Stupid, Stupid, STUPID! I berate myself, as I have many times before. This time it’s more justifiable, however. I mean, who decides a decision like that, a decision that could affect the rest of my damn life without a damn thought?! I mean, I didn’t even hesitate. The only thoughts that went through my head were delusions… A hero? Me? I mean, I even lost horribly to Gerald, and even that didn’t dampen my damn excitement!
I think all these thoughts while I ride in the driver's seat of the carriage to the right of Gerald, with a deceptive look of calm on my face… Or maybe just boredom, a lot has been said about my regular expression, but I think the aptest description would be blank. But still, the whole being a hero argument, as unbelievable as it is that a guy like me could amount to anything, has its merits. I mean, I do need a purpose in life. I’ve needed one for… well, as long as I’ve lived, I’ve never really had a purpose In life, nothing to do other than seek entertainment every day. I mean, I get it right, pain and death lie around every corner of my chosen life, and perhaps even worse awaits. But… I don’t really fear death, not anymore, at least. Death is scary, don’t get me wrong, and I still instinctually fear it. No getting rid of that, at least not for me, but on a logical level… and knowing that there are beings powerful enough to transport thousands of people between worlds…
Maybe death isn’t so bad? I have nothing to live for, not really, especially in this new place. Everyone I know, as small as the amount was, is gone. No friends, no family, no acquaintances, so there is no one too upset if I did die anyway, which was one of the only reasons, beyond instinctual fear, that I kept going before. So yeah, the possibility of death is a non-issue. Pain is different, but no pain, no gain, right? This world has already proven that I can grow. One day pain will be not but a nuisance. I can be strong, and I can make something of myself.
They’ll have to pay attention to me then.
As this thought, and it’s like pervades my brain, for about the thousandth time in my life, I take a deep breath and calm myself. Still, I think It was stupid to agree to go to this ‘Arcron knight’s institute’ without any information. There are still so many questions… Like Percival, he’s a knight and a priest? Are all healers priests? Or is he an exception? More importantly than his dual occupation, why did Gerald decide to help me? I mean, I did attack him, and those wolves proved that you gain experience from killing.
Do you not gain any from killing people? Why would that be? And beyond that, where the fuck did his monocle go? I mean, I know a missing monocle wouldn’t exactly make national news, but this is a world of magic. That could have easily been a magical item, and I have no damn clue what it did. Beyond that, not only did he not kill me when it could’ve quickly benefited him, he decided to get me into this apparently pretty prestigious knight institute somewhere that, apparently unlike all others of its kind in the Brisha kingdom, only accepts nobility or the most talented of commoners. Does he expect something from this? Is he gonna knock on my door expecting a favor in however long it takes me to graduate? Hell, he even gave me that damn sword we used for sparring. Why did they even have this? It’s unlike any of the weapons I saw on the little band of musketeers. Maybe it’s Lady Charil’s weapon? And yes, I say lady because apparently, it’s not the Countess in the carriage, but her daughter also headed to the institute. Ya know, I thought that the whole ‘Oh, I just so happened to get transported here at the same time as the first semester of this institute was starting’ was a pretty damn big coincidence, but when I asked Gerald when precisely the first semester starts he replied with
“Oh, well, ya know it’s now, in early spring.”
Which is a surprisingly loaded statement, at least to me. Because that means that not only did the season change when I got transported here, It was fall when I went to sleep, but that there are four seasons here… Or it got lost in translation, his version of spring being similar to what I would consider spring. I can’t forget that we probably aren’t technically speaking the same language. What with the Racial skill [Universal Language Comprehension] makes it impossible to tell who speaks what language. He could be speaking English, or he could be speaking some language I’ve never heard of. Of course, the essential thing this statement reveals is that I and presumably every other [Otherworlder] got transported in early spring, or at least this part of the world’s early spring. And that, that CAN’T be a coincidence. Spring is typically when events start, the year begins in earnest, and all manner of things happen, especially in the medieval age.
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I at least know that much for all that I don’t know about that era of history. The medieval period is what I conclude the technological level of this world to be, although that could still be wrong; I haven’t been to the city yet. According to Gerald, we’re a few hours from there. And you know, being only a few hours from the kingdom's capital city is another ‘coincidence,’ but I digress. It doesn’t matter what kind of fuckery the system did to aid its transportees. What does matter is what I’ll do about it, and what I’ll do… is honestly probably staying the course. I don’t… entirely care about much, and frankly, fighting did give me a sense of fulfillment. What else do I need in life, right?
Strength is a purpose that can grant me much—power, fame, money, and love. You can acquire anything you can dream of as long as you win, as long as you have a stronger fist. Of course, those are all, at the end of the day, delusions. I might have [Temporal Magic], But clearly, that isn’t enough. I mean, it took an extra level to avoid running out of mana from a single fight… how strong are Unique Skills anyway?… hmm I should probably start asking questions… but I can’t just ask about unique skills. What if they’re some big secret… let’s start with something simple and go from there.
“Hey Gerald,” I look to my left and start to question, “Where’s that monocle you had on when we first met?… and why were you wearing it?”
“Oh, that old thing, that’s the monocle of viewing. It allows anyone wearing it to see the levels of other living beings. It’s a magical item.” He responds, seemingly forgetting the first part of my question.
“A magical item? Is there anything that allows you to see the full status of someone?” I ask, a little worried but also genuinely curious.
“Oh yeah, sure, but those are stationary and have flaws like they can’t see unique skills, although that is rarely a true problem.” He responds, giving me a gold nugget of information unknowingly.
“Unique skills?” I question, trying to give my best ‘ignorant country bumpkin.’
“Yeah, Unique skills. It’s rarely a problem in Brisha anyway because only one guy in the whole damn kingdom has one, ya know, ‘The Berserker,’ the head knight? Hero of the kingdom?” He responds.
“Are Unique Skills that powerful?” I question, both a little excited and a little scared.
“Oh yeah, they say The Berserker is strong enough to take on an entire army, although I don’t think he ever has.” He says with a wave of his hand
All right… that… is both good news and bad. The good news is that Unique Skills are strong. Presumably, I just have to level up mine. I mean, it makes sense. If I get enough mana and get my skill to a high enough level, I might be able to stop time for a short moment. I don’t know what I could do with [Shapeshifting], but I’m sure it could be vital if I knew biology, and either way, it’s perfect for a disguise. Unfortunately, I was found and allowed to go to a knight’s institute in the ‘Elaine’ form, but it is what it is. Of course, then there is the bad news, thousands of people, all potential psychopaths, have this power too, and they have just been released into the world.
“Elaine… you really have a habit of spacing out, huh?” Gerald brings me back to reality with a light hit to my shoulder.
“Oh… sorry, what were you saying?” I respond.
“I was just going to warn you that you probably shouldn’t tell people that the person who taught you that technique of yours is dead. It might get you a bit of trouble,” Gerald warns.
“Why would that be?”
“Well, if it can be switched between weapons, it can probably be scaled, and that’s the mark of a mastery technique. Everyone wants one of those”
“And you don’t?” I ask, with a raise of my brow
“Too hot for my taste, that’s the kinda thing that gets you killed, and Lady Charil is of a similar mind… Look, just be careful, all right? Arcron is a den of thieves disguised as nobles.” He responds.
I think about his warning as we continue to drive down the dirt road.