It had been three days since Max was recovered by the city guard and madam Vel. Max’s unconscious body had been carried and watched over on the way back to Lesterwood. Currently Max was still asleep. He has been in-and-out of consciousness, only waking for a few moments before slipping back into the blissful void.

Clammy had stayed with Max, having barely left his side, since she woke. Madam Vel had told her that Max did indeed save her life, again, fully reconstructing veins and arteries, keeping her from bleeding out. Clammy has not cried once since she woke, even though she wanted to.

The slave woman, now free, was thankful for what Max had done, but had stayed out of Max’s room. She felt she owed him a debt, but the room was just too crowded. She instead stayed out in the waiting room, to the dismay of many of the healers.

A memory recording had been taken from each of the guards. Iris was tasked with reviewing the “footage” and taking measures to ensure each guard that had seen Max using his healing waters, would not talk. Iris also had many angles of the splattered man. His bones embedded into the dirt, organ meters from where they were supposed to be. Iris hadn't seen such carnage since the last time a mage student flew too high, running out of mana and subsequently falling. Iris, the rest of the guards and Vel, did not know how Max did it.

A secret of magic just waiting to be discovered. Iris presumed.

Vel sat in contemplation. Reviewing her own memories, trying to understand how the boy had done it.

Where did his water come from? Vel, and the rest of the Deep Strider Clan, carries gourds filled with water; a member could be punished, if they are found to be without their gourd. But this boy had used Soothing Water without any. There was no nearby river, and it wasn’t raining… Vel smiled thinking of the possibilities this boy could achieve. After all, he has only been in the world for a few days, and he is already making waves.

Clammy noticed Max starting to stir. She was under orders to alert Iris, Domic, or Vel, if Max’s condition changed. She took out the Mana Message Scroll, wrote quickly to Iris. She watched the scroll take on an ethereal blue, floating into the air and through a wall, much like a ghost would. Max opened his eyes.

“Hey there... How are you feeling?” Clammy asked with a soft touch.

“Clammy? Where? What happened?” Max said, the sudden change of scenery confused him.

“Don’t worry, you are safe. We are in Lesterwood. I sent a message to Iris. She should be here soon. Max, you saved us, you saved me again.” She stood and bowed.

“Don’t...Don’t do that. I just did what anyone else would have.”

“No... No... they wouldn't.” She sat back down; Max could notice she was shaking.

“You're shaking.” Max gestured with his hand.

“Yeah… I-I was so afraid. First the goblins, then Denny. I’m glad you killed him.” Max saw her fear get swallowed by hatred.

“Killed? Him? Oh… That's right.” At this moment, Max felt small. He felt alone again. He had killed someone. Granted it was for a good reason. He still felt sick. Max puked off the side of his bed.

“Max! What's wrong? Can you hear me! Max?” Clammy was on her feet, worried.

“No. No. I’m fine. Just disgusted with myself. I-I killed someone. I’m not too sure how it is here. But on my planet, people don’t kill others like this. If they do, they are ridiculed by society and jailed. Typically for the rest of their lives…” Max trailed off, refusing to make eye contact.

Clammy just walked over, sat on the edge of his bed, and hugged him. Max cried; Max cried for a long time. All his boxed-up emotion flowed, for the first real time since he arrived in this world. Max finally accepted his reality, and the kind of world he was in. Abuse, slaves, monsters, and death were the main themes, and Max had already seen them all.

An hour went by, Max and Clammy sat in silence, but a comfortable silence. Two broken people, kids really, just happy to not be alone. A knock sounded from the door. Clammy stood up, looking at Max.

“Uhh, come in?” Max figured it was a doctor or a nurse, not understanding why they were waiting so long to come in.

The door swung open; Max could see three people. The first was a large, literally red skinned male. He was huge. Small horns poking out of his forehead, muscles bulging from his arms and chest. This man looked dangerous. Max subconsciously gulped. He wore dark leather padding, presumably armor. The leather had a sort of shine to it. It looked out of place, but then again, a red huge man was out of place also. He had a large duel bladed battle axe strapped to his back.

The second person he noticed was the small Asian lady from the clearing. She wore blue robes, much too baggy and large for her. She stared at Max, a smirk of pride, across her face. She was holding a gourd. It was smaller than he remembered. Blue carvings shone across the surface; Max assumed they were runes. She walked right past the big man, heading for him and Clammy.

When she was out of the way, he could see the last. She was tall, not as tall as the big man, but still taller than Max. She had long golden straight hair. Each strand glistened in the lighting. She wore a uniform, white and black fabric layered into simple patterns, creating a lovely shirt and pants. She was stunning. Easily one of the most beautiful persons Max had ever seen. She saw Max staring, she turned her head slightly, blushing. She brushed her hair behind her ear. Her ears were long and pointy! An Elf! Wait, Elf...

“Iris?” Max questioned.

She couldn't so much as nod, before the small woman smacked him on the top of the head with the spine of a book.

“Why are you sitting up? You should be resting? Do you not understand what you did?”

This woman had been here for 20 seconds and already he was getting lectured. Max glared at her, and she glared back.

Max decided the best way to deal with this woman was simple, completely and utterly ignore her!

“Iris. You are Iris, right?” Max could see the small woman starting to turn red.

“Y-yes. M-my Lord, I am Iris…” Max could see her embarrassment. It was cute.

“Please don’t call me Lord. As far as I can tell, you are the one deserving of my respect.” Max answered smoothly.

“Wh-no... I did not do anything worthy of your respect…” She was red as a tomato. This made Max wonder if they have tomatoes in this world.

“Well regardless. Thank you, Iris. Without you I don’t think I would have made it here.” Max tried to give a bow, but from the position he was sitting it was more of an awkward nod.

“Alright!” Max said, trying to change the tone of the room, “I know Iris, and I think the rest of you know me. Let's start with the big man.”

Max glanced at Vel when he said this, she was practically seething now. With a smile he said:

“I am Domic Delo, guild master of the Mage Guild. It is an honor my Lord--” Max held his hand up, stopping him.

“Please. No need to say Lord. Where I’m from, I was a nobody. There was also much less formality there. So please, you saying Lord this or Lord that, really makes me uncomfortable. Please just call me Max.” A mischievous smile sprouted, he turned to Vel. “Except you. You may call me my Lord.”

“I bet you won’t be saying that in a few days my Lord.” She said it with a cackle.

Max just turned back to Domic, ignoring her again.

“So…I think some explanations are in order...” Domic looked away, embarrassed.

“Yes. Yes, I think so. Ah, where to start. Well, I guess the beginning huh. You are in Lesterwood, named after Lester Tayler. A Lost One from Earth just like you. This was originally just a small river town called River’s Bend. Lester chose it as his adopted home. He rose to power as one of the greatest [Light Mage]’s ever to walk this planet. He was a revolutionary, inventing many, many things that are in common use today. As he grew, River’s Bend did also. Eventually, the town was renamed to Lesterwood, in honor of him.” Domic gestured to a light on the ceiling of the room, “This is one of many creations of his, he called them li-”

“Light bulbs? I thought the last Earthing died 120 years ago. After he lived for 200 and something years? How did he know about light bulbs?” Max interrupted

“I’m not sure I understand what you're asking. But I’m glad you know about light bulbs. One of Lester’s other great accomplishments was “indoor plumbing” that revolutionized city infrastructure. Amazing.” Domic said with a face full of pride.

Max decided to table the timeline issue. “Thank god, I don’t even know the guy and Lester already seems like a saint.”

Domic tried to speak again, but Vel interrupted. “Look, my Lord, you should be resting. You almost scrambled your brain. Do you even know how much mana you had coursing through your body? I could feel it when I was still a couple hundred meters away! Please call me Madam Vel or Master, by the way.”

“Master?” Max asked with a quizzical face.

“Of course. You have a gift with water. One very, very rare. I assumed you would want training, and well, here I am. Who better to teach than a [Arch Water Mage] with the same gift as you?”

“[Arch Water Mage]?” Max rebutted.

“Ah yes, I forgot that you lack any formal training.” She glanced at Iris. “An [Arch Mage] is a generic tier 3 [Mage] class. My class is not really [Arch Water Mage] but something more specialized. Using the generic name for the affinity for mages is quite common. For example, that mage boy you killed, Denny, he was a [Lightning’s Touch]. A tier 2, offshoot of [Lightning Mage].” Vel started to pick at her nails, looking bord.

“Before I accept your tutelage. I need to know about this gift we share.”

“Of course. Water does not have natural life force. For a normal [Water Mage] they will never be able to use its healing properties. For people like us, for some reason we can. The Deep Striders have studied why we can for centuries. Never finding any answers. Listen and listen well boy. Water healing is by far the strongest healing affinity. Even bypassing Divine. People would pay fortunes to have you on payroll. Just think of what someone would do if they wanted you badly enough, but didn’t have the gold?” Max shuddered.

Domic jumped into the conversation seeing Max’s face. “Don’t worry. Only the people in this room and a few others know about your gift. I can safely say that your secret is safe… For now. As you grow in fame, it will be harder to keep hidden. But by then you should be powerful enough to stand against the weak threats. And you will have Lesterwood to help against the large ones.” Max could tell that Domic was full of confidence.

Max contemplated; an unreadable expression soon found on his face. Vel, Domic, and Iris shared a look. It was Clammy who broke the silence.

“That's great and all, but Max needs to rest. How about we head to his new house?”

“House?”

“Oh yes. Lester left in his will, and I’m paraphrasing here. “Give all my shit to the next Earthy. Make sure he is set for success”. His house has been untouched since he disappeared and presumed dead.” Domic answered.

“Let's go then. I don't want to lay here all day.” Max stood up, stumbling slightly into Clammy.

“I’m okay. I’m okay...” Max found his footing, striding past Domic and Iris out into the hallway. He found a small table with a sword and dagger laying upon it. His sword and dagger. They had both been cleaned and polished. Looking as new as the day he arrived. He reached out, willing them into his inventory. He turned and looked at his party. Seeing their red faces. “What?”

“What indeed? Look at yourself boy.” Vel gestured at him.

He was wearing a hospital gown. His butt hanging out for all to see. “Ah... where are my clothes?”

“Your shirt and pants were torn to hell after your duel. We had the send for mending. We have so many extras in the meantime...” Iris handed over a green tunic and brown pants. The fabric felt like cotton. She also handed him a black square of metal tied with a length of string. She saw his confusion and added.

“This is an obsidian guild plate. If you ever want to join the Mage, Adventure, or Merchant guild. Think of it as your letter of introduction. Some time when you are feeling ready, just swing by the Mage Guild and we will imprint it for you.”

Max gave a nod in thanks, heading to the, what he assumed was the bathroom, to change. The bathroom was small, but there was indeed indoor plumbing. The contraption looked different then on Earth, but Max figured out how to use it. Max looked at himself in the mirror. He looked completely different than he remembered. Before Max was a relatively tall young man. He would have been considered to have a baby face if he shaved, but now he looked very different.

Max’s old dirty blond hard had turned into a lighter brown. His green eyes deepened in color, and his beard was out in full force. Max hardly recognized himself, this only added onto his feeling of being alone.

His group started to leave, but Max spotted a familiar face in the lobby. The slave woman.