Captain’s log, arbitrary star date: 1002.13.14

It has been one of the most boring years of any life that I’ve lived.

The education and training schedule that Granny left behind was followed strictly by the tutor the clan assigned me. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if the tutor hadn’t been such an old fossil that dust literally fell off him sometimes. The man was so traditional that I couldn’t even enjoy the newer fashion that had creeped into town, instead being forced to wear the incredibly impractical traditional robes that he favoured.

On the tangent of his very orthodox views of the world, he was also of the opinion that children should been seen and not heard unless first addressed. That was… well, let’s just say that I almost got a new tutor the first day. You wouldn’t believe how tempting it is to have the power to selectively remove portions of someone’s brain and not use that power in such a setting.

Ahem.

On the positive side of things, I’ve now learned the written history of the Waeryn Continent and the dozens of empires, kingdoms, and countries that call it home. I was very impressed when I learned of the scale of this world. It seems that my initial calculations were somewhat off. Heh, they were horribly off. This “planet” is roughly the size of Sol, my old home star.

The other major continent, the Zhizun Zhanshi Continent, is roughly the same size as my Waeryn Continent and almost exactly on the other side of the planet.

As a side note, I now see why the authors in those Wuxia/Xianxia novels called them “stars” instead of “planets”.

Anyway, there are many major islands scattered about, but nothing coming close to being classified as a continent.

As for the history of this world, it goes way back. There was an insane cataclysm just over twenty thousand years ago that wiped out most of civilization, almost all records pre-cataclysm having been destroyed. Sure, there’re records made by survivors who tried to record everything that they knew, but their works paled in comparison to what had been lost.

There are many conflicting stories about what caused the great cataclysm, but all agree on the destruction that ensued.

First, mana, Qi, or whatever the historians were wont to call it, died. That’s to say, the levels of mana dropped so low as to be nearly imperceptible, even in areas that had been overflowing with the stuff up to that point.

Next, the sky fell. Not sure if that was literal or figurative, but from what I could piece together, this world used to have several more moons. Somehow, all but two of the moons were shattered and rained down on the world, decimating everything under the heavens. So, maybe more literal than figurative.

From there, earthquakes rocked the land for months on end. The survivors could scarce believe just how much the landscape had changed; most believing that they’d somehow been sent to another world entirely.

They weren’t far wrong.

The changes that occurred afterwards weren’t few. One of the minor changes was how the flora adapted, mutated, and grew once mana returned to the world. The return of mana wasn’t a gradual event, but one just as drastic as its disappearance. From the reports of the survivors, it was actually much stronger than it was before if vanished.

That said, the plant life exploded, covering vast and burnt-out swaths of land, adapting and mutating to the local conditions. Whole areas were now elementally attuned to the various elements, causing whatever grew or lived there to take on that elemental attribute.

Whole clans and sects popped up in these areas, wholly dedicated to that particular element, learning and teaching ways to harness that power in their cultivation. It was also a golden era for alchemists, as the abundance of new ingredients, plant, animal, or mineral, meant that new discoveries were as common as mushrooms after rain.

Artifact refining, as well as subdisciplines like puppet-making, also took off with how many raw resources had quite literally fallen from the sky. Unfortunately, resources like gold, silver, and copper had also fallen in abundance, so the monetary system of the Old World went out the window when those precious metals flooded the market.

Then came the advent of the currency that we use today. It’s basically condensed mana. You can still find crystal lodes and mine the appropriate grade of crystal, but sometime about ten thousand years ago someone invented a mana condenser that allowed them to produce crystalized mana artificially.

I suspect that person might have been Altaea, but it is hard to say. For one, it has been ten thousand years, and the technology has been revised countless times since, making it very difficult to tell just by looking at the tech. For another, I have absolutely no hope of inspecting one of those “machines” anyways due to how valuable and restricted they are to anyone but the Crystal Consortium.

Yes, that’s a lame name. I got in trouble from the Old Fossil for laughing when I heard it.

Anyways, another reason that I suspect that Altaea had something to do with the new currency and its production is the ratios used in each denomination.

It very much follows the Metric System’s use of base ten. The lowest denomination of Crystal currency is the basic Tier 1 Mana/Qi coin. Each tier has three grades to it: low, mid, and high. Each coin is exactly the same size, but the colour saturation deepens as the grade goes up. So, a Tier 1 low-grade coin is almost completely translucent, while the high-grade coin looks like milky quartz.

I managed to convince Grammy to let me have a low-grade T1 coin and was able to measure its dimensions after digging out an old digital caliper from storage. Every coin is exactly 25mm in diameter and 2mm thick. Not too weird, but still of note.

The biggest clue that Altaea was behind all this was that one low-grade coin was worth one tenth of a mid-grade coin, and one one-hundredth of a high-grade coin. So, one high-grade coin would get you one hundred low-grade coins. Cool.

Then you needed ten high-grade coins to get one low-grade coin of the next tier up. So, one Tier 2, low-grade coin would get you one thousand Teir 1, low-grade coins.

Now, another interesting point is that each coin’s value exactly paralleled the mana density in the coins. Yes, one mid-grade coin had ten times the mana contained in it that a low-grade coin had. It scaled up exactly the same way all the way through to the Fourth-Tier currency, which only the highest-grade Empires or Sects could afford to circulate.

The last point that made me think that Altaea was behind the currency was the “card” version of each tier’s currency. Each card was the same size as a standard playing card one would come across in a casino or someone’s poker night. The only difference was that each card was also 2mm thick.

Now, all of this could have been a crazy coincidence and Altaea hadn’t had anything to do with how the monetary system had evolved… But I’d rather bet on my chance of surviving another hit from that Old Fart than bet against Altaea being involved.

Whew! That was an info-dump!

Anyway, those cards ares also rather convenient, as each one is actually worth one thousand high-grade coins of that tier. Makes carrying around vast sums of money much easier. Well, storage items are a thing here, so that point is only really valid for someone who can’t afford one…

Anywho.

On another note, Grammy came by the day after my second birthday to share a little something that she’d been reminded of during my brief autobiography. Apparently, the incident with the Dragon and Phoenix had been a well-documented event one thousand years ago. She was also impressed at how “coincidental” it was that I’d been born exactly one thousand years after I’d been killed.

On that note, she also let me know that I’d been killed on the Zhizun Zhanshi continent, the northwest corner. It was eventful because those two great beings only fight every couple thousand years and each time they do, there tended to be a bountiful harvest of their scales and feathers, not to mention anyone getting lucky enough to snatch up some blood.

Each of those parts would sell for vast sums of money in auction whenever they appeared, so it was no wonder that that Old Fart had been so trigger-happy. Just one of those scales or feathers was valuable enough to support a mid-sized clan for a decade, easily netting dozens of Tier 3 cards.

Now, vast wealth was indeed something that people loved to accumulate here, but not entirely for the status of it. Each Crystal coin or card can be used in cultivation. One can meditate and absorb the mana/Qi stored therein. Sure, mana density had increased after the cataclysm, but people still liked to speed things up by increasing their absorption of mana by adding the Crystals to the equation.

Specifically, because not all areas of the world have the same mana-density.

The areas with the highest mana density have been claimed long ago by various sects, clans, and empires, allowing them to grow much faster than those in lower mana regions.

Anyways, one of the most interesting things, post-cataclysm, was how cultivation developed on each continent.

Waeryn developed “mages”, while Zhizun Zhanshi pretty much continued with the traditional methods of cultivation, keeping the old name for mana (Qi) as well as the old names for each level of cultivation. This in another point in favour of my theory that Altaea had managed to somehow travel back in time and influence things.

Why she chose this continent instead of the one we landed on still remains a mystery though. As far as I can tell, both continents have equal distributions of mana-density, resources, and all such things. All things being equal, why not stay where we landed?

Meh.

Better to not dwell on it.

All that said, it wasn’t an entirely boring year, just mostly.

Grammy kept her promise to keep my identity as a Reincarnator secret and began giving me personal lessons in Alchemy. She isn’t very accomplished in the field, as her psionic abilities are quite limited, but it proved to be a good primer, helping to establish a good foundation from which I can proceed.

From there, she branched off to various fields in refining, from metallurgy to woodcraft. It is fascinating how these people have experimented with just about everything, resulting in wondrous production methods. This one wood, Lightning Willow- yes, the naming conventions here are somewhat lacking-, is practically unusable in its raw state, being too soft… and zappy. But when treated with various reagents, it becomes as hard as steel, but retains is light weight, also providing some measure of resistance to electricity. It also makes good lightning-aligned weapons and such.

Ah, I could go on and on. Suffice it so say, Grammy gave me a “pass” on every knowledge test she threw my way. So, technically, I could go to any Crafting Hall and get certified after taking their tests. Grammy assures me that her requirements are much stricter than what the various Halls require, so she doesn’t foresee any issue in the future should I go for licensing.

Between the lessons from the Old Fossil, Grammy’s tutoring, and my own research with Avi, I’m pretty sure that I’m miles ahead of even people ten years older than me, likely even twenty years older. But that’s no reason to become complacent. It merely highlighted just how much I still need to learn and grow.

Speaking of growth, I managed to get to the peak of the First Tier last month. I’ve been suppression my cultivation though, as I want to be sure that my foundations are flawless.

Mental Strength/Psionics levels independently of standard cultivation, meaning that I have to work twice as much to keep things equal. I have, however, made good progress with my Knowledge Star.

My theory proved sound, as I’ve been able to not only add several rings around the star, but I’ve also managed to increase its “gravity”, pulling more psionic energy in to increase the “mass” of the star, effectively doubling my psionic reserves. Which is insane, as I’ve found that my efficiency is light-years ahead of anyone here. Their methods are very crude and primitive, using the equivalent of a twenty-pound sledgehammer to tap in a finishing nail, with all the finesse one would imagine in that scenario. And that is considered exquisite control here… It is no wonder that they don’t have psionic healing, they are more likely to blow the person up rather than doing anything useful.

Well, blowing people up with your mind is also a thing….

Anyway, this log is getting a bit long, so I’ll end it here.

- - - - -

Joram lay in bed, not quite willing to get up just yet. This was one of the rare days that he had off, which also coincided with it being his birthday as it always landed on the 7th day of the week, the calendar being as static as it was.

He’d just finished “talking” with his parents over the Network, happy to hear their well-wishes on his birthday. They shared their regrets that they weren’t able to attend his birthday this year but had been sure to send him a birthday present that Grammy was holding onto until the small gathering later in the day.

It was odd how they did things here. They celebrated the first, second, fourth, eighth, sixteenth, etc., birthdays here. Well, they made a big deal about those milestones anyway. It was another mystery that had hitherto been unsolved but was nonetheless a fun quirk. It meant that he didn’t have to go through the big parties nearly as much as he’d feared.

Sure, he’d get less loot for each birthday, but that was an acceptable trade-off to not having to endure those huge birthday parties every year. Well, not that he was able to hold onto most of the loot, as it took the form of Crystals most of the time. Grammy had taken all those Crystals and deposited them into the World Bank, run by the Crystal Consortium, under his name. There was a modest interest rate on the account, which was kind of nice. Anything that he earned or was gifted was also deposited, adding to his future nest-egg.

He really didn’t see the point, as his storage realm was much more secure, but since Grammy didn’t know about it, he went along with the whole bank thing.

Another pleasant discovery this year had been that all the crystals that Avi had been collecting were indeed Mana Crystals, in their raw form. This meant that he was rich! Another discovery had come in the form of the Dust Crystals that had been condensed.

They were indeed a type of Mana Crystal, but of a far higher tier. The basic Tier 1 Crystal were just condensed mana. The Tier 2 Crystals, colloquially called “Earth Crystals”, contained traces of Earth Law. He couldn’t figure out for the life of him how Earth could be a Law, but it was what it was. The Tier 3 Crystals contained “Heaven/Celestial Law”, while the Tier 4 Crystals contained “Immortal Law”. All very confusing, all told. “Laws” were very mysterious things.

Back to the Dust Crystals, Joram had found another type of energy in those Crystals. He wasn’t quite sure which law, but he got the impression that it was “Creation”. Again, he couldn’t explain Laws to save his life, but the energy seemed to resonate with his Metacreationist/Shaper training. His “class” was all about making things after all, and it made sense that Dust Crystals would have that Law in them with how they were literally made to make enchanting faster and easier.

That said, he was pretty sure that he was the only one who could make Dust Crystals. He was also sure that if they were discovered that they would shake-up society to the point where another economic collapse would be inevitable. So, erring on the side of caution, he had decided to keep them a top-secret level, well, secret.

*Knock-knock

He just about asked who was there, but she wouldn’t get the joke.

Tillia, his new nanny, opened the door and glided across the floor, chattering the whole way.

“Time to get up Joram!” She said in that too-bright way that morning people had. “Breakfast is a lovely rice porridge with cinnamon, honey, and fresh baked apples!”

Now that pepped him up a bit as he sat up and allowed Tillia to scoop him up inter her arms and sweep him over to the wardrobe where she began changing him for the day. It had been a bit of a transition going from being dressed by his parents to dressing himself and now back to being dressed again. For how bright and cheerful Tillia was, she had managed to out-stubborn him, persevering in her insistence on performing the daily task.

Which left Joram resigned to his fate. Sure, he could have fought her off as she was only at the peak of Tier 0, but that would have been rude. It really didn’t cost him anything besides a slightly rumpled dignity, but it made Tillia happy, and he did enjoy seeing her smiling face. She was quite pretty after all.

She was taller than most of the girls her age, eighteen now, standing at about 172cm. She had a dancer’s figure, though was slightly bustier than most dancers back home, which put her at about average for the clan. That said, he was pretty sure that his clan was above average in that department, but couldn’t say for certain as he hadn’t met many people who weren’t actually part of the clan.

She also had the purple hair of the Clear Knowledge Clan, but it was closer to indigo and had many black streaks throughout, showing that she was a more distant relative to the main line. Her large, innocent, eyes were still green, but very pale and with intrusions of sky blue. He thought that she was probably around a 4th or 5th cousin but hadn’t asked as he thought that that would be somewhat rude of him.

That all said, she was incredibly competent. She had him undressed, wiped down, and dressed again in under two minutes. If he hadn’t known better, he would have said that it was magic. But no, she was just that good. He was very much debating giving her a more appropriate cultivation method so that he could keep her around longer.

Yes, that was a selfish thought, but he truly liked Tillia and enjoyed being with her, even with her being a morning person.

Upon further reflection, he wondered if he’d actually developed a crush on her. Yes, she had a delicate, heart-shaped face, with a milky-white complexion and the grace of a dancer. Yes, her legs went on all day long, and she showed a conservative amount of cleavage with her modern attire. But it was more likely due to her being such a genuinely good person that he liked her. Looks could only take a person so far before their personality came through.

“Huh,” he grunted out loud as she did that final bit of adjusting with his clothes as she knelt in front of him.

“What’s that?” Tillia asked, now looking him in the eye.

He had a brief moment of panic before he calmed himself down. In his first life, he’d been incredibly shy and introverted, not daring to let a girl know that he had a crush on them. As he’d gotten older it had become easier, but was still a very difficult thing for him. In this life, though, he was determined to break out of his shell, so he opened his mouth and spoke.

“I like you,” he said, unsuccessfully fighting off a blush that coloured his cheeks.

Tillia blinked at him for a moment before a huge smile nearly cracked her face in two.

“I like you too,” she said as she gave him a big hug, smooshing his face into her bosom.

Well, that’s nice, he thought as he enjoyed the warmth of the moment before she pulled him away.

“But you have a fiancé, so you shouldn’t go looking at other girls,” she said as she gave his nose a little flick, which caused him to blush even more.

He nearly blurted out that he’d learned that polygamy was an accepted practice amongst the powerful people of the world, but stopped short. He wasn’t powerful yet. She’d just laugh at his declaration. Besides, he wasn’t sure that it wasn’t just his three year-old brain and hormones messing with him.

“Let’s get breakfast so you have some time before the gathering with the Matriarch,” Tillia said as she stood up and took his hand in hers.

He looked up at her and nodded.

- - - - -

Breakfast was breakfast; tasty and filling. He must have been starting a growth spurt, as he packed away much more than usual.

During the meal, Tillia continued to chatter on about this and that, sharing the local gossip. It was impressive, really, because she spent the majority of her day with him. She must have been a natural talent for information gathering given how much she could natter on about just about everything.

While she was going on, Joram started up his [Schism] again, hopeful that he’d make a breakthrough in his research soon. He was sure that he was close to figuring out how to get that third mind going, but wasn’t quite there yet. It would truly be a game-changer once he cracked that though.

Then something that Tillia had said caught his attention, bringing him back to the moment.

“What was that again?” He asked, trying to pull up what she’d just said.

“Oh, I was saying that you must be looking forward to no longer being grounded,” she replied with a smile. “I’m sure that you’ve been looking forward to going out and seeing the town and all that.”

With everything that had been dumped on him, nevermind his own research, he’d completely forgotten that his grounding would end today. Or was it already over since he’d been grounded the day before his birthday? He’d have to ask Grammy.

“I would love to explore!” He said with a huge smile. “Will you take me?” He asked, trying to do his best puppy-dog eyes.

Tillia let out a mighty laugh, nearly falling over in the process. “Of course,” she managed to say once she’d regained some breath. “I am, after all, your Nanny!” She finished proudly, sticking out her chest and poking it with her thumb.

He didn’t bother holding in his mirth, laughing along with her. She was probably one of the most down-to-earth people he’d met since being reborn. It was, quite frankly, refreshing. You could only take so much bowing and deference before you got sick of it. And he hadn’t had much of a tolerance to begin with…

Yes, he was only a “son”, not a coveted daughter of the clan, but still people had to show respect since he was the firstborn child of the next Matriarch. At least Xixi and Zanth treated him normally, even with their parents encouraging a more reserved approach. Well, Zanth’s parents anyway. Aloralla and Ailmar were much more relaxed in how they expected Xixi to behave around him due her being engaged to him after all. He just wished that Selussa and Vulen would chill out more and let Zanth just be a kid.

Anyway, he was now very much looking forward to visiting the town and seeing what he could scavenge from the various crafters there. Sure, Avi was still making trips out into the world nearly every day to gather various resources, but he also wanted to see how other people worked on their crafts. Scavenging was great and all, but really just an excuse. One could only learn so much from reading before one had to get out there and see the theory in action.

He’d always been more of a visual/hands-on learner, something that had amazed people with how fast he’d pick something up. Well, maybe he’d finally get to pick up a new technique after all these years!

Three years now. Time passed so quickly; he was glad that he’d have countless years to enjoy life. Life for mortals, or rather, non-cultivators, was too short, often made shorter by disaster, disease, or war. Well, now that he was at the peak of Tier 1, he was very close to getting a chunk of time added to his lifespan. If he recalled correctly, it should be about thirty years or so.

Nothing over the top, but definitely a boost, as those years were actually front-loaded. In other words, the cultivator would stop growing older for those extra years. Now, that might have been a problem for him, as he didn’t want to stay a toddler for another thirty-plus years. But he’d read that you could actually choose to have your body continue to grow should you reach that milestone before you’d completely developed physically.

Now, there were some strange people out there who enjoyed looking like a teenager when they were several hundred years old, but they tended to be in the minority. Most people wanted to look like an adult. That said, most people chose to “stop aging” at about twenty years old. He really couldn’t blame them.

“Time to go Joram!”

He nearly jumped out of his robes.

After calming his heartrate, and getting his breathing under control, he got up from his little desk and made his way over to Tillia, a mock scowl appearing on his face when he spotted the mirth on hers.

Well, time to get this gathering over with.