I suddenly felt very exhausted again. After hours of running, having to explain the entire history of the world, I was fatigued. My muscles still ached, I needed to rest and stretch. Also, some food would be nice. I asked our host for a space to rest and some food, and she helped gladly. After all, I could be asleep, and Neo would still be able to transmit all the data needed. She showed me to a simple room with sandstone walls, with a single bed neatly made. On the nightstand there was a bowl full of fruits and various veggies.
I had no idea what any of these were, but I ate all of it. Fruits that looked like spiky oranges, miniature sweet melons, some kind of bright red berries and so on. Probably all grown somewhere on this boulder that seemed like an island in the middle of this small desert. They were all tasty, some of them were a bit bitter, some sour, but most had a smooth and pleasant texture. I didn’t eat much fruit since I woke up, so this was something my belly was very grateful for.
After asking for permission, I hopped in the small creek that was still churning from the waterfall on top of Anubis’ home. I washed all my clothes, which after all these fights looked worse than ever. They survived for a thousand years, and were ancient relics at this point, but I didn’t have any other clothes. I washed up in the comfortably lukewarm water, and almost fell asleep. This was the first time in a long time I felt at peace and complete ease. The quiet chirping of birds, rustling of small critters and the gentle ripples on the water all soothed my soul. The only discomfort was the everlasting prickling and soft throbbing in my head as Neo went through all my memories.
When I felt ready and clean, and my clothes dried up with a bit of help from my heat magic, I got dressed and set off for my room. I was at the stairs when I almost bumped into Tara who was climbing up to the surface.
“Hey! Did you wash up?” She asked.
“Yep, the water is incredible. I almost fell asleep.” I admitted.
“That sounds nice. Listen, I don’t want to be rude, but before we get to the city, we need to get you new clothes. A hair cut wouldn’t hurt as well.”
“Believe it or not, it’s hard making your own clothes. Can I even call these that? These are rags at best.” I wasn’t too confident in my appearance right now. It was surprising Anubis even considered me as a normal person. But since she’s a cat, maybe clothes don’t really matter to her? My hair wasn’t as bad, I tied it up with a bit of cloth I ripped from my shirt into a bun, but it was reaching the bottom of my shoulders.
“Great. You know, I don’t want to pick on you, but right now you look like a hobo.” She chuckled.
“Yeah yeah, princess. I’m sorry I don’t meet your standards.” I rolled my eyes. It felt good talking with her this lightly again, leaving all the heavy stuff aside. It came up more and more frequently though. Will every other person I meet bring it up?
After chatting a bit more, I had to excuse myself to my room and catch up on some much-needed sleep. The bed was heavenly, my head didn’t even reach the soft pillow and I was already asleep.
~
I slept for more than half a day. This was my first rest since I woke up where I didn’t need to look out and be on my guard the whole time. When I woke up though, my brain felt like soft jelly, probably from scanning it and snatching all my memories. My muscles still ached, but I knew my restoring skill worked all night trying to repair me. It took so long, because it uses massive amounts of xin, which I had, however, the flow of it is so small compared to before, it takes ten times as long to heal me. I have a rocket tank’s worth of fuel, and a scooter to use it. Well, at least I won’t ever run out.
After getting out of bed and stretching my tired joints, I went up to the garden. I found Tara sitting below a tree in the grass, looking at a metallic object. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a phone. She looked troubled.
“Morning! What’s that?” I asked her as I sat down not too far from her, beneath a different tree. As soon as she noticed me, she put the device away and looked at me.
“Hey! You slept for a while. And it’s a monitoring device. Sort of. Anyway, are you feeling better?” She really wanted to change the subject. Well, I don’t care that much anyway.
“Yeah, but I’m still sore all over. This ring is great, but my legs got destroyed and they heal slowly.”
“Well, it’s better than to run from giants all the time anyway, but we won’t have to rush anymore at least,” she said with a wry smile.
“That’s a relief. Also, my brain is all mush, so I suppose they’re finished?”
“No, they’re still in the living room we were in yesterday. Neo said it would only take a few more minutes.”
<How’s it going? Are you going to be done soon?> I sent him a quick mind message.
<Yes, I’m sending now what you know about quantum physics. It is quite limited.>
<Are you dissing me? Like this world knows nothing about that at all.> I sent back. Look at him, belittling my knowledge of something even this world would consider magic.
<Point taken. We will finish soon.>
<Alright.>
“Yeah, they’re almost done. So, what’s our plan after this?” I asked her.
“Well, we’ll go back to my city. I think you should enroll in the academy to learn all the basics of xin control, they can explain it better than I ever could,” she told me with a regretful tone. “But the new semester won’t start for a while yet, so I think we’ll need to find something to occupy ourselves with. I’m an explorer so I’ll be sent on missions probably, but since you have no education, you’ll have to stay.”
“Hey, I finished high school, okay? I was planning on going to university soon,” I protested.
“Right, but that hardly matters now, does it. I don’t know what a high school is. We only have the academy, and you can enroll as soon as you have awakened your first layer on your crystal, so there will be a few kids, but most of them wait a bit and mature until they reach their second layer, so there will be people the same age as you,” she reassured me. I don’t know about having to go to school again, but if we learn magic, sign me up.
“Alright. Until then, can I find somewhere to work or something?” I asked. I wanted to reenter society if that was a possibility, but I had no idea what the state of it was currently. I was an outsider, an alien who knew nothing of the customs, traditions or culture. But I hoped the academy would provide some answers to that as well as helping me master my magic capabilities.
“There are some jobs you don’t need an education for, like fishing and stuff.”
“Sounds super exciting.” I said with a bland tone. Whatever, if I can make a living somehow, I’ll manage.
<We’re finished.>, came Neo’s transmission. I got up and told Tara, and soon we set off in the direction of the stairs that lead to the belly of the mountain. Anubis was in the same position we left her yesterday, my jellyfish friend was in front of her, floating, and they just sat there silently.
“Uhm. Hello, I heard you guys finished up?” I broke the increasingly awkward silence.
“Ah, yes. Thank you for all this knowledge, it will be a nice addition to my collection.” Anubis finally looked up and greeted us.
“Great, I’m glad. Well, I think our business is finished here, so we’ll take our leave. Thank you for the hospitality.”
“Of course. You’re welcome to come back and trade with me anytime, son,” she said with a happy glint in her eyes. She seemed really satisfied. We all said goodbye to the helpful cat and set off once again on our journey.
We weren’t running as fast as before, but this time we weren’t in a hurry. We also got some souvenirs from Anubis, a bit of food and water for the travel, and a shirt to cover me since I lost mine a while ago. Unfortunately, Tara lost all her stuff on her way when she was looking for me, so we had to sleep on the floor, which was a bit uncomfortable but that aside the journey went smoothly. She said it’d take about a week to reach Nia, the city she was born in.
We ran during the day, rested and ate at noon, set up camp at night, and slept in turns. We weren’t attacked by large monsters, there was a close call, but we were running so we just ignored it and ran a bit faster to lose it.
On the eighth day, we saw the first signs of humans: a large field with lush crops grown in it. When we reached it, we slowed down and continued on the dirt road that ran along the field. It was some kind of grainy crop planted in it, probably close to wheat. The field looked like a golden ocean, lazily waving in the soft breeze.
“We’re close. First we’ll go to my house, clean up, and I’ll get you some proper clothes,” she declared.
“Wow, you have a house?” I asked curiously.
“Well, it’s an apartment in a large building, with lots of small houses stacked on top of each other,” she explained.
“I know what a flat is, but thanks.” I let out a sigh. “I’m a bit nervous if I’m honest. Won’t the people be suspicious of me?”
“I don’t know, but it’d be best if we made up some story about you, like you were raised by beasts or something.”
“A much simpler and believable story, thanks,” I replied. Do I look like a caveman or something?
“Anytime,” she smiled at me reassuringly. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Just do as I say.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After a much more relaxing hour of walking later we saw the first building. Tara stopped in front of me and declared ceremoniously: “Welcome to Nia!”
Comments (0)
See all