The Knowledge Terminal

The important looking elf woman got out what looked to be a teapot from atop a fireplace, then poured the hot water into some cups before handing me one. I took it hesitantly.

“It’s tea. Do they not have tea in the demon country?”

I looked down at the cup. There were some leaves at the bottom that seemed to mix with the water. I took a sip, and sure enough it was tea. It wasn’t a flavor I had tasted before, though. “Thank you.” I said meekly.

“You speak the demon language pretty well, but your clothes don’t seem suited for traveling. How did you end up so far into the Bridge Forest?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure. I just kinda woke up here…” Was English considered the language of demons here? I wonder what the normal human language sounds like…”

“Well, you’re lucky Skiep found you, these woods are known to be fatal to many humans trying to cross the continents. The Faerie Queen has told the elf and pixie villages to turn back any who they find in the woods, but for you to be this far in…” she takes a sip of your tea. “At this point, it would be safer to guide you out of the forest and to the human settlements… do you not speak the common tongue?”

“Ah, is that what that cloaked boy was speaking earlier? I’m afraid not, sorry.” I didn’t understand much of what he was saying at all! It’s a wonder I can communicate at all in this world…

“That’s pretty rare these days. I hear even the children in the demon capital can. Do you have a class card?” I shake my head. “Not even an adventurer and you made it this far? Do you know your skill levels?” I shook my head again. “As a leader, I want to punish you for your idiocy, but as a mother and as the village elder, I want to help you out. Tomorrow begins our festival celebration, so no one will be able to guide you out of town until after the festival is over. In the meantime, why don’t we check your status?” She stood up and went to another room.

Did she really say status? To hear such a game like term seemed strange… no she mentioned skill levels earlier as well. This world seemed a little too realistic to be just a game though… and virtual reality wasn’t quite to this point yet. After a few minutes she came back into the room with a large stone with several carving and other stones laid into it and she sat it on the ground beside me.

“This here is a Knowledge Terminal. I don’t know about the demon continent, but here we have these terminals that can project information from books stored in the Great Library of Foarsjenning. It also has a scanning feature and can display the status of someone who places their hand on it. This one can’t put anything on paper though, you’d need to go to an adventurers guild for that.”

Another game-like term. An adventurers' guild… this world really must be like a game. “So, do I just place my hand on the indentation?” I noted a flatter part on the stone, and the elder nodded. I placed my hand on the stone and suddenly a strange feeling ran throughout my body. It was like something was in there, something not quite like light, but not quite a sound. After the wave washed over me, a few of the crystals on the stone started to light up, and a small projection appeared overhead.

Name: Miyu Seki
Race: Human, Age: 24, Level: 1
Profession: None, Class: None
Conditions: None
Blessings: Child of the Nine Sisters
Str: 5 Def: 6 Agl: 6 Int: 100 Spt: 9 Luk: 25
Skills
Bluff Lv 5, Aptitude Lv 60, Communication Lv 20, Perfect Memory Lv. 400, Calculation Lv. 200, Music Lv. 999, World Traveler Lv 5

“...there’s no way…”

I turned to look at the elder, whose jaw had dropped by looking at my status. It was more game-like than I would have expected. But a few of the numbers did seem a bit off. Suddenly she grabbed onto my shoulders.

“Who are you?”

“T-that’s what I would like to know? Aren’t my numbers a little off?”

“A little off??? Why do you have a skill maxed out when you are at level 1? Not to mention, you have two other skills over 100! I haven’t even heard of a few of those…” she turned to look at the projection again.

“Is that impressive?”

“Impressive? For someone with a higher intelligence score than me, the village elder, you must not be very bright. Look, skills increase through leveling up or through use. Normally, it takes someone years of intent just to reach 100 in a skill, and that’s just one skill. To have a skill maxed out is unheard of, outside of the Faerie Queen herself and maybe some demon lords!”

“I suppose maybe I’m just lucky then? Wait, maybe it’s this blessing thing.” I point to another spot on the projection I had a question about.

“Yes! That’s another thing! How did you receive a blessing? Normally that only applies to priests who have spent years in prayer or to heroes. But the rest of your status doesn’t look like a hero…” the elder seemed to get even more confused.

“That music skill though… tell me, can you play a lute?”

“I’ve never tried it before.” I knew of a lute, of course, but I had never seen one in person.

“Miss Seki, I would be honored to have you play at the town festival. I will even send my own son personally to guide you to the human settlement once the festival is over. Just please play the Song of Peace on the ceremonial Lute at the festival.” She was bearing down on me well into of my comfort zone.

“Yes, of course-“ agreeing is often the fastest way out of a situation, and this time was no different.

"Thank you. Here, I'll show you how to use the Knowledge Terminal to access the library. Place your hand on it and say, "Directory."

"Directory." A flash appeared before my eyes above the terminal. What it looked to be was a sort of virtual simulation of a bookshelf that stretched beyond the terminal's view in every direction.

"Now, you can tilt your hand in different directions to browse the shelves, or you can speak the name of something, and the terminal will find what books there are that pertain to the subject. For you... hmm... I would suggest finding a translation book from the demon language to the human language, and the elven language if you have the time. Well, that's it for the Knowledge Terminal. When you are done with it, remove your hands for at least 5 seconds. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"I think I'm good.

"Alright, oh, I suppose I should teach you the song you'll need to play at the festival." She went to the back of the room and pulled a guitar looking instrument out of a chest. "This is the Lute of Tranquility. It has been passed down in this village for generations. I would be honored to lend it to you for the festival. Now, as for the Song of Peace..." She began to play the instrument. The song was rather soft and very soothing, but I had heard it before: it was the song that the shepherd was playing when I found him. Sure enough, it was easy for me to memorize. I payed particular attention to the placement of her hands as well. "There, now you try."

I took the lute from her. It was a little awkward, having not held one before, but somehow my body knew how to move to make the sounds it needed from the instrument. This was more than my memorization... was this the result of my music skill being so high? Once I found my footing with the lute, I was able to play the song flawlessly. I then looked up to the elf who seemed to be radiating.

"This is it! That is the magic of a bard! I am glad I asked you to perform!"

"A bard?"

"Yes, bards are those who are able to produce magic through the power of song. Unlike Elven Magic that uses the natural cycles to generate energy, or the human magic that relies on incantations and circles, bard magic just needs the user to know the right songs. Magicians normally call it the weakest form of magic, but considering your skill level, I think you will be fine. Well, if you already have the song down, I will leave you to your studies. I need to go help with the festival preparations. Yell out if you need for me. There is some bread on the table if you are hungry before the feast. It's very filling so don't eat too much." With that, she bowed to me and walked towards the door.

"Thank you," I said, bowing back to her.

She smiled as she walked outside.

Now, to test a theory I had...

I pulled out my smartphone again and held it up to the knowledge terminal. Sure enough, it was full bars.

Whatever the Knowledge Terminal functioned on, it was similar enough to a phone signal that my phone was getting a response from it. Maybe I could access this library from my smartphone then? I opened up the web browser. What was the name of the library? Foarsjenning? How would I spell that... I'll use the Roman alphabet...

After several attempts, I must have gotten it right, because the same display that was on the Knowledge Terminal appeared on my phone. Swiping and tapping worked the same, and the voice recognition worked with my microphone as well. What's more, the text-to-speech function looked like it still worked on the books, and I could save them to my phone's memory as well.

Surely these are too many cheat skills, right?