The journey down the mountain took about two days in total, stopping only once to sleep in the cave where the two had first met. By the time they escaped the mountain range, Jedi had become privy to an extensive amount of information about his new world.
For starters, this planet—Tetra—was home to a variety of people.
The first group were the natives, most of whom possessed some amount of magic power, though only a select few were granted systems. These chosen individuals served as warriors of the Pope's forces and acted as the world's primary military.
According to Matt, Jedi was, "Far too weak to even think about those guys."
The second group were the transmigrators. They were brought from a variety of worlds against their will, and all of them awakened with systems and the potential for magic. Although not direct enemies of the Pope, transmigrators were not welcomed by his forces and had formed their own settlements across Tetra.
Jedi wanted to know why so many people were being dragged into this world, but despite clearly knowing the answer, Matt refused to tell him.
"I'll tell you when I think you're ready for the truth," he kept saying.
Jedi also learned more about stats.
HP determined how much pain a person could endure before passing out from shock.
MP, or mana, was the total amount of magic power one could use.
Neither of these could be upgraded with stat points.
Strength, agility, and stamina were self-explanatory physical attributes. Intelligence, however, was more complex. Higher intelligence meant improved mana management and granted larger mana reserves.
A person's level could only be raised by completing quests. More difficult quests led to faster level increases. Each level granted one skill point, which was the fastest way to raise stats.
The way quests were assigned was the most confusing part. According to Matt, quests were generated based on "The desire of the soul. If your soul desires something, the system will generate a quest befitting that desire."
It wasn't a satisfying answer, but it was the best he was going to get.
Finally, Jedi learned the most important thing of all:
the path home.
To return to Earth, he would need to collect one thousand soul points. He would receive a single soul point each time he killed a unique species. In other words, killing a thousand cockroaches wasn't going to cut it.
The goal seemed impossible. Even after ten years, Matt had only collected six hundred.
"There are a variety of ways to speed up the process," Matt had told him. "But you're not ready to hear about that yet. Just focus on getting stronger. More answers will come."
Jedi accepted another lackluster answer, but realized there was one important question he hadn't asked.
"Where are we going now?"
Matt kept his gaze forward as he reached into his pocket and handed Jedi a map.
"Your system detects a compatible source of information: World Map.
Would you like to accept?"
Jedi quickly answered yes. His system now displayed a variety of locations and names of nearby places. His current location was the Frozen Bamboo Mountains. An odd name considering there wasn't a single bamboo stalk in sight.
Surrounding the mountain range on all sides, however, was the Frozen Bamboo Forest.
Matt glanced over Jedi's shoulder and pointed at a few spots on the map.
"We're going to travel east through the bamboo forest toward Court Village. After that, I'll take you north to the world capital, where you'll begin your official champion training. The journey shouldn't take more than two weeks."
Jedi nodded while scrolling around the map, studying the strange locations.
As they continued walking, the snowy terrain gradually shifted. Short bamboo shoots poked through the earth, and the snow thinned.
Before long, the duo was surrounded by absurdly tall bamboo trees on all sides.
Matt formed his sword and tied it around his waist.
"We've gotta be careful around here," he said sternly. "I haven't encountered them myself, but bandits are said to run rampant in this area."
A nervous feeling settled in Jedi's stomach as he went on high alert.
They trekked for a few more hours.
Just as Jedi began to relax, he saw something move.
High up on one of the bamboo stalks stood a shadowy figure balancing on one foot.
Matt had already noticed. He placed a hand on his blade, ready to draw.
With a monotone voice, he called out,
"It's rude to stare, you know. If you want to talk, come down."
The shadow didn't respond. It didn't even twitch.
"I see," Matt said. "Well, if you're not coming down, I'm coming up."
He took a deep breath, crouched, and muttered a single word.
"Bounce."
In the next instant, Matt launched himself skyward and landed on a stalk not far from the figure.
The shadow still didn't move.
Jedi could hear them speaking, but the words were too faint to make out.
He considered using Float to get up there, but he didn't have time to finish the thought.
Something moved.
On the ground this time.
A second shadowy figure darted left and right, weaving through the bamboo as it approached Jedi. His eyes could barely track the movement, but it didn't matter.
He took a stance.
A proper stance Matt had shown him the day before: knees bent, wide base, one arm extended to cast, the other guarding his face.
The black blur closed the distance and appeared at full speed right in front of Jedi's outstretched hand.
Jedi smirked.
"Push."
The figure's momentum reversed instantly, launching him backwards and crashing through several bamboo stalks.
Jedi checked his stats.
Minus 10 MP?
Even when testing on Matt, a push like that should've cost six MP at most. Did he lose control in that moment?
He didn't have time to think. The figure got back up almost immediately.
Jedi took a moment to observe his opponent.
The person was covered head to toe in ninja-like attire with a red belt around the waist. Through the mask, Jedi saw pale skin and silver eyes.
Likely a kid around his age.
Shorter than Jedi's 180 cm, but stocky. Thick arms and legs bulged beneath the fabric.
"That's definitely gonna hurt," Jedi thought.
The ninja approached again, slower without the cover of the bamboo. Jedi decided it was time to go on the offensive.
Before the boy got too close, Jedi extended an arm.
"Pull."
A new spell he'd created the night before, imagining how easily the Yeti Logs could've been defeated if he could just knock them over.
The ninja, already leaning forward in his sprint, tripped face-first into the snow.
Before he could recover, Jedi was already in his face.
Jedi drew back his leg like he was kicking a soccer ball and delivered a full-force blow to the ninja's core.
The sound that rang out was a high-pitched metallic clang, as if Jedi had kicked a steel beam.
Pain shot through his body. Every bone in his foot felt like it shattered at once.
He collapsed, clutching his leg.
The ninja stood unfazed, looking down at Jedi as he writhed in agony.
Even with the mask on, Jedi could tell he was smiling.
The boy raised both hands above his head, fingers interlocked.
He planned to finish the job with a single crushing blow.
Low on mana and HP, Jedi had only one option left.
With one arm trembling, he glared at the boy and whispered:
"Float."