Chapter 9

After a few more minutes of walking, we reached the inner part of the city. In the middle of the street there ran a small canal, with a few boats floating on it peacefully. Every few hundred meters there was a stone bridge over the water, connecting the two sidewalks running along the buildings. The tall houses were made of brick and stone, giving them a medieval feeling, but it was offset by the number of large windows on the walls, and all the greenery scattered around. In the distance, on top of a large building, sat a huge glass dome. The streets were lined with dark bronze lamps that illuminated the sidewalk and the water below.

We were walking on a busy street with lots of signs advertising different shops and services. As we went along, we saw more and more people on the streets. The clothes were very different from mine, people now wore simple dresses with long skirts, tight and tidy suits, or more comfortable shirts. I still had my tattered jeans on, and we were dirty and bloody, so we stuck out like sore thumbs in the tidy crowd. Also, we had a floating jellyfish companion with us, and I didn't know if that was normal or not.

Feeling more and more eyeballs on our backs, we decided to hurry a bit more to Tara's home and change to more acceptable clothes. We reached a tall brick building with lots of windows, and Tara held something in front of a small brass box next to the glass door. It swung open softly, and we entered the house. She lived almost at the top floor, the ninth, so we climbed into an elevator that hummed to life as soon as we entered it. This just amused me more and more.

"How does this work?" I asked her.

"With xin? Like everything else." She answered with a confused look on her face.

"I understand that, but how are you able to build machines that use xin? I assumed civilization went back to the dark ages."

She opened a door on her floor in the same manner, pushing a small card into a slot next to the door. Again, it opened without any issue.

"Well, I don't know much about it but runesmiths can enchant objects, and with some power channeled into them they can "use" magic just as we could. I'm an explorer, so I don't really know how it works."

"Hmm. Interesting. I'll have to look into that later." I decided after a bit of thinking. Putting my magic onto regular objects would be beneficial, maybe it'd hurt less to heal others if I could use a medium for the spell.

While we talked, we walked (some of us floated) into her home. It was relatively large, for such an apartment you'd need to pay a small fortune in my own world. The runes we talked about were everywhere. After examining a few objects, I could see it: small engravings in an alien language were etched into the metal of almost everything. On the faucet above the sink, the door, a refrigerator that was just a large bronze box with ice magic I assume, the stove and oven were full as well.

Very small, light blue glowing lines ran from everything that used xin power to a point in the wall of the home. They connected to a strange device. Two bronze caps held a glass tube, and inside there was a white orb glowing softly. It was a xin crystal, so probably the main source of the power. The top of the device exerted a subtle pulling force, and after igniting my heightened sense of sight to see the xin particles, I saw that it collected the ambient energy to charge itself up and stored the xin for later use. It was an incredibly clever machine, and I was in awe of how smart these people were.

"You should take a shower and clean up. I'll go and buy you some clothes really quick," Tara instructed me suddenly.

"Oh okay, thanks! How do I use the shower?" The bathroom was spacious, but there was no bathtub, just a shower, a sink and a toilet. Everything was filled with runes, and the small xin tubes ran to everything that used water.

There were no levers in the shower, only a small dial that connected the xin wires to the head. It wasn't complicated to use, and I got the hang of it quickly. Using machines that used xin was similar to how electric appliances worked, with the difference that xin could be directly converted into water or flames for cooking and drinking. The shower felt absolutely fantastic, after months of using cold water to clean myself, the steaming hot stream of water felt like heaven. I sat down on the ceramic tiles and just enjoyed the pressure of the hot water massaging my head.

Tara came back after a short while and left the fresh clothes at the door with a towel. I dried myself and got dressed. They were simple, probably wool pants, and a shirt, but they were thick and comfortable. Somehow the grey and soft green shirt looked good on me, it fit the whole aesthetic of the place and it suited me quite nicely.

"Now you look like a normal person," she smiled after I left the bathroom. "I'll hop in and wash up as well, after that we'll run some errands."

"Okay. Thanks for the clothes and the shower. Can I pay you back somehow?" I asked. It felt weird receiving so much from her and not giving her anything in return. She looked confused.

"Well… Do you have any money?" she asked with a half-smile.

"Not yet, but I can get a job I think…"

"We'll figure that out later. Now if you'll excuse me." She closed the bathroom door and went to get a shower.

While she was in there, I took the opportunity to look around the apartment. It had two smaller rooms and a bigger one, with a connected kitchen. Sunlight shone through the large windows, illuminating the expensive-looking couch and chairs surrounding a glass coffee table. In one of the chairs, I found Neo, he looked somewhat saggy and worn out. I sat down next to him and sank into the soft fabric. If he was resting, I didn't want to bother him. Also, does he even sleep?

A bookshelf caught my eye in the corner, with antique-looking books, and a few small decorations. Could it be that Tara is rich? I don't know how expensive all these things are, but the residence looked elite, the furnishing looked luxurious. But maybe my opinion is skewed from having to sleep on the floor for months. Anyhow, my interest was piqued, so I got up and picked up a book from the shelf and opened it. The inside was laced with incomprehensible scribbles. Maybe this was the language of the new age? But then why could I speak normally? I somehow understood it. I'll have to re-learn to read and write…

Disheartened, I put the fancy book back and sank back into the couch. It felt fantastic to rest after such a long journey, but we had work to do. I had no idea what exactly, but Tara said we'd need to run some errands. Speaking of, she stepped out of the shower in her normal clothes, not meant for fighting, and she looked dazzling.

She actually put some effort into combing her short wavy red hair, put on a soft pastel green dress that accentuated her figure. I immediately felt flustered.

"You look nice," I squeezed out. She looked so different from having branches in her hair, covered in dirt.

"Thanks. Can we get going?" Tara asked, seemingly enjoying my embarrassment.

"Yeah, sure…" I realized I was staring at her, so I quickly averted my eyes. It landed on the bookshelf. "I checked out one of those books. I hope you don't mind, but it turns out, I can't read."

"Hm… That may be a problem. We'll need to buy some books on that as well then, and help you learn it," she decided.

"But why can I understand what you're saying? If we speak the same language, why can't I read as well? You don't even have an accent. I don't think a thousand years later nothing changed."

"It is interesting. Maybe it has something to do with your skills?" she was in the dark as well.

"I have no idea. We'll have time to figure out that later. Should we take Neo?" I asked, concerned for my jellyfish friend.

<Hey man, you awake?> I sent him a quick message through our mind link.

<Sorry, I'm going to rest for a while. Tara, may I use your sink to soak please?>

She went and got some water into the plugged sink for Neo to soak in.

"I think it's better this way as well, he's a bit conspicuous," she declared, and I agreed. We drew way too much attention earlier, which was fine, but I'm not used to crowds.

"Alright then, let's go. What's the first destination?" I asked while we left the apartment.

"We'll need to get you an id card, so we'll go to the Explorer's guild management office."

"Lead the way." We walked quietly on the street. There were still a few stares, but much less than before. I guess we looked normal in these simple old-fashioned clothes. now that I looked at the passersby more closely, they all had different eye and hair colors, from bright green to dark blue, but never pure white, like mine. Maybe that's why they were staring? They could've been just looking at Tara, but it still bugged me.

"Um… Is white hair weird or something? Why are they still staring at me?" I asked sheepishly.

"Your hair and eye color generally reflects what abilities you have, so I have red hair because of my fire abilities. If you control water or ice, you have blue; for light, yellow or green if you have some plant-related skills; and so on. But I've never seen anyone with white hair, and I guess neither had they."

"But I don't even know what my abilities are. This is pretty frustrating," I replied. So, I have hidden abilities? Or did the preservation skill dye my hair white? "And what if you get a new skill? Does your color change as well?"

"Yes, certainly," Tara answered, "but sometimes it takes a bit of time. However, if a new skill differs too much from your current ones, your body may reject it. So, you won't end up with having rainbow colored hair, although that'd look pretty cool. But if you're not compatible, that's it."

I noticed that Tara had two colors in her hair. A deep red base that faded into golden blonde with a smooth transition. Maybe she has more skills? So far I've only seen her fire ability, I thought to myself. I decided it was probably best not to pry. I didn't know if it was considered rude to ask about someone's abilities and if she wanted to tell me or if it was important, she would have said something to me already.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached a tall building that seemed to be made of glass almost entirely. It looked like a baby version of a skyscraper that got stuck in the Victorian era. We entered through the front door and found ourselves in a fancy reception area. To one side a number of booths lined the wall, looking almost exactly like a post office or a bank in the modern day. There was a short line, so we took our place and waited for a while.

When it was our turn, a very unenthusiastic old lady called out to us, and we walked to her booth. She barely looked at us while asking us her pre learned questions. "How can I help you." "What is the name." "Date of birth." and so on, asking these "questions" to figure out who I was. We were here to request an Id card for me. We fabricated a background for an orphan nobody traveling merchant. My new persona had my name and age, which was to my best knowledge, 20 years old, unknown parents, and a merchant company that disbanded recently. This wasn't needed at all as the old lady didn't care about my background, she just wanted to get this over with.

The Id card I got was pretty cool. It acted as a credit card, storing the amount of money I have, as well as personal identification, it also had the layers of my xin crystal and the specialization. (We told her I could heal, which was true, and that I had 5 layers. Which was also true, it's just that I had three hundred more as well. Whatever.) After we gave her all the information about me, and an excuse on why I didn't have one already, she put a small, bronze rectangle in a magical engraving machine. That printed on a bunch of squiggles and shapes onto the card, with a black and white image of my face.

The back side acted as the credit card, also displaying the amount of money I had. According to Tara, people don't use cash anymore, just these cards, but somewhere there are banks that store real coins. There is copper, silver, gold, and stellar coins. Each one's worth one hundred the previous one, so a stellar coin that's made of xin diamond is worth a million copper coins. A load of bread is around two copper coins, a night in an inn with food and shower is 20. That should give you an idea of what money's worth around here.

Tara also pays 10 silver a month for rent, which seems like a lot. I guess I wasn't wrong when I suspected she might be rich. That isn't that big of a surprise, because she's an explorer. She goes on missions organized by the explorer's guild, to clear out bigger monster infestations that could threaten the civilians. These monsters have crystals that could be sold for good money, or even to upgrade your crystal. The more layers a monster's xin crystal has, the more power it stores so it sells for more but it's stronger as well. It's a good paying job but it's very dangerous, and the mortality rate is really high. She seems to be good at it though.

"Now that you have your id and you're officially a member of society, we should head to a barber shop and make you look like one as well." she said once we stepped out of the building.

"Is it that bad?" I asked, nervous. I tried to shave my very weak beard, but without a razor and a mirror, or shaving cream, it proved to be rather difficult. I had a few patches of stray hairs that I tried to cut with my knife, but it wasn't easy. I guess I kind of looked like a hobo.

"It'll help you fit in more. It wouldn't be that bad if your hair wasn't white." she said, teasing me.

We soon reached a beautiful, small shop that had stained glass windows, and lots of plants in the storefront. The afternoon sunlight poured into the shop through the colorful glass, painting pretty pictures all across the floor and walls. A few elegant people worked on the hairs and beards of the customers. There seemed to be a small waiting queue, so we reserved a spot at the front desk.

"Hello! We'd like a haircut and a shave please. How long is the waiting line?" Tara asked the receptionist, who was an older woman, but she had elegant clothes, she looked like nobility.

"Of course! Come back in an hour's time, I'll make a reservation. It'll be 20 copper pieces." She said in a kind, soft voice. She seemed to look at my face a lot, maybe as a professional it bothered her that I was an amateur in shaving. It was a bit embarrassing. Tara touched her Id card to a device on the table, and it made a soft ding sound. I guess the transaction was successful.

"I owe you quite a lot of money now, don't I?" I asked after we left the barber shop to look for something to eat in the meantime. She paid for my meal as well, which was 15 copper coins.

"I don't mind, I can't really do much with this much anyway. But if it bothers you that much, you can pay me back once you have some." She shrugged, not worrying about such trivial things as money. She was weird. I haven't met a person who just doesn't care that they're rich. That said, I didn't really meet a lot of rich people either.

"Well, thanks for the meal. I'll pay you back once I start working." I said in between bites. We ate at a restaurant that served some weird food. Meat wrapped in cabbage leaves with spices, soups and roasted vegetables. It tasted good, and it felt so refreshing to eat something other than roasted wild meat that I caught moments before eating it. The question "Is this a date?" almost started to form in my mind, but I decided I'd rather concentrate on the food.

"I'll leave you here for a bit if you don't mind, I'll go and find Patrik and Milo and tell them what happened." Tara said after we got back to the barber shop.

"Sure thing, they must be worried about you." I nodded. Being alone in an unfamiliar place was a bit unnerving, I was thankful that she helped me so much.

"What do we have here! I've never worked with white hair, how exciting! Where do you come from, dear?" A woman sat me down and started talking to me while she worked on my hair. We chatted about the fake story we cooked up with Tara, and I told her about my healing ability. "My, how interesting. But healers usually have gray or blue hair, you must be quite powerful."

"Well, I don't know about that," I chuckled nervously. She cut and shaped my hair in a way that was almost magic itself, and by the time we finished, I almost couldn't recognize myself. My face was clean, and my hair looked like it fit today's fashion, although I still didn't really understand that part myself. I thanked her and walked out of the shop. I took a stroll along the streets; the sun was already setting. I sat down on a bench near the small creek that ran through the main road and watched the peaceful scenery.

It was honestly amazing how humanity could adapt and bounce back from almost complete annihilation. They harnessed the power of magic that almost destroyed life and used it to recreate the comfortable and safe life I knew. It was of course not the same, this world had monsters, but there are things that were possible here that would've seen insane a thousand years ago.

I was lost in thought when I saw a red crown of hair bob up and down glowing in the setting sun as my friend ran towards me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. What are you smiling about?" Tara looked at me a bit confused. I didn't even realize I was smiling.

"Nothing, we can get going."

"Alright. I bought you this, it's a gift for safely arriving in Nia." She handed over a small bag that I didn't even notice before. Her eyes glistened with a mischievous smile.

"What? You didn't have to…" I was a bit flustered, but her face made me a bit unnerved. I opened the bag and… "Are you serious?"

"What, you don't like it?" she started laughing. A clear and happy laugh that was so pure I was getting flushed again. "It'll be super useful to you, hehe." The gift was a children's book that helped kids learn to read.

"No, I love it. Thank you." I started to chuckle as well. It was a thoughtful gift, even if it was just a joke. I needed to learn how to read, after all.

"Come on, let's go home. I'll prepare a room for you." And once again, my debt for Tara grew more and more.