1.1.08 – An Unlikely Bookworm

The summer heat pressed down through the canvas roof of the wagon I rode in, the sweat already beading across my back as the wool of my shirt stuck to my shoulder blades. Another thing I missed from my old life was probably air conditioning.

This was only my second summer since coming to this world but I still had not gotten used to the heat yet. It was not unbearable but the conveniences of modern life had spoiled me. Maybe air conditioning should be something I had to make before I made my railgun.

The road out of the orphanage was called the Old Mill Road named after a saw mill that used to be here years ago. It would normally take Marta over an hour or more to take the trip down to Hollow’s Reach if she went by foot.

Old Garrick offered us a ride on his wagon back to town since he stopped by to deliver some supplies and also to pick up the latest batch of boar pelts Marta had prepared. Even though the wagon ride would take us less time to reach the town, it was a lot more uncomfortable considering the condition of the road.

It was uneven and full of potholes, though there were apparent track marks that sort of guided the wagon from the repeated travel of old Garrick’s wagon over the years when he made deliveries to the orphanage.

Every time the wagon went over a pothole, the bumpiness would knock me up and down, hurting my bottom. I did see Garrick stop the wagon once to get down and cast a spell to even out one of the bigger potholes. One that large would probably cause the wagon to get stuck.

I had nothing to do so I pulled on the Weave and opened up my status screen.

I definitely made decent progress but the contribution from hunting Red Cored beasts is negligible now. Most of my levels came from leveling my spell. I hinted to Marta about my potential progress to test her reaction. I wanted to know if I was making good progress or was I slow relative to other people. Apparently I was considered fast as people took years to level their spells. It required constant practice to develop a deeper understanding of their spells before they could progress it.

I could not be sure whether it was due to my intimate understanding of electricity or my Perfect Lightning Affinity, but apparently I progressed a lot faster compared to the average person in this world.

Even with faster progress, my Spark spell had been stuck at Level 10 for quite a while. I managed to hit level 10 half way through my boar hunts and it had not budged since then. I tried to push it harder but it did not work. It seemed like this was some threshold that needed a qualitative change rather than just hard work.

Another thing I did not have much luck with was gaining more Soul Mutations. I had come across two deer like beasts during the 12 weeks hunting period but absorbing their core did not give me anything new. It seemed like I really lucked out with that first boar.

I dismissed the window and saw Garrick looking at me. “First time seeing one of these beasts lad?”

I must have looked like I was staring into space or looking at the beast that was pulling the wagon when I was checking out my status screen. Garrick probably would not suspect that a seven year old would have already awakened their core and had access to the Weave.

I decided to play along as I could feel Marta giving me the side eye for not being more careful, “Yeah, I have never left the orphanage before this so I haven’t really seen one before. What is it?” I asked in mock wonder.

“It’s a Stonehide Plodder, peaceful beasts mostly. We have some farms in the country that raise these beasts for their hides, which is what gives the beast its name” I could see bumps on its back that sort of resemble armour plating. It looked a little bit like a cross between rhinoceros, cow, and a pangolin from Earth.

“They mostly just graze on the grass in the open field so they are easy to raise. The hide makes for good leather as they can be enchanted easily with the standard Harden enchantment by Earth mages”.

“They are also sometimes used to pull merchant wagons like old Betty here.” Garrick added as he gave the beast a gentle pat on the back. “She’s been with me for more than ten years, I call her old but she’s technically got a few more decades left in her. Might even outlive me. Bwahaha!”

I could see smoke rising on the horizon as we got closer to Hollow’s Reach. “We should pass by the blacksmith areas south of the town first, that’s where most of the smoke is coming from”. I saw the black smoke rising from some of the columns, which would have triggered little Greta back in my old world if she saw this.

I briefly wondered if climate change was a concern in this world, but guessed that either the abundance of magic made it a non-concern, or the lack of wide scale industrial progress meant that pollution was manageable.

“Where do you want me to drop you both?” old Garrick asked.

“Oh the blacksmith’s row will do. We’ll go say hi to Branwen before heading to the shops” Marta replied on both our behalf.

“Sure thing, that’s on the way anyway. You know where to find me” he said, followed by instructions to where he stayed in Hollow’s Reach.

The wagon pulled up right before a small bridge, beyond which I could see various blacksmithing workshops and hear the clanging sound of hammer hitting metal, mixed with the rhythmic sound of bellows pumping air into forges.

“This is where we part, the blacksmith rows are just beyond this bridge. I need to keep Betty by the wagon yard up ahead” his head tilted north to where I assumed the wagon yard was.

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“Thank you, sir” I said as I got off the wagon, imitating how a grateful seven year old would normally speak.

“Hahaha, no trouble at all, I’ll be off then”

“Let’s go say hi to Branwen, then we can head into town proper to look for your books” Marta said as she signaled me to follow her.

It did not take long to locate the smithy Branwen was working at, as Marta was familiar with the town and had visited her before. I could see her working on hammering a piece of metal on the anvil as sweat beaded down her forehead.

“Branwen! You’re looking well.” Marta called as we got closer.

“Marta! Ash! What brings the two of you here?” Branwen placed the hammer and metal down on the anvil before rushing up to the two of us. She gave Marta a hug before approaching me and tried to pull me into an embrace like she used to do.

“Urgh, get off me you stink!” I squirmed my way out of her hug.