I've been here for about 2 week now. I've learned a few things about this world.
First is about their time concept, it's pretty much the same as my previous world. However, their clock or what they call a 'timeteller' is powered by something they called as mana stones.
The date concept is different too, they don't know the twelve months here. Instead, they uses Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Spring and Summer has 92 days, Fall has 91 and Winter has 90. Helshyre's birthday falls on the 47th day of Fall.
But well, I heard from Chase that only the Indamano kingdom uses that date system. According to Rykan, back in his birthplace it has 12 months which is Spring 1-3, Summer 1-3, Fall 1-3, and Winter 1-3. It reminds me of January-December.
The mode of transportation here is by carriages, horses and some tamed flying beasts and 4 legged creatures. I'm honestly psyched upon hearing about the flying beasts. It sounds scary but also cool. Can't wait to try it!
If humans depended on science and technology back in my previous world, here, humans are depending on magic and alchemy. A bunch of mythical and magical beings exist here. It's cool but I still miss the modern technology. Everyday, I'm suffering and being haunted by the fact that I can no longer be on my phone all day while setting aside my responsibilities.
Also, Hezborn Frost is a famous and well-respected hunter in this region. But due to his age, he started taking less and less requests and also one of the reasons is the kids waiting for him back home.
This world is called Terravae and is being slowly eaten by what they call a 'Corruption'. It's like a smoke that appears out of nowhere, corrupting everything that's on its way. The humans and animals become much more bigger, aggressive and uglier. The plants and trees become dry, rotten and withered. The lands become infertile and as black as coal. Sometimes, monsters just spawn in corrupted lands out of nowhere that's why once a land is corrupted, it is greatly advised to evacuate as soon as possible. And to stay away from a corrupted land cause once the black smoke dissipates, the corruption slowly spreads.
However, the land, trees and plants can be restored back to normal with the help of what they call Saint and Saintess. They are blessed with the divine ability to purify, heal and a few are lucky to possess clairvoyance.
"Hey, you vermin! Why are you just laying there, staring up the ceiling while we're working hard? Don't you think you're being too obvious freeloading? Get up and pick some mangoes, it's near the lake if you don't know. I won't give you supper if you can't fill this basket."
And of course, I learned that Rykan is more annoying than I thought. Apart from his childish pranks and antics, he's also very bossy and naggy.
I groaned after Rykan slammed the door. "This brat."
I got up and dragged the big basket.
'Did that brat really expect a seven-ish kid to climb up and pick some fruits from this tall ass tree?'
I stared at the 3 and a half meters tall mango tree. I climbed a tree a bit shorter from not so long time ago but I had no choice then. If Rykan can get away for being mean, I hope I can get away for freeloading.
But it's not like Hezborn and the other kids tolerate Rykan's bad behavior. They reprimanded him a lot of times already but I guess Rykan just let it all pass on his other ear.
It's really not worth it arguing with kids based on my experience with my little sister on my previous life so I just ignored him most of the time.
"Rykan is just wary of new kids. Just be patient and he'll open up to ya eventually"
That's what Hezborn says all the time. Well, I just hope that my patience can hold on for that long.
"Why are you laying on the grass with such a funny face?"
I got up and looked behind me, "Oh Chase, Rykan told me to pick some mangoes but I can't climb that high."
Chase sat beside me. "So were you waiting for a mango to fall from the tree then?" he chuckled.
Nice idea, I can be the founder of gravity here.
"Yes, I was praying earnestly." I humored him.
He patted my head, "Your prayer's about to be answered. Wait here and pick up the fallen fruits."
"Be careful Chase."
I was quite nervous seeing the kid climbing up. If he's not careful, he can fall either in the lake or in the ground.
Chase picked and threw the mangoes one by one while I picked it up. After about 5 minutes, the basket was full.
"Great job Chase." I grinned and ruffled his hair.
"Anytime." he said shyly while blushing.
'You're adorable and all but you shouldn't be crushing on me. I don't have a thing for little kids.'
Chase asked for Rykan and Julius' help for carrying the basket leaving me and Iriya alone in the barn. Iriya is feeding the horses while I just quietly watch from the distance. I'm kinda scared that the horses will bite me.
"Mimi, come here and try feeding the horses."
I nervously picked up some fescue and fed the black mare.
'Please don't bite my hand.'
I was relieved to see it eating from my hands with no sign of displeasure and wariness.
"Hey are you crazy?!" I flinched when Rykan suddenly yelled from behind me.
He slapped the remaining fescue off my hand and looked at me angrily.
'What is it this time?'
"You really don't know anything don't you?! You're so annoying! Fescue is bad for pregnant mares! Why did that old man even brought an annoying kid from a mountain who can't even do anything right?!" he yelled at my face.
'Argh, I'm fed up.'
"Of course I don't know anything cause I came from the mountain! How would I know if you will just go boss around acting like brat instead of teaching me?!" I yelled back before storming out the barn.
'That brat sure have the guts to put all the blame on me.'
How would I even know anything about horses? Even back in my previous world, there are no horses in our town. Of course I feel guilty about the horse but still, that kid is really annoying the hell out of me. One thing I hate the most is when someone yells at me, I'm not deaf you know.
"Hey, I'm sorry about that. Rykan just really love those horses." Chase said as he sat down beside me, staring at the lake.
"Yeah, don't worry. That much fescue won't hurt Mari. I'm really sorry for Rykan's rudeness." Julius sat on my other side.
'There they go, apologizing on Rykan's behalf again. That's why that kid didn't learn.'
"If Grandpops is here, he'll surely scold Rykan and tell you that mistake is just a part of learning." Chase said with a smile.
I chuckled, it's a very Hezborn thing to say. Hezborn went to the market in the town again to sell some fruits and vegetables again. He'll probably be back tomorrow or the next day.
"Thanks both of you and I'm sorry for raising my voice while you're around too. I know how annoying it is when someone yells."
"Don't be sorry about it. I understand, I'd yell at Rykan too if he did that to me. He can really be annoying sometimes. But don't tell him I said this though." We can't help but laugh at Julius' sudden confession.
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"It's ready!" I announced as I took the mango float out of the freezer made of cobblestone and of course powered by mana stones too.
"Wow~ it smells really sweet and delicious!" Iriya eyes twinkled, staring at it.
The three of them surrounded me as I put it on the table. They don't have grahams here so I just used their sweet biscuits that Hezborn specifically left as the kids' snack. Rykan was so against it claiming it would be a waste that he stormed to the boys' room after the three gave me a heads-up.
'Thankfully it never occurred to them how a mountain kid like me knew of a recipe.'
"How did you know how to prepare it by the way?" Julius asked as I sliced the mango float.
'Ah'
"I saw those people in the town preparing it while I was walking around with Hezborn."
'Please just believe it and no more questions. I don't like being on a hot seat.'
"I'm jealous you got to explore the town. I wanna go there too." Julius said with a pout. So adorable.
"Me too, your family lives there right, Iriya?" Chase asked Iriya.
Iriya's family is alive? Why's she living with Hezborn then?
"Yeah, they do."
Something about her eyes and expression gives me the impression that she doesn't have a nice relationship with her family.
"Here, Iriya." I put a piece of the mango float on Iriya's plate to cheer her up.
"Me next!" Julius said as he handed me his plate.
"Alright~ Now give me your plate Chase."
"Wow~ It's so sweet and delicious!" Julius said gleefully.
"It's cold like Ice Cream too." Iriya added.
I'm glad they're enjoying it. I started eating mine and was delighted that it tasted good.
"Hmm?" I looked at Chase who suddenly wiped my mouth clean.
'Am I really that messy or he's really just making a move?'
I noticed Iriya looking at us with an incomprehensible look. She's probably also thinking that this kid can't be serious, wiping other's mouth when he can't wipe his own.
We ate 2/3 of the mango float leaving 1/3 for Hezborn which I stored back in the freezer. The three of them already went upstairs to sleep while I volunteered to wash the dishes.
I sighed, "I miss my phone."
I used to just lay on my bed reading manhwas and webtoons until the crack of dawn in my previous life. This place has a lot of cool stuffs but I really do miss modern technologies. My heart hurts thinking that I might not be able to experience modern technology again. Of course I miss my ten cats and 6 dogs too.
In my previous life, I was the 4th among us five siblings and had the usual sibling relationship with them with occasional banter and fights. My parents are good people too, however, I can't really seem to miss them and I feel bad about it. Maybe it's because I unconsciously distanced myself from them everytime they don't meet my expectations when I was going through a hard time.
They've pretty much let me down a lot of times but I was at fault too. I never really communicated about my feelings hoping they would take a hint which only distanced us farther. Probably one of the reasons why my attachment to them grew weaker is because of the fact that I realized as I grew older that my family isn't as perfect and as happy as it seemed to me when I was little.
I guess this is a good thing. I can move on easily on my new life. But I'm kinda scared about moving on too. What if I really moved on from my past life only to wake up back on my previous world? What if all of this is just a product of my delusions, a dream, or a temporary other worldly experience?
These thoughts keeps me up at night. If I didn't have Helshyre-related dreams every night, it'd probably haunt me in my dreams too.
I'm afraid of getting attached only to end up getting heartbroken.
"Jeez!"
'Why am I getting sentimental all of a sudden? I need fresh air.'
I stared at the mango float on the table and sighed. "Fine."
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I slowly approached Rykan who's laying on a bermuda grass outside.
Another thing I learned about this brat is he usually go out at night staring at the night sky to his heart's content even though Hezborn warned us not to go out at night.
"Here, eat this. The three including me are still alive so it's not poisonous." I said as I placed it beside him.
He kept his eyes on the sky, ignoring me. He's really annoying but I'm really not the type to hold grudges, usually.
'Well, whatever. I'm not pampering a brat.'
I turned around and before heading to the lake, I hid in a tree and peeked at Rykan. He slowly got up and looked around before taking a bite off the mango float then another bite after another.
'Heh, this kid and his pride.'
Once I reached the lake, I laid down on the grass and stared at the night sky.
This will gonna itch later but it makes things more dramatic like in the movies. I transmigrated so might as well as act as the main character. 'Cause I mean, I'm probably somewhat special if the creator chose me to transmigrate among the billions of people on Earth.
"Hahaha who am I even kidding?"
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Hezborn arrived early in the morning bringing yet another presents and magical devices which I was very excited to try. I quickly took the mango float out the freezer and gave it to Hezborn. However, it smelled and tasted sour already.
'Was it the biscuits or the milk? But I put it in the freezer and it hasn't even a day yet. Did Rykan's pride got hurt badly that he had to mess with the remaining mango float?'
I had no time to confront Rykan since I had to prepare another batch per Hezborn's request. It was ready at lunch so we ate it for dessert.
"By the way kids, I brought a boa constrictor with me. It's in the carriage. It's really friendly. Wanna take a look at it?" Hezborn said as we finished washing the dishes.
"Really?! Is it big?" Rykan excitedly asked.
"Yea, about one and a half meter tall." Hezborn answered.
"Omg! Let's go look at it." Julius ran and dragged me along with him. The others followed behind.
And there really was it, a 1 ½ meter boa constrictor sleeping comfortably inside the carriage, UNCAGED.
"Wanna hold it too Mayumi?" Hezborn asked while holding it.
'No, I'd rather just die.'