Chapter 6 - New Apartment

Tiberius tried to step back because the situation did not appeal to him. Seeing this, Rovshen slapped himself in the forehead softly as if he forgot something, and indeed he did.

“I forgot to tell you. These maps work with your blood. As long as you are within the area shown on the map, a single drop of your blood will indicate your location. The knife is only for that."

He sighed loudly after hearing Rovshen's words. The way maps worked seemed strange and confusing to him, but given the existence of magic, anything was possible.

"Why don't you use a needle? Knife looks intimidating.” He explained as he allowed the man to make a small cut in his finger.

“That’s actually a good idea.” The shopkeeper agreed, “but we are used to this, so…”

“As long as you don't stab me, it's fine.” Tiberius attempted to make a joke, but no one showed a sign of laughter. He rarely spent time with his few friends, so his jokes had become dull.

A few drops of blood fell from the shopkeeper's finger onto the map as he cut it. The blood quickly absorbed into the paper, resulting in a red dot on it.

“This is where we are,” said Rovshen, pointing to the dot with his finger. “This will move with you as long as you don't leave the city. If you leave, the dot will disappear until you come back.”

“What if I want to go somewhere else?”

“My advice is don't. But if you really wish, this man here has maps of most cities and villages in our country. Come buy one and then leave," he said, pointing to the shopkeeper.

“Understood.”

“Five velm. That's how much it should cost. Pay the man so we can go to your new home."

“True,” Tiberius said as he put his hand in his pocket, but the shopkeeper stopped him.

"Your guests are my guests. This one is on me.” He lifted his hand slightly.

Rovshen gave a quick smile, lifted his hand, and waved goodbye before leaving the shop.

“Thank you.” Tiberius said as he took the map. Then he followed Rovshen to the carriage and set off for his new home.

It took them about fifteen minutes to reach their destination. They remained silent during this time. Rovshen was riding the carriage while Tiberius was exploring the city with his eyes and trying to recall the route. He did have a map, but learning his way would never hurt.

As they approached a tall building, no taller than a five-story Earth building but quite large for this city, "It's here," said Rovshen, stopping the carriage and getting out. He then tethered the horse to the pole next to them. Not because someone would dare to steal the king's carriage and horse, but because the horse itself may become startled.

Tiberius got off, followed him, and entered the building. Inside the building, each story housed four apartments, each with its own number.

They went up to the fourth floor and stood in front of the door of apartment number fifteen. Rovshen took the keys from his pocket and inserted one of them into the lock. After unlocking the door, he pulled out the keys and handed them to him.

“Let me show you the inside,” he said. Upon entering the apartment, he removed his shoes and placed them on the wooden shoe rack. Seeing this, Tiberius did the same and entered the apartment with his socks.

"Two bedrooms, one living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Fully furnished. Anything else you may need?”

"No, this is more than enough," he responded, walking through the rooms and inspecting each one.

The living room was furnished with a sofa, a coffee table, and a bookshelf. The bedrooms were standard, with one bed in one and a double bed in the other, presumably for a couple. Naturally, shelves were also included. The bathroom was not particularly luxurious either. A bathtub and a toilet.

Then he went into the kitchen. It had several top shelves and a fridge-style shelf.

"Is this a fridge?"

"Yes. I'm actually surprised you know what that is. You probably had one in your world as well, right?"

“Yes, we do, of course. A fridge is necessary for every house. Is this working?”

“It probably isn't,” Rovshen said as he came closer to it and opened its lid. It looked nearly identical to other fridges he had seen, with the exception of no light inside.

Rovshen checked the inside, which was empty, then closed the lid and looked at the side of the fridge.

"If you've had one, you understand how it works, right?" He said without looking at his direction

“Of course, as long as there is electricity, I will manage it.” Tiberius answered with a slight smile.

Rovshen straightened up and gave him a direct look. “What is electri…” He was unable to pronounce the word the first time, so he gave up. “The thing you just said?”

"Electricity. Electric. The energy that powers devices." He attempted to explain.

“We are indeed different, huh? Come here and look at this," he said to Tiberius, who was standing next to him, pointing to the side of the fridge.

“You see this?” Rovshen tapped a battery-like object on the fridge. "This is a mana capsule. This is what makes devices work here," he explained.

“So no electricity?”

“No. Only mana. You press this button once, and the fridge works; you press it a second time, and it stops. The other button is for taking the capsule out."

Tiberius looked at the capsule, wondering if it could function without electricity. If winged horses were possible, this should also be, but where do they get these capsules? Tiberius had learned from stories that mana is the essence of magic and that it usually belongs to humans.

"So, what should I do if this runs out of mana?"

“Just buy one. Not from the same guy we visited, though,” he said, opening his hand. “Give me your map.”

Tiberius gave the map he was holding in his hand to Rovshen. He opened it, set it on the counter, and pointed to a shop with the capsule image on it.

“This is Manashop. You can get anything regarding mana. They sell mana capsules for every device. It will be kind of expensive, like 30 Velm or more per mana capsule. It depends on the device you are buying it for. But at least it will last for more than a month.”

“I have a question.”

“Sure, but be quick; I don’t want to be too late. Wife is gonna be mad again.”

“Okay,” he chuckled, “Where do you get this mana? From what I know, people have mana. Unless you collect it from them, I don’t know how you would acquire it.”

“You are right. Every living thing has mana, but we use people’s only.”

“How so?” Tiberius asked, frowning.

“Look, there are three types of jobs here. One of them is when you have a skill that does not require the use of magic or mana, such as mine. Unless we fly, I don't use magic at all. Those jobs are likely to pay less unless you work for royalty or are extremely skilled."

"The second one is mana-required jobs. For instance, newspaper printing. People who are skilled at it and have good mana control are more likely to choose this job. They do the work, and machines utilize their mana. These jobs pay well because you are using your mana, but you will be exhausted at the end of the day.”

"The third one is mana selling. Some individuals simply sell their mana. This is probably the most tiring job of all because you have a quota to meet, and if you don't, you won't be paid. It does, however, pay well.”

"This is terrible," Tiberius exclaimed, looking at Rovshen with horror.

“Why? They are working and getting paid."

"The first two types are acceptable, but the third type should be illegal. You're just draining the energy of others for your own use."

“And? Isn’t that how jobs are? It drains your energy or your knowledge and pays you some kind of paper so you can shut up and buy food with it. And no one is forcing them to do it; this is a free country; you do what you want and work at whatever job you want."

Tiberius initially disagreed with Rovshen, but now he kind of agrees with him. It had been the same formula on Earth for centuries. Spend years working in an office, 8 hours a day, for a boss who will underpay you and refuse to give you a vacation. Everything is exactly the same.

"Makes sense," he said, "and thank you for bringing me here. Sorry for wasting your time."

“Don’t worry about it. If you need anything, just send a letter.”

“Will do.”

…

After sending off Rovshen with his carriage, he returned to the living room to look through the books. He hoped to learn more about this country or city, perhaps its people, or even how he ended up here. He looked around, but the majority of the books were fiction and romance. And of course, some of them were about King Thorus himself. However, Tiberius did not consider reading about King Tharos' greatness. He could read fiction, which he had enjoyed since childhood, but he was not in a position to do so. He only needed a newspaper or a journal, something short to read before bed.

After he looked through everything and could not find anything, he decided to go to sleep and decide on things in the morning. Today had already changed his life in every way, so he needed to be ready for anything tomorrow.

He went to the bedroom that had double beds and just lay there, didn’t even take his clothes off. He fell asleep after a few minutes of silence.

He slept until the morning without knowing anything. Why and how he got here. But soon, very soon, he will start to see truth. Only to find out that today was just the beginning of a nightmare.