Gamer

Stretching as I moved downstairs, my first resolution of the day was to find something to eat, afterwards I could go back to studying (staring at) the papers to learn how to read it. 

I was making my way towards the door when the innkeeper caught sight of me "Are you staying another night?" he asked. Pausing midstep, I realized that I had only paid for a single night and sighed. Wincing at my mistake I told him "I"ll be staying here for the next week" and he smiled "That"ll be 280 coins". 

Taking them from my pocket, I paid him and left the inn. Thinking back on the transaction I realized that I should probably stop paying with the exact amount of money just by reaching into my pockets. 

The sun was already rising as I entered the streets, crowds of people moving around as they moved about their business. I spent one or two hours rubbernecking as I explored the city, it was pretty amazing. I had never seen a place like this with the entire city in a medieval setting, everybody on foot with the occasional carriage and cart moving through the city pulled by teams of men. The inn I was staying was in a quiet area, not as crowded with stalls leaning against walls and shops showing off their wares. 

Jutting from the wall above the doors of the shops were signs, advertising what they were and what they offered. There was no writing on them, simply pictures which seemed to hint that education was not common in this world. One sign hanging above a doorway caught my eye, three golden rings painted with a elaborate necklace lying beneath. The drawing was pretty good and I was curious about magic in regards to items and here seemed a good place to start, magic is always enchanted on jewellery is it not? Outside of the shop stood a bouncer who looked bored as he looked at the crowds. Obviously, his attention fixated on me from the moment he saw me. 

I wasn"t deterred however, his nameplate told me that he wasn"t a threat and I did want to look inside. He watched as I approached the shop, but allowed me to enter unaccosted. The inside of the shop was rather bare, a long bench running down the center with a grid of iron bars separating the two sides, obviously for protection for them or their goods. Was there a problem with burglars? 

Unlike the inn the walls here were not bare wood, instead painted a tasteful shade of dark red in thick even strokes. At the counter and safely behind the bars sat a man chatting with a woman, however when they saw me they broke off their conversation and turned towards me. "How can I help?" the man asked pleasantly. 

I knew what I wanted to ask, but I didn"t want him to throw me out. What I wanted to learn was if magic could be imbued into items, and what kind of enchantments could be applied. After thinking carefully for a second, I asked a question "Do you have anything of a magical nature?" 

Tom pursed his lips slightly before smiling. "We do, can I inquire how much you are looking to spend?" 

"That depends on what you have" I smiled 

Tom"s smile faltered and my heart jolted. Did I just step on a landmine? He shook his head "I"m sorry but we don"t know you. If you have a recommendation or something of a more convincing nature to show than words.." I mentally groaned inside. I knew the things here would be beyond my means, and he was calling me out on it 

Giving that I hadn"t planned to buy anything in the first place and that I was seeking information, I chose to change my approach. "Sorry, I don"t actually mean to buy and instead was wanting to find out more about magical items. What would be a good price for that information?" 

Looking at me for a second, Tom ran a quick calculation through his head before smiling at me again "For 300 coins I"ll tell you about it, but I won"t be showing you our stock. Sounds fair?" As I handed the coins over, Tom started on a lecture as I listened fascinated. 

The gist from what I took from it was that magical items are made by infusing magic inside, when infused the items will gain the nature of the spell pressed into it. But the enchantments are never permanent, instead they wear off after a period of time has pa.s.sed. 

He also described the different enchantments that he had dealt with explaining that there was more than one magic and different mages could use different types which I found very interesting. I had originally thought that there was one form of magic and the people who wielded it specialised in using it in their own ways instead of innate talent where they could only wield an select element. 

After leaving the jewellers I visited a kebab stall and purchased two with a single coin before returning to the inn. The next 6 hours were spent staring at the papers, memorizing the words until I received one notification as I reached 90%, then continued until I received another. 

Reading the translated papers, they were boring as they featured reports on the camp and the going ons of the city on earth. Amidst the papers were lists of imports that they had taken from earth and I wondered how they gained money on earth. 

Looking through the papers I found the report on their currencies and skinned down the sheet, finally settling on the names and figures next to them. What they sold seemed to be in the form of gems, but the money they received in return for selling gems looked surprisingly low. Moreover they also seemed to be dealing through a blackmarket, likely due to being unable to conduct trade openly. 

As I went through the papers a small window opened. 

The banking skill had been gaining more experience recently, it seemed that the amount of coins I carried was no small amount, and after reaching level 5 I was given the option to change currencies with a ridiculously expensive 70% fee. 

The rest of the day was used to further explore the city, spending the remaining daylight memorizing the layouts and investigating the shops with signs I didn"t recognise or was curious about. But as educating as all of this was I was starting to get very sick of the looks I received. 

I knew they didn"t recognise me, but I stood out amidst the crowd. Do they never see anyone dress like this? I probably should have gone with a deep hood and a mask, I would look diseased then but at least would get a different kind of reaction. 

It was too dark to do anything about it however, so I resolved to see about the possibility of removing my disguise tomorrow. For now I returned to the inn and after eating a meal and avoiding Cal, went to sleep. 

The next morning I was heading towards the gate, after grabbing a pasty filled with meat from a stall and eating it, I pa.s.sed through the gate as the guards watched me. My goal today was to see about resolving the issue with my disguise. 

I spent the next few hours on the roads, taking the obscure paths when I saw them until at last I was alone. Meditating as I walked, I kept watch ahead until finally I spotted a man leading his cow. 

As I took off my headcovering it was a relief to feel the wind on my face again, it had been stifling to wear and as the distance between the man and I shortened, I held my breath, hoping he didn"t recognise me or react. 

His nameplate came into view and with interest I noted that he was a farmer and that as he drew near he did not react to my presence negatively. He had seen my face, I was sure of it. But thankfully he didn"t know who I was. I really had not been looking forwards to digging a hole. We pa.s.sed with a simple greeting and with that, my greatest fear were vanquished. 

As I walked back to the city I kept a eye on the faces of the people as I walked past, ready to react if they recognised my face. But no one gave me a second glance, sticking to their business on the road. A drastic difference from the looks I had received previously. 

Moving towards the gate, the guards eyed me for a second but their attention wandered onwards immediately, finding nothing of direct interest to catch their attention. However to my horror there stood a guard captain. And he was still looking at me as I started to walk through the gate. 

He didn"t approach me, didn"t make a move or say anything as he watched me, and after a few seconds of this antagonizing torture he finally moved his attention to the other people moving through the gate. Did I stand out somehow? I didn"t think so. 

Pa.s.sing through the gate I mentally checked my appearance then blinked in realization, I had completely forgotten about my shoes. But he didn"t look at them did he? He had looked at my face, studying it. I didn"t think I looked that much different to the people around here, but looking at the faces as we walked I realized that wasn"t quite true. The people around me had a slight tan, a darker complexion to their skin that was barely noticeable. 

When I looked back at the gate, I could no longer see the captain. 

Walking down the streets for a little bit, I eventually decided to go check out the magic facility here. I had seen it earlier and knew where it was, but at the time had hesitated to go inside. 

Currently there was nothing else I had to do, and I really needed to get this over with. But as I approached the facility two guards approached me and stood in my path. 

Nervously I grinned at them "Uh, hi!". The guard on the left spoke firmly as they stood in my path "Come with us, someone would like to talk to you" 

Taking a step backwards, I said "I"d rather not" at which the guard on the right spoke soothingly, sensing I was getting agitated "Don"t worry, he just wants to talk" 

I really didn"t think this was a good idea. On the surface it seemed a harmless request but really, why would I out of all people be singled out for this? I had only arrived two days ago. However I didn"t want to raise a scene and thus more questions, hopefully this was a minor curiosity. I nodded "Alright, I"ll come" 

Threading our way through the crowds, each time I started to flag or slow down to try slip away, the guards would also slow down and wait patiently until I started picking up the pace again. Eventually we turned into a district filled with fancy houses. 

We continued walking however, making our way towards a particularly fancy place with a courtyard surrounded by high walls. As we approached the entrance and the guards stepped inside, I hung back upon seeing the three servants sweeping the stone floor. 

Standing at the entrance, I refused to enter as the guards walked ahead, and noticing I wasn"t with them they sighed in exasperation when they saw me standing there. "I"m not going in here" I bluntly stated. 

"Why?" one of the guards asked puzzled, I wasn"t going to explain that the three servants were guards and that this was a obvious trap. So I simply repeated "I"m not walking in, I don"t have the time to deal with this". 

As I raised a scene the "servants" continued to diligently sweep the same spot, not even glancing at us as they worked in utter fascination on their tasks. 

Sighing, the guards walked up to me, suddenly grabbing my arms in a attempt to shove me inside. However the second they grabbed me I resisted, ripping myself out of their grasps as they stumbled. 

One of the guards looked at me, then quickly ran inside yelling for help as the other guard tried to placate me. However I refused to listen as I started walking away, breaking into a run the second I rounded a corner. There was no way I was going to stick around there. 

n.o.body gave chase as I escaped from the trap and made my way to the inn. Leaving the city was the obvious choice and I would have left that very second, however due to reasons I had taken out one of my prized magazines, and completely forgot to place it back inside my inventory. Instead it lay there forlorn in the inn. There was no way that I could possibly think of abandoning it like garbage! 

Drawing near to the inn however, I saw a guard captain standing outside the door in full gear as he scanned the faces of the crowds. Spinning around, I tried to nonchalantly walk away without seeming out of place, but the heavy footsteps behind me depersuaded me of that idea. 

As I was about to break into a run, the guard quickly spoke "Please wait, we need to talk to you". I paused, he didn"t sound like a threat. Carefully I looked about in front of me for any hidden guards, then turned around and faced the captain. 

I could take him on. Hesitantly, I asked him "What do you want" as I nervously shuffled, filled with the desire to be elsewhere. "We need to talk to you" he stated bluntly 

"I don"t know what you are talking about or what you want" 

He shook his head "Come with me, there"s a few people who want to meet you" 

Feigning getting upset, agitation in my voice and my face scowling I insisted "I don"t know what you want but I have things I have to do!" and made to turn around, ready to leave. 

However the next words were like cold fingers running down my back as the captain murmured in my ear "We know who you are, and we need to talk". 

My eyes narrowed as I froze in place, ready to fight given excuse. 

He didn"t make a move however, and I slowly turned around. "Alright.. What do you want". 

The captain smiled "I told you, we want to talk". Hesitating, I thought hard and eventually came to a conclusion. 

They were bound to find me at some point, but I was a fool to reveal myself at the closest city to the rift and thus had tipped my hand far too early. 

"Fine then, but at a place of my choosing" 

The captain hesitated "I"ll need to get approval. Do you have a place in mind?" 

I nodded. "Outside the gates, tomorrow at noon". 

He grunted and started to move away as I added "And no guards, or I"m gone". 

Looking at me for a second, he finally tilted his head in acknowledgement and left. 

I could feel the eyes of a spy on my back straight after our conversation and spent the next few hours trying to lose them as I moved about the crowds. Everytime I turned around I could not spot anyone moving strangely, and looking at the nameplates of the people didn"t display any discrepancies. 

They were at a level my gamer ability couldn"t cope at, I didn"t have any special sensory skills beyond that of knowing more than I should. I couldn"t see the names of people a mile away or know what lay inside a box, but the objects before my face I could view the information. 

And it was telling me nothing. Nothing about the person following me. 

I spent hours trying to lose them, running when I could and trying to merge into a crowd. But whoever was following me, was very very good. The sky started to grow dark and I was currently moving about the fancier housing area. The spy as attached as a ex-lover. 

Turning a corner, I started running as fast as I could before leaping over a high nearby garden wall, hiding in the bushes beneath out of sight. After a minute my ears finally caught the sounds of footsteps which rapidly ran past me. 

The bushes I were currently hiding in were part of a small garden, and there was a large house before me. 

Knowing he would backtrace his footsteps I left the bushes and ran to the house. Obviously the door was locked, but by slowly pulling the door open using my strength, something wooden quietly splintered as the door opened. 

Slipping inside, I closed the door behind me and looked about. The place looked deserted. 

Moving carefully through the house, I finally determined that there was n.o.body home with no perishable foods anywhere. It seemed whoever lived here wouldn"t be returning for a while, which suited me just fine. The "House" in the popup window wasn"t the customary "Home" either, which seemed to indicate that this was a place they stayed and not what they considered home. 

Looking around the place eventually I picked a tiny room that contained shelves of clothing and stacked bedding and walked inside, closing the door behind me. Taking my club out of my inventory, I placed it against the door to make it fall if the door was opened and after making myself a bed, went to sleep. 

After waking to a early morning as customary in this world, the morning was spent meditating silently while waiting for noon to arrive. Leaving the house, I was halfway to the citygate before I felt the eyes of the spy suddenly appear on my back as I shivered slightly. Creepy. 

The first thing I noticed was when I arrived at the city gate, there were twice the guards that there had been previously, all of them were captains and all of them were making efforts not to look at me. Tensed and ready to fight, I walked through with no issue. 

Less then ten minutes after leaving the city in a small dirt clearing I saw five men, well dressed and watching me. They seemed to be the people I was to talk to. 

Standing at a distance I yelled "I said no guards!" and obviously, Calin yelled back "There are no guards!". 

I groaned then yelled back "Last chance! Ditch the guards!". Palid then shouted back "There are no guards!". Standing in silence for a second, I contemplated my options before walking away. 

Twenty seconds pa.s.sed before I heard a yell from behind me. As I turned around, I saw the three overseers standing there as the two captains walked back to the city. I waited until they were a fair distance away before I approached the overseers to get back within yelling distance. 

I didn"t feel that the area they picked was safe, so calling out "I"m changing the location, we will not be moving far" I then turned and started walking, not bothering to look behind. 

Either they were following, or this would be a great time to try escape. After reaching a clearing I turned around and to my surprise the overseers were following me after all. This time we were at a talking distance. 

We stood there awkwardly for a moment before I introduced myself, "h.e.l.lo, I"m Stanley". 

Calin"s eyes narrowed, then he introduced himself "I"m Calin, the Overseer of Reid". 

I forgotten to mention it, but the city was called Reid. Not that it matters much. 

The other two men introduced themselves in return. "James, Overseer of Reid" and finally "I"m Palid, welcome to Reid". 

We then stood there in another awkward silence as we eyed each other, they seemed to know who I was, Talok must have warned them before the rift was closed. But how much did he tell them? 

They knew of my face, this much was clear. The reaction that Calin had given when I introduced myself also indicated that they had been told the name I gave. 

But how well did they know of my capabilities? They obviously knew that I had killed a few people, but do they know that I was the cause behind the rift closing? The number of people I had slain? 

"So" I began, "You know I"m not from here, that I"m from Earth". They still didn"t say anything, so I asked something I already knew "Why did you open a rift to Earth?". 

Their answer was long and tedious and full of diplomatic talk, but could be summed up in a few sentences. They wanted to invade earth with their armies and claim another world. But the magnetic fluctuations and lack of mana on earth made this unviable. 

Its not so surprising that they admitted as such, its common knowledge. 

But from trying to decipher all that I had a headache. Irritatingly I asked "So why didn"t you just close the rift" 

Palid then spoke "If we could have closed it, we would have. Rift mages are extremely rare, and we can"t afford to bring one out here for such a minor task". I shook my head in response. 

"You opened a rift to my world". 

During the conversation I was tense, looking about our surroundings for signs of a trap or ambush. While I didn"t think the overseers would use themselves as bait, I couldn"t be sure the politics in this world were like my own. 

In return to my accusation Palid spoke "The apprentice who opened the rift realized his mistake, however when he tried to close the rift he did not have the skill or magic necessary to do such a task" 

"What do you mean he didn"t have the magic" I asked curiously. Palid shrugged "Your world has no mana, so the amount of mana he needed to close the rift was offset by the mana drain coming from the other side". After he finished speaking a popup box appeared. 

Irritated at the interruption I quickly got rid of it as I responded. "Well", I began "If he couldn"t close it then, why not now?". 

Palid scoffed, "We told you, he doesn"t have the time to spare on such a minor task". 

There was a lull as we both fell silent, tension high in the air. James then spoke up and asked "What will it take you to leave?" 

My answer however was simple, impossible as they said it was. "I want the connection to my world cut" I stated bluntly. 

As James spluttered, Calin broke in "We have told you why that"s impossible! Even if we get in contact with a rift mage, he will not be able to visit for years! Cannot we simply return to the peace before this invasion of yours?!" 

I stretched "I can"t decide at this point, is there anything else you require of me?". After a quickly whispered discussion between the three, Palid turned to me and grinded out between his teeth "No." 

So turning my back to them, I started to walk away. It wasn"t even 40 steps before I heard one of them yell "Wait!" 

Turning around, I eyed Calin as he walked towards me as the other two overseers followed closely behind. 

Reaching talking distance Calin said slowly "There is one option that may work for the both of us..". 

Looking at him sceptically, I asked "And its..". 

Much to his credit, Calin managed to look uncomfortable as he said "You might be able to learn rift magic". A obvious trap if I had ever seen one. 

Looking at him for a long moment, I decided to humor him. "And you choose to teach me this because?" 

Nervously, Calin eyed the other two before speaking "Your world has no mana, so we cannot wage war there. If you closed the rift then you would be unable to present a danger to us.". 

Sceptically I struck at the heart of the problem "And if I don"t close the rift and instead choose other options after being taught?" 

Calin carried himself higher and managed to look arrogant "Then the higher-ups would hear about this, and instead of it being a local problem you will incur the full weight of the empire". 

The way he said it, it was obvious he had much pride in the empire and no doubt in their armies. It was also obvious I would be unable to fight against them, not when I almost died while fighting a single mage and a few spearsmen. 

Thinking for a moment, I then asked "What side of the rift am I closing it from?" 

Calin looked puzzled as he replied "On your homeworld?" 

"Ah" I grimaced, "But there"s no mana over there is there". 

Calin shook his head "That"s not a problem, you can store the mana in a crystal" 

I feel a little more convinced, however this still seemed far too dodgy. "How long would it take for me to learn how to close the rift?", Calin shrugged "A few years" 

My expression on my face was obvious enough as Calin snickered "You didn"t think its that easy did you?" 

Thinking a little, I finally sighed. "I don"t trust you enough, so I"m going to refuse". They frowned, their offer of great power having been turned down. Licking his lips nervously, Calin asked "How can we convince you?" 

I did wonder about what I could ask for, but I knew already that I could never trust them. There were a few ideas, none of them guaranteed me anything. 

Then again, this offer seemed real to a extent and if I declined it then they were threatening to call in to the higher powers. They clearly don"t think they can handle me alone. 

I sighed heavily before caving in. "I"ll do it, however I"d like to have some magical protection" 

They smiled, before I clarified. "I mean, I want what you three are wearing" 

They were not so happy after that, but eventually they each gave up a piece of jewelry which I identified before touching. It was obvious they would already be wearing the best they could get. 

The items looked to be very expensive and overpowered, however did they actually mean to keep their end of the deal? However as they handed me the items and described what they do, they didn"t inform me that the enchantments were temporary and would wear off in a matter of weeks. That was more like it! 

We had one last piece of business. "So, when do the lessons start?" 

Calin smiled "Tomorrow morning, inside the magic academy. You know where that is?". 

"Yes" it was the same magic facility that Cal had told me about. 

After the overseers left I moved away from the clearing and walked a bit to clear my head, eventually sitting against a tree as I thought. 

Whatever way I considered it, it was a trap. But during the two weeks that the enchantments gave me, I was confident that I wouldn"t be attacked. Pondering it for a while longer, eventually I got bored and returned to the city, today had been very eventful. 

When I entered my room at the inn I noticed that the magazine that had been lying on my bed was gone, a major disappointment. The innkeeper denied going through my room but did admit that he gave the guards a spare key last night. d.a.m.n guards. 

The next morning found me standing before the academy with a small grin on my face. Today I was going to start learning magic, beyond these two doors of polished wood splendor in their glory. 

I entered with my breath held and a sense of wonder and marvel as I looked about the empty and bare foyer with marbled floors and polished wood panelling on the walls. Actually, if I considered it. It was kind of lame. 

As I waited impatiently, a wizened old man approached me. "Hi, are you Stanley?" he asked. I smiled "Yes, but my friends call me Jon" 

"Alright, follow me Stanley. I"m Saul and I"ll be your tutor" 

Author: Yeah I"m getting unimaginative with the names 

I followed him into a small room which consisted of a plain hard wooden chair and a stuffed luxury sofa. He gestured at the chair "Please sit" as he sat on the sofa, plenty of room around him. Was this deliberate? 

He then told me that the first step to magic was to sit still, empty my mind and open myself to my surroundings. Though he way he phased it.. he made it sound like a trap. However what he was describing was meditation which I knew already. "No need, I can already do that" 

He raised a eyebrow, but simply said "Alright then. We can move on to the second step." Picking a small bottle containing a thick white liquid off a tiny table, he handed it to me and said "Drink it". I *Identify*"d it first however, not being one to drink gifts from my enemies. 

Opening the bottle, I drank the tasteless substance down, gagging a bit at the thickness of it. Seconds after swallowing it, Saul told me to start meditating again. Slipping easily into a meditation I listened to Saul with half a ear as I looked at the colors floating through the air in wonder. 

Small streams of colors wove through the air, swirling around to a unseen wind as they threaded and entwined in a silent dance. Noticing my slack chin, Saul grunted with satisfaction "Seems you have no problems with it then. For the next few hours you are going to be studying the colors as they move around. If you can"t get this right, you are not getting another chance" 

However he didn"t need to worry, I found the colors as they moved through the air entrancing to watch as they swirled in eddies and twisted about. As the minutes pa.s.sed a few of the colors began to fade away, finally leaving just yellow, purple and a colorless color that wasn"t white swirling through the air. 

As I watched them I noticed that their behaviors were quite different from each other. The colorless moved in thick clumps at a steady pace while the yellow was hard to keep track of, the shape ever flickering as it moved erratically. The purple itself fell slowly in tiny droplets from above, moving through objects as it sank through the air. 

As I watched those three colors, Saul asked me "So, can you see the color purple?" I nodded and he grinned "Seems you can be a rift mage" 

I was curious on what the colors meant and asked "What are they?" 

"Ah" he said, preparing for a lecture. "Well most of them are fairly obvious. Yellow is light, red is heat. Blue is water and light blue is cold, they are not the same and just because you can use water doesn"t mean you can use cold. And then there"s gravity which is purple and green for nature. White is air and brown is earth. Black is necromancy and colorless is formless magic. Everyone can see colorless however". Taking a breath, he paused as he thought, then asked "What colors can you see?" 

Telling him "Just light, gravity and magic" he nodded, seemingly relieved. Was he scared that I may be able to harness a more violent color? 

When I asked why rift mages were rare, he helpfully explained "The formation of rifts uses gravity, and while finding people with the ability to wield it is rare, its also extremely difficult opening a rift if you cannot use light or a heat and cold combination which makes this one of the rarest skillsets to find" 

"Light?" I asked curious for him to explain the details, however he shook his head. "Different ways to open a rift, light is the easiest method" 

"Right, now comes the hard part" he spoke brightly, "Spend the rest of your time here studying the mana and predict how it moves, how it flows and the nature it follows". Standing and stretching, he added "Also, don"t touch the colors, we"ll cover that later when I teach you control. If you do it too soon, you can easily damage yourself or your surroundings" 

Finishing what he had to say he left the room, leaving me alone. Sighing, I got up and moved to the sofa before beginning my task. A few hours later, I finished a.n.a.lysing the three colors. 

Saul hadn"t returned yet, so I focused on leveling up both Gravity Mastery and Light Mastery, he would probably tell me to do that anyways and this way I can save myself time. 

The next few days he simply told me to continue studying the mana flows before leaving me there, spending the entire time away and coming back at the end of the lesson. After a week of this, I had progressed in all three masteries while gaining a few points in WIS and INT.