Chapter 5: Apprenticeship

The fields of sand at the bottom of the ocean are quite majestic, filled with many different things: curious stones, strange weeds, majestic corals, lazing fish, floating and scuttling tiny little beings of various shapes and sizes. Hill upon hill of sand covers the oceans and seas, making the foundation of all life…

Over near the Village of Sed, these hills have long since been razed and crops, be they corals, weed or other underwater flora are grown in great numbers and quality, nurtured by the domestic aquatic life forms that roam across these fields. Small crabs wallow about these plain sands, keeping the sand straight and smooth. Seahorses and fish hide amongst the flora, rubbing them while cleaning their skin as well as the plants.

This fabricated biome of the Maomer has been continuously extended since the race first took root in these parts of the sea. At first, a small patch of land no bigger than 30 feet, but as time went by it has grown to be quite larger, around 500 feet squared, surrounding the West, North, and Eastern sides of the Village and leaving only one entrance to it for attackers.

Even as of today, these lands are continuously expanded as the sand is razed by the new generation of Maomer. Together, with large rakes in their hands, they work together to perpetually extend the reach of their sustenance, the life blood of all creatures that live in the vicinity of the village.

Over at the expansion site, young Maomer currently work together to raze the next portion of the sand hills; they raze, shovel, push, scope and transport the sand accumulated by the hour. They move like machines following a routine, mechanically and without much drive. Extending the fields is not the passion of these workers; it’s merely their temporary duty. Soon, some day, they would be deemed worthy of the rank of soldier and work defending their village from dangers. However, for the time being they tilt…

Over at the next expansion site over to the west however… the Maomer are hectic at completing their assignment perfectly and in the shortest amount of time, which they are succeeding. They efficiently work in teams separated by their duty and rush their work. They are realizing the work twice as fast as the other team so that they can get more time to rest and enjoy themselves. Just who gave them this idea?

“Come on! Put your backs into this! If we can finish in an hour, we all get six hours more to ourselves! Or would you rather spend the next six hours here WORKING?! Come ON! My conches are waiting!” – yelled Xeno at the rest of his team as he quickly finished tilting his side of the hill and started to help out the diggers.

“Yes, sir…” – mumbled the others, getting quite tired now from the workout, but happy that at this pace they could finish in less than an hour.

Quite the inspirational speaker, huh… Wait, I guess you got lost now? In that case, why don’t we go back a little bit…

1 Helix Month ago…

Day 1

Mc Neel – “So this is the boy… Not much to look at right now, but I’ll see what I can do to him”

Mc Neel was a robust and strong-looking Maomer sporting great muscles, especially his biceps, which made him look like a macho man. His long, smooth mustache and dense eyebrows didn’t help lessen this image. Neither did his rough voice or the way he looked at others with a seemingly condescending air. Yeah, this guy was quite intimidating.

Mr. Rupert – “Good chap! The Doc’s wanting me to remind yee to make sure the lad visits him at least weekly to check his condition.”

Mc Neel – “Aye, I’ll make sure the boy stays in good health s’long as he works that is...”

Mr. Rupert – “I do not think you’ll have to worry about that too much chap, the lad’s quite Diligent for his age.”

Mc Neel scoffed – “I’ll be the judge of that, now scatter off to your conches geezer.”

Mr. Rupert – “Hohohoho! It was a pleasure seeing yee too chap!” – he placed his hand on Xeno’s shoulder and whispered – “Don’t let him fool yee, the chap’s got a good heart under all that bravado.” – then he walked outside the building, whose inside looked no better than the outside…

Mc Neel – “Oy, boy! Come, it’s time to show you the round!” – Xeno looked to see the man had already risen and was briskly walking towards a door in the back. He followed him through and paused for a second. At that moment he remembered the saying “Seeing with your own eyes” and could say he understood it now more clearly than before.

The exited loomed over what could only be called a ranch and a farm combined, though the weed fields of the farm surrounded the ranch completely. Lying about the were large creatures such as the large seahorses and manta rays that seemed big enough to ride, huge sea cucumbers, octopi, and crabs, no different than the one he fought before, lazed about the clean sand while fish of various kinds, tadpoles and jellyfish swam and floated around the area.

A huge, barn stood tall and proud next to these animals. Calling it huge being an understatement as it stood much bigger than any building Xeno had seen so far in the village. It was made almost entirely with Rasina Coral, though some details seemed to have been remodeled with other types of coral as well as plant-life to give it a more comforting appearance

Surrounding the area were patches of huge seaweeds, though some more illuminated patches of sand were also covered with sea grass which seemed to shine in various colors depending on their species.

The overall impact was majestic, as if going to some nature resort for the first time in your life. Excitement quickly piled up within Xeno’s chest. He liked animals mostly because of how different they were from humans and the wide variety of powers and abilities they possess that humans could only dream of. Xeno himself had never had a pet in his life, but he had managed to befriend some animal folk in his previous Terminal at some point in his journey… While he missed them a bit, they had died long ago due to the actions of an enemy guild. That guild and its members were forced to abandon that Terminal permanently. Xeno may have driven his friends insane with his revenge schemes during those weeks…

Xeno shook his head to clear his mind. This was a new start, no need to get side tracked now when the journey had yet to truly begin. He followed Mc Neel who gallantly walked right through the congregation of animals, neither minding the presence of the other. Whilst some animals showed some curiosity towards him, they soon continued to laze about.

Inside the barn, were whales… Yes, huge whales of various species were calmly floating and waiting as a dozen or so Maomer swam around them with broom-like tools which they were using to remove the barnacles from the whale’s body. They seemed to be having a lot of work, much more work than the Maomer that was below the whale trying to get milk that was shooting out of the whale to fill up the jars he had beside him. He seemed to have filled many jars already, but the whale seemed to have a lot of milk to give today.

Mc Neel – “Today you’ll be helping the Groomers and Farmers tend to the whales, we’ve more guest whales than usual and sooner rather than later they’ll need to go take a breather, so we need to speed things up, that’s where you come in. You don’t have much experience in grooming, so you’ll be on milk duty. Though for the male whales you’ll help the lot grooming, understood?”

Xeno – “Yes!”

Mc Neel – “Good. Hey JORDAN!”

Jordan – “Yeah, boss?”

Mc Neel – “New recruit! Have him on transitional duty!”

Jordan – “Kay!”

Mc Neel – “Go to him, he’ll show you what you need to know.” – he turned back and walked to elsewhere. Xeno moved towards Jordan, quite intrigued with the milking process of whales…

Later that evening, when the whales had left and the job was done, Xeno walked over to Mc Neel’s office to tell him about the day.

Mc Neel – “Ah, good! So how was your day, boy? Did you finish the quota?” – he referred to the amount of whales each Maomer should attend on a daily basis daily, be that through grooming or milking. It seems Mc Neel had a pint for liking his employees finishing the quotas necessary each day.

Xeno – “I collected 362 jars of milk and attended the grooming of 23 whales.”

Mc Neel looked at Xeno pleasantly surprised. The daily quota was 200 jars and 10 whales for those on milking duty while 25 whales for those exclusively on grooming duty. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought the boy was lying to him, but he knew his men kept good track of the quantities and had reported Xeno the amount he made that day. Still…

Mc Neel – “Why did you go overboard with the quota?” – he asked curiously.

Xeno looked a bit uncomfortable while answering – “I was entertaining myself, so time flied and before I knew it, it was closing time… Also, I only learned about the daily quota AFTER the end of the day...”

Mc Neel – “Didn’t Jordan tell you to stop?”

Xeno scratched his head– “Well… When his shift was over he asked if I needed to rest, but I told him I was okay to continue working for a bit more, so he left me while telling me not to overdo it… hahaha…”

Mc Neel for a moment before asking – “Boy, what were you studying while in the library?”

Xeno – “The Head Librarian didn’t tell you…? It was mostly Biology and Cartography.”

Mc Neel fell silent thinking. Knowledge in biology had the effect of unconsciously making the owner of said knowledge more likely to do a better job when handling animals and plants, depending on what the subject of study was. If he guided himself with today’s results the boy in front of him must’ve studied quite hard about the subject…

Mc Neel – “What level is your Biology Ability now?”

Xeno – “It’s level 17” – Mc Neel was astounded with that level. To reach such level in such short time required prior knowledge on the subject as well as diligence an educated mind and above all will power. It isn’t easy to study continuously about a subject. He was about to ask about the boy’s Education stat to see his potential growth when he said:

“I also seem to have gained some skills: Grooming, Milking, and Breeding… They’re all level 2.” – Ok, given the speed in which those abilities were obtained and grew, his Education should be no more than 3. Mc Neel guessed that the reason for the growth of his Biology skill must’ve included prior experience reading about animals and plants and what-not. He was…

Mc Neel – “How long will you remain under the effects of Newborn?”

Xeno – “After today, nine more days sir.”

Good, he thought, enough time to teach him plenty before he loses some of his growth spurt. – “Very well, can you ensure that you are present every day for the next nine days?”

Xeno – “Well… Perhaps it is possible, but I will require some time to rest here so I can… Sustain my body in the other world.”

Mc Neel – “That can be arranged easily, I hope?”

Xeno – “Yes.”

Mc Neel – “Then it’s settled; you can use the bed upstairs to rest and do what you need to do over on the other side. The rest of the afternoon is off, but from tomorrow morning and onwards you will work!”

Xeno – “Understood!”

Mc Neel rummaged through his desk for a bit – “Good. Now… here is today’s payment.” – he handed Xeno the bag containing 24 Silvers and 62 Coppers. He would usually only give 10 Silvers, but he always gives extra to those who go over their quota: in this case 1 copper per Milk Jar and 1 Silver per Whale Grooming.

Soon after, in the room that would now be Xeno’s for as long as he worked here, he opened his Questlog just to make sure he didn’t misunderstand:

As he expected, he gained a Job when he accepted to work here and a Quest just before when he surprised Mc Neel. The rewards seem incredible, especially since the abilities he learns here will grow much more quickly which will help him earn more money. As is, he is quite happy having earned over five times the money he had started out with. He definitely was happy that he no longer had to continue eating the tasteless coral he had been eating till now.

He was looking forward to eating more delicacies, such as the blend the old Librarian has prepared for him or the sweet, delicious milk he had tasted from the whale when he his curiosity and hunger got the better of him. Yeah, he was REALLY looking forward to tasting more of that milk in the future!

Though he wonders just how hard the job will be now that it had risen an additional 2 ranks, as well as doing the Quest which was another 2 ranks above that… Well, he would know soon enough. For the time being, he needs to prepare some food so that he can sustain himself with a small snack every 2 hours or so…

Xeno logged out

Day 2

“Okay, boy. Today’s feeding duty along with produce collection.” – said Mc Neel as he guided Xeno to another room within the barn – “Simply put, you’ll need to ensure the animals here have enough food for the day. Or course, you’ll need to know the proper amount and type of food for each animal present.”

Mc Neel rummaged through his jacket’s pockets and brought out a conch and extended it towards Xeno– “This here conch has such info, I hope you’ll be able to memorize it quickly?”

Xeno responded as he operated the conch – “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Mc Neel – “Feeding isn’t just about species though…” – he continued explaining as he saw Xeno inspecting the contents of the conch – “You have to take in consideration the creature’s age, size, weight, skin condition, scale luster, and fur if applicable; the creatures overall health in short.”

Xeno – “Quite a large number of variables…”

Mc Neel – “Aye, but this ensures the positive, healthy growth of these creatures as well as the quality of their produce.”

They entered the new room that looked similar to a chicken coot, only much larger with beds of a variety of materials none of which were straw. Inside were various animals such as shrimp, crabs, fish and occasionally eels which were swimming around playing and eating their portions of food.

Mc Neel walked towards the first bed and pointed at a conch which seemed to be glued to the bowl of food of the animal which slept here – “You will be able to gather info on the animals from their ID Conches, which have records of their general conditions. The information is updated by the ones in charge of health checks, which you’ll be doing later on as well, so it’s important to read the contents before giving the proper food.”

Mc Neel pointed at a large warehouse that was in the coot – “There you will find the appropriate food you require to give the animals in large quantities; food can range anywhere between seeds and weeds to porridge, noodles and milk. There are also medicines and herbs inside; don’t touch them unless one of the animals seems to be ill and requires hourly dosage, but no medic is present.”

Xeno listened to him intently while simultaneously reading the conch for additional information. Mc Neel looked at the conch and realized that Xeno was already half-way through the book in the time he had been talking. He smirked a bit and left Xeno to his reading and work.

Xeno finished reading the conch and moved over to the first bed made of sea weed – “Let’s see… young red-crust crab in good health… The appropriate food should be 30g of Amalgam Algae with 10g of worm matter, right?” – Xeno checked the conch for the formula again – “No, it was 12g of worm matter, forgot to take into account it being meat…”

Xeno walked over to the Warehouse, which was filled with hundreds of shelves, with the plate for the crab in his hands. Inside, he searched the labels of the shelves until he found the right Algae-type and served the food, then got the Worm matter and went back to the crab’s bed. He gingerly placed the plate in its proper location. Then he looked at the nest and, finding no eggs or similar produce within, moved on to the next one – “One down, several hundred to go.”

That day, Xeno gained 45 silvers and 62 coppers due to staying in the barn working until all animals were fed. It seemed that the work would usually be divided between four Maomer who would work in shifts to feed the animals and they usually only managed to finish just in time for sleep. However, Xeno finished the work, on his own, three hours before that time, further surprising Mc Neel. He gave Xeno another conch for him to read in addition to his payment…

Day 3

Mc Neel – “Alright, boy! Today will be different from the other days, you won’t get to say it was an easy day this time.”

He guided Xeno through the weed fields until they reached a camp that was cleared of the weeds. There, Maomer were using Machetes and other types of bladed tools to cut off the sea weeds. Then, they would be picked up by the Maomers in gathering duty who placed them within a wheel barrel-like vehicle. It was big enough to carry three adult Maomer within, but it was nearly full with Sea Weeds.

Mc Neel – “Today’s Cutting duty with some collecting and transporting thrown into it as well. The Sea Weeds grow here because the Maomer of old planted them, but they can grow too much if left unattended; so it’s important to trim the fields every now and then. Help these runts out…”

Without further ado, he left Xeno with the others explaining to him the basics: how to wield the machete, how to wield it to cut the weed more easily, etc…

Later, Xeno was without breath as he sat on a rock waiting for his stamina to recover. So far, the tasks asked of him had involved mostly his hands, with him standing or sitting in position. However, this time he had to move his whole body in order to slash at the weeds. The first few hours weren’t too difficult, but as time went by his body screamed at him to take a break.

Xeno took out some food from his Inventory, a bottle of whale milk, turns out he had ended up hooked on this stuff and it was highly nutritious for Maomer. As he swallowed a mouthful of the sweet bliss, he rummaged his Inventory for some Fried Coral Bits. Though smaller than the Stale Coral he ate before, they were much more delicious and had a peculiar taste of fried chicken for some strange reason. Xeno wasn’t going to complain about the taste though as he loved eating chicken.

He ate a few Bits and took another chug of milk, then placed the bottle back in his Inventory. Xeno’s body felt satisfied, but still tired as his Stamina was still quite low. Still, Xeno didn’t want to waste any more time this day. Even though a bit more than half the day has gone by, he is still at the half-way mark of his quota. If he hurried, he just might make it to a full day’s quota.

He picked his Machete and started to swing once more, but he was still panting. The other’s looked at him with concern, but he waved it off and continued to swing. Soon, he could no longer feel his arms as he swung… He felt light headed, similarly to how he felt when he was with the Librarian after not sleeping as he should’ve. The difference being that he HAS been sleeping correctly in this world and his real body is in good condition, which means the cause of this is Fatigue.

A few minutes later, his swinging speed drastically slowed and he could barely cut a few weeds per minute. His body needed rest…

Then he heard a strange melodious voice. It was a clear, pure tone, yet carried no words. A gentle hum carried by the wind… waves… sea… whatever. He instinctively closed his eyes and concentrated on the beautiful tune as he swung away.

In a trance-like state due to his Fatigue and the song, his body cut and slashed at the weeds at an increasing pace. His body slowly recovered from the fatigued state and became stronger and faster than when he first started swinging. Weeds started accumulating in his path as the collectors had a hard time gathering them before he cut down the next. In less than an hour, the field that should’ve taken an entire additional day to cut down was filled solely with slashed weeds and surprised Maomer.

The song stopped and Xeno opened his eyes to see that the field was no more. He was surprised as the other’s looked at him. He guessed he had done this by their expressions, but could not understand how. Last he remembered, he was too week to continue for much longer and then he heard a voice.

“Emmm… Mi-mister? Are yo-you okay now?” - a shy voice resounded within Xeno’s mind. He turned around to see a transparent creature floating nearby, hiding behind some sea weed, but clearly looking intently at him. Xeno recognized the creature as a Sea Angel and remembered the sign above the Clinic. He looked at his body that felt full of energy when a little while ago it was nearly collapsed.

“Yes, I think so… You were the one singing? Did you restore my Stamina?”

“Ah! Emmm…” – the Sea Angel shyly hid even more behind the weeds – “Be-because mi-mister wanted to continue, bu-but he was too tired I tried to help him… So-sorry!” – she, as Xeno determined by its pink coloring, seemed ready to run away crying.

“Ah! No no no! No need to apologize, rather I want to thank you. I don’t know if I could’ve finished if it wasn’t for you and I’m sure I was about to collapse!”

“Ri-right!” – she seemed a bit relieved now.

“That’s a sea angel, right?”

“No wonder he went trance, she must’ve given him strength when we weren’t looking…”

“But I heard that not everyone can receive the effect, right?”

“According to what the Master said, Sea Angels can bless only a few with their singing while the others hear nothing at all.”

“Truly? Then how can he hear her?”

“I don’t know. Psychic connection? Telepathy?”

Xeno could hear the others discussing about the sea angel with which he was talking to. It seemed that Sea Angel’s blessings weren’t a common thing. He turned to ask her, but she was already gone…

That night, he explained what happened to Mc Neel who answered:

“Aye, you received the Revitalize Blessings of a Sea Angel. They quickly recover stamina and health in general. As for the trance you were in, that must’ve been your OWN doing. Pushed your body too hard there, boy.”

Xeno scratched his head as there was no way for him to deny that fact.

“Still, that may be the reason why Miss Phio must’ve taken an interest in you, so don’t take it too bad.”

“Miss who?”

“Phio, that’s the name of the sea angel who helped you there; one of a kind in these regions really. I mean there are plenty of Sea Angels around here, but she takes the cake with the effect of her blessings. Though she seems to be too shy to actively use them on Maomer”

“I see… So that’s why you told the apprentices that Sea Angels could only bless a few…”

“Hahaha! You got me there, I didn’t want them trying to force the poor creatures into blessing them! Though I have no problems with the sea angels initiating the blessings! Anyways, you’ll be receiving a payment of 1 gold today thanks to that feat.”

“I’m not sure I can accept, as I couldn’t have done it without Phio…”

“No worries boy! Regardless of the blessings, you were the one who worked hard, so just take the money here.”

That night, while Xeno slept in his new room, a glowing pink shadow gazed outside his window none the wiser…

Day 4

“Today you’ll be attending the animals again, don’t want you straining a muscle from over work…”

“What?”

“Nothing. You’ll be taking charge of the health of the creatures in the barn and recording any symptoms you may find in them. For this, I’ll have one of the Veterinarians here teach you the Health Check ability. This can be used on any living creature, be they humanoid, animal, beast or plant. Though it will fail if you try to use it on non-living creatures such as undead, machines and the like…”

Mc Neel was walking towards the barn with Xeno as he talked to him about today’s task. He seemed quite cheerful about Xeno’s advancements these past few days, but could now understand the Ol’ Fart and Doc’s worry about the boy. So far he had taken every task he had given him way out of proportion… in a good way.

While this was great for business, Mc Neel knew it was only a matter of time before it came to bite him, like yesterday. Though he considered the boy very lucky to have moved a Sea Angel with his Diligence to the point of receiving her blessings…

“You’ll also have to provide for the creatures if they are having complications of any sort. For example, stop a fight that’s about to occur and the like.” – Xeno clearly remembered an occasion on the second day in which two crabs started fighting, but before he could do react they were separated by some Maomer and taken to a separate room. He supposed this was to talk to them to see what was going on with their fight.

“Any doubts?”

Xeno shook his head, the task was straight forward at least, and less straining on his body.

Around midday, Xeno was attending one of the animals within the barn, a Sea Slug of the Blue Dragon variety by the name of Josh. He was quite hurt and let out electricity when touched.

Xeno curiously asked – “Just what were you doing, Josh?”

Josh seemed reluctant but answered – “Huh? Well… I was practicing to be a mage!”

“A mage? You?”

“Hey! Even I can become a mage!”

“Well, maybe… But why did you turn out like this?”

Josh seemed embarrassed as he said – “My spell blew up on me… But that’s okay! I’ll practice better!” – he said excitedly.

“Josh… I’m no expert, but I don’t think practicing alone will be enough to become a mage…”

“Huh? WHY?!”

Xeno decided he might as well help this kid avoid getting killed himself – “Well… First tell me what type of magic you use.”

“Oh? Well I think about a ball of thunder in front of me and sometimes it appears!”

Xeno sighed – “As I thought, no amount of practice can help you…”

Josh was in disbelief, then angry – “HUH?! I’ll show you I’ll become a GREAT mage!”

Xeno tried to calm him down by saying – “I’m not saying that you absolutely CAN’T become a mage. Just that practice won’t help you if you continue mindlessly…”

Josh was confused– “Errr… What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You are using innate magic, so the key point to using it is a great deal of concentration. If you let go of that concentration even for one moment, the spell fails by either not activating or by blowing up like it happened this time…”

“Bu-But this is the first time one blew in my face!”

“How many times have you managed to create the spell completely?”

“…once”

“See? Rather than training your spell, you need to train your concentration.”

“How do I do that?”

“Well… how about concentrating on one specific point in space, like…” – Xeno looked around and found a stick. He picked it up and drew a circle then a dot in the middle of it – “Ok, this will do for now. What you can do is to try to activate your spell exactly where the dot it. It has to be exactly that position.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll allow you to develop control and this will take a good deal of concentration to do.”

“Oh… But what’s the big circle for?”

“Once you manage to create the spell at the right location, you start the second phase of your training: you’ll move the spell with your mind until it reaches the edge of the circle then move the spell around the line.”

“That sounds easy!”

“Trust me, it won’t be; creating the spell will need a lot of concentration, moving it like you want is another matter entirely.”

“Oh… But this will help me be a mage?”

“Indeed it will! Though I think it’s best that you get a friend to help you stay concentrated on this, okay?”

“Okay, I know who to ask!”

“Hahaha! Well, then… Keep practicing, I’ll continue my rounds. Don’t blow up, kay?” – Xeno said as he patted the slug’s head.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

The rest of the day went by with nothing out of the ordinary. For the help he provided, Xeno received 20 silvers. As the animals seem to be in good health, he didn’t have much to do and mostly conversed with the animals who shared the Aquan language with the Maomer. It was a peaceful day in which Xeno could just kick back and relax while he conversed with the animals!

Still, he felt that he was being watched at some times, but seeing nothing when he looked he figured it was just his imagination…

Another chapter completed. This one recounts the first few days of Xeno’s training as well as presenting some rather unique duties. Hehehe… I wonder how many of you knew whales shot milk like hoses for their babies since they don’t have lips with which to suck milk? The same applies to dolphins and other similar marine-exclusive mammals.

Anyways, Mc Neel also explained a bit more about the learning speed of Xeno’s abilities, which I’m sure some of you will appreciate. It was pretty obvious though, since Savi already had experience studying about nature, the speed in which he learned abilities about studying nature was much greater than usual. This is similar to a swordsman coming to this world and having his Sword Mastery ability grow faster than someone else that is doing the same thing as him but lacks the prior experience.

Considering that Xeno has played in another Terminal before, there will be plenty of abilities that he will have growing at greater pace, but things he has not done before will grow at a slightly more normal pace. Though this pace will be faster depending on his Education, which is growing right now since he is being instructed on what to do; this growth is minimal though…

Finally, I’d like to hear your opinion about the difference about how he started this apprenticeship and how he will be in a month in-game.

I wanted to divide the beginning of the apprenticeship in two chapters, but given the length of this chapter including only the first 4 days… It is likely it’ll be 3 chapter, with the third one given additional details about his actions to that moment you read at the beginning of this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!