The town was huge. The walls where probably only fifteen feet high, but they stretched all the way around the town. They looked too thin to have a walkway on them but every half a kilometre or so there was a wooden guard tower.

The town probably covered about a hundred hectares or so of space and was quite large. I guessed there were probably between ten and thirty thousand living here. I didn’t know if that was big compared to other places or not. I asked around for an inn and found one further toward the middle of the town that looked quite cozy.

I continued to walk around the area. After about an hour I found an old bookstore. I walked in and I knew I could try my luck here. The smell of dusty old paper rushed into my sinuses. I noticed the counter by the entrance was empty. I walked around a bit trying to find what I was looking for occasionally coughing from the dust.

After about ten minutes an old grouchy voice of an old man who had just appeared out of nowhere said. “Kid are you going to buy something or just wear down the floorboards.” In a tone which somehow came across as annoyed, exhausted and ready to fight at the same time. I held back my laughter at the man before me who was the classic cartoon version of a senile old man before asking. “Do you have anything on how to start using strengthening magic?”

He just pointed at a corner was a basket on the floor holding a bunch of scrolls. “1 silvers. It’s not like its restricted knowledge.” I had decided to be more discreet about the spirit one since if it followed a trope than it would be rare.

“I’ve recently entered this kingdom, do you have anything that explains the basic laws.” At that he seemed to sigh and bend down below the counter with a groan. I placed the scroll down as he came back up and past me a pamphlet before saying, “Under the command of King Nomar the Fourth I am forced to hand this leaflet to any whom may ask as a distributer of knowledge. Since he commanded, those who shan’t not the law and break it are still guilty at their own fault.”

I rolled my eyes internally as I warily accepted the pamphlet. The way he had said that speech seemed heavily rehearsed. I then passed him the silver and headed out back out onto the street after putting it in my bag. Oh, I forgot to mention, Jeffery gave me some clothes as not to stick out and a bag to keep my stuff in.

I made my way to a tavern next to the inn and sat at the bar. A gruff guy in his thirties with a perfectly bald head comes and says “What?” sharply while filling someone’s wooden mug from an open keg. I just shrugged my shoulders and spoke. “Beer?”

He just huffed in response and said “4 bits for a jug or 1 copper for three.” I wanting to drink was glad they didn’t most likely didn’t have a minimum drinking age. I just slid a copper onto the counter and smiled as he dunked the jug into the keg. I’m guessing that it wasn’t the best of hygiene, but he seemed to use a new mug to dip into the keg and then pour that into any used mugs.

I took a sip of the beer or whatever it actually was. It tasted like piss and was worse than then twenty pence beers at Tesco. Fucking disgusting. I fought my hardest not to winced and took another swig. The only reason I kept drinking it was because it seemed to have a quite high alcohol content. At least it was not warm and slightly cold. Like the temperature when you put a beer in the fridge but are not patient enough to wait so you just drink it tepid.

Once I was done, I got up and walked as not drunk as I could by this point it was dark. Because of the size of the mug and the slightly high alcohol content I was slightly tipsy right now but with a bit of focus I could act normal. I walked to the inn and paid the kid around my age who was struggling to stay awake at the desk. I ended up paying two coppers. It meant I would need about seven or eight copper a day to survive. I stumbled up to the room where the kid had taken me trying my best not to act tipsy. I definitely wouldn’t drink that many again of the moonshine beer mix.

When I entered, I saw two bunk beds with three occupied. It was the cheapest and I wasn’t picky. I immediately took the bottom bunk and set my bag behind me so as not to chance it being stolen. I almost immediately crashed.

When I woke up the next morning, I realized I had been stupid. I got lucky this time that nothing was stolen, but next time I shouldn’t do that. I should either pay the extra four copper or just find a place to stash my stuff. Probably in the woods to the east of the town. Once my panic had subsided the mild migraine appear. I immediately left and head to find something greasy.

After wondering the market area for a bit, I found a stand selling what every isekai’d one must, skewers. These ones looked like mix between cow and beef. I bought one and they were three bits each. I asked what meat and they said with a sarcastic expression that it was ‘Padua Bird, obviously’ whatever that was.

I sat down on the steps of some house and ate as I begun to read the scroll. It explained how I was to begin practicing the magic and how to pick a weapon. I read the whole thing while I finish the skewers. I then put it all in my bag. It would require a more thorough read through but for now I knew how to pick a weapon.

I continued to wonder around the markets looking for stuff. I saw hundreds of different items, some weird and foreign and some that were familiar. Thy were sold by a mix of hundreds of different races, species and people. It kind of freaked me out with the variety available. I eventually found a bunch of workshops all in one area. Probably a craftsman district. The constant pounding of metal and heaves of exertion filled my nose as I wondered around.

I saw tanners stretching out some kind of leather.  A guy who was using some kind of red fur to make wool. That actually made sense that if monsters had colourful pelts, you could make colourful clothes. I had wondered where all the dyes were coming from that people where using.

I saw carpenters and joiners making furniture and other items, masons carving stones and smiths working with different metals. I also saw a lot of butchers sawing up animal carcasses. I even saw a few looms which showed that some machinery was being used.

I eventually found what I was looking for after asking a smith if he knew where one could get some weapons quickly. As much as I wanted a huge custom made sword I lacked the funds, finesse and time to do that. I entered the shop, and it was filled with tall buckets filled to the brim with weapons. These where all ones that had been failures since there enchantment had malfunctioned and were pretty much unsellable and broke easily.

That was what the smith had told me anyway. I saw a few guys who looked a weak as me rummaging through the mess. I quickly picked two that I would want. A spear and a short sword about a foot in length. It was debatable whether it was a dagger or sword but would do. I couldn’t use a sword since I had no idea how to even start with wielding one.

A spear would do since it allowed me to keep my distance and with a bit of practice would allow me to wield it semi competently. I bought the two along with a sheaf for the short sword for a silver I made my way to the city gate to get out of the city. I needed some quiet to think. As I left, I notice a cart with a bunch of monster carcasses on it. Apparently dragging a monster carcass through the city was frowned upon and would be met with a fine. So, the guild had a cart to move them to and from the craftsman areas without leaving a trail of blood.

I made my way down the road towards the forest. I lent down on one of the trees. It seemed like they had laid out the boundary of the forest deliberately. From the town was about ten kilometres of crops. And then a kilometre of flattened ground that was slightly overgrown. And then after that the forest just sprouted straight up. It was mostly an overgrown mess with a few trails here and there. It was probably for defensive purposes since you could see if a monster came out the forest when working the field, a kilometre away. The fields had a few dozen men working with almost all of them carrying a weapon of some kind as well as their farm instruments.

I rest my back against a tree and opened my status. ‘Status.’

(Status

Name: Ryan Watson (Visible)

Race: Human (Visible)

Age: Eighteen (Visible)

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral – Passive (Always Visible)

Occupations: Farmer, Otaku. (Invisible)

Land: Great Britain [Will appear as Albion if visible.] (Visible)

Allegiance: British Citizen (Invisible)

Tongues: English, Darian, Mercian, Japanese (Partial), French (Minimal) (Invisible)

Blessings: None (Invisible)

Ranking: F (Visible)

*Affinities: Spirit, Strengthening (Invisible)

*Magical Power: 6/10 (Invisible)

[Press to Expand] (Always Invisible)

Close)

I opened the abilities tab and figured proved that my hunch about my second bonus was right. It acted the same as an amplifier and allowed me to not have to use a crystal. I quickly moved on to look at my other bonuses.

[Press to Close

Bonus Abilities:

Message (Deactivated)

Natural Status Amplifier (Activated)

Fortitude (Deactivated)

Fuck It Mode (Deactivated)

Return (Deactivated)]

I pressed the message one and activated it to see if it did anything and hopefully explain my circumstances. My consciousness faded as I passed out. When I came to, I realised it was already noon. There was new information that had entered my mind. I quickly checked my stuff to make sure no one had nicked anything. Then I slumped back to process what had happened.

The message had said it can’t explain why it had to take me here but that it was sorry for what it did. To compensate it said to enjoy myself and make the most of my life. It then explained all my abilities. It had also disappeared from my bonus abilities page.

The first was clear. It allowed me to activate my other abilities and would help me to gauge my strength. The second with fortitude which could make me immune to any hostile mind-altering effects. I at once activated that one. I ain’t getting mind fucked.

The third was apparently an ability all humans had uniquely to their species it would just activate under specific circumstances. If ones will was high enough and either through conviction or spite they were prepared to give their life for a goal. They could utter the sacred words, ‘Fuck it all,’ or along those lines and invoke an ancient pact with entropy itself and doing anything in exchange for their life.

The fourth and final one was the one that made me almost cry. It was called return and would allow me to go back to any place I had been before with in a realm. Well, it came with some restrictions of course. You would appear in the place you left if you didn't take your time to visualize it and would take two weeks to recharge per person that came with. So, if I took one person with me it would take four weeks to be usable again. I just innately felt that I could use it in a few days’ time.