Chương 4

The street was genuinely beautiful, not at all a run-down slum of crime like I'd expected. The walkway was freshly paved with smooth stone, separated from the carriageway with lush green trees, each one perfectly trimmed to offer shade from the bright summer sun. Apartments had small French balconies with flowers adding personality. Below, the street was wide enough for terrace bars and restaurants. A glance at the plates being served reminded me that Vora hadn't eaten in a while.

Then there were the people, all just as stylish as the streets themselves. No person was a copy of anyone, yet I could have paused to admire almost every outfit. A dark jacket over a colorful shirt tucked into baggy pants seemed to be the most trendy, often adorned with jewelry, from necklaces to rings to wrist bands. Plenty of people were out alone, even women, many of whom weren't afraid to dress comfortably in skirts or shorts, openly carrying satchels in a way that could have invited theft in a less safe city.

Most people seemed to be from the same ethnicity of tan skin, dark hair, and sharp features. I continued jogging and avoided gawking as much as I could. My appearance was considerably more unkempt than passersby's, but nobody paid much attention. Those who saw me running got out of the way, and I weaved past the few who didn't. This wasn't exactly a jogging route, but the hobby was socially accepted. Smart thinking to wear a jogging suit underneath, I thought, giving credit where it was due.

Vora was far from clueless. His calves already burned, though, and his weak posture urged me to slouch. I had to slow down the pace to calm my breathing. Any more exertion would make me dizzy—or make Vora dizzy, however I preferred to look at the dilemma of my new identity. I'd need to think about that when I had time. Vora was definitely dead, though, and his thoughts no longer appeared.

Most of the exhaustion came from running from the mage officers by abusing adrenaline, not to mention the Strength Enhancement magic that was now running out. Beyond that, Vora's body was also out of shape. He was at least fifty pounds heavier than me, and his back muscles were weak, leading to a perpetual forward slouch. I fought against that, forcing him into good posture and activating muscles that hadn't been properly worked in years.

A few minutes in, my lungs and calves were what forced me to take a short break. I stepped aside, holding my hands on my feet outside a bakery. Its large display window showed a reflection. For the first time, I saw my face. I had clear Asterran features: tan skin with short dark hair and sharp features, though a little bit of plumpness was stored in the cheeks.

He was around the same height as I'd been, just under six feet, but the athletic hiker's body I was used to seeing in the mirror now showcased a more static lifestyle. This was Vora. A seventeen-year-old student born and raised in New Asterra by two middle-class, if not well-off parents. An old man brushed sand off of the storefront by the nearest alley. He spotted me catching my breath. With a smile, he said, " Gamdar." That translated to something like, "You got it."

A single word to both appreciate the work someone was putting in, while encouraging them to keep at it. Also, probably a kind way to tell me I was in the way of his brush. I smiled back and thanked him. My new body urged me to look at the cakes and desserts on display for a moment longer, but I ignored that and kept moving at a modest jog. Now, what are my next problems? I wondered. First of all, nobody around me had mana cores. Not a single person.

There was plenty of ambient mana in the air, which was used by streetlamps and store signs, but nobody had mana cores. That was a problem, because I stuck out like a sore thumb in the sixth realm. If a mage officer passed by, that alone would make me into a culprit. I knew one spell to conceal my presence, but it required more mana than I had available. I could probably cast it in an hour, but that would once again drain my core. The mana officers took a while to sense my mana core, I thought.

Maybe the average mage couldn't sense mana as clearly as I did? My senses had gradually increased the more I practiced. It took me at least three months to sense Trina's core clearly even at full focus. Vora's knowledge wasn't any help in that regard. He'd never been a mage, and he wasn't educated in the topic. I tried to scour for information on whether the city had magic scanners to detect me—to no clear answer.

Vora, and the average Asterran, thought that magic was merely a danger to stay away from and irrelevant to their daily lives. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. I'll just keep my senses open and avoid people with mana cores until I'm concealed, I thought, no other solution coming to mind. Now, the next obvious question: where was I going? Where did Vora sleep? Where did he get food? Did he have any money? Was he expected to be somewhere at this time of day?

Would I miss responsibilities by being outside? My god, there's so much to think about… I picked away at his memories, grabbing the necessary details. He lived with his parents about a fifteen-minute walk from here. Food came either from the school cafeteria, or from his parents, always eaten with a sense of guilt for his inability to provide anything in return. He didn't have a single penny to his name. The mere idea of heading home came with all sorts of distasteful emotions, related mostly to shame.

I needed a safe place to rest and sleep. My options were to head home against Vora's insecurities, or to sleep on the streets. The choice was rather obvious. I confirmed that nobody in his family was abusive, then jogged the rest of the way home.

Vora's house was tucked away behind the main street. A left turn led me to a public yard between buildings, shared by the apartment complexes around it. A clean garbage site was here with a small playground for children. A neighbor I recognized but didn't know by name was sitting on a bench with a girl leaning her head on his shoulder. Every street on the way had been peaceful, and this area was no different. By appearance and atmosphere, Asterra seemed like a fantastic place to live.

I almost preferred this to the typical American cities of asphalt and parking lots. Trina would have adored the walkability even more than me. Wherever she was, hopefully she wasn't also being hunted to death. The keys were tucked away in my pocket. Entering the apartment, the layout was instinctively familiar as I stepped up the white stairs, built of what looked like marble slabs. Pretty, but a few stairs had cracks on them that had been expanding for months.

Vora's home was on the more expensive side of apartments in the city, but it wasn't without its signs of wear. On the third story was apartment number 34 with the nameplate "Rovander." That was his surname. Vora Rovander. I took a deep breath in preparation for social interaction, then entered the apartment. A door rug atop grey hardwood flooring accepted me into a rather spacious entrance hallway.

"Welcome!" was written on the rug with bold letters of the world's alphabet. The shoe rack had an empty spot for Vora, and the jacket hanger was full, mostly of his sister's jackets.

"Vora?" A woman's head peeked over from the kitchen.

"Where have you been? Food has been ready for ten minutes."

"Jogging," I said. She stared at me incredulously. I studied the expression. She was a slim woman wearing a kitchen apron, a bit shorter than me, and her eyes seemed to be both impressed and disapproving at the same time.

"Where did you get the outfit?" I paused.

"Uh, Tonir gave it to me."

"Oh, you hung out with him today?" Tonir was apparently Vora's older brother, who had moved out a few years ago. Using his name was the first excuse Vora's knowledge gave me.

"Yeah, I came across him in Trade Street. He suggested jogging as a hobby to get more motivated." That seemed to be a good answer.

"Well…" Mom said.

"I'm happy you're working on yourself, Vora. You do need a bath before joining for dinner, however."

"Of course." Already, she looked suspicious. Maybe my tone was different from how Vora usually spoke.

"Your father wanted to talk to you later," Mom said.

"But a bath and food first." I nodded.

"I'll be quick." A bath—how do I take a bath in this city? I had to bring spare clothes and a towel from my room to the bathroom. Our family was lavish enough to have their own small bath, as opposed to the shared apartment bathhouses that were more common. Shoes off, I moved to Vora's room, passing the dinner table. His younger sister eyed me from behind her plate of pasta.

"Jogging won't stop you from being expelled," she snarked.

"Gina." Mom gave her a look. My new sister rolled her eyes and moved back to her meal. Too much new information for me to process kept flowing in. I merely focused on the immediate problem of finding a towel from Vora's cabin. His room was more like an unimpressively decorated workspace with a bed. He had a shelf that used to house toys, which Vora had sold to buy snacks, and now only school equipment and old paper essays littered most of my space.

The most important item to Vora was the action novel on his bed from the library, titled, " Astral Hunter – Book 4." The cabin revealed sweatpants and shirts. I grabbed a pair of pants, a shirt, and a towel. Sliding into flippers, I headed into the bathroom. Inside the small-ish tiled room, a literal pool was built into the floor. I blinked in surprise. Touching the water, I found it already heated up. All I had to do was add soap, and the bath was ready.

Vora's memories pointed me to a drainage button that would replace all of the water when I was done. Vora hardly understood the technology, but mana pipes were involved. How is this place more luxurious than America? My head still pounded with a million bits of unprocessed information, all of which requested immediate attention. Going into a bath felt like I was acting against all of the signals of stress telling me to panic and answer what the hell was going on.

What was I doing here, pretending to be some boy I'd never met in a world where I didn't belong. But the bath was the perfect place to calm down and think. And my exhausted muscles honestly needed it right now. I stepped in, and submerged into the warm, soapy relaxation.