Chapter 8 – I see, I had forgotten. I suck, don’t I?
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I'm beginning to understand how vast the cultural distance is between my old world and my current one.

After I finished my cake, S and I walked to the shopping district, which was a little ways from the inn. We probably could have just teleported, but after everything that happened earlier, I was a little nervous to use it so liberally again. And walking is generally healthy, right?

"Where should we head to first?" I ask S as we arrive. The buildings here are all very neat. Lots of logos, words I can't read, people being loud, the whole deal. Shopping areas are like this in this world, too, huh.

"You probably need, like, 'tools of the trade' and such, right? The 'smith might be a good place to start. Stuffs pricey, though." S says

"Yeah, I should get better equipped." I respond

"Right, it's just over here." 

The blacksmiths shop was near the edge of the shopping district. The shop itself looked like basically any other shop, except for the big forge that was outside. It looked rather cool. That said, this whole thing screams 'fire hazzard!' to me. Regardless, the forge was unlit and unmanned. I guess the shopkeep is inside right now.

Oh? What's that thing? "What're those?" I point to the water balloon-like objects beside the forge.  

"Those? They're just the extinguishing crystals. You throw em when the fire gets out of hand. Not sure how they work, though."

... they might just be water balloons. Or maybe it's magic. Hard to say. 

We stepped into the shop and looked around. Various kinds of weaponry lined the walls, and there were decorative sets of armor on the walls, as well. There was also a counter on the north end with a skinny looking dude reading something that resembles a magazine manning it, and a door behind him.  I presume there were more weapons under the counter, as well.

"Oh, hey, welcome. If you need anything, holler, i guess..." the shopkeep says. He looked incredibly bored. He and I locked eyes for a moment, and I definitely felt an odd sense of kinship between us. Though, I'm pretty sure he's actually just bored. 

Its a little surreal seeing all these weapons for purchase in one place, though. Something like this would be crazy in my old stomping grounds, but over here this is commonplace. I guess in a world of beasts, monsters and magic, personal protection is a necessity. That's rather grim, thinking about it... but I guess for everyone else, it's just reality... I'm sure I'll have to accept that sooner or later, as well.

I snap out of my funk and more closely inspect the weapons surrounding me. Shortswords, longswords, broadswords, rapiers, maces, spears, javelins, a flail... it kinda feels like a museum. 

"What're you thinking?" S asks me.

"I dunno... you planning on getting anything?"

"Nah, I've my own tools."

I think back to how brutally efficient his is with his glass blade. "Yeah, that's fair." man, he's scary good with that thing, now that I'm thinking about it. 

Crap, now that I'm thinking about it... most weapons, even simple ones are pretty difficult to use effectively, right? Will having a weapon actually do me any good? Heck, even beyond training, you've gotta be able to easily carry the thing, and, I mean, I put 'tissue' in 'muscle tissue'. That is to say, I'm not very strong. 

"You ok, Beyes?" S says, interrupting my thoughts. 

"Uh, yeah. I'm just thinking, what can I actually use here?"

"I dunno, why not just get some sort of sword or something? Everyone's got basic sword training, after all." 

I look at S nervously "E-everyone? They teach kids how to use weapons?" 

"Well yeah, obviously... wait, do you not... jeez man, where are you from?! What did they teach you?!" 

I hang my head in shame. I am not suited for this world. 

After a moment, S smiles, and then chuckles a bit. What's he plotting? "Well, if you know nothing, that means you don't have any bad habits, right?" he points his thumb at himself "I'll teach you the basics of knife combat!"

"A-are you sure?" I mean, he is really good, but I'm still a little concerned...

"It'll be fine! Just pick out a cheap blade we can use for training."

I look over at the area for daggers and such. There's a lot of options... I should probably stick to something cheap, since I'm just training for now... how about... this one! I grab a simple, plain iron dagger. It's not flashy, but it looks durable, plus, the grip looks comfortable. Ideal for training.

"That looks suitable enough. Looks like it costs... 3 coin. That's a good deal." 

That's incredibly cheap! That's, like, 2 meals back at the inn! I guess there are a lot of them... are they somehow mass produced? They have the technology for that?

I bring the dagger up to the counter.

"'s this all?" he asks

"uh, yeah." I say, handing him 3 golden coins. Man, these coins are light... I wonder if they're actually golden, or just gilded. Or if it's even gold. 

"Right, uh, enjoy, I guess."

"Uh, right." I respond. As S and I leave, I turn and ask S "So... what's next?"

"Well, I'd like to start teaching you right away, but there's something else I also wanna test. Tell ya what, you head back to the inn, and try to get a feel for the blade, see what's comfortable. I'm gonna pick some medical supplies and stuff, I'll meet you there."

"Alright, I'll be in my room."

 I stow the dagger away in my pocket, hoping it doesn't prick it open. Speaking of pockets, I don't have a change of clothes, don't I? And this is the 2nd day in a row I'm wearing these clothes... Shoot, I should be concerned about hygiene, too, shouldn't I? Crap... I'll have to talk to S about this after training. 

After I returned to my room, I fiddle with my dagger for a while. It's a little hard to get used to, honestly. I mean, it's not the first time I'd ever held a weapon, but this was certainly different. It just didn't feel right in my hand, no matter how I tried to hold it. 

S soon returned with a small sack full of stuff. I assume basic medical supplies or something of that nature.  

"Alright, we should probably do this in a more open area. Could you get us near the forest?" He begins.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I say as I open the holes. We step through, and in an instant, here we are by the woods. I hope beasts and such don't try to attack us... 

"Alright, you've gotta learn how to hold the thing, right?" in a flash of heat, he creates his glass blade. "Hold it like this"

"Like this?" I try to mimic his stance. 

"Yeah, yeah just like that! Now, try swinging it around a bit. Start by slicing diagonally, like this." He begins slicing his blade in an 'X' pattern.

"A-alright" I hesitate for a moment. Alright, here goes. I start mimicking his swinging. To be honest, this grip is really uncomfortable, and it does a number for my back... after a few swings, I drop the dagger.

"Try to grip it a little harder." 

"R-right, right." I respond, a little embarrassed. I try again, a few more times, but every time I can only get a few swings off before I drop it. 

"Grip it harder! It's not a toy!" S says, visibly irritated.

"S-sorry." I say, also irritated.

S goes to pick up the dagger. "Look, you hold it like t-... like th... uh... wait a minute..." he pauses for a moment, fiddling with the dagger. Then his blade, then the dagger... He soon looked up at me with the straightest face I'd ever seen him make. "It would appear that I am a moron. I have no idea what to do with this" he said, throwing the dagger back on the ground. 

"W-what? How is that possible? I've seen you move with that glass thingy, and you're scary efficient with that."

"Well, as it turns out, there's a world of difference between my blade and this thing. Take a look" He holds out his hand holding his blade. Sure enough, he was right. His blade is essentially an incredibly sharp shard of glass, and the 'hilt' part is just another part of that, except there's grooves in it that are perfectly molded to fit his hands. If anybody else tried gripping it, they'd get cut pretty bad. It's a very unusual weapon. 

"W-well, what about your basic weapons training? You said that everyone's learned at least that, right?"

He let out an embarrassed chuckle, "I, uh, didn't pay attention in school." 

I sigh in defeat. "I suppose that's not surprising... Should we head back to the inn?"

"Yeah, I gotta take a leak"

I open the holes, we step through, and just like that, we're back in the inn. 

"Wait, before I piss, there's one more thing we gotta try." he rummages around the sack for a bit, and he pulls out some strange transparent circular box with five different colored orbs inside it. One red, one green, one brown, one blue, and one white. There's an odd panel of some sort on top of the box, as well.

"What's this?" I ask.

"An elemental aptitude test! It's a cheap one, so it's not gonna give us much specific information, but it should at least tell us what sort of magics you might be suited to. Beyond your holes, I mean." 

I can't imagine I'll be good at much, beyond my holes, but I suppose it's worth a try, anyway. "How's it work?" 

"Put your hand on this thingy here, and let out just a bit of magical energy. If it detects an affinity for a certain element, the orb corresponding to that element will light up. Anyways, I'm gonna piss." He rushes out of the room after he finishes talking.

 How vulgar... Wait, how do I 'let out magical energy'? Do I even have... whatever that is?

"Well! Go on, then!" A familiar voice emits from the mirror. He's still wearing that Hawaiian shirt. 

Oh, it's him again. "W-wait, how? Can I even... do that?"

"Of course!" God-DYN2 responds. "You're a citizen of this world now, after all!"

"Okay, but... how?"

"Oh come on, it's obvious!" He begins imitating an old man voice, and stroking an imaginary beard. "Imagine the flow of magic coming from the core of your body, flowing into your arms, and then your hands, and out through your fingers." He bursts out laughing at his own joke. Sometimes, it's easy to forget they're a god, instead of a child...

Regardless, I do as instructed. It was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be. I simply imagine the stuff flowing through my body, and, like magic (wait, it is magic), the panel lights up. A line shoots out from the panel, and makes its way to the orbs. It goes to the red one, first. Nothing. Then green. Nothing. Then brown. Nothing. Then blue. Nothing. Then white. Noth- 

I see God-DYN2 grinning mischievously from the mirror, as the white orb before me turns as black as tar oil. I can't take my eyes off it. The door opens, and the man in the mirror vanishes. 

"Yo, I'm b-" S begins as he enters the room, before glancing at the box and seeing the odd orb.

"The heck does that mean?" we say in unison, pointing at the black orb.

 

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