“What do you mean exactly?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’?”

“I m..mean do you want to know where you are exactly, or just the general area”? Fuck, I stuttered. My nerves were fried, and my nervousness was the result of that. It seemed that he wasn’t phased anyhow, since he didn’t seem to mind. Good. That meant he was a decent person, or at least decent enough.

“It’s best to assume I know nothing”, he replied a bit too casually, looking at me with an expectant gaze.

“Well okay then. You’re a near my house, which is a week’s travel from the nearest town, which is called Mendis”, I retorted, slightly in shock for having to recount such basic information.

“Imma need you to be a bit more specific, lil guy. What is this country called?”. How clueless could one be, I thought to myself. Since he fell out of the sky itself, he was clearly an acolyte of some sort of god; yet, he was shockingly clueless. Well, as I know from personal experience, clueless people tended to be harmless people.

Either way, a servant of some god ought to know more.

“This is the country of Gondar, in the world of Pendium, Mr Acolyte”, I replied. I figured it was best to treat him with some sort of respect; however, since I didn’t know exactly what he was, I would stick with Mr Acolyte for now.

“Gondar? Are you sure that’s what this place is called?”, he queried, chuckling while he did so, much to my puzzlement. “Never mind that, kid. First and foremost, I want to thank you for helping me out of my wreckage and lugging me all the way to your barn. You’re way stronger than you look.”

I hardly knew this man, yet I was unreasonably happy with his compliments. I rarely received any compliments, besides from Mother of course, and his words helped to put me in high spirits. Nevertheless, I felt confusion welling up within me, along with a slight hint of fear. How had he known I was the one who helped him? It could have been some sort of magic, but I wasn’t sure, and if there’s one thing I don’t like, its uncertainty.

“How did you know it was me who helped you from your carriage, Mr Acolyte?”

“OK, first thing first I want you to stop calling me Mr Acolyte. Why would you call me that anyway?”, he asked, slight app0rehension 0visible on his face. It looked like I would have to tread lightly if I wanted to avoid any further complications.

“Well… because you serve one of the gods? How else would you have fell from the heavens, sir?”.

“Ahhh, I see why you would call me that. Don’t worry about any formalities, Milo. Besides, I’ve already told you my name, haven’t I? its Hannibal”, he said, chuckling slightly. I guess he found my apprehension to be humorous. And what did he mean by ‘I see why you would call me that’? wasn’t he a servant of the gods, and if not, what was he? Best to be cautious for now.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, si-… Hannibal. How did you know it was me who helped you, and not some other person? Was it some type of magic”? if it was some sort of magic, it wasn’t one I’ve ever heard of before, but I guess that was to be expected when dealing with what was hopefully a servant of the gods. I didn’t even want to entertain the idea of him being something else.

“Uhm, yes. It was magic that we acolytes can use, to keep ourselves safe in our sleep”, he replied rather unconvincingly. I guess he had his reasons to keep his abilities secret, but since I had already helped him, it couldn’t hurt to ask him what was on my mind.

“Uhm… since I helped you and all…”

“Yes? Out with it, Milo.”, he said, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

“Could you teach me some magic?

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Man, this day couldn’t get any weirder. I wound up in another goddamn universe, and now a starry-eyed child is asking me to teach him magic, like I’m some sort of wizard. I couldn’t just leave him hanging since he did help me out earlier, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t need it. This called for some help from AIRES.

*Ahh, you’ve returned. Can’t handle life without me, I see. *

*Just say no. There you go, problem solved. *

*Well, according to my analysis, he already has some magic. There’s no way he could have taken you to the barn without it. It seems like it’s a more advanced version of the body strengthening magic I detected earlier. Nonetheless, he does seem to be malnutritional. My advice is to just bullshit about the magic and help him out somehow.

*You could use the nanites to increase the nutritional value of the crops he seems to be growing. He definitely needs it anyway. *

*I’m a combat AI, not a personal advisor. *

*My pleasure, Sir. *

Session terminated