Chapter 7: Chapter 6: some problems

“So, what do we do now?” I asked as Jools put down the jug he just emptied.

“Maybe discuss the current situation. Preferably somewhere alone.”

“Yeah, we should do that. Let’s head to my room.” I say as I stand up.

Jools quietly follows behind me. Someone like him, following someone like me into their room is bound to cause a misunderstanding. At least he is wearing pants today. As we enter the room, the first words out of his mouth were “Why is your room so much better than mine?”

After closing the Door behind us, I answer “because I paid”.

“You did that, huh…” looking kinda abashed.

“And you didn’t?” I say accusingly, to which he just turned his head away. Continuing I say “I only paid for the room and the meal, though probably more than needed. How much did you end up drinking anyway? I drank a bit to take the edge off this weird situation and you took it as an invitation to get plastered.”

“Don’t know, I lost count after the fifth glass.” He’s at least looking ashamed from that answer.

“At least you didn’t do anything too stupid as the proprietresse would probably have told me. Anyways, we need to organize supplies if we are to keep living in this world.”

“Why, don’t you have literally everything?”

“No. I have almost all the outfits, and everything a high leveled player needs. I realized yesterday that I don’t actually have any food, since that is low level stuff. You still have some right? Jools hadn’t quite reached the bottomless wealth that is attached to the true endgame, right?”

“Yes, I do still use those types of items. Always preferred to play with the limitation of needing to be cost efficient.”

“Would you mind giving me a few of those meals?”

“That’s going to be difficult.”

“Why?” 

“Because when all this became real, the inventory became a spell.”

“Yes, and?”

“Jools is a stamina build.”

“Huh, then how come you are wearing different pants?”

“I can still access it, it’s just very difficult.”

“Hah, so I was right all along. Mana builds ARE better. But seriously, how difficult are we talking?”

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“Complete focus and a couple of attempts.”

“I’m glad Zena is a mana build, because accessing my inventory is trivially easy.” I punctuate my statement by summoning my favorite mirror.

“Yeah, I’m kinda jealous. But the problem remains. I carry our food, but cannot access it.”

“I suggest you just spend some time to take out food for us for the next couple days so that I can carry it.”

He nods in agreement and sits down on the floor. I sit down in front of him, ready to snatch whatever he takes out as soon as it appears. After the third item, I start to notice that the small amount of mana in Jools is struggling to move in a controlled manner, scattering at every turn. Wondering how I can help him, I think of some of the support spells I use on mages. Casting a few with some time in between them that Jools doesn’t even notice in his intense focus. After casting ‘increase focus’, which is a spell potency increase, the next item pops out quickly and Jools says “wow, it suddenly got a lot easier.” Spending only half the time on the next item. Realizing which spell helped him, I cast it again, but with significantly more mana. 

“Whoa, suddenly it got super easy.” and I just smile at him, catching all the items he throws out. I “Since it suddenly got super easy, do I still need to give it to you?”

“Yes, it is only temporary since I just buffed your spellcasting abilities and inventory seems to be a fairly low level spell. Also I suggest you take out a weapon and some proper clothing now that you have the chance.”

He takes my suggestion and takes out a sword, which I habitually stash in my inventory. Realizing my mistake as he looks funnily at me, I take it back out. After thinking for a bit he then takes out a leather jacket and puts it on.

“Now what?” he says nonchalantly.

“You take out a scabbard for your sword.” I say with a deadpan expression and monotonous voice.

“I don’t have one.” He states without a hint of sarcasm.

“Really?”

“Well, I don’t have one for this sword. It wasn’t really needed in the game.”

“Then take out one with a scabbard, or if you are dead set using that sword, borrow a scabbard from another sword. You definitely need a scabbard since you can’t wave a sharp weapon like that around and neither can you access your inventory quickly in a combat scenario.” I say with a bit more volume than needed.

He just sighs and takes out another sword with a scabbard and attaches it to his belt. I just lay back on the floor, staring at the ceiling. He simply stands up, leans over me and asks “Hey, are you alright? You sounded very stressed at the end there.”

Turning my head slightly to look at him before answering “Maybe, I don’t know. I mean, I just lost my entire life yesterday. How are you so okay about it?”

“I ended up with an idealized version of my body and the life I lost wasn’t all that good. Minimum wage job, no living relatives and my closest friend, you, are here with me. It pretty much is an upgrade. How about you focus on the positives, at least until we figure out what we are going to do.”

I take a deep breath before answering “I think I can do that. I mean, I have nothing against continuing on as Zena, but it kinda bothers me that George is left behind. You can just call yourself James and continue on, but I can’t even call myself George, so I have to continue on without any connection to my past.”

“How about keeping your friend? I’m still with you.” He illuminates a thread between George and Zena that I can hold on to. Feeling greatly relieved at the revelation and feeling tears forming, I say “I think I can do that.”