Chapter 1
It was in my first year of university as an engineering
student. I was walking to school one morning and caught sight of a man running
at me. He pushed me aside as he ran past me, causing me to stumble, and step
out into the street, at which point I was hit by a careening truck and my life
was ended unceremoniously.
Upon opening my eyes, I was greeted with an open black room,
lit by an unknown source. At its center was a throne with a grey shadow sitting
on it. The shadow leaned forward.
“Markus Peters,” said the being. “You have been chosen to
participate in a program designed for those who have come to untimely deaths.”
“Um, okay?” I said. I looked around the infinite room. “I’m
dead, aren’t I?”
“Indeed,” said the being. “You died in an accident. We are giving
you one more chance.”
“Okay,” I say. I didn’t have to think about it. “I’ll take
it.”
“Hm,” said the being. “You have a good attitude about this.
I will give you a choice of boons that you can bring with you into the next world.”
A gigantic tome appeared in my hands, opening to the first
page.
Watermancy. The ability to manipulate water at will.
The rest of the book, as I flipped the pages, was filled
with all sorts of superpowers.
“What kind of a world am I entering?” I asked.
The being chuckled. “A world with a demon lord,” he said. “You
can extrapolate what you will from that.”
“So, it’s a fantasy setting?” I said.
The being said nothing.
“Okay,” I said. “I think I have what I want.”
“Hm?” said the being. “Do tell me.”
“Alchemy,” I said. “This looks like a good skill.”
“You certainly are an engineering student,” said the being. “Very
well. You shall have the power of alchemy alongside you when you go on your
mission to defeat the demon lord.”
“Wait, I have to defeat him?” I said.
And then the world blinked out of existence. I stood in an
open field, my hair moving in the breeze. I scratched the back of my neck. “Okay
then?” I said. “What next?”
Perhaps I should try out this whole alchemy thing, I
thought. I pressed my hands against the soil and felt, in that moment, all the elements
that were dispersed throughout the ground, the trees, and the boulders forming
the clearing. From Gold to Yttrium, I could count the elemental concentration down
to the milligram.
Well, this is useful. Not only could I see the elements, I
could also manipulate them. So, I drew all the precious metals from the soil in
the surrounding hundred yards—the limit of my ability—and had them coalesce
into obelisks in front of me. I had in front of me a sizable amount of gold,
silver, platinum, and a number of rare earth elements. Also, I gathered a large
amount of titanium and aluminum.
I began to mix the elements to form alloys. The metal flowed
like it was liquid, even though it wasn’t hot. Soon I had a number of alloys in
front of me, of varying properties. I tried making a helmet out of steel and
titanium, and succeeded. I then created for myself a mail shirt, a sword, and
some boots and greaves. The metal formed into exactly the shape that I wanted
it to. Even the intricate links of the chain mail shirt formed without much
input from my conscious mind.
After putting on my armor, I made a compass with some of the
magnetite that I had sucked out of the ground. I decided that going east was
the best choice for now.
I’m not even sure that I can speak the local language,
I thought. Well, maybe there was some sort of magic that could help me. Or maybe
that god figure had done something about it. Whatever the case, east was the
way to go.
I walked through dense forest, following animal trails where
I could. The brush was familiar, but the flowers and fruits were not. There
were some purple apple-like fruits hanging from short stubby trees, and then
there were the greenish blueberries that had one big ball and lots of tiny
ones. I didn’t eat any of them, but I did pick a couple of each, shoving them
into a metal mesh bag I created on the spot.
By the time I made it out of the forest, I was starving. The
forest opened out onto a large, wide field filled with crops. My first sign of
civilization.
I walked down a dirt road until I could see a settlement in
the distance. Its wooden palisade was short and looked like it had been battered
recently. Two guards stood in front of the gate. I approached them.
“Hail!” said the guard on the left. “Let me see your
passport.”
“Passport?” I said. “I don’t have one.” I checked my
pockets. “Oh, wait,” I said. “I do.” I found a small booklet in my pants pocket
that I had not noticed before. What a great, thoughtful addition that was.
I handed it to the guard.
“Very well,” said the guard. “You may pass.”
I entered the city through the gate. Immediately I was
assaulted by the smell. Open sewers ran on either side of the street. I witnessed
someone empty a chamber pot out the window. The street was narrow and the
buildings seemed to loom over it, cutting off much of the natural light. The
people who were passing by me were wearing tattered clothes and looked unhappy.
This was not a good place to be, I understood. The city was
probably experiencing some hard times.
Well, I had a pack full of precious metals, so I could at
least sell some to a pawn shop or something. I wandered the streets until I found
a store with a sign that looked promising. I entered.
The interior was filled with furniture and antiques. Valuables
were behind the counter. A man with a long beard and beady eyes napped in a
chair. Upon my entrance, he opened his eyes.
“Yes?” he said. “I haven’t seen you around.”
“No,” I said. “I’m new here.”
“Hrph,” said the man. “What have you got in there?”
“Some gold and precious metals,” I said. I put my bag on the
counter.
The man looked through the various bars. He picked up a bar
of the rare earth metal lanthanum. “What kind of a metal is this?” he asked. “I’ve
never seen anything like it before.” He took out a touchstone and scratched the
bar against it, leaving a metal streak. “Hm,” he said. “This is a new kind of
metal. It doesn’t match anything I know of.”
“It’s called Lanthanum,” I said. “A rare earth metal.”
“Rare earth?” said the man. He shook his head. “Never heard
of them.”
Right, this was a medieval fantasy world. They wouldn’t know
anything about rare earth metals.
“What can I use this metal for?” asked the shop owner.
“Various things …” I said. “Well, it looks pretty, doesn’t
it?”
“Indeed,” said the shop owner. “I’ll pay you ten Cris.”
“I’ll take it,” I said. “What about the other stuff?”
“Gold prices are at twenty Cris a dunce,” said the shop
owner. “And silver is five Cris a dunce.”
I pretended to know what a dunce was.
“I’ll sell it all to you,” I said.
“Very well,” said the shop owner. He got out a scale and
began measuring my metals. “Two hundred and seven Cris for the whole lot,” he
said. “How goes your mining claim?”
“Mining … Claim …?” I said. “Right! Yes, I’ve been working hard
to dig this stuff … Up! Yes!”
The shop owner looked at me funny. “Well, getting this much
should keep you going for a while.” He handed me a bag of coins. “There’s your
payment. Come back when you have more of this … Lanthanum stuff.”
I bobbed my head up and down and backed out of the shop.
Well, that was unexpected. I hadn’t thought this through
well enough. If I wanted to get by in this town, I would have to get better at
hiding where my metal came from.
I found the nearest tavern and sat down at a table. After a
long while, a tavern girl approached me.
“What will ya be havin?” she said.
“Um, how about chicken?” I asked.
“We ain’t go no chicken here,” she said. “Just perch.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll have the perch.”
Ten minutes later a small cooked bird was placed in front of
me. It looked like one of those tiny chickens you would buy at the store,
cooked as is.
I tried some of the meat. It was passable, and I figured, as
hungry as I was, this wasn’t something to pass over. The meal as a whole cost three
Cris. After finishing the bird and the side of potatoes I was about as full as
I could expect to be.
Now I had to figure out where I was and what I was expected
to do. I knew I had been summoned here because of a demon lord or something to
that effect. But I, for one, was not a fighter and did not know how the power I
chose would enable me to fight said demon lord.
Why did I choose the power of alchemy? Well, because it
seemed cool.
I probably should have thought that through better.
I stood up from the table, paid for the meal, and left the
tavern to wander through the streets. After a while I realized that this place
was probably not as safe as the streets of my suburban home and tried to find a
place to sleep.
I came across a small inn that looked safe and clean enough
to crash in for the night. Entering through the door, I bought myself a room
and dropped onto the bed as soon as I had entered.
As I stared at the ceiling, I began to feel a bit itchy on my
backside.
Right, I thought. This is a medieval inn. Of
course there would be bedbugs.
I thought for a moment, and then realized that I could
probably create some pesticides with my alchemy power. So I did. I formed three
chemicals that I knew existed in pesticides and coated the bed with them.
Within five minutes the bedbugs were all dead.
Score one for the alchemy power.
A sound rose over the drum of the street. Raising higher and
higher, it was the town’s church bell. Several horns blasted over the night. I
sat up in my bed. People on the floors above and below me began to scramble.
What was happening now? I put on my clothes, and just in
case, my armor that I had created earlier in the day.
I was just getting comfortable! I thought. Perhaps
this was the demon lord I was warned about?
I went to the door and opened it, leaning out into the hall.
The inn owner was walking down the hall and kocking on doors.
“Quick!” he said. “Get to the walls. They’re coming!”
I went out into the hallway. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“Orcs!” said the innkeeper. “They’re attacking!”
Great. The first night I’m here and I’m already faced with
a life or death situation. I climbed the stairs to the ground floor and
found a bunch of people congregating in the open front room. The fire crackled
in the background.
A town guard leaned in from the doorway. “Anyone who is able
bodied and can fight,” he said, “Get to the walls!”
Hum. This town probably has a standing force of guards.
Why would they need a militia like this?
I went out into the street. People scrambled all around me. Were
we really in danger? What would happen if the orcs broke through the flimsy palisade?
All I could do was wait and find out.
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