Chapter 105: Lazy Days (Patreon)

Chapter 105: Lazy Days

/The first school of magic to give me trouble was force. I had blasted through other disciplines at record speed before that, learning water and ice spells in the blink of an eye, mastering wind soon after, and again only some short time later I had become more than proficient with barrier magic. I not only understood the spells, but could wholly complete them without system assistance, displaying comprehension far beyond my peers.

But when it came to learning force spells, I was stumped. It simply made no sense. There were already groups of magic that did the exact same thing, wind would exert a force against someone when moved, so why would I need mana to do it in a more roundabout way? The concept made no sense to me, and neither did the spells. Even a rudimentary transformation of my mana to exert force gave me more trouble than I had bargained for.

It was my first ever encounter with an obstacle, something all geniuses face one day. Be that obstacle a new discipline they struggle with, a peer who surpasses their expertise, or a part of their own personality, like simply being lazy. Something will catch up to all of us one day, and as I later learned, this first obstacle often would make or break those who stand above the crowd.

Perhaps not entirely unexpectedly, I first landed in the latter category. I spent my days simply parading around the other magics I had mastered instead of giving force my whole attention. I created sculptures, flaunted my power with duels against students whose prowess should have been entirely below mine, and simply stagnated, because I didn't want to face my own inadequacy.

Then, I was faced with a second hurdle. I had almost not noticed it happening, but the other students were catching up. I no longer stood out, I was devoid of my previous reputation, and not long after, still not understanding a lick of force magic, the second best of my year became the greatest of us.

I was beaten in a duel, defeated by the very spells I never mastered myself. Me and Deli had not had very many fights before this, she would rather have eyes on a book than facing someone else. Before I could realize it, she had soared past me, and I was left behind.

That day, I sat on my ass, having lost the duel. Deli wasn't cruel about it, I had asked her to fight after all, and she even extended a hand to me while I was down, but I was so baffled I hardly even realized. Instead, she simply grabbed my shoulder and pulled me up, before patting some of the dust away. You know what she said to me? "You can do better."

Then she walked away, leaving me looking like an idiot. In the entire room, no one laughed. No one praised her, no one scorned me, it was more of a shocked silence, and honestly, I couldn't tell you how much time went by until I stared smiling.

I'd lost. Wholly and utterly. I'd given my very best, and still came out the lesser magician. I must've looked silly, smiling ear to ear, but I was. Second best, and with it, so much was gone in the air. No more need to excel, no more pressure to simply stay above everyone else, no more proving myself.

Instead of following my childish antics, a loss was what I needed to overcome the hurdle. After that day, I remembered those words. I could do better, I wanted to do better, and so, I sat down in the grand library and read. I read up on force magic, just to prove to myself I could get a grip on it, this time without hastily giving up.

Learning it wasn't easy by any means. My affinity for it was poor, but struggling myself helped me learn discipline and how to overcome. Whenever I got stuck, Deli would even come up and give me some advice, and after a while, we became colleagues, then good friends. And to this day, I still think I might owe her a little for the wake-up call she gave me./

"Growing Pains" by Inyraxa Aruget, written shortly after becoming a member of the casters' round table.

- - - - - -

By the time Mercury woke up, the sun already stood high in the sky. Well, saying he woke up would be doing him a favour, quite frankly. It was more like him regaining consciousness. His mouth was sticky and dry, his body aching all over, and his eyes so heavy he could barely lift the lids.

In the end, he kinda just had to lay there, in agony. His body may have been sore from the backlash and the fever-like symptoms that followed, but the worst part was, quite understandably, his head. Well, there was one more thing, but it wasn't as apparent, so head first.

Mercury's entire cranium felt horrible. It hurt so bad he could hardly form a proper thought. It felt like there was an alarm that went off loudly and called for someone to wallop him with a sledgehammer, except the alarm went off every couple milliseconds as the pain rolled in like waves as high as a tsunami.

The worst part was when he sometimes shifted a little bit in bed, and literally every molecule in his body went "what the fuck, bro?", sending him into another whole world of hurt. Sometimes he really had to question why the fuck he did this kinda thing to himself.

Time felt blurry as the minutes ticked by, but it got a little better when Mercury noticed he could curb the pain a little if he meditated. Except, when he meditated, he also felt that there was absolutely zero connection to his astral body.  For a moment, he panicked, sending his head into another spiral of hurt, but eventually, it faded back to a level where he could maintain a slow, sluggish train of thought with <Meditation> at least.

With said very slow thoughts, Mercury slowly began to try and see what he'd done to himself, visualizing his core bit by bit. Actually exerting the effort to check up on himself made his head pound, but it was still necessary. When he did so, Mercury could see that his core was still there, and it was filled with mana as well, but at the same time, he just... didn't feel the same connection he could usually feel.

A couple seconds later he already dropped the effort of seeing into himself, as it was almost too much, his head pounding even more than when he had started this. Maybe <Appraisal> could tell him what was wrong?

[The individual has overexerted their mind. The backlash is causing certain Skills to go dormant in addition to disassociation with magical senses. <Vast Mind>, <Astral Body>, <Dreamwalking>, <Mana Veins> and any associate Skills have been fully blocked. Mana has been restricted to 1/20th of usual output. Status has been updated to reflect these temporary changes.]

...

Well. That fucking sucked.

What was he supposed to do now?

[The individual is braving extraordinary circumstances. A trial has been initiated.]

-

[Trial: "Rest you dum-dum!"

Condition: The individual is required to simply wait out the effects of their backlash. Efforts to assist the regeneration of their mind are appreciated, but overexertion may cause more harm than good.

Reward: 3 Intelligence, 2 Wisdom, 3000 Gold.

Failure Condition: If the individual overexerts themselves or slows their healing process down a significant amount, the trial will be seen as failed.]

-

<Appraisal>?

[Yes.]

What the heck was that title?

["Rest, you dum-dum!"]

That wasn't the question, why was the title worded that way?

[Because the trial involves the individual resting.]

Yes, but why does it say "dum-dum"?

[To encourage the individual to rest.]

For a while, Mercury's thoughts were silent again. He didn't exactly have a retort, and he didn't feel there was gonna be much more of an elaboration on what the system had already said. With a light sigh, Mercury deactivated <Appraisal>, relaxed his body and retreated back into some good old daydreaming. Not like he could do much else right then anyways.

- - -

Slowly, the days drifted by. Occasionally Marsh or Alexander would come in to check on the cat, but other than getting an occasional raised eyebrow or a sigh, neither of them did much. There was a bowl of water for him, but he usually drank at unreasonable hours in the night, and the food he ate was scarce.

He was honestly feeling rather sick, too. No appetite, always exhausted, and he spent a good portion of his time just sleeping. Some part of him deeply approved of that, as if he was fulfilling some sort of deep psychological craving. Maybe he'd have indulged that part some more if he didn't feel so damn bad.

Instead, the mopaaw just laid there, occasionally eating a bite or two as he saw the sun rise, and set, then rise and set again a couple times over. He checked his status occasionally, and could even follow the progress of his usable mana increasing again. And that <Daydreaming> was levelling up quite quickly with this newfound routine.

After a couple days, he luckily began to feel less lethargic, and with his ability to walk, his appetite came back too. Ravenously, actually. Mercury began to throw pretty much anything set in front of him down his gullet, fish, meat, and anything else prepared for him went down the hatch as soon as it popped up.

Luckily, Ria seemed to be rather happy. Mercury could sympathise with her very well when it came to that. There was something nice about sharing your cooking with others, especially if they enjoyed it.

Of course, once he was back on his feet, the cat was also asked to explain his situation. He didn't exactly feel comfortable telling the whole story, since it was honestly pretty silly. Some old thing in his dream told him to look with his head, and he ended up hurting himself when he thought about it too hard.

No, that wouldn't work. Mercury decided to lie a little. He wouldn't wholly abandon the truth, but he'd decorate it a little, for sure. That should work.

"Mercury, you still there?" Marsh probed, when their question went unanswered for a little too long.

"Yeah, of course, sorry. I was doing some magic practice late in the night, and ended up overexerting my mana. Really dinged the channels for it up, and it just kind of laid me out flat until things healed over. I'm feeling a lot better, but it might still be a few days until I'm back in top shape," he explained, leaving Marsh nodding satisfiedly. Alexander still seemed a little doubtful, but well, he also respected a man's privacy.

"Good to hear you're feeling better," the old man just said, before heading off to be grumpy somewhere else. He didn't go outside very much, and despite how hurt he was, Mercury still very much so enjoyed sunbathing. Maybe being a cat was actually influencing him more than he thought.

After a little bit more of a chat with Marsh about the village, Mercury began to walk some rounds. There were a bunch of people here he didn't know, and a lot of new smells as well, some of which seemed familiar but also different to what he was used to. One, for example, was wet dog fur, while another smelled much more nutty.

Then again, smells were to be expected in a village of beastkin, especially with how well Mercury's nose worked. He made sure to stroll slowly, taking in sights. There were a couple stands for quick meals, but since it was near the end of the page, most people were taking longer breaks. He saw a couple adults tending to small gardens, while children played and laughed, rolling around on the floor in a way that let them expertly cover almost every inch of themselves in dirt.

The cat smiled as he watched. There were people hanging up laundry, some baking, he could see a couple families eating on their porch, and occasionally a pet was sitting with them. He also noticed that animals were treated very well in the village, all of them seeming happy and healthy, which was nice to see.

Looking at this place, Mercury really thought that even in this world, life could be very ordinary. Up until now, his had been packed with action, most of the time even a bit too much for his taste. Maybe he could just fully engage his lizard-self and spend the days lying on a sunny rock, eating anything that just so happened to run by.

He shook his head with a smirk. No, that surely wasn't for him. Bringing his thoughts back to reality, he looked around, focusing his eyes eventually on the guards among the fence. The village was built in the forest, and most of the trees in it had been removed, leaving a couple to spare shade, while the others had been... repurposed. Mostly into houses or furniture, but of course also into firewood.

But when he looked at the fence, he could also see wood used there, formed into spikes. There were a couple lines of them, probably to deter monsters or more dangerous wildlife from coming into the town. The people watching out for them weren't holding torches yet, most were armed with spears, pretty decently made ones too, from what Mercury could tell.

Apparently someone had to smith even here. Gilbert really hadn't been lying when he wrote on the Blacksmith's union. Thinking of his books, actually, Mercury thought he might need to borrow a couple more from the library. This town had a very small one, run by just one woman with a passion for books, who kept quite a few of them.

Maybe a bookshop would be a better choice, but if he needed one, he could just ask at the library. So, he decided to search the town a little for it.

While Mercury is moving, a quick heads up from your favourite narrator. The cat probably did not read every single piece of literature which we have been privy to, but quite a couple of the more reasonable ones. He may be exempt from the brilliant texts by "some biologist, probably". A true loss for any intellectual. Sill, on with the story.

Not long after, the mopaaw found a decently large building, with a sign hanging out front. The wood was painted quite nicely, though some of the colour had fainted, leaving both the book and the word "Library" in pastel colours. In any case, knowing he was at the right place, Mercury headed right on inside.

The building was pretty well lit, and while it smelled of books, it was also kept clean, leaving even Mercury unable to catch a whiff of dust. The reception desk was small, leaving more space to be filled with bookshelves instead, though there was also a small, closed off section behind it. Maybe a closet or basement entrance or something.

Behind the reception desk, there was a chair, currently occupied by a woman whose skin, hair and eyes shared very similar shades of chocolate brown.  Additionally, there was a pair of cat ears situated on her head, which turned towards the door as Mercury opened it, though the woman kept reading the book she was holding.

"Hey, sorry, could you help me really quick?" he asked calmly.

"Hm? Yes, of course. What do you need?" the woman looked up from her reading, and when she didn't see anyone in front of the desk, she seemed confused for a moment. Then, she got up and looked down at the mopaaw.

"Yeah, hi, I wanted to see if I could buy some books off you?"

"Sure, that would be possible. I usually keep a few copies downstairs, but if there isn't one, I'll have to make some," the receptionist replied with a light smile.

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Is it fine if I look around?"

"Of course, feel free to take as much time as you need. Tell me when you found something."

And with that short exchange done, she went back to her reading, leaving the cat to seek out whatever he found interesting for himself.

Honestly, Mercury was happy. He always liked libraries, but the ones in this world all had a very rustic charm to them. Enjoying the atmosphere, he started to browse around. There weren't a huge number of shelves, but still quite a couple.

Mercury took his time with looking around. The books were organised by category, and some shelves alphabetically, but it wasn't perfect. Not that he minded, really. Looking through the titles was half the fun anyways, so having some organised chaos was nice.

There were some works on geography as well as some on tunnels near each other, before it went into more biology. Encyclopedias of plants found in the forest, or the nearby mountains, or generally common plants on Damoy. Maybe he should get something along those lines, so he didn't touch anything poisonous.

[The individual is encouraged to read up on botany. Any information may be saved in system storage. Using <Appraisal> on plants the individual has read about may link to the text or repeat it for the individual. Additionally, it is deemed likely the individual will eventually end up harming themselves if they do not gather more information.]

Seems like <Appraisal> was still in its snippy phase. Well, it was good advice nonetheless. Mercury made a mental note to definitely buy some plant journals, and another one that his system might save information he reads to its <Appraisal> database. That certainly was a nice feature, allowing him to actually recall knowledge, or at least read it again, when it was useful. As long as he was trying to remember it at least.

With that in mind, Mercury continued browsing, looking through the shelves. He found a lot of stories, and quite a bit of history. There were some shorter travelling journals, longer stories on loss and grief, a couple adventures as well.

In the end, Mercury bought a few things. One was a book on roughly what to find where on Damoy, civilisation wise. He felt it necessary, just in case some people were at war with the true kin and might not so readily accept his arrival. He also took a few books on plantlife, and one rather short little paperback type work, which seemed to be about mopaaws and evolutionary lines.

Sadly, the place didn't really have a lot of books on magic or the system, so he had to sit that one out, though there were some texts by Armeyus the scholar. He'd read them when he got around to it.

With his purchases done, he went back to the receptionist, and ended up paying A pale and a half for all the books. One of them she didn't have a copy of, so he'd have to come back in half a page, but that didn't seem so bad at all to the cat. He still needed to rest for a little while longer, anyways.

So, with some new things to do, Mercury continued his leisurely stroll around the city, just waiting for nighttime to roll around.