"The topic of today: Body-Strengthening!"
I silently curse and glare at Jagon.
"I woke up literally ten seconds ago. Did you really have to shout?"
My eye was twitching from anger. Sure, I could understand that Jagon wanted me to become independent as fast as possible, but... Waking me up at sunrise with heavy shaking and shouting at me as soon as I open my eyes had to be a bit much, no?
I sigh. Even if I complained, nothing would change.
...That didn't mean I wouldn't complain though.
"You're a real pain in the arse, you know that?"
"Well, I do get that sometimes. Now come on, we don't wanna waste time!"
Ah, this guy was so stupidly honest and straightforward, it was kind of a pity. Normally, I would be friends with someone like that, but our circumstances were making that difficult.
'Tis a shame, as some might say.
"Alright, fine, I won't complain any more due to your good personality. But please go away until I put my clothes on, at least."
He heartily laughed while exiting the room. Why was he laughing? Don't ask me.
I thought about my course of action for today while I dressed up.
'I probably won't have any time to work on my expressions today.'
I sigh. I felt like I made great progress yesterday, and I wanted to keep that pace. Seems like life had other plans though.
With some hesitance, I walk to the kitchen and eat the soup that was prepared.
'Right. I still haven't learned cooking. Should work up on that sometime.'
No, wait. What the hell was I even thinking? It was my third day here, and I was already thinking about cooking?!
'Oh dear. So much has happened that I feel like a week has passed. I'm not sure whether that's a good sign or not.'
Right. I have spent only 48 hours here. It was surprising considering the amount of things that I have thought about and things that have happened, but I have only been here for two days.
'Testing for a job. Begginer's guide to dagger weilding. Working on my facial expressions. My realization of Body-Strengthening... RIght, all of that happened in a very short amount of time.'
I look at the bowl of soup with empty eyes while that thought goes through my head.
'If I keep up this pace...'
I look up at both Angelica and Jagon with the same empty eyes. More accurately, I look at the only two people I have somewhat gotten to know in this new world.
'...Right. I should be careful.'
No matter how much I kept telling myself that everything was going at a normal pace, I was clearly rushing myself.
I mean, I barely interacted with Angelica, and I only know Jagon from how he treats a potential new hunter.
Even though I was living in the same house as them, I barely knew them.
'Not only that...'
There was a whole village of people here, but the only one I actually interacted with was the random kid that entered the house. And I interacted so little with him, that I don't even remember his name.
This was a problem... right?
'...Argh, what the hell am I even worrying about?!'
The fact that I had only been here for two days went both ways! Sure, I didn't know anyone in the village, but it has only been two days!
It wasn't unreasonable to not start talking to people two days after I found the first traces of civilization!
'My mental state is in much worse shape than I expected.'
I was worrying too much and about too many things. Well, I couldn't blame myself. This new world was full worries, after all. The fact that I almost died on my first two days here just went to show that this was no place to take lightly.
'Alright, time to switch gears. Worrying too much is bad for the heart.'
I quickly finish the soup and ― after another moment of Angelica acting like an angel ― I follow Jagon outside.
Just like he shouted in the morning, today's topic was Body-Strengthening. I wasn't sure whether to feel excited or bummed out.
Before I could adopt one of the two mindsets, Jagon started talking.
"I said that today's topic would be Body-Strengthening, but I lied."
I stare at him, deadpan. I mean, you shouted at me ― while I was half awake ― that it was going to be Body-Strengthening, but now you change your mind?!
'Right. I almost forgot why I hated this guy. Thanks for the mind refresher.'
"I hate you, you know that, right?"
"Oh, come on. Don't glare at me like that. I didn't completely lie. After all, before we talk about Body-Strengthening, we need to talk about mana."
...Okay, I can see where he was coming from. It was still no reason to lie to me though!
But no matter how angry I was, a deep sense of wonder couldn't help but rise in my chest.
I mean, who could blame me? I was going to learn about mana! Mana! The main staple of everything magic related! And consequently, everything Isekai related!
'I'm finally getting to the good part!'
I clench my fists from anticipation.
So what if my Body-Strengthening would be shitty? Doesn't mean I couldn't be excited for it!
I look at Jagon with fire in my eyes. I was so pumped up that even he reeled back from my gaze.
"It's good to have such determination, but I suggest you pipe it down. If you keep being that excited, you'll just get disappointed and nothing more."
"Don't think I can. Now get to the explaining part."
Jagon sighed, exasperated.
"Don't tell me I didn't warn you..."
***
Luckily, Jagon was wrong. I wasn't disappointed at all.
Unluckily, the only reason I wasn't disappointed, was because I didn't have any hope in the first place.
Now, let's go over what Jagon taught me.
First, before doing anything else, a person had to feel their own mana.
...That's it. That's all Jagon had taught me today.
I had spent the entire day trying to feel my own mana. I didn't do anything else, just meditation and eating.
Sensing your own mana was a slow process. Jagon said that it would probably take me a month if I did nothing else, and three months if I also focused on other things.
Honestly, I expected something like this, which was why I wasn't disappointed. Sure, I was excited, but only because I was getting closer to casting magic.
I wasn't excited because I expected to immediately become stronger, no, those kinds of delusions disappeared from my mind on day one.
Even if the progress was slow, it was still progress. And as such, I could be excited for it. It was as simple as that.
Which was why it fine for me to not sense my mana even for a long time. I just had to―
"Huh?"
I furrowed my brows. It was night and I was about to go to sleep, but in my last meditation for the day, I noticed something strange.
'Um... What the hell is that?'
There was something strange in my body. Something foreign. Something that neither I, nor my body recognized.
Not only that, it was moving all around my body, and also constantly being spent and replenished at the same time.
I shuddered.
'This feels... wrong.'
This something felt wrong. It didn't feel natural for me. In fact, it felt like an invasive virus.
...But it was not a virus and it was not harmful. Maybe not immediately, but I understood what it was.
It was mana.
"But how does that make sense?"
Jagon said it would take me a month ― at the least ― to sense my mana. And yet, here I was, only after a day of meditating.
'...Perhaps, it does make a lot of sense. I'm just looking from the wrong perspective.'
Indeed, if I changed my point of view from what Jagon thought would happen, to what actually happened, I could pretty clearly see that everything made perfect sense.
"Of course it does. After all, our body would naturally recognize an invasive substance."
To people of this world, mana was just like air. They were familiar with it, and as such, it was much more elusive for them as well.
But for me, mana was a completely foreign concept. With knowledge how my body functioned with mana and how it functioned without it, I could clearly see the inconsistencies in my body, and derive conclusions from them, which pointed to how and where mana was used.
All of this led... to me sensing my own mana in less than a day.
'Huh... perhaps just being from another world is such a big boon, that I don't even need any other powers to be protagonist level.'
It was a weird thought to have, considering I had all but thrown away my delusions of ever being powerful. But perhaps, they were delusions no more...
'Ah, but that's the kind of thinking that gets you killed, ain't it?'
Letting your guard down was lethal. And getting arrogant was the same thing with extra steps.
I won't be stupid. I won't hope for something like plot armor.
I will just keep steadily building up my power, always having extra measures for everything I could think of.
'And I can think of a lot of stuff.'
Slightly excited for tomorrow, I get into bed and fall asleep.
***
With a big smile on my face, I continued wolfing down the breakfast Angelica prepared. Every single meal she made tasted heavenly ― pun intended ― but today it was even more appetizing.
But that wasn't because she suddenly became a better cook, it was because I actually felt happy and excited for once.
'The human mind is simple, after all.'
Even if you put people into the most harrowing experience of their life ― actually, more like because of it ― something small can very easily make them happy, which was exactly what was happening to me.
Even though I had a lot of things to worry about, even though I had been almost dead no more than 96 hours ago, I couldn't help but smile. I could already invision myself boasting to Jagon about my progress, and that alone was making my face curl into a grin.
Of course, boasting wasn't all the reason I was so happy. The fact that I was getting stronger and more knowledgeable ― even if only slightly ― was a positive development too.
Jagon was staring at me like I was weirdo, but I didn't mind.
I very happily devoured breakfast.
***
By the time I finished eating, I asked Jagon to go outside with me. He was confused since he expected me to focus on sensing my mana for now, but agreed nonetheless.
When we stood on the already familiar grass-plot, it was finally time to boast.
Jagon sighed with an exasperated and annoyed expression.
"Well, what did you drag me all the way here for?"
"Don't worry, it's for a good reason. I can sense mana!"
I puffed my chest out and rose my chin to the point that I was looking at the sky.
I couldn't see Jagon's expression, but the silence that followed... felt awkward.
Eventually, the silence was broken by Jagon scoffing.
"Stop lying. There's no way you can already feel your mana. It even took me half a month of straight meditation to feel it. You doing that in a day? Impossible."
I felt like there was a very deep distaste for me, hidden somewhere in his words, but I didn't care much. He was wrong, after all.
"Well, I did do it. I can feel my mana. It actually feels pretty weird, almost like I have a sixth sense now."
"Oh, you sure? Prove it then."
At that I got stumped for a bit. I mean, how was I supposed to prove it?
'No need to overthink it, just ask.'
"How can I prove it?"
"It's very easy. Just make your Body-Strengthening stronger. Everyone who can sense mana can do that."
"Alright."
I gave him a smug smile and concentrated. After standing there for about a minute, I managed to feel my mana.
And I...
'How do I make my Body-Strengthening stronger?'
And I was stumped.
I could feel my mana, yes, but I couldn't control it. No matter how much I thought and what I did, it didn't follow my wishes in the slightest.
'Ah, right. I got too excited. Just because I can feel mana, doesn't mean I can control it.'
At first, I wondered whether Jagon was playing a prank on me by telling me to control my mana. But after some consideration, I realized that he isn't the type of person to do that.
But then, how could this be possible? Jagon said that everyone who can sense mana can improve their Body-Strengthening, but I couldn't.
And there's only one good reason why I was different.
'I am... from another world after all.'
In hindsight, I should've expected this. This world never misses a chance to dunk on me, after all.
Yes, for people of this world, since mana is so familiar to them, it's harder for them to notice it's existence. But that familiarity is something that is needed. Since they are familiar with mana, they instinctively know how to use it and how to control it.
For me... that seemed to be different.
'Awesome. Just when I thought that I was special, turns out I'm "special" instead.'
To be honest... this wasn't too bad. It was mostly just a trade-off. People of this world can control mana, while I can sense it.
It meant that the overall time we would spend on learning mana was the same... probably.
'Damn, I'm... gonna look so stupid in front of Jagon right now!'
I went ahead and boasted, but now I was going to get laughed at.
'And the worst part ― it's not even my fault! I told the truth!'
Well, if you want to get technical, I could've not boasted about it, and then the embarrassment wouldn't have been nearly as bad, but it was still not my fault! Not my fault, I say!
I gritted my teeth and looked at Jagon.
"I can't do it..."
Immediately, Jagon's face curled into a grin.
"Heh. Well, maybe don't lie next time. I can see that you're embarrassed, so there isn't even a need to say anything. Come to boast when you can actually back up your claims."
He started walking away. I wanted to shout that I can sense mana, but can't control it, but Jagon would've just laughed that off anyway.
He would've probably just said "Ha! Come up with a believable excuse, at least!"
I clench my fists in anger.
'Ah... my hatred for this world never seems to die down.'
I wasn't angry at Jagon, he did nothing wrong. I was angry at the world... and at myself. I got a bit too excited, a bit too happy... In short, I got hopeful.
'Right. That's how it always is.'
With a thought like that, I plopped down on the grass, closed my eyes and focused on controlling my mana.
***
This day was nothing special as well. I meditated until lunch, after which Jagon dragged me outside to practice dagger-wielding some more.
I felt like I was doing well, but Jagon... he said that my talent was below average. That didn't deter me... more accurately, I didn't have the choice to be deterred.
Even if I was going to be bad at it, I still needed to know how to do it. Otherwise, I would be completely useless if someone attacked me at close range.
And besides, talent can be supplemented with hard work... or nastiness in my case. I probably wouldn't spend a lot of time learning how to use a dagger, considering everything else I had to do.
Just like that, another day went by. Another peaceful and normal day.
'Yeah, I feel nice right now. No danger, no wolves hungering to eat me. This is how my Isekai should've started.'
After finishing my meditation, I got into bed and closed my eyes.
***
I wake up, work on my expressions, do a bit of stretching, meditate, walk to the kitchen and eat breakfast.
At this point, I was already getting used to the starts of my days. They were all the same, and that repitition gave me some peace of mind.
But today I decided to change it up a bit. After breakfast, instead of going to my room and meditating, I decided to stay in the kitchen.
Jagon left to do who knows what, but Angelica calmly sat on a chair and looked at me.
"I presume you want to talk, considering you didn't immediately go to your room."
"That's right, I wanted to talk. It's nothing serious though. I just grew up pretty sheltered, so I wanted to ask about some things that I don't know about."
She smiled and nodded, prompting me to talk.
"First things first... please tell me the name of this village."
She blinked, stunned into silence by my question, which wasn't surprising. I mean, I spent four full days here, but I never really knew or asked for the name.
It just never occured to me, with everything progressing so fast.
Angelica giggled.
"The name of this village is Abut."
"Right. The village is Abut and the forest is Zelen. What about the country's name?"
At that, Angelica visibly grimaced.
'Yikes. That's a very suspicious question, so I'm not sure how she's gonna react.'
She stared at me with narrowed eyes for a bit, but eventually just sighed.
"I'm not sure how you don't even know the name of the strongest country on the continent, but... the name is Kemaito."
"Kemaito..."
That was a pretty weird name for a country, but hey, I wouldn't judge. I myself sucked at naming.
'That sentence is loaded with information, huh? Okay, so there're multiple countries, it's not just one. It seems like people of this world are also aware that there are multiple continents in the world. And not only that, the country I'm in is the strongest one... on this continent, at least.'
That was a whole lot of information I got just from one sentence. I was almost impressed with myself. Almost.
I sat there in silence for a bit, processing all the information. After sorting everything out, I nodded.
"So then... does an organization called an Adventurer Guild exist?"
"Yes, it does. Me and Jagon used to be adventurers, actually."
I raise my eyebrow.
"Used to be adventurers? Not, are adventurers?"
"Yes. After Jagon got a severe Mind Overload, he couldn't continue fighting, so we left. He's still recovering to this day."
I waved my hands around in a futile attempt to collect my thoughts.
"Wait, wait, wait. There was way too much stuff in what you just said. First of all, what is a Mind Overload?"
Angelica smiled sweetly.
"A Mind Overload is when a mage uses too powerful of a spell for their mind to handle. When a mage gets a Mind Overload, a percent of their calculative capabilities is taken away, so they are forced to cast lower tier spells. If you abuse your mind too much, you won't even have the calculative capability to think, and at that point... you die."
I sit there, completely stunned, not even blinking.
The amount of information I just got was staggering.
I shake my head and focus on getting more information first. I was going to put everything in its place later.
"Alright, so let me get this straight. Jagon is a mage?"
"Yes, he is. Even though he looks like a melee fighter, he is instead a mage, and a quite powerful one at that."
"Okay, I got that. Next is... Jagon is still recovering from Mind Overload?"
Angelica nods with a wistful expression.
"Yes. I've been healing him every day for the past month, but it's still not fully healed. That's no surprise though, considering how much he pushed himself back then."
I nodded, barely keeping up with the talk.
"And the last one... If I'm getting this right, to cast spells, you have to calculate a lot of stuff, and think about a lot of stuff. But, if you think too much, you will get a Mind Overload, and you will get a penalty that will reduce your ability to think. And if you continue thinking too much, it gets to the point where even thinking normal thoughts is too much... and you die?"
"That's right. You're absorbing information fast."
I groaned. This was a lot to think about... but at the same time, not too much.
'But still... that muscle of a human is a mage, for pancakes' sake?!'
That was way too big of a shock. I considered myself a person who doesn't judge by appearances, but imagining Jagon being a mage... felt wrong. My brain just refused to accept that fact.
I stood up and swayed a bit. My head felt heavy from how much I absorbed from this talk.
"Thank you for answering my questions. I'll go to my room for now."
Before I opened the door, I stopped and looked back at Angelica.
"By the way, is there anything you want to ask me? I can't be the only one to ask."
Angelica widened her eyes in surprise, and then giggled.
"Don't worry, I don't have any questions."
"That's a relief. Once again, thank you for answering mine."
I entered my room and layed down on the bed.
After about 2 minutes of blankly staring at the ceiling, I sit up.
'Okay, I think I understand all of it now.'
I got into a comfortable position and start molding my face.
Even though there was a lot of new information in my brain, it's not like I could do anything with it... for now. So, I just went back to what I usually did.
Since I was a little bit tired of meditating, I decided to work on my expressions instead. The progress here felt much more tangible compared to my attempts in controlling mana, so I could do this for much longer without getting bored.
'Another good start to the day.'
***
The day went by in a blink. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad... but I'll say good, since I wanna try being optimistic for once.
It was another day full of dagger-wielding lessons with Jagon, meditating and molding my face.
As I thought about the last couple of days while laying in bed, for the first time since coming to this world... a small smile formed.
This smile wasn't fake, it wasn't a spur of the moment smile like what happened when I was excited about sensing mana. This was... my truest smile. I felt content right now.
'...Khe...Hahaha! Really? Content?! CONTENT?!'
But then, the smile immediately got replaced by another smile. A crooked and wrong smile that oozed madness.
This one stayed for a long time, all the way until I fell asleep.
...
'I think I can understand Yui now, a bit.'