Chapter 3: City of the Falls (Part 6/7)

Pushing my bedroom door open, I saw a light come in through a window next to a bed, illuminating the small room. In addition to the bed there was a dresser and a bedside table with a weird implement on it. Victoria spoke up again, giving a brief explanation of my living space. "These are the quarters that my past apprentices have lived in before. The work that I ask of my apprentices requires that they live in my home for the sake of efficiency, reduced distractions, as well as, . . other training methods." I thought I felt a sense of dry humor in her voice as she said 'other training methods' with a reminiscing smile. It certainly didn't bring me any peace of mind, except to douse any lingering heat downstairs with the chill it brought. Pointing to a weird contraption on the bedside table she continued to explain. "This is where you can place a light stone for when it gets dark. Although I will be allowing you to study after dark, I do advise you to be aware of the time, so that you get enough sleep for the next day. If you do not have a light stone, I can provide you one." Looking around me at the room, I can see that it is kept clean but remains sparse. "Thank you for taking me in as your apprentice." I bowed my head in genuine appreciation. "As for the light stone, Monroe already gave me one." Digging around in the pack he gave to me I handed it to her. "Would you mind showing me how this is supposed to work?" Victoria took the light stone and placed it on a small receptacle of sorts and then pulled a lever that slid a spherical cover over the light stone blocking out its effects. It looked like it had a few other levers that could regulate the angle and amount of light let through. I'd have to experiment with it later. Turning to the door, she paused to speak before leaving. "Well, as you said that you have work later today in your world, I would suggest that you get your things organized here and then return to your duties there. I'll see if I have any clothes that might have been left behind by past apprentices that may fit you. If I find any, then they should be waiting for you when you return." "Thank you." I replied. With a final nod at me, she left me alone in the room. Finally, I was alone!! Something had been lingering in my mind for a while, ever since my hormones seemed to have been sent into overdrive. Opening the door to the washroom, I was relieved to see a mirror over a sink and faucet of sorts. Stepping close to the mirror, I gazed at my reflection in deep yet worried contemplation. Except for the marked difference in my eyes, and slight difference in my ears and shape of my face, I was a spitting image of my 14-year-old self. Even though I had seen this image of myself in that initial character creation room with Naathan Gnosis, I hadn't truly recognized what impact such an appearance might come with. A groan escaped me as I pondered the implications of this. I recalled the booklet introducing this world, informing that most Travelers would be age regressed to 14 years old, due to that being the optimal mental development stage to learn mana manipulation. I was grateful for the improved ability granted to me through my age. However, I was dreading a repeat of my teenage years, when my hormones were a raging mess. I recalled how too often at that age, it felt like my own logical thoughts could be short circuited by the presence of an attractive woman. It certainly explained why I had the uncontrolled hots for Victoria, my new Apothecary teacher. *Sigh* A memory of my time in middle school came to mind. It highlighted just how screwed I was.********* Recalled memory*********I had been sitting behind a pretty attractive girl in class once, and a thought had come to mind when I saw her legs were bent pretty far back, with her shoes close to being under my desk. I yearned to make contact with her, any contact since the thought of such set off surging levels of excitement within me. With that thought, I began lounging as much as I could without appearing out of place, just to get my shoes to lightly touch her shoes. As soon as the front of my shoes made contact with the back of her shoes, I felt a thrilling rush of aroused excitement. ******** Return to present**********Even now, as I thought back on that memory in embarrassment, traces of my hormones started stirring. *Groan* "This is going to be a royal pain." I muttered to myself. Thankfully, there was what looked like a shower in the washroom. This seemed like an excellent time to test it out. Removing my clothing, I began fiddling with the knobs from the outside of the shower. I didn't want to suffer too much before putting myself in there. From some short trial and error, I learned how to adjust the temperature as a heavy yet scattered stream of water rushed out. Finally satisfied with my level of competence at using the shower I stepped beneath the rushing water, . . . And turned it to the coldest position. *Huuugh!* Everything contracted as I yelped at the freezing cold that assaulted me. Jumping back out of the range of the spray, I could almost swear that there was ice mixed in with the water, . . . Wait, no, looking down, there actually Was ice. A thin layer of icy slush had begun to form on the ground of the shower spray where it struck. *Sigh* I knew in my mind as an amateur architect, that such wouldn't be possible back on earth in the average home. The pipes of the average dwelling wouldn't be able to handle the pressure nor insulation required to regurgitate water chilled to such a level. I don't know what would be required in order to have it come out as ice from the spout. Chalking it up to being possible due to the use of magic, I had a sinking feeling that I'd be needing the effects of this shower frequently during my time here. I did not relish the extra responsibility, of overcoming and making peace with the hormonal effects of my new altered age. Finally, after continued trial and error, as well as a glowering hatred at the shower head, I was able to peacefully take a 'fairly' cold shower. With a far more composed mind, I dried myself with nearby available towels and re-donned my clothing. With little time left prior to work, I set out to see what Monroe had gotten me in the pack before logging out. Upending the bag over my bed, I hoped that there was nothing fragile enough in there to break from the mild treatment. Sifting through the bundled mess, I scattered them across my bed surface. Taking stock of my items, I made some subconscious comparisons to my past experience with camping done, with both my family and as part of a young men's adventure group: Backpack: It seemed a little like a camping pack with 2 straps for the back and a single flap for the top over a mouth that could be cinched closed with a tie off rope. The material looked like treated leather. On the sides of it, there were some small looped pieces of leather. Maybe it was to tie on things I didn't want to put into the pack? Overall, it felt very sturdy and rugged. Rope: It was thin, about half the thickness of my pinky finger, and tightly woven with a length of about 30 feet. The texture gave off a sturdy feeling to it. In curiosity, I tested its strength by wrapping part of it around my feet and then pulling with all my strength upward with both my arms. There was some minor elasticity, but no signs of tearing once it reached the limit of what I could force upon it. From that test I believed that it was strong enough to easily hold my weight and more. Metal Water canteen: It had a small clip that could be affixed to the outer siding of the backpack. If I had to guess, it could hold almost 2 liters of water in it. Dried Jerky: I don't know what kind of animal it was made from, but after biting off a small piece of it, a burst of flavor filled my senses. Salty, smoky, and with a unique wild taste that I had never encountered before. The closest type of jerky I could compare it to would be deer jerky, but many times better. With my mouth watering at the prospect of eating more of it, I exercised a moment of intense self-control, and reluctantly wrapped it back in the wax cloth it had come in. My mind was already making plans to buy more of it, and to find excuses to eat it. Bedroll: After unrolling what looked like a blanket at first, I realized it was something I could slip into like a sort of cocoon. The tight and thick weave of the material definitely surprised me. Palm sized wooden canister: When I popped off the top of the canister, I saw what appeared to be a greenish, red streaked paste. Taking a small whiff of it, from its bitter sweet smelling nature, I believed it to be restorative in nature. Likely a poultice of some sort for wounds. I would have to verify with Victoria, or maybe I'd learn it on my own as I studied under her. As of now I had no intention of going out into dangerous areas that would put me at risk for injuries. I also doubted that Victoria would purposely put me into dangerous situations as an apothecary trainee. 3 cloth bags: The bags had been scrunched up at the bottom corner of the backpack as I emptied it. They were all made of a similar material as the sleeping roll but not as thick. Each had a draw string as if to be used to carry additional items. I had briefly entertained the thought that they may be space storage items that seemed to be far more prevalent in VR games. Unfortunately, life here in the Virtual reality was far more logical, at least in terms of the value of certain rule breaking items. Stuffing various items in them I confirmed that it didn't shrink or make the items inside any lighter. "Haha" I laughed at myself for trying to compare this place with a game. Magic was a thing here, but I don't think the creators intended for there to be an easy mode. It felt far too real, and they did specify that it was for research purposes. I don't know how long, if ever, that I might have to wait, before I was able to acquire a dimensional storage item. In any case, to continue. . . Money bag: Monroe had left the money bag he had gotten back from the young soldier in there. Dumping out the contents I counted the coins. There were what looked like 4 Silver coins, 9 Copper coins, and 3 small triangular pieces of copper as if a coin had been split into several pieces. The silver coins were pretty small, about the size of an old-fashioned dime but with a star on one side and a hammer on the other. The coppers had indentations that if broken off would look like the smaller triangular like pieces in the bag and an antique keyhole shape. I would definitely have to thank him for all that he got for me.After putting all but the bed-roll back into my new pack, I lounged back on the bed using the bed roll as an impromptu cover. Closing my eyes, I ran my day's activities through my mind and wondered about what was to come in the future. I had yet to see how I'd feel after being in the capsule for so long, and how it would affect my energy at work. I trusted Millennial Enterprises to be honest with their explanation that the time in Virtual reality could account for sleep. However, trusting instead of knowing yet for myself, instilled some concern within me. With that, I decided to just relax and sleep if I was able to. As I lay down to sleep, I had to admit that while the bedding was decently comfortable. I was however, missing my specially shaped cool flow pillow at home. It had a small groove for my head with a small raised bump to support my neck. I hadn't bought such a pillow until after I moved out from my parents' house, and I still can't believe I went most of my life without it. But despite not having it with me now, I soon fell asleep.