Chapter 24

Meeting a Friend

As I walked through the market district, I tried not to pay attention to the open stares, or the stench of fear from people who ended up near me as I walked.

I kept my instincts on a tight leash. The noise of the people in the area, and the feedback from Sense Mind was a continuing pressure on me. So I may not have projected the friendliest image. With my ears held flat, my eyes squinted because of my growing headache, and my tail twitching behind me.

I was approached only once on my walk. It was a demihuman woman. Another cat type, she didn't seem to have much in the way of animal features. Just some fluffy ears and a tail. She wore an extremely revealing outfit. She actually looked like she was dropped right out of an anime.

She propositioned me. I found myself rather distracted by her wares for a moment. Which was… new. I can't say I hadn't dreaded what this new body would bring in that department. A perfectly normal attraction to a pretty lady was the least of my worries.

Even with the unexpected feelings, I didn't lose the plot, and declined her as politely as I could. I walked away, perhaps at a slightly quicker pace than I had been traveling earlier. I was once again glad for the fur hiding my blush.

By the time I reached the place Hoyt had rented, I had forgotten all about the girl. My head hurt so bad that I felt the need to form a loose connection to the life mana in the area and ask it for healing. It did seem to keep the pain from getting any worse, but it didn't make it go away.

"Oy, lad you don't look so good." Were the first words Hoyt said to me when he saw me enter his little shop.

"Lock the door behind you, and let's get you into the back room. I sprang for some damn good privacy wards for when we made our deal. I'll bet they are just what the healer ordered." The merchant opened a door that hadn't even been visible before, and waited for me.

Once we're in the room, with the door closed and the ward active, everything outside the room was cut off. I almost fell over at the relief.

Hoyt looked at me with concern in his eyes, and spoke softly. "Sit down lad, just breathe a bit, I'll get you a glass of water."

He followed his word with actions. Pouring two glasses of cold water from an obviously enchanted pitcher while I took a seat on the couch. The back room was pretty small, but fairly well appointed. There was a thick fur rug on the floor. An expensive looking coffee table was placed between a set of plush armchairs and the couch I'd chosen.

I set my pack on the floor, and followed Hoyt's advice to just breathe for a while. When he handed me the cup of water, I took it gratefully. The human sized glass seemed so tiny and delicate in my hand. I downed the water like a shot.

I continued to funnel my personal reserves to the life mana. My headache retreated quickly now that its source was removed.

"Let me guess the System, in its infinite wisdom, decided to saddle you with some sort of powerful sensory boon." Hoyt said, with some derision in his voice.

"Sense Mind." I replied simply, I didn't see any reason not to tell the person who was probably the most knowledgeable entity in the city.

"Agh, I've had that one as a trait when I lived as a mind mage. Made cities a nightmare till I hit 250 intelligence. I might have a blocker to sell you. They ain't cheap though, and I really can't give things away in this life, unless there's more of a reason than just wanting to. Class rules, I can actually lose progress for that." Hoyt sighed.

"That's a thing? How do you know what the class rules are?" I asked.

"Well, I'm sure you've felt them kick in a time or two. Class rules are subtle if you don't fight them. It's the worst part of the job. When the System gives you a class, it isn't just tossing you some neat abilities to figure out how to use. It gives you a subconscious knowledge of how to use them."

The old merchant rubbed the back of his head, hesitating to say the next bit. "You're still on your first contract. So you are probably still so overwhelmed by everything that's obviously different about you. It's hard to notice the smaller things. First of all, I'll tell yah this so you don' get all freaked out. System makes sure it never puts you in a body or class that would cause too much dissonance with the core of who you are."

He closed his eyes and folded his hands in front of himself. "System can, and does add in subconscious triggers that can make you feel happy when you do things you're meant to. It can also make you feel a sense of revulsion towards things that don't jive with your class."

He walked over to me, an ornate sword in a well-crafted leather sheath appeared in his hands."This should work. Here, I'll give you the deal of a lifetime on this enchanted steel sword if you can swear to me that you'll use it as your primary weapon."

I looked at it. It looked extremely fancy. I could see the glow of mana radiating off its enchants. The enchants themselves repulsed me, I hated seeing the mana restrained like that. The idea of swearing to use a sword also sounded like a monumentally stupid idea, no matter how powerful it was.

I loved fantasy stuff in my previous life, and I knew enough about weapons to know that swords were a lot more complicated to use correctly than they seemed.

I shook my head. "I think I see what you mean, maybe… I don't want it for reasons that make rational sense though."

"Ha! Like I said, it's pretty subtle. Best you just accept any feelings you have like they're your own anyhow. Fighting the System's path ain't a thing that brings anything but pain." The sword vanished from Hoyt's hands.

I stayed silent, the System messing with my thoughts wasn't a new concept for me, of course. I wouldn't fall into an existential crisis about whether I was still the person I had been on Earth. Not when it was absolutely obvious that I was not, and I'd made my peace with that already. It was a frightening price, but I'd tolerate just about anything to continue living.

"Well kid, talkin' of that happy feeling you get when you follow your path, I feel like I'd be a mite happier if we got to business. I'm real keen to know how you managed to pull a pack full of cloth from that room too, I've got plenty of advice to share with you in return." The old merchant practically licked his lips looking at my pack.

I upended the thing onto the coffee table, grabbing the coin bag he had given me on our first meeting, and my brush, and setting them on the couch next to me.

There were four shirts, and three pairs of pants, plus the blanket I'd taken from the bed, and the two belts I'd grabbed just to keep the blanket nicely rolled.

"My assistant let me know that if I fully infused things with my mana, they could come out with me. This is what I had the time to infuse." I shrugged, not seeing any reason to hold back.

"Ah! You infused all this? That's… well it ain't something most classes can get done. Most classes don't produce pure mana. Okay, so here's some future knowledge for you." He tapped his finger on the table.

"You don't get the training experience all too often. Most lives have you born in them, you're you, but with none of your memories till you turn 15 and get your class assigned. Then everything comes flooding back. Depending on the job, your god's mark might get a pretty public display. Most worlds view people marked as real damn special. Makes sense since you're walking around with evidence that you've caught the attention of the one what created them." He shrugged.

"Generally they consider any personality changes you show afterward as a side effect of the whole experience with divinity. The devout will bend over backwards to aid someone marked by their god. The younger the world, the more likely everyone is to be pretty devout. This one's been running for a few generations, far as I can tell. It's only starting to see some faithless types." While he was talking Hoyt picked up a vibrant red shirt I had picked for its exceptionally shimmery material.

"Damn man you've got some flashy taste. Crimson Shimmercloth." The merchant whistled. "It's also infused with pure mana, but you knew that part. I'm gonna make you an offer for some side work whenever I come to town, by the way. Pure mana infusion is a damn good way to add value to a thing." Hoyt set the shirt to the side, and reached for a pair of jet black pants made of a thick soft material.

"These are made of wool from a sheep type monster, these ones are rarely farmed, on account of darkness critters being real damn hard to keep peaceful. Can't keep 'em in the light, cause it stresses them to death. Can't ever let them get into full darkness, cause they get all murdery. Folks who put in the effort charge a fortune for good reason. Then you went and infused it." The man's eyes were filled with more desire than I thought an experienced merchant was supposed to display.

"Now listen close, what I'm about to tell you is the kind of information that likes to slip outta folks heads if they ain't ready for it. Pure mana infusion brings out any latent magical qualities a substance already has. It also empowers some of an object's inherent Concepts. If most people see a thing, like this cloth. They think it looks warm and soft, they think the darkness in the wool helps you move unseen. Those thoughts form into a metaphysical idea of a thing, we call a Concept. Mana infusion makes that Concept become very real. Now infusion can be a bit of a crap shoot sometimes. The more people have different thoughts about something the more Concepts it picks up, sometimes a thing can pick up Concepts that outright contradict each other. The ideas that get empowered when you infuse something can be a little random."

"Back to these here pants, you lucked out on what got empowered. Person wearing these pants will be mighty happy with the comfort, they will always be warm, and when they try an' sneak, eyes will slide right off 'em. I reckon that this fabric has a few more Concepts that could have been triggered. Coulda been stifling, or itchy, or any number of things people frequently think about wool." He set them next to the crimson shirt.

"Kinda the opposite of that shirt there. Shimmercloth's known for being pleasantly cool, and the color and shine will draw every eye in the room. Those two will have drastically different customers." He chuckled.

We went through all the rest. There was only one pair of pants that I picked that didn't inspire much praise. They were simple cotton. Cotton wasn't local to his circuit though, so combined with the mana infusion, he said they were still worth something.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I was somewhat tempted to keep the blanket. He said that it was guaranteed to keep the person using it warm, and would actually have a mental effect that eased worries and made a person fall asleep easier.

Hoyt said my luck with empowering Concepts was phenomenal.

His first offer was 650 gold.

He also brought out a blocker to show me. It was an enchanted necklace. I almost physically recoiled at the thought of putting it on.

"That! I don't know much about Wild Mages, but that looked like a class reaction." He made the necklace disappear. "What made you pull that face? Was it because it might block the mana from your mind?"

My eyes widened at that. "No, I hadn't even considered that was possible. Enchanted items just feel wrong. I get to see how free mana is. When I see it bent into those forms and held there it makes me sick."

"Ahh, do you have that reaction to wards, or runed objects that you have to power?" He asked.

"Hmm, no, the mana just flows through those, and does what they ask it. It isn't held captive." I scratched the back of my head. "I guess I can see how that's a class thing."

"Mana infusion doesn't seem to bother you." He said with an implied question in his voice.

"Huh, well pure mana isn't the same I guess? It doesn't have any life to it, It's just energy." I said, without thinking about it much.

"And that's what we call a class rule . Never try to force mana to do something. Don't try to contain it in a permanent way. Don't use things that act that way. No enchanted items for you, not in this life." He eyed my staff, that was floating to the side of the couch, but didn't ask, so I didn't feel the need to explain.

I did wonder about its mana storage function. That could technically be considered holding mana in a permanent way. But my mind rebelled at that idea. I knew I could just ask the mana to enter my staff, and as long as I made it clear that it would be staying there for a while when I did it. It was fine. It would never be stored there permanently.

I couldn't even consider forcing mana to do anything. I wouldn't even know how to try.

"You're onto something with your explanation of what pure mana is by the way. What you think of as life, it's Concepts. Elemental mana is energy infused with a whole heap of Concepts. Concepts that come to so many people's thoughts that it's grown into a force that can affect reality. And so many people think such a wide variety of things about the elements that the stuff seems to be able to think, and have moods."

Hoyt looked me in the eyes, I swear he knew what I was thinking. "Don't ask me if it's actually alive, I don't know. Common thought is it just responds with the Aspects of itself that the people around think it should. It's impossible to know, and I've never had reason to care too much. Alive, not alive, it doesn't talk, and it'll pretty consistently do what you want when you know how to direct it with spells and the like. It also doesn't have a habit of doing much of anything besides gathering into places that match its Concepts without a thinking being around to push it."

"Ah, wow that's a lot to think about. Thanks for telling me." And it was, it seemed my whole class was based around working with Concepts. There was a lot to unpack there.

"No problem kid, now let's get back to business. Given your ability to infuse things, I may still have something that could work to help you with your sense mind problem. It won't be a blocker. Maybe a bit opposite of that actually."

Hoyt brought out a pair of hoop earrings made of a dark gray metal that each had a small light blue stone at the bottom of the hoop.

"These are in my shop for their looks. But the metal is known to hold and connect mana well. The stones are commonly thought to enhance feelings of calm, and aid in smooth communication. We won't know the exact effects we'll get till it's infused though." He looked thoughtful.

"How about we do this, you infuse it, I'll appraise it. We'll see if it does what I think it will. If it doesn't, I have a few other things we can try. This will go back in my stock, and I'll pay you based on how much the worth increases. If it does work for you, I'll sell it to you at the uninfused price. Just a single gold, by the way. It's not flashy enough to command any real value." Hoyt smiled genuinely at me. The man seemed to love finding ways to make both of us happy.

I nodded, and took the earrings. They took a whole lot more mana than I expected for such little things. I bottomed out, and had to eat the mana hanging around in the room. Twice. Once I was done, the room felt like a mana desert, and I was out of breath from the exertion.

"That was a good sign. Let's see them." He took them from my somewhat sweaty hands. It was weird that I only sweat there, and the pads of my feet now.

"These should work. Since it's an infusion, not an enchant, the data I get is a little on the broad side. But they should slightly help you stay calm under stress. They also will help various forms of magical communication flow more freely through your mind. Should keep you from being overloaded. It might also enhance your uh. Class activities. Not sure on that. It also has a minor boost to the effectiveness of your charisma stat." He handed the earrings back to me, I handed him a gold.

"So how do I get an ear piercing?" I flicked my big pointy ears at him. "Also do you know how piercings work with form changes?"

"You should soul bind those."

I gave him a look of pure terror.

"What's that look for? It shouldn't even be much mana debt for you at this point. What level are you?" Hoyt said, looking pretty confused.

"I'm 41 now, and I can't. Mana debt works differently for me, if it runs me out of mana, it just keeps draining my body. It could kill me."

"41! You poor kid. System's fast tracking you. That's never a good sign. I suspected something when I saw that you'd hit a physical milestone or two, but I assumed that was mostly due to a high starting point." There seemed to be genuine pity in the old man's eyes.

"What do you mean by fast tracking? I thought leveling fast was just a part of the job." I cringed a bit thinking of all the experiences I'd had leveling lately.

"It can be to a certain point, you'll always level a bit faster than normal folks. But it's been what? A day and a half and you made 20 levels. That must have been one hell of an uncomfortable experience by the by, you have my sympathy. That ain't normal, even for us. It means the System's goal for you will require it, and probably soon for it to do what it's doing." He sighed.

"I guess I should tell you what we've figured out about how the System calculates level ups." He waved a hand.

"We don't see numbers, even though there's been evidence that the System uses them for everything. That's because every single thing we do is given a value depending on how well it aligns with our assigned class. There are modifiers depending on circumstances, and surroundings. Practically every breath we take has a numeric value. If we saw numbers, we'd see nothing but numbers. The System is the decider on what modifiers get applied, and in the normal course of things it's pretty stingy."

"When it wants someone leveled fast, it maxes out their gains to the highest potential value on everything. It doesn't seem to be able to just give levels for free, and ten seems to be the maximum amount it'll give in a day unless the shit's really about to hit the fan. So it tries to get you wherever its algorithms say you need to be ahead of time."

"When we're done today, I reckon I'm gonna pack up and move on with my route. I ain't a fighter this life. If I stuck around knowing something bad might be coming, I'd probably lose a damn level. Let me assure you, I ain't gaining them like you. Haven't done new things in years, and I'm well capable of doing what I need to. The last level I gained was after trading with you, before that, it had been months."

"That's one of the modifiers you can count on by the way. Doing something new with your class is pretty much the best way to push a level." Hoyt paused.

"Ahh well it might not be that bad? I didn't give the full explanation of my contract earlier. I'm supposed to impress the humans as an adventurer. I'm also supposed to go into the wilds and convince Spirit Beasts to ally with the humans, if I can." I shrugged. "It could just want me to be a high enough level to be impressive. Right now I'm, obviously not."

"Could be, could also be a monster wave coming. I ain't about to bet on the safe one." He said, sardonically.

I couldn't argue with that logic.

"Anyway, kid, there's a solution to your mana debt problem." He held out a hand, and an egg shaped glowing pearlescent stone was in his palm. "This here is a mana stone. It passively absorbs mana to charge itself, and can be drawn from freely to restore yours. It does take an extremely long time to fully charge, but it holds a lot. This will set you back 1000 gold pieces, and that's with the old soul discount."

I practically drooled looking at the stone. I instinctively wanted to eat the damn thing. And I mean literally put the stone in my mouth and swallow. Not just take the mana from it.

"So," I said, swallowing back the drool. "You offered 650 for the stuff I brought out of the System room. How about that, plus I infuse whatever you want till an hour after sundown today? I'm supposed to join the guild for dinner two hours after sundown."

"The stuff from the System room, you work here till midnight, I feed you dinner, and I'll pick one item you imbue tonight that I think will be particularly helpful to you, to throw into the deal."

I thought about it, my new guildmates would probably worry a bit, but I needed that stone.

"Let me bind those earrings now using the stone, you make sure I am safe if it doesn't work, and you have a deal." I hoped he'd agree, the stone was distracting, just sitting there smelling like mana.

"I will personally feed you mana potions till the debt is paid if the stone doesn't work." Hoyt agreed.

We shook on it, and I bound the earrings.

The feeling of having the System drain mana from me was just as uncomfortable as the first time. But draining the mana stone hard kept my mana from ever running low enough to hurt me. The stone was only half empty when I was through.

Unfortunately, the stone still smelled delicious. But sitting with it nearby was more like sitting in a room with food you really liked on display when you weren't particularly hungry. Before it had been more like steak in front of a hungry lion.

I wasted no time banishing the earrings, then resummoning them. They appeared in my ears, it definitely stung. I absolutely didn't yelp in surprise, what would make you think I did?

I didn't feel any effect from the earrings until we opened the doors. Which we periodically did because the wards were keeping the free mana from returning, and I needed to eat to keep infusing. When the doors opened, and the outside world became perceptible again, the difference was noticeable.

I could still sense the minds around me. But instead of slamming into my consciousness, the information flowed to me. It was still a bit overwhelming, and it still raised my hackles a little to be around so many noisy smelly apes. But it just wasn't enough to make me want to cringe away from it.

The only problem was I was even more aware of the mana's call than before. But I'd gotten used to persistently increasing awareness on that front. So it was distracting, but I didn't fall directly into a connection or anything. Much as I was tempted to.

Hoyt and I talked about various things while I infused items for him. He told me interesting stories about previous lives while the door was closed. He told me hilarious stories about this one while it was open.

Midway through, we stopped, and ate. He pulled a large fully cooked, and still piping hot bird that looked and tasted like turkey out of his magical storage. I ate the whole thing, bones and all. He had the stuffing, and didn't even bat an eye at the crunching.

I told him my full story, short as it currently was, I didn't miss the look of concern he gave me when I recounted my experience with the death mana infused wolf.

The last thing he handed me was a green stone necklace.

"This stone is known to ward off sickness, it's also supposed to keep the dead from rising. So I think if you infuse this necklace, it might help protect you." He said solemnly.

We tried it, and he confirmed that it should work to keep death mana from being drawn to me. It offered no protection other than that, but that was enough to make me feel quite a bit safer. I bound the necklace using up the other half of the mana in the stone. I ended up having to make a quick deal for some mana potions with a concerned Hoyt as the stone got close to running out before my debt did. So I ended up left with 20 gold in my pouch.

I still walked back to the guild in a damn good mood.