I blocked Jagon's dagger with mine and retaliated with a punch to the gut.
But this was no normal punch, this was a punch I put half of my leftover mana into. My fist shot like a cannonball and impact Jagon's stomach with an audible thud.
Jagon staggered back, hurt, but still able to fight.
I tried to follow, but the world started spinning.
'Huh?'
I noticed it then, Jagon had leg sweeped me, completely breaking my balance.
The moment I hit the ground, I rolled to the side to avoid his foot and raised my dagger to block his inches away from my face.
I couldn't see it, but I knew that Jagon was about to hit my side with a leg and send me flying. That was what he would normally do in this situation.
So, taking a risk, I grabbed Jagon's forearm, the one that held the dagger, with my free hand, and put my dagger right where I expected him to hit me.
Nothing happened, except for Jagon's fist now heading towards my head.
I raised my leg and aimed for his nuts. His self-preservation instincts took over and his arm stopped closing in on my face, instead opting to protect his private parts.
Using a bit more mana than necessary, I rolled away as fast as I could and jumped back on my feet.
My breathing was rough and desperate. I had only now noticed that during the entire time I was on the ground, I had held my breath.
Jagon was much better off, at most I could see some sweat on his skin.
"Are you really a mage, you bastard?"
He chuckled.
"Of course I am. Even Angelica is better at this than I am."
'...Eh?'
"Angelica is better at close combat than you?"
"Of course! She was the healer of our adventurer party but that's no reason to stay idle, and since she doesn't know much magic, she had to contribute by fighting close. Her fighting style of sacrificing minor injuries for better positioning always disturbed all of us. It was... interesting, to say the least."
I was baffled. That clumsy angel packed a punch?! And not only that, she had a reckless fighting style that sacrificed her body?!
'I guess I used the same tactic on my first day in this world... but it just doesn't fit her image! She stopped healing me just because she didn't want me to get hurt, and yet her fighting style involves her getting hurt?! What kind of logic is that?!'
I mulled this new information over for a bit.
"Is the reason why she doesn't want me to get hurt... because she knows just how painful it is?"
Jagon smirked, but his eyes had a glint of sadness in them.
"You got it. She... has felt pain so much, that everytime someone gets hurt, she remembers how she got hurt, and she can't help but feel their pain. That's just how it is with her."
'I... never thought her aversion to pain had such a reason.'
My perception of her changed a bit. It was... for lack of a better word, interesting to find out things like this about people who I thought I knew. Was this my bookworm peeking through? Was I just treating Jagon and Angelica as characters, and that's why learning new things about them brought me such emotions?
Maybe, but that didn't matter. Whether they are characters or whether they are people, they can affect me. That's all that matters to me.
"That nut shot was nasty though, Faun. I thought you were higher than that."
I smiled sadly.
"The only thing I'm above right now is killing people and slavery. Everything else is fair game. Besides, I don't really care about pride. If my pride stops me from fighting most effectively, then that pride can go pancake itself."
Before I knew it, Jagon's fist was inches away from my face. I expected that, so I used some mana to barely dodge out of the way.
"You didn't lower your guard. Good. Now let's go for round two."
I once again felt the world start spinning.
***
It was night, and I was walking around the village for no particular reason.
Since there was a bit of rain not too long ago, I had to walk carefully not to step into the puddles
I stopped and looked at my reflection in a puddle.
"...I'm tired."
I looked down at my body, it was healthier and better than it ever was before. I looked at my eyes inside the puddle, they didn't have any bags under them.
"But I'm so tired."
I was a lazy person by nature. I always did the bare minimum, always thought the bare minimum, always tried the bare minimum and always interacted the bare minimum.
So pushing myself like this was making me tired.
It was true mental exhaustion. I did not have bags under my eyes and my mind wasn't muddy... but I was tired.
'But I have to push through.'
I would've loved to do the bare minimum, but what was even the bare minimum in this new world? I didn't know, so I just had to try my hardest. For the first time in my entire life, I was trying my hardest, and only because I was afraid of death.
It was not even at the point of going outside my comfort zone. No, I had not just gone outside it, I had run away from it in fear, and I was getting further and further away.
My eyes flickered with fear that could be mistaken for determination.
'I will live. I will not let anyone tear me away from my happiness again. And I will continue walking forward.'
Because that was all I could do.
***
Faun could not take a break, but he wanted to.
So, he did something he never thought he would ever do ― he broke the repetitiveness that soothed his heart.
That was why Faun was sitting at his table with a pencil in hand and a paper with schematics in front of him.
He was chewing on a pencil with an apprehensive look.
'Will something like leaves really work? Won't the vines be too loose for this?'
A brain was a muscle just like any other, and so it had to work out too. Breaking the status quo, I had decided to try and make some things from my old world instead of training. Of course, I was still sensing my mana, but that was something as natural as breathing to me now, so it didn't count.
What was I trying to make, exactly? The answer was ― a kite.
With my meager knowledge and even meager resources, I knew I couldn't make something too complicated, so something simple like a kite felt like a good starting point.
And so, after a couple of minutes of rummaging through my memories, I had come up with a sketch.
I didn't know whether it would work... and, well, there was only one way to find out.
***
I approached Angelica with a small stick covered in thin vines.
She was watching over the children right now ― something she did everyday, and something everyone considered her unofficial job in this village ― so she didn't notice my approach.
The weather was windy today, but not too windy. As such, it was perfect for my newest creation.
I sat down in the grass next to Angelica, and it was only then that she noticed me.
"Faun? It's not often that you come here. Did you want something?"
I nodded.
"I do, in fact, want something. But I want to show you something first."
With a smile, I looked up with Angelica following my gaze. Not long after, she saw the kite that was flying in the air.
Her eyes slightly widened in surprise.
"What is that?"
"That's called a kite. A toy from where I come from."
Her eyes followed the kite as it moved around.
"Does it use magic to do that?"
"Nope, no magic needed. If it was something that required magic, I wouldn't have been able to make it in the first place. Wanna try it for yourself?"
I offered the stick I was holding to her. With a smile, she nodded.
"Sure."
After explaining how it works to her, she started playing with it a bit. At one point, she had even used wind magic to make it do some cool tricks.
Naturally, the kids saw the weird flying thing in the sky and ran up with interest.
"Auntie Angelica, what's that?"
A girl pointed to the sky and Angelica smiled warmly in response.
"That's called a 'kait'."
"A kait?"
The girl tilted her head.
'Why do I feel like they're saying it wrong? They are pronouncing it perfectly, but... Eh, probably nothing.'
As Angelica started explaining the toy to the kids, my gaze couldn't help but fall to her stomach. Even though her clothes made it hard to notice, I could see that her stomach was bulged a bit.
―Yes, that's right. Angelica was pregnant.
Remember that six month time limit Jagon gave me? It was because of this. He didn't want me around while he was caring for Angelica in her hardest moments.
When I learned of this, I wasn't even that surprised, surprisingly. It should've been a surprise, a very surprising one, but I just... accepted it, without being surprised much.
'To whatever god is reading my thoughts: I'm not sorry for that.'
Do gods exist in this world? Do they actually have the time to read my thoughts? I didn't know and I should probably find out about that.
Slowly transitioning from my thoughts to reality, I saw the kids playing with the kite I made.
It felt... rewarding, for some reason. I was probably happy about bringing smiles to those children's faces with my direct actions.
'Right. Because making others happy is a way to be happy.'
Or a way of masking pain.
"―No!"
I looked at the source of the sudden shout, it was a young boy with bandages. He was the only kid with bandages, actually, but that part didn't matter at the moment.
What did matter, was that my kite was broken, laying in the boy's arms.
The kids were all huddling together and looking at the now useless piece of junk.
"Oh dear, it broke. A shame."
Angelica sighed with a sad look. The kids were enjoying it so much, but now that fun was gone.
I turned to Angelica with a smile.
"Remember when I said that I wanted something from you?"
Angelica perked up.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Well, you see, I kinda cut corners a bit. I just took some paper, glued it together and used that for the kite. Honestly, I'm surprised it managed to last that long. So, if you do not mind, could you give me some cloth to make better, stronger kites? I'm not sure cloth will even work... but I want to try, at least."
She smiled like an angel.
"Of course. As long as it makes the kids happy, I'm all for it."
"Ack! So bright! So radiant! Why do you have to be such a saint all the time?! Your kindness is blinding!"
I covered my eyes and recoiled from her. Angelica chuckled at that, I was making her happy.
I was glad I was making her happy.
Because making others happy is a way to be happy.
***
"Hey Jagon, I want to learn magic."
Jagon raised his eyebrows at that.
"You want to learn magic? Why? You have the second best muscles in the world. You were practically made to fight up close."
"Perhaps, but I want to learn magic."
Jagon muttered some curses that would be bad for the baby in Angelica's belly, and then sighed.
"Either way, it's too early for you. You haven't even learned mana sensing yet."
I furrowed my brows.
"What do you mean? I can already sense mana."
"Your mana? Sure. But the mana around you? No. And to cast spells, that is a must."
"Then teach me how to do that."
Jagon looked at me with narrowed eyes. He was scrutinizing me.
"Enhance your eyes."
I did as he said.
"Enhance your nails."
That seemed useless, but okay. I enhanced my nails.
"Enhance your femur."
Oka― Wait what? How was I supposed to do that? I can't see my bones, I don't have x-ray vision...
'Well, a femur is a bone located in the legs somewhere around... there, right?'
Not really sure whether I was doing it right, but I started sending mana to that specific place.
Jagon frowned.
"Not bad, all things considered."
I raised my eyebrows while grinning.
"Sooo...?"
Jagon sighed.
"Alright, I guess I can start teaching you that."
'Be ready magic! I'm coming for you!'
More ways to be busy is always welcome.
***
The sound of dogs barking resounds outside. I sip on my water and wonder aloud.
"Another merchant, huh? Haven't they been coming a bit too regularly these days?"
Merchants very often came to Abut to sell their wares and buy the excess meat we get from hunting so often.
But even considering that, the rate at which they have been appearing lately has drastically increased.
Jagon shrugged.
"Perhaps, but it's not like it's bad for us. We can always hunt for more meat and getting more things from the outside is always nice. I'm more worried about the climate changing events happening around the country."
"Yeah, that's something to think about."
I think back to the unusual storm and the snow that followed after. Turns out, it wasn't just our village that had their climate suddenly changed like that. From what we heard from merchants, that climate change thing happened everywhere. From nearby villages to even affecting other countries.
At this point, I could pretty easily guess what happened.
'My arrival to this world sent a mana shockwave throughout the whole globe, which messed up the climate.'
I couldn't tell this to anyone else, of course, so I just kept silent and acted like I knew nothing.
I could just explain that I come from a different world... but there are no benefits in me doing that.
I've already thought about it a thousand times over, and I don't see any reasons to tell others that I come from a different world.
'If my situation has never happened before in this world, then they might just think I'm a crazy person saying crazy things. If there have been people summoned to this world before, it's not even guaranteed that it is widespread knowledge, for all I know, it could be a secret of some country or something. Hell, even if I meet another person from this world, not much will happen. They might help me a bit, but I doubt they could give me something I can't get on my own.'
The chances of other people using me as their subjects in experiments is very likely though. Or maybe some people will try to steal all of my technical knowledge by making me submit to them.
So, I will not tell anyone that I come from another world. I don't want to stand out.
I just want to be another normal person who you can pass by without noticing it. Just another passerby, that's who I want to be.
I frowned.
'Ugh. Why do I have the feeling that I just jinxed something?'
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I didn't need even more things to worry about.
Instead, I focused on the sound of dogs barking and on the fact that there was another merchant here.
"Well, thanks for the lunch. I'll go and see what that merchant is all about."
Angelica perked up.
"You? Going to see a merchant? You don't do that often. Do you feel like you'll find something good today?"
With an impassive face I answered.
"Something like that."
'It's more unlucky than lucky though, because―'
I could feel madness in the air.
***
I walked up to the carriage of the merchant. The closer I was, the more I could feel the madness coming off it.
Tied to the carriage were two wolf-like beasts, they were eating and resting right now. In this world, horses weren't the only methods of transportation. I've seen wolves, deers and even mooses used for travelling. Of course, horses were still the most common ones, but variation did exist.
The merchant herself was talking with the village chief, Norman. I was honestly surprised when I found out that Jagon wasn't the village chief, but that's a story for another time.
The merchant was a woman with an hourglass-like body shape, long wavy red hair and striking red eyes. She was very cheerful and energetic, and combined with her hair, she looked like the very definition of fire.
The person on the other side of the conversation, Norman, was pretty much the opposite. He was an old man with blue hair and half-closed grey eyes. He listened to the merchant's fast speech with a serene expression, not showing any displeasure despite the fact that she has not given him a chance to speak for the last couple of minutes.
I walked up to them with a smile and started picking up pieces of what the merchant was saying.
"My Eich-Greenshrooms are as high-quality as always! Take just one and all your wounds will be gone in less than an hour!"
It was at that moment that she noticed me.
"Ooh~, a new customer! And such a young boy no less! Hold up, I've got just the thing for you!"
She rummaged in her carriage for a bit and exited with a blue necklace.
"See this necklace? It's made from Siniya crystals! Beautiful, isn't it? No matter which girl you have an eye for, she will surely appreciate it!"
The necklace was definitely beautiful. Those Siniya crystals shimmered with different shades of blue, making it seem magical.
"I'm sorry, but I don't really have a girl who's caught my interest yet."
'In this world, people my age already have love interests, huh? Interesting...'
"Really? Well you should still consider it! I doubt you will ever find such a high-quality necklace for such a low price anywhere else. You can buy it and keep it until you find the person you love!"
I faked thinking about it.
"I'm sorry, but still no. I don't really have money to throw around at the moment."
"Will you have money to throw around five months from now on?"
I frowned on the inside.
"Yes, why?"
"Well, I can keep this necklace safe until then for you! I always come to Abut every five months, so doing that will be no problem for me!"
I turned to Norman who was standing calmly nearby, prompting him so talk.
"Indeed. Miss Bennie comes here every five months. Every villager is acquainted with her at this point."
'Every five months?'
I hid my suspicions behind a smile.
"Really? Does she come on the 23rd every single time?"
He nods.
"Indeed. It seems she has made a good schedule for herself and is always on time."
Yeah, coming on the 23rd all the time isn't suspicious at all. Especially considering that she is totally not mad and that there are 100% no mad people in this village.
'I should see whether Bennie and that mad guy interact. What was his name again? Right, Frod. I should see whether Bennie and Frod interact with each other.'
If they did interact... well, I will see where to go from there.
"I'm sorry, but I'd still have to decline, Miss Bennie. I won't have the time to chase after girls for a couple more years I imagine. I wouldn't want to make you keep such a thing for such a long time just because of me. Selling it as soon as possible will be better for your business."
"Ah! Such a kind soul! Well, if you tell me like that, I can't keep pressuring you now, can I?"
She twirled in delight.
"Tell me then, how did you come to live in Abut, dear customer? And what is your name? I can't have you be the only person I don't know in this village."
"My name is Faun. And I came to this village after..."
I made my expression look wistful and sad.
"Let's just say that I lost everything and everyone I had, and found myself in a place unknown to me."
She put her hand over her mouth with a shocked and guilty expression.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to reopen old wounds..."
"No worries. I can't let my past hold me back after all. I'll have to confront it eventually."
I didn't even have to fake the pain and sadness in my voice, it came naturally.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
"Let's stop being depressing, shall we? Say, Bennie, could you tell me what products you have? I'd love to hear about them."
The life returned to her eyes and she started enthusiastically telling me about everything she had.
***
I was not smart and I didn't have a good memory. All I had were my worries.
So, worried that I was going to forget about every material and thing I had learned today about, I had decided to finally start writing things in my notebooks.
The amount of things I had to write was a lot. I was honestly a bit intimidated by such a huge amount. But I decided to fake being a smart person, so it ended up being not too bad.
Those materials I didn't really care about I would write in one notebook, and the ones that looked useful I would write in another. That's what a smart person would've done, I think, so I did as such.
In the end, only three things had made it into my 'useful' notebook.
Eich-Greenshroom. When consumed, it boosts your body's regeneration. Very useful but slow-acting. If used right, it could ― hopefully ― lessen muscle pain.
Holy Water. In this world, healing potions were called Holy Water. I don't need to say why healing potions are useful, right?
And the last one... Yadvine poison. It was a very potent poison. Simple, but effective if used correctly.
In fact, Yadvine poison was so effective... that I actually bought some for the small amount of money I had.
How did I have money? Simple. In Abut, everytime meat is bought, the money is shared between all the hunters, depending on how much they hunted the last 30 days
About a month ago I had become an official full-time hunter, and so I started getting money too.
'Three months left until Jagon's deadline, huh...'
That was a somewhat worrying thought. These three months had gone by in a blur, and even though I was sure I could be fine by myself now... it just felt wrong for some reason.
That's not even talking about the fact that a new house will have to built for me.
'...Or maybe not.'
If I could learn everything I want within the next three months, I probably won't stay in Abut. I will start travelling and will try to find ways back to my old world.
So yeah. Hopefully, I won't need to have a house all to myself in Abut.
'It'll be sad moving away from Jagon and the rest... but it has to be done. Otherwise, the emptiness in my heart will consume me.'
I look thoughtfully at the moon in the sky.
'In the end... Frod and Bennie talked to each other.'
They talked just like old friends and nothing more. There were no suspicious words spoken and nothing off-putting about their talk.
But even so, that did not soothe the worry in my heart.
Two mad people talking to each other? Sure, it was possible that neither of them knew that the other was mad and nothing bad was happening... but it was also possible that they were in on something.
What was that something? I didn't know and I was scared to find out.
'And just two people seems too little. What if there's a huge organization full of mad people?'
The thought sent a shiver down my spine. If it were dozens of people all in pursuit of the same goal, there was nothing I could do.
'And yet, I'm the only one who can do something.'
Because I was the only one who could feel madness. I could ask for help... but how many would believe me? Jagon felt like the best option, but would Jagon really believe me over Frod? I doubted it.
I bit my tongue.
'This is no time to think about this. After I get stronger... yeah, after I get stronger I will try to do something about. And to get stronger...'
I look at the bottle of Yadvine poison in my hand. I could apply it to my dagger to defeat a strong opponent if I have to. Of course, using it while hunting is a no-no. The poison will seep into the meat and make it inedible, which is not something I want. But if my opponent wasn't someone I was hunting...
But that's not something I was going to do anytime soon. For now, the poison won't be used for such things.
So I opened the bottle and took the smallest sip I could.
The pain didn't come immediately, but still pretty fast. First was my stomach, it started churning with pain I wasn't used to. From there, it spread to the rest of my body.
It hurt. It hurt a lot. I was convulsing on the ground, barely able to stay conscious.
Every single part of my body was burning with pain, and that continued for the next twenty minutes. And even then, the pain didn't recede immedately, it just slowly started going away.
Only after a full hour was I able to think properly. Of course, I didn't know that an hour had passed, for me it felt more like ten.
"That sucked."
But I had to do it. I had to make sure my body adapted to being poisoned. I had to get poison resistance.
I wasn't a masochist. I wasn't a gamer obsessed with getting all skills and such. But I was a person who wanted to eliminate all the worries in my head.
And one of my worries was being poisoned. Sure, there were a couple of ways of going about it. I could always carry antidotes on me. I could always just avoid everything that could get me poisoned. Those were all solutions to my worries, but... they just weren't good enough solutions.
My antidotes could be taken away, or I could be poisoned by something that didn't have an antidote. And avoiding things that could poison me won't always be possible.
So I was left with only one solution. One that was solid, one that would always work no matter what. Making my body resistant to poisons. And the only way to do that? To consume poison and make my body fight against it.
It was a painful process. It was a crazy process. A normal person wouldn't even think about doing that, let alone consider it!
And yet, I was doing it. All because I worried. All because I was afraid of death.
'Yadvine poison... you'll serve me well, I can feel it.'
I groaned from the lingering pain.