…
I felt the harsh heat of the sun, as I stood in place, feeling nothing but confusion.
“!!!”
I was on the sidewalk of a somewhat narrow street, the road made of cobblestone, and the architecture of the building resembled a small town in Europe, with most buildings made of concrete, but some from wood. On the sidewalks, were large poles, with a translucent gem on top, all placed with a good distance among them.
“Where-”
People casually passed me, minding their own business. In contrast to the architecture, they were wearing clothing that reminded me of the Wild West, complete with top hats, a vast majority of them fair skinned.
“Where the hell am I!?” I screamed.
At my outburst, I saw a couple of pedestrians stop to glance at me, before shrugging their shoulders and walking off.
“!!!”
Panicked, I looked around. My last memory was going to bed at night, and instead of waking up in bed, I was standing in the middle of some random street, God knows where.
“Ah, excuse me!” I called out to a random pedestrian walking past me. At my calling out, they seemed a bit shocked but stopped. “Sorry to bother you, miss, but can you tell me where this town is? And in what country?”
“Huh? Sorry, I don’t understand you.” She said, in a language I had never heard before.
“!!!” My eyes widened.
I didn’t recognize the language, but to my further confusion, I understood it perfectly.
“Ah.” As I tried to say something, she quickly turned around and walked away, seemingly creeped out at my behavior.
“Wai-”
“Would you quiet down!” A feminine voice rang out, “You’re causing a scene!”
“!!!”
I looked around for the source of the noise, only to find nothing.
“Here!” It screamed out again, weirdly close.
“!!!”
Looking down, the first thing I noticed was the clothing I was wearing. The previous panic made me forgo it, but now I saw that I was wearing clothing very similar to the passerby. A white shirt was tucked under black pants tightened by a brown belt, and brown boots that went past my ankle, which my pants were tucked under.
“What the hell even is this!?” I screamed
This isn’t my style at all! And why am I even wearing this in the first place!? I swear I went to bed wearing nothing but boxers!
“How long are you gonna ignore me for!?” The voice called out again.
“!!!”
The voice was finally found, it came from the pocket of my shirt, a small creature that was poking it’s head out of it.
“Finally!?” It screamed
“FUCK OFF GNOME!”
“Wha!”
Before it could try anything, I dug my hand into the pocket, and taking it out, I threw it away, hoping it would hit the wall on the other side and splash.
“!!!”
But before it reached the other side of the wall, a bright green light spiraled around it, before gathering at its back and turning into illuminated butterfly wings.
“!!!”
It spread its arms and legs wide, coming to a complete stop, and without a moment of hesitation, it flew towards me again at full speed.
“!!!”
I panicked and stepped back, bringing my arms up ready to squash it, but it stopped a good distance away from me.
“Why did you do that!?” It screamed out.
On close inspection, the creature I thought was a gnome looked more like a traditional fairy. It had white hair, green eyes, and sharp ears. It was wearing a green dress with a flower and leaf pattern, an overall feminine appearance, the green translucent wings stayed stagnant, unmoving, despite that, it stayed afloat.
“Tinkerbelle?” I questioned, finally calming down a bit.
“No, you idiot!” It snapped, “It’s Annabelle! How do you forget someone’s name that fast!?”
“Huh?”
At my confusion, the fairy also looked confused, tilting its head.
“What?” It asked, “Why are you looking at me like you have no idea what’s going on.”
“Because I don’t!” I snapped, “I mean, I went to sleep last night like every night, and here I am now, standing god knows where, talking to a fairy!”
“You!?” Its eyes widened.
“Ah that’s it!” I continued, “This feels way too lucid to be a dream… but it’s the only logical explanation right now, I’m lucid dreaming!”
Coming to the obvious conclusion, my panic turned into excitement.
“Wait, you’re not-”
“And if I’m lucid dreaming, then that means I can do anything I want!” I cheered, “Well then, I’m off to nuke Pluto, see ya!”
“Hey wait!” The fairy called out.
Ignoring it, I ran a bit and jumped, lifting my arms, ready to take flight.
“!!!”
Instead of flying off, I fell straight down, hitting my chin on the cobblestone. I felt a sharp pain as I rolled around.
“Ah, what the hell?” The fairy said in confusion, as I held on to my jaw, praying that none of my teeth broke. “Did that angel mess up?” She mumbled, before flying over to me, and extending her palm forward.
“!!!”
A green glow enveloped me, and as it slowly dimmed the pain in my jaw completely disappeared.
“…”
Stunned at what just happened, I slowly got up. “This isn’t a dream is it…” I said, more to myself than to the fairy.
“It’s not.” She replied.
“That means…”
Just as I came to an understanding, I was drawn to the sound of a moving carriage.
“!!!”
The carriage wasn’t out of the ordinary, and the man that was riding it wasn’t either but… The animal drawing wasn’t a horse, at least not any breed I had seen. It had the body of a horse but was bulkier, covered in fur, and had two horns, akin to a bison. And if the new animal isn’t enough to go by, then the fairy floating next to me is.
“I’m in a fantasy world…” I concluded.
“You really don’t remember huh?” The fairy said, “That poor angel is going to get erased for this…”
Ignoring her, I carried on, “And if I’m in a fantasy world that could only mean…”
“Hey are you even listening!?” She snapped.
“I’M AN ISEKAI PROTAGONIST!” I cheered, lifting my arms into the air.
“Wha!”
“Hell yea! I knew I was meant for more!” I celebrated, ignoring the weird gazes I got from the onlookers.
“Hey hold on!” The fairy said, “I think you got the wrong idea!”
Hearing this, I finally brought my attention to her, “What is there to get the wrong idea about?” I said, “I’m in a fantasy world, which means I’m a chosen hero!”
Looking stunned she spoke, “I mean, you are but-”
“So, I’m right!” I interrupted “Say, are you the one that summoned me? I would have preferred a woman that was my height, but oh well, I’ll probably run into the main heroine some other time.”
“What are you-” She tried to say, but then shook her head, “Never mind that, something went horribly wrong and you-”
“Now where do I begin?” I wondered, “First off, I guess I’ll have to look for an adventurer’s guild, I should be able to get my first quest started there-”
“Listen to me!” The fairy snapped.
Hearing this, I sighed and looked at her, “Look, I don’t need a tutorial, I know the gist of how this goes.” I said, “Don’t worry, I’ll work hard and defeat the demon king and bring peace-”
“You died!” She snapped.
…
Hearing this, I was a bit lost for words. “Died?” I asked, a weird feeling entering my gut, “You telling me I died in my sleep and was brought here?”
“No.” She explained, “You died later in an accident.”
Hearing this, I froze. Narrowing my eyes, I spoke, “I would rather you not joke about something like that.” I said in a low tone.
“Like I’d joke about something so serious!” She said, “Look, something went wrong when you were being transported, and it seems you lost your immediate memory.”
“…”
It’s hard to believe, and I didn’t fully understand what she was going on about. Transported? What, so is this a reincarnation? But why don’t I remember meeting her or dying?
“!!!”
Feeling a bit nauseous, I started taking deep breaths, as my body broke into cold sweat.
“H-hey” The fairy called out, “You okay?”
“Yea I… Just give me a sec.”
“…”
The heat wasn’t helping either… So, I stepped into the corner, and crouched down, trying to regain my bearing. All the while, the fairy silently watched on.
What’s her deal anyway?
“Sorry, this is a bit hard to grasp, like, I died?” I continued, “Was I reincarnated? But what do you mean transported? Why don’t I remember anything? And who or what are you, a guide?”
I got more and more worked up as I spoke, the initial excitement I felt was now replaced with a feeling of dread.
“Easy.” She spoke, “Calm down first, I’ll explain everything.”
Hearing this, I took a deep breath. “Go on.”
As cool as it sounds to be an isekai protagonist, I’m more concerned about me losing a big chunk of memory.
“Right then, listen closely.” She spoke, “First of all, my name is Annabelle, I’m an artificial mortal created by the divine, a divine relic, one of many.”
“…”
She continued, “Now as for what happened, well, there isn’t much to say, when you were walking home after school, you got run over by some sleep deprived fool who lost control of his truck.”
“!!!”
Hearing this brought a gaping feeling in my gut, and after taking a deep breath, I spoke, “What after? Does my family know?”
“They found out soon…” She said. “Your mother is devastated, and so is your father…. It’s a lot for them, losing their only son.”
…
Looking down, I mumbled, “Dumb ways to die they say…”
“…”
Looking back at the fairy… Annabelle, I spoke, “Go on, I wanna hear the rest.”
“Right.” She said, and continued “Upon death, you entered limbo, where you met an angel… There you were notified of being chosen to come to this world as a prophet, and fight in the human demon war, to which you accepted and after choosing me as your divine relic, you were sent here.”
Sounded like the plot of a shitty isekai, that goes onto be replicated a thousand times. But wait…
“How do you even know what happened before I chose you?” I asked.
“When we were linked, I got all your memories, so I know everything there is to know about you, from the moment you were born to the moment you were transported.” She said.
Now that’s just a massive breach of privacy…
“Well…” Thinking a bit I continued, “So I died….” I said, “And I got chosen… to be some prophet of another world? I feel like something’s missing here.”
“If you’re wondering why you even accepted,” She spoke, “It’s because the prophet who contributes most to the mission will be given one wish.”
“A wish?” I asked.
“Any you desire, well, except for two specific wishes,” She explained, “You can’t alter history in any way nor to become a god.”
Huh…
It could be I chose to come down here to get that wish… but if I can’t alter history, then I can’t save myself… So, what the hell did I even want to wish for?
“Do you know what I wanted to wish for?” I asked.
“Not sure, it’s blurry.”
“Wow… and here I thought your story made a lot of sense, why is that part alone blurry,” I said.
“Hey now, I know everything there is to know about your life, but it’s not like I have your memories duplicated.”
“So, what, you only remember the bits that are convenient to you?”
“Of course not! I’m meant to get a good grasp of you, not become your replica,” she said.
I groaned, realizing she can’t give me the answer I’m looking for “In the first place, why did my memories glitch anyways? And what’s with these horrible clothes!?”
“Your body was reconstructed from scratch to have similar characteristics to this world''s humans, so obviously the clothes were made to fit the culture.” She said, “And as for the memories… well, it seems the angel that relayed everything to you messed up the transportation spell.” She closed her eyes and looked down, “Poor thing must have been erased for that.”
A lot of exposition there but…
“!!!”
From my crouched down position, I grabbed my head and looked down, trying to piece everything together but, “This just doesn’t make sense!” I snapped “So apparently I died, and then I got chosen to be some hero which I accepted, and then came down here but lost my memories of it, so I don’t even know my thought process behind all this!”
“Hey man… I was created to be someone’s tool, how do you think I feel?” The fairy said.
I looked up at her, “Probably wishing you weren’t here, I bet.”
“Ah no, being conscious is definitely a step up from being in stasis so, I’ll take whatever I get.” She said.
“Right well… Annabelle right?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m your divine relic, acting as a pocket priest and a guide.”
“Isn’t that convenient…” I said, “Well, I don’t get you… but having someone to talk to sure beats being alone so… good to have you here.”
“And I’m glad to be here!” She said, grinning, “Don’t worry Kenny, whatever you wanted to wish for, I’m sure it’ll come to you, I mean, you’re the same person after all.”
“Kenny?” I asked, a bit weirded out by the sudden familiarity.
“Right, you don’t remember this, but I bit my tongue trying to pronounce your full name, so we decided on this.” She said.
“Can’t you just call me Ken?”
“Too unoriginal.”
“Right…,” I continued, “And uhh, sorry about throwing you with full force earlier, I thought you were a gnome.”
“I-it’s fine…” She said, “Your hatred for gnomes is questionable but… you know what never mind, what do you want to do now?”
Hearing this I thought, then spoke, “To be honest… I was initially excited for this, but after hearing the details, I feel kinda depressed, but…”
Sulking here won’t do me any good. And while I can’t alter history, I might be able to just outright resurrect myself, and maybe that was what I wanted to wish for? Regardless, I should figure out what to do next.”
Standing up, I spoke, “Okay! First order of business, what the hell do I do now?”
The people and the architecture here are a bit conflicting, but this is a fantasy world so I should just follow that train of thought… actually wait.
“Right!” I spoke, then looked towards Annabelle, “You’re a guide, right? Does this world have an adventurer’s guild or something? Does this world even follow the fantasy RPG rules?”
“Sure do! Pretty much everything you know in video games applies here, but some don’t so just don’t go around looking for cat-eared women.”
“I’m not really into that stuff…” I said, “But well, if this follows JRPG rules, then I don’t have anything to be confused about.” I continued, “Well then, first order of business, let’s head to the adventurer’s guild to get more information!”
“You’re pretty motivated for someone that just learned he died…” she said, sounding stunned, “But oh well, it’s good that you aren’t letting it get you down.” As she said that, she glided over to my shoulder and took a seat, as the green wings dissipated from her back.
Letting her have a seat on my shoulder, I spoke, “I’m not really fine with it, more so just bottling it up because I got bigger issues to worry about.”
“Doesn’t sound healthy…”
“Definitely Not, but oh well.” Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, opening them I spoke, “Well then guide, take me to the nearest adventure’s guild!” I said.
Hearing this, she tilted her head, “I know this world history, geography and common knowledge, but it’s not like I got a mini map of every town and city, you know?”
“Wait.” I spoke, “So you don’t know where the guild is?”
“Nope.” She declared.
Hmm…
“Do you know what this town is at least?”
“That I do, we’re in Hillsreach, the town furthest to the south of the kingdom of Rosaria.” She said.
“Okay… doesn’t really help my case but good to know.” I spoke, “Well, in that case, we might as well ask some random pedestrian where we are.”
“Would beat walking around aimlessly.” She said, “Just make sure you speak god speech this time.”
“God speech?”
“It’s the main language used in Rosaria.” She explained, “You heard that lady speak it earlier, remember?”
Ah right… that.
“What’s up with that anyways?” I asked, “I never heard it before, but I understood it perfectly.”
“The language was implanted into your brain when your body was being created.” She explained, “Actually, I suspect, that’s the very reason you lost your memory.”
“Brian got overloaded huh… you’d think they’d have some kinda fail-safe for stuff like that.”
“They can’t account for every inconvenience….” She said, “Well, regardless, at least the language is in your head, so you should have no issue speaking it.”
“You say that but speaking a brand-new language all of a sudden is a little…”
“At worst you’ll have a slight accent.” She grinned, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
“Right…”
No point in hesitating, might as well get to it.
“…”
I directed my focus to the sidewalk, meeting a couple of eyes, some looked away nervously, likely due to my previous outburst…
“Ah!”
“!!!”
My attention was drawn to a woman carrying groceries. The same woman who I freaked out earlier, who seems to be heading back after completing her shopping.
“!!!”
Seeing me, her eyes widened, as she immediately turned back and attempted to walk away.
“Ah, wait!” I called out.
“…”
Without realizing, I had spoken in this world’s god speech, which caused her to stop and turn around.
“W-what is it?” She asked, looking a bit wary.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“I’m sorry if I startled you, Miss.” I spoke, “But I’m a bit lost, and was wondering if you could give me the directions to the adventurers guild.”
“Adventurers guild?” She tilted her head in confusion. “Are you perhaps referring to the champion''s tavern?”
“Uhhh, I think?” Confused as well, I side eyed Anna, who was still on my shoulder.
“He is,” Anna spoke, “We’d really appreciate it if you can give us directions to it.”
Hearing Anna, the woman’s eyes went to her, before widening. “A light elf!?” She said, sounding stunned, “To be contracted to an elf, you…” Her gaze returned to me, “The champions tavern is connected to the townhall, and can be found in the center of town.”
“Ah, right, thanks.” Still confused, I answered.
Hearing this she smiled, “You’re most welcome, just walk down the street, and take the left to the 3<sup>rd</sup> lane you run into, and after a bit of walking, you’ll be right in front of it.
“Right, appreciate it.”
“Good luck on your quests, I look forward to your accomplishments Mister!”
Saying so, she bid me farewell and left, leaving me and Anna alone.
“The hell was that?” I spoke.
“Sure, was a complete 180 huh?” Anna replied.
“Yea… but wait, did she call you an elf?”
“Yea?”
“You aren’t a fairy?”
“No.”
“Huh…”
I feel as though more and more of my hopes and dreams die by the day.
“Well…” I spoke, “Let’s not waste any more time then.”
“Right, onwards we go!”
“Onwards!”
With that, the two of us started making our way to the champion tavern, mentally prepping for what’s to come next.
***
Following the directions given to us by the woman, we soon found ourselves in front of a large building.
“…”
The building was two stories tall, the walls were built in a triangular angle starting from the entrance, which was a batwing door. Above the front door was a small balcony, which also extended along the rest of the walls, seemingly an outdoor eating area. Above the balcony was a giant clock, with numerals I hadn’t seen before, but were able to instantly recognize.
Seems this world also has 24 hour days…
“What’s the hold up?” Anna asked.
“Nothing nothing…” I said, “Let’s go.”
“Right.”
Moving forward, I swiftly opened the twin doors and entered the establishment.
“!!!”
Eyes were immediately drawn to me, causing me to tense up.
“…”
The interior was split into two sections. The left, seemingly a bar area which also functioned as a restaurant, a staircase leading upstairs, waiters and waitresses leisurely walking around, bringing food and drinks to the customers… The customers, whose eyes were now locked on me, were few. Rough and tough-looking men, and even women, wearing a mix of western clothes that fit the aesthetic I noticed till now, most completed with top hats, some however, were wearing armor and were carrying weapons, which included swords, bows, and even guns…
“…”
As if the ceiling fans weren’t enough, those guns more or less broke the last bit of immersion I had.
“…”
Ignoring the gazes, I focused my attention on the right corner. Separated by the placement of a majestic bronze statue of a more traditionally medieval-ish looking dude, the right corner seemed to be the town hall area. 4 counters were present, with a line of people present in all except 1, and on the far corner a board, with flyers placed, likely where I can pick up a quest.
“Well at least that part fits my fantasy…” I spoke.
“You sound disappointed,” Anna commented.
“Not disappointed… the scary looking guy with armor and a cowboy hat looks cool and all, but I don’t know… where are the mages and priests at?” I said.
“I bet some of them can use magic.” Anna explained, “What? Did you expect them to be dressed like witches or something?”
“Yes?” I said, “Isn’t that the norm.”
“Why would they do that?” She snapped, “Aside from using magic, it’s not like they come from a different culture.” She continued, “They’d be dressed light like gun slingers, and also carry some firearms or daggers in case of emergency, you can’t exactly point them out from a crowd.”
“What you said makes perfect sense, but I don’t want to accept it.”
“Well… you’ll get used to it… probably.”
“Right….”
Not wanting to think about this any further, I made my way to the counters. Stopping on my tracks, I looked over at the single empty counter.
“Why’d you think no one’s going to her?” Anna asked.
“Maybe she’s a newbie?” I said, “Well, what do I care?”
Taking the opportunity, I made my way to the empty counter.
“Hi there.” I greeted.
“Huh!?”
Immediately as I greeted her, the receptionist who seemed to have spaced off snapped back into reality.
“…”
For a moment she simply stared at me, her emerald green eyes wide in shock.
“Ah, oh, right! Welcome to the town hall sir, how may I help you?” She said, putting up a professional font after gaining her bearings.
Hey lady, you can’t just act like nothing happened after that.
She had a pretty cute face, her cheeks covered in freckles, pale skin, and red hair which flowed down to her shoulder. She was wearing a white uniform, which the other receptionists were also wearing.
Not having a reason to make her work needlessly difficult, I played along, “My partner and I are looking to register as advent- I mean champions, and I heard that this is the place for it.”
“Partner…” Hearing this, she scanned the area, before her eyes landed on Anna, who was on my shoulder. “Ah, a light elf!” She snapped.
“!!!”
At her outburst, the other adventurers and guild receptionist also diverted their attention to us, and began murmuring to themselves.
“Hey now.” Anna spoke, “I know I’m a big deal and all, but can you help him out first?”
“R-right.” The receptionist spoke, “Sorry, it’s just so rare to see an elf… and for it to be a light elf too, I heard your kind was extinct.”
“We just keep to ourselves… unlike the other species that form contracts with humans left and right,” Anna said.
“Left and right? There’s only a single elf contractor per ten thousand soldiers?”
“That’s still too much!” Anna snapped.
Not understanding the conversation, I stayed silent, and the others also went back to their own business, seemingly grown bored.
Finally noticing me, the girl''s eyes widened, “Ah, I’m sorry sir! I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s fine… but as I said, we’re trying to register as champions so…”
“Right!” She straightened her posture. “Well, first of all… elves can’t register, as the orb of Celestia only works on humans, but she doesn’t exactly need to either.”
Confused, I looked over at Anna.
“She’s right about both; I don’t really need any external help unlike you.” She replied.
“Right…” I said, “And this orb of Celestia, that’s?” I looked over at the girl, and directed the question at her.
“Oh, umm…” She cleared her throat, “I’ll explain the steps to register from the beginning, so you won’t be confused.” She began, “First of all, champions are worriers tasked with helping humanity keep peace, by fighting the demon army, and taking in quests that may vary from beast extermination, to resource gathering, but you already knew that much.”
So basically, just adventurers… Well, I guessed that, but nice to have it confirmed.
She continued, “Champions existed for thousands of years, and were a center point in humanity''s military strength but… as the demons were much stronger, we were always outmatched, barely surviving with our superior numbers and strategic planning.” She continued, “So, to assist humanity, the gods sent down a holy relic, the orb of Celestia.”
“…”
She continued, “When a human comes into contact with it, the orb will connect to their yamu, and produce an enhancement slate, capable of boosting the human''s combat prowess significantly.”
“Yamu?” I questioned.
I get that the whole enhancement slate is just an adventure’s card, but the hell’s a yamu?
“Huh?” The receptionist tilted her head in confusion, “You’re telling me you don’t know what a yamu is?” She asked.
Before I could answer, Anna interjected, “Hahaha, silly Kenny with his jokes! Now’s not the time you know!”
“But I…”
“Well then miss, why don’t you keep explaining!” Anna said.
“Right…”
…
Coming a bit closer to my ear, Anna whispered, “I’ll explain properly later, just know that it’s basically what controls mana.”
“…”
“Well, as I was saying…” The girl continued, “The enhancement slate is directly connected to the yamu.” She explained, “It artificially boosts a user’s stats depending on the class they are assigned, and increases them further each time you level up.” She continued, “To level up, you simply have to kill something, or someone… which gives you experience points, and once you collect enough experience points, you level up.”
Right right… basic stuff.
“Once you level up, you gain a skill point, skill points can be used to unlock skills, proficiencies and magical spells… It functions by filling the missing gaps in knowledge required to have proficiency in the specific ability, so the amount of skill points needed per skill depends on the user.” She explained further.
Huh… not set in stone huh… Does that mean I can decrease the skill points needed by training in it for a bit? And can I just unlock them without spending a single point?
“Phew” She sighed, “That’s all, any questions?”
Eh, I’ll just ask Anna later, I just wanna get into doing a quest now.
“Nope! Sign me up mama!” I exclaimed.
Raising her eyebrow at me for a moment, she shrugged off my comment, “Give me a moment.” She said, going out back.
“…”
While waiting for her, I sneaked a glance at Anna.
“What?” She asked.
“Yamu?”
“Oh right…” She spoke, “It’s basically like a second heart, but instead of pumping blood carrying oxygen into your muscles, it pumps mana throughout your body in a similar yet different process.”
“I’m pretty sure I don’t have that…”
“You do now, when your new body was being made, it was created with a functioning yamu, equivalent to your current age and physicality.”
“Right…”
I have a new organ in me? Freaky…
I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as the receptionist girl soon arrived, holding a transparent orb that was attached to a stand made of wood.
Placing it down, she spoke, “This right here, is the orb of Celestia.”
“And it’ll give me super powers… cool, how do I do this?” I asked.
“Not so fast!” She panicked, “You have to agree to a wager first.”
“… what?”
“What did you expect?” Anna spoke from my shoulder, “This is a serious power up… so of course, you’ll have to agree to contribute in some way to warrant this.”
“…”
“What Miss Elf said is correct,” The receptionist spoke, “The sign-up itself doesn’t require money, but it requires you to contract to serve as a champion, for a minimum of 5 years before you retire.”
“Don’t sound like that long…” I spoke.
“Lower life expectancy around here,” Anna said.
“Hmm…”
“Well…” The girl spoke, “If you’re still willing, I’ll need you to read these papers.” She said, before taking out a bunch of papers from under the desk, and handing them over to me.
“…”
Taking a good look at it, I gave it a read.
“…”
There wasn’t anything special to it, something something responsibility, something something liberate humanity, bla bla bla war on demons, 5-year contract… yea sure.
“Where do I sign?” I asked.
“If you agree to the terms, just lay your hand on the orb of Celestia, and it’ll create your card, and you’ll be considered a champion.”
“Will do.”
Saying so, I put my hand on the orb, causing it to fluctuate through the colors of the rainbow.
“!!!”
I felt a tingling sensation around my heart, before the feeling died down and the orb settled on a white glow.
“Whoa.”
2 small lasers shot out, and began to form material out of thin air, slowly weaving a card into existence.
“!!!”
Soon, the process died down, and the orb dimmed, and what remained was a card, glowing but slowly dimming down.
“Here we go… AH hot!” The girl tried to pick up the card, before dropping it. Then she blew on it a bit like it was warm food, before picking it up again. “Let’s see here… Kenneth Ka- KAFKA!?” She snapped.
“Huh?”
At her outburst, the other receptionists and champions looked towards us, and began murmuring to themselves.”
“K-Kafka! Your name is Kafka!?” She asked, panic in her eyes.
“Surname… but yea, what about it?”
“What do you mean what about it!?” She snapped, “You’re contracted to a light elf too! Don’t tell me, you’re related to the legendary hero Aaron Kafka!?”
Who?
Side eyeing Anna, she noticed and spoke, “Aaron Kafka, one among the three legendary heroes, who contributed a great deal into the human demon war.” She said, “He perished in battle, 40 years ago.”
Hmmm…
With this knowledge, I looked over at the girl, “As cool as it would be for me to be related to some big shot hero… I don’t know anyone named Aaron in my family tree, so I highly doubt I’m related to him.”
“I-I see…” The girl spoke, with a bit of disappointment in her voice, “Sorry, it’s just, Kafka isn’t a very common name, and you’re contracted to an elf…”
“Yea… isn’t exactly a common name where I come from either… but it’s still not unheard of.”
“Right of course… my apologies for jumping to conclusions.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
With that, the others also went back to their business, some of them sneaking glances at me, a look of disappointment in their faces.
?
“Well then, Let’s get back to it, shall we, Mr. Kenneth.” She said.
“Drop the Mister...” I said, “Also, I’ve been calling you receptionist girl in my head all this time, can I get your name as well?”
“Oh… yea sure, It’s Sarah, just Sarah.”
“Sarah huh… that’s a pretty name.”
“I uhh… thank you…” A bit taken aback; she still accepted the compliment.
“…”
Taking a look at my enchantment slate, again, she began speaking. “Kenneth Kafka, human-male, 17 years old, 5’10, 70kg… the class you got is, oh…”
This world uses kilograms? But, wait, more importantly…
“What do you mean class I got? You telling me I can’t choose?” I asked.
“No, it’s pre-decided depending on your capabilities and skills… And well…”
“What? Why do you sound so hesitant?”
“You got Wanderer…” She said.
“Oof.” Anna also added.
“What, is that bad?” I asked, panicking a bit as well.
“It isn’t bad per se… it’s just…” Sarah spoke, sounding hesitant.
“Let me break it down for you, Kenny.” Anna spoke, “Classes are split into 3, beginner, basic, and advance. Most with some training background start with a basic class, while people with none start as beginner, and the most talented, very rarely, like extremely rarely start as advance.” She continued, “The people starting as beginner, typically manage to get into a basic class in a few months, a year at most… while it takes them multiple years to achieve an advance class, most don’t even make it that far, it’s a very rare achievement.”
“Right, and what? Wanderer is a beginner class?”
“Yes…”
“Right… I’ll just work and level up then.”
“That’s the thing… it’s a bit of a special case…” Sarah added.
“How come?”
Anna continued, “Every other class, be it priest, monk or knight, specializes in something… and with the help of the enhancement slate, they can focus on those specifications, and progress further and further, but… Wanderer is kinda…” Hesitant, she continued, “Useless?”
“… what?”
Sarah added, “No, calling it useless isn’t right… it’s just, wander doesn’t have any specializations, and the basic class for it, adventurer, gets a higher stat boost compared to other basic classes but… since there are no specifications, those with the class have to prioritize on being good at literally everything, making a class ascension practically impossible…”
Oh…
“Well… I mean, it’s still possible right? If I focus enough…”
“It is.” Anna spoke, “But well, it’s so hard that people say that adventurer has similar criteria to a normal advance class… not to mention, anything further might not even be possible.”
“Not possible… so no one got an advance class for it?” I asked.
“There are legends and rumors of it… The strongest class…” Sarah spoke, “But it’s just that, rumors, no real historical record of it exists, so as far as people are concerned, Wanderer is considered the weakest class.”
“…”
“Hey hey, cheer up…” Anna comforted, “I mean, even the legendary Aaron Kafka also started as a wanderer, and he’s among the people rumored to have unlocked the advance version of it.”
“…”
“Yea! And looking at your other stats, they are all above average for your age.” Sarah also added, “And your intelligence is pretty high, while your luck is extremely high!”
Well, at least I got that…
“Well, can’t do none about it, I’ll go look for a quest now.” I spoke, “Can I have the card?”
“Yea sure…” Saying so, she handed it over to me. “Well then Mr- I mean, Kenneth… on behalf of the champions council, I welcome you to the ranks of champion, we’ll be looking forward to your accomplishments!”
“Right…”
With that, I left the counter area, and before heading to the quest board, I looked over at my enhancement slate…
“…”
There was a mini avatar like thing of my face, along with my name, race & sex, age, height, and weight. Under it was the number one, with a small bar, which I assume is my exp gauge. Under there were my stats, which were Strength, Speed, Agility, Durability, Endurance, Stamina, Power, Arcana, Intelligence, Luck.
“Rest is self-explanatory, but power and luck?” I asked.
“Power is magical strength, and arcana is magical stamina,” Anna confirmed.
“Right…”
“By the way, you may have guessed, but since magic is used by an organ similar to the heart, running out of mana isn’t like depleting a fuel gauge, but more so your yamu getting tired and being unable to pump more mana, it’s very similar to your cardiovascular health,” Anna added.
Good to know…
Anyways… as Sarah said earlier, all my stats were in the 70-75 area, speed, agility and stamina were closer to 80… while my intelligence was 115, and luck was 146. I guess that’s good? There was also another tab next to it, called available skills and active skills, it only showed available skills, which was empty, and under it said skill points, which was 0.
“Wow!”
Curiously, I pressed the active skills sections, causing it to switch tabs. Active skills were also empty, but cool, seems this works like a smartphone.
“Magic sure is something else huh…” I said.
“Yea.” Anna spoke, “It’s the electricity of this world.”
And from the looks of it, it seems this world had already gone through its own industrial revolution…
“…”
Not having anything else to do, I made my way to the quest board. A couple of champions were giving me side eyes, all their faces either neutral or unfriendly, but I ignored it for now.
“…”
Arriving at the quest board, I took a good look at the flyers.
“Let’s see here… ah what the hell!?”
“…”
“Hey Anna….”
“Yea…”
“What the hell is this?”
“…”
I was looking for the usual fetch quest… kill a slime, gather some herbs? Nah, none of it was there, instead, we had some insane sounding quests.
“Clear out the bandit camp A rank, hunt the quadrilla A rank, slay a fucking wyvern!? SS rank!” I snapped, “And the fuck is a quadrilla!?”
“You’re probably better off not knowing…” She said, hesitantly.
“Hmm…”
Noticing a certain flyer, I spoke, “What about that one?” Taking it, I read out its contents. “Defeat 5 dire chickens… C rank, reward, 100 000 Fields.”
I’m guessing Field is this world currency.
“No,” Anna said, with no room for argument, “They have beaks that can shatter bones, and claws that can rip skin like butter, you could probably avoid its attacks, but you won’t be able to land any killing blows on it without weapons.”
“So, then what else am I supposed to do? It’s the lowest level quest here”
“How about you get a part-time job, and work on it till you can afford a weapon?”
“…”
Come to a fantasy world, as a chosen hero, only to do manual labor?
“How hard could it be…” I said.
“You don’t have any weapons nor the money to buy any… and a beginner class doesn’t give you any stat bonuses, so you’re only weapon is your fists… and whatever stat boost I can give you.”
“I mean… I was a state champion in wrestling?”
“You think that’ll help? The very reason you got the wanderer class is because you lack any proficiency to get a more useful class!”
“Hey hey! It could also be I’m good at everything!”
“Look Kenny…” Anna spoke, “I’ll support you… but this is extremely dangerous, it would be wiser for us to just wait it out till you can afford some weapons, then go for it.”
“I agree, I truly do agree.” I said, “But my ego…”
“…”
“I’m sure it’ll go fine…”
“Fine, if you think so.”
With that, I immediately took the flyer, and made my way to Sarah, whose counter was still empty.
“Back so soon?” She said.
“Need you to confirm this quest.”
“Hmm, will do.” Saying so, she took it, and took out a book, before writing some things in it. “Done.” She said, “Once you defeat them, you can sell the carcasses to the guild, each will go for around 10 000 Fields, and unless you bring them in yourself, there will be a small transportation fee of 2500 Fields each.”
So, they’ll go for 7500 Fields in reality… still a lot, I’ll take it.
“All right, thanks, I’ll get to it!” I said, immediately beginning to head out.
“Good luck!” Sarah called out.
With that, Anna and I left the guild to begin our first quest, and mark our spot in this world.
***
…
After realizing I had no idea where I was going, I had to head back to the guild to ask for directions…
With those directions, I left the town from the south side, and made a short 30-minute walk to an open hilly area, where I was able to overlook the dire chickens.
“Ah what the hell!?”
When I heard dire chickens, along with Anna’s description, I did expect them to look fairly big and menacing but…
“We can still turn around you know?” Anna said.
They looked more like dinosaurs… feathered raptors… can’t tell properly from this distance, but they seemed to be around my height, or bigger. Hell, I’m supposed to take 5 of them, but there were about 12 there.
“Actually… Didn’t they discover that dinosaurs had feathers?”
“What the hell are you talking about now?” Anna snapped, “Kenny, look, look at those things! One will mess you up, and you’re going to try and take out multiple!?” She continued, “This is usually a group thing, done with multiple adventurers, that’s why its price was 100 000 Fields!”
“I mean, Sarah would have stopped me if it was too dangerous right?”
“She barely knows you!” She snapped again, “And despite the stats, me being here and your Kafka name probably made her think you might be able to deal with it.”
“Hmm…”
Well, only one way to find out.
“You said you can buff me, right?”
“You’re doing this!?”
“Yea, can you fight?”
“No… I’m mostly a support, I can heal and increase your stats, could even go distract and taunt enemies, but don’t have any real combat capabilities myself, unless we’re dealing with undead.”
“Right well… we can still work this out…”
Let’s see then…
“Okay, you buff me, and I go for it, in the meantime, you taunt and separate them, giving me a chance to take them out without getting flocked, no pun intended.”
“… This is a very bad idea.”
“Look, it’ll be fine, we can do it, believe!”
“Fine!” She snapped, “But just know, that if you die, it’s over forever! You won’t get another try this time!”
“Right right, buffs please.”
“… fine.” Recreating her wings, she flew away from my shoulders, and pointed her arm towards me.
“!!!”
She gleamed a brighter green, before said glow enveloped me as well, and gleamed yellow, before vanishing.
“Okay done.”
“Eh, I don’t feel any different?”
“Check your ca- hey, your eyes!” Anna snapped.
“What about it?”
“They’re green like mine?” She said, “And the texture of your hair looks a bit different too…”
“Huh? So, this is a transformation?”
“No… they are just buffs, that’s not supposed to happen.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m a prophet, and you’re my divine relic?”
“Maybe? I don’t know? Ah whatever, jump around or shadow box a bit.”
“Alright…”
As instructed, I steadied myself, and made a vertical leap and…
“WOW!”
Instead of my usual height, I ended up going up around 11 to 12 feet, before falling, and landing without any pain.
“!!!”
Shadow boxing a bit, I realized all my punches were insanely fast, like my arms were weighted down all my life, and was finally liberated.
“This is insane!” I said.
“Hmpf, I made your stats skyrocket all at once and also gave your better mana circulation, night vision, increased speech skills, added divine attributes to your mana, infernal resistance and a plethora of other abilities that’ll take too long to name, this is an ability you’ll only see in Popes!”
“… you’re incredible, lady Anna!”
“Glad you finally figured it out.”
“Well then…” I said, looking at the dire chickens. “If we don’t have anything else to talk about…”
“Yea… I’ll separate them.”
“Right, let’s do this!”
Immediately I dashed forward, with Anna right beside me.
“!!!”
The speed at which I ran shocked me, to the point I nearly lost balance and tripped over, before catching myself and regaining balance.
“NOW!”
“RIGHT!”
Immediately Anna separated from me and flew to the right side, even faster than I could run.
“!!!”
In a short period, she got over to the right side of where the birds were, before she gave off an orange glow, which the birds noticed.
“!!!”
One by one, each of the birds fell into an almost trance-like state, before beginning to make their way over to Anna, quickly speeding up.
“!!!”
As they were, I ran up to one of them, immediately tackling them to the ground.
*CLUCK*
Confused, the bird jerked around, and I narrowly avoided its leg, as I slipped past it and got to its back, before beginning to choke it out.
“!!!”
As it began to stop squirming, I started to twist its face, and without much effort, I was able to snap its neck.
“…”
Throwing it off me, I attempted to get up before,
“KENNY! WATCH OUT!” Anna screamed.
As I heard that, I quickly looked up, to see a flock of them running towards me.
“!!!”
This reminded me of what Anna told me. They don’t usually attack humans, but are very territorial, and will engage if we enter their territory.
“SHIT!”
I saw Anna emanate the same orange glow, but the birds weren’t paying her attention, instead running towards me with laser focus.
“!!!”
As one of them jumped towards me, its legs and claws aimed at me, I quickly rolled under it, dodging the attack.
“!!!”
And as another one came up to me, I got on my feet and immediately landed a strong right hook, knocking it off balance.
“!!!”
But before I could do anything else, another one of them jumped on me, and pinned me to the ground.
“ARGH!”
“KENNY!”
The bird pecked at my head, but I quickly moved my head to the side, avoiding the powerful attack.
“!!!”
As it brought its head up, I quickly brought my hands together, hitting its head from both sides, and discombobulating it and causing it to bleed from its beak and ears.
*CLUCK*
Quickly getting it off me, I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding another bird, and upon realizing how outnumbered I was, I used the same momentum to make a run towards the town.
“!!!”
Anna also came to my side, as I kept running away from the dire chickens, which kept chasing for a while, before eventually relenting, as they lacked the stamina humans do.
“!!!”
As I finally got to safely, I fell on the grass and began breathing heavily, desperately trying to catch my breath.
“I nearly died…”
“I told you this was a bad idea!” Anna snapped.
…
Although I didn’t exactly lose… I still ran away, meaning I didn’t win.
“Welp…”
“What do you mean welp!?” Anna snapped, “Any other person would have died there!” She continued, “Those birds’ instincts are too strong, it even overwrote my taunt when they saw you in their territory!”
“…”
I was tasked with killing 5 birds… I killed one, and stunned 2 more… I’m stronger and more agile than those with her buffs but…
“I can’t do anything without a weapon…”
“I told you!”
…
Great… I didn’t even secure the body… meaning I’ll only get 7500 after the transportation fees are covered…
“…”
The sky had an orange hue, signaling the end of the day, as the sun began to set.
“!!!”
I slammed my fist into the ground, frustrated by my lack of power… no, it wasn’t power I lacked, I was just stupid, did something I shouldn’t have, despite being warned.
“Sorry, I should have listened to you…” I said, apologizing to Anna.
“It’s fine…” She reassured… “Let’s just go back for now… we’ll think about this later.”
“Right…”
Getting up, Anna and I began to head back to town, and report the failure to complete the quest.
I’m so not looking forward to this…
***
We arrived at the town hall as the sun was about to set. The moment we entered, we were greeted by a very lively atmosphere. Unlike the desolate atmosphere during the day, the tavern was filled with champions who were singing, drinking and partying together.
“Hey! You’re the new recruits!” One of the champions called out, “How’d the quest go?”
He was the previous unfriendly looking man, tall, muscular, clad in armor, but with holsters, ammunition and a cowboy hat. Unlike earlier, he had a red hue to his face, as he jollily called out, likely drunk.
“Yea… about that…”
Not wanting to answer, I ignored the man and went towards the counter, only to find it mostly empty except for one.
“…”
Sarah was not there, and among the other 3 receptionists, only a single one remained, so I went up to her.
“Good evening,” I said.
“Oh, hello, how may I help you?” She asked, a professional smile on her face.
She had light brown skin, and adorned a similar uniform to Sarah. She had dark blue hair tied in a braid, and eyes which were a lighter shade of blue.
“You’re working late huh… where are the others?” I asked.
“They’re off shift.” She explained, “I’m the head receptionist, so I tend to work till a bit later, as it is my duty.”
“Right… makes sense.” I said, “You’re pretty dedicated, huh.”
“I wouldn’t say that, I’m only doing my job.” She said, humbly. “Forgive me, but I heard your name was Mr. Kafka, correct?”
“Drop the Mr. And yea, it’s Kenneth Kafka, and this here is Annabelle,” I said, pointing to the pocket elf in my shoulder, who remained quiet with a neutral expression.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance Kenneth, Annabelle.” She said, with a smile, “My name is Naomi, and I look forward to working with you.”
“Yea… about that…”
“Hmm?”
“I sorta, maybe, failed the quest.”
“Oh…”
I went on to explain to her the details of the quest, how I went in unprepared, and defeated a single dire chicken, before being outnumbered.
“To go in without any weapons, and no teammates… Sarah should have warned you… I’ll have to lecture that girl.” She said.
“No no!” I said, “It’s not her fault, I should have known better.”
“Still…”
“Look, can I just sell the chicken? I’ll look for some other job, and get back to this after making enough money to buy a weapon.”
“Right… but, there’s an issue.”
“Huh?”
“The penalty for failing a quest is 10 000 Fields… And since you have to pay for the transportation…”
“I’m in debt?”
“I’m sorry…”
Great…
“Well uhh… but please do, I’ll make the payment of 2500 as soon as I get it.”
“Right…”
“Thank you for tonight, have a good evening.”
“You too…”
…
***
Upon leaving the guild, I walked around the town aimlessly, with Anna on my shoulder.
“I’m hungry…” I said.
“I’m cold…” Anna said.
…
“What do we do now…” Anna asked.
“Well… for now, how about we get some rest…” I suggested, “That being said, we can’t exactly afford a hotel room.”
Hearing this, Anna hesitantly spoke, “Champions who can’t, typically tend to sleep in stables.”
“…”
Fucking fantastic.
“Well, not like we got a choice… let’s go.”
We passed the stables as we went to fight the dire chickens, so at least we know where it is.
As I walked towards it, the pillars on the sidewalks suddenly began to gleam a yellow hue from the crystal on top.
“Wow… so they were streetlights…” I said.
“Impressive huh? Those are daylight crystals, they soak up sunlight throughout the day, and give off that light during the night.” Anna explained, “Naturally occurring, but you humans cut it up and brought it to your streets.”
“That’s what we do…”
The yellow light mixed with the night chill gave off a pleasant atmosphere. It felt… cozy.
“You want another shock?” Anna asked.
“Umm, sure?”
“Look up.”
As instructed, I looked up and…
“Holy shit, two moons!?”
In the sky wasn’t a singular lunar object, but two. One of them, orange in hue, and looked larger than the Earth’s moon, and the smaller one had a white hue, and looked nearly identical to Earth’s moon except for the fact that it had rings...
“Pretty huh?” Anna said, “Those are the two moons, the big one named Terra, and the small one Evangeline, both named after the twin goddess with those respective names.”
“Sure is something else…”
“Hmmhmm.” Anna agreed, “In fact, lady Terra was actually the goddess that created me, so in a way, I’m her daughter.”
“What, so you’re a small pocket elf Jesus?”
“I actually can walk on water, so close enough.”
Chuckling, I replied, “You’re something else, you know what?”
“In a literal sense, there isn’t anything else like me out there.”
“Well…” I said, “On the topic, if the moons got names, then what about this planet?”
“Radia.” She said simply. “This world''s name is Radia.”
“…”
“Wasn’t your best introduction to it, huh?” She said.
“Could have been better.” I joked.
…
We continued to chat, and while on our way to the stables, I took the opportunity to rehydrate myself from a public fountain. After arriving at the stables, we promptly went inside to see that there were more champions, and maybe even just regular homeless people, sleeping and snoring loudly.
“…”
“You’ll get used to it,” Anna said.
For my sanity, I hope to God not.
After going out to take a piss, I came back and checked around a bit, till we eventually found a haystack not riddled with horse shit.
“Itchy…” I said, laying down on the haystack, and staring at the ceiling.
“Not for me though…” Anna replied, as she lay on my chest, using my shirt as a soft mattress.
“Lucky bastard…”
…
“Goodnight, Kenny.”
“Yea, goodnight.”
With that, the two of us drifted off to sleep on our first day in Radia, cold and hungry.