Christopher willed up the interface to check on how much Soul Force was currently available to him.

Soul Force - 54%

This was really turning out to be a very useful function. It might be wiser to try this experiment when his Soul Force had fully regenerated, but he was too eager to test his new insight.

He once again proceeded to follow the steps as instructed in the manual and started with forcibly swelling the flow of his Soul Force.

This time he focused on the mental image of atoms rapidly vibrating, before willing almost all of his remaining Soul Force into the metal strip of the Soul alarm.

To his shock, the metal strip immediately heated up to such a degree that it matched the red glow of a smithy’s tools that he had previously imagined.

The wood on the kettle made a strange loud popping sound. He instinctively withdrew his hands from the kettle, worrying for a moment that it might suddenly explode in his hands. The Manual had explained that it was difficult to harm yourself with your own Soul Effects, but he did not want to test the limit right here.

Surprisingly, the metal band placed within the device and connecting to the top of the Soul Alarm seemed to actually scorch the fire-resistant Sternel wood black around the edges of the band, and seconds later the wood even began to crack.

Well, that turned out much more effective than he had imagined. To think that it would make such a difference compared to his previous mental image. He even felt that he had still infused his Soul Force very inefficiently. His attempt had provided Christopher with plenty of insights.

Clearly, an understanding of the true scientific phenomenon behind a Soul effect made quite the difference. Christopher was no scientist, but he always had an interest in making some sense of the universe, meaning that he had an understanding on at least a basic level of many phenomena. This was not knowledge that any of the natives would possess. Could he apply this knowledge to achieve other Soul effects?

He opened his interface skill tab. He wanted to know if the ability to produce Soul Heat had shown up as a new skill. It turned out that this was not the case at all, which made him wonder about the difference between the skills he got from the interface and the skill he had just learned.

He wondered about his own skill, [Dagger’s Flow]. What element or mental image did this skill function on. He thought of the glowing arcs. Maybe light, but was light even an element? Or fire then? He decided it would be better to let go of the book’s focus on the elements, it might be too primitive for someone with his level of understanding of scientific phenomena.

Also, how was buying a skill from the interface store giving him the ability to use the skill? Was the interface assisting him somehow? So many questions sprung up as he learned more about Soul Force. He could not even begin to imagine the underlying theory behind a skill like [Bookmark] or [Linguist].

As he had been intensely concentrating on pouring the Soul Heat into the kettle, he had somewhat ignored his surroundings. He now saw that he had gathered the wide-eyed attention of the twins, the noise and popping had clearly scared them. He gave them a wide smile, and patted their heads, assuring them that everything was fine.

But clearly, the effect had been quite abnormal. He did not think that it would normally be this easy to destroy a Soul Alarm. If he now really was able to produce an above-average Soul Heat effect, then might that help him find a job somewhere? He figured that there must be many places that required people skilled with Soul Heat.

He knew the lumber mill would be able to make use of it. And what about a smelting plant? Maybe he would not be skilled enough for such a job yet, but maybe with some more practice. He needed to find some way to earn some money here, he had no income after all, and he refused to impose on Tinos and his family. If his ability would allow him to earn some money that would be a godsend.

He also looked with worry at the now somewhat blackened and cracked Soul Alarm, it really looked damaged beyond repair. Since the kettle was the property of the Inn, they would surely make him pay for a replacement. At least he should receive some money from the goods in the coming days.

With his Soul Force depleted it was the end of his practice, so he played some games with the twins. They were ecstatic at him joining them. He thought up some simple games on the spot, and Nara once again confidently declared victory in all of them, freely changing the rules. Christopher did not mind at all, as he was just happy that the kids seemed to be having fun.

Just as Christopher was giving Nara and Boru a horseback ride, with Nara laughingly directing him where to go, Tamas and the others walked in. Tamas immediately got in a fit of laughter, which was like music to his ears, even if it was directed at him. It seemed that there was nothing that brought her as much enjoyment as Christopher making a fool of himself. Tinos and Menos just looked pleased with the joy of Nara and Boru.

As soon as Christopher and the twins were back on their own two feet, Tinos tossed him a small pouch, which he caught with his right hand. It had quite some heft to it and he heard the clinking of metal on metal.

Tinos smiled. “We managed to sell most of what we brought already and also managed to get a good price. I divided the earnings by six and in that pouch is your share of the earnings. The pouch contains 14 silver and 24 bronze Venarian coins.”

‘Incredible, I am rich’ He thought, balancing the hefty pouch in his hand. Although now that he thought about it, he was not completely sure how much all of the coins were really worth. He had seen some of the prices in the shopping district, which made him think that this was still a pretty respectable amount.

“All of you, thank you very much. I am glad that your efforts have proved fruitful. This really is a great help and should keep me afloat while I search for a job. By the way, how much is the valuation of the different Venarian coins to each other?”

“Ah right, the valuation is quite simple. Twenty bronze coins are worth one silver coin, and twenty silver coins are worth one gold coin. A day's worth of food will go for around five bronze coins. Renting a room costs 1 silver coin a night, but we divide that among the three of us. That would make your bare minimum living expenditure for a single day around 12 bronze coins.”

Incredible. Judging by that quick calculation from Tinos, that would give him enough money to survive for around a month. Of course, that did require him to live frugally, but that was fine with Christopher.

“Thank you that is very helpful. It seems that I have plenty of time to get my feet back under me. Please allow me to continue the current arrangement, I am very fond of this place”

“Of course, we are happy to have you here,” said Tinos.

Menos had walked to the table and was holding the Soul Alarm with a confused look. “Wait is this our Soul Alarm? What in Adenium’s balls has happened to this thing? It is cracked all over! “

“Menos, language!” admonished Tinos, although he also looked curious.

How was he going to explain to them that he destroyed the Inn’s property?

“Right, I’m afraid that this is my doing. I have been studying one of the Soul Manuals from this Inn while I was watching the twins. I messed this thing up while I was practicing with generating Soul Heat. Luckily I will at least be able to compensate Varam now.”

“What!” yelled Tamas, while snatching the Soul Alarm from her brother’s hands. She looked it over as if she was studying some kind of alien artifact. “This Sternal wood is scorched all the way through. Did you drop this in a flaming furnace or something?” She asked with incredulity.

“I was surprised as well. My first attempt at using Soul Heat was a complete failure. But when I changed my mental image to that of…. Arg.”

Christopher grabbed his head with both his hands, an incomprehensible pain flaring through his cranium. Everyone looked at him with shock at the sudden turn, extreme worry in their eyes. It took all he had to simply stop himself from screaming.

After around 10 seconds, the searing pain died down again, allowing him to regain some semblance of control. Sweat was plastered all over his body. What the hell had just happened to him. Menos who already had a foot out of the door to get professional help turned back again.

Thinking it over a little, the reason for his pain became obvious. It was the system that had just punished him. He had been about to explain his concept of heat to Tamas, which was not knowledge that this world should possess. He had been too careless.