Quick note before you read this chapter. I did a edit on chapter 6, where the MC meets Martin. The edit deals with the couple of sentences after the MC checks his stats/attributes screen (i.e. the one with the N's). I changed a few things in what Martin realized about the MC or didn't realize... Part of it was to make this chapter's story flow better... Its hard to explain without you reading the chapter, so I encourage you to do so... and I promise you that you won't be disappointed.

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“Oh ho…. You’re a philosopher too, Mr. Jaeger? Amazing… you outworlders have many facets to your knowledge. But… ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ What a truly deep way of phrasing it. Indeed… ” Master Mulfow’s serious expression made Richard look away a little embarrassed.

“It’s something that someone once said in my world that’s stuck with me… But… Until I came here… well, magic… power was not something I had… You need to have power before you can do anything… Even now… ” Richard muttered a bit, not really sure what he was trying to say.

“Hmm… That’s true for many of you outworlders. You all seem amazed at the World Labyrinth and the magic that is part of this world. You seek it out as though its power is valuable beyond anything else. However, most seem to forget… there are many kinds, Mr. Jaeger… The power of magic… The power of wealth… they exist, yes, but there are many that are not so evident… The power to make a child smile… the power to carry other’s burdens… or maybe even the power to act when no one else will…” The old man smiled slightly, making it seem like he was trying to encourage Richard.

Richard pondered what the old man had said for a while, wondering if that was really true… that power existed in various forms… theoretically, it seemed true, but he didn’t know how realistic it was. However, he didn’t get too much time to think about things.

Soon enough, the old man led Richard up to a two story, house, that sat behind locked gates in what seemed like a moderately prosperous neighborhood. The streets were cobbled and relatively clean, and most of the buildings seemed to be old yet in decent repair. It reminded Richard of a middle class suburb, what with the handful of women and men taking peaceful walks early in the evening, the many houses filled with brightly lit rooms, and the general silence that filled the area.

After getting through the iron gates and the house’s front door, Richard was a bit disoriented in the darkness inside the house. He could make out the old man moving around, doing something, but Richard didn’t know what.

Then, suddenly, the room lit up with a soothing, yellowish light. Richard blinked and focused on what the scholar was holding: a flashlight of some kind. At least, it looked like a flashlight, but Richard couldn’t believe it was one, especially since he hadn’t seen any type of electrical devices in the city so far.

Master Mulfow saw Richard staring and said, “Ah… Curious little object isn’t it? It’s an enchanted object or ‘artifact’ that I bought from a merchant in the city. A bit expensive, but it can produce light using magic for an hour or so, before it has to refill its mana for a day.”

Richard nodded, but he was curious about a couple of words the old man had used: artifact and mana. He knew they had something to do with magic, but as far as he knew, he hadn’t seen anything like that in his core interface. Martin hadn’t talked about it either. But Richard didn’t want to bring it up all of a sudden, so he just stood where he was as he watched the old man putter around, moving this or that.

Eventually, the old fellow hung up his leather cloak and lit a half dozen candles, spread about the living room in strategic positions, until the place was well lit. Taking a seat in a comfortable looking armchair in front of a writing desk, Master Mulfow adjusted his glasses again and motioned for Richard to take a seat nearby in what looked like cushioned, wooden couch. “Well, then. Now that we’re a bit more settled, I will introduce myself properly. My name is Arcmaes Mulfow. Master Haroken probably informed you that I am a scholar, and yes, that’s true. However, my interests primarily lie towards understanding the underlying principles of the Labyrinth and on the side… some bizarre things you could say. It’s one of the reasons why I asked him to introduce you to me. He tells me that you came through the node, and from what I understand you were in a desert before then. Also, your status as an outworlder and life there intrigues me. In exchange for the knowledge you provide me, I will be more than happy to help you understand the World Labyrinth a little better, including giving you access to some of my notes and the books I have.”

Richard took a seat on the couch and listened carefully to the old man before glancing around at the room… which looked like some kind of professor’s study. Books and papers were haphazardly piled everywhere, and the place had a musty smell of mold and age. He didn’t know what he could or would learn, but it seemed like an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “So… when I first arrived….” It took a bit of time, but Richard told man his story since arriving on this world. Interestingly enough, the old man scribbled away on a piece of paper throughout the little dialogue.

When Richard concluded with his fight with the earth elemental, the old man said, “Amazing… You have only been in the labyrinth for maybe four to five days, and you’ve seen creatures that most people here would never even hear about. A Desert Juggernaut and Sand Behemoth… both at the same time… You, Mr. Jaeger, are one lucky man to have survived those encounters. And meeting one of the Seven Blades of the Citadel… amazing... just amazing.”

Richard guessed the juggernaut and behemoth were those huge monsters he ran away from when he first arrived, but he couldn’t help but ask, “Seven Blades of the… Citadel?”

The old man, who was furiously scribbling on the paper with his quill looked up in confusion. “Yes… the man you met in the desert. Your description of him matches what I have learned of one of the seven blades…. Oh… I see… you would not know what the Citadel is… hmmm… well, that makes sense, especially since you are so new to this world. I guess I should explain…”

The explanation was filled with some history and a good amount of politics… the usual good vs. bad… crazy outworld adventurers and horrifying monsters needing someone to stand against them… yadah… yadah… yadah… some super strong adventurers formed the guild, Citadel to become unofficial law enforcers among dozens of worlds of the Labyrinth. Most of it seemed like the plot of some kind of fantasy novel, but as interested as Richard was in the whole story, there were a few main things he focused on: the Citadel had been in existence for almost 1000 years, the identity of the Seven Blades had not changed in almost 100 years, and each of the Seven Blades was supposedly capable of conquering entire kingdoms. That left him wondering what kind of crazy monster Martin was and a better understanding of why he had been nonchalantly wandering around a desert containing behemoths and juggernauts.

Beside the whole Citadel and Martin thing, Richard let the old man ask the questions first. Time passed quickly as Richard gave out what replies he could, explaining whatever the old man wanted to know about earth and Richard’s old life. There were many things the old scholar focused on: architecture, technology, finance, economy, weapons, etc… the list went on and on. Truthfully, Richard felt like he was getting a bit overwhelmed by the man’s curiosity, but looking at him scribbling away furiously, Richard was just a bit amazed and maybe even a bit excited himself, since someone valued what he knew. Even if it was just Richard’s perspective on things, it seemed like the old scholar found it very important.

However, soon enough, Richard felt tired, and even though he couldn’t tell the time, he knew that it was very late, especially since most of the candles looked like they had shrunk quite a bit. “Um… Master Mulfow, I was wondering if could call it a night for now… We’ve been talking for quite some time…”

The old man, who was flipping through his notes, paused and looked up blinking and a bit surprised. “Oh… yes, yes… Dear me… I lost track of all time… It’s the first time that I’ve been able to interview one of you outworlders so intensively… Yes, we should stop for tonight… Maybe continue later.” With one last look at his notes, the old man glanced up at Richard again and said, “As promised, Mr. Jaeger, you have access to what knowledge I have in equal exchange, but do you have any questions for me tonight?”

Richard frowned a bit and said, “Just a couple for now… Earlier, you used the term magic a lot. I’m familiar with the word, and I’ve even seen it on my Stat screen. Since you’re familiar with adventurers, you probably know what that means. However, I haven’t seen the words mana or artifact anywhere. Also, how can a person so strong enough to conquer a country by himself. I don’t understand how they could be that powerful. I know it has something to do with magic or ‘skills’ and the increase in our attributes, but it seems almost impossible.”

The old man nodded and scratched his bald head while lost in thought for a while. Richard waited patiently but knew the old man wasn’t clueless about what was being asked. When Richard had talked about Martin’s introductory explanation from the desert, the old scholar had ‘tutted’ and ‘hmm’d’ the entire time, almost as though he knew something else.

Finally, the old man spoke. “Your friend Martin wasn’t incorrect. Indeed, I believe he gave you what was a standard explanation for how an outworlder adventurer like yourself must perceive your abilities. There is a reason for this as well, and your friend mentioned it. Recently, there have been many outworlder adventurers arriving in the Labyrinth, who foolishly thought of this as some kind of bizarre game and quickly died by overestimating their abilities. To be clear, becoming stronger in the Labyrinth is as difficult as in the real world. However, you outworlder adventurers and the majority of the Labyrinth’s people have access to what you call ‘magic’ and ‘skills’ to offset that weakness. However, even that is not completely accurate... All of us who reside in the Labyrinth have access to ‘magic,’ but few have the ability to manifest it in the form of specialized ‘skills’ like ‘Elemental Earth’ and the ability to improve our inherent abilities using that ‘magic.’”

Richard frowned, realizing he was misunderstanding something. “I’m getting the feeling that the ‘magic’ you’re talking about is a lot more than just spells and whatnot.”

The old man nodded and said, “The best place to start is by first understanding what you call your ‘core interface.’ That screen of yours, which no one else but you can see, is a relatively simple summary of the physical and magical status of your body. You mentioned you have experience gauges for all your attributes and skills and that Martin told you that filling those gauges is difficult the higher you progress in each of your attributes and skills. Well… if you think about it, it’s the same in real life. For example, let’s say you are a normal warrior. You defeat a few others of your own level and maybe improve a bit, becoming stronger and more skilled. Then you defeat someone much stronger than yourself. There’s a good chance that you’ll learn more from the more skilled enemy than from the normal enemies. Your interface somehow changes that subjective, real life experience into a semi-numerical measure. Indeed, if your interface was truly accurate, it would provide specific numbers like telling you that you gained X amount of experience for killing such and such beast. Instead, at most it provides you with a percentage of change in your skills and attributes. My opinion is that your interface is more of a subjective overview of who you are and less of an accurate tool to measure your abilities.”

Richard understood what the old scholar was saying. He, himself, had thought the attribute system was a bit unorthodox… like it was designed by someone trying to forcefully fit some kind of structure to a world that was hard to understand and… well… magical. “How does magic fit into all this?”

The old scholar nodded and said, “Good question. My answer is, how doesn’t it? Like I told you, Mr. Jaeger, everything in this world has some magic or what is called mana. Every single living thing, from the minuscule creatures you cannot see with your bare eyes up to the large Behemoth in the desert. The difference is in the quantity of mana each living thing can produce. It’s how you say “in the blood” or in your scientific terms, part of your inherited genetics. In the same way that genetics may make one person physically stronger than another, it also gives some people an increased ability to produce magic or to produce mana in their bodies. For those of us born in this world, very few of us have significant levels of magic or mana and are able to use what you call magic spells or skills. However, you outworlder adventurers all start with a significantly larger amount of magic or mana in your bodies than most humans in this world. If I were to say how much using your attribute levels system, it would be level ‘T’ for most Labyrinth dwelling humans and ‘Q’ on average for newly arrived outworlders. And that greater magic level you outworlders have fuels your skills and helps you gain experience faster than most of the people in the Labyrinth. For example, your body may have the ability to improve nearly 10 times more than a Labyrinth dwellers body in the same amount of time if you train it.”

Richard furiously thought about the explanation, and something crazy just clicked in his mind. This voice trembling a bit, he asked, “Master Mulfow… what is the highest magic level an outworlder has started with as far as you know?

The old scholar scrunched up his face for a bit and replied, “One of the Citadel’s Seven Blades supposedly arrived in the World Labyrinth with a Magic Level of ‘O’ I believe, and he is considered one of the strongest human magic wielders alive as far as I know. I don’t know what level he’s at now, but his initial level definitely allowed him great power to start off with. Why do ask?”

Richard’s eyes widened in shock. His own ‘average’ magic level of ‘N’ was one level higher than what some uber adventurer from the Citadel started off with. Richard had a feeling that the interviewer guy from 'heaven' screwed up big time.... like he made Richard average in comparison to all of the World Labyrinth's inhabitants instead of just the humans or something. More importantly, Richard was amazed that Martin hadn’t said anything about it in the desert. Then again, Richard didn’t remember telling the warrior exact details of all his stats and skills either. Instead, he had just said some of the stats were ranked 'N.' Still, “What the hell?”

“You seemed surprised by something, Mr. Jaeger.” The old man’s question jolted Richard out from his sudden amazement.

“No… ha ha… I was just a bit… I realized something that I hadn’t before.”

The old man smiled and said, “Yes… I’ve had those moments. They can truly be enlightening at times.” Master Mulfow then looked a bit pensively at his notes before looking back up at Richard. “I would like to offer you a deal Mr. Jaeger, if you are interested?

Richard frowned, a bit curious and worried at the same time. “A deal?” The last time he had agreed to a deal, he had been mucking out manure for a few days.

The old scholar nodded and replied, “Yes… a deal. A profitable one for both of us, I believe. There is still so much I would like to know about your world… the carriages that move by themselves, the metal birds that fly, the buildings that soar into the sky… so much to learn, but I can never truly gather that knowledge since you outworlder adventurers are so flighty and unwilling to share much of the time. However, you are different Mr. Jaeger… from all the others I’ve met to date. So, I would like to offer you a deal. You need a place to stay and a… guide… you might say in understanding the World Labyrinth and… getting stronger. I need access to you to learn what I wish. So, here’s what I propose: you may live here and learn what you can with my help and you will teach me about your world and its wonders. What do you say, Mr. Jaeger?”

Richard was amazed at the offer. The fact that the old scholar was making such an offer after only knowing Richard for a day was… unprecedented in Richard’s life. However, more importantly, Richard knew that he had very little to lose from the deal. Technically, he was going to be homeless starting the next day, so…. “I accept.”

The old scholar smiled brightly and replied. “Excellent… excellent… This will be of great benefit to both of us.”

Richard nodded, but before he could say anything else, the old scholar continued, “But I will ask you one thing, Mr. Jaeger.”

Richard sighed inside. He knew there had to be a catch. “Umm.. what is it, sir?”

The old scholar’s face took on a serious expression. “As long as you stay here, I would ask that you be… discreet in who you might get into an argument with. I believe Master Haroken should have explained what the city is like now… making enemies is very easy in this city now, Mr. Jaeger. For your own safety… be very careful. Also… this may be presumptuous of me, but I would also advise you to be careful not to showcase your access to multiple fields of magic, especially what I have deduced is ‘Toxic Dominance.’ Certain people will become curious as to how you obtained that rare field of magic… especially since it is very unique to the type of earth elemental you killed in the Guard fortress.”

Richard just froze. Somehow the old man knew about his 'Toxic Dominance' skill and possibly even where Richard got it from. And that meant....