Temporary Boost

"What's wrong? What's the matter?"

I could identify the voice as Moya's. I heard the words, but could not fully process their meaning. What WAS wrong? What was I doing right now?

Oh, right. Zeta was back, and said something about one of its challenges. That I...completed one?

How? Zeta hadn't said a word in what felt like ages. I remembered that much. Then what challenge was it talking about? Hadn't I failed all the ones it had suggested almost as soon as they were issued?

What was the last one it issued? The thing about the bistro? No, that didn't feel right...

"Ah, I should probably say something to Moya," I thought suddenly, realizing it had been a while since I had heard her voice and I had yet to say a word in return, lost in my own thoughts as I was.

But...it had been a while...right?

"N-noth-hings wro-ong," I stammered out to Moya, only half noticing that I sounded as if I was being tazed. "I'm f-f-fine." I looked up at the kobold, who was standing close by. She made no effort to make contact with me, despite her concerned words. This was probably for her own safety, of course, and I took no offense from it.

Boy, Moya was taking her time with her reply. Was she at a loss for words? She wasn't exactly the talkative type, to begin with, so maybe she was content to let me work it out myself. Strange, now that I thought about it, that no one else had come to help, or expressed concern, despite how crowded the Hall was. Was this an example of royal capital indifference, like how some big cities were supposed to be back in the old world?

There was a lot to think about...and boy, was I thinking a lot.

…Was there always a timer there? It was in the corner of my eye, though I already knew it was laid over my vision, like the skill list. It read...5 minutes?

Speaking of the skill list, I had just been able to open it before I collapsed. I could only imagine what kind of skills a Hunter would have - possibly something akin to the Tamer class I was before, but with more bow-based techniques? I guess it all depended on how this world classified the word "hunter" in the context of a class...

MAN, was my mind racing. And still, no one had-

"You don't sound alright," Moya said, at last. That was a long pause, just for that.

I looked to Moya again, then to our surroundings. A number of people did stop to stare, and a few seemed to be concerned...but why were they moving so...slow? Moya too, now that I mention it - she seemed to inching toward me at a snail's pace. Was she still anxious about her own safety? Or...

Oh right, the skill list! Where had that gone? Usually it was around this part of my vision, but there was something in my eye-

Or so I had thought. In truth, my attention had passed over it several times already, but I had inwardly dismissed it as cloudy vision, or debris to wipe away when I got the chance. The list, laid over my vision like usual, was a solid block of writing, containing word after word after word of things that made only small amounts of sense.

"Earthquake."

"Create scepter."

"Boil."

"Four-fold slash."

"Entrance."

"Flight."

"Create inorganic material."

"Learn language."

"Fission."

"Bubble barrage."

The words continued on and on, with no consistent sense of scale or intensity. Some were as innocuous as the basic spells I had seen previously, while others were bizarre and alarming to even see in a list of so-called 'skills.'

"W-What th-the hell is-s all thi-is?!" I stammered, to the surprise of the small crowd that had finally form around us.

"Are you alright, lad?" a gruff adventurer questioned from within the crowd.

"Has he gone mad?" another adventurer asked aloud.

"Have you gone mad?" Moya asked, not realizing that she had been beaten to the punch.

"Objective fulfilled: Have your mental stability questioned."

Maybe they were right, because the amount of stimulation around me right now made it feel like my head was about to split in two.

I just wanted to go somewhere quiet, to think about what was going on, why this was all happening, what I was going to do about it...

A bright cyan light erupted beneath me, to the bewilderment of my adventuring audience. And myself.

"He's...casting a spell...?!"

"He HAS gone mad!"

"Wait, what are you doing?" Moya asked, her voice finally betraying her normally stoic nature.

The light continued to grow in intensity, becoming blinding, until it suddenly and abruptly vanished...and us along with it.

The very next instant, I found that I had lost my audience, as well as the light and warmth of the Guild Hall. It was dark, where ever I was now, and quiet. Exactly as I had desired...

"Wh-where are we? How did we get here? What did you do?"

Just as much as I was wondering the same thing, it was not me who was asking these questions aloud - Moya had come along for the ride, and was now looking around wildly. She seemed to be getting more frantic by the second, bombarded as she was by the continual turn of events. Ahh, such a fresh reaction, it reminded me of myself from...a day or so ago.

"I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know," I answered Moya's questions in sequence, finally getting to my feet. The timer in my view still had two minutes left, I noted, but the strain on my body was significantly less, now. Either whatever I had done had taken away some of the energy that assailed me, or my body was adjusting to it at an alarming rate.

"Rhys? Rhys, is that you?"

The sound from the darkness that surrounded us gave me a jolt, but a moment later I realized I recognized the voice.

"Damien! What're you doing here?" I called out, my eyes adjusting enough to the dark to barely make out his massive figure some distance away. The fire that they usually had going in front of their tents was out - perhaps he was just taking a nap? "Wait, this is...your hideout?"

"You've forgotten what it looks like already, lad? Did you hit your head or something?" the demi-human asked, laughing his usual laugh at my expense. "Yet, somehow, you remembered how to get here just fine."

"Yeah...about that..." I began, rubbing my temples absently. "We may just have been the victims of...teleportation."

"Teleportation?" Damien repeated, his surprise evident in his voice. "That's high level magic, that! I'm not sure anyone capable of casting it would be inclined to use as a prank, though."

Oh, great. It was high level magic.

"Ah, I see you've brought a friend with you," Damien shifted the conversation as he finally took notice of Moya, who was currently positioned squarely behind me. "Greetings, little one!" He waved at the kobold like he was waving at a small child, but as Moya couldn't understand his words, it was better than nothing.

Moya, meanwhile, gave a short nod in response. She did not seem enthused by anything that was going on, but as we were speaking a different language, she may not have caught on that the werewolf before her was a friend of mine.

Either way, the incident had taken us exactly where I had wanted to go. This was undoubtedly because I was the source of it, of course - although I hadn't read anything like "teleportation" in the skill list, it was probably buried there somewhere. Apparently, a desire for some peace and quiet was enough visualization to cast high level magic...

"REWARD RECEIVED."

Sure enough, as Zeta's announcement boomed in my head, I noticed the last few seconds of the timer tick by and disappear. Pulling up my skill list, I found the laundry list had been replaced by a meager 4 skills, like usual.

And when I pulled up my stats...I found that I hadn't increased in level at all.

"What the hell, Zeta?! Your insane challenges don't even give me XP?!"

"Objective fulfilled: Experience Zeta's temporary boost."

"Temporary boost?" I repeated mentally. Was Penta actually...being helpful right now? It was roundabout, but her proclamation did tell me something about how Zeta worked. Maybe.

"Are you...ok, now?" It took me a second to realize the voice was coming from behind my leg. Looking back, I found Moya staring up at me again. Her eyes seemed to plead for this to the end of the weirdness. I definitely hoped so, too.

"I think so. I hope so. Anyway, we're here! This is where we were headed next."

"I...see," Moya replied, looking around skeptically.

"Lad, are you..." Damien began, and I noticed an eyebrow was raised quizzically, "...actually talking to that kobold?"

"Oh, uh...yeah," I shot back sheepishly. I hadn't really considered keeping it a secret.

"Haha! You're nothing but surprise after surprise, aren't ya?!" Damien boomed, letting out another hearty laugh.

"Is that...weird?"

"Weird? It's damn near impossible! Or, at least, it should be for a human, anyway..." he replied, scratching his chin. "And...most demi-humans. And all but one of the Elder Races. So I'd say that's pretty damn weird, haha!"

Oh, well then...

"Objective fulfilled: Discover what makes you unique."

"And who, pray tell, gave it to me in the first place?!"