"So, erm…" She began slowly. "... What are the human lands like?"

I chewed my cheek in thought on that one. "I can't… exactly tell. Not that I won't, but I actually can't. I'm not exactly from these lands. I can tell you what my homeland is like to the best of my ability though. S'all I can really do though, so I'm sorry if you're looking for more here".

There was nothing more than a brief hum, before I got my answer. "Very well. What is your homeland like, if I may ask?"

To that, I gave a deep breath and smiled sadly. "Ah, the good ol' home of the free and the land of the brave, the United States. I know it's not perfect, but as far as things go it's a pretty good place. The problem with describing my homeland is that it's hard to give any accurate descriptor of it because of how large it is".

"Surely you jest?" I heard her ask in disbelief.

"Nnnope," I replied with a pop at the end. "Coast to coast, she is. We've got deserts, mountains, prairies, and even jungle islands past the west coast. Further north and you'll reach Alaska, the fabled frozen lands of night. From what I hear, the winters are so strong that its blanketed in night for months up there".

I couldn't hear anything other than a gasp from her, so I continued. "Out east from the center of the states out to the other coast you've got plains, hills, more mountains, forests, swamps, and further south you'd find even more swamps and subtropics. I think your folk would like it down that area actually, I know my dad's side down there woulda got a kick outta you. Even got a few additional islands out that way as well, though I can't say I know as much about those"

There's a shuffle in the dark, followed by unintelligible muttering before it cuts off and she continues. "What part are you from then?"

"Ohio," I simply said. "Mostly swamp and woodland up there, if you're not at one of the giant farm fields or big cities full of factories. Mostly all we ever spat out for the other states was vehicle parts and soybeans though".

"What are 'factories'?"

Oof. That's a hell of a question. "Eh, to explain factories we'd need to go way back. How long do you think you got with me?"

There's a moment of deliberation hanging in the air, before she eventually gave her answer. "You're one of our only patients at the moment, so I think we have time".

"Alright, well to start things off we need to harken back to the invention of the boiler, as well as the industrial revolution and all of its consequences..."

"And so this 'Thomas Edison', though he presented plenty of ideas, was actually a crook that stole from his supposedly lesser and fellow scientists alike?"

"Yup," I nodded. "Only reason the dude got away with the shit too was cause of the money and pull in his pockets. Say what you will though, at least he got things out there, but that's all you can really say about him. Tesla was the real deal, if a bit cuckoo, and no one can tell me otherwise".

"Who's-"

There was a knock at the wall interrupting us, and the curtains flittered open to a dimmer light, almost sunset if I had to guess. Jesus, time flies.

"Crusch, is our patient well enough for visitors?" I heard Marscha say, managing to catch an actual glimpse of her. Huh, she's albino. Expected I guess, considering from what I remember those are kinda common in Crusch's tribe.

"I'm feelin' pretty ornery if I say so," I answered with a grin. "Just caught us in the middle of a history lesson"

"Is it about your homeland again?" I heard Todone from behind her, trying to butt in. I saw a wag of the woman's tail, and what was Todone's head trying to peek over was playfully swatted to the side.

"Come now, haven't your parents taught you patience?" The old woman complained with a sigh. "Fine, fine, go ahead dearie, just remember that I will not tolerate any horseplay that upsets my patient's wellbeing".

Todone was let in with a raise of the curtain, rubbing his snout with a grimace and muttering incoherently. Marscha chuckled at the sight, shaking her head as she hung the curtain to hang.

"I didn't swat you that hard now, stop being such a hatchling"

"Says you…" The toadboy murmured, before clearing his throat and looking at me. "So, er… Nolan… how are you?"

I smiled at that. "Pretty good actually, just got a tiny case of mana exhaustion is all"

"As well as corpse rot, several back lacerations, a poorly bandaged leg bite, a sprained wrist-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, aside from that I've just got some mana exhaustion," I waved off, getting a chuckle from Todone while the old lizard lady huffed. "How're you guys doing? I heard you came out of it better than I did"

"I've been keeping myself busy," Todone answered. "The lizard have different fighting styles, I believe it's actually provided me with insight into my own combat form"

"They kick your ass or you kick theirs?" I asked.

"A balanced diet of both, from what I understand," I heard another familiar voice say, and was greeted by Zarusosa, who had a toddler of a lizard clinging to his shoulder… and two more on the legs it seems. Oh wait, one more riding the tail. The sight made me snort actually, something which the old hunter eyed me for.

"Sorry, sorry…" I waved off. "So how've you been handling things Zaru? Heard you were bringing up the fishery idea".

"I've had better days. Most of the youths like my idea, but I've been receiving some resistance from the village elders," He explained, and gave a low sigh. "Honestly, you'd think that with my age and experience even they would have been willing to listen, but apparently I shouldn't have mentioned the idea came from a human".

I sat up slowly, Marscha making a move to have me lay back down but I held my hand up. "S'all right, I know my limits, and I won't push an inch past them with you here. I know I'll have h… er, trouble to pay"

I eyed the little tykes, realizing I was going to have to watch my mouth for a second. "Er, speaking of ah, human ideas, do you three have a minute? Eh, Crusch can stay as well I suppose, but the children would best not be around for this little tidbit. Only because it has to do with… family secrets"

Zaru 'ah'ed at that, and gently shook the children off. "Come now hatchlings, I'm certain your parents will want you home soon anyways, it's around dinner time".

The adorable little lizards aired their disappointment but did as they were told. They scurried away, mostly likely to head to their homes. I motioned to the curtains with my eyes, and the old medicine woman nodded. The curtains came down, and the room was dark.

"Er, toadmen don't have darkvision" I heard Todone speak.

"Whoops, one moment dearie," I heard the old woman say sheepishly. "The human wasn't complaining so… ah, here it is!"

There was a crack, and a soft glow was emerging from a strange looking mushroom in the medicine woman's hands. She took a moment to hang it on a string from the ceiling, and nodded to me.

"So, human, what is this 'family secret'?" She asked.

"Well, one secret Todone and Zaru know, but the other one is something that's going to be new for all of you".

Todone's eyes widened, while the old hunter's narrowed. "Why, if I may ask?"

I sighed. "Because, after what happened with that… thing… If I die, so too do my family secrets. As far as I know, I'm the last of my line. I don't want knowledge to be lost because of tradition"

Man I'm more or less just full blown lying at this point. I hate it, but like, what other choice do I have? If I want things to flow right, I need to lay down as many cards as possible here to get things flowing. Greater good and all that horseshit.

"I want you all to keep in mind that these secrets must not leave this room outside of your own families, unless I believe it may be necessary to share, okay? The consequences of this knowledge getting into the wrong hands is dire"

"How dire?" The old shamaness asked.

"Dire enough that someone with a twisted enough mind would slaughter your villages because of it"

Really fucking dark of me to word it, but it got the desired effect. The two albino lizards were shocked, and Zaru nodded in corroboration.

"He speaks truly," He said. "These secrets are that heavy. I can understand why it's a family secret, but understanding recent circumstances it makes sense".

"Recent circumstances?" Todone asked.

"Think boy," The old lizard asked. "Was that beast we fought not unnatural? Whoever out there made it will likely make more. If we are to fight at our peak we must have as much knowledge at our disposal as we possibly can. For the survival of all our tribes"

Todone rubbed his chin. "That makes sense I suppose. I never thought of that…"

Yeah, and neither did I. I mean yeah, I knew that thing wasn't natural, but I thought it was just like an escaped test or something yeah? The thought that someone or something else could have sent that did not cross my mind. Despite this, I cleared my throat, hoping to coast off of that.

"Correct. Recent circumstances have… necessitated such a move, especially if your peoples are going to survive a potential coming storm. The first thing I will teach you is Experience Theory. To abridge the explanation, the more you train, craft, and kill, the more 'experience' you gain," I began explaining, accentuating 'experience' with air quotes. "Killing provides the most of it, but the thing of it is that if you want the best results you must constant face foes as strong if not stronger than yourself. Of course, you could garner similar effects if you just, say, committed mass genocide amidst a group of indivuals weaker than yourself but not by too much. The more experience you gain, the stronger and more skilled your own body becomes"

"By the ancestors…" Marscha muttered. "If what you say is true…"

"It is," I nodded. "In fact, I noticed a… fluctuation in my mana after we defeated the beast. Once I've recovered, I believe I may actually be capable of casting third tier magic now"

"Impossible," The medicine woman responded in disbelief. "To jump from second tier to third tier simply because you've killed? Nevermind the fact that you would need someone to teach you those spells? How can you say for certain that you're capable of such feats when you're still suffering from mana exhaustion?"

"Trust me, if I was capable beforehand I would have cast every third tier spell I could have on that damn beast. Why would I work myself to the point of near death otherwise? I'll work at it and see if I can't do something when I feel better but eh… not exactly in tip-top shape right now like you said"

The room takes a moment to digest the information in silence, and to be honest I'm not sure if they all fully believe me, but then Todone speaks up.

"You know… I've felt a little different as well. Not by much, but… I feel as though fatigue doesn't set in as often. I had originally considered that maybe this was simply just a matter of having survived, but… maybe you're right after all"

"Had doubts I was right?" I asked.

"Admittedly, yes…" The toadman admitted with a little bit of shame, to which Zaru nodded along. "It had seemed too good to be true, if I'm being honest. And you were already making quite a few claims to begin with"

I shrugged. "That's fair, honestly. Never hurts to have doubt, it reminds us of our limits and expectations, and to exercise caution when needed"

"Something not heeded often enough," Marscha commented.

"Still, this is very… I don't know…" Lulu trailed off, chin held in thought.

"I get it. It's a lot. And like I said, it's not the only way to gain experience. Studying, trading, and practicing one's craft are all ways to gain experience as well. Killing is just for the breaking point where those things simply don't provide enough experience to grow stronger. Even then, that can vary based on how hellish said training can be, though admittedly my knowledge on how far we could push that is somewhat scarce"

The demihumans all seemed to accept and understand that the information I was bringing to the table was actually genuine now. I feel kinda relieved that they're being honest about not having believed me at first. Hopefully now, this next tidbit should provide them with something they may very well make great use of.

"The next thing I'd like to teach you… is transmutation," I began. "Or, for lack of a better words, the conversion of one material into a whole new material. Though the process requires components, mana, and time, I could show your people how to, say, turn wood into something called 'Petrified Wood'. It's extremely stiff when compared to most forms of wood, but it's flame retardant and highly durable. Perfect for making armor and blunt weapons".

"I've heard of something similar, though only the use of tier magic was necessary," The old shamaness stated. "Used mostly for simple things like the creation of water"

I shook my head at that. "This is not in fact tier magic, but another separate process. This process operates on the fundamental law of equivalent exchange. No spells are used to transform a material from one form to another, only raw mana is used"

Or at least, that's what sifting through descriptions and bugging the System for every scrap of info I could scavenge. Which wasn't a whole lot, but it was enough to infer what I could.

"Amazing," Was Lulu's response. "What other things can you create with art?"

"Mmm, you can transform stone into metal for a start, though I'll admit I don't have as much experience with that, er…"

Actually, fuck. I don't know a whole lot. What would Jesus do… actually, wait a minute… what could Jesus do.

"Water to wine-"

{Notice: You are not a high enough level in 'Transmuter' to unlock 'Water to Wine' recipe}

"-The creation of food-"

{Notice: You are not a high enough level in 'Transmuter' to unlock 'Dirt to Ration' recipe}

"-And from what I understand one could even turn lead into gold"

{Notice: You are not-}

Yeah yeah yeah, I get it. Last one technically wasn't a thing Jesus did, but his first two things bought me enough time to remember that. Lulu, meanwhile, was staring at me with wide open eyes. Actually, they all kind of were.

"And you're capable of such feats?" Zarusosa asked.

I couldn't help but sigh at that. "I wish. I can only really petrify wood. I'd have to spend time researching and more or less starting from scratch since I don't have access to my family's archives. Transmutation simply wasn't something I studied as often as I should, and I regret it. I'll at least share the petrify wood enchantment, that should at least provide you with an option for better protecting yourselves"

The hut is silent yet again, and the four of them seem to be weighing my words. Lulu, once again being so curious, asks me something that quite frankly caught me off guard.

"What if I helped you research?"

"Crusch, dearie, you're already studying under myself! You can't go about taking on an additional work load like this when you're already busy with me," Marscha spoke, trying to shoot the idea down.

Honestly though, I kinda liked it. Crusch Lulu as a research assistant. Someone who I could see actually keeping pace with me while I picked apart the system and how it worked. Of course, realistically, the kid would probably outshine me once she's given the right direction, but it wouldn't be a bad idea. One snag, however, was the fact that she simply couldn't be two places at once. Luckily, I had an idea for that.

"That's not necessarily a problem," I countered, receiving attention. "I could help create something that would allow the both of us to not only create research notes, but give ourselves something to look back on to compare and contrast all while we're busy working with our own separate tasks. All it would require is two components for the matter; a little bit of time to teach her how to read and write, ink, and some paper"

"Y-you… would teach her to read and write?" The old lizardwoman asked.

I nodded. "It would be in my homelands language, so I doubt it would be all that useful outside of the village, but yes. Like I said, some time to teach her and the materials to do so"

"And how would we go about making said materials?" Todone asked.

I grinned. "That part's actually kinda fun in my opinion".

Nolan Potts, Human (Karma: 50 [Neutral]) [17/21 Spell slots used]

Classes: Brawler (5), Ranger (3), Druid (4), Clothier (3). Total Level (15).

Spells (Druid): Frostbite, Entangle, Create or Destroy Water, Guidance, Jump, Cure Wounds, Dust Devil, Protect from Poison, Hold Person, Spike Growth, Lesser Restoration, Water Breathing, Darkvision, Sleet Storm

Spells (Ranger): Animal Friendship, Speak to Animals, Ensnaring Strike

Gear: Canvas Clothes (Sturdy, Weathered), Oak-Handled Brush-hook, Canvas Coyote Pack of Holding, Bundles of Herbs (Medicinal), Bundles of Chitin, Pot of Tannin, Bundles of Smoked Bug Meat, Dried Deer Hide, Bones, Bone toolkit

Items of Note: {Humble Beginnings}, {Emerald Moon}

Party Members are as follows…

Member One: Todone, Son of Kodrotti, Toadman (Karma: -30 [Neutral])

Classes: Toadman Warrior (9), Brawler (8), Total Level (17).

Member Two: Zarusosa Shaha of the Greenclaws, Lizardman. (Karma: 110 [Neutral-Good])

Classes: Lizardman Hunter (10), Warrior (9), Ranger (6), Total Level (25)

AN: Wow, alright, I got a few reviews to respond to today, so let's hit those first.

Focus of the future: No need to worry about spamming my email lol, I don't get a lot of interesting notifications so seeing I've gotten a review on here, even small, gives me a bit of a smile. And yeah, won't say too much but Nolan will have a lot more experience with his ice magic before he leaves the forest.

Raven Mordrake: Now naturally, I can't say too much about this either, but not necessarily because I won't. I've got a rough sketch of where the story goes in its barebones beginning to end, but past that a lot of things like this a pretty much up in the air. Like I've said before, I'm mostly playing things by ear here since I'm just doing this for fun.

kyle77776: Hmmm, now that's a thought. Noted.

alexanderjuarez499: This is actually my fault for not explaining how the 'System' handles spellslots I suppose, I'll have to handle that in a later chapter. Long and short of it though, one level up = one spell point, no slots, UNLESS that level up point is used on a magic caster related level, at which point one level up = one spell point and three spell slots. Sorry 'bout the confusion stranger. Don't worry too much about him not being able to learn spells due to lack of points neither, I've got a way to go around that I'll bring up shortly