Chapter 9.5: Friendly Education

“Yes, Sir,” Claire replied. Winton retreated to a room behind the back wall and firmly shut the door behind himself.

“Don’t mind, Winton. He wants to find the few who have a lot of money. The system supplements all our sales in i11. Otherwise, no one would drop levels to make sales, least of all into a tutorial zone. And if he can make a big sale, it is exponentially more profitable. He is also not a patient man. But he is a good employer.” Claire whispered to Trint.

“I suppose, but the guy was still rude, calling me ‘boy’ and ‘young man’ I’m not a child.” Trint protested.

“Well, you don’t look like a young man, but you must be no more than 50. And those who are from higher iterations have lived a lot longer than you. The higher you go, the more stuck up the older generations can get. Winton was old when he came to the system, he leveled up, and his appearance returned to looking younger, but he’s probably 150 or so now. We are both from i8. The system allows higher-level merchants to drop to tutorials in i11 for selling, and recruiters are allowed to drop down too. Our power is limited, but our health is protected. We can’t attack you unless first attacked. So don’t go around hitting anyone while in town now that recruitment has begun. To be safe. I’m level 52, and I am about 80 years old now. I haven’t thought about it, but I came in when I was 20. That was many integrations ago. Most don’t keep track, but they happen frequently enough that merchants are constantly dropping.”

“After arriving, I got through i10 and i9 in a group, but they died, and I was injured in i8. So I took a job with Winton. I never focused on a profession till I was injured, and Winton took me as an assistant merchant. He treats his employees well. I should get back to leveling, but it’s hard after seeing your friends die and not having enough for a gifted healer. Some injuries, especially magical ones, don’t heal when your HP goes back up. I still have about 60 odd years to make it to i7. If I do that, I’ll get another 1,000 years to live. Winton’s just grumpy cause he’s running out of time to level and is trying to make as much profit as possible before going to i7. We need to sell quite a bit while we are here to pad his coin purse and make him happy. He says he’s close to ascending, but he’s also a merchant through and through. Never enough currency to make him happy.” She emphasized the ‘actually’ and quietly laughed.

“I’ve saved and almost have enough to get healed. The curse I was hit with decreased healing, and another curse stopped it. I need a potion that is rare for i8. The ingredients are found in i7. But, when Winton does ascend, I’m going to find a party and get back at it. I’m not going to work for Winton’s family.” Claire’s informative story eased Trint’s frustration with the much older man.

“Ok, I appreciate the explanation. Sorry I got defensive. I won’t hold it against him since I got more of the picture from you.” Trint offered. “I guess I am young compared to people from i8. Is there a sword or blunt damage weapon you can recommend for cheap?”

“Sure, I’ll grab a couple of both for you to look at,” Claire said.

Claire proceeded to sift through the barrels and found a couple of items Trint bought for a combined $2,000 Q11. Claire assured him the weapons would last him at least through i10. Also, Winton would make much more profit than what Trint paid after returning. The system supplemented the purchase amounts based on the merchant’s origin iteration. Trint said goodbye and went to walk through the recruitment areas.

The recruiters had their storefronts. The entrances were more expansive and had the used car salesman vibe. They came off even more sleazy than Winton had. Bright banners, signs, and recruiters were trying to get people walking by to step into their buildings.

Trint was approached multiple times but declined everyone. He didn’t walk into any of the buildings. Seeing parties walk out of the buildings with armbands matching the groups’ colors, Trint began to see how everyone differentiated alliances. Since the recruiters had more elaborate and decorated gear and clothes, Trint assumed they only gave the bare minimum to the i11 recruits.

Trint passed through the areas dedicated to recruiters and took the time to get through the lines to the stadiums. The recruiters put on a tournament. Both to entice recruits and offer rewards to those who performed well. Anyone could enter, and affiliation was not required. Trint wanted to fight some people, which seemed a relatively safe way to experience it. With dedicated healers in the fighting areas and officials overseeing the fights. Trint wasn’t even bothered that the sand covering the floor of the fighting pits had already begun to have dark red blood stains. His early apprehension of shedding blood and even being covered in it had gone after a short while and especially after he could remove the smell and filth with [Cleanse].

‘What other spells am I missing out on?’ He wondered. No, he wouldn’t fight because he needed to be cautious and hide his unique situation. For now, he observed and tried to guess what skills were being used.

‘Pneuma, can you get me some other spells or skills like [Cleanse]? Also, can you tell me what skills are being used by the guy with the metal helmet, using the big sword?’ Trint silently asked.

‘No to your first question. I only got you [Cleanse] to help you avoid attention and waste time washing after each battle. Your second question is more in line with helping you learn. And I approve. I will display above and to the fighter’s side that you focus on any skills they activate. I have all the skills in the system store recorded and can display them when used. Higher skills and Orders of magic are unavailable in-store and are uniquely evolved by the skill owner. If you like, I could hack the system and give you their stats and more info.” Pneuma explained.

‘Thanks, that is helpful, although you keep saying Orders of magic.’ Trint thought. “And how do you even hack the system? And why have you been so quiet since we came to town? Everything ok?’ Trint sent question after question at Pneuma now that he was talking.

‘That is a lot of questions. Slow down. I can follow them, but we have time. First, I have been scanning all the faces you’ve seen and many outside your range of view. I have been looking for any known enemies. So far, there haven’t been any within range. Even the sects and organizations I was concerned about are not present, based on known associates. I expect more from higher realms to arrive for recruitment and merchant purposes in the coming days. Some will battle as exhibitions to draw more recruits to their clans, syndicates, sects, guilds, and maybe dynasties. But this is only one of many Town Centers. The chances of issues with a known enemy are statistically meager. Still, I scan everyone and keep your Spirit and Soul restrained. Don’t worry about Orders of magic yet. I apologize for referring to them too soon. I know you are curious about your new world. But some things are not going to be relevant for a long time. And I will be with you the whole way. I need a few surprises for you to entertain myself.’

‘Well, thank you. I appreciate your help keeping me alive. What do you suggest we do during this recruitment?’ Trint asked. I was anticipating a dull month, being unable to fight in a tournament, and having to keep a low profile.

‘I suggest you continue sharpening your skills and gaining stat points. When access to i10 becomes available, I suggest you quickly ascend to i10. I want you to get past i10 and i9 as fast as possible. No need to wait even a month of the year available. I expect you to get to i8 soon. At i8, you will have another 100 years, but I plan to get you through that in less time too. If you follow my instructions and we learn to work together well, we can be with your family sooner than you might think.’ Pneuma explained.

“Really?” Trint jumped a bit in his seat and said the last bit aloud. People around him were eyeing him since the latest fight in front of them hadn’t started yet, and he was sitting alone.

“Oh, sorry. Just excited.” Trint said to the people around him. He excused himself and moved to find another spot to sit in another fighting arena.

‘Pneuma, sorry about that. I would love to see my family as soon as possible. But hundreds of years is still a long time, and a million is beyond my comprehension, and it sounds risky to push through the iterations that fast. I trust you, but I can’t risk a Restart.’ Trint hoped.

‘You will make it. You will have to learn to cultivate and use Spirit and Soul. Those take years, which is why lower the Mortal realms can’t bother with them, and you can’t either, while the lifespans are so short before i8 and i7 even. 1,000 years in i7 sounds like a lot, but the Mana there will give us the means to grow and allow access to trainers and groups that will save you time having me explain everything. I am powerful, but some things are easier to learn by example than through description. I could overlay your view with images to help teach you, but that isn’t the best way to learn some things. The system has some things that can’t be hacked. Learning is typically one of them. I know you’ve read books where information was downloaded to someone. That is not typical in the iterations. With long lifespans, people are forced to learn the slow way. But with added Mind stat, that learning speed eventually does look more like a download of information.’

‘Wait, you said not to join any groups. What’s different about those who can train me?’ Trint asked.

‘Your new family has great power, and that power reaches throughout the entirety of the iterations. But their merchants and recruiters don’t bother with tutorials or even much below i5. You won’t need to enroll in any school or join guilds. But we need the mana density and time for you to learn the separate forms. And a family-sponsored teacher will direct us to a party you can join. Many in the family have multiple professions. Sometimes as punishment, a member will be required to take on a merchant or recruiter profession and be sent to the lower iterations. It is a punishment due to the low density of mana and Spirit. It constantly feels like they are gasping for air after a long enough exposure. They learn to live with it, but few will suffer it by choice.

Besides punishment, some do it for wealth, and some do it for information. We will be looking for someone specific when we get higher. He and his wife were sent as a punishment, but they can be trusted. I will use your system messenger to contact them when it’s time. Then we will travel using the ascension pools to their location. I’ll explain more later. Remember that even when around family connections, don’t ever share your link to me or the other secrets you have.’ Pneuma explained. ‘I will help you navigate those situations, but secrecy will remain important till we get to your family. I got you the skills you now have so you can fight in a party. They aren’t powerful on purpose. When alone, we can safely battle at full power together.’

‘What do you mean? Aren’t we battling together already?” Trint asked. “You advise, and I fight. It’s worked out so far.”

‘Oh, be patient. After you learn to walk, I will show you how to run. I haven’t even shown you the bike you will one day ride, let alone how to use a gun,’ Pneuma laughed.

‘What are you talking about?’ Trint was confused. ‘You seem to be mixing metaphors from my world. I am not following.’

‘For now, focus on your skills. Then I will teach you what it means to hunt.” Pneuma’s voice went from his laugh to lecture and ended in a primal growl as he said “hunt” in Trint’s mind—putting an end to Trint’s question for the moment.

Trint spent the rest of the day watching the fights and trying to remember and recognize the skills used. After watching the same fighter, he had Pneuma toggle off the view of skills used, and he had Pneuma answer if his guesses were correct. Trint eventually was able to get some of the skills right if the fighter only had a few and repeated them. Trint quickly stopped viewing their stats once he got a baseline; since he was so different, it only made sense to note them and try to recognize skills. Trint had a good time, and it was late when he made it to his system safe house to get some sleep.