“Wait seriously? It’s truly that surprising that I’m alone?”
“Indeed. There is little doubt in my mind that as of this moment, the entirety of this town’s guard is alert and keeping an eye out for you.”
I considered that as I laid alone in the room I had rented. Once I had closed the door and had privacy from all the local prying eyes, I had immediately asked Sophia to explain the guard’s odd behavior. Despite frequent conversations about this world’s common sense, there was only so much I could have learned, or that she would remember to specifically tell me about over the span of just two short months. Especially considering that the fact that magic exists here changes even the most minute of details that otherwise I wouldn’t even consider. One example of this is the economy.
In this world there exists a very commonly found material known as Spectral Quartz. This mineral is very common, and found pretty much everywhere, and is also the basis of pretty much every human town and city’s currency. The reason this rock is considered so valuable, despite its lack of scarcity, is the interesting effect it has on the human body. Spectral Quartz possesses an odd nature where simply being around it inflicts living beings with a very small amount of soul damage. This led a great many armies to try to make weapons out of it, hoping that if they took arrowheads made of the substance, and shot them into their enemies so that they broke off and stayed inside, the constant strain on the soul would eventually kill any survivor, like a natural poison. However, a different discovery was made.
The reason that Spectral Quartz can interact with souls in the first place is that it actually has two natural states of being that it can switch between. It can either exist as a simple physical chunk of rock, or it can become intangible, coincidentally in the same state of existence as souls are. And if for example, you had a small chunk of it inside of you, and you stimulate the mineral with your mana, it would then diffuse into your soul itself. Then, by forcefully rejecting it out of your soul, it could then be brought back into the physical world, this time outside of your body.
The interesting part is what happens while Spectral Quartz is diffused inside of your soul. It still causes mild soul damage, but at a slow enough pace that depending on the quantity you have inside of your soul, you can recover from the damage faster than it is dealt to you. This causes a sort of ethereal scar tissue to develop, making your soul grow both stronger and larger. This growth of the soul has two major benefits. One, it’s a natural defense against soul damage. This means that the more you end up healing from the effects of Spectral Quartz, the more you can end up containing, causing growth to only become more efficient the longer you undergo this process. The second and what one could say is the Real benefit of soul growth is an increased cap on your maximum mana pool.
Exercises with mana depletion will grow your maximum mana pool, but eventually, you will reach a cap that you cannot grow beyond. This cap is dictated on the quality and quantity of your soul. According to Sophia, our contract will serve a very similar effect to Spectral Quartz, and constantly improve my soul until it matches hers. Then, once my soul not only matches her quality but exceeds it, it will then reverse and undergo the same process for her, until she matches me. This is not to say that Spectral Quartz is useless for me though, as due to how the soulbond works, it does not cause any soul damage. This means that I can essentially double dip my soul growth between both the bond and the effects of Spectral Quartz.
Spectral Quartz amounts for currency were loosely standardized based on weaponry. The most common amount, and the only one the average person had access to was amusingly referred to as a head, possessing roughly the same amount of the mineral as an average sized arrowhead, only the one I was fiddling with, flipping around was not shaped like its namesake and was instead a rectangular block, similar to a domino, or a thin mahjong tile. I had received 10 heads in exchange for all of the materials I had gathered that I had no real need for, and a month-long stay at the local inn with meals included had only cost me one. I wasn’t certain if I would be staying for that entire month, but given the lack of smaller denominations in currency, even if I checked out early, I wouldn’t get any refund. I had spent another 3 heads at a tailor’s, one for a new satisfactorily comfortable pair of pants and a light shirt, and the other two so that he would alter my self made pants, boots, and cloak in order to make them both more comfortable and better looking.
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Another thing about this world that was rather interesting due to magic was the invention of plumbing. Pumps had yet to be created to move water upwards, but because everyone had magic and could create their own water, draining systems were exceedingly common. All this to say, my room had an attached bathroom, but without a showerhead. It was rather odd to just see a bathtub with a drain but no spigot for water, but I paid it little mind as I got myself properly clean for the first time in two months.
“Alright, you can look now.” Sophia and I had a bit of an understanding. While normally, she would live in my head 24/7, she respected my need for privacy. When I ask her to, she stops the livestream of my life and doesn’t come back until I tell her it’s okay. Of course, I have no real way to verify if she actually does as I ask, but as a friend, I trust her enough to accept the ruling of the honor system.
After I got myself clean, I was ready. This was it, the moment I’d been waiting for. For too long I have been without, for too long gone unsatisfied. Tonight, on this night, I will finally partake in that which I deserve. Pure, unadulterated excitement ran through my veins as I finished drying my hair and donning my newly acquired shirt.
“For what reason are you so thoroughly filled with anticipation?”
I had to forgive Sophia for her ignorance. While she was technically at fault for the lack of that which makes life more colorful that I had experienced, it was with all the right intentions. Yes she had dropped me off in the middle of absolute nowhere, a place devoid of any semblance of civilization, however it was done in the spirit of adventure. So that I may chart my own course, completely free of any unwanted ties or complications brought about by other people.
“Sophia.” I explained, intensity rising in my voice, “For the past two months, I have survived entirely on unseasoned jerky. Hell, some of it had even gone bad before I could get around to eating it, remember when I got myself sick? I have no idea what the edible plants in this world look like, what seasonings I can use, what’s secretly poisonous. Tonight, for the first time since coming to this world, I will not be eating a hard chunk of bland meat. Tonight, I shall finally have a proper fucking meal. TONIGHT SOPHIA, I SHALL FEAST!!!!”
Silence fell, broken only by my heavy breathing, and filled by the heat of my desire, my burning passion almost palpable in the small room.
Sophia’s POV
I wondered if I had made the correct decision, making his starting point so far away from town. The smile upon Leo’s face was so wide it actually looked rather painful, and his eyes had a manic, almost crazed look to them. It was rather fortunate he had gotten himself some proper clothing, for if he had worn that expression in his ‘cabin-murderer chic’ getup he had arrived in town wearing, rather than just showing concern, the guard most likely would have summoned every able fighter within this hamlet in order to exterminate him.
“I see. In that case, I hope you enjoy your meal.” I knew not what else to say. How do you respond to someone so passionate about something so ordinary? While I understood how he felt, the sheer magnitude by which he expressed it was slightly unnerving. I couldn’t help but feel genuine concern for his sanity.
“Oh don’t worry Sophia, I most certainly will.”
No, you can’t say that sentence whilst wearing such a diabolical expression. By this point I’m uncertain whether you plan to make your way down to the kitchen or simply just cannibalize the next human who crosses your path.
I breathed a sigh of relief as he ignored a maid he passed, paying no attention to her as he made his way down to the dining hall. At least he hasn’t completely lost his mind in his attempt to satiate his gluttony. I couldn’t help but give a soft smile as I saw the impatient, yet eager look on his face after he placed his order. Sitting at the table, cutlery already in hand, bouncing his leg under the table. He was like a small child, waiting for cake to be placed on the table. Every time someone’s dish exited the kitchen and made its way to a table, his eyes locked onto it and tracked it, like he was a hunter and the steaks and sandwiches were his prey. When his food finally arrived, I could swear he was actually drooling in anticipation. As he ate, visibly torn between downing it all like a ravenous fiend and taking his time to truly savor his dinner, I let my attention wander elsewhere, as I couldn’t actually speak to Leo when other people were around.
These past two months, I had spoken with Leo every day. About Hell, about the world he now found himself in, and about the world he came from. Every time it seemed like the conversation had run its course, he would come up with something new to say. He would ask a question, or comment on his surroundings. He would come up with new spells, or theorize about how magic and the science he knew could potentially interact naturally, or be made to interact. For the first time in millenia, I truly felt like I had found a companion. Someone who actually wanted to interact with me. I thought of my fellow demons here in Hell, and realized that my isolation here wasn’t entirely their fault. Just as they had never come to me without needing something, nor had I gone to them. Perhaps I should make an effort to change that soon.