Everyone clambered their way out of the mud. Since the focus of the magical effect had been centered on Zach all along, it took him the longest to climb out. By then, he was once again prevented from running away. Lydia and Sir Deltris hovered close to his left and right flanks.

However, he was much calmer now that there weren’t any spears pointed at him. Instead, he was just confused like a lot of other people, and decided to talk things out.

“This is outrageous!” Jamela protested, outrage laced her words like poison on a dagger. “He extorted me for information, threatened to harm me, and vandalized the Hunter’s Guild main hall! Then he proceeded to resist arrest, disrupt the peace of the city, and get my boots all dirty.”

“Actually that last part wasn’t me, it was Lydia,” Zach said pointedly, earning him a punch from said mage. “And I only threatened you for information because you refused to provide normal customer service.”

“See! He confesses to the crime!” Jamela exclaimed, completely ignoring her own faults and hoping others would overlook them too. “Clearly I’m in the right. His deviant behavior must not go unpunished.”

Lydia jabbed hard at Zach’s side.

“Zach, you did all these things today, right before meeting me and making me pay for lunch?”

“Y-yeah. It’s something like that.”

“Apparently he had also escaped from one of the cells in my father’s manor earlier this morning!” Jamela announced. “So he was already a criminal in the first place.”

“What?!” Lydia balked.

“I discovered this information after I went home. When my mother heard of what happened to me, she easily lent me some guards!” She turned to the troops nearby. “Everyone, arrest this man!”

Zach tensed up. The mob of guards tensed up too, but didn’t move. Sir Deltris, being a royal knight, had more authority in this situation, and he hadn’t given them any orders yet.

“IF YOU WOULD ALL SHUT UP AND LISTEN, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ON THE MATTER!” Sir Deltris bellowed.

Zach and Jamela closed their mouths immediately.

“You speak in riddles and half truths, Miss Fernsdale. The story you told your father is exaggerated, twisted in your favor,” the knight explained. “You were in no danger, yet you made this the point of your case.”

“How dare you! You weren’t even in the manor when I was talking to my father. So who told you this? I demand to know!”

“My informant is someone with a peculiar gift that can discern the truth and read the intentions of other people. Luckily she was present in the manor when you delivered the news, and saw through your words like glass.”

“How can you believe such contrived nonsense?”

“Because she is an asset of the crown.” Deltris replied with a scowl. “I’d even trust her loyalty before yours. Now begone.” He turned to the guards. “You are all dismissed! Return to your duties!”

Jamela clamped her mouth shut, scowling. She turned on her heel and stormed off in the direction of the Fernsdale Manor, probably to consult her father.

Seeing her leave, and that Zach was being spoken to by Sir Deltris, the guards who were idling dismissed themselves, returning to the barracks to clean their boots and resume their jobs.

Deltris pinched his brow. Before turning to Zach and Lydia.

“Lydia, how did you come to meet this person?” the knight asked.

“When I was finished demonstrating my part in Medulla Square, I found him practicing manifestations in a nearby alley, so I offered to buy him lunch.”

Zach noticed Lydia conveniently left out a lot of incriminating information, including him almost casting real spells inside the city.

“I see. Thank you for that. My apprentice and I have been looking everywhere for him.”

“What did Miss Fernsdale mean when she said Zach escaped from a jail cell?” Lydia asked while glaring at Zach.

“Oh,” Zach mumbled. “Mr. Deltris threw me in a cell yesterday evening. But I don’t know why.”

“You were covered in gore, and refused to be warded off. You were like a wild man,” Deltris explained hastily. “I thought it would be safer for us to talk to you from behind the safety of iron bars and stone. I apologize for the treatment, but surely you can see it from my position.” Also, had he known Zach could just cut through the stone brick wall of the cell, he would have put Zach in a more secure facility.

“Umm,” Zach said hesitantly. “So you’re really not just going to re-arrest me?”

“No I’m not. But I would still like you to return to the manor and partake in some civilized discussion with my superiors.”

Zach pointed at Lydia standing next to him.

“And Lydia too?” he asked.

“Well of course I’m coming,” Lydia declared. “I’m part of their convoy for tomorrow morning. I was supposed to meet with Sir Deltris anyway.”

“Wow. It sure is a small world, I guess,” Zach sighed.

Zach’s mind flashed to his glorious plans of escaping the town. He had spent all day at school thinking about them. But had he executed everything perfectly, he would never have found out about this misunderstanding, never met Lydia, and probably would have been on the run for quite a while, wasting a lot of time and energy for no reason whatsoever.

With this new development, he could clear his name and potentially surround himself with allies, rather than perceived enemies. He could also seriously consider Lydia’s offer of an apprenticeship and learn more about the world.

“Right,” he said. “I’ll go back to the manor with you. But we should probably hurry. There’s a werewolf running around. He’s after me, but he might hurt other people too, so we should probably send out a patrol.”

Both Lydia and Sir Deltris shot him confused looks.

“What’s a werewolf?” Lydia asked first.

“Hmm? A man that can turn into a wolf. A werewolf.”

It was clear by the looks on Lydia’s and Sir Deltris’ faces that they had no idea what he was talking about.

“A werewolf. You guys don’t have those here? Even with all the magic and other monsters?” he asked.

Lydia and Deltris shook their heads.

“Sure we have our own stories of people being able to take on the characteristics of monsters. But this is my first time hearing that term,” Lydia said.

“You’re saying they can transform between a human and a monster?” Deltris asked. “If that's the case, I’ll definitely talk to someone from the Hunter’s Guild.”

“Okay.” Zach said. “But let’s hurry.”

Zach gave a description of Elmarud to a guard that Sir Deltris picked up along the way. He made sure to give a complete description of his “wolf” form and “man” form. Both had huge hulking bodies and could be easily identified when his eyes sparked orange. Zach also made sure to emphasize how dangerous he was, able to infuse his body with magic to make him more powerful and regenerate.

The guard went away with a serious expression, muttering something about witch hunts.

“You guys sure do take monster sighting reports from random kids very seriously,” Zach remarked.

“But of course,” Deltris responded. “If there’s one thing we take seriously, it’s the threat of monsters.”

Zach felt the knight’s words were very wise. In a world with magic and monsters, humans couldn’t afford to ignore certain dangers. He lost himself in thoughts about the difference between Earth’s culture and Vera’s.

After a while, he found himself in front of the Fernsdale Manor gates once again. Only this time, he was entering on friendly terms. He followed Deltris and Lydia through the front doors, rather than be dragged through the side like last time.

What awaited him was a collection of wealth that imitated the manor’s grand outer appearance. Masterful paintings and banners made of cloth hung on the walls. Jade vases, porcelain statues, and decorative weaponry lined the main hallway. Zach had only seen the servant’s quarters, so he was entirely mesmerized by the display.

Sir Deltris took him and Lydia to some kind of reception room and made them sit at a very large, crescent shaped table. Then he left, probably to fetch his superiors or the master of the house.

A pair of servants brought them tea and pastries to busy themselves while they waited. One offered to take Zach’s bag to a room for him, which he accepted.

The servant was quite confused to find the bag was extremely light, as if empty.

Zach happily reached for a pastry, noticing the glare coming from Lydia.

“I’d like to explain,” he said tentatively.

“Please, do.”

“Okay… Where to start, where to start…”

Zach figured he would try to disclose as much as possible without revealing that he was actually from another world. He didn’t want to sound completely crazy. For now, he needed all the support he could get. Perhaps in the future when they trusted each other more (and when Lydia wasn’t angry with him), he could tell her.

“So, I’m actually… lost. I haven’t told Sir Deltris or anyone else about this, by the way.”

“Lost?”

“I actually don’t know how I got to this country. I just suddenly woke up in the Tusslan Forest one day. Then I traveled through the wilderness and found something called an instance dungeon which I reported to the Hunter’s Guild as soon as I could. The only trouble was meeting that cocky receptionist and having to force her to write the report. I didn’t realize she was actually influential until she came at me with a bunch of guards.”

“I see. So that’s what happened. That’s why that woman is after you,” Lydia said. “Before that happened, how did you get put in jail… and escape from said jail.”

“I’m getting there. Stop rushing me,” Zach shoved another pastry in his mouth. “When I was coming out of the woods, I ran into Sir Deltris’ convoy of knights. I was a little upset, it’s a long story, so I kind of lashed out at him. After that I was nice to him! I swear!”

Lydia was glaring at him. He made an audible gulp (yum! pastry) and continued his story.

“Well, apparently, I looked like a wildman and he didn’t trust me. So he threw me in a jail cell for the night. In hindsight, my appearance was pretty gastly. My clothes were tattered, torn, blood-stained, and dirt-smeared. Thankfully he didn’t try to kill me… that could’ve ended badly.”

“No. You think?” she responded sarcastically. “What did you do to yourself in those woods to make you look that way?”

“It’s a long story,” he replied with a sigh. “I explained it in the report I submitted to the Hunter’s Guild, but I guess I can tell it to you again while we wait.”

Zach then proceeded to retell the story from the point he had woken up in the woods to the point he met the convoy and Sir Deltris, making sure to leave out the parts where he experimented with his windows and inventory so as not to give away his otherworldly origins. By the time he was done, Lydia was familiar with everything except the sensitive stuff (like Zach being an alien).

“Alright. Then what about your country? Do you still not know where you are?” she asked.

“Nope. I’m still lost. I don’t even think my country is on the same continent as the one we are on right now,” he added hesitantly, hoping he didn’t sound too suspicious.

“Not on the same continent?”

“Yeah. The geography, flora, and fauna are all completely different from what I know.”

“I mean, you speak our language, so you must not be from too far away. Then again, you’ve never seen a ripe picante fruit before, so I don’t know. Maybe you’re from a colony island.”

Zach shook his head stiffly. “I don’t think so. I live in a mountainous region nowhere near the sea. So I’m definitely not from the Thane Empire.”

Lydia frowned in concentration, trying to come up with other places Zach could have been from. But none of the places she knew of matched the names he gave her. She had never heard of a place called Colorado.

At that moment a group of people walked into the room led by Sir Deltris. There was Jamela and an older man also with shocking red hair and similar facial features. Zach assumed that he was her father, and thus the mayor. The other two people were women. One was a simple handmaiden, but the other was shockingly familiar to Zach.

‘Is that who I think it is?’ he wondered.

Lydia stood up to greet the newcomers, so Zach followed her example, trying not to disrupt whatever their etiquette was.

“This is Princess Blanchefluer Tulipalo, of the Province of Pluria, and this is Lord Monty Fernsdale, mayor of the city.” Sir Deltris introduced each one in the order of their status, starting with Blanchefleur because she was higher than Mayor Fernsdale, and omitting Bella the handmaiden because she was just a servant.

Zach was flabbergasted to see Snowy in person.

‘Snowy is a princess!’ he exclaimed inwardly. ‘That actually explains a lot. She was wearing one of the fanciest nightgowns I’d ever seen... Not that I’d seen very many, but whatever.’

“My name is Lydia Lagron, milady, a geomancer. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person,” Lydia said with a curtsy to the princess, then shook the hand of the mayor. “And it’s a pleasure to see you again Lord Fernsdale.”

“The pleasure is all mine, miss Lagron,” the mayor responded. “We weren’t supposed to meet until later today, so we should save our pre-arranged business until then. For now, let’s address the subject on everyone’s minds at this moment.”

Everyone in the room turned to Zach, making him feel like he was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Since he didn’t know the hierarchy and this world’s formal etiquette, he went for the safest option and followed Lydia’s lead. He bowed to Snowy, and introduced himself to the group as a whole.

“Um. I’m sorry for my lack of understanding of this country’s etiquette,” he started. “My name is Zachary Trennner, but I’m also called Zach, for short. It’s nice to meet you all and, um, I hope we can clear up any misunderstandings and have a peaceful conversation.”

To the surprise of Lydia, Jamela, and the Mayor, Snowy stepped forward.

“Of course, Zach. I also apologize on behalf of my royal guard, Sir Deltris, for misunderstanding my orders. It is his job to keep me safe on this journey, and if I had given him more specific orders on how to treat you, we could have avoided this whole mess altogether.”

“Thanks, Miss Blanchefleur.”

Most of the people in the room were shocked how friendly the princess was acting. It was like they knew each other already.

Snowy gestured for everyone to take their seats around the crescent-shaped table. Zach sat in the middle and everyone else around him. The handmaiden following Snowy hovered behind her like a shadow.

“Sir Deltris, please lead the discussion,” Snowy ordered.

“Of course, milady,” the knight responded. “Zach, can you please explain to us your version of the events, starting from yesterday leading up until now?”

“Absolutely,” he replied.

It was easy to get everyone up to speed. He mostly repeated the same things he told Lydia.

He retold his story yet again from the point he had woken up in the woods, about how he encountered the instance dungeon in the woods, and until the present when he was surrounded by the guards. Then he explained that he was actually lost, and didn’t know how to get back home. He even told them the names of his country, his state, and the town he grew up in, to match what he had already told Sir Deltris and to emphasize his point. Of course, he didn’t reveal the fact that he was from another planet. Nor did he reveal his system or system-given powers.

Surprisingly, Jamela was very tame. Since she had walked into the room, her eyebrows were all scrunched up and her cheeks were puffed out, like a kid who had lost an argument and was pouting. He briefly wondered what happened to her.

For some reason, she also didn’t bring up Zach’s separate-space magic (aka his inventory)… like, at all. He felt that was uncharacteristic of her. But decided to capitalize on her silence. He didn’t want to reveal his most overpowered ability to people he had just met. Jamela had been an exception, because he didn’t know how rare of a power it was.

A thought flickered across the back of his mind. Maybe his ability was rare and valuable. Maybe that’s why she didn’t bring it up.

When he was finished retelling his Vera-side adventure, he expected them to interrogate him about how he escaped the jail cell, or for the mayor to attack him for strong-arming his daughter at the hunter’s guild. However, it was his story about the instance dungeon that caught everyone’s attention.

“Can you describe the thing called the instance dungeon again, from the beginning when you encountered it?” the mayor asked.

“Sure. When I first walked inside of it, I didn’t know what to expect,” Zach began. “The walls were made of some kind of hard stone brick,” concrete in other words, “and there were lots of metal cages and gates,” steel barricades like in public schools, “and these huge wolf-like monsters with glowing teeth.”

“My apologies. I meant a little further, when you first came across the dungeon. When it was ‘closed’,” the mayor clarified.

“Oh. Sure,” He said, not sure what the man was getting at. “Okay. So I was wandering through the wilderness, when all of a sudden, I smelled something incredibly delicious…”

Lydia visibly rolled her eyes.

Zach continued, “I followed the scent, thinking I had finally found my way back to civilization, when instead I came across this floating black orb. Don’t ask me how, but I was like ‘this thing looks dangerous’, so I crafted a knife to defend myself. And after a while, my suspicions were right! After a lightning bolt hit it, pieces of the sky broke around it, revealing an extra space, a dungeon full of wolf monsters.”

Snowy noticed the mayor’s grave expression and asked, “Is something the matter, Lord Fernsdale?”

“Yes, milady. I received a message from Ecanta at around noon,” he responded. “It was a curiosity report from my associate, Constable Tybalt. His men found a similar black orb, just like the one Zach described, in a residential area in his domain.”

Zach’s eyes widened. He stood up from his chair. “This is very bad! Once that thing opens, monsters will spill out of it. It appeared in a residential area? You need to get those people out of there immediately!”

The dungeon Zach encountered had opened after a countdown of two hours. Which meant this next one was opening soon, or already open. He wouldn’t be able to get there in time to close it himself.

“I agree,” the mayor replied quickly. “This is a matter of national security now. Not some passing curiosity like we naively assumed.”

“How long did it take for the one you encountered to open, Zach?” Sir Deltris asked.

“About two hours.”

The mayor cursed. “I received that message several hours ago,” he said, then summoned one of his servants.

“Contact the nation’s capital via the emergency channels. Warn them that the black orb is actually called an instance dungeon. It is a magical phenomenon containing monsters.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Wait!” Zach said. “Don’t forget. In order to close the dungeon, you have to destroy a certain stone pillar somewhere inside. It glows with magic and is covered in symbols.”

“You heard him. Go!”

The messenger ran away quickly.

The table erupted in conversation as they each came to a realization as to what was happening.

“If history repeats itself as it usually does, then we can’t afford to take this lightly. Monsters spilling out of these instance dungeons in the wrong place would be one of the greatest disasters in history. Compared to the divine towers and the regular dungeon, we know where all the entrances are, and can build walls. How do we prepare against this? At least if all the monsters that come from the dungeon are the same, we know what to expect.” the mayor asked him. “Zach what are your thoughts?”

Zach collapsed back in his chair. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I have no idea. I only ran into one dungeon. Sure, I managed to beat it, but maybe I was just lucky. There’s no way to tell if the monsters from that new instance dungeon will be wolf monsters too.”

The others pondered on his words and started discussing what monsters could possibly come out of the instance dungeon in Ecanta. However, without data, they could only resort to assumptions.

Zach had been at the lowest level when he raided the last one, and he didn’t know what he was doing. He was also alone, so he couldn’t have explored the entire mall. So he didn’t have enough experience to make a conclusive assumption. All he could do was apply his video game knowledge, which he was hesitant about for obvious reasons.

“Sir Deltris,” Zach said eventually. “Remember how I told you about that Werewolf that was chasing me? Well he came out of that dungeon too. I expect every one of these places to have lesser monsters and a boss monster guarding the pillar, like him. This boss monster might have regeneration and other overpowered abilities. It will probably be much harder to bring them down.”

“I see. So the abilities of the monsters inside aren’t necessarily the same level either,” Sir Deltris pondered.

‘You have no idea how right you are,’ Zach thought.

“With all due respect, then, I propose we adjourn this discussion until later.” the mayor looked to Snowy for permission.

“Very well, Mayor Fernsdale. You had best get in touch with our allies in the capital.”

“Thank you, milady. As for dinner tonight, I’ll have everything prepared and everyone properly cared for.”

“Sir Deltris, please give Zach and Lydia a tour of the manor and let him go where he pleases. I have something private to discuss with Bella. Then I will join Mayor Fernsdale,” Blanchefluer said.

The group disbanded just like that, the mayor heading off to areas unknown followed closely by Jamela, and the knight escorting Zach and Lydia

Blanchefleur and her handmaiden were the only ones left in the room.

“Well?” the princess asked. “What is the truth surrounding Zach?”

“His intentions are pure, and his lies are only those of omission. Compared to miss Fernsdale, it’s like day and night.”

“It’s a good thing we were here to stop that woman. Things could have gotten out of hand if it weren’t for you. But what of Zach’s lies? Is he trying to deceive us about something?”

“Not necessarily. He spoke only the truth the entire time. So you can surely prove everything he said as fact.”

“Alright. That means the phenomenon called the instance dungeon is a very real thing, then.”

“However,” Bella added. “I felt there was something more behind his words, like he knows more, but won’t say it.”

“Hmm. I suppose that could be true,” Blanchefleur said in thought. “But such is the way of politicians and intellectuals, as you yourself have discovered. Everyone has their secrets. For now, let's worry about the events unfolding in Ecanta. Please take me to the mayor in the telegraph room.”

“Right this way, milady,” Bella the handmaiden obliged.

Sir Deltris led them around the manor, showing them dozens of paintings that depicted events in Fernsdale’s history, as well as certain pots and relics. He was well versed with such things, apparently, but Zach’s mind drifted to other things.

“I wonder how that other city is doing. I hope they can deal with that dungeon,” he said to Lydia.

“I’m sure it will be taken care of. The guards of Ecanta still have combat experience from the last war. They are as sharp as ever. And besides, for all we know it could be dormant for another week. Just because you chanced upon an instance dungeon at the end of its life span, it doesn’t mean anything about the other ones. You need lots of reports to generate accurate data. Just like magic research.”

Zach sighed. “Yeah. I suppose you’re right.”

“So how do you know the princess?” Lydia asked.

“I don’t really. We just met today.”

“You two seemed familiar with each other.”

“It's just a coincidence,” he said evasively.

After a while, Sir Deltris had other matters to attend to, so he apologized and handed off the task to one of the manor’s many butlers. The man picked up right where the knight had stopped and continued to explain the history behind each painting. The most interesting ones were the Battle of Torrens (589 EDH.), the Dragon Attacks of 634, and the most recent painting, a depiction of the Undead Wars (670 EDH).

Zach was fascinated by the prospects of such creatures, but there was no way he could remember everything that Sir Deltris mentioned. He would have to do some research later, and assimilate it more slowly, rather than all at once.

After they had gone through all the paintings, the butler showed them the garden and the stables. After which he told them how to find their rooms. Dinner was almost ready, so they needed to get changed.

The stables reminded Zach about how he had muddied his scent back in the city to shake Elmarud off of his tale. He poked a random guard and asked for any news about the werewolf.

“I received word that a huge man broke through the guards and escaped the city. It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to capture him, nor has there been any other news following this incident. But we can rest easily knowing such a beast isn’t inside the city walls tonight.” the guard responded.

“Did he, you know, kill anyone?”

The dungeon that likely opened in that other city weighed heavily on Zach’s mind. And it wasn’t even his responsibility. But the thought that Elmarud could have killed people, was a direct consequence of his own inaction.

“Rest assured,” the man repeated, “There hasn’t been any other news. I am certain of this.”

“Thank you.”

Zach heaved a sigh of relief. A weight had been taken off his mind, if only temporarily. Elmarud was still out there after all. He would have to watch out for him in the future. Now all he had to deal with was the matter of the dungeon, and Lydia’s apprenticeship.

He went back inside the manor and was directed to a room prepared for him. He took the remaining time until dinner to change out of his stolen servants’ clothing. There were several options laid out, but he ended up choosing the least garish option.

When he came down, he was led to a seat at a very lavish table. Lydia arrived a moment later, but other than that, no one else was coming. Jamela stayed in her room for the evening. For a good portion of the meal, Zach and Lydia had the table to themselves.

“So about earlier, I’d like to accept your offer,” Zach said.

Lydia choked on her meal.

“What? You mean the apprenticeship?”

“Yes. Of course I mean that,” Zach nodded. “I don’t know where I am, or how to get home, so I think it's best I earn as many allies as I can.”

“Was the reason you declined earlier because you were resisting arrest?” Lydia asked.

Zach shrugged. “I didn’t think I could stay inside the country, much less enter into a contract. Now my situation is different.” Then he made a concerned expression. “Is the offer still on the table? I’m very sorry about earlier. I don’t know how I can apologize for that.”

“You were pretty deceptive,” she admitted, “but I can see your point of view.” She clapped her hands. “It's decided then! You will become my apprentice, but as punishment, you will be carrying my bags on the trip.”

Despite how hard she tried to keep a frown directed at Zach, her eyes couldn’t hide how thrilled she was. She had been searching for an apprentice for a very, very long time. To her, Zach was her only chance to ascend the ladder and gain access to more of the Order’s resources.

“Then, when we get to Caeli, you will immediately become my apprentice,” she continued. “You won’t have the option I offered earlier, to decide whether or not to take the apprenticeship once we get there. Instead, you will have to swear on your honor to become my apprentice from this moment onward. Do you still accept?”

Although Lydia had just put on some extra conditions as punishment, he still felt the “punishments” were too lenient. For example, he could easily carry Lydia's bags in his inventory.

“Are you sure those are the only things you want?” he asked.

“Hmm.” Lydia thought about it. “I also want your word that you won’t lie to me in the future,” she said conclusively.

“I promise,” Zach said, hoping he hadn’t nailed his coffin.

After that, the two of them settled down, as if each of them was finally wrapping their heads around the idea that the offer was accepted and sealed.

“Congratulations, Zach. You are now an apprentice in the spatial arts under my direction. Once you sign the official contract with the Order of the Luminous Stars, you will be awarded the title of Neophyte.”

“Cool! What does that mean?!” he asked excitedly.

“Entry level member,” she said flatly, though Zach noticed a faint smile on her face.

They continued eating their food. About halfway through their meal, Blanchefluer and her handmaiden joined them at the table.

“Greetings, princess. Where is everyone?” Zach asked after they had taken their seats and their meals placed in front of them.

“The situation in Ecanta surrounding the object called the instance dungeon was rather dire. Thankfully, due to your information, a response team was formed quickly and efficiently. The doorway to the instance dungeon was closed moments ago. However, the Mayor will likely be dealing with follow-up reports for the rest of the night, so he won’t be joining us for dinner,” she responded quickly and concisely, as befitting of a princess.

“What kind of monsters did they find in there?” Lydia asked.

“Reports said that there were bull-like monsters which attacked the soldiers with uncommon rage. Then, when they found the pillar you spoke of, they encountered a bull that stood on its hind legs like a man. It even wielded a weapon.”

‘Really?’ Zach thought in shock. ‘Elmarud didn’t have a weapon.’

“In the end, the raiding party didn’t have enough manpower to hold off the beast. There was not enough time to study the pillar, and they ended up destroying it before they could learn anything about its inner workings.

“In the end we sustained four casualties to the bull-man hybrid, and another two when the dungeon closed with them inside. However, there weren’t any civilian casualties.”

Zach bit back a curse.

‘Six people died in that dungeon? Even though I cleared one all by myself?’

Snowy noticed his distressed look.

“You have nothing to blame yourself for,” She said, trying to comfort him. “Because of the information you gave us, those soldiers knew what they were going into. They were even able to prevent the monsters from escaping and killing the civilians. Had it not been for you, there would have been many more dead. Count the lives you have saved, rather than the lives lost. This is what leaders do.”

Zach nodded, his mood improving slightly.

“Let’s change the topic of conversation,” Snowy said. “May I ask what you both were discussing before I joined, if it isn’t too private?”

“Milady, we were just discussing something we had started earlier today, an apprentice contract under my wing,” Lydia responded. She then proceeded to summarize the main points, how Zach would follow Lydia to Caeli, then officially become her apprentice once they signed the contract with her order.

“I see. So this means Zach will be joining our convoy?” Blanchefluer asked.

“That’s correct. Forgive me for not consulting with you or Sir Deltris earlier. This development was so sudden. May I ask your permission for Zach to join your party under my responsibility?” Lydia asked.

“Absolutely!” the princess said a little too quickly and excitedly. Lydia gave her a curious glance. “I mean, of course I permit this line of action. Zach has proven himself to be a valuable asset. Not to mention he could evade even the trained guards of Fernsdale for such a long time.”

“Of course. Though we shouldn’t congratulate him too much for it.”

The two women engaged in small talk for the rest of the evening while Zach sneakily transferred small helpings of food to his inventory, just in case. It wasn’t like he could just ask for the servants to “box it up” for him.

During that time, he mostly listened to them as they talked to each other. No matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to join the conversation and contribute anything himself.

They talked about a variety of topics, ranging from political events unfolding in a city called Parsimonia to magic theory (which was lost on him because he didn’t know the jargon) to casual things like dresses and jewelry.

‘This conversation is much harder to follow than boy conversations at school,’ he thought in a daze. ‘It's like trying to talk to a couple of hurricanes.’

As he sat there in silence and contemplation, the adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins for the majority of the day left him all at once, and his face became somber. So when Zach was finished with his meal, he excused himself from the table.

“Thank you for joining me tonight ladies, but I think I’m going to turn in. I need to sleep on some things.”

They looked disappointed and somewhat guilty for forgetting about him, and Snowy was about to stop him from leaving, but Bella’s hand grabbed her shoulder. She shook her head at Snowy, telling her wordlessly that it was better to let Zach go.

“Let the boy sleep on his thoughts. This is his desire,” she told the princess with a whisper.

Snowy nodded, slightly disappointed.

As soon as he got back to his room and was alone, Zach opened up his information window and looked over his stats. He had a grim look on his face, despite the rather cheerful and casual mood of the girl’s conversation moments ago.

[Zach: Level 12]

[Health: 160/160 Stamina: 65/65 Mana: 23/23]

[Classes: {Dreamer}, {empty}]

[Titles: none]

[Stats:]

- {Litheness: 24}

- {Constitution: 24}

- {Power: 32}

- {Will: 24}

- {Intelligence: 23}

- {Consumption: 23}

[Points For Distribution: 3]

[Abilities: Dreamwalk(level max), Novice of Dagger (level 1), Internal Mana Manipulation(level max)]

[Skills: Observation (level 2), ...(9 more)]

He had grown by a large margin since level one. Particularly his power stat, which was more than triple the amount he had started with. He briefly wondered where he had gotten so many points. If he gained one point with every level up, that would only put him at 21 points of power, plus one for every level after level 1. But instead, he had 23. So where did the extra points come from?

He opened up his skills and checked over their descriptions. He had picked up some new ones today that he didn’t have time to look over. His [Abilities] didn’t award any extra points, so gaining [Internal Mana Manipulation] hadn’t done anything for him that he could tell, but his [Skills] did award extra points to their associated stat.

He balked at the description of one of his skills.

{Input Fire (level 1): Enhance objects and living things with mana. Duration and cost depends on the properties of the material. + 5 power per level}

It was easily his most rewarding skill. By comparison, [Observation], which did relatively nothing for him, gave him one point to intelligence per level. Since it was level two, it boosted his intelligence by two points. [Intimidation], on the other hand, was a far more practical skill, but still only awarded two skill points per level to his will.

Yet [Input Fire] awarded five whole points to his power stat! It was no wonder it was far surpassing everything else.

The second thing that stood out to him was the [Points For Distribution: 3].

Since he already had a lot of power, he decided to forgo this stat for now.

He was deeply concerned about his intelligence, which was on the same level as his consumption stat.

‘Lydia was right. My head really is in my stomach,’ he thought. ‘But that doesn’t make sense. By my calculation, with a starting stat of eleven plus eleven level ups, my consumption should only be 22. Why is it 23?’

The answer was found in another one of his skills which he didn’t think to check the description of.

{Dungeon Detection (level 1): Useful for detecting dungeon entrances as well as other objects that emit vast amounts of mana. +1 consumption per level}

‘This is so dumb.’ he thought while making a flat face.

He vowed to himself never to use that skill so it wouldn’t level up. It was already annoying how much he had to eat. If his consumption rose any further, he would probably starve to death.

Bringing his mind back to how he would distribute his points, he quickly decided to increase both his intelligence and will by one point each.

The increase in intelligence gave him one extra point of mana, which he somewhat expected. He would be needing that for magic practice with Lydia in the future. Just one point of mana was worth about ten dot manifestations.

Increasing his will would apparently help him with ‘presence detection’, which was also obviously useful.

Now all he had left was one extra point. He went to increase his intelligence again, but stopped himself.

He had a physical examination with his school nurse, Mrs. Cherrymore, that next day. He wanted to see exactly how much one additional point would change him. Measuring non-physical things like intelligence or will would surely be harder to measure and quantify. Furthermore, he already had his vertical from the day before. Although he had completely reconsidered telling her of his world switching problem, he felt it would make a very beneficial test.

‘Knowing exactly how fast I can grow would be very illuminating,’ he thought.

Then he dumped the remaining point into power, increasing it to 33.

‘Thankfully though, I have a day’s worth of preparation, and I won’t have to deal with any stupid dungeons until the next time I switch worlds.’ he thought bitterly, the thoughts of six human casualties weighing on his conscience.

‘Stupid dungeon.’

With that, he crawled into the bed and spent his remaining energy on organizing his inventory with his eyelids closed.

He had a plethora of rocks, sticks, and flowers from his time in the wilderness, the brown cloak from the guard when he had first entered the city, several sets of servants clothing which he had conveniently forgotten to return, the extra Hunter’s Guild report written in an unknown language, money he had earned from selling his wolf teeth to the jewelry peddler, a single dragon scale, and a dozen different food items left over from dinner.

He slowly drifted off to sleep.

[End Chapter 14]