《Autumn Mystic Hero》 Best cover on the site, right my dudes? I run my hand along the wall as I walk to my bathroom. The room is pitch dark. I follow the wall for twenty steps to where my bathroom should be. I push my hand forward, pushing the door open. I take a step in. I wave my hand behind me. Searching for the wall that was just there. I turn around and with both hands search for a wall, a counter, or even the toilet. I can¡¯t find any. I sigh, taking my phone out. I didn¡¯t want to use it because the light would hurts my eyes after just waking up, but what must be done, must be done. I shake it twice, which activates the flashlight on the back of my phone. I¡¯m standing on the surface of a pool of pitch black water. ¡°This is not my bathroom.¡± I dully state. I turn around. In front of me is a writhing large black creature. A pile of tendrils stacked together, it¡¯s body continues farther into the darkness than my flashlight, moving like an eel tying itself in knots. In random intervals along it¡¯s length are mouths deeper than the body would allow. Lined with teeth both herbivores and carnivorous. ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t expect you to have a light source.¡± It speaks directly into my mind. It¡¯s voice sounds like someone copied the same bit of audio a dozen times and set each copy off by a millisecond. The body of the beast quickly retracts itself under the water. A teen wearing a school uniform emerges from the surface. A tentacle holding it from the back like a marinate. ¡°I hope you haven''t gone mad after seeing my true form.¡± He covers his smile with the back of his hand. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I¡¯m fine, this is a pretty normal dream. ¡°Really?¡± He is thrown off by that. He drops his hand and moves closer to me. Studying my face, I give him a mute smile. The kind that people give each other when they¡¯re too busy to talk, but want to acknowledge that they know someone they are walking pass. ¡°Odd, normally humans can¡¯t handle seeing the infinite power of an old god.¡± he scratches his chin. ¡°I saw two gXXX one cXX when I was ten. A large snake isn¡¯t going to traumatize me.¡± He takes offence with that. ¡°I¡¯m not just a large snake!¡± He stomps his foot across the waters surface. His eel body surfaces under my feet. Lifting me up. Two endless tentacles push each of us away from the water. Bright spots of light flash by me. It¡¯s cold up here. I feel my feet being sucked into the goey body of the old god. He stops abruptly. I¡¯m standing upon a tendril taller than any skyscraper. I can see the edge of the planet¡¯s atmosphere. I look down and see that the world below me is incredibly small. The sky, far away from any city lights is filled with millions of twinkling stars. The old god holds his human puppet in front of me. ¡°There human? Do you understand how immense my power really is? Look, look there!¡± I follow his finger to a random star. ¡°That is your sun.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a son.¡± I use condoms. ¡°Not that kind of son! Your sun, the star your planet rotates around.¡± I look around. I¡¯m on another planet? I look to the stars around me. ¡°Oh, cool, I have never seen the Milky Way from this angle before.¡± He covers his face with his hands. Lowering us back down to the water. He sinks into it and lets his puppet body float on the water, defeated. I free my feet from his body, like freeing a boot from mud. I step back onto the water surface. It supports my weight. That isn¡¯t new. I was doing it before, just not something that happens everyday. ¡°Did I summon a broken human?¡± It asks me, from within my head. I look at him floating in the water, I just shrug and look at the sky. ¡°What are you doing?¡± He snips at me. ¡°Normally my dreams don¡¯t have such a vivid sky.¡± He sighs. ¡°This is no dream mere human. I have actually summoned you from your bathroom to this world. I require your help.¡± I cut him off, musing under my breath. ¡°Well that would explain the stars.¡± He kicks his legs, splashing up black water. ¡°Take me more seriously! I¡¯m an old god.¡± He acts like a spoiled child. ¡°I need you.¡± I look him in the eyes, indicating that I¡¯m listening. ¡°There is a world that I used to rule. The humans there have imprisoned me. Hiding the key to my prison in a place that no old god would think to look.¡± I nod. He needs me, a human who thinks like a human, to find out where the other humans hid the key. ¡°You are isekaing me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means, but yeah sure. This world is similar to your world, it has humans on it, just find the key to allow me back to my world. I¡¯ll give you some of my power to help you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the key look like?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± He screams inside my head. I readjust my hair. ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s not an impossible task.¡± He nods, ¡°If you need help just speak my name and one of my minions on the planet will come.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I innocently ask. A roar erupts at each of my temples. The sounds of three words being spoken at once. ¡° ¡°Arvarva¡± ¡°Ghghsd¡± ¡°Tfghrses¡± ¡° I won¡¯t be able to pronounce that. ¡°That is my name.¡± He states smugly. I just nod. A whirlpool forms in the dark water underneath me. I hold my nose and jump in. I pop up from the ground. Many men in robes stand around me. I¡¯m standing on a glowing pentagram. The sky is blue outside the large glass windows. Murmurs echo off the stone walls. The sea of white robes parts and man with a crown steps towards me. His beard is white. ¡°Hero, we implore you to save our world. The demon king to the east needs to be stopped.¡± How cliche. The crowd keeps talking. I don¡¯t like shouting over them, I give the king a thumbs up. A young man in a smaller crown and red cloak walks out from behind the king. Making his way to me and leading me to a room away from the crowd. He pours me a cup of tea. I notice that his hands are smooth, uncalloused by work. There is a scary looking suit of armor in the corner of the room. A gargoyle like face sticking through the headvisor. He takes a breath then asks me. ¡°Will you help us defeat the demon king?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I shrug, I had no reason not to. He gives me a large smile. ¡°Thank the gods, we are at the tipping point and having a hero sent from the gods to help us would ensure our victory.¡± The tea is nice, if not a bit gritty. ¡°Just curiosity, what god summoned you?¡± ¡°The big snake one.¡± ¡°Nidhog, a mysterious and powerful god. The snake that eats the roots of the world tree.¡± So that¡¯s how it¡¯s name is pronounced ¡°What powers did he give onto you?¡± I shrug. He sets down his tea. ¡°This is a common thing. The summoned heros don¡¯t know how to access their magic '''' There have been other people summoned from earth? ¡°Hold out your hand.¡± I comply. ¡°Now focus. This sounds odd, but imagine pumping blood into your finger tips.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I do as he says. I can feel my pulse in my fingertips. Black needles shoot up from my fingers. ¡°Wow, edgy.¡± I muse at my clawed hand. ¡°Perfect hero, now shape the magicules into a weapon.¡± I nod. The magic moves like grains of sand being held together. I turn the stiff spikes the size of sewing needles into flaccid spikes. I shake my hand and they jiggle like stalagmites made of Jello. I can change the property of it with just a thought. I play around with that, enjoying the new toy. I ball it together and coil it. I have made a Slinky. I let it drop from my hand and spring back up. I wonder if the castle has stairs¡­ ¡°Is that your weapon?¡± The prince asks me in a chiding tone.. I quickly draw my magic sand to my hand. I shape it into a short barreled snub nose. Changing the properties of the magic sand molecules to be identical to that of a handgun. ¡°Can you stop messing around?¡± Oh, he thinks I¡¯m still joking. I look around the room. In the corner is the suit of armor. I take aim for the chest and fire. A loud bang erupts from the barrel. My ears ring. The prince is yelling at me. Something about hurting his ears with my messing around. How magic is dangerous. That it¡¯s not a toy. I walk over to the suit of armor. Pointing to the dime sized hole in the breast plate. Once he noticed that this is my weapon then he will stop shouting at me for messing around. ¡°That¡¯s not the weapon of Nidhogg!¡± He¡¯s screaming at me. Probably has never heard a gunshot in a small enclosed space before. It can be really jarring. ¡°Calm down.¡± I tell him. Putting my hand on his shoulder. ¡°Deep breaths.¡± Attempting to calm him doesn¡¯t work. He is hyperventilating. I doubt he has PTSD, guns probably don¡¯t exist here, so this amount of overreaction isn¡¯t warranted. I pull the gun back into my hand. Sitting at the table I sip my tea. He paces back and forth pulling on his blonde hair. ¡°That isn¡¯t the weapon of Nidhogg, that¡¯s the powers of the unspeakable.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the weapon of Nidhogg?¡± He stops his pacing. Looking at me with a dumbstruck face. He takes a deep breath. Clapping his hands together. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s fine, this is¡­¡± Another deep breath ¡°fine.¡± He sits down. Resting his elbows on the table. ¡°You¡¯ll help us defeat the demon king, right?¡± My cup is empty. I take the time to refill it and to take a drink. With an accompanying shrug I say ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t sound very sure.¡± He leans closer to me. ¡°You understand that since you are a minion of a very dangerous god that if you refuse to help us then we will imprison you?¡± ¡°I mean, the unpronounceable guy gave me the power to summon a gun and all they asked was for me to find a key. You¡¯re asking me to kill a king and haven''t offered anything to me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a greedy¡­¡± He takes a breath to continue but I cut him off. ¡°No, I¡¯d do it for free eventually. If I get bored enough.¡± ¡°How much gold to get you to give up on finding the key?¡± The key is more pressing than the demon king. I weigh the options in my head. Serve a world destroying god, get cool ferrofluid powers, and get betrayed once I free them, or help this kingdom slay a demon king, and get betrayed for having powers issued by an old god. ¡°I think I should go.¡± I stand up. The prince reaches a hand out for me. ¡°You can¡¯t leave!¡± I slap his hand away. ¡°I¡¯m sure I can, the castle doesn¡¯t seem too big or too complicated for me to get lost in unless.¡± I pause, mulling over the idea. ¡°Is there something stopping me?¡± ¡°The guards. If you betray us then you¡¯ll be a wanted criminal.¡± ¡°Okay.'''' This is a medieval world, not like they have security cameras, or an ability to track me. There¡¯s probably other kingdoms who will harbor me. His soft hands grab my arm, trying hard to dig into my skin. ¡°You can¡¯t leave, we need you or we need to get rid of you so we can summon another hero.¡± I look into his eyes. I now see that they¡¯re blue. He doesn¡¯t react to what I feel is tense eye contact. This was a common problem back on Earth. My face is normally emotionless. When apes show teeth it¡¯s a threat, telling the other ape to back down. Humans react based on faces too. My face is almost always bland. The prince doesn¡¯t know what I¡¯m thinking or how to react. I can use this to my benefit. He won¡¯t be expecting my next move. I grab his arm, while twisting it behind him I lead him in front of me. I pull forth my magic. Forming it into a black dagger. I hold it against his throat. Pushing his held arm forward he takes a step forward. I step with him as not to nic him with the dagger. ¡°Alright, well this is the easiest way to leave the castle then right? I¡¯ll help you walk.¡± ¡°Left.¡± He places his left foot forward. ¡°Right.¡± He moves his right foot forward.. We continue this pattern out of the room. The guards at the entrance turn as we exit. They step forward and draw their weapons. ¡°Release him!¡± one yells. I shake my head. ¡°This is a hostage situation. Clear a path ahead of me, I will release him once I¡¯m outside the castle.¡± They did, and I did. ¡°So that¡¯s how I got here.¡± I told the guy riding in the driver seat of a covered wagon. It¡¯s an old horse pulled wagon like what people in rural areas use to carry farm goods from place to place. He had asked me how I got here when I randomly appeared in front of him. The cart is heavily guarded for a food cart. With two warriors guarding it and a thick canvas covering. Iron bars peek through the parts that the sheet doesn¡¯t cover. They must have a lot of food to protect. The merchant driving the wagon places his palm to his face. The warriors are moving to flank me, but haven''t drawn their weapons. ¡°I see, you¡¯re not the brightest¡± I¡¯m not dumb, just not socialy intelegant. ¡°I should have asked why are you here?¡± ¡°To steal your food.¡± I immediately reply. ¡°We don¡¯t have any food.¡± At the word steal the guards have drawn their swords, slick curved scimitars. ¡°Then what¡¯s with the wagon?¡± ¡°We¡¯re transporting slaves from the Eastern Democracy to the Western Kingdom.¡± I scratch my chin, pulling at my goatee. ¡°So that¡¯s the road to the Eastern Democracy?¡± He nods. ¡°You traveled all this way without any food?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the end of our journey, if someone would stop holding us up then we will make it to the kingdom by dinner.¡± I slam my fist into my open palm. Pointing at the merchant. ¡°That¡¯s it! I can buy food with your money.¡± The merchant sighs, locking eyes with the mercenary to my left. He gives him a nod, signalling to attack me. Five feet, they¡¯re each five feet from me. The right one moves his foot forward first. I am already materializing my weapon. The two shots I deliver to his chest knock him back. He drops his sword to clench at his chest. I jump towards him to avoid the attacking left guard. Squaring up to him I take an L stance. Then two shots to him knock him back, but he takes another slow step towards me. Another shot, aiming for his head, but my aim is off. I end up hitting him in the neck. Blood sprays from three feet away onto my jeans. Thought that was something that only happens in the movies. The merchant has the reins in his hands. He cracks them against the horses back. It begins to take off running. One shot to the horses leg causes it to come crashing to a halt. I¡¯m sorry Mr. horsey. The merchant takes off running towards the kingdom. I put the horse down then check on the mercenary who took two shots to the chest. He¡¯s breathing. The bullet wounds are in his stomach area. I take off his sword and armor. Balling up his shirt I apply pressure to the wound. The blood slowly seeps into the shirt. This is too much work for saving someone that I don¡¯t really care about saving. I rip a strip of cloth off of the other man¡¯s clothing. Tying it around the dying man¡¯s chest. I cinch it down over the wad of cloths. It¡¯s holding the wad with a lot of pressure. The bleeding shall stop soon. I take the canvas covering off the wagon. Inside is a large cage holding two elf girls in potato sacks and a short lizard person. One of the elfs has a large pair of breasts and long blonde hair. The other has short red hair, a flat chest, she struggles to meet my eyes. The blonde elfs rush towards me. ¡°Our hero, save us, we¡¯ll do anything. We¡¯ve been locked up with this monster for days.¡± The blonde one pushes out her large bosom. I walk around to the other side of the cart. There is a small sack. Opening it up it is full of potatoes. They lied to me about the food. Next to the food was a small chest. I need a key. After checking the bodies, both alive and dead, I find no keys. I stand with the small box in my hand. I bring out my black sand. I can form it into whatever I want. I form it into a lock pick, at least what I think a lockpick looks like. They look like the ones from video games, right? There I am standing next to a cage of slaves trying to learn lockpicking. When a clawed hand grabs my shoulder. I spin around. Turning to the lizard half pint with its arm hanging out the cage. ¡°Kree open. Human give food?¡± I nod. I place the box in the kobolds hands. It quickly retracts its claws. The box slams against the bars, being too large to fit in between the bars. It falls to the ground. ¡°Ah, we need to get you out of the cage.¡± I take a potato from the sack and hand it to the kobold. Giving it a rare smile, ¡°Eat this while you wait.¡± The kobold begins to greedily eat it. I get to the front of the cage only to be greeted by another lock. I pull at my facial hair, thinking over my situation.
  1. A lock blocks me from opening another lock.
  2. I have no key and don¡¯t know how to pick it with my powers.
  3. The kobold inside the cage knows how to unlock it.
  4. I have a power that allows me to form anything I can imagine with any properties I can imagine.
  5. I have a power that allows me to form anything I can imagine with any properties I can imagine.
Oh yeah, if I can make anything, then I can make an angle grinder. One round of grinding with an acompanyian shower of sparks later the gate is open. I realize as soon as I open the gate that now I can also angle grind the box open. I leave the cage open and pick up the box. Another, much shorter, shower of sparks and the box falls open. It¡¯s filled with gold coins. Nice. I have money and food now. I took a potato out of the sack and began to eat it like an apple. I feel a soft tapping on my shoulder. ¡°Thank you for saving us. You¡¯re our hero.¡± I munch my potato and calmly state. ¡°That¡¯s cool.¡± ¡°Where are you going to take us now Mr. Hero? To your cabin in the woods? On some great adventure. I can do spirit magic, and Red¡± She points her thumb to the red haired elf besides her. ¡°She¡¯s a bit shy, but she¡¯s good with a bow.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. You can go where you like.¡± I pack the gold in with the potatoes and set out. Towards The Democracy. The pitter patter of two feet and a dragging tail follow behind me. They¡¯ll go away eventually if I act disinterested enough. "The pacing is funky." Running through a desert, I see an oasis of water ahead of me. I can feel needles, the type used for meth, poking through the souls of shoes. They¡¯re buried in the sand, litter from a long gone civilization. The water must be close, but with each step it moves farther away. The anxiety of always running towards some unachievable goal. Ever since I did DMT did I know what these dreams meant. I was unsatisfied with this plane of existence, but I keep waking up to a new one. I¡¯ll never reach a goal, but I must imagine Sisyphus as happy. It¡¯s a common dream, the only uncommon part about it is the lizard latched onto my chest. I don¡¯t have any anxiety about lizards, so why would I be dreaming of one? When I opened my eyes there was a kobold on my chest. The one I saved from the cage. I had made camp last night, despite it still following me. The fire was out now. The sun was breaking through the tree canopy. The lizard had a wispy snore. Petting the scales on it¡¯s alligator like snout. It brings a clawed hand up. Swatting at my hand, I hold my hand steady and it wraps it¡¯s small claws around my finger. It¡¯s skin is cold. It shakes awake. Opening its eyes, looking into mine. It gives a sheepish smile. Pulling it¡¯s head back, a blush turnin it¡¯s green scales purple. ¡°Human warm. Kree cold.¡± They¡¯re cold blooded like lizards back on earth. I nod, it is understandable. I don¡¯t mind having a kobold suck my warmth while I sleep. It feels like a cold pillow. I get up, grabbing another potato from the sack. I hand one to Kree. Out of curiosity I ask. ¡°What gender are you?¡± ¡°Kree is girl.¡± I nod, now I can stop referring to her by it. I probably should''ve referred to her by them, but she¡¯s not human, so my brain automatically goes for it. I¡¯m sure there is a deep look at my psyche in there, but no use splitting hairs. By the time I reached The Democracy I was out of potatoes. The gate guard greeted me. ¡°Stop, step in here.¡± . Leading me into a wooden building right past the stone gate. He had a white curled mustache ¡°Business or pleasure?¡± ¡°Just visiting.¡± ¡°Length of stay.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know just winging it.¡± ¡­¡­And other questions of that nature. The interview went fine until the last question. ¡°Why are you trying to bring a monster inside the city walls?¡± He asked me, leaning over the table to look at Kree, who was hiding behind my legs. ¡°She¡¯s not a monster.¡± ¡°A familiar?¡± ¡°No, she-¡± she¡¯s just following me. ¡°A slave?¡± ¡°No, she-¡± she just likes being around me. ¡°A soulbound minion?¡± His insistent interrupting irks me, so I quickly, and more loudly than I wanted to be, say. ¡°She¡¯s just a friend!¡± I suppose she is at this point. He twirls his mustache. ¡°Very unusual, it¡¯ll have to be put to a vote.¡± He takes out a pen and paper. Scribbling down a ticket like a policeman. He hands it to me, it¡¯s a court summons to the supreme court of The Democracy. ¡°It¡¯s in six hours, at the large courthouse, until then, enjoy the city.¡± We entered the large courthouse after lunch. It was set up like a stadium. In a large semi circle filled with seats sat facing the entrance. In the middle of it was three podiums. One large with a man in a white wig and black robe. Two podiums set across from him. Each with a sharply dressed man behind it. We followed an usher down to the stage. He unlatches a velvet rope. I walked through and he closes it after me, leaving Kree on the other side. ¡°Umm...she¡¯s with me.¡± He points to behind the podium, next to the sharp dressed man in a red suit. I give Kree a shrug then take my place next to the podium. He extends his hand to me. I look at it. His face falters and he slowly puts it back to his side. ¡°Well anyway, I¡¯ll be your representative to The Democracy. I understand you would like to pursue an undefined to indefinite stay. Are you seeking citizenship?¡± I shrug. ¡°Well, they normally like it when you are and it accomplishes your goals.¡± He turns away from me. Taking the podium in front of us he announces. ¡°Autumn Mystic, would like to pursue citizenship.¡± He announces. The other attorney, dressed in blue, takes his podium. ¡°Citizenship can not be granted to just anyone. There are many requirements on the citizens of the nation. Does Autumn have the money to pay for taxes?¡± My lawyer looks back at me. I nod, I have a whole box of gold coins. Then he announces ¡°He does.¡± The crowd watches me with dull faces. A few smile at me on instinct. In the few minutes where each attorney reviews their notes I look at the people in the stands. They¡¯re the jury aren¡¯t they? It¡¯s a massive jury. With five rows of twenty people. ¡°Does he agree to serve time on the jury, atleast one day a week, but limited to a total of six days a week.¡± Again my lawyer looks at me, I nod. ¡°He does!¡± The blue lawyer is sweating now. He tightened his tie. ¡°But. But does he have the knowledge to contribute to The Democracy? To answer that I will call my first witness. Autumn Mystic.¡± My lawyer ushers me to the podium next to the judge. I look up at the judge, he has a stern face. ¡°Mr Mystic. Are you of royal blood?¡± I shrug, which he is taken aback by. ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t know? Are there uncertainties in your past? Are you from a family of criminals? Do you not remember your own fake backstory?¡± I don¡¯t know what counts as royal blood. Plus anything is possible. I¡¯m just 99% sure I¡¯m not noble. ¡°Objection! Stick to the line of questioning at hand.¡± My lawyer interjects. ¡°Sustained.¡± The judge adds. ¡°Mr. Mystic, if you are not royal then I can assume you are from common birth?¡± Again I shrug, but he takes it as a yes. ¡°Then you have had no formal education?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had twelve years.¡± A gasp rings out in the crowd. I feel like I have said something I shouldn¡¯t. ¡°How did a child of low birth go through such intense schooling. Surely you don¡¯t expect the court to believe such ridiculous claims.¡± He turns towards me with such speed that the fabric on his suit snapped. ¡°Quick! Give us the highest math you know.¡± What odd wording, highest math? I doubt this world is ready for the mandelbrot set, they don¡¯t even have public schools, so I give them a really simple equation. ¡°A^2 + B^2 =C^2¡± It¡¯s pythagrists¡¯s theorem. Drilled into me when I was a sophmore in highschool. The prosecutor looked at me like I was dumb. So I explained what it was ¡°It¡¯s used to find the length of the long side of a right triangle. The square of the other two sides equals the square of the long side.¡± More dumbstruck looks. I could hear the scratching of pencils on paper behind me. ¡°The square of a number is the number times itself.¡± More fevered scratching. I hear the judge whisper under his breath. ¡°Genius. A truly otherworldly grasp of arithmetic.¡± The prosecutor sighs, defeated he says. ¡°The prosecution rests, let¡¯s put it up to a vote.¡± I return to my seat and watch as the judge calls for a vote. Almost every hand in the stands goes up. The judge doesn¡¯t bother counting. Just congratulates me on being a citizen of the democracy. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I took a step to the side as Kree was led to the podium. She nervously clicks her claws together. The crowd murmurs. ¡°A kobold? Why is there a kobold here?¡± I can hear the sentiment echoing through the court. Kree sits at the table. Her lawyer, formally my lawyer, looks down at his papers. He looks at Kree, gives her a smile, then greets the crowd. ¡°Ladies and Gentleman, this kobold is a traveling companion of Autumn Mystic. It-Er...She would like to stay by Mr. Mystic¡¯s side for the duration of his stay. Normally this would be an easy vote. If a citizen has a visiting friend they aren¡¯t even put up to a vote. Then why is she being forced to jump through these hoops?¡± The prosecutor stands up. ¡°Jury, you can¡¯t seriously be humoring having a kobold in the walls. It¡¯s a monster, with no magic bonds to Mr. Mystic. Barely more intelligent than a wild animal there is no guarantee that it won¡¯t attack someone.¡± ¡°There is no guarantee that another human won¡¯t attack someone. As for intelligence, what seperates a human and a kobold? There are humans with intelligence lower than a kobold in this city.¡± ¡°But kobolds have an innate voice in their heads telling them to do bad.¡± ¡°Objection! How many kobolds do you know? Is anyone, but my client, a kobold expert?¡± ¡°Sustained.¡± The judge turns the floor back over to the prosecutor. ¡°Then what we as humans, should be asking of the kobold is if it can understand our laws. I¡¯ll call it to the witness stand.¡± Kree¡¯s legs were shaking as she entered the podium. ¡°How many days have you lived with Anon?¡± Kree counts it out, holding out each of her six fingers she holds them out to the prosecutor. ¡°More.¡± We had been together for more than six days, but she didn¡¯t have the fingers to count it on. ¡°Can you not count?¡± Kree shakes her head. ¡°How can we expect a creature who can not count to follow the laws?¡± The prosecutor asks the jury. Our defendant stands up. ¡°There are citizens in this country who have to use their fingers to count. Are you suggesting we exile them?¡± The prosecutor bites his lip. Then goes back to asking Kree questions. ¡°Since you¡¯ve been around humans, have you stolen anything?¡± Kree shakes her head. ¡°No need steal. Anon give Kree food.¡± ¡°Have you ever hurt a human?¡± Kree shakes her head. ¡°Do you understand why you shouldn¡¯t attack humans?¡± ¡°Cause human get mad?¡± Kree offers. The prosecutor rings his tie, looking for a question to ask that will implicate Kree unfit to live in human society. ¡°Fuck it, just put it up to vote.¡± I notice my breath is bated while they count the votes. I don¡¯t know why, mentaly I don¡¯t feel anything. Kree is just a tag along to me. If she gets rejected I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be fine outside the city. I feel nothing, but then why is my breath bated? I feel nothing consciously. Out of the one hundred voters on the jurey fifty voted that she be turned away and fifty voted that she be allowed to stay. There was a brief recount. Then the judge sighed. ¡°Alright, grab someone outside, we will have to plead the case again to bring them up to speed.¡± A cry comes out from the crowd. ¡°But that¡¯ll take forever.¡± The judge sighs, looking at me. ¡°In the interest of expediency we could allow Autumn to vote on this matter. He is afterall a citizen.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s obviously biased.¡± ¡°All citizens are biased.¡± The attorneys go at it until the judge speaks again. ¡°We will put that up to a vote as well.¡± The conviction of the people voting she leaves was wavering in front of wasting time. My guess is that once it took on a personal dilemma it became internalized. A rational like ¡°Let one kobold into the city, or hear another boring court procedure.¡± it was a sixty to forty split that I was allowed to vote on this matter. I of course voted for her to stay by my side. Though I didn¡¯t comprehend my actions. Realistically having to take care of her would be a burden on me. It would require one hundred and fifty percent more food on my journey to maybe find a key. I was just starting to think this was a great city. The design was greek, white stone pillars and colorful wooden residential buildings. The people were friendly, except the people who kidnapped us. Bag over head, thrown into the back of a horse drawn cart, ropes around wrist. It was all very bland. Kree was struggling to break free, clawing at her bindings and biting the cloth sack. I didn¡¯t see the point in this, the situation was under control still, but for her sake I began to escape. As a formed a black dagger to cut my binds one of the watchers in the back of the cart yelled out. ¡°Wait! Stop! We caught a brother.¡± The cart stopped and the bag was taken off my head. I cut my own bindings. The man was average build dressed in normal clothes with a black mask on. ¡°Sorry about that brother, we didn¡¯t know you followed the sleeping one.¡± I nod and free Kree from her bindings. She immediately jumps to attack the man, but I grab her tail and pull her into me. She looks at me annoyed, but sits on my lap as I converse with the cultist in front of me. ¡°We were just grabbing sacrifices. It¡¯s hard to recognize each other with the mandatory mask rule, forgive me?¡± I nod. ¡°Where are you living? I¡¯ll drop you off there.¡± For a cultist his tone is casual, not edgy like I would expect. He acted like a middle class uber driver. ¡°We just got into town.¡± ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re part of a different branch. Well welcome to The Democracy. We meet at 1230 Council Avenue, there is a mask rule, to protect the identities of our high society members. Do you have a mask?¡± I shake my head. He hands me one from a compartment in the cart. ¡°My friend needs one too.¡± I point to Kree. ¡°Uhhh, sure, but I mean, it¡¯ll-¡± I correct him. ¡°She¡¯ll¡± Though I don¡¯t know why I corrected him. ¡°She¡¯ll be very noticable, we don¡¯t have many kobold members.¡± I shrug, I guess I don¡¯t need a mask for Kree. The smart move would be to leave her at home while I scope out the cult. Actually, the smart move would be to not check out the cult at all, but I don¡¯t have anything else to do, and I can¡¯t leave Kree alone. Well, I can leave her alone, but people might get scared and attack her, which I don¡¯t want to happen. The cult was nice. It had pews, the room was lit by oil lamps, but they didn¡¯t do much. The theme of the underground room was black. The benches black, the walls black, the floor black. The pitch black room and low light made me move like I was drunk, bumping into random things that I couldn¡¯t see. Kree was unaffected by it though. Kobolds have darkvision. I noticed this and let Kree lead me to the front row pew. I wanted to see the sacrifice up close. I had never seen a human sacrifice before, something cool might happen. Nothing cool happened. They strapped a dude to a stone slab. Then pulled a large drill from the ceiling. The cult leader turned a hand crank for half an hour until the person fully died. Now the cult leader kept turning the drill, the screw going farther down into the earth. It felt like overkill at this point. I looked to the guy next to me. He sat with bated breath and stiff as a board. He¡¯s waiting for something to happen. I guess I¡¯ll wait too. It wasn¡¯t long until a black fluid sprayed out of the hole. It sprayed into the ceiling then deflected into droplets that rained on to the crowd. It was a vicious black liquid. This is nothing like the black water that was back on the planet the Unpronounceable was sealed on. This water smelled like earth and gasoline. That water was just water but with a black opaque pigment. The leader had his arms outstretched and his mouth wide open catching the spray into his mouth. With the thik juice dripping down his chin he speaks ¡°Rejoice brothers, the dark god blesses us with the water of his life. We have made a good sacrifice!¡± This isn¡¯t his water, this is just oil. Of course, as soon as I realize it¡¯s oil I use my magic to create a shield from it, protecting me and Kree from the spray. As the sound of the rush of oil dies down and the last bits trickle down off the ceiling I notice that the room is silent. I take down the shield and look around. Every eye is on me. It would appear I have broken some cult code. Rejecting what they think is the life juice of their god would probably set them off to attack me. I quickly form my magic into a gun. ¡°Amazing!¡± The cult leader exclaims. He steps off the stange and inspects my gun. He doesn¡¯t reach out to grab it, just leans his face forward, purposefully holding his hands behind his back. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a tool like this before. Did the dark god bless you with this knowledge?¡± I can see the moisture from his breath forming on the steel. ¡°Umm.. No, I thought it up myself.¡± He scratches his chin and examines the small slits in my mask where my eyes would be. ¡°You have great powers granted from The dark one. Did you travel to the center of the planet?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Where the dark one lives, in the center of the planet he sleeps. That is why we drill into the planet. To awaken him.¡± ¡°Oh, well actually he lives-¡± He slams a hand onto my mask to get me to shut up. Leaning close to my ears. ¡°Sir, your power is certainly proof of your story, but¡­.¡± He looks around at the people staring at us. ¡°For my sake, let¡¯s talk privately about this.¡± Editing is annoying. ¡°You¡¯re the prophet, aren¡¯t you?¡± I nod. The cult leader has his mask off, his face is older, but not too old. ¡°Well, I¡¯d love to hear what The dark god has told you to do, but you probably don¡¯t want to disclose your mission. The dark one hasn¡¯t talked to me in years.¡± He pours himself a glass of wine. ¡°Just an old puppet, tossed aside. It¡¯s the fate of all his minions, which is why I don¡¯t follow him. Suppose that angers the dark one?¡± I scratch my head. ¡°I don¡¯t think he cares.¡± He offers me a glass of wine, but I decline, Kree comes out from behind me and snatches it, chugging it down. ¡°But do you care? You¡¯re the one who can summon an unlimited power from him, while I, a used toy, can only summon this.¡± He holds his hand up, black smoke trickles out of it slowly. It drips like a stalagmite from his hand. He grabs it like a dagger. I don¡¯t know what to say so I revert the conversation to his first sentence. ¡°Unpronounceable wants me to find a key to free him. Something about humans hid it so only a human can find it.¡± He nods. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think he was really in the center of the planet, but it makes for one hell of a spectacle when that black shit comes out of the ground.¡± I nod agreeing, despite the obvious concerns to health and safety, my mind drifts back to how the room was lit with glass lamps, it was a very good show. ¡°Anyway, how much do you want?¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°To not rat me out, many of the members are bored nobles, they donate their money to me. They pay for the spectacle. I have a very nice setup here, don¡¯t want the actual prophet to ruin it for me---¡± The door is kicked open. A man with japanese facial features and white hair points an ivory sword at me. His white armor glistens in the light, unstained by the oil in the previous room. The two people behind him, one in grey knight armor and one holding a scimitar did not make it through the oil as cleanly. They are covered in oil and blood. The blood coming from the cult members who lay dead behind them. ¡°You, it was you!¡± The white knight yells. I point to myself. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Not you. Him! The leader of this cult. He stole my daughteru¡¯s crush and sacrificed him to your evil god. I¡¯ll kill everyone in this cult. They killed my future son in law, prepare to die!¡± The guy with the scimitar tugs on the white knight¡¯s cape. Wait a second, I recognize this guy. He¡¯s the mercenary I half assed tried to save. I give him a wave and his entire body locks up. IT would appear that he has PTSD from me. He whispers to the knight. ¡°Sir Hiro, this guy isn¡¯t someone we shou--- Bang I shot the white knight. There is no use in talking to this guy, he came at me with a sword drawn. The smartest play is to shoot first and ask questions later. ¡°Did you just shoot me?¡± He asks with a voice full of shock as if that was the last thing he would have expected. I shrug and he keels over. ¡°A gun! How did you get a gun!¡± I shrug. He drops the sword. I shrug and pick up Kree. The mercenary is already fleeing and the grey knight¡¯s sword is shaking in his grisp. I walk past the white knight. He grabs my legs. ¡°Who, who are you?¡± I look at him, with my usual amount of emotion and give him my name. ¡°Autumn Mystic, and you are?¡± ¡°Mark my words, Autumn Mystic, I will be the holy knight to end your evil ways.¡± Irked about him not answering my question, I shoot him again. I think two shots to the stomach should be enough to kill him. My ears ring from firing a gun in a enclosed room so I don¡¯t catch what else he says as I walk out. Hiro, the true hero of this story(as hinted at by his name), was not currently being treated like a hero. He layed in chains inside the back of a cart intended to carry prisoners. He knew the cart was intended to carry prisoners because he was a prisoner now. It was fulfilling its intended purpose. Hiro thought that he was once fulfilling his intended purpose. He thought he was fulfilling his purpose as the hero until six hours ago. After having his wounds treated by the mercenary he hired. He brought the cult leader to the guards. He wanted to turn the leader over to the police, have him face his justice, but to Hiro¡¯s surprise he was arrested as well. The verdict on his court case reads as follows. ¡°While we understand that the title of hero bestowed upon you by the kingdom does grant you a sense of autonomy in the eyes of the law. In The Democracy we have freedom of religion. It does not excuse human sacrifice and you were right to bring in the cult leader to the police. However, when you took it upon yourself to kill the people who were not actively participating in the sacrifice you went too far.¡± His punishment was banishment with penalty of execution if violated. Due to the royal blood of some of his victims he was being sent to The Kingdom, the place that had summoned him a few days ago. Hopefully they would be lenient in his sentencing. Those royals were obviously corrupt and evil. They were in an evil cult. The king will surely go easy on him. Maybe even reward him for draining the swamp. I, Autumn Mystic, do not know why I suddenly felt like voicing my whole name in my inner monologue. Perhaps it was so whoever is reading it can understand this change of perspective. Either way, people are still racist. Every single hotel of good repute in The Democracy has an unwritten rule against kobolds. Even the ones of bad repute are starting to turn me away, I offer more money, but they either placate me with calming words or complain about how kobolds will steal. I continue walking into any building that looks like it has a lot of rooms and ask how much for a bed. Medieval AirB&B style. I turn a corner to a large white building. It¡¯s three stories tall and contains many rooms. A semi-industrial setting. White sheets, suspended like shower curtains, seperate most of the building. I approach the lady on the front desk. ¡°Are there any beds here?¡± ¡°Many beds, actually.¡± ¡°Perfect, how much for a bed for the night?¡± ¡°Are you sick?¡± What does that have to do with renting a bed? ¡°No, I just need somewhere to sleep tonight.¡± ¡°Sir, this is a hospital not an Inn.¡± ¡°My bad.¡± I mumble then leave the hospital looking for the next building. The next building has a downstairs containing a bar. The bar side of the room is full of many rough looking people in shabby armor. They bare their teeth at Kree as we enter. Their weapons chipped almost as chipped as their teeth. A gang? I follow the banister with my eyes. Uptop there are quite a few rooms. The other part of the downstairs was a receptionist desk and a bulletin board. It¡¯s relatively empty of patroens. Only one little girl with snow white hair and bright blue eyes. She has Uggs on and is wearing a very fluffy white cloak. She is badgering the receptionist. As I approach I hear. ¡°I wanna go on a kill quest!¡± The receptionist sighs. ¡°You need a party to go on any extermination quests, and little girls should be out doing herb runs.¡± I approach the receptionist, interrupting their conversation. ¡°How much for a room?¡± She smiles at me. ¡°They¡¯re free for adventurers.¡± I bite my lip on purpose to show that I am feeling disappointment. ¡°Are you not an adventurer?¡± She picked up on my expertly executed social que. ¡°Well, you can become a adventurer here, this is The Adventurer¡¯s Guild after all.¡± Ah, this is the trope that normal isekai protagonists fall into. A four story arc about either raising in the ranks by the bootstraps, being fussed over by the receptionist, and becoming stronger than even the guild leader. This is an arc I do not want to partake in. I will simply join this guild for the free room. ¡°Alright, sign us up.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Us?¡± I point to Kree. ¡°Is that thing not your familiar?¡± I shake my head. ¡°A summon?¡± I shake my head. ¡°A pet?¡± I shake my head. ¡°Then what is it then?¡± ¡°She is my friend.¡± I don¡¯t like using the term friend, friend is someone who you care for, I try not to care for anyone but myself. I get hurt less that way. ¡°Interesting, so she¡¯ll be registering as a adventurer?¡± I nod. She grabs a few books from under the counter. She checks the table of contents then flips to the required page. I lean over and read it with her. ¡°The race of the adventurer doesn¡¯t matter. The Democracy has ruled that race, be it elf, human, dwarf, or other may become an adventurer as long as they agree to the rules.¡± She closes the book and looks up at me. ¡°Well, it¡¯s certainly odd.¡± That rule seems to be applied to humanoid races, calling a kobold humanoid is stretching it, but I won¡¯t say it if she doesn¡¯t ask. She places a crystal ball down on the counter. ¡°Just place your hand over this and it¡¯ll print out your adventuring card.¡± I nod and do so. The ball gets a faint glow then prints out a business card. Blue and white, how cliche. Kree places her claw atop the crystal. It gives off a green light that compliments her scale tone then prints off her card. The receptionist reads my perk and her hand begins to shake. She consults the rule book again. This time on the page about religion. ¡°The adventurer¡¯s guild can not discriminate based on religious preference.¡± She hands me the card. ¡°Well it¡¯s certainly odd.¡± She then looks at Kree¡¯s card, her perk has the opposite effect on the receptionist. Instead of making her nervous it puts her at ease. It is concrete proof that she can trust Kree. ¡°So we can use the rooms now?¡± The receptionist smiles. ¡°As soon as you complete your first request off the bulletin board you will be able to.¡± I have been tricked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be an adventurer anymore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry you feel that way, the cancellation fee is ten gold each.¡± Twenty gold? That¡¯s outrageous! That¡¯s like 30% of the gold I took off that slave merchant. I have been actually tricked and it begins to fill me with anger. ¡°You!¡± I look around, the little girl is pointing at me. She has interrupted my growing anger. I point to myself. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes you Onee-san! You need to complete a mission, and I want to go on a wet work mission. For that I need a party.¡± I nod. That is what I eavesdropped on earlier. ¡°Form a party with me pretty please with a cute slime on top.¡± She demands. I shrug, indicating that I need time to think it over, but the receptionist takes my shrug as agreement. The girl places a piece of paper off the bulletin board onto the counter. ¡°Clearing out a cave of goblins, does the entire party agree to this?¡± This time my shrug meant that I don¡¯t care either way. Kree nods. The girl nods eagerly. The receptionist stamps it and we head out. ¡°Execution.¡± The king decrees. ¡°But¡­¡± Hiro tried to protest, but the king cut him off. He was working for the best interest of The Kingdom. ¡°You, of common birth, killed multiple nobels, no matter your potential as a hero this is an unavoidable sentence.¡± With the king¡¯s final words he was dragged off. Out of the building, through the castle front courtyard, and down into a small holding cell with two bunks. His roommate, a man in a jester''s outfit watched the guards as they left. When the door to the outside closed he cursed under his breath. The bells on his shoes jingled as he kicked the wall. ¡°You!¡± The jester screamed and pointed at Hiro. ¡°What do you want of me?¡± The jester got up close to Hiro. Lowering his voice he spoke to Hiro. ¡°You ruined my escape plan.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry? Sorry? You better be. I mean,....¡± The jesters eye¡¯s light up, recognizing who I am. ¡°How¡¯d you get here anyway? You¡¯re supposed to be the summon hero.¡± Hiro sighs ¡°I killed an evil cult.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s not punishable--¡± ¡°The cult had many royals in it.¡± ¡°That explains it.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Defaming the king, the old coot asked me to tell him the rudest joke. When I said ¡®you¡¯ in response. He took a great offence.¡± Hiro laughed then asked to confirm. ¡°You called him a joke?¡± ¡°And rude.¡± The jester laughed as he retold it. Hiro nodded, ¡°Well he is rude, killing someone over a joke is very rude.¡± Through their common bond of being screwed over by the king their kinship formed. ¡°You¡¯re not a snitch are you?¡± Hiro looked at the jester with wide eyes. It was jarring for a medieval character to use american slang words. Hiro shook his head through his shock. ¡°Good, I¡¯ll let you in on my escape plan. From years of working at the castle I have a maid who is sweet on me. She¡¯ll come tonight with the key. Now, I only have a cart with enough seats for me and the maid. You can get out of this cell, but you have to find your own way out of The Kingdom.¡± Hiro agreed, it was an amicable deal. Hiro jumped over the city wall. A sharp crack is heard as he comes down hard on his ankle. He bites the side of his mouth to stop him from screaming as the guard on the rampart above walks closer alerted by the noise. The torch gets closer. Hiro drags limps towards the tree line. The torch is now at where he jumped off the wall. Hiro throws himself into the bushes. The guard looks at where the sound of leaves rustling came from, but quickly shrugs it off as being from a wild animal. Hiro limped along. Using a long branch as a staff to walk along. His ankle was swelling and the pain would be unbearable if not for him being a summoned hero with a mission to accomplish. His mission was to defeat the demon king. It was why Eris blessed him with amazing powers. After a day of limping he had upgraded his equipment. He improvised a splint and found a rock to sharpen his staff into a spear. The sound of a fire and drunken men. This far out in the woods it was an odd sound. Trouble is afoot. Only bandits would camp this far into the woods. Hiro switched to a crawl. Moving silently. He watched as men with axes talked to each other over dinner. They had a horse drawn cart loaded with a cage on the back. In the cage were two elfs. Scum. Using such cute girls as slaves. Hiro walks out from the bushes. The men look at him, leaning on his spear. They slowly stand up and grab their axes. ¡°Slave traders, huh?¡± Hiro asks. One of the three axe men steps forward. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a side gig. We¡¯re actually lumberjacks, but turning in escaped slaves that fled through this forest makes money too.¡± ¡°Scum!¡± Hiro yells. ¡°How dare you oppress women like that! Only scum commit slavery!¡± The lumberjacks take up fighting stances. ¡°Why don¡¯t you calm down, buddy. You¡¯re really angry about something that is fully legal.¡± ¡°Limit break!¡± Hiro yells out his skill¡¯s name. A surge of vigor surges through him pushing his body beyond its limits. The skill allows him to break through his limits. He rushes forward, no longer feeling his sprained ankle. Stabbing his wooden spear into the chest of one lumberjack, while spinning in mid air to knock another across the head. Both fall to the ground. The last lumberjack swings his axe for Hiro¡¯s head, but in the last second Hiro blocks the axe with his wooden spear. The spear is cut in half, but the few seconds the block bought allows Hiro to dodge the follow through of the attack. Hiro bends down low to the ground, holding the point half of the spear with both hands. With both feet he pushes himself off the ground. Flying like a torpedo the spear slams into the final lumberjacks chest. He checks the UI in the corner of his vision tick down. Limit break has 15 seconds left. With that time he frees the two elfs from the cage. ¡°Our hero, thank you for saving us. We¡¯ve been locked up for days, how ever can we repay you?¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know my name?¡± ¡°Your name.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Hiro.¡± ¡°Hero?¡± ¡°Yes, Hiro.¡± ¡°What a fitting name. For our hero.¡± The blonde elf catches Hiro as he falls to the ground. He had pushed his body past it¡¯s limit. The skill and the adrenaline had worn off. His vision fades. short chapter, end of arc ¡°Are these trees natural around here?¡± I asked. The terrain was otherworldly. Barren trees with branches coming to sharp points. Like some god had thrown handfuls of needles across the land. The loli shrugged. Pulling a hammer as large as myself from out of thin air. How come she has an inventory? I want an inventory. It¡¯s a covenant trope. She slams it into one of the large metal trees. It makes a crunching sound and bends with the blow. That¡¯s odd. Tree¡¯s don¡¯t normally bend. I approach them, careful not to get poked by the thorns, I rub the tree. It is cold to the touch. I scrap at it and the first layer chips away. Below it is shiny metal. ¡°Aluminium.¡± Well, it¡¯s certainly odd. We make our way through the foreboding defense until we reach a cave entrance. I move to make my first step into the cave, but Kree pulls the back of my jeans. I look down at her, perplexed. ¡°Trap.¡± She explains. I give her a genuine smile, it¡¯s not everyday I have someone looking out for me. She points out the thin trip wire that I missed. Then cuts it, an arrow flies out from the wall and hits the other wall. ¡°Goblin make stupid trap, Kree better trapping kobold.¡± I nod. This would have been a challenging dungeon if not for Kree. Her intense knowledge of traps allowed her to spot every one, disabling it as we made our way deeper into the earth. ¡°I wanna kill something!¡± The little girl pouts. How annoying. Normally, I¡¯m not ageist against little girls, for all I know she could grow up to be the next Jeffery Daumer or better, but in this case I felt I should speak up. ¡°Little girls shouldn¡¯t be so obsessed with killing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m 70 years old. I¡¯m a half-ling. We just look like human children.¡± Well that¡¯s certainly odd. Her need to kill does warrant one real concern. We haven''t found any goblins yet. This is quickly remedied as we turn the corner. Hundreds of goblins in a large cavern. Sitting at long tables. A chow line stretches from a large pot of soup and snakes its way around the room. In the middle is a buff orc. Not the japanese depiction of orcs as fat pig humans. The Tolkien type of orc. Big buff green humans with tusks. Standing up he is taller than me. He points a spiked sword at my party. ¡°The fuck you doing here you?¡± His voice booms. The half-ling pulls out her giant mace. ¡°We¡¯re here to slay you, orc!¡± ¡°Shit really? No cap?¡± ¡°Yes, now die now you filthy monster.¡± She jumps forward her mace held in both hands and above her head. Striking down at the orc her mallet stops. The orc stops the blow with his hand, holding it there. ¡°You dumb ass hoe, you thought that would hurt me did you? I¡¯ve evolved twenty times since getting into this world. I am at the end of my monster evolution path. I am a god on this word.¡± He slashes at her with the sword he holds in his other hand. Her head flies across the room, landing in the pot of soup. He looks at me, pointing his sword at me. A challenge to his next competitor. I see his eyes sizing me up. ¡°You¡¯re black?¡± I ask. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He looks down at himself. ¡°Nigga I¡¯m green.¡± ¡°I mean, back on earth.¡± ¡°How the fuck you know that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m from earth too. It really says a lot about the isekai genre that black characters are so rare that the black community has to look at orcs as their only representation. It¡¯s a very problematic representation as well, but that¡¯s not my place to comment.¡± He has lowered his sword. He gives me the look that people on earth give me when I do something that didn¡¯t make sense socially. Perhaps I did. Learning how to talk to people is hard and I don¡¯t care to learn more than necessary. ¡°We gonna fight or nah?¡± I scratch my side burn, they have grown out since I haven''t had the time or the tools to cut them since getting here. ¡°I¡¯d rather not. The girl was the one wanting to kill you.¡± ¡°Oh, then what are you doing here?¡± I explain to him that I¡¯m new to this world and that I needed a room to stay in. How the guild tricked me into taking this quest and I went along with the loli because she made it sound like an easy quest. How I just need to complete this one quest then I can get free food and board at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Something dawns on me and I pause mid explanation. ¡°I can lie.¡± ¡°You cappin?¡± ¡°Not to you. I can lie to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. What are they going to do? Send someone out here to check. There aren''t phones here; it''ll take days for them to confirm that we didn¡¯t clear out this cave. Then when they do send someone you will kill them. Then they will make it a missing person case which takes at least 48 hours. I¡¯ll get at least a week of free rooms out of this.¡± He gives me a weird look, but doesn¡¯t say anything so I end the conversation there. ¡°Well nice meeting you.¡± I wave and leave the cave. ¡°Why are we leaving him behind?¡± Yellow asked her sister. ¡°Cause he¡¯s weak. For the elfs to continue on we must find a strong man to mate with.¡± Red gave the truthful answer. Speaking in a calmer voice now that all humans around them were knocked out or dead. ¡°But he saved us, doesn¡¯t that prove that he is strong?¡± ¡°Look at him!¡± Yellow waves a hand over Hiro¡¯s unconscious body. ¡°He nearly died saving us.¡± ¡°But he saved us, I don¡¯t want to leave him behind.¡± Yellow protested. Kneeling next to Hiro. She checked her body but the only wound was his ankle. She called upon the spirits of the forest to lend her their power. Green balls of light began to float out of the ground. They surround Yellow. Red looks at her in disgust at how she is helping such a weak human. Yellow takes the little green spirits into her, using her body as conduit they travel through her blood veins and down to her hands. She places her hands on Hiro¡¯s body. The spirits heed her call and heal the young man to full health. His breathing stabilizes, his eyes open. The first thing he sees is a pair of large breasts hanging over him. He looks at them as the body of the elf hangs over him healing him. He sits up and scoots away from Yellow. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry miss it was an accident. I didn¡¯t mean to stare at your tits.¡± He covered his face expecting to get slapped. Yellow looks at the bewildered hero and gives a small chuckle. ¡°See Red, he¡¯s a nice guy too. Some things are more important than just brute strength.¡± ¡°Nothing is more important to strength.¡± Red said while staring into the sunset. She once saw a man strong enough to mate with. His face is still burned into her memory, if only at that time she had spoken up or said something. He could be hers by now, but no, he left with that god forsaken monster. final chapter Kree and I camped out in the woods. I can¡¯t sleep. She noticed and came over to me. ¡°Autumn alright?¡± I shrugged. ¡°What is in Autumn''s head?¡± I turn over to my side. She is already laying down next to me. I look into her large yellow eyes. Shining with the reflection of whatever moonlight poked through the trees. They were pretty, it stirred something in me that I haven''t felt for many humans before. Not lust, no I¡¯ve had enough of that on earth. It¡¯s messy and worth less than what humans put into it. No, this is something different. It¡¯s an old feeling, but when I try to grasp what it is it vanishes. I do a self check, listing my symptoms. Fast heart beat, wanting to protect, and a longing for nonsexual physical contact. Shit, I¡¯m in love. A very worrying prognosis. I don¡¯t understand people. I miss social cues, I rely on patterns that I¡¯ve observed. I don¡¯t think I can do this. This is a thing I don¡¯t do well. I¡¯m distant, have a case of Schizoid Personality Disorder and a touch of autism, or so I¡¯ve been told¡­ by my therapist. I laugh at myself. Kree looks at me with a worried expression. ¡°It¡¯s so odd Kree, I can meet a lovecraftian horror, hold a prince hostage, and kill people without blinking an eye, but what I thought was friendship, another thing I don¡¯t understand, has morphed into an emotion with even more potential for me to be hurt.¡± ¡°Kree not understand.¡± Normally with someone not understanding I would be angry but with Kree I search my thoughts and rephrase it in a way she will understand, but with her I¡¯m happy to do it. Oh how the mighty have fallen. ¡°Are we friends?¡± I ask, Kree nods. ¡°More than friends?¡± I ask, Kree raises the spiky ridges that substitute for eyebrows. ¡°Like mates?¡± ¡°Like mates but without the mating.¡± I¡¯m asexual, but I¡¯m only aromantic until I fall in love. Kree looks at me oddly. Rubbing her chin with her claws. ¡°Kree does not know. Kree think Kree can try.¡± She holds out her hand for me. I look at it perplexed. She grabs my hand and moves herself closer to me. I can feel her cold scales through my clothes. It¡¯s as soothing as the cool side of a pillow. The scales on her hand are small and soft, they feel almost like human skin. I rub my thumb on the back of her hand. This calms me and we both soon fall asleep like that. After stopping at the blacksmiths and grabbing replacement gear Hiro and the elve girls head to the Adventurer¡¯s guild. Hiro begs the receptionist at the Adventurer¡¯s guild. ¡°Please have you seen my daughteru?¡± She must have been here. ¡°She¡¯s this tall.¡± Hiro holds his hand up to about his waist. ¡°White hair, white coat, fluffy uggs that I bought for her. She has one of my Item Boxes, her weapon is a giant hammer. She likes to kill things.¡± The receptionist¡¯s eyes light up. ¡°Oh the halfling warrior. Yeah she just went off on a mission with those two.¡± She points to the table with a human and kobold enjoying a meal and occasionally touching hands. Hiro recognizes them. They¡¯re the ones from that cult. ¡°Hey!¡± He yells, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. He storms over and the elf girls roll their eyes as they follow him. Hiro slams his fisits on the table. Autumn draws his weapon. Kree pushes herself against Autumn¡¯s back watching in case anyone attacks from the back. ¡°Where is she?¡± ¡°Where is who?¡± ¡°My daughteru, the loli that went on a mission with you.¡± ¡°Oh, she died. An orc killed her in the goblin cave.¡± Autumn states calmly. Hiro relaxed his fists. He sat down at the chair across from Autumn grabbing at his hair, tears starting to form on his eyes. Autumn dissolved his gun. Holding out a hand and patting Hiro on the back ¡°There, there.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Another voice shouts. Into the bar area steps a fat man in a merchant hat. Behind him are twelve guards. The elfs move behind Hiro at the table. ¡°That¡¯s them! The people who stole my slaves. I have a 1000 gold bounty on their heads. The other adventurer¡¯s stand up, bearing their weapons at Autumn''s and Hiro¡¯s parties. ¡°Guys you¡¯re really going to side with a slave driver than a fellow adventurer.¡± Hiro asks, trying to appeal to the room. Autumn already has pulled his gun out of thin air. He fires the first shot into the merchant¡¯s head. ¡°There he can¡¯t pay a bounty if he¡¯s dead!¡± Autumn yells. This display of logic doesn¡¯t dissuade them from attacking. Hiro quickly draws his sword, stabbing it into everyone who gets close. Yellow uses her spirit magic to buff Hiro and Red. Autumn just shoots the guards at the front of the bar. A real brawl, and there he is, not even breaking a sweat as he kills men in full armor. I wipe my brow after sending an arrow into the chest of an adventurer. I watch him from the corner of my eyes. He is the strongest person on this world, how my loins burn for him, but I saw it when we entered the bar. The looks he shares with that kobold. Disgusting. How could he prefer that thing to me? I notch another arrow and a horrible thought comes to mind, a thought that I¡¯m not even sure is my own. If the kobold is gone then he¡¯ll be available again. He won¡¯t notice it was you who did it in the chaos of this bar brawl. I turn my body. Aiming the arrow for the kobold. I let the string go. The arrow snaps into the kobold¡¯s chest. A soft shriek. The strong man with the otherworldly weapon turns around to check on her. He sees the arrow. Looks around the room, locks eyes with me. In a fluid motion he holds up his weapon to me. I see the bright flash of light, but can¡¯t jump away in time. I create a bubble around Kree and myself. That damn elf shot her with a bow. Kree¡¯s eyes are open. They lock with mine. I check her pulse but it¡¯s already slowing down. Blood flows from the wound. I feel denial setting in. ¡°Kree, are you alright? Can you breath?¡± Kree shakes her head. She coughs up blood. This indicates that the arrow pierced her lung. I¡¯m not a doctor, or a medic. There is nothing I can do for her. She holds herself up. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t move. You¡¯ll te-¡± She places her lips to mine. Then falls to the ground. Her breathing has stopped. As quickly as I started to feel something for her I blocked it. I could cry, but that wouldn¡¯t solve anything. I needed to¡­ I didn¡¯t need to do anything. I was just exploring this new feeling, but now I can¡¯t. I just killed who¡¯s fault it is. I need to bring her back. I drop the barrier. The guards have surrounded me. You can make anything. A voice booms in my head. I can. Make anything, so I make the guards and everyone in the room dead. Black spikes fly from body to body. I retract them and let the bodies fall. Only the hero guy in white hair is left alive. He looks up at me in shock. ¡°You killed the slaves I rescued.¡± He tries to scold me, but that isn¡¯t the information I need. My movements are jerky and stiff. I grab his shirt collar. My voice is colder than it has ever been. ¡°How do you resurrect someone?¡± He shrugs. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can. The power Goddess Eris gave me was to break through my limits.¡± I dropped him. Sending a spike through his heart. That¡¯s the solution. I need to find a god who can bring people back from the dead. The voice comes to me again. I can bring the kobold back to life. I suspected it was the voice of the unpronounceable, but now I know it¡¯s him. ¡°Then do it.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. You¡¯ll need to fulfill your mission first. ¡°You¡¯ll destroy this world once I free you. Having her back alive won¡¯t do anything when you¡¯ll just destroy the world right after.¡± I¡¯ll send you both back to your world. ¡°Doubt it.¡± What other option is there? I carried Kree in a black coffin through the streets. Like a funeral procession that meant death to anyone who tried to stop it. I didn¡¯t even hear what they said until I got into the room I was first summoned to. Guards kept trying to enter the room but the black needles would pierce their armor. A sizable body pile was growing at the entrance. ¡°Where did the humans hide the key to freeing the old dark god.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll never tell!¡± I held both the king and prince up off the ground. They were stubborn. ¡°Don¡¯t you realize the dark god is using you. He¡¯ll betray you and destroy this world once he is free.¡± The prince reasoned with me. I shrugged. I had reverted back emotionally. Where as before I was open to emotions, now I actively snuffed them out. If I was betrayed, I would feel nothing. ¡°Tell me before I start torturing you.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t seem like the type to torture people young man.¡± The King speaks. I shrug. He¡¯s right. I don¡¯t know the first thing about torturing. It¡¯s an artform that I could never practice. I throw open a door in the castles dungeon. There¡¯s a rack and a man in a black hood. ¡°Torturer I presume?¡± He stands up, readying a scalpel. ¡°Yes, and you are?¡± ¡°Autumn Mystic. I need you to torture some people.¡± ¡°Did the king send you down?¡± I retract my black tendrils, pulling the king and the prince into the room. ¡°Something like that.¡± The torturer looks ready to pounce. ¡°I can¡¯t torture the king!¡± ¡°Then torture the prince.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t torture him either!¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Cause they¡¯re the king and prince.¡± I nod. It¡¯s a matter of principle not a matter of ability. I¡¯ll just force him. I summon a bed of needles on all sides around him. ¡°Do it or die.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± He offers a meek response. I expected to have to torture the torturer to get him to torture the king, but the torturer is scared of torture. After a few hours of watching nails and teeth be pulled the king finally speaks up. I look up from my notebook to hear what he has to say. ¡°A piano key!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a piano key. The key is a black soul crystal carved into the shape of a piano key and given to the DemonKing.¡± ¡°Why to the demon king?¡± ¡°Cause if the dark god is released it¡¯ll destroy him first.¡± What a fucking stupid riddle. I kill the king and prince. Leaving the torturer alive because I halfway promised not to kill him if he did what I said. I met a demon on my way to the demon king¡¯s castle. He was a pitch black malnurished human with horns and bat wings. ¡°You¡¯re a demon.¡± I stated. ¡°You¡¯re a human.¡± He returned. ¡°I need to borrow the Demon King¡¯s piano.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°To release a dark god.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Fair enough.¡± The demon¡¯s were very hospitable.They offered me horderves at the entrance and led me to a waiting room. The food offered was boiled tongues. I took one as not to be rude, but didn¡¯t eat it. Instead I hid it in my pocket when the receptionist succubus had her eyes turned. There was a piano in the waiting room. I walked to it and began smashing black keys. When none of them worked I started smashing the white keys. A eight foot tall demon in a crown grabbed my arm. ¡°What are you doing?¡± All the keys were smashed so I looked at him. ¡°Is this the piano the humans gifted you?¡± He shook his head. ¡°No that one is in my personal room.¡± I nod. ¡°And where is that?¡± ¡°Second floor first door on the left.¡± I broke his grip and began walking up the stairs. ¡°Wait! You can¡¯t just enter my private quarters!¡± ¡°Why?¡± Thinking that perhaps the door was locked, or traps were laid. If I had Kree with me, and alive, she could detect and disarm the traps. ¡°Cause it¡¯s my private quarters!¡± I nodded and kept walking. There are no traps, just principles. The demon king followed me up the stairs and once again grabbed my arm. ¡°Stop human! What is this about!¡± ¡°I¡¯m freeing an old god.¡± His grip on my arm tightened. ¡°But you can¡¯t, you¡¯ll destroy this world!¡± I laughed. ¡°You sound just like the human king.¡± With that I encased his arm in my black magic and pulled it off me. I hooked the magic into the wall and held him in place as I opened the door. I instantly saw the piano and instantly began smashing keys. A large blakc snake erupted from the piano. It sprung from the key like a novelty snake in a can prank toy. Breaking through the ceiling and out the castle. The length of the unpronounceable was a sight to behold, but also a waste of time. His massive body took half an hour to spring out from it¡¯s prison. The demon king stood next to me. He was on the ground bowing to it already. A tentacle with a puppet of a kid in a japanese school uniform popped out. It set itself down on the floor in front of us. Clapping its hands. ¡°Fantastic. Autumn Mystic. That has got to be the fastest a human has ever freed me.¡± I shrugged. I didn¡¯t care for his compliments. ¡°Now bring Kree back to life and send us to my world.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Why should I?¡± ¡°Cause you said so.¡± ¡°Oh little humans, how they will believe anything you tell them.¡± I was being betrayed, not a big surprise, but contrary to what I thought I would be feeling I was actually angry. ¡°Just do it.¡± ¡°Or what?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be disappointed.¡± ¡°Is that a threat?¡± A black tentacle pierces through my heart. ¡°I¡¯m a destroyer of worlds. How dare you threaten me.¡± I look down at the tentacle piercing my chest and shrug. ¡°Called it.¡± Where my last words as my vision faded. I felt a cold lump on my chest. Like the coolness of a pillow. I opened my eyes. There Kree was on my chest. I sat right up. Grabbing her and shaking her awake. Her eyes opened and I hugged her tight. She ran her palm down my back. ¡°Kree you¡¯re okay?¡± I asked her. Looking down at her body. ¡°Yes, Kree fine.¡± I checked my surroundings. I was in my room back on Earth. Everything was exactly how I left it except for the blond haired blue eyes girl in a toga. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked. She smiled. ¡°I am the Goddess Eris.¡± I racked my braid for who that was. ¡°From the battle of Troy. You Threw the golden apple. Greek goddess of chaos and discord.¡± She smiled and covered her mouth with her hand. ¡°A fan of me?¡± ¡°Why are you here? Why am I here?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been watching you. Through Hiro of course¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The white knight.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Anyway, your goals overlapped with mine and you accomplished the goal before I could. Figured you should be due for a reward.¡± She was the trickster archetype. I knew that this wouldn¡¯t be free. ¡°The catch?¡± ¡°Try to use the dark god¡¯s power.¡± I tried to summon the gun that I was using back on the other planet. To my surprise it actually came to my hand. ¡°Ol snakey boi now knows that your planet exists.¡± ¡°What a clever way to spread chaos.¡± She winks. ¡°I know right.¡± With that she faded. I laid down in bed and held Kree tight. The emotions that I had ignored came flooding back to me, but I kept them away from manifesting. I looked back at that week long trip from Earth and had only one thought. ¡°What a fucking dues Ex Machina, and stupid sequal bait, but atleast I have Kree with me.¡±