24 - Overhead? Passersby!

Two weeks have passed since I began training under Mister B. If there’s one thing I was certain of, it’s that despite the regular training I’ve done for the past few months, my body was still not ready for the training I had to endure.

I was simply too small; I haven’t even reached the age to have my growth spurt. No matter how much power I could pack in a single punch, maximum power was still held back by my physical form. While I understood how ludicrous that sounded when I can one-punch goblins, at the same time I was aware of how limited my growth was when I wasn’t using mana to compensate.

In other words, I can only grow as strong as my body ages over childhood.

Mister B must’ve known from the start; we didn’t spar anymore after that day, only basic body conditioning. He simply overlooked my own training and chimed in whenever he deemed there was a need to, like a mentor would.

In a sense, nothing much changed.

“Bleh…”

I awoke from my mind palace after getting pummeled by the artificial Mister B Hooty conjured up for me. Though I did manage to get a few hits in, I’ve never been able to best him even once.

At Hooty’s suggestion, I introduced elbow and knee strikes to my repertoire similar to the fighting game character I took inspiration from. My small frame and explosive power allowed me to close the distance in an instant, pulling off quick, devastating strikes to the body before my opponent can react.

Of course, it was easier said than done. A ton of practice awaited me, not to mention getting over the apprehension of having to get right up to an opponent’s face in order to strike.

I opened the window, feeling the refreshing gust of wind while I watched Woolie happily grazing with his pack. The grass grew amazingly quick, covering the highlands with a green more vibrant than anything I’d ever seen. They already reached up to my ankles, and looked to be growing taller by the day.

Now that the harsh winter environment wasn’t here to deter me, I began exploring the highlands again.

Not that I had very far to wander off to.

Beyond the hill was a downward slope leading through forests and rough terrain before what I assumed to be ground level. Descending the mountain would likely take at least a few days, a trek I didn’t have the courage nor the confidence to make and decided to give up on that direction for now.

Meanwhile, the opposite direction was where I’d initially came from, leaving me little reason to travel there either. The only other route left was the long river stream beyond the fence, and that started with a massive cliff drop. In other words, unless I could fly the only feasible exploration route was the Tranquil Forest.

But there wasn’t much to see there either.

Mister B’s presence was enough to deter most monsters, so I had free rein to explore. By the third day however, I’d had enough. The Tranquil Forest was enormous, and I had no idea where it ended. I wasn’t sure if I could find my way back if I’d gotten lost, my wariness causing me to give up on further expeditions.

“And here I am now, at home.”

Truthfully, there really wasn’t much to complain about; living here with Woolie and everyone was more than enough for me. If I ever felt the need for some entertainment, I could simply hang out with Hooty watching the plethora of movies at our disposal, or watch playthroughs of every single video game ever produced by humanity.

Unpolluted nature, another world in my mind, a healthy body, what’s there to complain about?

“Indeed, what’s there to complain about?” I said as I looked around the empty, quiet house. “It’s fine, I’m already used to this. It was my whole previous life, after all.”

I plopped back onto bed, staring at the ceiling.

“… I just thought it’d be different in another world.”

*

“You’re kidding me.”

Something exciting happened the next morning. I was preparing to leave on my morning run, when suddenly out of nowhere I sighted a massive, flying ship so high up in the sky I could barely make out the shape of it through the clouds.

It was just like the old wooden ships you’d find sailing the seas, but somehow this one flew through the air instead, two large, wing-like contraptions spread out on either side. I found myself simply staring as it passed overhead, too mesmerized by it to even utter a single word. After it disappeared into the clouds, I stood still with my mouth agape for a good minute.

“That’s a ship. A ship manned by… people?”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Actually, I don’t believe it. What do you mean, I saw a ship sailing through the skies without producing any mechanical noise whatsoever? How is it powered? Magic?

I shrugged it off as a hallucination, a mirage from my confused mind making up for these uneasy feelings the past few days… until it happened again.

Not two days had passed when I saw another flying ship. This time, I tried running after it, but it disappeared into the clouds just like the one before.

Then another a week after, and yet another a few days later-

“HEY!!” I waved frantically at the passing convoy of ships, jumping up and down like one of those S.O.S survivors seeing a helicopter for the first time in months.

Of course, I was never noticed. My house was likely so small a speck to them it might’ve just looked like any ordinary rock. Without any modern technology, I was certain no one would be able to spot me from all the way up there anyway.

“Then again, do I even want someone to find me out here…?”

Who would those visitors even be? There was no guarantee they’d be friendly. This wasn’t Earth, after all; I had no idea how differently they’d treat a child in this world.

Still, I’d wave and call out to them nonetheless, hoping deep down someone might actually notice. Eventually the ships became less frequent, until I didn’t see one for over two weeks. Things gradually returned to their usual rhythm; gathering herbs, picking berries, training with Mister B…

I considered making a giant S.O.S symbol in front of my house, but quickly disposed of the idea. That was a term on Earth, not this world; they’d probably see it as some strange rock formation.

It did reinvigorate my imagination though, and I found myself making frequent trips to the top of the hill to shout greetings toward the city. Was I going crazy? I didn’t think so. I have everyone here in the highlands for companionship, I love them all like my family.

So why do I feel so drawn towards civilization?

*

It was around middle to late-spring. I made it a habit to mark off the days I spent in this world the old-fashioned way; tally markings. I didn’t want to damage the walls, so I carved them into wooden boards, displaying them along the kitchen walls as a reminder of how long I’d spent here.

“One hundred and sixty-seven days, huh.”

Almost half a year since I found myself in this world. I wanted to say it was amazing how a kid managed to survive alone in the wild, but frankly it hadn’t been too difficult. Of course, it wasn’t easy-

“-But I wouldn’t say I’ve had a hard time… maybe I’m just easily satisfied? Well, no point dwelling on that. Let’s make it to one year! To start of, time for morning practice. Training, training- wait a minute. Was I narrating my thoughts out loud? Am I going crazy?”

I left the house and took a deep breath, taking in the fresh scent of flowers blooming all around me. I approached the battered training dummy, taking up a stance with a lowered waist for balance. To better practice the more intricate techniques, I prepared a wooden dummy inspired by those of the East back on Earth.

Thunk! Thunk!

I began working with the poles protruding at various angles, the sound clashing wood resounding with every strike. Once I got into the rhythm of things, I slowly poured mana into my strikes, careful to hold back just enough to not break my handicraft.

I felt particularly good today, so I increased my mana output.

Thunk! Thunk! THWACK!

I was so familiar with the pattern, I could probably do it with my eyes closed.

“Maybe I should try another pattern… maybe move up a level? Or-”

Thunk.

“O-owowow…?!”

The momentary lapse in concentration resulted in a slap against my forehead, causing me to stagger backwards.

“… Guess I still have work to do before I move up.”

I kept up my mana circulation and resumed training… for just a minute.

A small streak in the sky caught my attention; something flying through the air at high speeds. Flying birds were a rare sight around these parts, so I doubt it was one. It was also too small to be a ship; unlike those, this object flew much lower below the clouds.

“Heeeeyy!”

I instinctively waved at the object, just like all those ships before. Expecting it to simply fly past overhead, it instead appeared to be lowering in altitude, heading towards… me?

“Uhh…”

I didn’t expect it to notice me. Did I mess up? Was I not supposed to do that? What if it’s-

“Woah?!”

Too late.

With great speed, the object zoomed towards me, braking just in time for the rider to dismount smoothly a few meters away.

That person’s holding a… broomstick? No, it looks like a… giant smoking pipe?

The slender figure wore what I would describe as ‘adventurer clothes’, but their appearance was quite far from what I expected. Their- no, her long boots and gloves, combined with the green garb and cloak gave off a certain nostalgic feel from so many popular media I’d seen, her long, silky blonde hair and sharp eyes fitted perfectly on her beautiful face.

The most striking feature were her pointed ears, much longer than mine and cementing her as one of the races from so many legendary stories and tales; an elf.

My first ever interaction with a living person in this world was with an elf.

As I admired her, the elven visitor observed her surroundings with slightly narrowed eyes, her mouth so neutrally straight I couldn’t tell if she was about to smile or frown. When she finally set her gaze upon me, my whole body tensed up.

“Umm, ah- ugh…” I blabbered.

What’s wrong with me?!

Half a year without social activity reduced me to this stammering mess?!

The elf lady approached me with confident steps, her giant pipe floating behind her as she did. When we were finally face-to-face, she simply stared at me in silence, as if she were looking into my very soul.

“Urgh… augh-”

She finally blinked, giving me a small nod as I saw the slightest hint of a smile on her lips. Then she opened her mouth and spoke the first human words I’ve heard since I awoke in this world.

“[][][] [][][] [][][][][] [][][] [][]?”

“… Huh?”

“[][]? [] [][][], [][] [][][][][][][][][][][][], [][][][][][][]… [][][] [][][][] [][][][][]?”

“Uh…”

That’s right, I’d completely forgotten… I don’t understand the language of this world; the elf lady’s words just sounded like garbled mess to me.

However, one glance towards my training dummy changed the elf lady’s entire demeanor, and her next words caused my eyes to widen like saucers.

“Mu ren zhuang, is it?” The elf lady smiled.

Wooden post. Wood human, dummy of wood, there are several translations according to many languages. But the language she spoke just now, that was most certainly…

“Wha- how?”

“You, little one. You’re an otherworlder from Earth, are you not?”