First Week

Hunger itself wasn't the biggest problem, but rather the lack of water. Ian attempted to eat the abundant purple vegetation, but soon realized it was a terrible idea. Not only did it cause a burning sensation in his mouth, but he also spent hours writhing in pain on the ground before vomiting everything and worsening his hydration.

The first three days were torturous, and he barely remembered the fourth due to the onset of a lethargic state that persisted from the fifth day onward. Due to his divine body, even if incomplete, he possessed some life preservation systems. One of them, it seemed, was a state of semiconsciousness where the organism's activity was severely reduced, allowing for survival for a long period without activity, like hibernation.

Only on the seventh day, the maiden appeared for a visit and found Ian unconscious. Not understanding what was occurring she used a basic first aid technique. Techniques in that world would be considered magic on Earth. What she found was simple, dehydration and starvation. Surely, this was something that surprised her, how could a supposed God be so stupid as to not even be able to supply the basic necessities on his own?

The girl picked up one of the abundant and symmetrical crystals scattered everywhere and brought it close to his head. A fluorescent light entered him, and his body began to recover. After the third crystal lost its brightness and became dull, he opened his eyes and regained consciousness. As a precaution, she used a fourth crystal.

Feeling his strength revitalized and the absence of thirst and hunger, Ian realized that the only thing he hadn't tried to eat—yes, he even took a few bites of wood—was the abundant crystal that was literally everywhere in the landscape. Judging by the maiden's expression, that was the most basic thing any child should know.

After an awkward moment of silence, Ian stood up, stretched, and after making sure he was in condition, gestured for the girl to follow him. About ten minutes later, again awkwardly, she understood that he wanted her to follow him. They went to a corner of the 1st floor that was once crowded with debris, now partially cleared, and descended into a passageway to a hidden basement.

The Well-Built Loli (a nickname given until more information is available, and yes, if it's a loli, she's underdeveloped, but the main character seems to be a mediocre otaku) went down first and took out a small lantern-like device from an inner pocket of her clothes and illuminated the area. As Ian had previously explored with minimal light, he hadn't properly glimpsed the details. The walls had high ceilings and many paintings with mythical figures that gave an air of antiquity and respect. The floor was made of glossy and perfectly preserved marble, in contrast to the wooden furniture, which showed signs of decomposition. Among all this, there were about 30 silver chests, large and heavy, adorned with white gold embellishments.

"????? ????? ?"

Upon seeing those chests, Loli ran towards the nearest one, placed her finger on the lock, and clap, the lid opened. No key, no difficulty, just by putting her finger there. Astonished, Ian tried the same on another chest, and the same scene unfolded—it opened! He could have done that at any time. They weren't locked, just the way to open them was unfamiliar to him.

At that moment, his cheeks flushed, and for the first time, he was thankful that he couldn't communicate with the girl, or she would have known that once again, he was playing the fool.

Inside the containers, many books and scrolls were properly lined up and fully preserved, with no apparent signs of the passing of the years. As they opened all the chests, an ancient library was presented to them.

Obviously, the characters were illegible to Ian, but they emanated a mysterious power that attracted him. In that moment, he made a decision— learn the language of this world and absorb all the knowledge from the books. In his mind, he already fantasized about flying and shooting thunderbolts that would shake the heavens, just like in a Chinese martial arts novel or even magical movies.

Without thinking any more about it, the anxious Ian spent almost thirty minutes in mimes for Loli to finally understand what he wanted. Thus began the arduous and challenging path of learning to speak and write from scratch in a place where comparatives and reality differed from Earth. Little general knowledge could be utilized. Luckily, his Blessing of Infinite Learning allowed his progress to be rapid and steady, even so...