Chapter 39: Tests

Chapter 39: Tests
Ariel’s view (discussing her plan for handling the exceptionally large number of people signing up for the Hero contest)

Sam:
“Written tests? You do realize most people can’t read and write, right?”

Ariel:
“Yeah, I just needed a way to quickly cut down on the number of people in this contest. Plus, maybe I can learn a little about what people think, and their personalities from this.”

Sam:
“You certainly do need the help learning common sense.”

Ariel:
“I can’t be expected to understand what common sense is! I’ve never lived as an ordinary person in this world. Heck, I barely understand the currency here.”

Sam:
“Yeah, that’s why I’ve been handling the money for you. Anything in particular you’re looking for in choosing a hero?”

Ariel:
“Well, I’d like someone kind and caring. I think it’s also important that they have an open mind. This hero’s journey is probably not going to be the same as the ones in the past.”

Sam:
“Because of your involvement?”

Ariel:
“Fenix is clearly setting me up. She thinks I’ll be entertaining, so there’s no way I can believe this will be simple or boring. There must be something odd destined to happen, or she wouldn’t be so interested in me going.”

---

A certain test taker’s view

With a written test as the first hurdle for this contest, maybe father is right about it being time for a noble hero. Hmmm… this is some really high quality paper. This pen is also really amazing, containing its own ink.

“Question 1: What is your name?”

Well, that’s hardly even a question.

“Question 2: Why do you want to be a Hero?”

I guess I can just write that I want to protect people and defeat the demon king, right? That’s a proper hero response.

“Question 3: Why must the demon king be defeated?”

She didn’t capitalize demon king, yet she capitalized Hero. Well, the obvious answer is to protect the kingdom.

“Question 4: Who are the strongest in the land?”

Fenix obviously, followed by the spirits and the King.

“Question 5: What is your greatest desire?”

… This is the last question. It feels different from the others somehow. The first question is just for record keeping. The second and third are directly related to the hero’s quest. The fourth question is general knowledge. This last question is directly about the one answering it.

Normally, I’d just write something generically heroic, like wanting to protect my loved ones. I’m concerned that it might influence how I’m treated though. After all, if she were to reward the hero at the end of the quest, it’d make sense for her to keep the answer to this question in mind when doing so. Additionally, I don’t want to write a lie that would be easily found out during travel together. Claiming to have loved ones when I don’t would be easily seen through with just a few questions.

I’ll have to think about this one more.

---

Ariel’s view

After reading the answers from the written tests, I picked out enough people from it to fill 8 teams of 5 (40 people), ‘cause I didn’t want to deal with full sized soccer teams. I then gave them all stat boosting patches to help the less fit compete with those who’ve had more experience and training... this might’ve been a mistake.

With everyone around the bottom of rank 3 in overall power, their capabilities are going well beyond what I’d normally expect from a human. After the ball got kicked way outside the field a few times, I added a special barrier to make the game easier to play, and reduce down time (no more chasing after it). It only blocks the ball, but now the ball will bounce off an invisible wall when it goes too high, or reaches the edge of the field. This really isn’t soccer/football anymore.

I’ve seen goalies take shots at the other goal; the ball flies so fast and with such force that players have been knocked down by it. I’ve seen a goal scored because the goalie got pushed into the goal by the ball they caught. If that were a normal ball, it would’ve been destroyed long ago.

Chapter 38: Academics

Chapter 38: Academics

Ariel’s view

I ended up sending a second clone to the Academy, after a while, because I realized that it’d be easier to do everything I wanted to do there if two of me were there. Not only do I wish to work on developing technologies of my world in this one, but I also hope to learn what I can about this world as well. This Academy is a great place for both activities. This means I’m going to start attending some classes…

Well, it seems by “attend” it’s actually gonna be: Act as a teacher aid.

While attending classes, I can’t help but want to try and improve the lessons. With all the power I have access to, the idea that I can’t improve things just sounds like nonsense. Figuring out how though? That’s a bit trickier.

First improvement: Scanning. I needed to be able to quickly record and store information. Proper memory upgrades are expensive. Databases are cheaper. The difference? Proper memory allows instant recall of relevant information as needed (it’s actually higher performance than human standard). Databases are more like carrying a computer around full of all the files. I can search for data I need, but it takes much longer than proper memory recall would, and is less efficient for data processing in general. As a result, making sense of all that I’ve “learned” through recording information can take a while, even if the recording of information is fast.

Second improvement: Image screens. At first I was just making a whiteboard to draw on, but then realized, I could go much further and start displaying images straight from memory. This way it became possible to display any image I’d recorded from the files the Teachers gave me. It was a very popular feature, as it made it far easier for students and faster for teachers, to have me copy whatever image or text they desired onto a large white board for the whole class to see. I ended up creating a board that if an image was held up to it, it’d copy the image and scale it up to fill the board, so that all teachers would have the ability to make use of this without needing me present. I really didn’t want to play teacher’s aid in every room.

Thinking back on my memories of my old life, I think what I’ve provided is better than anything available when I was in school before. Occasionally, the teacher then would bring up a projector for things like this, but it wasn’t as good as what I’ve made. Though, with how fast technology was advancing, perhaps a giant flat video screen would be seen in schools before long… I have no idea how much time has passed there since I died. That may be ancient history by now.

Maybe I can take inspiration from my old life for more ways to improve education here. Text books perhaps? People here mainly rely upon lectures and the library. Books exist in only limited amounts. It is tempting to make copies of books available as much as needed, but I worry about discouraging efforts to improve book making. Perhaps I can work on developing better printing methods… except really, the cost right now is paper. There’s no good cheap paper.

---

Ariel:
“Hey, Esmer, how does the Academy decide who to accept as students?”

Esmer:
“Any willing and able to pay the fees may attend. The Kingdom provides some funds to help keep the costs low, since having capable mages is important for security and prosperity. Unfortunately, we lack the ability to identify who is best suited to learning magic, and just have to let people try and find out for themselves. Back in the old land, the church would inform people of what their strengths and weaknesses were.”

Ariel:
“So, if students could see their aptitudes early, it’d be useful?”

Esmer:
“Oh, quite. Plenty of students eventually drop out after realizing they have no talent for magic. If they could learn that earlier, they’d be able to spend that time on something better for their ability. Additionally, if we had a way to test people, we could find the best suited for magic and help them attend classes.”

The next day…

Ariel:
“I got something for you to try using.”

Esmer:
“What is it?”

Ariel:
*Taking out a small clear ball on a white stand* “Place your hand on this”

Esmer places his hand on the ball, and the ball emits a white glow for a while, then fades, and a small card emerges from the white stand.

Ariel:
*Takes the card* “Thank you.” *examines the card* “... Hey! You’re even stronger than me! You’re at the top of Rank 4!”

Esmer:
“Well, I am 642 years old, and have been practicing magic since my 30s.”

Ariel:
“... I’m only 5 years old according to my status.”

Chapter 37: Records

Chapter 37: Records
???’s view

It's really hard to enjoy being a Noble in this town. When I first rose in rank, I'd thought what I'd achieved was a big, great thing. Not only did I defeat the demon lord, but I was now a noble, and could take over running a portion of the town and land.

After all the travel I had done, I decided to use my new political power, to get involved in trading between towns. I didn't expect to suddenly have all merchant business thrust into my control. Suddenly all merchants needed permission from me, to do business in town and I was granted a small amount of land outside each of the gates.

Now, forty years later, I think I understand what's going on. Every decade, a new hero rises and is given responsibility for something. Every time a former hero dies, their house will slowly lose power until it vanishes. While there have been a few exceptions, this rule seems pretty reliable, and at the center of it all, is Facile.

When I was young, I'd believed she was a great woman, serving Fenix, and granted long life and beauty by Fenix. Now I see her as just a cruel woman that enjoys toying with people. She might pretend to be an innocent bystander, but over the years it's become clear that it's no coincidence that the families whom gain her favor suddenly do well, while families that gain her disfavor do poorly.

With access to all trade records in the capital (the center of all trade in the new land) I noticed that every time a noble dared insult Facile, or questioned her authority, that their lands would mysteriously produce less.

The iron mines run by the Talmud family suddenly became barren shortly after the death of Talmud the hero. While Talmud had never stopped praising Fenix, his children (and grandchildren) often questioned Facile's teachings, claiming that Fenix couldn't be so great if Demon Lord kept returning. That family had their land taken from them not long after it became useless, and mysteriously, new iron veins were found within the mines once someone else took over.

More recently, the Brady family has been producing record yields from their farms. This coincides with them recently disowning a child whom spoke out against the Fenix church, complaining about their refusal to participate in monster subjugation missions. As the Brady family farms were near the edge of controlled territory, they had to hunt monsters fairly frequently, to keep their numbers in the area low.

Whenever someone asked Facile if they should do something about those who spoke badly of the Fenix church, she always insisted that there was no need to. With how she phrased things, saying that all who were discontent with Fenix should feel free to speak of it, I’d assumed she was encouraging such vocal dissent. Yet everyone who ever did, suffered for it, and I can see that in my records.

I do not doubt the power of Fenix. I do not doubt they are a god. Yet, they clearly seem petty in ways that I can’t like. Facile claims that Fenix has nothing to do with the prosperity of the land, but I can’t trust her words anymore. As a Noble, I’m stuck dealing with this unpleasantness trying to protect myself, my family, and the common people, from a petty god, and a lying church. I dare not tell anyone, because if word gets out of my complaints, my house could be the next to be taken down. Instead, I’m stuck giving false praise and empty flattery to a god I dislike, and a woman I can’t trust, pretending that everything is fine, when I know darn well that it’s not.

I don’t want my children or grandchildren to enter this hero selection contest. Yet I dare not say anything against it. All I can do is hope for the best, as my son and granddaughter both enter. All the priests and priestesses of the Fenix church have encouraged people to enter that contest. It’s to the point I assume Facile is up to something, but I have no idea what.

Chapter 36: Stress

Chapter 36: Stress

In Ariel’s room at the inn,

Sam:
“So, why did you want me to stay?”

Ariel:
“... hold me.”

Sam:
*pulls her into an embrace* “Like this?”

Ariel:
“Thanks. I… I’m getting a lot more stressed out than I expected. I tried examining my abilities and traits, and couldn’t find anything to explain it. I just need extra care and comfort to help me relax and calm down. It’d probably be better if my main body could be with you like this, but she needs to do the work in the field. We clones can’t create all the things that need to be made.”

Sam:
“Maybe it’s not something from this world? You said your soul was originally human from another world.”

Ariel:
“I… I guess that would make sense. Maybe I was wrong about having total control over myself. Perhaps there are still traits from my past that I’m stuck with. Perhaps the reason I’d thought my anxiety was gone was simply because I had nothing to worry about.”

Sam:
“Is there something to worry about now that you didn’t need to worry about before?”

Ariel:
“It’s the responsibility. This project I’ve been given by Fenix… I have no idea what she actually wants from me. I also have no idea how she’ll respond to it. I do know that whatever I do is likely to have a big impact on people.”

Sam:
“You’re afraid?”

Ariel:
“Yeah, of Fenix, of myself. I wasn’t afraid of Fen Ger. He seemed easy to understand, and simple, and helping you and your friends didn’t seem too complex. Fenix doesn’t make any sense at all to me, and this project is huge.

“It’s not just that I don’t know how to do things, but that I don’t even know what I want to do. I just said something random, without thinking about it. I never thought I’d be told to make it so.”

Sam:
“What sort of things are you concerned about?”

Ariel:
“Well, for starters, I expect a lot of people to want to sign up. I need to figure out how to handle all the people, and make sure they have places to sleep, rest, train, and practice. Not to mention food concerns… and that’s just the start.

“In the long term, I need to think about what happens with the field, and other infrastructure I build for this. Whatever I setup here could have a huge influence on the future of this sport and any other sports that might start. Not to mention that I really don’t want to get saddled with managing this all long term.

“If I have to leave behind an army of clones to take care of things, I’d consider that a failure to build things properly. Whatever I leave behind, I want it to be something that doesn’t need me to sustain it. I’ll have to teach people and devise solutions to problems that normal humans can use.”

Sam:
“Maybe it’d be more relaxing to lie down with me instead of standing here? The bed is really comfortable.”

Ariel:
“Yeah, just… don’t stop holding me. I need enough comfort to destress all the me’s running around.”

Not long later while relaxing in bed…

Ariel:
“Oh no, there’s already people waiting at the field I’m getting setup. They heard about the hero selection from Fenix’s church.”

At the field:

Ariel:
“Is this the entire Fenix Order?”

Man:
“Of course! It’s the dream of everyone in the Fenix Order to become a hero!”

---

An innkeeper’s troubles:

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. It’s stressful enough to know I’ve got such an important lady staying in my humble inn, but on top of that other wealthy merchants and nobles started demanding rooms too! My whole inn is full of people I dare not offend now, hoping to see the daughter of Dina.

It wasn’t too bad at first, but lately she seems to spend a lot of time in her room with her boyfriend, coming down only to eat meals, and sometimes not even then. That on its own isn’t a problem, but all the guests seemed to get bolder and have started listening in on whatever two of them are doing in there. There’s always a crowd of people by the door to her room, as well as people in the rooms next to it.

Perverts the lot of them… I wish I could spare the time and attention to listen too…

Really though, the worst part, is that all this stress is giving me problems in bed. At the end of the day, I’m too tired and stressed to make love to my wife, and it’s clearly making things hard for her too... especially after we both have to spend all day listening to guests having sex and masturbating, and smelling it whenever we go past those rooms.