The four of us continued discussing what we knew for the rest of the afternoon. My mum cooked a tasty lunch of rice and dishes for us in between, but we continued talking even as we ate. There was just too much information Masa and I didn't know. And it turned out my parents had no idea about the game despite killing tons of monsters and levelling up. They did find it strange that the creatures around here were so aggressive and would vanish after being killed so they couldn't even harvest them for materials.

Apparently normal Shyi'eld creatures were just like the animals of Earth, apart from some smarter and thus more magical ones like corvids or cetaceans. Masa certainly perked up at the sound of that. Uh-oh, maybe he was thinking about taming a crow or becoming some sort of bird master like in a certain famous Japanese game?

Hmm, that did sound interesting though. I wonder if I could do it too. Were there any taming Skills?

But before that, we needed to know more about this other world we had stepped into. My parents told us what they knew about the countries they visited before and the money system. Fortunately the game had simply used the same currency which was standard in the more advanced countries, and we were relieved to find that our guild cards and teleports could also be used in other parts of the world. However, instead of being called "adventurers", such people were officially known as "mercenaries" since they were mostly paid to hunt or for escort missions. According to my dad, all of Shyi'eld had been explored, so there was no longer any need for people to go adventuring. Oh well.

I think the most surprising thing we learnt was about how time was counted in Shyi'eld. A year was made up of 700 days, which was 100 seven-day weeks. A day was 24 horas, or 100 minuts, and 1 minut was 100 ticks. I couldn't decide whether that made it easier to count or not, since I was used to counting to 60. And having 700 days meant that the planet was huge, right? Almost twice the size of Earth? Was it even a planet, or was this world flat?

My dad laughed out loud when I asked him those questions. How rude! He wouldn't stop laughing, so my mum had to change the subject. She asked about the Skills Masa and I had and seemed curious about how they could level up.

"Well, of course our skills can improve too, but as far as I know, the level or whatever is not so clearly stated," explained my mom. "There's only something like beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Anything above that has an additional 'mastery' suffix added."

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I turned to look at my dad, who had both Sword and Dagger Mastery. Just how much had he trained those Skills? And why hadn't I discovered that my father was a master swordsman? Well obviously they were good at keeping secrets, but if I had known earlier, I could have trained from a young age, like Masa! But now if the four of us formed a party, I would probably have nothing to do. Dad and Masa could handle the front lines while Mum was a one-woman logistics department and could even provide ranged support since she had the Throwing Skill. Er, maybe I could sorta be a healer, if they ever needed one? D-did they really need me at all?

Slumping down in my seat, I considered my options. The only thing I had going for me was my Light affinity, I suppose, which was more of a support-type. And I couldn't even heal very quickly yet. I definitely needed more practice. Perhaps I should also put in more effort to unlock the last two aspects of Dispel and Immunity. Not that I knew how to do that...

"--nn. Rynn!" My mum's voice interrupted my pessimistic train of thought. I unconsciously sat up straight and turned to look at her. My dad and Masa were also looking at me, with somewhat exasperated expressions on their faces.

"Y-yes, Mum? You were talking about Skills?" I ventured, but she shook her head.

"The topic moved on while you were lost in your own world as usual. I asked what the two of you planned to do after this," said the older woman.

I glanced at Masa, who shrugged and left me with the decision. "Well, to be honest, we were only coming back to find you guys so that you wouldn't worry about me," I told her. "We've been doing some quests at the Nevda guild to earn money so far, but I would love to see more of Shyi'eld if possible. I mean, you guys were so happy telling us all about the different places you have been, so it should be fun to visit them again, right?"

My parents looked at each other for a moment, probably communicating in that special way only married couples could. Then my dad nodded and said, "Sure, I don't see any problem with that. We actually planned this to be our last trip to Shyi'eld, but it all seems pointless now that you know about this other world."

"Plus you're no longer schooling, and the two of us are more or less retired, so we don't have any time constraints, right?" added my mum.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," said Masa, raising his hand. "I might be having my holidays now, but I will have to go back to school sooner or later, so..."

The three of us stared at him. "Oh yeah, I planned to study in Japan too," I said.

My parents turned to look at me so quickly I thought I heard something snap. "Oh? Is that so?" asked my dad with a smile.

"We've certainly haven't heard about that," continued my mum. "I, for one, would like to hear more about this plan of yours."

I shrank back in my seat and wondered why they appeared so intimidating despite the pleasant smiles on their faces.