"Well fuck," said Bob. "This is fucking weird." He had learned Spanish reasonably quickly, having grown up in Watts, but the feeling of mentally changing gears to speak Spanish was nothing like the feeling of thinking in Thaylan.

"I'm told the sensation normalizes fairly quickly," said Kelli.

"Yes," said Thidwell, "and in the meantime, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

Bob raised his hands and tried to smile at Thidwell. He'd been reasonable and even generous so far. "Ask away, I appreciate the help you've given me."

Thidwell gave him a grim smile, and asked: "How exactly did you manage to travel between your world and Thayland?"

Bob lowered his hands, and pursed his lips, considering his answer. 'Fuck it,' he decided, 'might as well just lay it out.'

"In my world, I worked as a researcher. I had compiled a protocol to test a hypothesis, when someone else at the research lab took my work, altered it without understanding what they were doing, and passed it off as their own before running the protocol," he said.

He paused, wondering if these people had the necessary scientific background to understand what he had just said. He was thinking in English and speaking in Thaylan, and some of the words didn't quite match up.

Bob continued, "The changes they made, without getting into too much detail, resulted in an explosion that somehow hurled me into this reality."

Thidwell nodded, and asked, "And what are the chances of more people coming from your world to ours?"

Bob gave a short, sharp, bark of a laugh and replied, "Effectively none. While the people of my world have long hypothesized the existence of other, parallel dimensions, no verifiable evidence has ever been presented. My disappearance and the lack of my physical remains will be waved away as a result of my proximity to the explosion."

He went on, "Even if they did suspect what happened, duplicating the experiment would require them to sacrifice a particle accelerator worth billions of dollars, all in the effort to send someone to a hypothetical alternate reality, with no way to verify the success or failure of the experiment."

He shook his head. "While I will be the first to admit that I've seen ridiculous experiments funded, the truth is that with no potentially beneficial result, there is no way a project like that would ever find backing."

Thidwell nodded slowly, and then said "Well, it sounds like a cross-dimensional invasion is unlikely."

Bob just gave him a nod.

"Moving on, based on the report from Elli and Harv, I believe that despite being an adult, you are currently under A Child's Protection?" Thidwell asked.

Bob nodded again.

"Good," Thidwell said, "it's probably for the best, at least for now. While I could remove it with your consent, I suggest we leave it in place for now and reconvene in three days to consider removing it then."

Thidwell opened another desk drawer and pulled out another pouch. He slid it across the desk towards Bob.

"When you arrived here, through no fault of your own, a dungeon was created around you. Based again around Harv and Elli's report, you spent two days killing the mana spawned rats in that place," Thidwell said, and then gave the pouch a nod.

Bob took the hint, and opened the pouch, revealing tiny sparkling shards.

Thidwell gave him a nod and said, "I counted three hundred and forty-seven level one shards," he gave Bob a stern look and went on, "Kelli will explain to you exactly what an amazing opportunity this provides for you as you decide your path."

Bob gave a slow nod.

Thidwell sat back a bit in his chair and took on a more relaxed tone. "Which brings us to what should be the most important question. What do you want to do, beyond the immediate needs of food and shelter, which I'll arrange to have taken care of here at the guild for the next few days."

Bob replied instantly, "I need to go home. Monroe is locked in my apartment and he will eventually run out of food."

Thidwell gave him a concerned look and asked, "Monroe?"

Bob said "Yes, Monroe. My cat."

Thidwell shot a look at Kelli, then turned his gaze back to Bob. "Cat? Small, furred animal, graceful, good at catching rodents?"

Bob shrugged helplessly, and looked at Kelli as he said "Kelli could probably confirm it better than I could."

Kelli eagerly interjected, "Yes, Bob is referring to a cat, a species that seems to be nearly identical between our worlds, however, based on the interactions I saw between Bob and Monroe, I suspect a familiar bond."

Thidwell thought for a moment, then nodded. "I've known quite a few druids, rangers, hunters, tamers, and keepers over the years, and I've seen the bonds they develop with their animal companions. I'm not sure how that would work without mana on your world, but I can accept it."

Thidwell seemed to mull over his thoughts for a moment, then he gave Bob a nod. "For now Kelli will answer your questions and provide you the information you need in order to function in our world. Ideally, I'd like to meet again in three days to remove A Child's Blessing and have you start your path."

Thidwell made a dismissive gesture and said "Go grab dinner, I'll have a room arranged for you. Kelli, before you go off on a tangent, explain our currency to him."

Kelli jumped up, nodded sharply, and headed towards the door.

Taking the hint, Bob nodded as well and followed Kelli out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As he followed Kelli down the stairs, he glanced at the pouch full of apparently very valuable crystals, and thought 'Inventory, Store!'.

His wealth secure, he followed Kelli out the door at the bottom of the stairs, and to a corner table in the tavern.

He sat down across from Kelli who pulled out a pouch, peered into it, and retrieved four coins from its depths.

Kelli excitedly pointed at the smallest coin, which was slightly smaller than a penny, and said "This is a copper bit. It'll buy you a couple of slices of bread, a fresh apple, or a cup of truly awful beer pretty much anywhere."

Bob nodded.

Kelli gestured to the next coin, which was just about the size of a penny, and went on, "This is a bronze round. It's called that because historically only bronze coins were cast as round, with other coins being square, oblong, and triangular. It is worth ten copper bits, and will get you three good hot and filling meals, or a warm and dry room for the night."

Bob gave another nod and a smile. He could work with Kelli. He seemed eager to please.

"Now this," Kelli pointed to the next coin, which was only slightly larger than the penny, and silver in color, "is a silver flour, so named because it has always been valued as the worth of a ten-pound bag of flour, and it is worth ten rounds."

Bob held up both hands in an effort to stall Kelli long enough to ask a question.

"I know what a pound means in my language, but what does a pound mean in Thaylan?" He asked.

Kelli looked momentarily stumped. "Uh, a pound is a pound," he floundered.

Bob gave a sigh and thought for a moment.

Then he asked, "How much do I weigh in Thaylan pounds?"

Kelli's gave him a brilliant smile and said, "Ah, I'd need a scale, but I'd guess around one hundred and ninety pounds?"

Bob nodded and replied, "That sounds about right. How do the weights break down from there?"

Kelli gave a quick nod and said, "Well, going up there is only one measurement, and that is a block, which is one thousand pounds. Going down, a pound is split into ten ribs, and from there into ten splints. Beyond that is the territory of alchemists."

Bob grimaced. The names of the weights were going to throw him. At least it was base ten math.

"Anyway," Kelli continued pointing to the final coin, which appeared to be made of gold, and was slightly smaller but also thicker than the silver flour, "the last is the gold crown, so named because it used to be stamped with a crown on one side and a coat of arms on the other, although in our modern era, you'll find the treasurers mark on one side, and the guild stamp on the other." Kelli pointed to an intricate mark that meant nothing to Bob, and then to what was clearly the Staff and Sword crossed over the shield mark of the guild.

"Now a crown's worth is a bit more subjective. There are ten flours to a crown, but beyond a hundred pounds of flour, things start to become a bit more... regional, although you can always count on it to be worth the values leading up to it. You can get a year's rent with a crown, two hot meals a day, and a dry clean room, in pretty much any inn you might find, although those that aren't so clean, or the higher end ones might slide up or down on the scale."

Bob nodded, and then asked, "Alright, I understand the currency and what it can buy, more or less, but how is it earned?"

Kelli grinned at him and replied, "Well, assuming you don't have a path that counts for anything, an hour of hard labor will earn you a copper bit."

Bob nodded. That was money enough for food and a small amount leftover. He imagined there were probably places that rented out bunks for unskilled laborers for quite a bit less than an inn.

Kelli scooped up the coins and put them back in his purse.

"Now, crystals, those are a different type of currency, and one that requires a bit more exposition," Kelli stated, waving his hand to flag down a waitress.

A slender young woman in slacks and a blouse hurried over to their table and looked to Kelli.

"Bob this is..." Kelli glanced at the waitress, inviting her to provide a name.

"Bailli," the waitress responded.

Kalli gave her a nod and then said "Bailli this is Bob. He's new around here, and Thidwell is having the guild take care of him for a few days while he gets his bearings."

Bob looked between Bailli and Kelli, wondering where this was going.

"I'd be much obliged to put in a word with Thidwell if you could make sure Bob here gets fed and watered should I not be around," Kelli continued.

Bailli's face brightened and she gave Bob a quick smile as she said "Anyone the Curator aids is someone I'm happy to help."

Kelli reached up and patted her shoulder, as he said "Thanks, can you get us a couple of plates of whatever is hot and a couple of mugs of beer each?"

Bailli patted Kelli's shoulder and nodded, then stopped as Bob raised his hand.

"Could I have water please?" He asked. "I don't drink alcohol."

Despite their wildly different complexions and facial features, Bailli and Kelli could have been twins as they both slowly mouthed the words "Don't drink alcohol" in stunned disbelief.

Bailli was the first to recover and she gave him a nod, then hurried to the other side of the tavern, and disappeared behind the long bar, and into a door that Bob assumed led to the kitchen.

"You don't drink?" Kelli blurted out. "At all?"

"No," said Bob slowly. "Is that a problem?"

"Not really, it's just kind of odd," Kelli replied.

"These days there is always someone around with cleanse, so it isn't like you're relying on the alcohol to keep any foulness at bay," Kelli continued.

"Cleanse?" Bob asked.

"Yeah, it's a skill you get from transmutation," said Kelli absentmindedly as his eyes focused in on Bailli who was returning with two steaming bowl/platter type dishes, and four wooden mugs, all balanced carefully on a tray.

'Transmutation?' Bob thought as he eyed the platter of what appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be a hearty stew, with carrots and potatoes and onions and some sort of meat, all served with two slices of thick bread, the edges already sopping up the stew. While Elli and Harv had shared their meals with him, they hadn't exactly been gourmet. In fact, it had been quite a while since he had eaten a real, solid, home-cooked meal.

It smelled amazing. As Bailli set the mugs down, he smiled at her and said, "Thank you," before grabbing the spoon from the bowl and digging in.

Kelli didn't seem to be quite as hungry as he was and spoke between bites.

"So, crystals are their own kind of currency," Kelli said, before taking a drink from his mug.

He leaned forward conspiratorily and said, "The crystals you have? Those are enough to shoot you straight to level five with nearly a hundred left over."

"If you can find an enchanter or a smith who is just starting out, you might be able to get them to spring for the extra three crystals in order to get skill experience, and end up with an increase to your primary attributes," he concluded, then leaned back.

"See, while you can't use crystals you didn't take part in earning to level, you can use them to work ritual magic, enchant items, or craft equipment," Kelli explained.

"The size of the bonus is dependent on the skill of the person imbuing it, but the real limiting factor is the level of the crystal. A bonus of up to level five can use any crystal to create and requires fifty crystals. But from six to ten, the rules of mana tighten, and the level of the bonus is limited to the level of the crystal, although you can of course substitute higher-level crystals to imbue a lower level effect, even if it is a bit of a waste," Kelli concluded.

Bob nodded. He was just sort of absorbing the information and waiting for a big picture to come together.

Kelli took a few bites, and a drink, then went on, "So, right now you should have all of your attributes at five, right?"

Bob nodded slowly.

Kelli grinned at him and said "It's not a secret - everyone starts at five in each attribute. As you level up to five, you gain one point per level into each attribute. By the time you are level five, all your attributes are at a base of ten, although you have five attribute points per level to allocate."

Kelli waved his spoon around to indicate the tavern and said, "Everyone in here has a bare minimum of ten points in each attribute."

"It's the twenty-five points you gain per level, and the twenty-five point bonus you get before you choose your path that differentiates us from one another," Kelli finished, then plunged his spoon back into his soup for another bite.

"So, at level five, I will have fifty points to allocate and base attributes of ten?" Bob asked although he felt fairly certain he'd understood clearly.

"Exactly," said Kelli.

Bob held up a hand and stared down at his stew as he ate.

'Help Strength' he mentally projected.

System Help, Attribute Strength The Strength Attribute works in conjunction with the Endurance attribute to determine Stamina and Stamina regeneration. The Strength Attribute works in conjunction with the Coordination attribute to determine the amount of damage dealt by a melee strike. The Strength Attribute works in conjunction with the Size Modifier to determine an unencumbered weight limit, an encumbered weight limit, and a maximum drag weight limit.

'Hmm...'

'Help Stamina'

System Help, Attribute Stamina Stamina is used whenever a physical action is taken, be it movement, lifting, or striking. Stamina is equal to the Strength Attribute plus the Endurance Attribute, divided by two.

'Ok, so base stamina will be 10, and it's used by pretty much everything,' Bob thought.

'Help Stamina Regeneration'

System Help, Stamina Regeneration Stamina regeneration is equal to the Strength Attribute plus the Endurance Attribute, divided by ten and is accumulated once per second if the subject is concentrating on regenerating their Stamina. If the subject is splitting their concentration on either regenerating their mana or moving, their stamina regeneration is divided by the number of actions they are taking concurrently.

'Woah. So base ten becomes one stamina regenerated per second of you aren't moving or regaining mana, and either .5 or .3333333 per second if you are doing either one or both,' Bob thought.

'How much stamina does it cost to move?'

'Help Movement'

System Help, Attribute Movement Movement is determined by the Coordination Attribute, in conjunction with the Size Modifier and locomotion type. Moving requires an expenditure of one stamina per second. Movement is impacted by the encumbrance category of the subject.

'Fuck, no wonder I kept falling behind and having to stop for breaks!' Bob thought.

'So, moving is one stamina.'

'Help Coordination'

System Help, Attribute Coordination The Coordination Attribute works in Conjunction with the Strength Attribute to determine the amount of damage dealt by a melee strike. The Coordination Attribute works in Conjunction with the Size Category and locomotion type to determine movement speed. The Coordination Attribute determines the ability of a subject to Dodge an attack.

Bob sighed. Every help query just generated more questions.

He looked at Kelli and asked, "Can you give me a concise break down of each attribute?"

Kelli nodded, and went into what was clearly a practiced spiel, "Strength is half your ability to do damage, and half your stamina and stamina regen, as well as how much you can carry."

"Coordination is the other half of your ability to do damage, a good portion of your movement speed, and pretty much the entirety of your ability to Dodge," Kelli continued

"Endurance is the other half your stamina and stamina regeneration, as well as your body's ability to resist physical damage, and your health, modified by your size and tier," Kelli went on, warming to his subject.

He grinned at Bob and said, "Wisdom is half of your spell casting damage or effect, half your mana regeneration, as well as your ability to resist damage to your soul, and your mana, modified by your tier."

"Now Intelligence," Kelli rapped a knuckle against his temple, "is the other half your spell casting damage or effect, the other half of your mana regeneration, as well as your ability to resist damage to your mind."

"And finally," Kelli said, "Beauty is simply that. Just how beautiful you are. And it situationally affects everything. If you are beautiful, people are more favorably inclined towards you, they will listen more closely, give you a better bargain, trust you implicitly."

Kelli sighed. "I've been told by reliable sources that a high enough Beauty even works to enthrall mana spawned creatures in a dungeon."

"Now, there are some other things to keep in mind," Kelli went on. "A high strength means you can lift a lot. And if you put a lot of points into it, I mean a lot."

He took a drink and went on, "Base strength of ten, multiplied by our size modifier of five means we can carry fifty pounds before we slow down. We can haul one hundred pounds at half our movement. And we can drag two hundred pounds at one-tenth our movement."

He leaned forward, gesturing "Now if you had fifty strength, for example, which can happen at level five and occasionally does, you can now carry two hundred and fifty pounds without slowing down, five hundred pounds at half speed, and you can drag a block at one-tenth."

He tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Now think about coordination. Base speed for us is coordination divided by ten, then five for our size bonus, then four for being bipeds, for a total of ten feet per second at a dead run, unencumbered of course."

Kelli grinned and continued, "Now if you had fifty coordination, your base speed is now fourteen. Almost half again what it was."

"And of course, there is endurance," Kelli sighed. "Here is a real smack in the face. Your life span is determined by your tier, multiplied by your tier, then added to your endurance multiplied by your tier."

Bob blinked at that. '(Tier²)+(End*Tier)'

"So base seventy-five years?" Bob said.

"Exactly," said Kelli, with a grimace. "And that math right there is why there are so many Labourers, not that I should complain."

Bob frowned and asked, "What exactly is a Labourer?"

Kelli sighed and leaned forward a bit, lowering his voice as he said, "There are a lot of paths, and the guild has documented most of them, but some of them are just incredibly well known."

"The path of the Labourer is opened by allocating all of your points into endurance, then selecting endurance as your path bonus. If you have purchased the skills Might, and Enduring, which together unlock the skill Tireless, and you purchase that, you qualify for the Labourer path," said Kelli.

"Now consider this - you allocated twenty-five points in endurance, then you gained another twenty-five points from your path bonus, putting you at sixty endurance. You seem to be quite skilled at math..." Kelli trailed off.

Bob did the math in his head. (Tier²)+(End*Tier), so (5²)+(60*5), or 325.

"Three hundred and twenty-five years?" he whispered incredulously.

Kelli nodded, then went on, "Another thing to think about. Might allows you to spend one stamina to effectively double your strength. Enduring does the same thing for your endurance. Tireless takes both boosted abilities and doubles your stamina regeneration when both Enduring and Might are used."

Kelli waited.

Bob did the math. Ten strength and sixty endurance. So normally seventy total, divided by two giving a total stamina pool of thirty five and stamina regeneration of seven per second when concentrating. Double the values for a total of one hundred and forty, giving a seventy point pool, and a regeneration of fourteen. Tireless made that number twenty eight. Divided by two for moving and regenerating, that was fourteen. Minus the cost of moving, Might, Enduring, Tireless and acting, that left you with a net of nine extra stamina generated per second.

"I'm getting the ability to move, and act with a net gain of nine stamina per second," said Bob.

"Two stamina per second actually," said Kelli with a grin, "Not your fault, I haven't mentioned that instanteous effects that only last one second only last exactly that, one second. So Tireless actually only doubles the base, taking it to fourteen, which then divides into seven for regen and moving, and loses five for moving, acting, might, enduring and tireless," Kelli finished.

"What that means, is that a Labourer can work from sunup to sundown, and never get tired," Kelli said.

"Now sure, they aren't going to earn a lot of money for basic labour, but they've also only taken three out of five skills, which means they can take something profitable as well, such as smithing, or carpentry, or animal husbandry, or gardening," Kelli finished.

Kelli leaned back and sighed. "Spend seventy-five years at a craft, and if you aren't foolish, you'll have enough money to own your home and business. Spend another twenty or thirty years after that, and you'll have the funds to have attribute enhancing items for every attribute and some quality armor and weapons as well. Then you can delve the Dungeon at your leisure."

"You might be one hundred years old by the time you reach level ten, but so what?" Kelli said.

"You're less than a third of the way through your life, as you've picked up another five points to every attribute by reaching level ten, and you've another twenty-five points to allocate," he finished.

Bob was trying to digest the idea of a three hundred year lifespan. He asked, "So, a lot of people take that path?"

Kelli nodded and took a drink before replying, "They do. It became common knowledge several generations ago, and a lot of people see it as the safest path."

"But!" Kelli stated firmly, pointing at Bob, "Don't think that it is the best path. All you have to do is take a look at Thidwell."

Bob squinted, calling an image of the giant to his mind. "Ok, beyond being huge, and apparently powerful, what about Thidwell?"

Kelli grinned at Bob and said, "This is all common knowledge, so don't worry that I'm spreading secrets. Thidwell has increased his tier to six," Kelli raised his hand to forestall the question Bob was starting to ask, and went on, "In order to increase your tier, you have to reach the level cap, which is your tier times your tier, so in our case twenty-five. Once you've done that, you can increase your tier, which increases your level cap, in Thidwells case to thirty-six. Now I don't believe he is at the cap, rumor puts him about halfway, so let's say level thirty. Now, take into consideration that your base stats are equal to your tier plus your level, which means that Thidwells base endurance is thirty-six. If he hasn't allocated any points to his endurance, that means that his lifespan is..." Kelli trailed off.

Bob did the math. "Two hundred and fifty-two."

Kelli nodded. "I did the math, although I used paper, and at level cap for tier six, with base endurance plus level increases, his lifespan is two hundred and eighty-eight. And let's not forget that instead of having five attribute points per level to allocate, he has six, and they are awarded retroactively when you increase your tier."

Bob let out a low whistle. Kelli nodded.

"The real kicker? Thidwell is forty-eight years old," Kelli said with a smile.