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Chapter 23
🕑 Added 2024-04-04 08:07:06 +0000 UTCAnton and his family went back to their cart to continue their travels.
“Brother, that new spell Glacial Spike, why do you call the ice that you summoned, shards when it looked like just a bigger version of your Ice Bolt?” Anna asked.
“Well, the actual description was a spike of ice but shards sounded better,” He replied laughing.
“Starting tomorrow, we will stop for a few hours to hunt animals in the forest. We should take advantage of the season and Anton’s magical space. I did get more sacks from the village. Will that be enough son?”
“Yes that should be fine as long as we can put the meat and skins inside some sort of enclosed item, it would save me a lot of space because honestly, my magical space isn’t that big.”
While they continued traveling Anton explained how his private stash worked and how big it was. He explained to his father that his private stash had a total of forty-eight grids in an eight-by-six arrangement. One sack, box, or barrel would occupy one grid and the only limitation he had was his ability to physically carry the said sack, box, or barrel so he could put it on a single grid.
Anton did mention to his father that he was getting physically stronger too and that meant he would have the physical capability of lifting heavier items meaning they could fit more things in one sack which would occupy less space. One example he gave his father and his sister was the barrel of wheat grain. At first, he could only lift one barrel and that meant that it would occupy one grid but since he was getting stronger, soon they could fit two barrels worth of wheat grain in a single barrel or sack and he would be able to lift it and it would only occupy one grid.
“Thanks for explaining son. How many grids do you have left?”
“Since I have forty-eight grids in total, eighteen grids were already occupied so we still have thirty grids left although once were settle down somewhere temporarily we will need to rearrange our things to free more space.”
It was late afternoon and soon Anton and his family would need to find a place to camp for the night. While the cart was moving, he observed the surroundings. He never took the time to appreciate how beautiful this world was. Situations forced him to focus on things that he thought would help him and his family to survive but now looking at the forest in the afternoon sun brought forth a sense that he was truly living in a different world.
The color of the greeneries touched by the golden afternoon sun made the place look like one of those Renaissance paintings that evoked the imagery of a dream of a beautiful life unspoiled by any worries.
Anton had never been to the country when he was Anthony Saunders. He lived his whole life in a city full of pollution and garbage. When his parents died, no one cared about him anymore and he never found the time to make friends due to his need to earn money to survive, everything looked even grimmer. His days were filled with gloom and loneliness but his parents taught him better. He never lost hope and kept on struggling with the hope that someday everything would be better. He would earn enough money to take his GED and then find a job that would pay him more with less work then he would find friends and maybe a new family.
Anthony Saunders then would be happy but instead, he was killed by a disease that ravaged his world. That sickness was supposed to be curable but being alone, weak, and penniless made that disease deadly to him. Now he was Anton.
His laptop with its browser and Diablo II game was his only consolation in that grim world. It brought forth happiness even though he knew that it was fleeting. With his dingy laptop, he was able to see, through animes and web novels, people and families who were happy. People who had adventure. People with magical powers. People with friends. And now he brought that with him in this new world. It might not have been the full laptop but the browser kept him connected to the only thing that he considered beautiful in his old world which was the internet and the Diablo II game brought him powers that he could use to survive in this world filled with monsters.
Anton thought that this world was beautiful looking at the scenery but at the same time, it was deadly. Still, looking at himself and his situation, he was...happy? No, excited for the prospect of a new adventure, yes that’s it, he thought.
He was looking at his surroundings even though he should be playing the game to increase his level but he wanted to see the new world and it was worth it. Soon twilight arrived and covered everything with golden colors. Anders stopped the cart in an already prepared camp which according to his father was prepared by others who passed that way.
Anton volunteered to look for branches that they could use for the campfire so he walked a bit inside the forest making sure that his family never left his sight because he didn’t know if he could find his way back if he got lost.
It was easy for him to gather the branches since he was using his Telekinesis spell and putting them in his inventory. He even caught a rabbit and only used his Telekinesis spell. When he thought that he had enough branches he went back and dumped the branches that he gathered where Anders was preparing their campfire and gave the rabbit to Anders for his father to butcher.
“Tonight, I think we have time to roast some meat. Can you take out some of the deer meat and the spices?” Anders asked his son.
Anton took out one of the boxes where the meat was stored, took some meat that was enough for the three of them then returned the box immediately to his private stash. He gave the meat and spices to his father and he watched Anders prepare the meat for roasting.
“It would take about an hour before the meat is ready so in the meantime, you can tell us some story Anton,” His Father suggested.
“Yes, I would like to hear a new story as well,” Anna said excitedly.
Anton thought of what story to tell but since he began with fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, he thought that it would be best to go through the author’s collection.
