I was still conscious in fact… I think, but none of my senses seem to work, nor can I seem to mentally elaborate anything more than a surface-level thought.
“I think I just got discombobulated.”
[Repair]
I find myself lying on the ground, mere seconds after Rubicon had clapped in front of my face at supersonic speed.
“Too slow. It would have been easy to kill you in such a situation!” His deep voice exclaimed as soon as I showed signs of having come to.
“Well, I wasn’t ready for such an attack: I thought I was in a safe place!” I rebuked.
“If you really think that safe places are so easy to find and trust in this world, it means that you still have plenty to learn.
Do you really think that you’re the only one with abnormal powers that can ignore the normal power-scaling!? No! Out there there are plenty of people capable of doing what could be conceived as ‘impossible’: Like being able to pierce any defense, no matter their nature; or eroding any mind, no matter their resilience.
You need to become ready for anything, be it by being fast enough or having readied in advance well enough.”
While listening to his word I couldn’t refute the fact that he was right, but the more he went on the more paranoid he sounded.
“Maybe that’s how one survives once you become famous across the [Nexus]? By being excessively paranoid?
…
I’ll save that thought as a maybe, since it’s seriously depressing.”
I turned to Sheeno, who probably had the more in-depth knowledge in the matter of defending from sudden attacks, given her royal heritage, to know just how much he said was unjustified paranoia, and how much was born of actual experience.
“He’s right, Darwin. That’s one of the reasons why I was pushing for you to get better armor for yourself”, she reminded me.
“Ok, then what do you suggest then, [Guild Master]?” I ask, turning back to Rubicon.
“Better armor can come later, otherwise it can become a crutch and stunt your growth. What you need is to be instilled with better ‘survival habits’, something that a normal person would have gathered through living in the [Nexus] normally, but you ultimately lack because newly [Transferred]. The week-long ‘crash course’ from Grog, while helpful, was not enough”, he explained.
I could argue that I had [Traits] especially apt at helping me with such things, but that’s probably not what they mean: I need to stop stalling when something happens, and either react immediately or have already a solution ready to be deployed.
Through your actions, you have earned +1 [Reflex] and +2 [Insight]
“That was kind of out of nowhere, but I’m not going to look into a gifted horse’s mouth… unless it’s Trojan I guess.”
*Clap*
This time a well-timed pulse-like [Barrier] from the staff attached to my back, thanks to the timely warning from [Precognitive Aura], protected me from Rubicon’s thunderous clap.
“I really have no reasons as to why I shouldn’t just keep it running in the background, it’s just that the information it feeds me passively can often be inconsequential, overwhelming, and annoying, but I guess it’s better than being caught by surprise again.
In the same vein, I should find a way to ‘merge’ it with [Unavoidable Detection], the synergy just emanates ‘cheese’… that came out kind of wrong.”
It did, but the idea behind seems both plausible and ingenious.
I am honestly surprised that it was all yours.
“…thanks…”
“Good! At least you’re the type that learns quickly. Maybe this won’t be as painful for either of us”, the [Guild Master] interrupted my mental discussion.
“Yes, he’s surprisingly good at adapting efficiently. If anything, I’d be worried that he will take too much of a shine to the training and lose connection with reality”, Sheeno interjected.
“Bah! What do I have you here for then!? Once I’m done bending him one way it will be your job to put him upright again. If not, I’m sure that I can-“, the [Guild Master] started ranting, but was interrupted before saying anything ‘dangerous’.
“No, no, you’re right. I’m sorry, I will make it my responsibility to keep him stable”, she quickly relented.
“Wait, I don’t have any say in the matter!?” I exclaimed.
“No”, they both responded at once, sharing a worrying grin.
“Oh, man…”
* * *
I was beaten and battered, and no matter how many [Repairs] I used, it had gotten to the point where it would not fix my mental exhaustion anymore.
My [Precognitive Aura] was, as expected, too slow to help me every time Rubicon tried something new on me, from sweeping the rug from under my feet to scalding my skin with unexpected spouts of boiling water from my blind sides. At least, after the first couple of times, I would quickly come up with a countermeasure, but it quickly came to show how his experience could often trump my ingenuity: there seemed to be an endless supply of methods with which Rubicon could make small, but still effective, attacks, or distract me from surprisingly well-hidden ones.
It was honestly extremely annoying, and it got even more so when he started involving Sheeno more directly, especially when he made her activate her ‘ultimate move’, slowing me down even more, without seemingly impairing him at all.
The worst part of all? Sheeno seemed to be 100% dedicated to the exercise in abuse, even when I could see it in her eyes that she started to think that it was becoming ‘too rough’, or at least when I was starting to think so.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Thankfully, lunchtime came, and with it, food. We were still in Rubicon’s secluded chamber, sitting on the ground in a triangular formation, everyone with their own plate in front of them.
“I’m sorry, but why am I eating… this?” I didn’t even know how to describe the multicolored porridge-like bowl that I was handed by Doris, Rubicon’s assistant, while he and my companion got served a colorful array of sandwiches in a fancy tray.
“That’s a [Purifying Pultrice], it’s not normally meant for oral consumption, but for you, it will only make it work faster”, the [Guild Master] clarified, and the name seemed to ring a bell in Sheeno’s mind, who slightly scooted further away from me.
“Then why is my lunch something barely considerable for consumption?” I asked again.
“Your body was at least partially remade by the [System] to be able to be integrated into the [Nexus], but you’re probably still filled with nasty stuff that shouldn’t belong inside someone that wants to grow powerful. Even now your impurities are probably holding back your growth. And before you ask, whatever [Temple] you came from probably hid minuscule quantities of this in the original feast you were welcomed with. It’s normally used in infancy to speed up any initial improvement in [Body], [Spirit], and [Mind]”, he calmly explained, while still stuffing his mouth with sandwiches and gulping them down after only a couple of chews.
“You want to take it slow though, while eating that stuff. The first few times can bring… unfortunate reactions”, Sheeno warned me.
I gave a better look at the nightmare porridge, and I noticed that there was clearly some [Aether] running through its colors, and I had no fucking clue on how they got it physically there.
“Wasn’t [Aether] almost impossible to work with? How could a [Cook] work it into his recipe!?”
Not a [Cook], but an [Alchimist], who at a high enough [level] gets a little bit of leeway on such things simply by how their [Jobs] work.
The situation though isn’t as skewed as you might think, most don’t even know what they're doing while they work.
“Still weird… maybe even more so now that you’ve explained.”
In response, I got what I could only interpret as a mental shrug.
Surrendering myself to my impending doom, I picked up a wooden spoon and, before having the time to consider whether this was a good idea or not, quickly shoveled a spoonful of the stuff into my mouth, where it almost felt like it exploded.
I actually had a hard time not spitting it out, and not because of the flavor, because there was none, but because the ‘explosion’ was omnidirectional, even along the spoon itself; but the experience passed blissfully fast and whatever the result was rushed inside of my body, making every part it touched feel like it had been washed with a minty bald.
Honestly, it was not bad at all, the feeling of freshness even lingered, making the sensation actually feel good.
Impurities extracted: All [Stats] increased by 2
“Holy-fucking-shit was this stuff good!”
I wasted no time in scarfing down another couple of mouthfuls, bringing no new befits, but the feeling of freshness was becoming almost addicting.
“Woah, slow down Darwin!” Sheeno warned, just as soon as the freshness started increasing in fervor.
It felt… chilly, but wasn’t still uncomfortable, so I let it settle down before eating another bite.
“Well, color me impressed. Never seen someone take to it that much; anyway, the bathroom is behind the tapestry with the [Wyvern] on it”, Rubicon offhandedly remarked, immediately going back to his own eating.
I only had the few seconds that it took to notice that my bowl was half empty, and register the martial artist’s words, before the pain of my innards bloomed, seemingly trying to reenact the chest’s bursting scene from the first ‘Alien’ movie.
I rushed for the promised land and barely closed the door behind me just in time before I was violently forced to my knees in front of the expected porcelain throne.
Ever felt a coldness so strong that it felt ‘biting hot’? This was like that, while also being accompanied by the physical sensation of my insides being wrung and stretched to their utmost limits by my own internal energies.
Which caused me to violently eject whatever was left behind by the ‘scrubbing’ in the form of a brown substance that was shot from my every orifice, pore, and even my [Mana] and [Aura] release a wave of brownish energy the felt funky and dirty.
Impurities removed: All [Stats] increased by 3
Covered in my own excretions, and exhausted even more than after the bout with Rubicon, I barely had enough conscience of mind to notice that the nastiness wasn’t cleaning itself, so I jumped into the shower, clothes and all (thankfully I had already removed cloak and staff before eating), and forcefully scrubbed away the persistent foul-smelling gunk.
“The extra [Stats] are nice, but I really hope that this stuff isn’t capable of staining [Enchanted] gear.”
Welcome to the world of Cultivation!
Where half the time is dedicated to taking baths of one type or another.
* * *
“Either of you could have warned me that the reaction would be that ‘explosive’!” Those were my first words once I exited the bathroom, thankfully both spot-and-odor-less.
“Honestly, my own wasn’t particularly bad, but I had been readied since birth to have a constitution worthy of a [Royal] personage, so maybe I didn’t have anything worth purifying”, Sheeno defended herself, and what she said was fair.
“I’m just surprised that you’re able to walk right after: I thought that you would be even more spent after the ordeal”, Rubicon supplied, which made me guess that he wanted to make fun of me after I was done being purified.
“Thankfully I have a [Skill] that recover almost anyone, or anything, of almost everything”, I responded, failing to not sound snide.
“Whatever, it didn’t really matter. Now, though, it’s time for your lesson on the history and social situation of the [Nexus] with the lass. I’m leaving you two lovebirds alone for it, but I want to see the carpets kept as pristine as I left them”, were the [Guild Master]’s parting word.
“Who ends a conversation like that!?” I yelled, incredibly flustered, but only earned a laugh while the culprit exited the room through the massive metal doors.
We were left alone, in an isolated, soundproof room.
Involuntarily I just blurted out “[Repair] could clean any stain anyway”, before cringing and facepalming at my own words, looking away from her.
Sheeno snorted, which attracted my attention, and once she saw she had me she sent me a heated gaze, forcing me to look away again while scratching the back of my head out of nervousness.
“OK, let’s stop messing around and get right into it”, and so saying she made three small towers of books appear with a wave of her hand; “so, with what do you want to begin? Geography and history? Politics and eticquets? Or the known inner workings of the [System]?”
That last one!
“The last one”, I excitedly said even before [Buddy]’s screen had fully appeared, almost forgetting the previous awkwardness.
The others were valuable, but knowledge about the [System] can actively help in keeping me alive more directly.
“Good, but just to let you know, some of the [Information] will have to be withheld until you reach [Level 10], so to avoid stunting your growth”, she warned me.
“Yes, yes, I get it. It’s always the same story, that keeps making me feel salty about not being there yet, not even by that much”, I whined in response.
“Stop whining. Your growth is already impressive enough: If you were to reach [Level 10] before a month of being here you would just end up attracting even more undesired attention from undesirable people”, she admonished me.
“You’re right. Sorry”, I apologized, feeling properly chastised.
Instead of getting right into the lesson though she got up from where she sat and moved closer, ending up with one of our knees touching, and laying one of the books across our legs.
If it weren’t that ceiling uniformly emitted light I would literally be overshadowed by how she towered over my prone form.
“I don’t know why, but that's kind of hot.”
Please, do not start already.
“Awooga!”