Chapter 3

I still need more information on this world. I am at home and George is here too, which means that it’s either the holidays or weekend. Homework also seems to be a thing. After helping George, I will rummage through that chest of mine. There should be some helpful stuff. In a week I need to have a better picture of the world. That’s a good goal for now. Let’s go to George then.

Going down the stairs I encounter the three doors again, this time my hand goes towards the one on the left. Inside the room is a bed, kind of the same I have and a near-identical chest. My brother is sitting on the floor and in front of him is a small desk. Looks like a portable one.

„Come help me with mathematics.“ he says. He seems to be struggling over some kind of notebook. He became hopeful after I came into the room.

„Alright show it to me. Maybe I can help“ I answer.

Taking the textbook from the desk, I inspect the material. It feels rough, somewhat thicker than I am used to. Seems like a luxury product in this setting. Then I inspect the words on it.

Huh, lucky me. This word seems to use the same numbers as the earth did, in a decimal system. That’s good. I don’t need to relearn the fundamentals of the universe again. My brother seems to be struggling with some additions tough. Having a look at the book beside him, I notice strange pictures of fruits inside. It looks like the book is using those fruits illustrate addition and subtraction. Some of them look somewhat familiar. There are apples, oranges and some other familiar fruits. Then there are the alien ones, however. They are hard to describe.

„So, what exactly do you need help with?“ I ask.

„Look here, I don’t get…“

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Two hours later we are finished with the mathematics homework. I also caught a glimpse of the language book. This word seems to be using a similar language system than a lot of European country’s use. It feels similar to English but somewhat different. I seem to be able to instinctively grasp it. So far so good. At least I won’t have problems reading in the future.

The Math homework was easy for me, especially after learning Multidimensional mathematic theory, this is a piece of cake. Having a nine-year-old learn addition and subtraction is somewhat unacceptable. At least with the standards of my last world.

Chatting with George also helped me with getting a better picture of our daily lives. He likes to talk and complain about school and other things. The school he talked about is not a compulsory. You have to be able to afford it. The school year is divided into three semesters. I am apparently on my last year of education, thank God. The exams are already finished. My last discovery concerns the week. This world also has 7 days, and the names sound the same or I just automatically translate it to them? Further thinking led me to believe that today is Sunday, the only day without school.

I go into the same school that George goes to. It is 20 minutes’ walk away from the house, in the direction of the black tower. Next week of school is more of an orientation than learning, so I will get more knowledge of the world around me. But I am pretty sure that I will study magic. I already grasped that much from my short stay,

Next on my agenda is the big chest and the book inside the small box. Tough they can wait for a little bit longer, first the big chest.

Having finished my inner thoughts, I go upstairs and open the big chest. Inside are some writing utensils, three textbooks, two books and my clothes. Oh and also a small leather bag.

Four sets of clothes, five including the one I am wearing. Then there are the textbooks and other books. I open one which has some mathematical stuff scribbled on top. Hm, some multiplications. Surprisingly there is also some geometry, but just basic stuff. Looks good, but very basic and especially the geometry looks a bit sketchy. The next books are about history and language. It turns out that the language is called Artes. Interesting name.

It is similar to English and German. The main difference is the pronunciation. It is more precise; everything is said like it’s written. Better than German at last. Having finished the first section about Artes, I continue to read the book.

Surprisingly, some of their understanding of the planet is pretty deep. Yes, deep. The book mentions this planet being a round object of huge proportion. I cannot make an accurate guess about the size, but it is at least three to four times bigger than earth.

I haven’t thought about it yet, but jumping twice, I notice that the gravity is very similar to earth, even though the planet is much bigger. A very strange occurrence with dozens of explanations.

Next. The continent is called Artesis. It has a similar size to the whole surface of the earth. So, pretty big. Strangely there are no mentions of kingdoms or empires. It looks like the continent is ruled by multiple organizations. I presume that those organizations are about the knights and mages I heard Leon talk about.

Interesting, but not what I am interested in.

The strange feeling I had yesterday, before I blacked out. That is something I am more concerned about. Yes, that’s something more interesting. Running out of patients, I put everything back orderly and redirect my attention to my own body.

For approximately two hours I check all over my body for anything strange or out of place.

Having finished I decided to try meditation. That’s the last thing that comes to my mind, it always helped me when I was unsure about thinks.

Sitting down cross-legged, I calm my mind. It takes about twenty or thirty minutes. After emptying my mind I notice some particularities. Firstly, I can feel that ‚organ‘ again. It still feels all-encompassing like earlier, but not overpowering anymore. It didn’t scream “I am here” anymore. Because of it, I notice three things.

The first is that it has some connection to my body. It felt like having another system of vessels course through my body. It seems to follow the path of my bloodstream. It also has connections with the rest of my body, connecting all of it. I had a feeling that without this ‚organ‘ my body would be unable to work. Like a puppet without strings. A strange feeling but something that definitely is worthy of researching.

Second and even stranger is, that I seem to have some kind of rudimentary control over it. It is like being able to strengthen some of the vessels or cut off a part of my body from the ‚organ‘. It is a very strange feeling. Controlling organs is not supposed to be possible. But it is not difficult, it feels more like stretching a muscle I haven’t ever stretched before, but can now control with a near frightening precision.

Third and the most alarming thing is that I notice another organ overlapping my body. It looks heavily damaged, scars all over it. Though it still looks like it can function. But it feels foreign, like something that should not be there. I can also control this ‚organ‘, but it feels like moving heavy weights or swimming against a river.

This amount of information is still insufficient to make any kind of informed decisions. Next, I should inspect the box and the book inside it, hopefully, that helps a bit. But first, I will wait for lunch. Afterwards, I shall have enough time. Having already used three or four hours since breakfast, it is safer to wait for it and then explore the unknown book without interruptions.