/MIN
STAMINA RECOVERY (SR) [0.523%] (SR)/MIN
Marc checked them again. Indeed the primary numbers were the same, but there were numbers next to them.+1 or +2 or +3. They definitely used to all have these modifiers, but now some have disappeared and other numbers were lower.
“Why are the numbers different?”
《That should be obvious. They have been going up and down all week. You mean you never noticed?》
“Come on, you know the answer to that. Aren’t you in my head?” He snapped.
《Yes, I just like pointing these things out to you. Put on the hoodie.》
“What?”
《Put. On. The. Hoodie.》
Marc rolled his eyes but summoned the hoodie from his storage. He’d left it there most of the time, just putting it on in the mornings when it was cooler. He pulled it over his head.
“Ok. Now what? Oh shit!”
Marc watched as his stats slightly changed. Next to the stat for Constitution, CON, the number changed.
【CONSTITUTION (CON) [4] +3】
“So clothes can improve my stats?”
He noticed that some of his skills also added to the modifier.
“And skill too?”
《Obviously.》
Marc pondered that. Then he checked his Equipment screen. he had ignored that one for the most part as it was obvious what he was wearing.
EQUIPMENT:
GUILD PATROL JACKET (DUR 10/10)
CHILD’S STIRRUP PANTS (DUR 9/10)
T-SHIRT* (DUR 3/10) (STR +1)
UNDERPANTS (DUR 9/10)
SOCKS* (DUR 9/10) (INT +1)
LEATHER BOOTS (DUR 7/10)
He scanned the list he noticed that his new shorts, now swapped out for the ones that Grenn had brought did not have a modifier. But everything that he had been wearing when he arrived had a +1 in one of his stats.
He remembered that there had been some hidden information when he appraised his clothing before. He pulled up the details on his hoodie.
HOODIE* (DUR 5/10) CON +1
A SIMPLE FLEECE HOODIE.
*CLOTHING ITEMS BROUGHT FROM ANOTHER WORLD. GRANTS BONUS WHEN EQUIPPED. INEXTIRPABLE.
“Well Okay then. Stats are locked, but some things will buff the stats up. And for some reason my ratty old clothes all have bonuses.”
It wasn’t all bad news, but the good news wasn’t that big of an improvement. The downsides were pretty substantial. Marc flopped facedown on the bed. Even stacking dozens of skills wouldn’t give him near the stats of Grenn, let alone Rynan. There probably wasn’t an otherworld Walmart nearby where he could buy a few extra layers of stat-boosting clothes either.
《None nearby at least.》
If only he could unlock Magic.
《That’s easy enough.》
“…”
“What?”
《I said that is easy enough. Unlocking your magic.》
“You know how to unlock my Magic?”
《Of course. Didn’t I mention that before?》
“…”
《Would you like me to explain the procedure?》
“Kira, you can be such a b-“
Kira cut him off.
《Manners. You are going to want to rephrase that thought. If you want to ever live your wizard dreams.》