Enoch, still sulking in his chair, heard someone clear their throat right behind him. He laconically lifted his head to look at the person behind him with lost eyes. Coulter was standing there, hands behind back with rigid posture. Enoch felt even worse when he realized he was now just being a hindrance to these people he’d unknowingly dropped in on and broken up their house.

Enoch was about to speak up when Coulter spoke instead, “Mr. Aadland, I have been instructed to give you a choice created by the master: Either let him teach you or leave the house. Once you’ve reached a decision, inform either me or the master. For now, allow me to give you a tour of the estate while you come to a conclusion. You have two days to decide.” Coulter then gestured to Enoch to follow and walked out.

Enoch furrowed his brow, thinking. He wasn’t sure what to make of Ripley’s offer. Was it pity? If pity was Ripley’s motivation to teach Enoch about the world, Enoch wasn’t sure he could accept help. Enoch had always struggled to count himself as someone’s lesser, making his career in corporate life short and bitter. Then again, Ripley could be just a good guy wanting to help someone out.

Enoch stood and followed Coulter, deciding to take him up on the tour. After catching up easily with the short otter, Enoch said, “I’m not sure how to ask this without sounding rude or ungrateful, neither of which I am, but do you know why Mr. Ripley is offering to teach me?”

Coulter didn’t stop walking as he answered the question, “Certainly I do. I’m surprised you don’t either, but I suppose that is one of many reasons why the master wishes to teach you. How much do you know about Aordia?”

Enoch blinked emptilly, “What is ‘Aordia’?”

“Nothing, then. How about the Flowering Kingdom? The Beastial Isle? The Resplendent Hegemony?” Coulter asked.

Enoch frowned, “I’ve never heard of anything you’re mentioning.”

Coulter stopped, Enoch stumbling to not trip over him. “So, you know nothing about geography then?”

Enoch shook his head, “I know lots about geography, actually.”

Coulter tilted his head sideways, “Hm. Well, where are you from then? The only way you’ve never heard of those countries I just named would be if you’d grown up out of continent, which is incredibly unlikely.”

Enoch smiled wryly, “I came from a place called the United States of America, in the state of North Carolina. Also, I’m very familiar with all of the continents and countries. I know that there are only humans where I come from, along with all the ground being settled in the sea, none of this crazy sky-island business.”

Coulter had an otter-frown on his face, looking ponderously at Enoch. After a few moments passed and Enoch started to want to say something, Coulter trepidatiously spoke, “I don’t know if it is my place to make suggestions to you, Mr. Aadland, but I think you should learn from the master. From what you’re saying, you come from another world, which is not unheard of, but exceedingly rare and always for a purpose. I don’t suppose you have other plans?”

Enoch shook his head, “It's fine, and I don’t have a plan. Not even close. I literally woke up in a crazy garden full of crazy racoon people.” Enoch’s eyes widened, “Wait, what guards were you saying I killed?”

“Those “racoon people” you killed were guards,” Enoch paled at Coulter’s words, “But they were not sentient, if that is what you are worried about.They were summons, which don’t have souls. The master has already resummoned them.” Enoch relaxed a little at that, though not much.

Enoch rubbed a hand over his face. “Small mercies, I guess.”

Coulter looked thoughtful after looking at Enoch for another moment, “Hm. Say, you claim to have killed the summoned guards, yes?” Enoch nodded, brow furrowed. Coulter looked him up and down, “How exactly did you do it? Those were far from the strongest summoned guards we have, but they were still garnet-level. Judging by your presence, you are a normal-ranker. The way they were killed suggests a lot more power than is possible at normal rank.”

Enoch frowned confusedly. Garnet-level? Presence?? Summons??? Enoch shook his head to clear it then answered Coulter, “Uh, yeah. I just remember trying my best to run away, but then I realized if I kept running, they would either corner me or drive me off into an unfamiliar wilderness. It's kind of foggy after that, but I remember getting really angry, then I just remember feeling stronger than ever as I exploded their heads with brute strength. Its kind of sickening, now that I think about it. I don’t know a whole lot about the strength of skulls, but I know that it shouldn’t have been that easy to smash one apart like a melon.”

“Well, I will leave my speculation aside so that the master may surmise your circumstances. So, will you let the master teach you? Or will you set off to make your own way in a world you don’t understand?” Coulter asked, making clear his bias on the matter. No, Enoch thought, It isn’t bias. That’s a cold, hard, objective analysis. He’s right. I should have a little faith in this Ripley fella.

Enoch nodded, “Yeah, I’ll take Mr. Ripley up on his offer of teaching me. I’ll be sure to thank him when I see him.”

Coulter nodded, “Good. After hearing more about you, I can comfortably say you are either a master of manipulating your presence, or you are truly in a terribly confusing mess. For now, though, I’ll allow you to rest in your temporary chambers. The master has set some introductory materials in the room, so please make sure to familiarize yourself with them before tomorrow. Follow me, Mr. Aadland.” Coulter set off, Enoch following.

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In short order, Enoch was led by the butler through the manor back to the room he’d awoken in. It was significantly changed, with shelves full of books now on the walls, looking closer to a study than a room. He briefly wondered how it had all been changed so quickly before catching himself and focusing on the more pressing matters. Namely, the introductory material and what it meant.

Enoch readily dove into it after Coulter left, yearning to gain a small understanding of where he was and what was happening. He read like he’d never read before, coming to close a second book in just two hours. He took a break, rubbing his forehead while groaning, “What the hell? How is any of that even possible? Well… I guess magic is real and quite common.”

Ultimately, what he’d learned from the beginners books was mind-altering, but relatively simple. Magic was possible, and Enoch didn’t have too much trouble wrapping his head around that, as he had been beaten with little magical people and seen magically floating islands, so what was a fireball next to that? “Scratch that, a fireball would be pretty cool, actually,” Enoch pondered, then laughed incredulously at the veracity of his statement.

Apparently, magic was not only well-documented, but also neatly organized. There were apparently two main systems of magic: Inherent magic and Gem magic.

Inherent reminded Enoch of what he’d only remembered doing after he read the page, when he had filled a glass of water with nothing but a finger. But, it also didn’t make any sense, since according to the book, one needed to have magic in their body first, whether it be from their gem or some other magical source, in order to utilize magic. Also, inherent magic, in spite of its name, was not inherent in its use. It was difficult.

Gem magic was what made up the bulk of the book, and what Enoch spent the most time rereading, as it contained a lot. People who used gem magic were simply called gem users, and they drew power from an item inherent to humans: the gem. It was glossed over, and Enoch suspected by the way the thing was portrayed as it being something everyone just knew about. Skipping that, facets and aspects were other key components to the birth of a gem user.

Facets were what determined your power sets’ bounds, and aspects awakened specific abilities. For example, if one absorbed a fire facet, then they would have fire powers. Outside of that, there was apparently a rule system about how facets and aspects formed. Facets embodied tangible things, such as fire, animals, light, and anything that interacted with your body. Aspects embodied concepts, like anger, hunger, movement, spirit, and mind.

The only gray area on the rules was where Crowning Facets came into play. Crowning Facets apparently were under no such restriction and could be anything. Enoch wasn’t sure where the Crowning Facet came from, but it sounded like one could opt in or out of taking it.

Aspects awakened abilities. Plain and simple. The only nuance in aspects was how one sculpted their power set with them. An aspect of hostility, for example, was very likely to give an offensive ability. The only other point of note was that one was limited in how many abilities they could awaken to seven per facet.

After thinking about all of what he’d learned, Enoch rubbed his eyes and stumbled over to the bed, falling in and letting forth a tired sigh that belied his final relief. He couldn’t describe it, but something about finally seeing an order in the world comforted him immensely. Ever since he’d gotten here, he was hit one after another with things that would be unexplainable and antithetical to science. Enoch burrowed under the covers like a mole and soon fell to sleep.

…

Ripley looked haggard and had a tired posture, but Coulter couldn’t ignore the positively vibrant gleam in his eyes. Ripley House, scion of house House, was no different from his parents in what he wanted to do in life. He loved to teach just as much as he loved to merc around and slay monsters.

Coulter couldn’t find it in himself to tell his master to go to sleep for his own good, as that would greatly diminish his enthusiasm, and Enoch needed an enthusiastic teacher at the moment. Instead, he decided to help channel his master’s enthusiasm by asking him questions, a tried and true method Coulter used often.

“Master, do you happen to know how you’ll behind Mr. Aadland’s tutelage? I spoke with him earlier, and I believe I’ve garnered some large insights into his circumstances, frame of mind, and attitude toward his own situation.” Coulter asked steadily under Ripley’s bold gaze.

Ripley chuckled, “I don’t know how I’ll begin his tutelage, but I do suspect. Mr. Aadland is not like most others seeking my instruction, Coulter. Call it a teacher’s intuition, but I suspect Mr. Aadland will begin the morning with a typhoon of questions of his own. Also, to be clear, tomorrow is more about me learning how to interact with him rather than begin instruction, so really we’ll just be going over the basics, which pretty much everyone knows about. I want to know how much he knows, you see.”

Coulter nodded, “I see. That is not how you usually handle students, though I can hardly call Mr. Aadland’s situation usual. Perhaps you could tell me why?”

“Certainly, Coulter. You know you only need to ask,” Ripley said with a puffed up chest. “For starters, like I said, Enoch is different from the others I’ve taught. I believe he’s more intelligent than your average state merc who comes looking for me, which isn’t a high bar to be honest. More than that, however, he seems to have a structured mind, like most who undergo tutelage from a young age do. It's rare to see among non-nobles here on Aordia, and even the Flowering Isle.”

Coulter nodded, “Yes I got a similar opinion, though I’m no teacher. I would have just taught him as normal. On another note, though, why do you want to teach Mr. Aadland? I understand how valuable your time is, and what you want to accomplish out here, so he doesn’t exactly fit in your agenda. On the contrary, he rather grinds it to a halt for as long as you teach him.”

“Don’t worry about that, Coulter. At the end of the day, I’m going to be living here for a long while, and a month or three won’t change much.” Ripley yawned, “And on that note, I believe I will be headed to bed to rest for tomorrow. I recommend you prepare some cleaning supplies, also. I don’t think he understands that my lessons can get violent.”

Coulter bowed, “Of course, master. By the way, in light of Mr. Aadland’s arrival, will you be assisting him with his facets and aspects? If so, I could recommend the transport from my home include a variety of them for him to choose from.”

Ripley shook his head, “No, I already have a stockpile, and I’d like to see the character of Mr. Aadland during training before I invest in him that much money and time. Besides, isn’t your brother the next person from the Pringleworth estate to be coming here? I don’t want him lugging around any more than he already has to.”

Coulter looked slightly disappointed at the mention of his brother. He nodded gravely, “Yes, Bentley is indeed the next person due to come here. The family would also be slightly remiss if you made his journey too easy though. It is a punishment duty for him, after all.”

Ripley nodded and walked into his room, adjacent to his study, and collapsed in bed. Coulter prepared some supplies then headed to bed himself.