Honestly, I thought it’d be a pain in the ass to get into the library, but word spread quickly about my potion making and they let me in for the discounted rate of one silver. What a fucking rip off. I held my tongue and walked into the door the guard pointed at. Seriously, charging an arm and a leg for a goddamn library felt way too far. No wonder people were leaving this dump. Maybe they needed a new mayor. Okay, to be fair, I shouldn’t be surprised if prices were higher in more populated places.

I didn’t want to be in this stuffy building longer than I needed to, so I found the history section and got straight to business, under the scrutiny of a glaring librarian. She was a lanky woman with her hair tied in a bun. Her eyes were unsurprisingly strict and brown, behind glasses or spectacles as they called them in this world. A bit young for a medieval librarian I thought. Then again, having connections probably went a long way for career positions.

I started with the beginnings of course, ignoring the rude woman who watched me only, and allowed the four other people in here to read in peace. Okay, so reading a basic history book was probably something one didn’t see daily.

Oh shit. There was also the off chance that many in the peasant class couldn’t afford schooling. I’m not so sure about potion makers though. I mean it’s not like I’m going to school for it, right?

Anyway, Kyushu was the name of the town I currently resided in. It was a lonely area on the far east of the kingdom of Merridon. Four days from the neighboring town west of it, although about two days from a village in between them. It was likely the village had very little to offer in terms of trade. The nearest major city would be a two-week journey. These distances are all measured by horse of course.

The king was called the Lord Ruler, the land’s most powerful magician I guess. Go figure. This would be one of THOSE worlds. A world of “might is right” or the strong thrive and the weak must obey. Also, nobles. Yeah.

Okay System, I’ll have to make a decent life with what I got. This. Sure, being spawned in the middle of buttfuck nowhere is a little much and perhaps unfair, but perfect for the quiet life I always wanted. I could mingle with the townspeople, make a few drinking buddies, and help bring this place from the brink. Yeah, who the fuck needed to go die from a dragon’s fire blast.

As I read, I discovered that the mana in this area, except for the forest for some ungodly reason, was quite weak, making it undesirable for monsters, spirit beasts, magicians and monster hunters. Good. No jackasses, no hero’s party, no interest from nobility, aside from the few that lived here. The mayor, a lower-ranked noble, didn’t seem like a bad person and I doubted I’d run into him very often, so more good news there.

I closed the book, smiling.

Now, I had to consider the other problem. My modern clothing. Jeans, a plain shirt that said, “Chi-Cola” and some sturdy tennis shoes. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t notice the stares on my way here or whispers, people questioning the origins of the interloper. Standing out like this simply wasn’t a good idea, so I searched for a clothing store. Instead, I found what I was hoping not to find. A tailor. The older woman got all close and personal as she took my measurements. I know, I know, professionals. I was just hoping to buy something to wear and get back to my inn room.

“Please stop by the sunset or tomorrow if you wish,” the tailor said. “I should have it finished by then.”

“Thank you,” I said. She looked at me, surprised for some reason, before nodding. Did she not get thanked for her work?

In case you’re wondering, yes, I tried to pay before the finished product, but apparently there’s a law against that. Thankfully she gave me the price and I set the money aside. Fuck, I needed to get started on ingredient hunting right away. Perhaps set up a temporary tent outside of town. The mayor gave me the okay anyway and didn’t require me to get some worker’s permit. These people didn’t ask for identification either, which I suppose was good for me, but a little worrying.

I entered a shop and again, my eyes popped out at the goddamn price of paper, ink, and feather. I’m beginning to wonder if my optimism was a mistake. I’d buy later. Right now, I was kind of pinching pennies. In case you’re wondering, coins were the thing here. Gold, silver, copper like any medieval fantasy. What I didn’t expect to learn about was the mana-infused coins, they called spirit coins. I doubted I’d see these any time soon, as they were commonly used and traded among the nobility. Go figure.

The other thing in the shop I wanted to obtain was a clock or a pocket watch. They had no such thing, leaving me to rely on the sun’s position to guess the time. While it wasn’t that hard, I’d be a potion maker and shop owner soon. I needed business hours, perhaps some kind of schedule. No one seemed to have clocks in this town, so I glanced at the sun, guessing it to be mid to late afternoon. That tailor lady was fast! That or had few customers, a bad sign for this little town.

As I explored to learn the layout of the place, people were kind of cold, skeptical, and weary of me, unless they had goods to sell. I used common sense, avoiding all alleys and backways. Eventually I found the tavern, though didn’t go inside. There would be time for that later. Hopefully they had access to magic that kept things cool. Sure, I had warm beer and booze before, but if I could avoid that, well, that’d be nice.

All and all, there wasn’t much to do, so I found a small restaurant, ordered a meal consisting of stewed dumplings and a small side of meat I hoped was beef, and relaxed. People inside stared a bit, but mostly ignored me. At least they weren’t glaring. I’ll take curious stares over hostility anytime.

To my surprise, the beef and dumplings were quite amazing. The roasted beef flavor was something to die for!

After picking up my new outfit, with three more on reserve for when I’m ready to pick them up and pay for later, I headed to the inn room to call it a day.

My first stay in another world wasn’t so bad. Sure, I discovered I have super strength, but I didn’t hurt anyone, so fuck it. I could live like this. You’re certainly not going to hear me whining about it. Unless it becomes a problem for private matters.

Right as I left the lobby of the inn, stepping into the hall that would lead to the room I rented out, I heard a commotion. Curious, I turned.

“You will pay for trying to fornicate with my daughter, bastard,” a drunken man sang with his buddy. “I’ll rang your balls, hang them high—”

I chuckled and moved on, deciding it was probably best not to hear the rest. The inn keeper seemed content, if not a bit irritated. They clearly just rolled in from the tavern. I wondered if the sword she kept on display was more than a show piece.

That night, I laid back and tried to get comfortable on the uncomfortable bed. It felt like a goddamn hardened stack of hay. Not that I’ve never compromised like this before. Okay, let’s not complain about things Nate. It’s the medieval times or something in another world. They don’t have the same comforts. Sure, this was overpriced, but that may be subjective. At the same time, I wondered if I should’ve just camped. Ah well.

Now some people at this point would be screaming at me to meditate and shit, power up into a cringey white knight super Saiyan. Instead, my ass fell into a deep sleep without a care in a world.

I woke up at the peak of dawn expecting aches but for some reason, I felt fine. Better than ever. And no, I didn’t forget I was in another world.

The system took that time to flash the character sheet in my face, as if I cared about such things.

Nate

Class: Potion Maker. Secondary class: ???

Magician rank: 11th realm of the Beginnings.

Ability: F-grade potions. [estimated based on class. Currently calculating. Check later.]

Power: weak. [estimated based on class. Currently calculating. Check later.]

Defense: weak. [estimated based on class. Currently calculating. Check later.]

Nothing seemed to have changed and for some reason, the system was still calculating. In that case, I assumed the damn thing had to be broken. Once again, did it matter? Nope! It was another day and time for more prep work for the field.

Wait a fucking minute. My eyes widened. Eleventh realm? Wasn’t I…at the third? Even if I meditated, it’d still take forever to break through to the next level. That I knew for sure from like every goddamn novel and RPG out there. The only thing I did yesterday was fix up the field, planted some seeds, then fucked off for the rest of the day.

I shook my head. The only explanation was that either something else went on in the background that the system refused to show or like the calculating, was also broken.

“Let’s make this clear, System,” I said. “Don’t show me this character sheet every morning.”

[Super Skill obtained: Ultimate identifier.]

I examined it and nodded. “Okay, so maybe you can be a nice system if you wanted to be.” With the skill, I could analyze basically anything, its quality, rank, hell, maybe even people. I wasn’t sure what it meant by super skill, that felt over-the-top for something any player should have in an RPG, but no complaining from me. This is going to make my job as a potion maker a million times easier.

Okay, let me bring up the elephant in the room because you’re probably wondering about it aloud. What is the difference between this class and something like an alchemist? Beats me. I mean, I watched Full Metal Alchemist. They seemed more like steampunk wizards than potion people to me.

I opened the room door and saw a little basket awaiting me. One bar of soap, a small brush, canteen of water, and a tiny jar of minty oil. Ah, so this was how they handled dental hygiene. Thank God I didn’t have to invent this. Not that I came across anyone with terrible hygiene.

Sure, you had your sweaty working guys and what not. There’s a chance I’m sitting in between the medieval and steampunk era. But…There wasn’t any mentions of trains, at least yet.

After finding the inn’s contracted washhouse, I brushed my teeth. Listen, we’re not about to talk about the flavor of that mouth-washing oil.

For bathing, I’d have to find myself a river and abuse my special powers for a little plumbing. The public bathhouse had a time limit, a line, questionable smells and sanitation, and fucking freezing water I dumped on myself from the staged buckets. Thankfully this was included in my inn staying package or else, I’d be paying one hell of a price for this. The nobles of course had their own facilities maintained by their staff. I’m sure they sipped wine while in fancy tubs with heated water. With everything being expensive, salt included, it’s no wonder the little guy struggled to get ahead.

“Yeah, I’ll need to get the materials for my house sooner than later,” I muttered to myself.

I didn’t plan on getting too dirty today, so a bone-chilling shower this morning would be fine. Honestly, I should’ve taken one the prior night. But when I thought about it…why wasn’t I covered in dirt then? Magic is so weird. What’s funny is that the people of this town had no idea and I’d keep it that way.

In my room, I put on my nice new clothes, a local brand tan shirt and pants, and the effects were immediate.

A good walk through the town revealed it all. The cold and curious stares stopped, as I blended with the crowd. I honestly wasn’t expecting much, but I’m cool with this.

I ate a bland breakfast of porridge with speckles of dried fruit sprinkled over top, served by the inn, before heading outside of the town. What I saw made my jaw drop.

First of all, greeting me was a whirlwind of color. Everything I planted fully fucking grown! And no, I’m not going to pretend like I knew everything I planted. There were a few small trees with odd fruits hanging from them. Quantity, variety, and letting my potion maker class do its thing—that was the original plan. The instructions seemed straightforward after all.

The second oddity was a really beautiful woman with green-hair…pouting at me. Her features became clearer as I got closer. The bizarre yellowish eyes kind of caught me off guard. There was also…something off, like a vibe I picked up or sixth sense, I don’t know, but it didn’t carry any danger. Rather, the complete opposite. That of peace.

“Uh, can I help you?” I asked, scratching my chin.

The woman wore a fancy white and green dress. I…suddenly hoped this wasn’t the mayor’s daughter or a noble coming to bother me. I didn’t have time for that kind of shit. Not that I’d be the idiot caught staring at her chest. People around here would probably toss offenders to the guillotine. She pouted at me a little longer before speaking.

“You’re late, Domain Ruler,” she said.

“Huh?” was the dumb response that came from me. I gathered my wits and decided to ask the simplest question. “Are you the one…responsible for this? I mean holy shit.”

The woman gave me a skeptical look. “Did you hit your head or something? Who else could’ve planted this and…” her eyes seemed to…go starry, almost as if she planned to drool. “Offer up such pure mana.”

I flinched. Absolutely no one was around to see me work. Like come on, I may have had ambitious goals, but I certainly wouldn’t have missed someone like this.

“Excuse me, but who are you?” I asked. “I’m new around here.”

The woman paused, tilting her head. “I see. That explains the strange mannerisms, yes yes.” She patted a fist against her palm. “I am Milia. Guardian dryad of these lands. Well, no longer guardian, since you blindly robbed me, but all is forgiven, Domain Ruler.”

I just about tripped over myself at her response, but that certainly explained the eyes. And her bare feet seemingly manicured despite just walking through dirt moments ago.

“Second day here and I’ve met a dryad,” I said. “Oh, let me introduce myself.” I offered a hand. “I’m Nate. No need to call me…Domain Ruler.”

She accepted the handshake. “Nice to meet you. I’ve felt your woes yesterday. Your soul called for help. After your delicious mana offering, I decided to personally answer your call.”

I narrowed my eyes a bit at the smugness in her voice but decided to let it go. She didn’t come across as one of those “proud of myself” types. Really, anyone offering to help is actually a huge relief.

“I hope you don’t mind that I shared your mana with the forest too,” Milia said. “I couldn’t absorb all of it by myself, it’s much too powerful.”

“No, I certainly don’t mind,” I said as I looked around. Things looked way more organized than I remembered.

“I’ve taken some liberties and rearranged everything based on what the plants were feeling,” Milia said, then scratched the back of her head while sheepishly smiling. “Some of them got a little excited and produced fruit.”

I gaped at her.

“This is unreal,” I said softly as I looked around. “Well, this speeds up things significantly. I’ll need to get myself tools and pots, bottles. Maybe put in some safety protocols. I can’t risk setting the whole damn place on fire.”

“Are you okay with me, as your assistant?” the dryad woman asked, eyes seemingly hopeful.

“Are you kidding? I’ll take all the help I can get,” I told her. “Thank you! But…eh, it may be a bit before I can actually pay you. I’ll have to earn—”

“Pay? I require no such things,” Milia interrupted. “Listen Domain—I mean, Sir Nate.”

“Just Nate,” I corrected.

“N…Nate,” Milia said. “Your mana has healed and nourished these lands. You seemed like someone who just randomly started planting things. I’m…a curious kind of girl. I must see with my own eyes what you plan to accomplish in grasslands far from human civilization.” She gestured at the plants. “This is your doing, a taste of the gift you provided. I distributed it evenly, so that everyone can enjoy it.”

I nodded. “If you’re okay with a random bloke like me intruding your land.”

Milia laughed. “You’re far more blessed by fate than you think.”

I glanced at the incredible array of colors again. Another milestone reached toward being a real potion maker.

The more people my concoctions helped, the more at peace I’ll feel. The house I’ll build will be nice and simple. I’ll make it bigger, so that I can invite guests to dinner. Like this dryad person.

Normally my guard would be up, sky high, but she was clearly some kind of divine entities or at least one of those peace-type spirit beings.

I thought dryads were tree people, but she looked as human as anyone, aside from the eyes. She seemed to be able to make them glow at will too, perhaps when casting her magic.

“This is one hell of a morning,” I said, then stretched. “I’ll need to run into town, get a cauldron and start practicing. Maybe I’ll make treats too.”

“Treats?” the dryad asked, tilting her head.

I chuckled. “You’ll see.”

There was a lot to do, but I couldn’t walk before crawling. From fruit trees to a house with some form of plumbing system, a kitchen, oh and also, preparation for the winter. Something in my gut just fucking knew the winters in this world were going to be brutal.