So, good news and bad news.

Good news, I found the fireplace.

Bad news, as I was gusting....ew, propelling myself higher I got caught in the current of the heat. This almost killed me, as apparently dust doesn't take kindly to fire. Once again, my health dropped decently low, and I was left with either a sheer luck event, or probably dying. Again. Which, would possibly get me reincarnated into something even worse than dust.

That will not happen.

Thus, I did the only thing I could rationalize in that brief moment of danger, I unloaded all but ten percent of my remaining mana into Gust to get me the Hell away from the fire.

The result was....strange. On one hand, I shot across the room and managed to latch on to a less than earth like antler chandelier.

However, it was the other effect of my last-ditch effort that managed to make a few people jerk their head to where I had been just moments ago, and about four or five more looking up along my arc of flight.

Somehow, a shrill kind of musical note lightly sounded through the room.

As weird and possibly interesting as that is, it probably sounded horrible to anyone with ears. It kind of bothered me as well, but I was more focused on squeezing out my last bit of mana without falling unconscious from the sudden feeling of boulders lying on me from every angle.

All of that however, was not my problem. For now, I need sle

Oookay, I'm back. Yeah, passed out in the middle of saying I needed sleep. I'm just going to leave it. Good idea me.

Regardless, picking up from where I left off!

It seems I'm currently over the "main" counter of the tavern. Kind of off-center and to the right. There's nobody around me at the moment, but the bartender does seem to be giving this swaying torch-holdy thing the stink eye.

I was starting to get a little worried from it, but once he started glaring towards the direction of his customers (of which two were in my limited vision) I knew I was safe.

Taking a moment mentally sigh, I pulled up the note section of my menu and started this entry.

(System does not allow more than a maximum of twenty explicitives within a single sentence.)

Huh... Apparently repeatedly yelling the f-bomb in fear after a near death experience caps the system if you're panicked enough. Nice.

Well then, gimme a second to change this to "thought to speech".

...

...

Aaaalright, there we go. Let's check our surroundings, shall we?

#1 Old tavern. Check.

#2 Dirty drunkards and what I am assuming are wenches wandering in and out of my view. Check.

Was it wrong to say wench there? That was always the term used in old movies, but you never know. This place seems....not barbaric, so I guess waitresses or barmaid would work just as well.

#3 Everyone has a weapon. Granted, I can only see four people if nobody is walking by.

#4 Everyone I can see is ugly as Hell.

Huh....it even numbers my lists. That's pretty convenient.

Regardless of finding out new things...actually, they were probably there the last time I used the notes function...eh, must've forgotten.

One thing above all others stands out to me though, and it's pretty sad. There's been a few groups come through that look....rough. From what their wearing, likely decently poor adventurers.

They were covered in dirt and grime. I've seen that look before. You don't get that gross until you've gone a lifetime without proper soap. Or shampoo. Or moisturizer.

This springs a red flag in my mind for one very specific reason.

If this is a commonplace thing, it's likely that this world's aristocrats are determined by strength, wealth, or magical affinity. Moreover, the poor are likely trampled upon while the strong hoard and grow their power.

Worse still, as so many crappy light novels about flashy lights and harems, the knights and castles era is the perfect time to stagnate on technological advancement for any society when magic is involved. War, strife within the kingdom, bloody fucking monsters, and a more than healthy amount of greed can cave in on itself so many tines that only the few at the very top can hope to survive.

However, none of this compares to the agonizing thought that these dirty bastards brought to the forefront of my mind.

"Dust can't get wet. They'll die or at least get soaked to the point of ripping apart. Moreso, I can never take a bubble bath with a bottle of scotch. Fucking awful."

That's fine though, just like lying to myself to not get depressed. Task at hand, right.

Looking over my stats, my health is eeeever so slowly climbing back up. No more flashy stunts, got it. My magic juice is actually filling up rather rapidy, but considering I've read just about everything on mana and meditation that the system has, that isn't to surprising.

Still, it kind of makes me glad that I decided to stay in that tunnel instead of trying to get out. Sure, mega-magic training and all, but if I remember right I would have definitely chosen to go 'deeper' in since I had coin-flipped (mentally).

Then again, trying to wait for someone or something to come by so I know the way out took over thirty years.

Sighing and deciding it isn't worth thinking about any longer, I focus on the bar keep.

He's a bit of an older man with a balding top and tufts of frazzled white hair sticking out on either side. His attire is...roughly formal. A button-up shirt that looks to be in the prototype phase loosely covers him, along with slacks made of a material thicker than most denim jeans.

He's mostly wirey, but considering that he's moderately tall and his hands are the size of a small baby, that doesn't do much to lessen his noticability in the room.

His name, from what I can gather is-

"WILLIAM!"

Ah, fuck! What?