《Force Magician in Another World》 PROLOGUE — DEATH I died. My body lies in a cooling pool of blood, the flashing lights of arriving police and ambulance vehicles reflect in my still open unseeing eyes. Near my corpse; a child is crying, her mother holds her tight and stares at my broken, lifeless body with a mixture of gratitude, sorrow and guilt. A slight distance away; people are holding down a shouting man near the wreckage of a car, others are watching as part of a stunned mass of spectators. I, myself, am standing in the middle of it all; watching. A paramedic runs towards me and then through me without pausing as he moves to my already lifeless corpse. He checks my pulse and breathing (or lack thereof) and starts to perform CPR.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Why is my first kiss with a guy!!¡± I cry out and fall to my knees. Of everything that has happened so far, this might be the most painful. On my way home from university: I saved a child about to be run over by a car and in exchange was hit myself. My name is Arden Bell and as mentioned before, I am dead. CHAPTER 1 — TALKING TO A GODDESS Watching a thirty-ish year old guy give mouth-to-mouth to your unresponsive corpse is, to say the least, disturbing to the extreme. Wouldn¡¯t it have been better if it was a cute girl paramedic? ¡°No, even if it was a cute girl they would still be giving CPR to a corpse.¡± I mutter dejectedly. I¡¯m a ghost¡­ spirit? Frankly I¡¯m not sure what I am. Still on my hands and knees I watch as the events after being hit by a car continue to unfold. As I watch, I notice that color is slowly draining from my surroundings and the harsh whine of sirens is fading. Soon enough my hands on the asphalt are the only distinct shapes in a pantomimed world of grey shadows and muffled tones. So this is the afterlife? A world of gray? Isn¡¯t there supposed to be shining lights and pearly gates? ¡°Hey.¡± A voice calls out Hell, even Hell might be better than something like this? All I can imagine is an eternity of wondering through a world of shadows. ¡°Hellooo? Can you hear me?¡± Or maybe, like the world around me, even I too will fade? Huh, would that be good? Maybe it¡¯ll be like going to sleep. ¡°Oi! Stop ignoring me!¡± Ah, I¡¯ve the feeling that someone has been calling out to me while I¡¯ve been caught up in my own thoughts. Looking around I can¡¯t see anyone though¡­ ¡°Up here.¡± I follow the voice¡¯s direction and look up. There atop the arm of a lamp post a young girl, sits comfortably while swinging her bare feet back and forth. Her hair is a deep raven black with highlights of blue, it cascades down her back contrasting sharply with the simple white dress that leaves her shoulders and legs uncovered. She looks about seventeen? Her eyes, matching her hair, are a deep and endless black with glints of dark blue. They pull at you and, like the gaps between the stars, seem to go on forever. I may have gotten lost in those eyes if they were not filled with exasperation and¡­ pity? ¡°Um¡­ hello?¡± Yeah, I¡¯m so smooth. The girl looks up at the heavens for a moment as if to say, ¡°why me?¡± before pushing herself of the lamp post and landing nimbly. ¡°What am I going to do with you, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€?¡± The girl says with a sigh. Huh? What was that? Was that a name? Her mouth moved but I couldn¡¯t hear what was said¡­ ¡°Um, sorry¡­ but what did you call me?¡± I ask while getting to my feet. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Why does she suddenly look depressed? The girl shakes her head slightly and puts on a wide smile. ¡°So! You¡¯re dead. Congratulations! You made it twenty-one years, four months and nine days this time. That¡¯s a new record!¡± The girl exclaims so, cheerfully, while clapping. Please stop though. It just sounds sad. And what do you mean by new record?! ¡°New record? Does that mean I¡¯ve died before? Wait! That doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯ve never made it past twenty-one?!¡± What has past me been doing? ¡°Yep, yep! Your last record was nineteen years, seven months and a day. You tried really hard this time, didn¡¯t you?¡± Don¡¯t pat my head like I¡¯m a child! You look younger than me! Ahh¡­ Somehow, I¡¯m tired. Even though I¡¯m dead, I¡¯m tired. ¡°So, who are you?¡± I¡¯ve been wondering this for a while now. The girl puffs out her chest (there¡¯s nothing there though) and gives me a smug look. ¡°I¡¯m Aurora. The Goddess of Fate!¡± *tanntatatantantann* Does a goddess really need to produce her own fanfare? ¡°Oi! Goddess is with a capital ¡®G¡¯!¡± She can read my mind?! Wait, she can read the punctuation of my mind?! I¡¯m shocked, I really am. Still, she¡¯s not really¡­ how do I say it¡­ Divine? If I wasn¡¯t already intimately aware of my own unusual circumstance of being currently dead, then I may not have believed her. ¡°Yes, yes. Goddess, gotcha¡± ¡°You could be a bit more awed,¡± she says with a disappointed look then mumbles; ¡°why are you always like this?¡± ¡°So, what happens now?¡± I ask, ignoring her. ¡°Normally this would be the part where I would send you soul back into the cycle of reincarnation.¡± ¡°Normally?¡± I ask while raising one eyebrow. ¡°Yep! This time is¡­ complicated?¡± WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME?!?! Don¡¯t think tilting you head cutely will get you out of an explanation! ¡°Complicated?¡± I restrained myself, I didn¡¯t shout at the Goddess (g!). ¡°Hmmm, how do I say it?¡± The Goddess looks troubled before striking her palm after coming up with a suitable explanation. ¡°You¡¯re too fat.¡± I am actually sorry for myself for thinking she would explain properly. ¡°I¡¯m too fat?¡± ¡°Yep, yep! You have too much potential, you see? So, the cycle can¡¯t process you anymore.¡± ¡°Potential?¡± I feel I¡¯ve just been repeating what she¡¯s been saying, this is not how conversations are supposed to work. ¡°Every soul has potential, as they live and grow they achieve this potential in some way and form during their life. Some produce great works of art or contribute to science, some express their potential through raising children and living a fulfilling life. When someone dies young, this results in a buildup of potential which is then expressed in the next life as an even greater achievement. For example, Leonardo da Vinci had died three times before the age of twelve prior to his incarnation as Da Vinci and was able to contribute greatly to society with his excess potential!¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Woah, that¡¯s amazing right? Da Vinci contributed to society¡¯s understanding of philosophy, biology, astrology, art and much more. Does that mean I can do the same next time? ¡°I can be the next Da Vinci?¡± Does that mean I¡¯m amazing? I¡¯m amazing right? Hey, why are you looking at me like that? ¡°No¡­ didn¡¯t I already say that you don¡¯t fit anymore? You died to many times without achieving anything. This was you fifty-seventh incarnation you know.¡± ¡°FIFTY-SEVENTH?!¡± ¡°Yep, yep! Fifty-seven incarnations. The highest one before you got to six incarnations and he was able to even reach the realms of the gods with his potential¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually afraid to ask but¡­ who was it?¡± ¡°Merlin.¡± I think I heard something outrageous. Merlin existed? Does that mean magic is real? ¡°Yes, he existed and no, not anymore, he took it all with him¡± She read my mind again¡­ ¡°How did I even manage to die fifty-seven times without achieving anything?¡± ¡°Mostly it was accidents. Falling into a river, being dropped as a child, traveling on the Titanic, being dropped as a child, contracting a disease, things like that.¡± Wasn¡¯t one of those said twice? Prior mothers, did you drop me that many times? ¡°And I never achieved anything?¡± ¡°Nope nothing.¡± ¡°But I just saved a little girl from being hit by a car, isn¡¯t that an achievement?¡± ¡°Something like that would usually count except in this case the child was destined to be hit by the car and survive, if she followed the threads of fate then she would develop a passion for medicine while recovering in hospital and go on to contribute to the furtherment of medical treatments on earth.¡± ¡°So, potential is also destined?¡± ¡°Kind of. Potential and fate are very much intertwined. Nothing is predetermined but there are paths presented before people that are more easily taken by those with the required potential. This is the method this world uses to progress the development of souls.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean I was destined to die young without fulfilling my potential?¡± ¡°Nope, many paths of wonderous fate were presented to you at various points. You have a wonderous knack of choosing the worst options in every life!¡± Please don¡¯t be impressed by that, just hearing that is kind of¡­ ¡°hahhh,¡± I sighed. I¡¯m now tired again. I¡¯m depressed and confused, but I at least understand that I¡¯m somehow unable to reincarnate. ¡°So, if I can¡¯t be reincarnated, then now what?¡± ¡°Hehehe, I was waiting for you to ask! The wonderful and marvelous me has gotten permission to send you to another world! Yay! Wooo!¡± Please stop cheering for yourself. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to be reincarnated in another world?¡± ¡°No, no that¡¯s still impossible. The world we¡¯re sending you to works on a different system. It¡¯s a swords and magic fantasy world with RPG elements.¡± What with that crappy young adult fiction like setting? Why would another world even have RPG like elements? ¡°Because the Gods there really liked the video games of this world, it works because time moved differently between worlds.¡± Please stop reading my mind. It¡¯s an invasion of privacy. Maybe I should just be glad I haven¡¯t been thinking any dirty thoughts like how I¡¯d like to caress her long, smooth looking legs¡­ ¡°Dirty.¡± She¡¯s blushing! She¡¯s blushing! Heh, I think I won. ¡°Ahem!¡± She clears her throat and continues. ¡°Like I was saying, we¡¯re sending you into a different system but fundamentally the reincarnation cycle works the same. So, we¡¯re going to convert your excess potential into things like skills and magic power and directly incarnate you into a newly created body.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do that here?¡± If I can I would rather stay on earth. My parents have already passed away and I¡¯ve got no siblings and few friends¡­ why did I want to stay on earth again? But I was doing well at university and was even going to maybe possibly talk to that girl in my programming course with the cute glasses and possibly even ask her out or something¡­ ah, when I say it like that even I think I might be sad. Also, it¡¯s not like magic and fantasy don¡¯t interest me but I¡¯m comfortable here, it¡¯s where all my favorite things (books) are. ¡°Nope, it works over there because those traits are based on the growth of the soul, additionally we can only do so much over there because we¡¯re creating a new body at the same time.¡± Alright, alright. I¡¯ll do it. Well it¡¯s not like I have a choice, right? ¡°Nope.¡± Again with the mind reading. ¡°So what skills am I getting?¡± This is important if I¡¯m going to survive in a fantasy world. ¡°Basically, you can get any you want! Ah! Sorry, but you won¡¯t be able to change the body. Due to various circumstances: it¡¯s predetermined. But don¡¯t worry it¡¯s really strong!¡± Now I¡¯m curious about the new body this Goddess doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s going to say any more. Any skills huh, should I get a cheat? Like a skill to steal other people¡¯s skills? No, I don¡¯t want to steal things. What do I want? Something powerful and useful. Maybe a weapon skill? Swordsmanship MAX or something? I could become a magic knight if I know magic too. Huh, magic knight¡­ magic knight, couldn¡¯t I become something like a J?di knight? I could be all slash, slash woosh! And blow people away. ¡°Hey, Aura.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Aurora.¡± I¡¯ve just been calling her Goddess (g) in my head though. ¡°Right, right. It there something like the Fo?ce in this other world?¡± ¡°Fo?ce? Um¡­ let me check.¡± Aurora brings up a semi-transparent panel in front of her and starts scrolling through some kind of list. ¡°Ah, found it! Force Magic, right? Gotcha.¡± She pressed an option on the panel. ¡°Ok, you have three more selections.¡± She¡¯s already said that I¡¯ll have a strong body, so I won¡¯t need anything like a strengthening skill. ¡°¡­maybe a production skill?¡± I mutter while thinking. ¡°Aaaand selected! Alchemy skill get!¡± ¡°What?! No, no, no, I was just talking to myself! Unselect it!¡± ¡°¡­ I can¡¯t.¡± Don¡¯t look away like this is not your problem! ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Aurora bows and apologizes. Geez, this goddess. ¡°As an apology I¡¯ll give you Inventory as a freebee.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­¡± I can only say with resignation. ¡°Then lastly, I want something like swordsma- wait,¡± I pause as I think of something, ¡°will I be able to speak the language when I get there?¡± ¡°Ofcourse! That¡¯s a given right, otherwise you¡¯ll not be able to talk to anyone without tediously learning the language, right? That¡¯s why we always give Other-World Language as a bonus.¡± ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll take swordsmanship or something then.¡± ¡°Swordsmanship, swordsmanship,¡± Aurora scrolls through the list on her panel and pauses. Sweat starts beading on her forehead. Why does she look guilty? ¡°Umm I can¡¯t give you Swordsmanship, sorry!¡± She¡¯s apologizing again. ¡°Why?¡± Aurora mumbles something in an inaudible voice. ¡°I can¡¯t hear you.¡± ¡°Inventory took up too much power.¡± She mumbles quietly. Huh, what did she say? ¡°WHY?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s an advance EX-level composite skill that was on the ¡°DO NOT GIVE¡± list, hehe¡± The Goddess giggles and tilts her head cutely. ¡°DON¡¯T LAUGH!¡± Being cute can¡¯t fix this! Are you really the Goddess of Fate? Are you? Is perhaps the world doomed? Breath! Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. I¡¯m calm, I am calm. ¡°What can I get then?¡± I ask after calming myself. Aurora scrolls up and down on the panel. ¡°Let¡¯s see, you can get Life Magic, Minor Elemental Magic (earth, fire, wind and water), Engraving, Singing, Dancing, Shield Baring and Cooking, any two of these.¡± What up with this list of crap skills? Where¡¯s my healing or weapon skill? The elemental magic is just ¡°minor,¡± I don¡¯t even know what some of those are. ¡°What are Life Magic, Engraving and Shield Baring?¡± ¡°Life Magic is a useful magic that comprises of simple spells that improve the quality of daily life, such as Clean or Light spells. Engraving is a skill for engraving a magic circuit into an object which can then produce a magic effect when magic power is poured into it. Lastly Shield Baring is the ability to utilize shields and shield arts.¡± She answered promptly. Does she perhaps know she screwed up, does she? Of those options I think Life Magic and Engraving would be best. Life Magic will make living easier and if I combine Engraving with my Alchemy skill I may be able to make something amazing. Shield Baring and Minor Elemental magic could be promising, but one sounds painful and the other sounds basic. OK, I¡¯ve made my decision. ¡°I¡¯ll go with Life Magic and Engraving, thanks.¡± ¡°Alrighty, skill selection complete then. Time for the transition!¡± Aurora starts rapidly selecting other options on her panel. Yeah¡­ please get on with it. This has exhausted me much more that it probably should have. ¡°So how does this work? Will I appear near a town or wake up in a field or something?¡± Huh, why are you looking away again? What does that mean? Hey look at me! ¡°Transition Activate!¡± With a final press of the floating panel, a bright light starts to engulf my vision. ¡°Wait! HEY! You didn¡¯t answer! Where am I arriving?!¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Sorry? What does that mean?!?!? CHAPTER 2 — REBIRTH A clear blue sky. As the light from that goddess¡¯ forced transition faded; I found myself staring up at a wide expanse of blue sky accompanied the gentle hush of ocean waves, the grit of sand on which I¡¯m lying and the warmth of the sun on my skin. ¡°Stupid goddess.¡± These were my first words upon my arrival to this new world. With a sigh I sit up and look around. I¡¯ve appeared on the shores of beach, the ocean glitters with the refracted light of the sun, pale yellow sand stretches out to both my left and right. Twisting around to look behind, the beach quickly slopes upward towards a dense forest mostly fir trees. The depth of the shade between the trees is intense in comparison to the open sunlit stretch of the shore. Standing up, I brush the clinging sand from my trousers. I¡¯m dressed (thankfully) in pants made from a thick black cloth similar to denim, additionally I¡¯m wearing a simple shirt of unbleached linen. The shirt has a mandarin style collar and cuffed long sleeves, both are fastened with silver buttons. On my feet are a pair of study and comfortable, laced black boots; I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re a mix of earth''s technology or also from this world, but the soles are formed from a rubber-like substance. While looking down at my new boots I notice a folded black cloth which must have been acting as a pillow when I awoke. When I unfold it, it becomes a splendid black leather coat which looks to fall to mid-thigh. I don¡¯t want to say it¡­ but I¡¯m impressed. I half suspected that goddess would leave me naked somewhere, but these clothes aren¡¯t half bad. Still. I¡¯m not going to say it. *ping* With an artificial tone, a semi-transparent window pops into existence before me. It looks a lot like the type settings window you¡¯d see in various video games. While the window has tab-like options labeled ¡°Status,¡± ¡°Inventory,¡± and ¡°Map,¡± my eyes are immediately drawn to the ¡°mail¡± tab; next to which a small cartoon image of Aurora dances while holding up an envelope as big as her head complete with bursting love hearts. I don¡¯t want to press it. I ignore the obvious prompt and go to press the status button instead. Or at least that what I want to do but the annoying chibi goddess runs around the screen obstructing any other options. With a sigh, (I feel like I¡¯ve been sighing a lot recently) I press the mail tab.
Yolla! I¡¯s me, Aurora! Just a few things I forgot to mention. (¨‘?¨‘)! You can open your Menu just by thinking that you want it to open. Easy huh? Menu is a special privilege of Otherworlders and is a combined interface of Status, Mail, Map and a few select special skills! Normally, when people want to check their status they need to use a special magic tool kept at various guilds or government facilities but with Menu you can see your own status any time you want. Isn¡¯t that AMAZING? (¡É?¡õ?¡É) Anyway, other than the clothes you¡¯ve been given there are also some sweet tools and stuff already placed in your inventory. Aren¡¯t I just the best? (*^^*) BTW you¡¯re on an uninhabited island! The island is called ¡°The Forbidden Isle of the Mad Dragon!¡± or ¡°Dragon Isle¡± for short, don¡¯t worry there¡¯s no dragons on the island (anymore) and no one ever goes there because they think it¡¯s cursed¡­ Additionally, I¡¯ve already added the whole island to the map because if I didn¡¯t you¡¯d most likely walk around in circles for days. Hahaha £¨£¾£ù£¼£© Good Luck and try not to die! ¡Ï(^©`^) LOVE AURORA
I feel like if she told me she was dumping me on a cursed, uninhabited island in person, then I would have shouted at her. Maybe that¡¯s why she did it by mail. Oh, and let¡¯s just ignore the use of emoticons yep, yep. OK then! Let¡¯s look at the other functions of the menu. I close the mail and open the status tab. ¡°So, this is me?¡±
Name: Arden Bell Level: 1
Age: 16 Gender: Male Race: ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€
Titles: Otherworlder | One who ¨€¨€¨€ his ¨€¨€¨€ asunder | The ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ | Unfortunate
HP: 200 / 200 MP: 78 000 / 78 000
STR: 120If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. AGI: 180
DEX: 180 END: 100
INT: 500 AUR: 300
Skills
Unique: Menu | Inventory | Force Magic | Alchemy
Major: Engraving
Minor: Life Magic
Who is this? Why is there so much redacted information?! Arrghh. No, no, let¡¯s calm down and analyses this. First off: my name is the same as my last life, that¡¯s a bonus, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d feel if I was suddenly named something weird like ¡°Chuck¡± or something. My level is one. I don¡¯t know what that means in this world. Pressing the term ¡°level¡± on the menu does bring up the following: Level: A numerical representation of an organism¡¯s growth both physically and spiritually. Can be increased through the accumulation of experience points (XP). Huh, seeing as I was just born(?) that¡¯s to be expected, but I was kinda hoping that I would have some carry over from my precious life. Next, I can see that my age has dropped down to sixteen, but I can only accept it and relish the extra years. My race is currently unknown¡­ I thought it was human though. Touching my head and ears, as well as checking underneath my clothes, I can¡¯t find any physical differences from a human. Though, between you and me, I did find some *ahem* large differences between my prior body and this one. Also, I have abs! this body is thin but surprisingly muscular, this is something I can only be happy about. Oh! And I¡¯m slightly taller than I was before, about 185cm (That¡¯s 6ft and almost an inch for all you Yanks). I checked but pressing on the blacked-out word doesn¡¯t bring up any explanation either. Of the titles the only ones I can understand are ¡°Otherworlder¡± and ¡°Unfortunate.¡± Otherworlder: A title given to those who have crossed the void between worlds. Enables use of the Menu feature. Unfortunate: A title given to one who has experienced constant misfortune through either self-infliction or outside influence. Unfortunately, the redacted titles don¡¯t bring up any explanation and thus if they have effects they are unknown. Next up are the actual stats of my status! I think that HP and MP are ¡°Health Points¡± and ¡°Magic Points¡± respectively. HP (Health Points): A numerical representation of an organisms¡¯ health and vitality. HP value is influenced by the END stat. Damage to an organism will cause the HP value to decrease. When HP is decreased to a value less than 10% of the maximum HP value: the organism has an increased chance of falling unconscious. A decrease of the HP value to 0 will result in the death of the organism. Rate of HP recovery is influenced by the END and AUR stats. MP (Mana Points): A numerical representation of an organisms¡¯ aura¡¯s mana saturation. MP value is influenced by the INT stat. MP is expended through the use of magic skills, weapon arts and mana release and causes a mental strain on the organism the degree of which is determined inversely by the INT and AUR stats. When MP is reduced to a value less than 10% of the maximum MP value: the organism will experience an increase in the level of mental strain which occurs when expending MP. A decrease of the MP value to 0 will result in unconsciousness. Rate of MP recovery is influenced by the INT and AUR stats. I was wrong. MP stands for mana points not magic points. I guess that means there¡¯s something called mana in this world? Also, I¡¯m not sure if my HP value is normal or not but my MP value of 78 000 cannot be normal for an individual at level one. I guess this is where all the potential that left over from the skill selection must have gone. Anyways I¡¯m thankful for the large MP pool. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s next: STR, AGI, DEX, END and INT are all pretty much understandable from the video games I¡¯ve played. Checking each individually confirms my thought. They are each Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance and Intelligence respectively. STR influences my physical strength regardless of fitness, AGI affects my base speed and reaction times, DEX influences accuracy and hand eye coordination, END determines the ability to endure physical effects, such as attacks, as well as my level of stamina and INT influences thought processing and magic strength. Those I understand but I have no idea what AUR is. So let¡¯s press it and find out! AUR (Aura): A numerical representation of an organisms Aura density and capacity. AUR influences an organisms¡¯ aura manipulation range and mana absorption rate as well as an organisms¡¯ degree of protection from magical effects. ¡­ I still don¡¯t understand. The description assumes I know what an ¡°aura¡± is. From what I can tell, one¡¯s aura has an effect on magic and the AUR stat is affects how you use magic? Maybe¡­? I think I¡¯ll need to come back to this one after I understand magic a bit better to be honest. Lastly it¡¯s my precious skills! But why are they separated? Unique, Major and Minor? Let¡¯s read the trusty descriptions! Unique skills: Rare skills that cannot be obtained through ordinary means. Unique skills are sometimes gained at birth or through intervention by entities of a higher order. Unique skills have a large corrective influence. Major skills: Skills that require a large amount of potential and talent. Major skills can be gifted at birth to individuals with a suitable potential or attained through a combination of talent and intense training. Major skills have a corrective influence. Minor skills: Common skills that can be obtained by most individuals through training, individuals with talent may achieve skills more easily. Minor skills have a small corrective influence. Ok. So Unique skills are rare and powerful, Major skills are strong but not uncommon and minor skill are things that most people have. Does that me that I, who has four Unique skills, am amazing? I¡¯m amazing, right? Yeah, I totally am. Also, Force Magic is a Unique Skill! That must mean it¡¯s really powerful, right? Heheh, I¡¯m looking forward to trying it out now, but first I should read the skill descriptions. Force Magic: Magic which manipulates ¡°Force¡± to produce barriers and influence the laws of physics by either increasing or decreasing the effect of a force in action. Inventory: An Space/Time Magic variant. Creates an infinite storage space in which the passage of time is suspended. Due to the effect of Menu, items within the space can be manipulated though an interface. Menu: Accesses the SYSTEM through a unique interface which combines functionalities of self-status, equipment, map, and mail. Additional functionality may be added through inter-skill processing or manipulation by a being of a higher order. Alchemy: Unique skill which allows for molecular manipulation. Substance assembly, substance disassembly, substance mana reinforcement, substance mana synergy. Engraving: The creation of magic circuits on or within suitable materials to create a magic tool which can produce a desired effect via the injection of mana. Life Magic: Minor magics which increase quality of life. Effects are small. Spell manipulation results in a heavy increase of MP consumption. I was expecting a better explanation than that¡­ but I guess I¡¯ll have to figure these out properly through actual trial and error. What does concern me through is that Force Magic may not be entirely what I was hoping for¡­ yeah, let¡¯s leave my eventual disappointment for later. Huh? I feel like I said something really depressing there. Let¡¯s not mind it. I¡¯ve wasted enough time reading all this instruction manual like explanations! No, Really, the sun is starting to set. I need check my inventory and the map and find somewhere to sleep. CHAPTER 3 — INVENTORY AND MAP First, I must check what the goddess left for me in the inventory. Opening the inventory tab within the menu, a page comprised entirely of tiles appears. Each tile seems to represent a slot in which an item can be stored. The first few tiles have icons within them displaying a simplistic image of the item stored. At a glance there seems to be two books, a loaf of bread, meat of some kind, a bottle of something, and a shirt. ¡°Ok, now how do I get them out?¡± I press the tile with the bottle hoping that it will allow me to take the bottle out of storage. When I do so the tile enlarges, shifting the surrounding tiles out of the way until a quarter of the panel is taken up with an image of a bottle, a descriptive text and a series of options. Water bottle of the Fountain: A magic tool capable of producing clean spring water when mana is injected. That¡¯s great and all but¡­ how do I get it out? Next to the description is a series of options: Analyse, Disassemble, Rename and Sort. Currently ¡°Disassemble¡± is greyed out though. Those are all really interesting functions but I want the drink bottle! Just give me the drink bottle! With that thought the tile closes and the bottle materialises in front of me. ¡°Oh, ah! Oops!¡± The bottle appeared suddenly, hovering momentarily in the air for a fraction of a second before falling, in my surprise¡­ I missed catching it and it fell to the sand. I¡¯m glad no one saw. It seems that taking things out of inventory is an action that doesn¡¯t require the menu but something that responds to my thoughts. It¡¯s probably a safety mechanism that I must actually think along the lines of ¡°I want ¡®item¡¯ out of inventory¡± or directing a thought of ¡°give me ¡®item¡¯¡± to the inventory to prevent removing items accidently with any stray thought. Anyway. Thankfully the bottle seems undamaged and so I pick it up and inspect it. It¡¯s a brown glass bottle about the size of a wine bottle, the outside is covered in a sleeve of leather fastened at the neck of the bottle and the cork is also fitted with a leather top and tied to the sleeve with a braided cord. It¡¯s stupidly heavy for a water bottle. Curious (and thirsty), I pull the cork and sniff the contents. The smell of ions and water wafts from the mouth of the bottle, it smells of the air before a thunderstorm. Taking a leap of courage, I take a swig. ! How could water be so delicious? It¡¯s cool and refreshing with a hint of sweetness that lingers at the back of the tongue. It tastes nothing like bottled or tap water. Unable to stop I swallow a few more mouthfuls before pulling away with a hearty sigh.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Delicious.¡± But I¡¯ve already downed half the contents and I don¡¯t know how to ¡°inject mana¡± to get more. Considering that I don¡¯t know yet if there¡¯s suitable drinking water on this island, I should save what remains until I can use the water bottle properly. ¡°Now, how do I¡­?¡± Thinking about how I took the water bottle out, I direct my thoughts along the idea of ¡°I want the water bottle to enter storage¡± and, without even a sound, the bottle vanishes and an image of it appears in one of the tiles within the inventory menu. Alright! Inventory take in and out sorted! I mentally pat my own back. I take the opportunity to store the coat I¡¯m carrying into the inventory. Now then, let¡¯s take a quick look at the other tiles. I press them each in turn to check the description. First there are two books titled ¡°Basic Knowledge of Thain¡± and ¡°Manipulating Mana: A guide to magic that even an idiot could understand,¡± both seem really useful and one seems sort of irritating. I¡¯ll definitely read both when I have time. There¡¯s also a kilo of dried meat, four loaves of bread and a selection of clothing similar to what I¡¯m already wearing. I take the opportunity to store the coat I¡¯m carrying into the inventory while looking at the clothing selection. One interesting fact is that the inventory utilizes a subfolder system. When I press the ¡°bread¡± tile it enlarges and four tiles each representing one loaf of bread appeared. Again, when I press the tile with the icon of a shirt, it enlarges and displayed multiple tiles representing different items of clothing. Additionally, if there are more tiles than the space allows then the panel becomes one you can scroll through. I tried scrolling on the main page but gave up when there didn¡¯t seem to be an end to the amount of available empty tiles. OK. I¡¯ve got some food and water, but I still need a safe place to sleep, I can¡¯t just stand on this beach for all eternity. Finally, I bring up the ¡°Map.¡± Well damn. I was expecting a much smaller island. From the looks of it, the island is around 40KM across. Isn¡¯t that bigger than Hawaii¡¯s biggest island? If I assume that the blinking star shaped icon is me, then I¡¯m currently on the south beach at a location called the ¡°Beach of Beginnings.¡± I¡¯ve a sneaking suspicion that the goddess labeled an un-named beach so¡­ Anyways, looking at the map, the best location for me is likely going to be the ruins at the center of the island. If there¡¯s ruins, then that means people once lived there and thus the necessities for life such as availability of water and ease of gathering food must surely be there too. The places I certainly want to avoid are the swamp, the Dragon¡¯s cave and the Forest of Fear¡­ Unfortunately, I¡¯ll have to go through the forest if I want to get to the ruins. I quickly glance at the sun; going by its angle I¡¯ll have two hours at most of daylight. At least that would be the case if the duration of a day in this world is the same as that of Earth. The average hiking speed is something like 4km per hour and, given the size of the island, it¡¯s unlikely I¡¯ll make it to the ruins before dark. In fact, I¡¯d be surprised if I could make within eight hours. I do not want to spend my first night in this world sleeping in a tree in a place called ¡°the Forest of Fear.¡± I do not want to do that. Let me say this again, this is something I do not want. Why couldn¡¯t I have been dropped of near a nice town? Everything about this island is screaming ¡°DANGER.¡± But there¡¯s no use just standing here. If I don¡¯t move, then I¡¯ll never get anything done. I¡¯m going to give up on getting to the ruins today and instead head the mouth of the river and make camp there. Then tomorrow morning I can make my way to the ruins by following the river upstream. CHAPTER 4 — NIGHT Following the beach towards the mouth of the river, I put the setting sun in front of me and a bit to my left. This would mean that following the coast to the mouth of the river would be heading in a north-westerly direction. The Map that I¡¯ve opened while walking shows my position and rotates itself depending on the direction my body is facing. Additionally, I can scroll the map independently of my movement but after playing with this feature for a few minutes I return it to it¡¯s normal tracking mode. Goo?le Maps FTW! As I walk I also keep an eye on my surroundings. The area is pristine and beautiful. The ocean on my left is a calming grey-blue and the forest on my right; a vibrant green. The sand is slowly becoming coarser and after some time becomes more of a gravel beach than a golden sandy one. The air smells refreshingly of the sea mixed with the heady aromas of humus and pine from the forest. Occasionally I hear the howl of wolves or some similar beast from the forest and stop walking to listen, while I hear nothing nearby just the knowledge that there are wild animals around reminds me emphatically that this is another world and raises my caution as I walk. Glancing at my map after near an hour of walking I am surprised to find that I¡¯m almost at my destination. I seriously thought it would take longer to get here and yet, surprisingly, I feel fine. Before, I was never that athletic and while almost an hour of walking wouldn¡¯t have killed me or anything, I would certainly have felt some tiredness after walking along a beach for an extended period. Now though: I feel great. Better than great even. Is this the effect of status? Eventually I reach the mouth of the river. Even though I¡¯ve seen it represented in the map, I¡¯m surprised by its size. A wide river deeply cuts through the gravel and sand and flows into the ocean. In turn; gravel filled sand bars cut through the river, creating debris filled islands within the river¡¯s mouth. Two of the larger sand bars look to have been reinforced with a foundation of mortared stone. On this foundation, large walls of wood and brick give rise to an interconnected series of piers and storehouses. On one of the reinforced islands, the shell of a squat square shaped tower leans over the other forlorn buildings as a silent guardian of the river. For a moment I simply stand in wonder at the abrupt evidence of human activity. Eventually though I am reminded by another howl from the forest that this is not a place to be distracted. I had planned to spend the night near the mouth of the river, but the ruined pier is tempting to explore, unfortunately, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any method to reach the islands on which the pier is built without swimming in the river. Caution out ways my curiosity and I turn away from the islands and look for a place to make camp along the bank. I decide to camp at an overturned barge on the shore. Half buried on its side, the barge creates an excellent windbreak and shelter from the night. I spend some time collecting driftwood until I have a sizable pile which I hope will last the night. It¡¯s only after digging out a fire-pit any stacking a suitable amount of tinder and small twigs that I realize I don¡¯t have any method of lighting a fire on hand¡­ ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t do this.¡± I breath these words to myself. I have no idea what I¡¯m doing. My simple inability to light a fire is a stark reminder that I have no idea what to do. Just after my death, while I was quick to throw comebacks to that idiot goddess, I was also quick to calm down. Almost all of my thought processes were based on rationality. Likely a result of the separation of mind and body. Without hormones or neurotransmitters, emotions where easily kept under control. Yet, soon after being incarnated into this world, I noticed. A constant feeling of unease and anxiety was painfully stirring in my gut. I¡­ didn¡¯t want to die. I don¡¯t want to die. It¡¯s only been a few hours and yet I miss my home. I miss my parents, I miss my apartment, I miss civilization! Who would be ok reincarnating in a strange and dangerous new world without any prior preparation? WHO? Time stretches as I stare at the unlit pile of kindling. The sun sets and I have not moved nor done anything productive. A constant whirl of ugly and painful thoughts churn within me. In some ways this is only natural. The human mind and body is weak. It can push on if given a goal and this is what I was doing at first. Checking my status and setting a destination. But the moment an instant of difficulty appeared it forced me to confront the reality of my own death and my current situation. The human body and mind is weak. And still, it is strangely resilient at times. *grrrwoallwn* This was not the growl of a mythical beast from the forrest, but the embarrassing gurgle of my own stomach. Sometimes, I think I may be an idiot. I can sit here in the dark until I starve to death and what good would that do? My own hunger pulls me out of my depression. I take deep breaths and calm myself. If I don¡¯t want to die, then I must survive. If I miss my family, then I must find a new one. If I miss my home, then I must create one. If I miss civilization, then I must strive to better my environment. With new goals set, I once again, set my eyes on the pile of kindling before me. I know there is a method to start a fire using friction, but I¡¯ve never done it before and only seen it from movies such as that one with the volleyball named Will-or-something. Ok, lets give up on fire for now. What? I can¡¯t do what I can¡¯t do. Words of inspiration and a will to improve my surroundings? No idea what you¡¯re on about. I make myself comfortable and open the inventory to take out the bread, dried meat and magic water bottle that was stored in there. I could take them out just by wishing for them to appear but I¡¯m actually enjoying manipulating the inventory window; it has the comfortable familiarity of a PC. The bread is something like a round rye loaf and the meat is simply salted but the flavor of both are incredibly deep. The bread is soft on the inside yet has a satisfying crunch to the crust while the meat oozes a savory flavor the more I chew. I wash both down with swigs of sweet water from the rapidly emptying water bottle.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The sun has already completely set. The darkness mixes eerily with the hush of the ocean waves. The night is not completely dark though, a multitude of stars blanket the sky and cast a gentle silvery glow on the sands and water. Only the deeps of the forest is truly dark. Even though it¡¯s dark, I can still see my menu perfectly. Likely, it doesn¡¯t act on principles of light. I select various items within the inventory while playing with the menu. When I select ¡°Manipulating Mana: A guide to magic that even an idiot could understand,¡± I notice a new option: ¡°View.¡± This wasn¡¯t listed as an option for either the food or water bottle. Selecting it causes the book tile in the inventory to enlarge until it takes up the majority of the menu. Within the tile the contents of the book are displayed in an easy to read e-publication like manner, complete with image converted diagrams. It¡¯s here that I encounter another proof of my new reality. The writing if the menu is in English and thus for some reason I assumed that writing in this world would be the same or at least converted to English within my head. The writing from the book an unknown language composed of characters I¡¯ve never seen before. If I had to describe them then I would say they looked a lot like a font called ¡°pig-pen cipher¡± where most of the characters are composed of squares and right angles as well as dots or small strokes. Additional to those there are more complex characters, some that looked like a monogram of four common characters and others that created a complex square pattern. Despite never seeing these characters before, I could read them. I understood that the simple characters were phonic characters similar to the English alphabet, the composite characters were syllabic blocks composed of four characters from the phonic system and used for either common words or repetitively used words in a given written piece. Lastly, the complex pattern characters are logographic characters which represented an entire word, phrase or idea. Along with the understanding of the meaning of the words it seemed I also understood the structure of the writing. Even though my personal thoughts were in English my comprehension of the language was not hindered. That is to say, my understanding was innate and instantaneous and not delayed through an act of translation. This is likely due to the possession of Other-World Language that was mentioned by the Goddess, but I wonder why it wasn¡¯t listed in the status? Thinking too heavily on it caused a shift within my thinking process and resulted in thinking in two different languages at the same time which, to be honest, was a disturbing experience. When I stopped focusing on the process of language my mind settled back down into English with the instantaneous conversion to the intended language when speaking, reading or writing. As an experiment I also take the book out of the inventory and compare the writing using the starlight. The physical book is was written using a beautiful stylized font with multiple flourishes while the menu-generated font is written in an easy to understand standardized font like that of a printing press or computer. With the understanding of the language confirmed I return the book to the inventory and read it through the menu. Don¡¯t judge me. I like the tactile feel of books too, but the light is unreliable and the damn thing is hand written! It¡¯s easier to read in the menu and I don¡¯t need a light source to read it either. In fact I can even see the menu with my eyes closed, so there! Anyway; I¡¯ll read this book until I get tired. The night is quiet while I read, other than the ghostly sound of the ocean and the occasional animal call from the forest. After an hour of so, I¡¯ve already read the first three chapter of ¡°Manipulating Mana: A guide to magic that even an idiot could understand.¡± It explained Magic, Aura and the use of these for invoking spells. I¡¯ll summaries it now. To perform magic, one needs the ability to think, the ability to manipulate one¡¯s Aura and the Mana capacity to power the intended magic phenomena. The most important factor of these is the use of one¡¯s Aura. Aura is the natural protective layer that is formed around a soul or conceptual nucleus (further information in chapter 5) and is heavily influenced by cognition. Aura is able to contain thought and ideas from its wielder as well as access a source of collective thought, common to all cognizant beings, called the wellspring of conception, or from earths philosophy: something like Jung¡¯s collective unconscious. To utilize magic a person with ability loads their aura with an idea of the magics effect then manipulates the aura into an appropriate shape or form while invoking the aura to convert the saturated mana within into the intended result. How is this easy to understand? How? Magic phenomena is separated into two main categories: conceptual magic and procedural magic. Conceptual magic relies on the concept behind the ideal of the magic as existent within the sea of conception. Conceptual magic is not reliant on natural laws in that through conceptual magic fire that burns underwater or maintains a purifying effect against undead, as well as water that heals or wind that cuts can be created. As compensation for these effects, conceptual magic is inflexible outside of preestablished forms. Conceptual magic additionally has an ease of use factor, where by aura manipulation can be performed at a minimum with the use of set chants which have been tied to set phenomena as defined within the sea of conception. This means that most people are able to utilize basic conceptual magics with the assistance of chants and skills. Procedural magic is different in that it receives little correction from idea forms within the sea of conception and relies heavily on the users understanding of the phenomena as well as precise manipulation of the aura form. Procedural magic is much more cost efficient than conceptual magic yet requires both a level of scientific understanding as well personal talent to quickly construct the aura form. Additionally skills play an crucial part in the utilization of both conceptual and procedural magics. Excluding a unique type of conceptual magic called Lifestyle Magic, a caster must have an elemental magic skill of the appropriate level to successfully access the ideal forms within the sea of conception. Relevant magic skill will also affect what substances one can accurately manipulate or what forces one can affect with procedural magic. To put it simply: if one wanted to boil a tub of water with conceptual magic then one would need to possess a Fire Magic skill and consume x amount of mana while performing a five second chant to produce a fireball which is then directed at the tub of water y amount of times until the tub boils. To boil the tub of water with procedural magic the caster would still need a Fire magic skill and would spent x/2 mana, while constructing the aura form in a time between one and ten seconds (depending on talent) to utilize their understanding of thermal energy, which is the basis of fire magic, to cause an acceleration of the water molecules in order to bring the tub of water to a boil in one go. Additionally Force Magic has very few conceptual magic application yet us able to influence all elements through the use of procedural magic. With a headache developing, I close the view of the book within the menu. The book was wordy and full of contradictions but I think I¡¯ve got an idea of the base concepts of magic¡­ I still don¡¯t know how to use it, but that can wait till tomorrow. With that thought I wrap myself tighter in my coat and lie down within my shelter of the overturned barge. Goodnight.