That is when I found out there were surprisingly little mirrors in this world. I didn't notice any in the house, but maybe I didnt see them, so I looked again. The cutlery was made of wood and while the windows were glass (at least I thought they were glass, but they felt a little off), with no combination of light and darkness could I get a reflection to show.

  Work was the same as yesterday, except I spent all my concentration to analyze how people treated me. Did they see me as a kid? I certainly didn't get a lot of respect, but that could easily be explained as I was a know nothing newbie. There wasn't a lot of free time to interact with people out of work context, and most were very withdrawn. Even when I found Roodon, I didn't get much of a clue. He basically just sat there, eating his food while accepting my presence. I didn't have the guts to ask directly.

  When work was done I avoided everyone I knew and hurried to the stream, only to remember that a flowing stream with plenty of rocks doesn't make for a good mirror. I scooped up some water with both my hands and tried to see my reflection in it. It was too small to see my whole face, but when moving around I could see parts. My hair was very dark brown and short. My eyes had a chestnut color. My nose was small. Was this my face? It didn't really feel like it, but I also couldn't tell what was wrong. And most importantly: was it a kids face? I guess I could see how someone saw it as a kids face, but I didn't know if my face really looked like that, because I only saw a small part at a time. I guess I needed to see at least half my face to make good judgement on that.

  But in the meantime: did I mind being treated as a kid? If I explain the truth, would they accept me as an adult, or would it just be the ramblings of a kid? Did I even want to be treated as an adult? I've thought about this before, but I don't think adults without an apprenticeship have it very good here. If I couldn't finish my apprenticeship, I'd have to rely on some unique skill I brought over from my world. Thats how the stories go, right? But I dont remember any unique skills I had. Even skills that were common there, I guess I don't notice until it stands out. And would Carch have even picked me up if I didn't look like a child? Surely he would have guided me out of the forest, but then what? Left me at the city gate? Its not like just anyone can pick up quests and make enough money to get a place to sleep for the night. Maybe I could have bluffed my way through back when I didn't know the dangers yet, but now...

  I went back to the house. It was still early, but I couldn't really think of a place I wanted to go, and my pants were wet. It wasn't cold outside yet, but the wind was chilly, so no time to walk around with wet pants. Carch wasn't home yet. I guess he couldn't be home early every day. I went to my to my room and spread myself out across the floor. I had so many heavy thoughts today, it was nice to just lay down and let it all flow out. Actually, my legs were getting cold, so it was probably a good idea to change clothes.

  After that I decided to mess with the lights. Since there wasn't something like a status panel, magic should be something that was just natural for people. Well, except for me. Bonus of not being born here. I touched the button, that was not really a button, but more a small pane. Carch could obviously do it without any incantation, so I didn't bother embarrassing myself.

  Feel like the magic is just a muscle. The lights are an extension of your own body.

  Nothing. I really wanted to read something about this, but let alone internet, I haven't even seen any books around here. Don't tell me they are all magic based as well? But that means either magic is so easy any child can do it, or books are so expensive only scholars are expected to have them. Lets add this to the list of things I should not ask anyone about.

  When I was fiddling with the lamp button and thinking about what to do, I noticed a sensation at the tip of my finger. It was comparable to the feeling I had in the forest, except if the forest was like a large weighted blanket, the button was like a small piece of fleece. Was this magic? I tried to stay in that position, hoping something would happen, but instead of the lights turning on, Carch came home and I stumbled over myself trying to act like I was not just trying something stupid.

  Carch didn't notice anything and looked tired.

  "What's wrong? Hard day?"

  I was almost happy that he was too tired to notice me being weird.

  "Very. As much as monster activity was down these last few days, so much it went up today. We even had to fight a few times. Tegos even needs to get a bite healed."

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Tegos was one of Carch's friends, in the same group that I met the first time.

  "Sounds dangerous. Is there anything I can do?" I paused for a second trying to come up with things. "I can go buy food today, so you can stay home!"

  Carch smiled. "Ok, but don't pay too much."

  I didn't know anything about the economy here. Even if I joined Carch a few times while buying food, the currency and prices left my head as soon as I heard it. Luckily Carch continued as he gave me some money.

  "No more than 8 dal for vegetables, and around 10 dal for meat, but you can pay more if its a nice cut."

  I nodded. 8 and 10 dal. Should be easy to remember. I can do this.

  Almost smiling I walked out of the house in the direction of the market. 8 dal for vegetables, 10 dal for meat. But the real challenge was getting there and buying at least something before they all went home. It was kind of late after all, and it wouldn't be weird for the merchants who already sold a lot to be on their way. When the narrow street widened into a small quare I already saw a lot who were breaking up their stall. Luckily there were still a few that had theirs up.

  As I walked past them and noticed that none of them had their prices visible. Breathing suddenly became harder and my vision narrowed until I only saw the thing I was directly looking at, which was a pebble. I wasn't going home without food, but I realized I had to ask prices, maybe even haggle. And it wasn't even my own money. If it was, I could just pay a little extra to be done with it, but I couldn't be so irresponsible with someone elses money.

  I needed to breathe. I was on a time limit here, people were already breaking up. Meat first. It was a bit scummy of me, but I could always say it was the best looking piece out there if it was a bit more expensive. I went to the closest stall that sold meat and pointed of something of decent size.

  "How much is this?"

  I don't think I made eye contact. I did, however, notice they wore a very nice scarf. It was knitted, but still looked pretty thin. It was made with all kinds of warm colors that blended together thanks to the wooly threads that spawned from the scarf, so it got a nice fiery look.

  "That will be 10 dal."

  "Ok."

  I rumbled through my money trying to find the right amount. It were banknotes, just like in my world, so I just needed to see them to get the right amount.

  Shit. Stupid magic world. Stupid, stupid me for not checking earlier. This money was blank. Well, not white, nothing on it, blank, but the same subtle shining overlay that all the magic objects had. Every child could do magic so naturally it didnt even need to be mentioned. I needed to figure this out. Right now. I felt the notes. Tiny bit of fleece. Were they all equal? Seemed so. No, the ones on the right were slightly softer. There seemed to be three different ones. Three different values spread over nine notes, with two of the highest value, three of the middle one and four of the lowest one. How much should I have in total? At least 18, but I wouldn't be surprised if I got more.

  The lowest value should be 1 dal. I'd be surprised if it wasn't so. Then it would be a really strange system. I don't think the highest value is 10. 10 dal is the highest I'm expected to pay and I got two large notes. Instead it would be logical if it was worth 5 dal. What was the middle one worth? Probably 2 dal, but I didn't need it. I just paid with the two large notes and was preparing to be really embarrassed if I recieved one back.

  Luckily I didn't. They just wished me good evening like I was a normal customer and gave me the meat. They then went to other customers, not paying attention to me. I just stood there for a second, flabbergasted, until I decided it was better to walk away. Ok, vegetables next. What kind of vegetables? Doesn't matter, lets just go through it. I found a stall that had several kinds of vegetables, but pointed at the one I had on my first day here.

  "How much is this?"

  I was painfully aware of how repetetive I was, but I just didn't have the headspace to be original here.

  "That's 10 dal."

  "I can only pay 8."

  What was that? What did I do? I didn't want to be here, I couldn't stand this situation but mostly I couldn't stand myself.

  "Then for you it will be 8 dal."

  I looked up to the seller. She had beautiful brown eyes and smiled gently at me.

  "Thank you."

  I picked through the last of my money. Four notes worth 1 dal, and three worth 2. I thought. I gave her all four of 1 dal and two worth 2 dal. 8 dal in total. I thought. She smiled even more broadly and gave me back two of the smallest notes. My face turned as red as it has ever been and I grabbed the vegetables and walked away. I managed to utter a "thank you", but I wasn't sure she heard.

  I ran all the way back home. I got 2 dal back. If those small notes were even worth 1 dal. 2 dal + 2x dal = 8 dal. 2x dal = 6 dal. Those notes were worth 3 dal! I had never thought 3 dal notes even existed. Influence from my previous world? I had to practice. I had to gain a lifetime of magic experience in just a day, or however long it would take for a similar situation to happen. Maybe even more than a lifetimes worth, if I was really incapable of using magic and had to work around it.

  Before I entered the house I waited for a bit. Breathing in and out, letting myself calm down. Letting the redness disappear from my face. Carch didn't have to know what happened.