Botan traveled through the plains for his second day. This day was going to be longer, even with the morning and night taken up. He had only 5 or so hours yesterday, but he'd have 10 or more hours today. He wanted to push for level 5 if he could. He was sitting at halfway to level 3, so he thought it was possible.

"Maybe when I can attract more monsters with that other weapon form." He thought.

He looked at the status screen, saying he needed to be a higher level. "It doesn't say what level, just whether or not I can use it now… If I look at the weapon forms normal weapon stats… I'm guessing it's going to be a while. I assume higher stats mean higher requirements, and these are high. I can look at weapon form stats to get a rough estimate, but I can always be wrong or there could be outliers." Botan thought through his details a bit more.

The field had different monsters than the forest. There were a few tops, but they were rare. What he fought most often, and what gave him the most trouble was a monster called a [Jackknife Rabbit].

When he first saw the creature it looked more cute than dangerous, though it still held an air of danger. It was a moody dull purple, bordering on dark grey. It also had a grumpy facial expression, though it looked cuter than it was probably intended. The standout figure had to be its ears, which appeared to be blades.

Botan shattered a [Scrying Marble] while looking at the creature.

[Jackknife Rabbit]

[Level: 4]

"A level gap again, but it's nothing new." Botan thought while approaching the creature. He held his weapon in front of him in the [Blue Spinning Flower] form and used [Spin]. The moment he did, the monster turned to him and stomped its foot. It almost looked cute trying to be intimidating.

"Hya!" Botan tried sweeping the holy flower in front of him, but the creature was just gone.

"Where did it-" "Ah!" Botan was pulled from his thoughts by a feeling on his side. His armor took a hit. The monster dashed past Botan way too quickly and attempted to slice his side open with its ears. Still, the impact hurt a lot. He shuffled his feet, but was too slow and the monster tagged him yet again. "If not for this armor, I'd be dead… Me, a supposed hero!" Botan felt he was performing poorly.

He knew he was going to never catch the little creature like this, so he switched tactics by switching weapon forms. Specifically to the recently acquired [Mirage Magnolia Baton]. It was similar to the base form of the weapon, which he'd also yet to master come to think of it. As Botan's weapon moved, it left after images that confused the monster.

"This must be what [Blur] meant…, now then-"

[Shimmer]! Botan called while stroking the weapon downward. This resulted in a poor mirage of himself to appear. Botan wanted to switch weapon forms again, but the process was so slow. The monster leapt at the illusion and found that it hit the dirt far past its target. Botan used the chance to strike the monster. It took 2 hits to finish.

"So [Shimmer] leaves them looking for me much the same way their burst of speed did for me." Botan was realizing he'd probably need to find efficient measures like this to grind without wasting all his healing supplies. Botan continued for a few hours, fighting jackknife rabbits, tops, and other small creatures. He got another level up early on. He noticed that the jackknife rabbits always stomped the little feet before they started using blinding speed. His suspensions were confirmed when one did not stomp and therefore lacked the speed needed to give Botan any difficulty.

"So they are using magic and that stomp is a spell… This isn't what I pictured when I thought about wizards and sorcery. Then again, it's all fictional back home." He thought to himself. "Then again, this world is odd in other ways. How hard I hit something isn't completely consistent with how hard it is hit. It's hard to put into words, but sometimes I can send things flying and sometimes I feel weaker than I did in my own world… I guess that's stats at work." Botan had to conclude.

He absorbed the monster remains and gained 2 weapon forms, they both upped speed. One was called [Natural Meal Dagger Petal] and was a knife or dagger. He made a note to collect the bodies of the other rabbits, maybe Tia could cook them up? Or perhaps he'd sell them.

It wasn't like how hard he hit something didn't affect the strength of the impact, but it wasn't the only factor. The best way he could think to describe it was to say that the results of anything used both reality and stats in some type of equation. If either side of the equation was low, the result wasn't great. So both performance and high stats were needed for the best results. This was something he needed to remember. While something could look weak, that'd only partially inform reality. In this world, stats were a co-author of events.

He had been pushing himself and by midday reached level 4. He also mastered his [Blue Spinning Flower] and kept [Mirage Magnolia Baton] on to master it as well. He thought it'd be a day per mastery, something uniform, but it was much shorter. He was with a higher level and a new permanent stat boost from the weapon mastered, Botan felt pretty good about today.

Until he saw a rabbit a bit different from the others. It was the same shape and color scheme, but was a little bigger and way meaner looking. It wasn't cute at all. It had metal bracers on its front paws, more pronounced blade ears, glowing eyes, and a metal face mask. Botan knew he wasn't going to fight it, but he scattered a [Scrying Marble] all the same.

[Jackknight Rabbit]

[Level: 16]

"..." Botan quietly retreated, moving closer to town a bit and breaking for lunch. By the time he had eaten his food, the monster had left the area, allowing him to travel a little further.

When Botan engaged his next enemy, he made a small mistake. He used [Spin], but he wasn't using either spinning flower form. The head of the weapon spun like a motorized mace. It seemed to work well enough. He had to remember that [Spin] was an [Equip Effect], not a [Special Equip Effect]. Meaning the moment he mastered the form that gave him that skill, he could always use it. Meaning every weapon form had to be able to spin in some way. Further, Botan had a sneaking suspicion about [Spin], but he'd get Tia's opinion before putting too much stock into that idea.

A little while later Botan found a new monster, or it may be more accurate to call it a group of monsters. Botan saw what he thought was a centipede monster as long as 8', however, what he was actually seeing became clear after using a [Scying Marble].

[Pseudo-pede Beetle]

[Level: 6]

The creature was actually 6 large beetle monsters with large pincers that gripped the backhalf of one another. This allowed them to look and act like a centipede. It reminded Botan of butterflies with scary patterns or birds with patterns looking like eyes on the back of their head. The image of a larger monster was just that, an image. Botan also noticed that the large beetles took up the front, with the one acting as the head having some impressive pincers.

Botan had mastered [Mirage Magnolia Baton] in only 4 hours and decided to use [Flower Stem Pole] next. The form was a painfully simple pole weapon. He did this for two reasons. First, it granted speed and he wanted more speed to deal with the rabbits. Secondly, he wanted to see what happened when he used [Spin] with it.

He ran in and used [Spin]. The weapon spun in his palm, forcing his fingers to let go. It would have flew out of his hand, but its supernatural hold to Botan's body prevented it. While the attack was not executed well, the whole pole spinning meant it had some kick to it. The acting head was hit very hard, but the others held him firmly in place.

"So their exoskeleton means they're more defensive? My SP is already low, even though I toggle [Spin] on for seconds at a time… Guess I had to get used to martial combat at some point." Botan concluded.

It was an admirable thought…, but what followed was a bit embarrassing. Botan had the advantage of his current weapon giving him more range. He also suspected that he beat his enemy in every single state except maybe defense. And yet, he found his ass greeting the ground time and time again. Even with Botan telling himself that it was 6 vs 1, his pride was getting hurt more and more. He wasn't fast enough to hit the enemy normally.

It could catch his weapon with its pincers and they would throw him to the ground again and again. He tried attacking from a different angle, but they would move together to re-orientate their acting head around to catch the weapon again. After getting served humble pie for 15 minutes straight, he used [Shimmer] to confuse the enemy, then used [Spin] again. The [Shimmer] was quite a bit better with a larger weapon form to cover his movements better. The resulting attack killed the acting head.

Botan had beat the enemy, but felt like he lost. He couldn't beat the enemy without skills. It meant he lacked ability. He'd try fixing that in the future.

The 4 smaller ones retreated while the largest remaining one stayed behind. It held its pincers out threateningly and held for the others to escape. Botan saw this and realized that these monsters were probably a family. This wasn't a game, these were real creatures. So, how would they form these groups? Mating pairs and their offspring. Meaning that either the dead one was the partner of this one, or the remaining parent with this one being the eldest child.

Botan frowned at that thought. "To repay the debt, I'll win…, but I'm not happy about it." Botan easily beat the other monster without the assisted mobility its family gave. "I can't get sentimental over monsters when killing them is the only way to level up. I have no alternatives, so crying about it is a waste of time." Botan concluded.

Botan absorbed the remains of the two beetles. He got a few forms, but the one that seemed the neatest was-

.

[Hugging Flower]

Abilities Locked Equip Effect: Skill: Contact Comrade

.

The ability name was strange and it was the only weapon form he couldn't use due to his level besides the [Grass Blade]. He assumed the skill would therefore be useful, whatever it was.

He also took his time throughout the day gathering any material that caused his flower to shine. Some from wood or weird stones he found, those were mostly boring stat upping effects besides the [Oaken Flower] having [Woodworking 1]. Among those new weapon forms there were two more useful sounding ones.

.

[Dandelion Tuft Glider]

Abilities Locked Equip Effect: Bonus: Magic Attack + 4

Special Equip Effect: Bonus: Glide

.

[Leaf Flower Shield]

Abilities Locked Equip Effect: Bonus: Gathering 1

Special Equip Effect: C Needle Thrust

.

By day's end he was level 5 and had 5 weapon forms mastered. He had noticed that ones that just gave stats mastered in 2-3 hours, while ones with more took 3-4 hours. He'd try to remember this and plan his unlock orders as optimally as he could.

He returned to town a bit before it got dark. "A bit rougher than I had hoped. My lack of skill really banged me up. And my armor already has damaged areas. And the only thing I have for better armor is the metal from the rabbits." Botan thought bitterly.

He wanted to swing by the book store, but he was pressed for time and had few top spikes to sell him. He instead met Tia at a bridge that they agreed to the day before.

"Ah, you seemed to have had a rough day." Tia said with concern upon seeing Botan's armor.

Botan put on a better face. "It was a little rough. I guess I need those lessons sooner than I thought." He admitted.

"It was our fault. We summoned you, yet we lack the resources to help you. I'll do what I can. The prince should be back in a few days and he'll be able to assign you someone." She offered hope.

Botan noticed she actually seemed a bit sad when she mentioned the prince for some reason.

"I'm not complaining. Like I said, I would be dead without you summoning me… That said, I need help with these tricky movements. Oh! And I have a lot of rabbit meat, too." Botan responded.

"Then let's go to my home and I'll make some food for us both." She offered.

Thirty minutes later they had arrived at her home and she was preparing the food while instructing him. The home was quite nice. It was only a two bedroom home, but the rooms were not cramped at all. Tia didn't act like it, but she wasn't financially struggling like most were.

"My, my. You brought so much meat. I'll be able to prepare food for tonight and tomorrow with this… Be careful though, rabbit meat is not enough for you. It's an extremely lean meat. If you continue to bring it, I'll need to add fat and oils to the meals to keep it healthy." Tia commented.

"Huh? It's bad for you?" Botan never heard of that before.

"Only if you consume a lot of it. You'll get protein poisoning. Don't worry. You'd need to eat twice this without anything else to suffer symptoms." She warned him.

Tia's advice reminded Botan, even beyond magic and fighting, he lacked a lot in basic knowledge and survival skills. He'd have to learn a lot to get through this.

After a few moments thinking to himself, Tia called. "We might as well get started. Balance on one foot and spin around." She said while dicing some vegetables.

"Um, what?" Botan was confused.

"Just do it, I'll explain." She replied.

Botan did as she said, spinning on one foot. He felt ridiculous. After she threw some things into a pot, she turned around and made a face.

"No, like this." She corrected his movement, then spun him.

He allowed it to happen, but still didn't see the point. "Okay, now what?"

"Ask me your questions while I spin you." She answered.

"This seems dumb." He thought to himself. "I guess I'll ask about those rabbits. They stomp their feet twice then gain a lot of speed. Is that something I can do?" He asked.

"It's nice that you are noticing their movements… Did you try?" She asked with a smile, clearly knowing something he didn't.

"Yeah, nothing happened." He said with a grimace.

"Well, time for the boring explanations then. It's not just your movement that matters, but your shape and size as well. A little girl and a grown man will inherently not be able to do all the same things as one another even if they copied each others' moves perfectly. The same is true for humans and monsters. With one abominable exception, humans obviously can't have wings or tails and such." She said, still spinning him.

"What's the exception?" Botan was curious.

"It doesn't matter, focus on your spin… Anyways, copying another person's movements like that is the wrong way to learn magic. Even if you can use the spell, learning that way will make you weaker. I'm going to teach you the right way." She continued.

"And that's by spinning me?" Botan asked doubtfully.

"Yes." She stopped spinning Botan and watched him slowly come to a stop. Strangely, it took longer to stop than what made sense to Botan.

"Magic… kept me going?" He guessed.

"Exactly. Just like the whirlpool at the temple. By holding this current position while spinning, you are using magic to keep spinning. Did you feel anything?" She explained then asked.

"Hmm, no, not really." Botan felt nothing at all.

Tia frowned a bit. "A pity. Well this is lesson one. I want you to spin for 5 minutes straight. You can begin the spin however you like, but once you start spinning, you can only use magic to keep yourself going. Do so for 5 minutes straight and we can move on to lesson two." Tia instructed.

Botan didn't see that happening. "Use magic? But I don't know how. That's why I-"

"This is how to learn. I will not have the Evergreen be some hack. You will need to figure this out… I believe in you." Tia interrupted a bit rudely, but pulled it back in the end.

Another hour and a half went by.

"The food is done… I may have overdone it." Tia admitted, showing Botan a giant plate of food.

"Then can I stop?" He asked, still spinning.

"Of course. These things take time… I noticed you improved. You spun for over 40 seconds once." She told him. Though he already could do 25 seconds with no magic. So, he really only gained 15 seconds.

He stopped spinning and met her at the table to eat. "Yeah… I'm kind of getting it."

He went on to explain the concept of an old-school TV to Tia. He likened his positioning to trying to get the right frequency to get as clear a picture as possible. With the clearer a picture being magic in this metaphor. Basically, there exists an optimal possible position he needs to achieve to reach a further time. He felt like he was getting it, but then-

"Ah, that's a clever way of looking at it. Well, you're half right." She said before taking the first bit of her food.

Botan went to ask what he got wrong, but she motioned for him to take a bite first. He did, and then another, then another. The food was good. Better than most of his own mother's cooking. He soon lost his question in a sea of tasty bliss. Luckily Tia didn't.

"What's important is that you're half right… You honestly surprise me. It's easier for an adult to learn than a child because of all the nuances, but even my son, Alder, took a few weeks to grasp where you are already at, and he is a rare talent all his own. Your previous experience and natural talent are quite staggering. The next two steps take even longer, but I have confidence in you." She answered the question he wanted to ask.

The rest of the evening was delightful. Probably the closest thing to comfort he felt since he got here. He and Tia took turns telling stories. Most of Tia's were about Alder, painting him as a trouble-making child that was too smart for his own good. She also gave him more information, such as the closest country from the capital being Ventus. And how there were three smaller towns within a day's walk from the capital if he wanted to travel a bit.

For his part, he spoke of his old world. Of the many technological advancements they had, and of school. Tia seemed jealous that everyone in his world got such a broad and useful education. It had been difficult for her to get Alder properly educated and most children learned the trade of their parents.

That prompted Botan. "So how did Alder become an advisor? He's about my age and education is hard to get here. How did he manage to gain such a position?"

Tia's smile soured a bit. She tried to hide it, but Botan knew he just asked something uncomfortable.

"It was… Alder's father who pulled some strings and made it happen. A lot of people were upset by it, but they've mostly come to see that Alder is capable of the position. He works hard… harder than anyone else." Tia answered, seeming to choose her words carefully.

"So bringing up the father is taboo… Wait. huh? But Tia said that it was just her and Alder for the longest time. How was the dad in the picture recently enough to-... No, stop. This is none of my business." Botan stopped himself. "I see. That's why he's so busy now. Well… I hope he gets a chance to rest." Botan added.

"Me too." Tia agreed.

The two of them ate well and conversed a bit more before Botan left to retire for the night at the same inn. Tomorrow he'd go south, the day after, west. After that, the plan was to pick a nearby town and travel.

.

[Otherworld Index]

Today we will be having our first installment on the magic of this world. As stated prior, magic is achieved via something with mass achieving change. But why is that?

Because that's how something becomes 4 dimensional. Measured by width, length, volume, and time. By changing over time, an object achieves 4th dimensional existence for a time. While fourth-dimensional, such a thing is as superior to a three-dimensional thing as a three-dimensional thing is to a two-dimensional thing. This superiority manifests itself as magic.

The intent, shape, size, and specific movement of a being utilizing mana determines the spell. Unlike other worlds, one is not locked out of or locked into specific elements. Instead, certain types of effects are locked to size and shape.

For example: The [Jackknife Rabbit] can stomp twice to cast [Spring Step]. A larger creature could not achieve this. However, they can use [Boulder Dash] By stomping, then dragging their feet like a bull (those that stand on two legs would need to heavily crotch over). The resulting spell would cause them to rush forward, but the speed is only half as great as [Spring Step], however, it does cause overall more kinetic energy than [Spring Step] can. Allowing the spell to turn the user's body into a weapon to crash into people. Making them similar, but ultimately different spells.

As a magic focused weapon, the flower hero will gain much from learning this and more about the magic of this world. Stay tuned for a second installment covering more of the magic of this world in the future.

[Author's notes]

Botan's second day as a hero has more progress, but he has so much further to go. He can't cast magic, he can't fight well, he lacks survival skills and knowledge, His armor is already damaged, and he still has no party members…, but at least he got some weapon forms… That'll help…

Botan does have a short term plan though. I'm sure that plan will work out and life will not completely destroy his plans, again.