Inside-Outside-In

Shay

What the fuck. What the FUCK. What. The. FUCK. Why the fuck am I a girl? In a forest. Covered in blood. With two women wearing medieval armor or something. And one of them has pointy ears and the other one has claws and fangs!

How do I even deal with this? What the hell happened to me? Did I possess someone? I'm covered in blood, and this body definitely looks like it could go on a brutal rampage. Damn.

And of all the fucked up shit to happen, why did I get a magic transition or whatever instead of Vicky?

Okay, I am so fucking confused right now, but the woman with the spear keeps saying something to me, but I have no idea what. Never heard it before.

They don’t seem hostile, at least. One of them is just laying on the ground wheezing. Did she and whoever this body belongs to get in a fight?

Thinking of the possibility of a fight made Shay calm down slightly, just enough to begin thinking things through a little bit.

Okay. First. Where did this body come from? Is there some strange woman in my body back on Earth? And now that I’m thinking a bit, I… think this is what dysphoria feels like. What the hell. Vicky’s lived with this for 16 years? Holy shit.

Second. Where am I? I have a terrible hunch that I’m not on Earth. The people next to me and the fact that I’m in someone else’s body are evidence of that.

Third. What happened? Literally have no idea there. I had just gotten out of my car, and then I felt nauseous and like I was being punched from the inside out. And everything looked all distorted for a second, so I think my brain fucked something up.

Fourth. Can I… Are those my keys? I took my keys to a new world with me somehow. Okay. Yeah. They’re kind of crumpled. That’s real fucking great.

Oh, and there’s a chunk from my shoe over there. And… what the fuck, is this my own blood or something? …Moving on for now, since I don’t know.

Fourth, again. Can I talk to them? Even if they don’t speak English, they at least don’t seem like they want to murder me.

“Uh… Hello?” Shay asked tentatively. He didn’t want to alarm the spear wielder, so he remained sitting. He made a fist with my hand on the side of my body that she couldn’t see, with my keys sticking out from between my fingers.

This voice is wrong. Vicky’s said that even speaking is painful for her sometimes just because of hearing her own voice. This voice would sound nice if someone else had it, not me.

She once again said something to him, but he had no idea what. He shook his head. She huffed and said something to the other person on the ground. This other person wasn’t wheezing so hard now, but she still looked sick and like the life had been drained from her.

Shay slowly got up, feeling yet even more differences with this new body. He was even taller now, up to maybe two meters¹6'7". His legs moved differently. But perhaps most obvious was the weight on his chest shifting around.

Damn… I really feel for you, Vicky. I need to figure out a way to mitigate this until I can get back to normal.

Shay felt a strange presence in his mind suddenly. It was like an idea that refused to go away, only he had no idea what it might be. But focusing on that sensation triggered something.

—

The mana within your body has stabilized, and you now have access to the Flow of magic!

Your Flow has gained 1 base point.

You have gained the [Adaptation] Skill.

—

Shay wondered in bafflement and shock at the words not his own appearing in his head.

Um… Fucking what!?

There was still more, so he focused again.

—

Shay Bryant Williams

Level: 1

 

Points: 1

Body: 15
Dexterity: 9
Flow: 2

Health: 39 / 39
Stamina: 33 / 33
Mana: 16 / 16

 

Points: Gained upon leveling up, these can be assigned freely to Body, Dexterity and Flow. Once assigned, they cannot be reassigned.

Body: How physically strong you are.

Dexterity: How efficiently you can move your body and cast spells.

Flow: How well you can channel the Flow of magic.

Health: How good of a condition your body is in. In addition to physical injury, things such as hunger and sickness can affect this. (Body*2 + Dexterity)

Stamina: How much you can move around. (Dexterity*2 + Body)

Mana: An alternative energy to stamina, this allows you to use magic. (Flow*2 + Body/2 + Dexterity/2)

 

Skills:
NEW! [Adaptation]

(Next Skill unlocks at Level 250.)

 

[Adaptation]: This Skill is your body and mind’s ability to adjust to and use different magics. The Skill itself is passive, but all sub-skills will have both passive and active aspects.

[Adaptation] Sub-skills: These are the things you have experienced that have affected you in some way, allowing you to adapt to them and replicate their effects to an extent.
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Only one sub-skill may be selected at a time to be at its full power, while the rest will have the power of their active effects halved. Their adaptation speed is also halved. A different sub-skill may be selected once every 50 days.

NEW! [Mental]: 0.4% (Main, 50 days remaining.)
NEW! [Space]: 3.1%

 

[Mental Adaptation]: In a time of immense shock, confusion and discomfort for yourself, you centered your mind.
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[Passive]: This sub-skill allows you to handle change as it comes, in whatever form it may take.
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[Active]: You may temporarily increase your mind’s ability to process information.

 

[Space Adaptation]: Your body and soul were entirely inundated with space magic for a brief moment. The magic is gone, but your very being remembers the feeling.
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[Passive]: You will automatically resist unwanted space magic affecting you. This does not mean complete immunity to the effects of space magic, but that you will be less affected by it.
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[Active]: You may manipulate the mana of space itself.

—

Shay blinked. He was staring vacantly at the ground as he read through everything. The spear wielder seemed to understand what he was doing and let him read.

So I’m in an RPG now. I really can’t believe this…

He looked through everything one last time, this time with the default, condensed Status. He had been able to view the detailed information simply by focusing on what he had wanted to know more about.

—

Shay Bryant Williams

Level: 1

 

Points: 1

Body: 15
Dexterity: 9
Flow: 2²In case it’s confusing, when Shay gained magic, he gained one point in Flow. Leveling up from 0 to 1 still counted as well, so each of his stats then went up by 1, which resulted in his Flow totaling 2. So going from not having any magic at all to having some gave him 1 point, and then going from Level 0 to Level 1 gave him another.

Health: 39 / 39

Stamina: 33 / 33
Mana: 16 / 16

 

Skills:
[Adaptation]

 

[Adaptation] Sub-skills:
[Mental]: 0.4% (Main, 50 days remaining.)
[Space]: 3.1%

—

Shay had no idea if those stats or skills were good or bad for someone who was only level 1, but he would have to shelve that question and others for now. He couldn’t speak the language.

He turned his attention back to the mysterious women nearby. The clawed one was still laying on the ground, while the other had apparently gotten bored after deciding Shay wasn’t a threat, and had sat down with her companion.

He had his keys fully in his hand now to seem like less of a threat, but he kept them in mind in case he needed them. His clothes were a lost cause, however. Even if they weren’t shredded to bits, they were still soaked in blood.

He coughed to get their attention.

 

———

 

Merrin

Speaking her thoughts aloud so Elna could hear them, Merrin said, “Well, it seems our mystery person was probably a man, going by how they look like they want to crawl out of their own skin. That might just be the blood, though. Anyway, they don’t seem to want to kill us or anything.”

Elna looked passed out, but muttered, “Yay, I saved someone probably. They can get reshaped if that’s the case.”

“You seem to forget because you’re a flesh mage yourself, but reshaping is rather expensive. It will take them a few months at a minimum to save up that amount.”

“Right, right. When it makes you feel this intensely shitty for a whole week, it’s no wonder no one wants to do it without high compensation.”

The stranger had been just standing there as they talked, clearly not understanding a word they’d said.

Great, now we’ve got to start teaching them Tiirve, feed them, buy them clothes, find somewhere they can live… I don’t regret letting Elna save them, but this is going to be so much work.

Neither of them had any clothes in our packs that would fit the person, so she grabbed their blanket.

Merrin first handed them a rag and gestured for them to wipe theirself down with it. They nodded, and once they were about as clean as a single rag could get them, she handed them the blanket.

The village wasn’t too far away, so with that in mind, Merrin handed their packs to the stranger to carry, while she picked up Elna and carried her on her back.

As the three walked the stranger pointed at theirself and said, “Shay,” then gestured at Merrin.

Understanding what they wanted, she replied, “Merrin,” then gestured with her head to the woman on her back and added, “Elna.”

Shay then began pointing at things, saying a word in their language, and Merrin would respond with the Tiirve equivalent.

Between the site of the rift and the village, Shay had learned: Ground, tree, grass, leaf, sky, cloud, pack, blanket, yes, no, hand, foot, and the numbers 1-10.

The final word they learned was “village” once it came into view. It was a small place with spaced-apart wooden houses and a population of maybe 400.

The man from earlier had been waiting for the two to return, and asked, “Did she come through the rift?”

Merrin nodded, “Yeah, might be a man, but we won’t know for sure until they learn Tiirve well enough.”

He nodded, but still looked at her warily. “Is there a reason for the blood and nakedness? Do I want to know?”

“They received some serious injuries when they arrived, and their clothes were completely destroyed in the process. The other side of the rift happened to appear right inside their body. It was gruesome.”

He grimaced. “Yeah, sounds like it. I’ll go fetch the chief for ya, so wait here.” As an afterthought, he added, “And a blanket to replace yours.”

Merrin gently laid Elna on the grass while they waited, and Shay put the packs down and secured the blanket around theirself.

The man returned several minutes later with an elderly woman in tow.

“How did it go?” the chief asked, eyeing Shay.

Merrin explained, “Shay here came through the rift. It had appeared inside their body and caused massive damage, hence all the blood and lack of clothes. Functionally, they were dead, but Elna managed to save them.
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“Once they got over their shock of the whole situation, they were cooperative and learned as many words as they could on the way here. It wasn’t a long trip, so they didn’t get much in.
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“Elna needed to use her magic extensively to heal the injuries, which is why she’s laying on the ground like that.
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“As for the rift itself, nothing went in from this side of it, and it closed safely.”

The chief nodded, then examined Shay, who looked uncomfortable being stared at like that. “I can take them in, at least for a time. I’ve got plenty of chores they can do while they get their bearings in this new world. I’ll help with that too, of course.
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“Your payment is 15 chifs³Fictional currency. Don't worry about trying to keep track of how much things cost, because I'm not going to describe it., as discussed,” she said, handing Merrin a large green coin and a smaller brown one.

Looking at Elna this time, she asked, “Will you be staying here longer? You had mentioned wanting to move on, but considering her current state…”

Merrin sighed as she looked at her friend. “Yeah. A few days at least. We’ll help out with Shay, of course. Or at least I will, anyway.”

She nodded. “Glad to hear it. I’ll get another bed in my house prepared.”

The old woman briskly walked back to her house, while Merrin picked up her friend, and the man who was still there grabbed their bags.

They walked to the house, and Shay was immediately led to the bathroom. They had no idea how to operate the shower, and the chief stepped in to show them.

Merrin left Elna on the bed they had been using and went to wash her blanket. The chief had a tub specifically for cleaning clothes and the like, and Merrin dropped the blanket in with her other laundry while she was at it. She activated the tub’s enchantments, then left.

Sitting down with the chief at the kitchen table, they began discussing how they should go about helping Shay. The villager man from before had gone to get some larger clothes to fit them and would be out of everyone’s hair after that.

We could hear sobbing coming from the bathroom, but chose to leave them alone for the time being.