The Quantum Wanderer

The next morning, after breakfast, Andrew told me that we were going to visit the village nearby. We jumped on a cart that he kept behind the house, and started to go to the road.

I had a lot of pelts. They had been smoked already, were dry, so they did not smell particularly bad.

He had a batch of jerky as well.

“Are you afraid that we may get attacked on the road?”

“Well, first of all, did you forget you are talking to the strongest human? Unless we meet something like a platoon of 50 or more soldiers, or a really strong beast, there is not much to fear. We may encounter some bandits, but then I will just kill them and collect the reward.”

“How are people in the city know that what you killed is a bandit?”

“The status will mention something like that.”

“How does that work? Is there a god watching? Who judges if it was a justified kill or not?”

“You make some really weird questions. I wonder if anyone knows that.”

I thought to myself that this would be an additional thing to research. So much to look at.

We rode the cart for some hours. I remembered how my previous life was, how everything was always done on the clock. Even the resting, if you wanted to have some fun, it was always looking out for something nice, always running.

In this world, everything seemed slower. Perhaps because of the time to get anywhere. But we were actually trying to go to the village, and the soft shaking of the cart, some wind on my face… It wasn’t really hot, it was one of those days that it is hot under the sun, but cool under a shadow.

We arrived to some farming fields without any incidents in the afternoon. They were reasonably big, and I could see some people working on them under the sun. They were cut by a river, and I could see some irrigation channels.

In the middle of these fields, I could see the village.

The village was surrounded by a wall, made of cut down tree trunks. They were sharpened on top. I could see two wood made towers, on the corners. Each tower had a bell on it, and a stick hanging by the tip of a rope, close by. There were two people in the tower, they had something that might have been a leather armor at one point. I would guess that the wall was either a rectangle or a square. And, strangely enough, the wall went inside the river for a little bit – something around 10 feet.

As we came in, I saw that the village was not big. It had a lot of houses, and it had some children running by. A lot of women were either taking care of children or doing some other task, like cleaning or washing clothes.

We moved along, up to a house that had a wood plaque, with what looked like a sword and a shield.

Andrew stopped the cart in front of it, pointed to the plaque and told me:

“Now you see the plaque with the shield and sword?”

“Yes”

“That’s the adventurer’s guild branch.”

The adventurer's guild was a significant structure within the village, serving numerous purposes for those who sought employment and adventure. The guild provided a plethora of services, including extermination jobs, bandit hunts, and escort missions, making it an essential establishment for warriors, mages, and other skilled individuals. The guild also acted as a central hub for trading loot obtained from battles, ensuring that local artisans, like leather workers, had access to necessary materials at fair prices. This system controlled pricing and maintained the village's economy.

Inside, the guild was reminiscent of a medieval inn, with tables and chairs for adventurers to rest and socialize. It offered food and lodging, including private rooms for those who could afford them. This integration of services made the guild not just a place of employment but a community center where adventurers could find camaraderie and support.

The place was kind of empty, though.

Andrew told me to bring the pelts inside, and place them on a balcony. As I was doing the trips needed for that (there were quite a few pelts), Andrew yelled “Rose!”

“Hello, old goat. How are things in the forest?”

“Not high, not deep.”

Rose saw me bringing the last of the pelts, and placing on top of the others.

“Who is that?”

“Well, this is a friend of mine, Marcelo, that came to visit. I am showing him around.”

“Sure. Are you going to have the meal and the room? Should I get a family bed or two beds?”

“Rose, I told you, I don’t swing that way! Two rooms, for gods’ sakes!”

“Hey, if you look at this, “ and she gestured to herself, “ and nothing… “

Andrew sighed, and I laughed.

She turned around, and yelled “Thomas!”.

A kid, that should be around 10 years old, came out.

“Take care of Andrews cart and horse.”

The kid took the reins and took the horse and the cart to the back.

She was going through the pelts, and Andrew told me to go with him. We left by the door, and started walking in the vicinity.

The sun cast a warm glow over the cobblestone streets as Andrew and I strolled through the village. The air was filled with the sounds of merchants calling out their wares and the occasional clatter of horse-drawn carts.

Our first stop was a metalwork shop, where the blacksmith was hard at work hammering a piece of glowing iron. The rhythmic clang of metal on metal echoed through the small workshop. The walls were lined with various tools, swords, and intricate wrought iron designs. Andrew chatted with the blacksmith, discussing the quality of the materials and the craftsmanship, while I marveled at the skill and precision on display. He bought a cheap set: a sword, a pair of daggers, and a bow and a bunch of arrows.

Next, we headed to the village pharmacy, a quaint little store filled with the rich, earthy scents of dried herbs and medicinal concoctions. Shelves were lined with jars of mysterious powders and colorful liquids, each labeled with their purpose. The apothecary, a kindly old woman with glasses perched on her nose, greeted us warmly. Andrew inquired about a specific remedy, and she provided him with a small vial, explaining its uses in great detail.

Finally, we made our way to the leather work store. The smell of cured leather was strong and inviting. Rows of finely crafted belts, bags, and boots adorned the shop. The leatherworker, a burly man with calloused hands, was meticulously stitching a saddle. Andrew and I admired the craftsmanship, and I found myself drawn to a beautifully tooled leather journal. The leatherworker noticed my interest and offered a friendly smile, explaining the process of creating such a piece. Andrew bought a set of leather armor.

As we left the shop, the village seemed even more vibrant and alive. The experience of visiting these artisans and merchants had given us a deeper appreciation for the community and its skilled inhabitants.

The sun was already setting by this time. I was, as expected, carrying the whole thing, though it wasn’t that bad. Not with my recent acquired strength.

We went back to the guild, and Rose handed me a key, attached to a flat piece of wood that had two vertical slashes.

I went up the stairs, Andrew remained down.

I found one of the rooms that had the same symbol on the door that there was on the keychain. I opened it, and dropped the stuff by the bed. Closed the door, and came back down.

The sun started to set, and the streets got a little noisy. I went outside to take a look, and saw a lot of men coming into the village. Apparently, the guys that were farming outside were coming in to the village… They came in talking amongst themselves, and started to split after the village entrance. That made sense… They would work the land, but would sleep in safety.

Once I got down, we had supper, and Andrew mentioned to me that I would have tomorrow free.

Once we were done with dinner, he told me that the stuff we had bought today was a gift, it was going to be my gear from now on.

I came up to my room, and started taking a look at the sword. I decided to do an experiment: I could actually change my perception by sending mana to my eyes and brain. Perhaps I could enhance my eyes in a desired way?

This time, I placed mana on my cornea. While doing that, and looking at something in my room, I was able to actually see things in further detail. What would be the limitations?

I sit down by my bed, my leather armor on my lap, my sword to my side. I looked at the leather, and increased the amount of mana. I could see the pores. I increased again. I could see the very irregular designs, with all the holes. This is looking promising. I increase again. I could see the holes bigger. Again. Now each feels like it is 20 inches, they are huge, and I could see some very small fibers between the holes. I play with using different light frequencies. The higher the frequency, the better detailed is the image. I turn my mana sense on. Wow. The fibers between the holes are actually made of mana.

I turn my head, and everything spins. I close my eyes, and remove the mana, so that I can see well again. Now it’s the sword time.

I look at it. It looks normal. I start to pour a lot of mana on my eyes. The body of the sword seems looks like a beach, with some some green sand, some white sand, some blue sand, lots of grains together. The edge is made of stripes.

The funny thing is, when looking with this kind of augmentation, the edge looks actually blunt.

I wonder…

I increment the amount of mana, to be able to see it as clear as possible. Now, it looks like a canyon side, full of caves. I place my thumb close to the place I am looking, and force my mana out, just to smooth that canyon… It works. And it doesn’t even use much mana.

This looks nice right now, but I start thinking… Once I hit something with it, it is going to suffer a dent. We are talking about iron, not even steel. But… If manipulating the atoms is so cheap, why not…

I apply a higher density of to the atoms, and I manage to actually split them. Now, if I do it right… It works! I get the hang of it, and the more I do it, the faster it becomes. And I go rearranging, adding just a single outer layer.

I get excited, I just can’t stop.

When I finish my personal project, I am really tired. I take a look, and my mana is almost but gone, but I got it! I managed to create an edge that is almost one atom thick, and a neutron crystal one neutron thick on the whole sword. I used the matter of the sword itself.

If I was correct, the neutron crystal would be using nuclear strong force to keep itself together. I added a little mana to the gap, it was actually a great material to add a flexibility to the mesh. I don’t think anything could actually bend that, but the possibility of would add to its endurance.

Ok, I am going to bed. I look out the window, and horizon starts to get pink. I spent the whole night on this.

I go down to have breakfast with Andrew, for a second he asks if I am sick.

I tell him that I was doing something, that I would tell him later, and he lets it go.

He goes out to buy stuff for the house and tells me to register with the guild. Rose brings out a round crystal, I touch it, and I can fell the energy probing the back of my head. Exactly the place where my flame is at. She brings out a book, writes some stuff. Then she grabs a small plate under the counter, and touches the ball with it, and my name appears on it. “Your registration is now done. You are starting at level E, just like everyone.”

I get back to bed. I just don’t have the energy for anything anymore.

He wakes me up, it feels like I just blinked, but I am better now, time to go home. And we hit the road.

After something like two hours on the road, we see some trees crossing it. Andrew looks at the place the trees fell from, and does a sigh.

“Morons. Listen, kid, we are going to face some bandits.”

Three guys come out from the woods, in front of us. The one in front tells us to given them our goods, or else. They have some leather armor.

I extend my arm, but Andrew pulls it down, makes a no with his head, and then gestures me to go there with his head.

I get down from the cart, get my modified sword out, and assume position in front of them. I power up my vision and brain, just to be on the safe side. I think this might be too much for me to handle right now, but since Andrew told me to do that, I am assuming that he is going to support me. I can see that those guys have the same level as I do right now.

Because of the modification I had done to my blade, the blade now reflects the surroundings perfectly, as if it was a mirror, as opposed to iron. I can see some general confusion, including Andrew’s.

They are in an inverted V position, where two guys are in the front, and one is in the back. One in front has a knife, another one has a sword, and the one in the back has an axe. The one with the sword starts running towards me, with the sword raised. He looks so bad, so many issues with the way he is attacking.

I do just like me and him are used to. I parry with the edge of my sword… And my sword slices up to the middle of the blade. I can see a weird face the bandit is making… Something weird, something to fear, then he looks at my eyes. And I push my blade into his head. It goes in as if it were water. Too smooth.

He is falling forward, still under the inertia of his attack, I try to pull my sword out, but it doesn’t work. I apply some force, and finish cutting his blade.

He falls to the ground, and his sword, cut in two, falls to his side. There are some seconds of a very heavy silence, where all of us, Andrew, the bandits and me, are looking to that weird scene. As if on cue, all of us go back to looking at each other. Andrew and I look at the bandits, and the bandits look at me.

The bandit with the axe cryes

“Fuck!! He’s got a magic sword!!”, turns around and runs. The other one contorts his face and comes running towards me, knifes ready to attack.

When I try to parry his arm with my sword, it is cut cleanly off. He keeps trying to stab me with a stomp, and his right hand with a knife falling to the ground. I kind of understand what is going on, and slice him in half.

Andrew does a gesture, and a lightning strikes the running one, he falls to the ground, smoking.

I look at my blade, and try to see scratches or dents. I even magnify my view a little bit. Nothing. Well, it is not the test I was hoping for, but this is good.

“Kid…?”

I turn around, and see that Andrew is also looking at my sword.

“What did you do to that sword?”

“Well, I might have tweaked it a little bit. Remember how I looked like this morning? I was playing with the iron, using magic, and came out with something good on the other side.”

“Whatever you do, don’t go showing it off too much. You don’t need everyone to know that you can do that.”

“Do you want me to do that to your sword?”

“No need. I am already strong enough, and I don’t intend on carrying something that I can’t explain. On your case, tell everyone that asks that this was something you found on a hero’s tomb. With your guild registration, it can kind of explain that thing. You should try to grab a better handle for it to help it pass for a treasure or something, but it is something for the future. Can I see it?”

He goes down the cart, and I offer him the sword. He grabs it, and does a few movements around.

“The balance is not good, though. It feels like a cheap sword, just like the one we bought.”

He goes to the tree that is blocking the road, and chop it in the middle. The sword goes down until half of it is in the road.

“When the gods piss, it rains!!! I never seen something like this.”

He goes to another area, and chops it, apparently putting very little strength. It cuts right through.

“I stand corrected. Be very careful with that thing. What did you do to it?”

“Well, I did some experiments on manipulating the molecules and atoms with magic. I actually managed to create a crystal of neutrons, and the edge is actually an atom wide. Do you know how atoms work?”

“No.”

“Okay, let me try to put it simple. Please bear in mind that I may have to tell you some little lies to simplify the explanation. Everything out there is composed of molecules. The air, water, rocks, etc. Air is like this soup of molecules, but they are kind of free. In liquids, they are tighter together, they can kind of attract each other. In solids, they are kind of bound together.

“When you burn something, or when you transform something, such as cooking, sometimes you break those molecules, and they recombine. Let’s call this a chemical reaction.

“These molecules are made of atoms. The atoms look like a slime, in that they have a core or nucleous, comprised of positive charge or neutral stuff, and an outer layer, made of negative stuff. The negative stuff is way smaller and lighter than the neutral or positive stuff.

“Lightnings are made of this negative stuff going from one place to another.

“The type of atom is given by how many positive charges it holds. The neutral stuff is there to allow it to hold together. There is repellent force between the positive forces. And there is a very strong force that holds this together.

“All of this is very, very small. If you compare an arrow to the trunk of a tree. Now imagine the trunk of the tree is as thick as a strand of hair… How small would the arrow be? It just can’t be seen normally.

“I reshaped the sword at this level, by creating a very thin layer of the neutral stuff. It sits on top of the last iron layer, thus isolating it. Because it is very, very thin, it did not change much the weight. It is just one layer. I managed to stick some mana on the gaps, to make it impossibly smooth. Can you understand all this?”

I was really happy with my lecture, but Andrew was looking at me with some very weird faces. He was nodding, but his look told me that he did not understand it. He had that empty look, that seemed like the wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead. Well, it wasn’t like his understanding was going to change anything.

After a couple of moments, and slowly, he goes over the bandits and collects their heads.

We rode all the way home in silence.

After dinner, he told me

“We have to talk.”

“Ok.” That sentence never brings good things. To me it always sounds something like I have to screw you a little, but I will be gentle. Andrew was kind of avoiding my eyes. I could see that he was kind of sad.

“Do you realize just how outside the norms you are?”

“Not really. I mean, you can beat me, right?”

“Even I am not sure. You learned to fight like a level way above yours, with that weird mana reinforcement you are doing. The magical sword you built feels more like a treasure. And don’t get me started with that invisible ray of death that can use.

“The thing is, kid, I think you’re a nice kid, but nails that stand out too much get hit on the head. I may be able to protect myself, but I kind of enjoy that village, and that would be my weakness. I am thinking that you can defend yourself against almost anything out there. I just don’t want to be brought into any fights.

“So, I am sorry to say, but I can’t have this level of risk near me and my village.”

“It’s… ok. I will move on.

“You don’t have to leave tomorrow, though.”

“Sure.”

I went to bed sad.