7: Chapter: 7+8 Recovery and Concept Learning.

Chapter: 7+8 Recovery and Concept Learning.

It was the morning after Ariel had explained what had happened. John's pain seems to be mostly gone. He guessed that this had something to do with magic. 

'It is really incredible. Hopefully I'll be able to use a healing spell.' John thought. 

He turned his head to find the source of weight on his hand only to see Ariel lay down right beside him, using his arm as a body pillow. 

"I'm in a dream," John muttered.

John took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

"Good.. just like that.." John silently said.

He opened his eyes and stared at Ariel again only to realise that this was reality.

'Wait. Calm down John, there's surely an explanation for this. Ariel most likely only bought one room for us to save on our funds. Yes. That is surely what happened.' John thought.

However… Just as he continued to fight his inner fantasies and mind, he heard Ariel whisper something while she slept. 

"Uncle.." Ariel said as a small tear slid down her face.

'Uncle..? I wonder what she's dreaming about. Anyways, we need to get ready to head to the guild soon.' John thought. 

Just as he motioned himself to get up, he noticed Ariel's expression changed from a sad one to a relieved one 

'Seriously, what is she dreaming about..?'John thought.

------------------- 

As John was getting ready, he heard the sound of a yawn and the bed sheets rustling. 

"You're up? Let's get ready to go to the guild." John said. 

But the clothes John had now were dirty. There was a clean set on the table and he wondered if he could use them. 

"Y-Yes" Ariel responded.

While John said to get ready. There really wasn't anything to prepare. John held the dagger which had been sheathed on his waist and so did Ariel with hers. 

'We have a weapon.. The only thing we need now is.. Armour and a shower.. When was the last time this body took one?' John thought.

Ariel, on the other hand, was wearing clean clothes, and it looks like she recently took a shower. 

'I guess the inn has that sort of facility.' John concluded.

As he stared at Ariel, it was as if she had managed to read his mind as she said. 

"Um, while you were resting I bought some clean clothes for us to wear... Was it wrong...?" 

"No, no, not at all. On the contrary, it was something I was planning to do later so now that you've already done it, it only makes life easier so thank you." John replied.

John didn't really want to use these clothes without taking a shower first, but it couldn't be helped. 

"Is there a place to take a shower here?" John asked.

Ariel pointed at the door leading to another room in their room. Before she said, 

"That room is the shower room, the maids bring a few buckets filled with water every afternoon. I used that to take a shower." 

'I see. I guess it's the inn's job to provide its customers with water too. That's pretty nice. And I'm guessing the way time passes here is the same as how it did in my previous world.. so that's another bonus.' John thought with a little mirth.

"That's great! Do you mind if I take a shower before getting changed?" John asked.

"Not at all, I already took one last night, so don't worry about me. And there's two buckets inside," Ariel answered.

"Alright, see you in a bit." John said before heading inside the room.

"Mn" Ariel hummed and nodded in response 

John took off his clothes and stood on top of the wooden platform that had a hole on it. 

'I'm guessing the water I spill goes through this hole on to the sewers? If they have one.' John guessed.

He also noticed that there was something which looked like soap on top of the platform. 

'Now that I think about it... I learnt a lot of things in my last life due to how hard I studied for my parents. Science was my speciality, but I did learn quite a bit of engineering in case I'd need it. 

I'm sure I could think of a few ideas which would be able to help and improve this kingdom. Also, I wonder if I'll be able to use magic to create metals. I mean From what I remember; I was able to create an element and turn the elements of Hydrogen and Oxygen in the air into molecules to form water.' John pondered.

As he wondered what the limitations to his abilities were, he poured down water on his head. 

"C-Cold.." 

John let out a quiet complaint as felt his body shiver after it came into contact with the cold water. He then started to scrub his body to get himself as clean as possible. Shortly after, he had finished. 

'The shower was good and all, but we need a better soap, or something similar. Well, at least I managed to get rid of any odour I might have had.' John spoke inwardly.

While he was stuck in deep thought, waiting for himself to dry, he got an idea. 

'What'll happen if I imagine all the molecules of water around me moving to form a ball of water on my hand? That way I'll be able to dry faster and get rid of any moisture on the surface of my skin.' John hypothesized.

He concentrated on his flow of mana and imagined a ball of water would be formed by absorbing the moisture on his skin and water which hadn't yet dried. 

Soon it produced an effect that looked as if a vacuum was pulling at the moisture on his skin and eventually John was dry. On top of his hand there was a sphere-shaped ball of water. 

... 

... ... ... 

"I did it... I can't believe it... Haha... I can use magic! So wait.. Does that mean that I can create water out of nothing by imagining molecules of H2O forming in the air and I can also manipulate the moisture and water in the area? Isn't that a bit unfair?" John said to himself.

He wondered if he could use other elements. The receptionist said that using more than 1 was rare, let alone the fact that magic was already a rare existence. 

'It'd probably be best for me to wait until I get to the forest. Didn't the receptionist say I needed to chant to use spells? Well, the spell I used was self made so I don't think there are any chants required in those cases.' John thought.

"She said something about unique magic, but I think my case is just the fact that I properly understand the molecular structure, therefore I don't need to chant. I'm not too sure, but I guess I'll just ask her." John spoke to himself.

But John couldn't help but get excited at the thought of being able to create new spells and manipulate new elements. He couldn't wait to start a new quest! 

----------- 

After the shower, John got changed into the new clothes and then went to the guild. 

This time the two of them no longer looked like orphans, but instead looked like proper adventurers. Ariel also looked a little cuter in her new clothes.

John greeted the receptionist alongside Ariel while ignoring the gazes that were piercing his back. This time they were a lot sharper than before. He guessed that they didn't expect orphans to survive in the forest. It didn't seem like they had heard about the incident, though. 

"Welcome back!" The receptionist happily said.

"Thank you," John responded.

"Your guild cards are ready and don't worry, you're already registered as an F Rank." The receptionist replied.

'So I guess we did rank up, I mean we did get to exterminate a monster 3 ranks higher so it's only natural.' John thought.

 However, the feeling of ranking up made him feel strangely happy and proud. 

"Lend me your finger." The receptionist said.

John did, and she pricked it with a dagger. 

He left out a soft "Ow" as she positioned it on top of his card. After a drop of blood fell on it, it gave off a temporary shine and that was it. She repeated this with Ariel and the same effect happened. 

"Congratulations. You are now officially Rank F adventurers." The receptionist said with a happy expression 

"Thank you." They replied in unison.

----------------- Chapter 8

After they got their cards, the receptionist showed them a new letter which they were allowed to search for on the board. This letter represented E in writing. 

They thanked her and made their way on to the quest board. 

After searching around for quests, they agreed on choosing a rank E difficulty one. Since John had just learnt magic, taking out bigger targets would be much more possible, and with Ariel's potential, he was sure that they would be unstoppable. 

John brought over the quest to the receptionist, and she explained the details. 

The objective of the quest was to exterminate goblins which had settlements around the forest. As proof for exterminating them, they were supposed to collect a body part. If we can somehow bring the entire body back, we will be awarded money in exchange for materials. 

Each extermination would be worth 2 silver, and they'd be payed accordingly to how many they killed. 

However, it was weird how they didn't encounter many monsters despite spending 30 minutes in the forest, only one. 

'I might've been due to how close we were to the entrance? I don't know…' John wondered.

They thanked the receptionist and accepted the quest, before making their way to the nearest blacksmith and armour shop. They needed some form of protection and since they have a budget, John thought he should get themselves some armour. 

After all, the only thing they had was a dagger which they hadn't even gotten to use. 

'Hopefully I'm able to learn a protection type and healing spell. However, I still haven't tried and there's a chance I won't have compatibility with it.' John thought.

That's why they're getting armour now instead of later. 

'But if worse comes to worst, I'll try to make a water barrier. That sounds like it would work. I need to learn how to use my dagger though.' John planned. 

They entered the shop and John was instantly taken aback. There were armours and daggers on display. A back room which appeared to be where the blacksmith worked as he could hear the sound of someone banging metal coming from there.. 

"Huh, customers? Give me a second." Said the voice which was coming from the backroom. 

Shortly after, a short but ripped looking man came out of the room. His ears were pointed, and he had a long brown beard. He gave them a curious look before moving on to the topic. 

"So, what are you looking for? Armour I'm guessing?" The blacksmith asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for something easy to maintain and durable." John answered.

"For the girl as well?" The blacksmith added.

"Yes." John hastily replied .

'This man.. Although he was shorter than me, he definitely looked older. I'm guessing he's a dwarf. I've read about them in books. Short beings which specialise in blacksmith arts. I can't believe I'm actually meeting one…' John thought with wonder in his eyes. 

As he thought that. The blacksmith asked. "Hmm, are you adventurers?" 

"Yes." They replied in a proud and dignified manner. 

"I see, that explains it. How does Orc armour sound? It was made with the top quality orc skin and is pretty easy to maintain, It's also flexible and weighs little so it won't restrict movement." The blacksmith replied.

'That sounds too good to be true.' John postulated.

"W-What's the price?" He asked.

"60 Gold Coins." The blacksmith answered.

'I knew it'. John thought.

"Do you have anything cheaper? Around 50 silver coins?" John questioned.

"Why did that guy make an armour in the size of kids... There are barely any adventurers that would fit this size..." John quietly murmured. 

'Ah, so that's the case…' John guessed.

After Giving off a saddened expression, the man quickly recomposed himself 

"How does iron armour sound? I'll have 2 sets which look like they'll fit you and the girl. Since I didn't see any adventure's small enough to fit them, the price dropped. They're in top quality condition and I'll give them to you for 30 silver, the maintenance kit included." The smith answered.

'He doesn't seem like he's lying and I don't really know the market price and now's not the time to be picky, so I should just accept.' John decided. 

The armour set itself was composed of an iron chest, leggings and gauntlets. In John's opinion 30 silver sounded like a pretty good. 

They each went to a separate changing room to try out the armour and then shortly after, came back out with it equipped. 

It fit John pretty well; He found out that it was a little loose around the chest, but aside from that it felt natural. 

'Now I look even more like an adventurer.' John thought. 

"H-How do I look?" She asked with a curious expression 

"Hmm, the armour looks good, doesn't seem like there are many openings, but I'm not too good." John said. 

"That's good!" Said Ariel happily 

'How can she smile so much?' John wondered.

He then took out 30 silver coins from the bag on Ariel's waist and handed it to the blacksmith. Now all that was left was 20 Silver coins. They left the rest at the inn in case something might have happened. 

The purchase brought down their money to 143 silver coins. The first twenty was payed in advance to stay for a week, meaning there were 3 days remaining. And the 3 silver was used for their meals. If you're a client in the inn. You'll be able to have 3 meals a day for a silver as a bonus. 

They paid 2 silver coins this morning for the meals today and had breakfast before they left. It wasn't anything impressive, just bread with milk. 

'I guess you can't expect much from an inn. But she did say the other meals were better.. Guess I'll have to wait and see.' John thought helplessly. 

'I've been wondering. Why did she pay 6 silver instead of 3 for the meals? Did she get extra meals for me? But I was asleep, so I'm guessing she somehow managed to feed me... I'll ask her later. Either way, I have to thank her.' John decided. 

"Thank you for your patronage," The Smith said.

After they left the store, they stocked up on food to eat in the forest as they weren't sure how much time they'd be spending in the forest. And as they walked towards the gate, John took it upon this chance to ask. 

"Um... Ariel." 

"Yes?" She replied.

"Remember when i was unconscious?" 0

"Yes...?" 

"Were you feeding me when i was asleep?" 

"Yes... Sorry." Ariel said in apology.

"W-What? Ah no, I'm not mad at you, I'm actually grateful, that way I was able to properly recover, thanks to you." John replied.

"Mn.. I used to take care of uncle while he was ill so I learnt how to help.. While you were asleep I sat you up and spoon fed you.." Ariel explained. 

'Wouldn't I have choked to death? When I'm unconscious, my tongue should have been at the base of my throat, not to mention how there's two airways and if the food goes in the wrong one, It'd get stuck and stop me from breathing.... Am I overthinking it? Fantasy worlds sure are scary…' John thought with a little surprise. 

"I see.. Thanks a lot, i feel even better than before now thanks to you." John thanked.

Ariel smiled as she said, "You can count on me." 

The inn provided them with toothbrushes and toothpaste, so there was no need to worry about John's breath smelling bad or bad teeth. And of course, the same can be said for Ariel. She had been living quite nicely after all, it was only until recently that her uncle had died. 

------------------------ 

After heading towards the gate, they finally arrived and were stopped by the gatekeeper. 

"Where are you going?" he asked. 

'This voice.. Is he a new gate-keeper?' John wondered.

"Hey, we're adventurers, we're on our way to the forest for a goblin subjugation quest." John answered. 

"Adventurers.. can I see your cards?" The guard asked.

"Sure." John responded.

They then handed the man their cards and after checking them, he allowed them through. 

'That's weird, the previous gate keeper didn't ask us for our cards.. Was he slacking off? It's even more weird that he was easily able to melt ice, doesn't that mean that he was able to use magic? Isn't it rare? Why was someone with such an ability working as a gatekeeper?' John kept on guessing. 

They took the same path they took last time and arrived at the forest; John wanted to see how much damage my magic caused after he fainted, so he followed Ariel as she led the way. 

After they arrived at the scene, John froze as he thought. 

'I.. did that?'

In front of him were a few trees which had been completely frozen. It wasn't anything massive, but the fact that he was able to do such a thing made him feel strangely excited.

After looking around and making sure that there weren't any monsters nearby, John decided to sit down. 

This was a pretty open area, there weren't many trees around here. 

'No wonder the boar was able to easily attack us.' John guessed. 

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and wordlessly began to concentrate. Ariel stood there and watched him quietly. 

'Imagine.. Imagine.. Remember how it felt when the boar tried to attack Ariel. Remember the feeling of the mana flowing within my body.. Imagine the elements forming water molecules around me and imagine Ice being formed through an endothermic reaction.' John recalled. 

After a few seconds, which felt like minutes, 4 Spiky emerald shaped Ice balls formed around John. 

While it drained some of John's energy, he still felt like he could create 30 more of these. But he thought it's probably better not to use up everything. 

After Ariel saw the ice balls form, her expression lit up, and she let out a short "Wow.." to show that she was impressed. 

Seeing this made John want to show off, but he held back. 

John aimed at a target and the directions the ice balls were facing changed at his will. After his signal, they propelled themselves towards each target he had in mind. 

He wanted to see if he would be able to aim each one individually towards a separate tree and it worked. 

On impact The tree instantly froze up. 

Seeing this John couldn't help but let out a short "Wow.." Either.. 

Although the power was weaker than the first and they only managed to freeze the first thing it collided with, it was still amazing. 

'Oh god.. I can't stop trembling..' John thought with shock.

 Even Ariel was surprised. It looked like she wanted to be able to do that too.

 'I'll try to teach her once I'm done with it.' John decided.

As John sat down again, he noticed that there were a few creatures approaching them from within the forest. 

'Was it the sound caused by the impact.. Crap.. Should we run? No.. With magic, I should be able to fight them.' John planned.

John signalled at Ariel to come over and perhaps having understood the situation, she nodded. 

"How many?" She asked. 

"I'm not sure.. I'm only able to feel movement, I can't exactly detect what they are or how many, with perception." John answered.

'Although I should be able to if there was a search spell.. We'll leave this for later.' John thought. 

"What do you want to do?" John asked.

Ariel pulled out the dagger on her waist and said, "Fight." 

John nodded, and they got into their positions. John will attack with spells and a dagger, and she'll attack with her dagger. 

"I guess it's time to hunt." John declared.

pqdm.com