Recovered

Chapter 106: Recovered

Perhaps, while Mercury is resting, there is time to indulge another story. There once was a boy who ran away. A boy who ran, until he could run no more.

Now, why would a boy be running? From his responsibilities? Certainly, yes, but not too exhaustion most of the time, only to the point they caught up. Perhaps for sport? No, that made little sense, he would not need to have been told, then. Maybe there was something chasing him?

That seemed a little closer to the truth. It could not have been his friends, then he would not have needed to put so much effort it. No, someone who was caring told the boy to run, that wouldn't make much sense. There had been desperation in those words, after all.

If that wasn't the reason he ran, then why did he? Was he running from something dangerous?

Ah, the voice must have belonged to someone who now was no more. Then, if that something was after the boy, if he needed to run, then truly, while running, was the boy still alive? Was he fleeing from what chased him or from death itself?

Either way, the boy is now dead. That is the truth. He is dead as can be, dead as the last nail in a coffin, dead like a sunset, and dead like his own corpse lying there. Whatever chased him has slowed down, no more reason to chase when nothing is running.

But what about the boy? He couldn't just lie there as a corpse, could he? No, the boy's last thoughts had been about running, he couldn't just lay there and stop, could he?

I believe there have been quite a few such occurrences in this world. Ones where people are so desperate their whole mind is consumed by a single thought, so much so, that perhaps their very being is molded by it.

And the boy? The boy was molded by running. So, as is only sensible, after the boy died, he got up and ran.

Of course, while this is logical, it is also rare, and not exactly something a pursuer would expect. So, the thing was stunned, before it chased after the now moving corpse.

This time, the boy thought even less than before. After all, he was molded by running, what else was there to think about? One foot in front of the other, step, by step, by step, by step. The thing that chased him was nothing like the words in his mind. Running was hot, it was red hot. "Run boy."

All he could think of was how caring those words were, how much they meant, and what he needed to do. The boy ran through the forest, as the thing chasing after him followed. The flowers it passed turned to ice, the trees it passed died, and yet the corpse it passed was running from it.

In the thing's eyes there was a thrill to it. The adrenaline one would get from hunting. Yet, after an hour, that adrenaline had passed. And after the chase went on for three hours, the thing was utterly confused. It needed not to breathe, yet it was tired. On its status, the stamina was empty. Even with all of its limbs, it could not catch up to that little thing on two feet in front of it.

Yet, when the thing sat down to gather its breath, the boy still ran. And as it watched the thing saw he was gaining speed, somehow. His legs covered more and more distance, in strides that were far too large for his legs.

It blinked, and then the boy was gone. For a few seconds it laid there, stunned. How many more legs would it need to grow to run like that?

(Legends: The running boy - 1)

- - - - - -

For Mercury, the next couple days passed peacefully. His sleep was deep, and largely dreamless, as his mind laid down alongside with his body.

Stupidly enough, he would've considered practicing his mana control if it wasn't for the trial. Not every day he got such perfect training weights. It even got to the point there was a notification reminding him it was an absolutely terrible idea, which made him click his tongue. He didn't wanna paint a target for <Appraisal> to mock on his back.

Still, he decided to at least attempt to memorize this feeling of heaviness. With all his Skills deactivated, he certainly felt a lot slower. His thoughts simply didn't flow as well as they usually did, and while it was irritating, it could definitely help change his perspective.

Wait, he could just turn his Skills off for a similar effect, couldn't he?

[Confirmed. However, the individual's mind may still perform to a higher degree than the individual's rather meager brain.]

"... Thanks a bunch, <Appraisal>," Mercury muttered half sarcastically. Well, then, he'd just need to find a way to limit his mind. Appraisal, were there Skills for that?

[Confirmed. <Self-Restriction>, <Training Weights> and <Clouded Mind> seem to be appropriate candidates.]

That was good at least. Maybe he'd work to acquire on or two of those. Actually, now that he thought about it, wasn't quite a bit of Mercury's thinking dependant on his mind?

[Confirmed. The individual's brain is that of a Leyfal. However, through the boosts in Intelligence, it surpasses that of the average human below 12. The individual's mind is more developed than the average human. Its experiences have carried over from the individual's old life, while training in this one has helped increase its information-processing capacities.]

At least his mind seemed decent? Mercury felt pretty bad about the fact that his brain was on par with a child, honestly. He was an adult, and knew quite a bit more, so it wasn't exactly a great feeling. Maybe he should do exercises to train his brain exclusively? Actually, would his brain improve over time, even if he didn't do anything to it?

[The brain can be slightly improved through the usage of mental Skills and abilities. Additionally, as the individual is not a fully developed member of their species yet, it will naturally develop further. Intelligence is also viable to increase brain capacity. If the individual wishes to train its brain aside from its mind, recommended Skills are: <Clouded Mind>, <Sealed Mind>, <Thought Control>.]

<Thought Control>?

[<Thought Control>: Contrary to expectation, this Skill only affects the individual's own mind. It allows for lesser manipulation of emotions and thoughts, to assist meditation. Additionally, it allows the individual precise control over what part of their mental faculties is being used. Dolphins make effective use of this Skill to stay permanently awake, having their individual brain-halves take shifts.]

Now that made sense. Those filthy, evil half-fish already seemed suspicious to Mercury back on Earth! Finally he knew what made them so evil, they had been using a Skill all along!

... Probably not. Still, Mercury didn't like Dolphins. He once went to an aquarium as a child and fell into the dolphin enclosure, and those things simply kept him underwater by smacking him with their tails. He almost drowned that day. Almost. But those goddamn waterborne demons didn't manage to keep him down, no not so easily. Maybe he should get revenge...

[The individual is not recommended to wipe out all dolphins due to past trauma.]

Fine. They'd get away this time, and only this time! The war on mosquitoes was still on, though.

[Such is a noble goal.]

[Your Wisdom has increased by 1!]

And bit by bit, Mercury passed the next couple days. When he was feeling better physically, he asked <Appraisal> if some light exercise would do his body good, and once he got the green light, Mercury began to go out for some runs again. It was nice, honestly. Staying active made him feel better about himself, and he had genuinely grown to like doing some sports.

The only thing that really gave him trouble was <Telekinesis>, since with the little mana he had, it was hard to use it sometimes. Hopefully its mana consumption would go down a bit as it levelled up.

Still, day by day, Mercury felt better. Once he was able to visualize his core again, his thoughts began speeding up, and he could see his mana veins again soon after. It seemed as though some of the exercise helped with that, too, as long as he didn't overdo it. Which was good, because, well, he didn't exactly want to overdo it. Not since he had a trial, anyways.

Finally, after picking up his last book, which ended up taking 7 days to fully print, Mercury was fully feeling himself again, watching the notification he had waited for pop up in front of him.

[By braving extraordinary circumstances the individual has received additional rewards. Get: 3 Intelligence, 2 Wisdom, 3000 Gold.]

-

[Personal Quest: "Complete the Trials." completed!

Reward: 2 levels, 10 Ability points, 1000 Skill points, <Trialist> Title]

-

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

Dexterity: 67 -> 68

Agility: 67 -> 69

Intelligence: 94 -> 99

Willpower: 87 -> 90

Luck: 38 -> 42

[<Trialist>: This title is bestowed upon individuals who cannot stop challenging themselves. It is a compliment from the system to those who constantly strive for improvement, even if the road ahead is not an easy one. As a reward, generally trials will be initiated more often, and hold slightly better rewards in general. However, the title's biggest reward stems from the included ability, <Bet>. This allows the individual to make a proposal for a trial or a <Bet> with the system itself, risking restrictions to make a task more challenging, or certain losses on a failure. The individual is encouraged to experiment with the uses themselves.]

Mercury paused in the middle of his walk when he saw the notifications. He had genuinely, 100% forgotten about that quest. But wow, what a reward. The cat had honestly expected the title to not be nearly as good, maybe just increasing the difficulty of trials to spite him, but <Bet> seemed like quite the strong tool for growth, so he was more than happy to have it.

Finally, Mercury gazed over the status once again, checking his numbers. Truly, everything was back up to where it should be, and with a few hops, Mercury confirmed it. He was back to tip top condition. And almost immediately, he heard something from a bush next to him.

There was a slight rattling of leaves, and then a voice entered his ears. "Hey, Mercury, come over here for a minute," something called out to him. Of course, given his newly enhanced hearing, Mercury was pretty sure he knew who it was, but decided to play along for now anyways. Thus, he headed over to the bush, disappearing in between the leaves, where he entered a small cubby in which old man Alex sat.

"Shhhhh," Alexander said, pressing his finger to Mercury's snout before the cat even said anything. "This is a secret between you and me Mercury, you have to be-!" he said, before suddenly gritting his teeth as hard as he could to supress a yelp, looking at the cat who had just bit the shit out of his finger. "I'm going to strangle you," the old man pressed out from in between his teeth, staring at the only other person in the bush.

"You won't," Mercury whispered. "Now what the heck is this all about?"

"I saw that you were back to peak condition, and I wanted to make you an offer. Just hear me out here," Alex explained slowly. "I have a unique Skill, like most travellers do, alright? Mine's called <Eye for Greatness>, and it lets me see what people might excel at if they gave it a shot. Up until now, I couldn't be sure if you really had the drive to pull through with things, but from what I can tell, it seems your talent is only growing."

"Unfortunately, it's not exactly a Skill I can help you with," Alex lamented. "You've got decent aptitude for physical combat, sure, but I was trained to use a sword on horseback. That's what I'm best at. I doubt I could do that for you as of right now, given your decided lack of... well, arms, to be quite frank with you. But that doesn't matter, because there's something else. You're something else at heart than a fighter anyways, it seems to me."

Mercury slowly nodded a little. He had never heard Alex talk this much. It seems he was quite passionate about this. It seems a little different from the Alexander the Great he knew from history, but then again, that was also logical since he'd lived a second lifetime.

But the Cat had to agree. He didn't really feel like a fighter. Sure, he fought, definitely, and he was sure he'd fight again in this world. There were beasts and monsters, as well as conflicts between people. Avoiding any fighting was practically impossible. But still, Mercury mostly pursued magic, and currently ihn'ar. Not because they were powerful tools, but because he found them interesting, fun, and promising ways to grow himself.

"I think you'd do well studying runes," Alex finally said.

For a moment, Mercury thought about it. <Runecarving> was genuinely one of the first Skills he was drawn to in this world. It was his first step towards magic, and something he still did to this day. He'd never really stopped it at all, actually, practicing while making his rocks, or improving his log, or when making anything else. So, he ended up nodding.

"Yeah, you might be right," Mercury whispered back. "I enjoy carving runes."

"That's great to hear," Alex said with a broad grin, probably holding back a laugh. "See, I've lived a rather quiet live in this world. My last one was enough to tire me out, and I decided something a little more mellow would do me good. And indeed, I'd say it has. But I've still met people, and when someone has great talent, they usually already acted on it, so I can pick out strong people. What I'm saying is, I know someone who might be able to teach you more about runes."

Almost immediately, Mercury's eyes lit up. He'd been having trouble with that himself anyways. Finding books that speak about runes was rare, and discovering the tricks to the craft had been a little annoying just by himself, not to mention learning new ones at all.

"Well, spit it out old man, who is it?"

"Yasashiku Ryuutesai," Alex said.

"Who's that?" Marsh asked, poking their head into the bush.

"This guy's future teacher of c- What are you doing here?!" Alex yelled at the kid, flinching so hard he catapulted himself out of the bush.

"Hey Marsh. Is it dinnertime already?" Mercury calmly asked, as he checked whether or not Alex had a heart attack. Old people's bodies were frail after all.

"Yeah, it is," they replied with a smile. "We should head back before it gets cold." For a second, Marsh also tried to pick Alexander off the floor, but the old man quickly wiped away the foam in front of his lips, and got up himself.

"Kids these days," he grumbled. "Don't know how to respect privacy."

"You were hiding in a bush," Marsh said. "Bushes aren't exactly private property."

"They have a point," Mercury said with a shrug, and watched as Alex' shoulders dropped a little.

"Sigh, fine, fine. Tell me once you've thought it over, Mercury," he said, defeated.

"Oh, I already have. I would absolutely love to take you up on the offer!" the cat replied with a smile, immediately brightening the old man's face, but before a word left his mouth Mercury spoke again. "But let's deal with that tomorrow. It's already getting late, and we don't want Ria to get hungry."

Almost immediately, Alex shivered a little. "You're right, let's hurry," he said, and started to turn the walk home into a jog. Not that anyone minded.

- - -

After dinner, Alex told Mercury a little about Yasashiku. Apparently, he was born on this world, and from a young age showed promise in crafting. According to himself, he finished his first sword at a mere eight years of age, and had learned to carve runes into them by nine. Of course Alex also mentioned that he likes to sometimes exaggerate, but his Skill certainly wasn't a joke at all.

In this world, craftsmen were renowned, after all, and to really make a name as one, you needed to be good at what you do. Yasashiku was just that, good at what he did. He made weapons and tools better than most people could hope to ever wield, mostly restricted by the materials he used. When he felt he did a particularly good job, he might even name his creations.

Mercury smirked a bit at the thought. Naming tools was less romanticised in this world, since the system usually stuck to descriptive names. Where did something come from and what was it made of, rather than anything fancy. But of course, there were exceptions, and when gear reached a high enough grade, it may even receive a unique name, only belonging to it.

An example he had read of was a very special harp, named "Embrace". It made anyone who heard it play fall asleep soon after, which unfortunately included the one playing it. Apparently it did great at stopping nightmares though.

Yasashiku might not have made it, but the fact that his creations received names which the system accepted certainly spoke volumes of their quality. The more he heard about him, the more excited Mercury got. He could really consider himself lucky to have befriended Marsh, opportunities such as this one were hard to come by after all.

Some more explanations later, and Mercury learned when the smith might come visit. It would still take some time, since Alex needed to send out a letter, which was quite complicated in this world. Some places had carrier pigeons, but the village he was in right now certainly didn't, so Alex needed to get the letter to a courier or a mage.

The good news was that Alex did in fact know a mage who could send letters a couple days from here, and then Yasashiku might need a page or a little more to arrive himself, but in the meantime, Mercury could just do some reading and get his runecarving skills up a bit. Hopefully in two pages' time, the cat would find himself with yet another teacher to learn from.