Chương 4: 1-3 Numbers and nightmares

The remainder of Josef's evening passed in a blink. As much as he wanted to gather more information about his new surroundings and learn more about his new world, he had to accept that he was running low on energy. The overflow of new information was simply draining. Just a day ago, magic was a thing of fantasy. Now he had actually cast spells. Not only that, he casually gained a whole new sense for the mana inside of him. He had no idea how he could ever explain to someone how gaining a sense felt. It just…

did a thing in his head, and there it was. Also, moving into a whole new place was kicking his introverted ass hard. Still, he wasn't the only one flagging early. Cana hadn't looked much better than him. The shock and horror of her day having left their mark. After Dizzy had fed both of them a big bowl of stew, which tasted absolutely delicious, everyone agreed to reconvene the next morning.

Zassa went back to the front of her tavern, no doubt having a lot of work left to do, as Josef and Cana made their way to an upstairs hallway. Leading them was Dizzy, who intended to show the human where he would sleep for the night. When they reached the door of what was presumably Cana's own room, Josef gave Coco another dose of healing magic to hopefully get her through the night.

He had some ideas on how to improve his approach to healing the blood fever, but he didn't want to experiment when he was already too tired to properly concentrate. Especially if the target of his magic was a sick kid. For now, he thought it better to directly improve her condition before trying anything fancy. Of course Josef's room ended up being all the way in the back of the floor. Before Dizzy could turn around and head back downstairs, though, he spoke up.

"Uh, Dizzy," he led on, "I wanted to apologize again for before. I didn't mean anything bad by it. It's just that back home I grew up with pretty much only other humans around me. I actually never met a kobold before coming to Highsend. Or many other races I've seen here. What I'm trying to say is that I'm just nervous about not knowing how to address many of the people I meet around here, and I am just trying to learn about everyone." Dizzy had fixated him with one eye, eyebrow raised as she was judging him.

Whatever she saw in him caused her face to give away for something softer.

"Oh, not make Dizzy regret hard words, boy. You need. But Dizzy not mad. Dizzy help stupid get better. Dizzy teach kid morning" Josef watched her walk off with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he had just found a teacher for the nuances of life in a multiracial city. But on the other hand, she sees him as a stupid kid. He was 29, damn it. Also, while her way of talking was endearing for now, he knew that sentiment wouldn't last forever. Oh well, those were problems for tomorrow's Josef. His new room was…

Well, he couldn't really say much about it, with how dark it was. Did everyone in this world have nightvision, and only he was left a blind fool at night? Thankfully, his dear companion had his back. Dusty's glowing red eyes were like a beacon in the dark, showing his tired body the path to salvation. When did he get up here? Josef couldn't even remember his presence downstairs. There was a flicker of concern in the back of his mind. Then it disappeared again.

He made it most of the way to his bed before he kicked something across the room with a clattering noise. Was that a bedpan? Josef immediately banished that whole topic from his head. He'd rather not think about life without running water and toilet paper. However, he didn't fancy having any more collisions in the dark, so he tried something his tired mind should have come up with before. Magic. Light. The greatest idea of the century.

His healing spell already glowed on its own, so making a bit of light without any extras couldn't be too hard. Calling upon the dregs of mana he had regenerated in the last few minutes, he filled his mind with thoughts of light. Light bulb. Night light. Floor lamp. LED. Perhaps there was power in the images he used, or mana was a lot better at following intent than he thought. A large droplet of glowing mana formed in the palm of his hand. ☆ Light (Moderate) Banisher of the dark, vanquisher of the night.

A popular first spell to teach beginners. Most children of the magically inclined races figure this one out on their own. Josef was giddy. He just made his first spell. Not something that was given to him, but magic of his own making. Whoever wrote that system message could go lick a cactus. His new light wasn't the most impressive thing, barely reaching the walls of the room, but it was enough for his purpose. It helped him reach his bed without further incidents.

A bed that was clearly a big chunk of straw with some sheets of linen on top. With a sigh Josef started to settle in for the night. Before sleep could take him, he decided to take one last look at what he had achieved on his first day of isekai. He checked his status. Name Josef Trach Level 4 Class L. A. P. I. S. Type <Summoner> v0.

9b Body ☆☆ Humanoid (Advanced) Heart ☆☆ Manaheart (Advanced) Health 24/24 Mana 3/42 Strength 4 Intelligence Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. 6 Dexterity 4 Wisdom 5 Endurance 3 Charisma 5 Affinities??? Unknown (?) ☆ Earth (Advanced) ☆☆ Water (Exceptional) ☆☆ Restoration (Advanced) ☆☆ Summoning (Moderate) ✩ Space (Inferior) Spells ☆ Water Sphere (Pinnacle) ☆ Minor Heal (Pinnacle) ☆ Summon Familiar (Pinnacle) | 1/1 ☆ Light (Moderate) Skills ☆☆☆☆☆ Draconic Thesaurus(Pinnacle) ☆☆☆☆☆ Portable Hoard(Pinnacle) ☆☆ Discerning Eyes(Exceptional) ✩ Mental Resistance(Moderate) Feats Transmigrator, Dragon's Heartstone Looking at his status made both his head and his heart ache.

He still remembered all of that just getting stuffed into his brain all at once. Yet he had very little idea what most of those numbers did. Why didn't he start at level 1? Did he somehow level because of past life experiences? And his class was apparently a beta version of whatever a L. A. P. I. S. was supposed to be. He really hoped it only showed up as 'Summoner' if he was ever checked by someone. Was he able to level his heart via cardio? And how does a health pool work in reality?

If someone really powerful punched his pinky finger really hard, would he just fall over dead? If his stats were based on popular tabletop games, then he was pretty subpar. Josef really hoped the initial numbers for a healthy adult were out of 10. How were his affinities determined? He knew the Spatial Affinity, along with the Mental Resistance skill, came from his Transmigrator feat. A feat he gained from arriving in this world.

Which, in hindsight, implies that you do not need some magic stone to receive system messages. His spells were pretty straightforward, and he was familiar with most of them, though he had yet to try chucking water balls at anyone. As for his ski- When have I used Summon Familiar? ☆ Summon Familiar (Pinnacle) Bring forth a steadfast ally, born of mana and tinted with affinity. Can alternatively forge a pact with a magical creature. Summons are an extension of yourself, though imbued with their own will.

Maximum Number of active familiars limited by rank of spell. Current limit: 1 Why couldn't he remember actually using the spell? It must have been after receiving his hearthstone and before getting in line at the Highsend gates. All that he could remember from that time was… grabbing loot and being violently ejected through a hole in space. Was there more he couldn't remember? Maybe he somehow instinctually summoned Dusty in a panic? When did he even name him? How had he known his name?

And why wasn't he on the bed anymore? His eyes darted around, searching for his telltale glowing red eyes. Just as he was about to create another light, he found them. In the corner. Up near the ceiling. Fuck. His heart didn't exactly have a beat that could hammer in fear anymore, but his mana felt cold with terror. Dismiss. Unsummon. Banish. Go away. It didn't work. He couldn't send him away either. Maybe his magical inspection could pick something up?

👎︎︎◆︎︎⬧︎︎⧫︎︎⍓︎︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♎︎◆︎⬧︎⧫︎♌︎◆︎■︎■︎⍓︎🖳︎︎ 🕆︎■︎🙵■︎□︎⬥︎■︎ 📫︎ ☹︎︎♏︎︎❖︎︎♏︎︎●︎︎ ✍︎︎✍︎︎ ☹︎︎♓︎︎🙵♏︎︎⬧︎︎ ♍︎︎◆︎︎♎︎︎♎︎︎●︎︎♏︎︎⬧︎︎ ♋︎︎■︎︎♎︎︎ ⬧︎︎◆︎︎❒︎︎◻︎︎❒︎︎♓︎︎⬧︎︎♏︎︎⬧︎︎📬︎︎ ☞︎︎♓︎︎♏︎︎❒︎︎♍︎︎♏︎︎●︎︎⍓︎︎ ◻︎︎❒︎︎□︎︎⧫︎︎♏︎︎♍︎︎⧫︎︎♓︎︎❖︎︎♏︎︎📬︎︎ Josef closed his eyes, expecting the worst to happen. That a monster was about to descend on him and tear him apart. Had he brought something along on his trip through the void and doomed this world? … Nothing happened. Not until something wet and warm touched his cheek.

Opening his eyes, he found the bunny sitting next to him on the bed, softly nibbling on his face. Though the critter couldn't speak with him, he somehow knew he was being comforted. Summons are an extension of yourself. Right. It wouldn't make sense for his own summons to hurt him. They would probably die alongside him. Still, he wondered.

"Just what are you, really?" The unblinking bunny stopped his wet assault and stared at him. Summons were supposed to display an affinity. Josef's instinctual pick would have been earth, because that was the most fitting for a bunny. But clearly, this little terror was special. Water and Healing were completely out. They just didn't fit in the slightest. And was Summoning even a valid affinity for a summoned entity? Like a familiar that multiplied itself.

That sounded like an interesting thing to try, but not what was going on with this rabbit. A spatial affinity could explain all the erratic movement and relocation. Then again, he never actually saw him teleport. No, Dusty only ever moved when unobserved. It also didn't explain why those effects just… slipped his mind, as if they explained themselves away. That left his literally unknown affinity. The stuff that got him into this mess in the first place.

Dragons, or at least a dragon, wanted him here just because of that. And even they had no idea what it was. But it was important enough to throw his whole life into upheaval. Important enough to saddle him with his heartstone. <Dragon's Heartstone> The envy of all lesser races. Copied countless times but forever without equal. Heartstones are rarely found outside of the draconic race. It's even rarer for those to have been gained with permission.

Know that the power bestowed upon you is immense, and so are the expectations you carry upon your shoulders. Created by a powerful dragon of the sea, this heart has additionally been imbued with the creator's own affinity for Water and Healing magic. Artificial modifications for granting the Summoning affinity have been detected. For possessing a hitherto unknown affinity of magic, the elusive key that had evaded all of my searches, I have granted you my heartstone.

Do not abandon the path to our salvation, for a gift freely given can still be taken from the unworthy. Unlocks: ☆☆ Manaheart(Advanced) ☆☆ Water (Exceptional) ☆☆ Restoration (Advanced) ☆☆ Summoning (Moderate) ☆ Water Sphere (Pinnacle) ☆ Minor Heal (Pinnacle) ☆ Summon Familiar (Pinnacle) ☆☆☆☆☆ Draconic Thesaurus(Pinnacle) ☆☆☆☆☆ Portable Hoard(Pinnacle) ☆☆ Discerning Eyes(Exceptional) That was the cross he was given to carry. A very fancy one, given just how much stuff it was giving him.

Josef did not want to find out what would happen should he drop it.

"Thanks buddy, I think I needed that." He ruffled the bunny's fur.

"Let me know if you figure out your own affinity." Dusty's reaction was less of a noise and more of a vibration. Their communication was improving.

"Mind watching over me tonight?" The little guy lingered for just a moment longer before jumping into the dark. Moments later, his eyes reappeared in the corner, near the ceiling. Deep down, he felt a certain amount of comfort in having a nightmarish entity in his corner. Metaphorically speaking, at least. It was still creepy as hell. Sleep wouldn't come easily that night, but Josef had to get whatever rest he could get. Tomorrow, he had work to do.