Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is a pretty good read.

I feel like I should take some hints from it, like this story needs to have the MC more rational and think things out better. But that's silly, everyone likes a naive MC who falls for the obvious traps.

Also I've noticed that in the previous chapter I forgot to expand the inventory size when the gamer skill level 9 was unlocked.

No matter, lets pretend that was intentional.

Also I should probably get a PR at some stage, you guys keep complaining about grammar, plotholes and irrational behavior.

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Holding my hands in the air, I stepped out of the bushes onto the path and introduced myself.

"Hi, I'm Jon"

Immediately, the mercenary drew his sword as the princess slipped behind him and moved to a safe distance. Taking a stance, the mercenary watched me warily with a scowl on his face as he glanced to the trees.

"???" he growled as his sword waved menacingly in the air. It seemed that I had a problem. While his question was obvious and his behavior was as predicted, I had completely forgotten about the language barrier. I silently facepalmed.

This was a large obstacle as I couldn't communicate and it would be impossible for me to explain anything, my best bet would be to catching up with them at some later stage. I regretted the impression they would get from me at this point, but I had no choice. I needed to learn the language before confronting them again.

I was standing in their path so retreating backwards and running ahead shouldn't seem weird, unless they suspected I was going to approach them again and thus take measures to avoid me. But I couldn't help that.

Having finished thinking, I made my choice and started to retreat. Arms held in the air, I moved non-threateningly away from them as they watched warily, their eyes scanning the bushes and trees for signs of a ambush as I moved away. As soon as I had covered enough distance I turned and broke into a light jog, my body feeling very heavy as I did so. First on my list was to gain some distance, second would be to see about learning the language from a place of civilization.

Keeping up the pace all morning, I slowed down as my stamina decreased and when needed used the food and drink inside my inventory to fill my satiety. Happily it seemed that items inside my inventory didn't have a expiry date, the likely culprit being that time is paused.

Occasionally I passed people walking on the path, but I didn't stop for them. I had no excuse to stop them and was unable to talk to them regardless. The amount of time I would need them to talk would take far too long.

Walking steadily through the forest I reached a village in a huge clearing and then realized my second problem. Unlike previously, I couldn't use a inn for I had no money. This was getting very annoying.

But I still had to wait at the village until the princess passed by, if she didn't then it was clear they took a different path and so I'd have to retrace my footsteps to find them. If I lost them it would be hard to find them again. To spot them, the obvious answer of course was to idly in a busy place with a view of the road, preferably where nobody would care about me.

Leaning against a wall, I watched the people move around while doing my best to look bored, it wasn't particularly hard. Twenty minutes of this and I realized that I should be meditating, and that's when I realized something bad.

The mana in this world was pathetic. In Yonda the mana was floating in thick ropes, rivers of mana coursing through the air while rhythmically twisting into shapes. But in this world the mana was barely visible, tiny threads drifting with the wind and specks of gravity slowly falling through the air.

Just to confirm it, I cast the spell Gravity Cloak on myself. Alarmingly the spell took over 5 minutes to form and take effect. In the world Yonda, this had taken mere seconds. This was going to be a serious problem.

Throat feeling tight, I felt a touch of despair drift over my heart. Things had been bad enough already, and now this? I had experience already with fighting, and I knew that my physical abilities may be impressive but while fighting I had weak points. I had high hopes for magic especially as it seemed to be a rarity with not many people knowing how to counter it. But this lack of mana, it didn't bode well for me. If the world Yonda is naturally high in mana was this world's mana normal? Or was it also on the high end..

In an emergency even if I had the time to create a rift it wasn't even in the realms of possibility with the stats being consumed. Though come to think of it, I hadn't actually checked the spell description yet.

SpellRift CreationLevel1 [0%]Form a rift in the air to create a link between two targets.

Rift Creation requires the caster to form a destination in their mind as the spell is cast. Distraction or a half-formed picture will disrupt the chances of the correct destination.

If the spell is manually cast, the destination is drawn as if to reflect on the surface of the spell.

Improper precautions and lack of expertise in the casting of the spell will normally result in the rift exploding, to offset this stats are automatically consumed to achieve minimum stabilization.

Usage of this spell will result in a 90% debuff in all stats for 3 days

My face puckered up as I realized how much I had been suckered. Did they expect the rift to explode, was the consumption of stats something that they had also known? That they knew about the 90% debuff was obvious, but I didn't believe they knew the creator could use their own unstabalized rifts. They must think they have killed me.

As the people passed, a few looked at my face and turned away in disinterest, unwilling to offer words of consolation or support as I stood there hurting with my face twisted in pain. I had been a utter fool.

I stood there trying to squash the feelings of revulsion as I recalled the past few weeks, the signs had been there but I had discarded them. I knew they were hiding things from me, things they judged I didn't need to know. But I thought they were harmless secrets for they were teaching what they had promised me.

I didn't act out or move behind their back, I didn't hint at anything untowards them. I wanted them to accept I was happy to move with their plan, that I had no ill-intentions. It was naive of me, but I knew they had resources I couldn't counter, the spy I couldn't find.

Intelligently I knew they were in the right, that their actions were justified for what they had done. But I didn't intend to kill that man, they had forced my hand at the outpost. They made me do it.

The mage and the spearsmen, even when they confronted me they intended to fight me, they tried to kill me. It was their fault that this happened, they forced me into it, they made me follow this path. They hid things from me, told me lies, pretended to align with my goals.

They said they didn't want to fight. That they wanted to separate from Earth. Didn't want to wage a war. They did this to me.

My mood shifted darkly as I glowered, thoughts tumbling as I examined the past few weeks. The Overseers KNEW what was going on. They knew everything. The callousness of Calin as he betrayed me. The disinterest of Talok as he moved to hurt me.

I had been so naive.

Eventually sighing, I slipped out of the dark mood. Even thinking about them now I doubted we would met again. The Empire perhaps, but not the ones I called enemy.

Resolving to forget them, I concentrated intensely on listening to the conversations.

Shortly afterwards, a window appeared.

Spoken Language: Sanien has reached 50% comprehension

Another hour passed as I listened to the people before until I saw the princess and mercenary in the crowd. The same moment I caught sight of them, their eyes saw me. Leaning over to the princess the mercenary whispered something into her ear. If I had to guess, it would be "He's a creep, lets pretend to stay here and escape tonight" judging from their expressions.

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I didn't react however, turning back to watch everybody else with forced interest. I realized that I could actually recognise most of the people around me and that they seemed to be a bit apprehensive of my gaze, have I stood here that long?

The princess and the mercenary moved into the inn, sitting at a table as I oh so causally walked past the door and glanced in. Walking around the outside of the inn I checked the amount of exits the place had, however I found two. This was going to be a major pain.

There was nowhere nearby that I could keep watch of both of the exits, so I moved instead to a patch against a stone wall that I could keep track of both the village exits. Leaning against the wall, I watched the roads as the traffic started to die down. As the sun set and the moonlight lit up the roads I took out a thick canvas and wrapped myself in it, nobody noticed me as I kept watch.

I didn't dare sleep as I watched, but the night was quiet, the air still and canvas warm. I succumbed to temptation.

When I woke in the morning I cursed, I had fallen asleep. Not all was a loss however, they should still be inside the inn sleeping or eating breakfast. Packing the canvas away I looked inside the inn's dining hall and stifled another curse. They were not in there.

I went to the innkeeper and asked him in broken Sanien "I'm looking for a man and girl who stayed the night, have they left yet?"

He puzzled over my words for a second before shaking his head, "They didn't stay ??? night, ??? ??? a meal and left"

Drat drat drat.

"Know which way they went?"

"??? know them?" he asked, his eyes suspicious as he watched me.

"Yes" I growled in frustration, "I need to make sure they arrive safely. Do you know which way they went or not?"

He bit his lip as he thought over my words, puzzling over what words I failed to translate properly until he finally admitted "Nope"

Biting back a curse, I left him as I moved towards the village gate. It was a safe bet they would be taking this exit, given that we entered through the other gate. But I didn't know their final destination and as the innkeeper didn't know a thing I would need to find them myself.

Thanks to the head start they had I knew I had likely lost them, especially if they had the money to eat in the inn. They clearly were running from me, why else would they leave the inn if they could afford to stay the night there?

Leaving the village behind, I ran as fast as I could down the path as I scanned ahead of me. Pausing to recover my stamina I constantly cast Gravity Cloak on my body to reduce my weight for even though the casting time was long I could still cast it before the spell expired.

When the path branched, I was forced to make a decision. The main path continued through the forest twisting, but the other path was barely travelled with only a few footprints pressed into the dust.

Eventually I picked the worndown path, hoping I didn't make the wrong choice. When the path opened up and sloped, I could see miles ahead of me with every turn revealed. As I scanned ahead, I realized with a curse that there was nobody traversing this path.

Biting yet another curse back, I retraced my footsteps and moved towards the main footpath, trying to recover the time I had lost.

A few hours of this, and I finally found them. Their figures walking down another small path.

I sighed and relaxed, reducing my speed to a normal walk. They wouldn't be able to recognise me at this distance, but I dreaded our second greeting already.

Moving closer towards them I hailed them as I drew near "Hey!"

The mercenary turned and the same situation repeated itself as the princess moved behind him while he drew his sword. The familiar scowl on his face was there, but the face of the princess was tinged with fear as she looked at me.

My thin shirt and trousers were dusty and sweat had soaked through from my exertions as I approached with my arms held high in the air. "Hey!" I yelled again, just to make sure they knew it was me.

"Don't ??? closer!" he yelled, his face looking scary as he glared at me. Now that I had a closer look, he looked to be in his early twenties, not the worn man I had seen the other day.

"I want to talk!" I yelled

"Stay away! I'm warning you!"

They didn't seem like they would welcome me with open arms, it seemed my best option would be to reveal my purpose in seeking them out.

"I've been sent to guard her!"

"To what?"

It seemed that 'Guard' didn't translate properly.

"To protect her!"

"She don't need you!"

Well, they would find out sooner or later.

"I'm a mage"

"A what?"

Uh, what's another word I can use..

"A magic caster!"

"Stop talking ??? and leave us!"

I didn't seem to know the equivalent world in this language, nothing for it then. I should probably demonstrate somewhat..

The spell Torchlight was the easiest to cast, but it would also be unnoticeable during the day, so as I prepared the spell Lightball and the mana slowly accumulated, I waited until it was ready before yelling "Let me show you what I can do!"

Less than a second later, a burst of light exploded amidst the forest and the princess screamed in fright. This was not going how I thought it was.

"The ??? was that" he yelled accusingly as they slowly backed away from me with fear on their faces.

"Its magic!"

Spoken Language: Sanien has reached 90% comprehension

FINALLY.

"Its magic!" I yelled again. This time I could sense the Sanien word had been used.

"Magic isn't real!" he bellowed in denial.

"Can I just come closer? I'm getting sick of yelling!"

Ignoring his protests and demands to stay back, I drew closer as they cringed away.

I stood 5 meters away and swallowed to soothe my sore throat, I needed a drink. But I doubted they would react favorably if I reached into the air and took a water bottle out.

I hand my hands up and hoped he wouldn't make any rash actions "Don't worry, I've been sent to guard her"

I had a feeling I could be approaching this more diplomatically, but I couldn't think of how at this moment.

"We don't need your help" he hissed, his weaponless arm stretched out in front of the princess as if to protect her as his sword wavered in the air between us.

I shrugged "Not my choice"

"Who sent you" The princess spoke up behind the mercenary, her voice gaining courage as she spoke.

"Heard of the Order of the Mages?" I hoped this wasn't a real thing.

She paused for a second, then slowly said "No"

"I'm not permitted to talk about them. But I've been sent by them to help the princess as she requires"

My plan was simple enough. There's a higher order that is mysterious and knows about the princess. Maybe a ancient prophecy about her as a excuse on why she's so important and that I've been sent by the order to guard her and to help her fulfill this prophecy. Actually, that sounds like it would induce some weird questions. Lets just go with I've been sent for reasons unknown to me.

When I mentioned 'Princess' they gasped as if it was some secret, probably was infact. But I was sick of chasing them down and really wanted to have this done with.

It was obvious that they didn't trust me, but it changed somewhat after the mercenary called my flash of light a children's trick and I amazed (scared) them again with another of my 'many' spells (Gravity Cloak) to make a pebble fall in slow motion through the air. By this time Gravity Cloak was effective enough to make the smaller objects have an increased effect with gravity lowered even further.

Eventually after diplomatic talking I managed to convince them to allow me to stay, but I would walk ahead of them. The princess looked like she wanted to ask me a few questions, but refrained due to the hostility radiating from the mercenary.

With a hurdle crossed, a new thought occurred to me as we walked. I really do need to weaponize my magic, I can't always be this helpless.