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"I have no idea! I do, however have a lot of questions!!"
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Nived says "Who are you talking to?"
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"Oh, sorry! Yui is the spirit that controls this tower."
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Yui says "Hello, Nived. It is nice to meet you!"
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Nived says "Hi, nice to meet you too!"
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"There is a lot I need to explain to you. But first I have some companions that look like monsters, but don''t attack them! In fact, don''t attack anything in this tower."
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Nived says "Um, okay. You are the boss."
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Yui says "Speaking of, I have informed them of your return. They are racing up here as we speak."
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With Yui''s warning I suggest Nived to stand to the side, since I am expecting to get tackled. He moves just in time as I spot Kechara charging down the hallway at full speed. She hardly slows before she hits me, knocking me onto my back in a full tackle.
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To Nived it probably looks like she is attacking me, but I can''t help laughing as she starts licking my face. Before I can free myself from Kechara, Asuna joins in and helps keep me pinned. She has grown and is now almost as big as her mother from what I can see.
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By the time they decide they have had enough and let me up, the fur of my face is soaked. Not that I mind, I have missed both of them quite a bit. Once they let me up I pet both of them as I introduce them to Nived.
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Nived says "Now it makes sense why you were willing to give me a chance when I was a troll."
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"Oh, I should warn you there is also an undead around here somewhere named Bones."
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Yui says "Actually, Bones vanished as soon as you entered the test. That is why I had to tell these two about the test the first day you were gone."
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"Oh, I guess that makes sense."
<div>
''Summon Bones!''
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"Bones, this is Nived, a friend."
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Bones says "Friend!"
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Nived says "Nice to meet you, Bones."
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"There, now everyone has met. Yui, how long was I gone?"
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Yui says "This is the afternoon of the sixth day since you entered."
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"That''s not too bad."
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Nived says "To be honest I was worried about fitting in in your world. But considering your other friends, a half-troll doesn''t seem so bad!"
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"That is somewhat true, but you should still expect discrimination from the humans."
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Yui says "Lunch is prepared. Why don''t you all move to the dining room. Ash, while you eat I would love to hear the story of what happened in the test."
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"Okay, sounds like a plan."
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Once everyone has relocated to the dining room and the food has been brought out I start telling my story. Once I am done eating I finish up the story by telling Yui about my score and the rewards I received.
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Yui says "Rank S? You are sure?"
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"Yeah, it told me rank S."
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Yui says "That might explain why no one else has ever brought someone out of the test. No one else has ever scored so high!"
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"That could be it I suppose."
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Yui says "Also, from what you described, no one has ever had such a hard time."
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"Yeah, I kind of figured it was my fault the difficulty went up."
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Nived says "If my world was a simulation, what does that make me?"
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Yui says "Well, it isn''t exactly a simulation."
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"What is it then?"
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Yui says "I did tell you it was made with the help of a god, right?"
<div>
"Yeah. That is the reason it is true time dilation."
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Yui says "Correct. It also means that it could contain an entire world. We simply don''t know what the god did."
<div>
"Well, I doubt the test could just create someone. So it being a contained world does make more sense."
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Nived says "I hope that is the truth. It makes me feel much better. Now, mind telling me about this world?"
<div>
"Um, maybe I should start at the beginning and tell you about my world first."
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Nived says "Wait, this isn''t your world either?"
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"This is my world now, but I was born in another world originally."
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After we move to a room with more comfortable seating I begin telling Nived my entire story. The telling takes all the way through dinner and it is only as I tell the entire story that I realize how much has happened already. Being thrown into the pit feels like it was years ago, but in fact it hasn''t been all that long.
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"Yui, that reminds me, I still don''t know how this world works. What I mean is I don''t know how time is recorded."
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Yui says "Well, like your world each day is twenty-four hours, and each week is seven days. But our months are all thirty days long, and a year is twenty-four months."
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"So each year here is basically two from my world. How are the seasons split?"
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Yui says "Spring and fall are both around three months long. Summer and winter are usually around nine months each."
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"No wonder it felt so strange! I''ve been expecting winter to start for months now!"
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Yui says "From what I can tell of the outside, winter has started."
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"And now it is going to last nine months?"
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Yui says "Affirmative."
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"So this planet has a quick spin but a slow rotation."
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Nived says "Huh? You lost me there?"
<div>
Yui says "I didn''t follow that either, could you explain?"
<div>
After putting my foot in my mouth I find myself having to explain astronomy and how a planet moves within a solar system. It turns out that the ancient mages still believed the sun rotated around the planet. I will need to be careful, I don''t want to talk about things like this around humans.
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The last thing I need is to be branded a heretic and have a mob trying to burn me at the stake. Although, at least in Illium I know the church will be on my side. Still, I need to remember to be careful of letting knowledge from my old world slip.
<div>
"I think that is enough talking for tonight. We can continue this tomorrow."
<div>
Yui says "Okay, Ash, goodnight."
<div>
After showing Nived to a room he can use I head to mine to get some sleep. Only to find Kechara and Asuna already sprawled out on the bed, taking up most of it. When I poke them they move just enough to create a space between them for me.