Alden Lyons awoke with a groan, his mind groggy and his torso ablaze with pain. Twisting in the bed he found himself on, harder than the one he was used to, he pushed himself up with a hand. He paused to look about the room, taking in the strange sight. Plain walls of white-painted stone greeted him, along with a simple side table beside the bed, and a door of brown-red wood at the far end. He did not recognize this room..

“What?” he asked aloud, though there was no one to answer. Try as he might, he could not recall how he arrived here, and could make no sense of where he was. A hospital, he thought at first, but he discarded the thought. It appeared more like a tavern room at a renaissance fair, or else a renaissance fair’s idea of a clinic.

Standing on shaky feet the door opened, revealing a woman of about his age, perhaps younger. Fair skinned and freckled, she wore white and red garb, a robe with coif and veil, similar to his idea of a nun’s clothes. She smiled at him, warm and pleasant, and for a moment Alden thought his heart had skipped a beat. Was this heaven, perhaps?

“Are you well? Do you need food or water?” It was not heaven, he decided, but it was close enough for the time being.

“I could use some answers first, actually,” he said, ignoring the cries of his stomach. The woman nodded, seating herself at the edge of his bed.

“Well, to start, I’m Mina, the assistant doctor of this town. Ah, if you don’t mind, could you remove your shirt? I need to check for injuries.”

“Injuries?”

“Just to be safe. A guard found you unconscious at the edge of town. He thought you might have been attacked by a monster or bandits, so he brought you here. I’ve already checked you over once, when you were unconscious, but I’d like to make sure there isn’t any new bruising or the like.”

Monsters? What?

“Uh…” he muttered, wondering what to say. The woman looked at him quizzically, as if trying to guess which part he was confused about. All of it, he wanted to say.

Instead, Alden slipped off his shirt, shivering as cold air met his skin. Mina stood and approached him, observant eyes searching for any blemish or wound, the front at first and then the back.

“What’s your name, by the way?” she asked.

“Alden. If you don’t mind, can you tell me what town this is?” he asked, hoping it would give him some bearing on his location. She had said she was a doctor’s assistant, yet looking about the room Alden saw no IV bag in sight, no electronic monitors or whiteboard with patient info, nor even the odd smell all hospitals seemed to have.

“You don’t even know what town you’re in?” she asked, pausing her search.

“No, I’ve no idea.”

“Hmm.” With a hand to her chin, Mina regarded Alden as if he were a puzzle to be solved. Perhaps he was, Alden thought. With as odd as things were he could have been transported to a new world for all he knew. “I’m going to cast Diagnosis Magic on you now, okay?”

Before he could question her further, Mina touched her thumbs and forefingers together, forming a spade-like hole between her hands, then closed her eyes. Suddenly a flash of light appeared between her hands, myriad rays streaming across the room. The light condensed and formed into a ball, then shot out at him. Reflexively, he jumped back, but too slow. The light struck him and disappeared painlessly into his body, and soon after his entire body began to glow. The glow faded as quickly as it had arrived, his body returningto normal just as Mina opened her eyes.

“You seem to be in fine health. Could use more exercise, though.”

Alden stared blankly at her, mind a swirl of thoughts.

“What was that?” he finally asked.

“What was what?”

“That light that you shot at me, and then my body was glowing…”

Mina gave him a befuddled look, straining to understand what was asked of her.

“That was just magic,” she said. “A simple health scan spell. We use it for pretty much all of our patients.”

“I… so magic is real?”

Mina stood, turned away, then back, looking uncertain.

“Alden, I’m going to fetch Doctor Elmswood, okay?”

“Okay,” he said.

She left him there alone, at first, then came back soon after with a small meal and water. Brown bread with eggs and cheese, simple. Meat had been offered, but Alden felt a twisting in his stomach at the mention. He had been a vegetarian for most of his life, the mere mention of meat enough to make him nauseous.

He finished it quickly, his hunger receding, then sat in thought. Restless, he moved to the window on the opposite side of the room.

The town was something out of the past. Simple wooden buildings crowded together, the roads between more akin to small dirt paths. Only the largest road, which cut through the center of the town, was stone. Faintly, the clopping and squeaking of horse-drawn carriages could be heard.

It was really another world. Like something out of a fantasy story. How? Had he died and been resurrected? Teleported?

Moving away from the window, Alden’s vision spun and he fell, catching himself on the edge of the bed. He remained still for a moment as the sensation receded.

In its place was panic, his body trembling ever so slightly as his heart beat in his ears. Confused, shocked, afraid, Alden took breath after breath as he composed himself. It wouldn’t be so bad, he told himself. A new life. New opportunities. There were positives to living in a new world. And, he reasoned, he would not be missed in back on Earth. He had no family to speak of, no lover, and few friends besides.

Still, he thought, it would have been nice to have received a cheat-like power like in manga. A game system or something, like he’d seen a dozen times before, and preferably one that could explain things to him.

As the thought crossed his mind a warmth flowed through his core, traveling through his arm and into his hand. He extended it, watching as bright white light appeared and condensed into a white crystal. It hovered above his palm, spinning in place, light pouring out from within. Despite his shock his body moved, almost against his will, the urge to touch the crystal to his body overcoming his will.

Gently, Alden touched the white crystal to his chest. It dissolved into him, and from his core he felt a burst of energy flow through his body, similar to before. Like a molten liquid, the feeling spread across his body, burning, then dissipating, leaving him numb for a moment.

Slowly, feeling returned to his body. He tested it cautiously, moving his fingers and toes first, then his arms, legs, and finally neck. Content, he focused his attention on the floating blue screen before him.

Welcome, Alden Lyons. This is The System. Please open the Status menu to continue.

Alden stared at the screen, awash with a feeling of excitement running through him. Somehow he understood how the power worked intuitively and, with a thought, the menu shifted and grew, its text changing. Once settled, it was a square the size of his torso, an array of data displayed before him.

Alden Lyons

Age: 24

Health: 150/150

Mana: 70/70

Level: 1

EXP: 0/100

Rank: None

Titles

None

Stats

Strength: 12

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 10

Dexterity: 13

Agility: 10

Endurance: 12

Luck: 15

Charisma: 11

Skills

None

Aptitudes

None

Special Abilities

All-Maker

All-Maker? Curious, he focused on the words. Another screen popped up.

[All-Maker]

The power of Creation itself. Gifted to its sole owner, Alden Lyons, upon reincarnation. Can be used once per month. Limitations unknown. Further details forbidden until requisites have been met.

Once a month? Requisites? He sighed, disappointed, then brushed the feeling aside. The once per month restriction annoyed him. He was not one for patience, a flaw that had been his ire during many games in his past life. Still, the power was probably more than anyone else in this world had. And, it seemed, he had made the System through its power, though he wasn’t quite sure how he knew.

The door swung open and in walked Mina, followed by a man dressed in a red and white cloak not unlike a priest’s. Doctor Elmswood, Alden presumed. Nearing forty, the good doctor had a stern face with a long mustache that fell just past his chin. His eyes, however, regarded Alden with care and concern, as if Alden were no different than a friend.

“You’re Alden I take it? It’s nice to finally meet you. Conscious, that is. I’m Doctor Elmswood.”

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you as well.”

From there Mina explained the details once more. Elmswood nodded along then, with the same hand gesture Mina had used, cast the spell with the bright light. Finished, Elmswood paced back and forth across the room, finally resting by the window.

“There’s nothing I can do,” he said after a moment.

“Nothing?” Mina asked. The doctor shook his head.

“Whether by magic or illness or something else entirely, I can’t determine what the root cause is. Without that, there is little I can do to help with your memories, lad.”

“Perhaps another doctor…” Mina offered, but Elmswood merely shook his head once more.

“It’d take a specialized doctor, one with keen insights into the human mind. Lalaphot, maybe, if the lad could afford her, but given he has no memories and no coin…”

“Is there any work that I could do, then?” Alden asked. Not that he was particularly interested in procuring this Lalaphot’s services. He was from another world, after all. There was nothing to remember. And, true enough, Alden had nothing to his name at the moment, and again panic took hold. Would he be homeless? He’d narrowly escaped that fate before, on Earth. It wouldn’t be better here, he knew. Worse, most likely. No, he’d avoid that fate, if he could.

Elmswood thought a moment, idly twisting the hairs of his mustache. He turned to Mina, regarded her for a moment with a look that said she could use the help, then turned to Alden.

“Truth is that Mina and I could use some help with some of the adventurers in town. A viscous bunch, some of them, always getting into fights with one another or the town guards. The rest have a death wish if you ask me. Can’t understand why someone’d want to fight monsters for a living. Regardless, the clinic's swamped at the best of times, so if you have the potential, I’ll have Mina teach you some healing magic.”

“The pay isn’t incredible, though,” Mina said. “Most of our funds go into acquiring supplies for potions or bandages, and Doctor Elmswood’s been overly generous to the orphanage these past few months.”

“I’ll do as I please with my money, if that’s quite alright with you, Mina.”

“Yes, sorry sir.”

“Is healing magic hard to learn?” Alden asked.

“Hmmm, sorta. You have to start with Diagnosis Magic, otherwise you won’t know what needs to be fixed. It’s usually fine with cuts and scrapes, but if they go too deep or if there’s poison or something you might not heal the patient well enough.”

“I see.” So it would be tough, and for not much pay. Yet the pros outweighed the cons, in his mind. He’d gain useful magic, be able to help people, and keep himself out of danger until he was ready. What other choice did he have, anyways? Nothing of this world was known to him yet, beyond what little they’d told him. “Well, I’ll give it a shot. Can’t hurt, right?”

Downstairs was the clinic proper, the upstairs reserved Elmswood and his guests. Wide, it was an open spaced room that lacked the walls he had taken for granted, with only thin sheets and blankets hung from ropes to separate the patients. A lackluster place, truth be told, but it seemed serviceable enough for a world with magic.

Elmswood attended patients on his own, his skill well past the point of requiring assistance. Meanwhile, Mina guided Alden to a patient on the far side and pulled the curtain. Behind it was a large bald man covered in blood, a large gash on his leg and a scar across the top of his head. Dressed in a mix of leather, chain mail, and plate armor, the man would have been intimidating, had he been healthy. Instead he seemed a pathetic sort, groaning weakly and reeking of some stench Alden had never smelled, like a mix of blood and rotting fruit. An adventurer, he surmised, covered in monster blood.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Alden,” he said. “This will be my first time healing someone, so please bear with me.”

The adventurer gave a concerned look but did not refuse. “My name’s Berns,” he said, gritting his teeth as a wave of pain overcame him.

The first step of healing someone, even before magic, was ensuring the wound was clean and clear of debris. Pouring waters into the man’s wound, Alden dabbed away the excess blood that flowed as Mina observed. All the while, Berns groaned and grit his teeth, angry, and growing angrier each time Alden poured water into the wound. By the end of it Alden was certain the man would thrash him, but he never did.

“Here, I’ll have you try Diagnosis Magic first,” Mina said after the wound had been cleaned. “Now, put your hands together like this,” Mina said, forming the spade-like symbol she used before. Alden mimicked her. “Okay, now focus on your magic, letting it flow to your hands while imagining a map of the patient's body, with wounded sections highlighted. Then, condense that energy it into a sphere. Feel it?” He did, a sort of vibrating feeling that spread through his hands. Light sparkled out from his palms, forming together into a white sphere, though smaller than Mina’s had been. “Now push it,” Mina said, and he willed it forward.

The orb struck Berns in the chest, his body glowing a moment. Once it ceased a deluge of information filled Alden’s head, as if every single cell in Berns’s body had been mapped for him. Too great to bear, Alden stumbled backwards, twisted his torso forward so he wouldn’t fall, then looked to Mina.

“Ah, sorry, I should have warned you,” she said. That would have been nice, he thought.

“It’s fine,” he said, dismissing her words as another pop-up appeared.

Skill Up

Learned Diagnosis Magic Rank F

Reward: 50XP

50XP, for that? He was halfway to leveling up and yet felt as if he had done nothing at all. Well, that’s just how cheat abilities worked, right?

The magic hadn’t been quite what he expected; the vast amount of info was, as far as he could tell, the actual cellular makeup of the man’s body. Impossible to keep track of for a normal human mind. Despite that, other information had also been provided to him, namely a general feeling of the man’s injuries.

He looked over the man’s wounds with his eyes to be sure, confirming his suspicion. Diagnosis Magic had given him fine details about all the man’s wounds, from their location to their severity, the regions highlighted in his mind. The healing magic, then, would be applied to those regions.

And, just as he suspected, Mina instructed him to follow the same pattern of putting his hands together and imagining the result of the magic. Closing his eyes, Alden focused on the areas of the man’s wounds, the largest first, and imagined them closing. The magic, unlike before, radiated out from his hands towards Berns, and soon his cuts and scratches began to close. The process was slower than Alden expected, taking nearly a full minute to heal the man’s wounds, and by then Alden’s mana was near empty.

Kneeling, Alden grabbed hold of the side of Berns’s bed, doing all he could to remain conscious. Throughout his body was an exhaustion he’d never felt before, as if he had gone several days without sleep.

Skill Up

Learned Healing Magic Rank F

Reward: 50XP

Level Up

Reward: 5 Stat Points.

Note: Stat Points may be assigned at any time and will accumulate if not used.

Alden Lyons

Age: 24

Health: 180/180

Mana: 12/90

Level: 2

EXP: 0/200

Rank: None

Titles

None

Stats (5 points remain)

Strength: 12

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 10

Dexterity: 13

Agility: 10

Endurance: 12

Luck: 15

Charisma: 11

Skills

Diagnosis Magic Rank F

Healing Magic Rank F

Aptitudes

None

Special Abilities

All-Maker

Alden stared at the screen as he absentmindedly listened to Mina. It was doable, he thought. With a power like this, living here wouldn’t be so bad.

“I didn’t think you’d be able to do it,” Mina said, breaking him from his thoughts.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

Berns gave a hearty laugh that was loud as the man was big. “Doctoring’s hard stuff, lad. Takes weeks of training just to heal what you did, else there’d be more combat healers.”

“With how well you handled the Diagnosis Magic I thought you might learn quickly, but this…,” Mina said.

Alden smiled, face flushing warm as he felt a blush come on from the praise.

The warmth receded as he turned his mind to his Status. The spell had used up far more mana than he expected, and a pang of worry shot through his chest. The cost was unsustainable as it was, and briefly he feared that his lack of mana would be too much of a detriment.

Mina handed him a glass flask. Inside was a blue liquid, viscous, like syrup. “Here,” she said, “a mana potion.” His worries were for naught, it seemed.

Uncorking the flask, Alden downed the syrup-like liquid which, to his astonishment, left the flask perfectly clean once he had finished. A wave of energy flowed through him then, similar to when using magic, an almost burning sensation spreading throughout his body and, with it, clearing away his exhaustion. Astonished, Alden sat dumbly as he stared at the flask, its smooth surface almost slippery to the touch.

Already his mana was recovering, the small number rising bit by bit until it settled at its maximum. Fully refreshed, he couldn’t help but wonder how the amount was determined. Curious, he focused on the number.

Mana

Mana, aka magical energy, is a form of power generated by the lifeforce of intelligent beings. Under the System, total mana is determined by Level and Wisdom while mana recovery rate is determined by Intelligence.

Inwardly he smiled and nodded to himself. Wisdom and intelligence were part of the classic mage archetype, after all. The description, however, raised other questions. Questions he would save for another time. Using amnesia as a ploy or no, the odd stares others gave him made him uncomfortable.

The rest of the day was spent attending the other patients, during which he discovered that, upon officially learning the Healing Magic skill, the time it took to heal others was reduced by nearly half. Still, the cost to mana had taken its toll on him, and even after drinking four mana potions Alden couldn’t help but lean back in his chair as the last patient left, eyes closed and thinking of sleep.

His plans were interrupted by Doctor Elmswood, who tossed a small cloth sack to him. It jingled lightly, obviously filled with coins, and, opening the sack, Alden counted the day's haul. A single coin of silver and five of copper or bronze, each still clean enough to shine in the dim light of sunfall.

“Today's pay, and a little extra,” Elmswood said.

“It’s usually just the one silver,” Mina said.

Alden smiled, nodded to them both. “Thank you,” he said, the words doing no justice to what he really felt. They had done so much for him, a stranger. A job to them perhaps, but he had nothing to offer, and still they helped.

“Do you remember anything about currency? How much things cost and whatnot?” Elmswood asked, and Alden shook his head in response. “I’ll have Mina take you out to town tomorrow, then. We’re in need of more herbs, roots, and medicinal plants, as well as bandages, and it’d do nicely to have you understand the prices in case Mina or I are occupied. That okay?”

“Yes, that’d be great. Thank you.”

“And while you’re out, here.”

Elmswood handed him a letter, neatly folded, the paper pure white and crisp to the touch. Alden opened it. The lettering was neat, easy to read despite being handwritten, and only then did Alden think to question how he could understand the speech of this world. The letter was in English, or so it appeared to him, so either they spoke and wrote in English or something was translating the words for him.

In either case, the letter was confusing. From Berns, the adventurer he dealt with briefly earlier in the day, though the letter itself was written by the Arvolt Guild. Short, it said simply to meet him at the Guild’s office tomorrow before noon.

“What’s this about?” he asked.

Elmswood shrugged. “Might be he wants you to join his party. That’s my guess, at least. Hard work, adventuring, but it pays well, else people wouldn’t be risking their necks all the time doing it. Listen to what he has to offer, but if you decide to join him, be sure to tell me, alright?”

“I will.”

Seemingly satisfied that his job for the day was done, and appearing almost ghostly as the day's exhaustion took its toll on him, Doctor Elmswood left them, plodding slowly upstairs to his own room. The room Alden had awoken in had been offered to him again, and he took it gratefully, uncertain of what else he would do. Yet gazing at the letter with its neat writing and mysterious promises, Alden felt, briefly, as if he could see a golden thread leading from his mind to the letter. Tomorrow would be filled with adventure, it seemed.