《Silver Wings》


 Chapter 1: Arkon - The Beginners Village

    I stared at the rabbit that was before me. Its fur was a pure white, and it''s big eyes a bright red. It looked like any other innocent rabbit, if not on the especially cute side. The rabbit and I were currently engaged in a staring contest, with neither one of us letting down our guards as killing intent warred with killing intent.


    Why was I currently in the middle of a fierce showdown with this rabbit you ask? I''ll have to go back a few hours in time to explain....


    -----


    I blinked open my eyes, dizziness assaulting my head. Where was I? Glancing around, I saw that my current location was roughly near the edge of a small village with wooden houses, surrounded by trees on all sides. Was I in the woods somewhere? The village itself didn''t look like something you would find in modern times though...


    I was quite confused. After all, wasn''t I just... huh? What had I just been doing? I shook my head, trying to regain my senses. Now that I think about it... What was my name again? I remember that... I was at home playing games I think? But where was home? S-san Francisco? Was that it?


    Suddenly a genderless voice spoke inside my head, startling me.


    "Welcome to the world of Arkon! To see your status, one can will it to being, or simply use the verbal command, ''Status''. Any other questions pertaining to the system will be answered automatically during your stay in the Beginner''s Village, or one can turn their attention to status''s help function. Until then, please enjoy your new lives!"


    I furrowed my brow. Arkon? For some reason, I felt this situation was a bit similar to some light novels I had read before... but I don''t remember their titles and the details seemed to continue to escape me. I willed my status to open, and found that it worked just like the person (or was it a person?) had said it would.


    A window appeared in front of me, looking something like a status window. At least, what I think a status window should look like. My memories weren''t all that intact though, so I couldn''t really put total trust in them.


    *Author''s Note: Sorry I''m too lazy to put in tables... >.>


    Status Window


    Name: Luna Silverwing


    Class: None


    Race: Human


    Level: 1


    Alignment: Neutral


    Titles:


    Otherworlder - The world will appear in an RPG format to aid you.


    Health: 500/500


    Mana: 500/500


    Strength: 10


    Agility: 10


    Vitality: 10


    Intelligence: 10


    Wisdom: 10


    Luck: 5


    Equipped:


    Beginner''s Dagger


    Beginner''s Leather Armor


    So Luna Silverwing is my name? My mouth deepened into a frown as I pondered on it. I couldn''t remember my actual name, but I felt that "Luna Silverwing" wasn''t it. For one thing, the name sounded unfamiliar, and foreign, as if it wasn''t my own name. Well, it''s not like I could remember my actual name no matter how hard I tried, so it was whatever. I shrugged and put the thoughts of the matter aside.


    *Tting*


    Suddenly a bluish window appeared in front of me. I stared at it... and tried poking it. My finger touched the window, and it felt a bit similar to smooth rock. I then proceeded to read the message.


    ?Luna Silverwing has gained the title "Passive"?


    ?Title Passive - Effects of passive skills are increased by +5%. Events Beyond your control are +5% more likely to yield beneficial rewards?


    Did the system read my mind?! I wanted to insert some form of tsukkomi here at this moment. This is an invasion of privacy! Or something. It was embarrassing, but I couldn''t really deny that I was a "Passive" type of person. Well, the effects were pretty good too, so I let it slide.


    ?Passive has leveled up!?


    ?Passive Lv.2 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +6%. Events beyond your control are +6% More likely to yield beneficial rewards?


    What?! Should it really be that easy to level the title up?! Wait, could it be, that I''ve suddenly kind have gotten a bit overpowered now? Just kidding. I didn''t actually have any skills to speak of, let alone passive ones... plus I was still at level one.


    Anyways, I let out an inner sigh before turning my mind towards other matters. From the description of the "Otherworlder" title, I can guess that this world was "real". The world just manipulated itself to make it appear like an RPG or something along those lines.


    Which meant that dying is no good. I mean, perhaps we would resurrect, with a penalty maybe, but I sure as hell won''t be trying it. What if I actually die permanently? Then it would be a Game Over, with no second chances.


    Death was a big concern, but that didn''t mean I would be a coward. I had to make a living in this world now since I didn''t know when I can return to my old world, if at all. Even though I said that... What should I do?


    Since the format is like an RPG, would that mean there are quests?


    "Confirmation. Quests can be given out by the system and other people, including both Otherworlders and Arkon residents. The difficulty of quests will automatically increase in correspondence to ones level and ability."


    Ohhh, it really did answer my question. How interesting.


    Then... I thought about classes. Since there was something like that in my status, I wondered how I would get one.


    "Classes may be obtained through special quests. Other ways to obtain classes are to complete an apprenticeship or test at an instructor center, which can be found in any large city. Classes are not required, but recommended due to class-specific skills and buffs. Upon reaching a certain level, one can also proceed with a ''class advancement''."


    I nodded. I should probably place some careful thought into choosing my class, but for now I just tucked away the knowledge into the back of my mind. Money, food, and lodging were what was important for now!


    Since the help function is only available during my time in this village, I guessed that I wouldn''t be staying here forever. It was probably a sort of tutorial kind of thing... probably. There might be a certain requirement I would have to meet before being able to leave, or I might be able to leave at any time. I asked the question to myself, or more accurately, to the world.


    "Confirmation. Once certain requirements have been met, one may automatically leave and be teleported to a random city. Said requirements are hidden and should be discovered by oneself."


    For what reason the requirements were hidden I didn''t know, but in my experience it probably had something to do with level, or maybe I would have to complete a specific quest.


    Questing and levels go hand in hand, so I guess it was about time to talk to people.


    I walked further inside the village, and somewhere at its center was a stone fountain, with a large house behind it. It was probably something like the village elder''s, or leader''s, house. Water was good though. It looked relatively clean, and the liquid was clear, with nothing suspicious floating in it.


    My reflection was unfamiliar. Long ice silver hair, and sharp misty lilac eyes. My skin was fair like porcelain, and my figure slender, with not much meat. Not even in that area, if you know what I mean. I had pretty delicate looking features, and if I should say, I was more on the pretty side, rather than otherwise. Calling myself pretty is awkward but since I didn''t even recognize this face, it should be fine right?


    I stopped staring at my reflection, my thoughts going to other subjects.


    ... Should I just drink it with my hands...? Oh wait, at times like these, wouldn''t one have something in their inventory? I said "Inventory" in my head, and sure enough, the inventory window appeared. There were roughly 20 slots, with only a few taken up.


    I had, inside, several pieces of bread (what a classic), a water skin, and some bandages. I took out the water skin, filled it up, and took a sip. The water was refreshing, but had an earthy tang to it, although it wasn''t that bad of a thing.


    With my thirst quenched, I looked around. There were a few children playing with sticks and mud a whiles away, and village women chattering with each other as they worked. There was a merchant''s stall to my far right, and what appeared like a smithy across from that.


    I glanced back to my inventory as I put the water skin away. I had 10 copper. It didn''t sound impressive... but you never know! I went up to the merchant, who was a middle aged man with a healthy suntan and a bit of stubble on his chin. He appeared like an honest enough person, but merchants weren''t exactly the most trustworthy of types, at least in my opinion.


    On the table before the man were some potions (I think that''s what the were), as well as various things that I found pretty unrecognizable.


    "Good sir, may I ask how much this costs?" I asked as I pointed to the small glass vial of blood red liquid. Manners make a man, or so they say. Although in this case, it would be a woman.


    "The health potion? That''d be five copper, but just fer you, I''ll sell it at four." He said with a saucy wink. His flirting didn''t leave a bad taste in my mouth, but rather lightened my heart. I would say he wasn''t a bad guy at all from my first impression of the man.


    "Alright, then I will take one please." I traded my copper for the vial, storing the pot into my inventory. It seems that although ten copper wasn''t a lot, it was not a bad amount either.


    I then proceeded to my other matter. "I am quite new to this place, being an outsider, so I was wondering if you knew anyone in need of some help? I would be much grateful for work." Was this how to ask for quests? Or at least the location of one? I didn''t know, but I went with it.


    "Hoho, no wonder I didn''t recognize a pretty lass like yerself. If I recall, the village elder had been need of some help. Around this time he should be in the fields. Try the west one, if not that then maybe he be up north."


    I thanked him before going on my way. The west field was relatively small, with the crops planted rather haphazardly. Near the edges of the plot was an old man,who I guessed was the village elder. I went up to him, on my best behavior. First impressions make for a world of difference and this was important, seeing as my livelihood may be determined at this moment. Okay I''m exaggerating, but yeah whether or not the village elder liked me could make a big difference.


    "Esteemed elder! I am sorry to bother you, but I have recently arrived here. When I told the good merchant that I was in need of work, he had pointed me in your direction. Perhaps there might be a job you could spare me?"


    All these fancy words have begun to tire me out.


    The elder looked up, his eyes partially hidden beneath his thick brows. "You seem like quite the fragile and delicate young chick. But yes, Torua is right, I have been in need of workers. Would you go to the north fields and take care of the rabbits there? They have recently been eating away at all our crops. Of course, I will reward you justly."


    I accepted the quest, and a little message popped up. It basically had the details of the request, with things like how many rabbits I needed to kill, what rewards there were, or if there was an additional objective. At this point, the additional objective was just to kill more rabbits.


    I leisurely strolled to the north fields, not in a hurry since the quest had no time limit. The north was just the same as the west, with maybe some different plants. Aside from that, the distinguishing features were the bunnies. A lot of bunnies.


    I had to kill ten of them, receiving 500 exp and 20 copper for it. I would get two more copper for each extra rabbit I killed.


    Which brings me to the present. I was staring down the cute and fluffy rabbit, with a rusted dagger in my hand. It wasn''t gonna go down without a fight, that much I could see.


    Neither one of us had yet to attack, waiting for the other to make a move.


    One minute ticked by. Then another. Beads of sweat dripped down my chin as the noon sun beat down on us. Who would make the first move? I did. Impatience won out, and I stabbed at the rabbit.


    It dodged, leaping to my right with a kick of it''s back feet. The moment it hit the ground, it kicked another time, launching itself toward me and headbutting my stomach when I was unable to react in time. I went from full health to 485/500 HP. Cursed rabbit!!


    I swung my puny blade at the thing, scratching it slightly. I saw the health bar over the rabbit''s head go down a bit, by maybe a tenth. So I would have to hit it nine more times before it died.


    I slashed again at the damn thing, who then gave me another headbutt in its rage. We exchanged blows, but in the end, I was victorious. I mean come on, it would be too embarrassing for me to lose to a rabbit of all things.


    Since I had 432/500 HP at this point, I decided to first check out the bandages, and then the health potion.


    Item: Bandages


    Restores 10HP/sec for 10 seconds.


    Item: Crude Health Potion


    Restores 25HP/sec for 10 seconds.


    For my current amount of health, this was pretty good. Bandages restored a fifth of my health, and potions, half of my health. For now, I didn''t want to waste them, so I put it away for later, before going off to slay more bunnies.


    Nine bunnies later, I finished the quest''s primary objective. I had yet to die. Although now that I think about it, with the matter of death, I could always have just asked the system about it?


    ... I coughed inwardly. System, do I revive after death?


    "Confirmation. Otherworlders will automatically revive three hours after death in the nearest city, with a penalty. One may also resurrect through resurrection scrolls, resurrection spells, or special skills pertaining to resurrection. If one''s death has been witnessed by more than one Arkon resident, one will have the option of having their name and appearance changed, gaining a new identity. Penalties can include loss of levels, experience, skills, or items."


    Hey, hey, like this, aren''t otherworlders kind of way to powerful? We can''t even die, that''s damn unrealistic.


    But this was a good thing actually. Although the penalties were enough for me to consciously avoid dying, it wasn''t like I actually had to worry about death now. Scary~ I feel like I''ve suddenly become a scary type of person. Can I still even be considered human at this point?


    After getting the reward from the village elder, I was level 3. I had leveled up once when I was killing bunnies, and then another time with the quest''s EXP reward. Since the elder had no other quests for me (just one? Why you skimping out on me elder-san!), I decided to grind in the forest. I was able to repair my dagger at the smithy as well, so now it looked a bit sharper and shinier than before.


    Like that, I continued to defeat monsters valiantly. Even though I say monsters, they were pretty much just your ordinary beasts. I went from rabbits to foxes, to wolves, slowly leveling up along the way.


    The animals themselves had varying attack patterns, so it was pretty fun. I was surprised when some of the rabbits would kick me instead of doing their usual headbutts, or when they did this ultimate move that was so fast I could only see them as a blur.


    All in all, I felt like I had adapted rather quickly. I think my memory loss has a part in that. Since I can barely remember the things and people I was attached to before I came here, I had less of a desire to return. In the first place, can I even return?


    "Currently, returning to your previous world is impossible."


    I see. Since it''s "currently" though, does that mean it might be possible later on?


    "Confirmation. Indeed, with the influence of otherworlders, Arkon''s technology may advance to the point where interdimensional travel is possible."


    Interesting. Otherworlders bring with them new knowledge, and that can bring about the evolution of technology... or something.


    Well, I''ll put aside those thoughts for now. Though meeting other people like me would be nice.


    By the time I exited the forest, I was level 5. A pretty decent achievement in my opinion, but I''m still unsure how many more levels I needed until I could leave the village. Or actually, I wasn''t even sure if the requirement to leave the village was a certain amount of levels in the first place.


    I bought a couple of potions from the merchant, Torua, who then started to talk it up with me.


    It seems that the village elder had another task for me. Maybe if I complete this one I could finally get out of this place.


    Turning around, I spotted a man by the fountain. He had short cut black hair, and fox shaped blue eyes. To be honest, he was really good looking, but that wasn''t what caught my attention. It was what was floating above his head that made me look twice.


    Above all people''s heads I was able to see their name, level, class, and titles.


    Yun Hua


    Lv. 2


    | Otherworlder |


    I immediately felt a kinship of sorts with the man, and went ahead and approached him.


    "Hey!" I called, but he didn''t react. "Hello~ Yun-san? The man with the scary eyes there? The hot guy? The bastard ignoring the beautiful girl?"


    He finally turned around, a menacing glare in his eyes that totally contrasted with the bright smile on my face.


    His brows relaxed in a moment though, probably once he saw the title "Otherworlder" that I possessed.


    "You too?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck some. I''m guessing he was embarrassed from glaring at me... but that was just my opinion. I can''t read minds so you never know.


    "Yeah. But since I''m a higher level than you, I would be your Senpai right." I said, flashing him a semi-triumphant smile.


    "..." He was silent, his eyes pretty dead. This guy doesn''t take jokes very well does he?


    "I was joking. Anyways, since we''re fellow otherworlders, we should get along you know." I said, staring at home with wide innocent eyes. Don''t look at me like that~ all you see here is a beautiful and innocent young girl~~


    "Right... Can you remember what you were doing before you came here?" He suddenly asked me, appearing deep in thought.


    "Hm? Well, I think I might have been playing a game or something? My memories aren''t exactly all there though so I wouldn''t be so sure?"


    "... The same as me...?" He mumbled to himself, just barely audible.


    So the amnesia didn''t just apply to myself, but to him as well. From there I could properly infer that, in general, all otherworlders suffered from memory loss.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "So... friends?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.


    "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure."


    *Tting*


    ?Yun Hua has been registered as your friend.?


    "Well. Do you need any help?" Our conversation was getting kinda awkward. Yun didn''t seem to be much of a talker.


    "No, I''m fine by myself." He turned abruptly, leaving me standing there.


    How cool~ Wait, no, that wasn''t what I should be saying. What a jerk! To reject a beautiful lady like myself, how rude! Not that I cared that much. Actually, I guess I cared some, mostly because he was hot though. Let us start fangirling.


    Clearing my throat, I also went on my way. Drooling over beautiful people can wait for later, right now I should go to see the village elder. First I tried the west fields, where he had been before, but there was no sign of the old man.


    I then went to the north fields, but those were no good either. South or east, the guy was nowhere to be seen. I then went to the merchant, almost about to give up.


    "Torua old man, I haven''t been able to find the village elder at all!" I said, and the merchant furrowed his brow in thought.


    "You already tried all the fields?"


    "Yeah."


    "Well, this is odd. How about the manor? If he''s not there, we might have to search the woods for him."


    *Tting*


    New quest!


    Find Me


    The village elder has gone missing! He hasn''t been seen since half an hour ago and is not in any of the fields.


    Objective: Locate the village elder


    Additional objectives: Bring back the village elder unharmed


    Rewards:


    2000 EXP


    10 copper


    Additional Rewards:


    Unknown


    That additional objective is freaking suspicious. It surprisingly reveals a lot about the situation. With that thought in mind, I went ahead to the manor, searching it from head to toe. There was no elderly man anywhere.


    There was, though, a rather suspicious looking basement, with rather suspicious bloodstains, and a rather suspicious hidden door. Lots of suspicious things right there.


    *Tting*


    ?Luna Silverwing has gained the title "Sherlock"?


    ?Title Sherlock - Clues within eyesight are made obvious. +5% Increase in speed and accuracy of deductive reasoning.?


    ?!?!?!?!! It knows Sherlock?!! I stared at the window, my jaw down to the ground. Eh, why am I even surprised at this point. No, actually, in the first place, what is Sherlock? I wanted to tsukkomi myself. I didn''t even remember what Sherlock was, yet I was still surprised.


    ... Whatever!


    *Tting*


    ?Passive has leveled up!?


    ?Passive Lv.3 -- Effects of passive skills are increased by +7%. Events Beyond your control are +7% More likely to yield beneficial rewards?


    I have no more energy left to retort. Instead, I opened up the hidden door, which was basically a stone slab, to reveal a dark tunnel beyond. The wind howled eerily, making me shiver slightly.


    I grabbed a torch that was hanging on the wall nearby, before proceeding inside the tunnel. It was creepy and seemed to never end. I couldn''t tell how much time has passed, but I finally exited what seemed like a million years later.


    From what I could tell, I was somewhere in the forest, with the sun having already set. It had been roughly evening when I had entered the manor, so I would say about two hours had passed, at least. That is a lot of walking I did right there, I better be rewarded nicely after this.


    *Snap*


    I immediately snuffed out the flame and hid. I didn''t know why I did that, but instinct told me that I should be cautious. I strained my ears as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, with only the pale moon lighting up the night.


    Beyond the line of trees, I saw a clearing, able to barely make out a number of hazy figures. I counted roughly three or four of them.


    "Have you got the old man?" A gruff voice said.


    "Yeah. Who would have thought that he''d be hanging in a backwater village like this." Another voice answered; this one was young and feminine.


    "Haha, just wait and we''ll be rich in no time." Another young voice spoke, but it was on the deeper side. Probably a man in his early twenties I would say.


    From what I got from the conversation, I guessed that the village elder was some sort of big shot, and that would somehow get these people a lot of money. I squinted at the people from my hiding place.


    There was a... Level 3, level 3, level 2, and a level 4 who was hiding somewhere in the bushes. Too bad your stealth doesn''t work on me, muahahaha. I coughed inwardly, embarrassed that I had actually done the evil laugh, in my head or not.


    I was level five, but there were four of them, and one of me. At the same time, I got the feeling that otherworlders were naturally more powerful than Arkon residents. Should I take them on?


    I decided to wait it out and see what would happen next. I needed them to let down their guards or show a weakness first. That would be far better than just charging in there, swinging around my tiny dagger like a madman.


    Waiting. Waiting. Some more waiting. Zzz- hah! What? Did something happen? I looked around, still half asleep from when I had dozed off slightly. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the people were still there.


    There were two people asleep and two on watch. The level four and one of the level threes were sleeping, while the other level three and two were beginning to nod off... the perfect opportunity!


    I slipped through the bushes as quietly as I could, sneaking through the shadows cast by the flickering embers of the dying fire. Carefully now, slowly now...


    My hand wrapped around the mouth of the level three woman as I hit her head hard with the hilt of my dagger. Even if I had killed animals before, it didn''t mean that I could all of a sudden be able to kill humans. So I stuck with just knocking them unconscious.


    The level two young man didn''t notice anything as I crept up to him. If I had planned out the watch, I would have put the level four and two together, but that''s just me.


    He suddenly glanced around, noticing that his partner had mysteriously disappeared, having been dragged into the shadows of the nearby bushes by yours truly.


    "Esther? Are you there?" He asked, whispering rather loudly. He peered in my direction. "Is that you?"


    I guess our builds were rather similar, causing the man to confuse me with his comrade in this darkness.


    I answered with my dagger, knocking him out before he could say another word. The other two were asleep, so tying and gagging them was pretty easy. The level four guy almost woke up, but a solid hit to the back of his neck solved that. Once I had taken care of all of them, I searched for the village elder.


    It didn''t take me long, as only an idiot wouldn''t be able to spot the lumpy body bag that was within arms length of the fire.


    I opened it up, and sure enough, a peacefully sleeping elder could be made out in the faint light.


    Itar Soltis


    Diplomat Lv.7


    | Village Elder | Duke of the Fallen Kingdom | Peacemaker | Masked One | Sage of a Thousand Stars |


    Hmm, before I could only see the village elder title, and his name, with the rest hidden by question marks, but now there were various things that had revealed themselves. This guy really wasn''t as he seemed huh.


    Or actually, what''s a level seven doing getting beaten by level threes?!


    I shook the old man awake and he blinked his eyes open, even having the gall to yawn loudly.


    "Oh? Aren''t you that outsider from earlier today?" He asked as he glanced around, not even batting an eyelash at the collapsed figures of his kidnappers.


    "Yes. Torua-san sent me to search for you." I said, nodding as I confirmed the elder''s words.


    "I see. Well, thank you for your hard work." He stood up and lifted the level four and three guys with ease. Like I thought, he was hiding his power! How the heck did he end up being captured by these guys if he''s that strong?


    He smiled mysteriously in reply to my probing gaze as I gathered up the other two bodies. Although I was only level five, the bodies were already light to me, seemingly weighing not even ten pounds, rather than that of the mass of two grown adults.


    We brought the four back to the village, the long walk done in silence. The village elder woke up Torua, who followed us to the manor without a word. The maid questioned nothing as she let the three of us (plus four unconscious kidnappers) inside the house.


    We were guided to a living room like place, where the elder unceremoniously dumped the bodies onto the ground, and I followed suit. Torua sat onto one of the couches, letting out a sigh as he stared at the kidnappers.


    I didn''t sit yet, instead looking to the mysterious Itar, whose eyes were also on the kidnappers.


    "Thank you for the hard work, lass. You done a good job, bringin'' back the elder." Torua finally said, interrupting the heavy silence.


    *Tting*


    ?You have completed the quest "Find Me"?


    ?You have leveled up!?


    ?Please wait before receiving any additional rewards?


    "Fumu, I''ve been getting rusty, to let a bunch of lads who are still wet behind the ears to get me like that." The elder said, shaking his head.


    I agree. I mean, that strength that shouldn''t be able to come out from thin elderly arms like yours is pretty scary. Is this what they call gap moe? Just kidding.


    "You must be curious why an old man like me was kidnapped, huh?"


    Not really.


    "I''ll tell you my story since you insist."


    No, no, I haven''t insisted or anything though.


    "Once upon a time..."


    ... Really?


    "In a kingdom far, far away..."


    You''ve definitely plagiarized that.


    "I was once a duke."


    Wait, that doesn''t match up at all. Your storytelling skills suck! In the first place, I already knew that!


    "The kingdom I served was known as the Kingdom of Seven Stars. It was named as such because it was ruled not by one king, but by seven clan heads, who formed a ruling council. I was one of those clan heads. We were all known as dukes."


    A kind of democratic setup, I see. Or is it republican? Or maybe none of the above? I don''t really get politics, but considering this world seems pretty historically set, it''s rather impressive that the kingdom wasn''t a monarchy.


    "We were a peaceful country, although only five generations old. But that peace was soon ruined. The other council members all wanted more power. They became greedy, and fought with each other over the smallest of things."


    Hm, humans will be humans. Greedy bastards, the lot of ''em. Well, it''s not like I can say anything since I''m also human. Me is greedy. Want more monnies.


    "Soon we broke out into a civil war. Neighboring countries took advantage of our internal conflict to attack, and the kingdom fell, breaking up into several separate territories that were then annexed by other kingdoms."


    I listened, calming my inner retorts. I could feel that we were nearing the end of the story.


    "Most of the dukes were killed. Of the seven, only I and the Duke of Dunwall were able to escape. Along with the kingdom''s treasures... or so rumors say. Till this day, I am still pursued by thieves wanting to get a hold of relics and gold."


    Relics... and gold, you say? My imagination began to run wild. I gasped, reigning it in. That was a close call there, almost falling prey to my desires.


    "I-I see. Well, it''s good that nothing too major happened." I said after clearing my throat in embarrassment.


    "Indeed. I am quite grateful for your help, Luna-san." The old man said, stroking his short beard.


    "No, no, it''s what anyone would have done." I replied, shaking my head.


    "Even so, it would take some amount of courage to do what you has just done. Let me reward you, I insist."


    "W-well, if you absolutely insist then I guess it can''t be helped." I was blushing, knowing that I was probably quite see through right now. My desire for treasure wasn''t small after all.


    "Please take this." The old man said, nodding to Torua, who then took out a book, handing it to me.


    ?Would you like to switch classes to "Polymath"??


    ?Polymath - A polymath is one skilled in all subjects. A master of all, and jack of none. Will receive a +5% increase in all skills, and a +3% increase in all stats. Skills will be +7% easier to obtain. The Polymath class comes with five random skills.?


    Woah, isn''t this like, a really good class? A master of all? Yes please!


    I pressed the yes button and checked my status. Sure enough, the class section had gone from "None" to "Polymath". I then checked my skills. I had already had the dagger mastery and first aid skills, but now there were another five on top of that.


    Active skill:


    Self Heal


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Heals yourself 500 HP


    Passive skill:


    Archery


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Archery skills have +3% accuracy and power


    Passive Skill:


    Dance


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Dancing is +5% more likely to charm enemies and boost morale of allies


    Passive Skill:


    Mana Sight


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Mana appears as colored mist in the air around you


    Passive Skill:


    Lion''s Courage


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    +5% increase in Fighting Spirit


    +5% increase in stats when facing an opponent stronger than you


    I almost couldn''t stop myself from laughing. I guess this is what they call a jackpot? I don''t know how I compared to other people, but I was pretty damn sure that given enough time, I could become quite the force to be reckoned with.


    "Of course, it would do you good if you kept silent about this whole matter..." The sentence ended on a lightly threatening tone, which I answered with a bright smile.


    "For an esteemed elder such as yourself, I would never think about going against your wishes!" I said.


    "Fumu, I am glad to hear that. Do you have a place to stay tonight? If not, I can lend you a room here."


    I gladly accepted and was guided to a small room on the third floor. It had only been a day, yet it felt like so much had happened. I still hadn''t left the beginner''s village either... drifting off, my last thoughts were of my distant and hazy memories, that always seemed to escape my grasp...


    -----


    "Who are you?" I asked the faceless woman. From what I could make out of her, she had black hair and was wearing a white one piece. Anything else seemed to go in and out of focus, making me unable to make out any details.


    "No. Who are you?" She replied, her voice soft and had a tinge of sadness to it.


    "I-I don''t know." I answered.


    Her appearance shattered like a broken mirror, the pieces of the white world surrounding me falling away. Then everything went dark.


    -----


    "Hey, what do you think of that new game, ''------''?" A boy asked me. I couldn''t see what he looked like, a thin mist surrounding him.


    "Hah, do you even need to ask? The world''s first virtual reality game that has achieved 95% realism. It lives up to its name." I said. I had spoken, but at the same time, it wasn''t me.


    "Haha, you have to lend me your capsule sometime. Unlike someone, I''m too poor to afford it." He said as he pushed the wheelchair. My wheelchair. I was sitting in it, my legs covered by a blanket.


    "What? The Mr. Harvard graduate is poorer than me? I''d never thought I''d see the day." I said with a gasp.


    "I''m still in school, or have you finally fried your brain?" He scoffed, shaking his head.


    "Hehe, you''ll become a great doctor. But seriously you ain''t got the time for playing games so don''t even ask me!"


    The scene was nostalgic. It broke my heart.


    -----


    I woke up, my cheeks wet. Had I been crying? I don''t know why. I felt it had to do with my dream, but I couldn''t remember any of it. I shook my head, getting up.


    Today was my second day in Arkon, and I was determined for it to be my last one in the Beginner''s Village. I wanted to see the big cities! Go out and explore the world! I don''t know why, but that one desire burned like a fire in me.


    And so I grinded. There weren''t any quests for me, so I headed out by myself, with a bow and arrows slung over my shoulder, to kill some animals. Hopefully gaining levels and grinding up my Archery skill in the process.


    I was like a real sniper as I took down my prey from afar. With my fairy-like looks, I felt pretty cool shooting the arrows. Even though I missed two out of three shots in the beginning. No! Don''t despair! I can do this!


    By continuously believing in myself, I improved to where I would say I had roughly an 80% shot accuracy. I had also learned three new skills.


    Active Skill:


    Eagle''s Eye


    Beginner''s Lv.2


    Able to lock onto targets from far away


    Can see everything in a 100m radius in a bird''s eye view


    Passive Skill:


    Bow Mastery


    Beginner''s Lv.2


    +5% increase in agility and dexterity when using a bow


    +3% to effects of passive skill "Archery"


    Passive Skill:


    Sniper


    Beginner''s Lv.3


    +10% increase in critical chance


    Accuracy of archery skills increases by +7% when target is more than 50m away


    I leveled up once, and finally, finally! Received the message I had been waiting for.


    ?Would you like to leave the Beginner''s Village??


    Hell yes!


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Author''s Note


    So. Greetings to any readers I may have~ well this first chapter ended up a lot longer than I intended it to be. It took me roughly two to three days, with me skimping out big time on my work. So I''m planning on doing maybe one or two chapters per week, although the word count may vary. I''m considering opting for shorter chapters in exchange for faster releases, but since I usually just go with it according to the flow, I''m not sure if that will happen. Meh, I''ll see. If anyone has any opinion on that, comment down below~ On another note, I feel like Luna''s personality ended up all over the place, so I''ll have to fix that. As a result, she might end up slowly changing personalities over the course of the next few chapters hahaha.


    Anyways, hope you guys enjoy and please give me any friendly advice or critiques. I don''t mind if you''re harsh about it as long as you stay respectful, after all, there''s no need to be rude. I spent effort in writing this, and I hope you guys will appreciate that at the very least... ;w;

 Chapter 2 - City of a Thousand Lanterns

    I edited the first chapter~ There weren''t any super big changes, I just fixed some spelling and grammar stuff, plus did some other bits and pieces to make it flow better. I changed the skills up a bit, so that most became passive skills, and I added in a "Bow Mastery" skill so that everything kind of added up.


    I''ve also realized that my cute main character has a lot of problems, and not very many strengths, at least personality wise. Tee hee.


    Anyways, please enjoy the second chapter ^-^ I''ll be open to any friendly suggestions or critiques, or if you guys want to see this story go in a certain direction... like idk, if you want more romance, more action, more mystery, or what not. Then again it''s still pretty early in the story so who knows what might happen o3o~ currently I feel like it''s going in a mystery sort of direction, with a bit of romance (cuz our MC likes them hotties) and maybe action later on... this is about half the size of the first chapter, but since I was working diligently in this time (mostly diligently *cough*) I would say this also took me roughly two days. Or more around one day and a half. BTW there is a bit of gore in this chapter as a heads up.


    Sorry for the long note >.>


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    *Tting*


    ?For completing the "Beginner''s Village", you have received one "Dimensional Sotrage Ring"?


    ?Dimensional Storage Ring: Can store up to one rooms worth of space. Can be pulled up mentally, or with the verbal command "Storage"?


    ?You have arrived at Lindel?


    ?Lindel: the capital city of the Fire Empire, Astarne; it is most well known for the "Cermeony of Fire"?


    ?The Ceremony of Fire starts in 7 months, one week, and three days?


    ?You have received a new quest!?


    Battle of Flames


    The Ceremony of Fire takes place once a year with music, food, and other festivities. The most significant event is the "Battle of Flames", where warriors compete with each other for glory, fame, and riches.


    Objective: Participate in the Battle of Flames


    Additional Objectives: Win all fights and come out as the Champion of Flames


    Rewards:


    5000 EXP


    1 silver


    Additional Rewards:


    Unknown


    I opened my eyes only to be assaulted by a multitude of messages. Blue, blue everywhere. I read each one before dismissing them with a swipe of my hand.


    The Ceremony of Fire, huh? Well, it was still over half a year away, so I shouldn''t worry too much about it. Although frankly, I wouldn''t want to take part just to have my butt handed to me by some high-level warriors.


    Which meant that I should probably train a bit so that I would be the one kicking ass. Even then, though it sounded pretty interesting, I didn''t plan on staying.


    I might be here for a month at best, but there''s a whole ''nother world out here for me to explore, so I sure won''t be cooped up in here forever.


    I then looked around to confirm my location. It appeared that I was in an abandoned building of sorts, something like a church, with dusty pews and pale sunlight filtering in through the broken stained glass windows. I left the place, although the outside wasn''t that much better. There was a cemetery overgrown with weeds - something I wouldn''t want to come to in the middle of the night unless I wanted a good scare - as well as shoddy houses and dirty stone buildings.


    I was probably somewhere in the slums. My guess was further enforced by the large amount of starved and filthy people sitting on the streets, all dressed in gray and brown rags.  Their deep sunken eyes were dead, and the few that still had some semblance of life in them were staring at me hungrily.


    I felt pity, but it''s not like I could do anything for them, so I went ahead and left quickly. Within moments, I was out onto what seemed like a main street bustling with people, the scent of sweat and spices floating in the air.


    The majority of the people here were dressed in gypsy-like desert clothing, with scarves wrapped around their heads, and jewelry jingling each time they moved.


    I was stopped by merchants more than once, all claiming to have something that would definitely suit my beauty. I ignored them. Please, I will not be giving you swindlers one bit of my money!


    Despite saying that, I did end up buying a skewer of meat (it was tasty), and a cheap enough dagger to pair with the one I already had. With just those two items, I was already broke. Stuff in the big cities was pricey. I felt like sobbing as I watched my hard earned coins fly away.


    I then went on my way to search for instructor centers. Since I could master all the skills, I planned on learning everything I could, from crafting to magic to physical combat.


    First was the warriors guild. The teacher there was a burly middle aged man with a bald head and a dragon tattoo. I never knew the human body had so many muscles until today, nor did I ever want to know.


    Despite getting beat up by him, for some reason he was oddly satisfied with my performance, and taught me the skills "Sword Mastery", "Dual Wielding", and "One Shot One Kill". Apparently the last two were a little extra since he felt bad about bullying a little girl. Eh, I don''t know how I feel about that.


    I then entered the dancers guild next. Even though I already had the skill "Dance", I was curious if I would be able to obtain any extra skills like I had been able to with the warriors guild.


    "Fufu, you look like a beautiful young lady with good potential." The busty older sister type woman said, her beautiful face and well-toned body oozing charm. Then again everyone in the guild seemed really beautiful, totally different from the warriors guild that had been packed full of sweaty macho men.


    After dancing awkwardly in front of the golden haired woman, she applauded me, and like I had desired, rewarded my performance with an extra skill, "Dance of the Sparrows". She also gave me a midnight blue gypsy outfit with pluses to the charm and agility stats.


    One more guild, and then I decided to let it rest for the day. I surveyed the numerous buildings that lay before me. They were all of the instructor centers, gathered together in an area of the city known as the "Guild District".


    Blacksmiths, Chefs, Alchemists, Tailors, Summoners, Elementalists, Clerics, Assassins, Painters, Bards... and what seemed like a million more were all there. No, wait, by summoner... would it mean that I could possibly summon cute fairy like creatures? I knew that it was different depending on the game, but the pets called out to me. The pets~~~ There was also beast tamers, but magic sounded more fun.


    I made my decision and proceeded to head over to the summoners guild. Inside there were various magic runes and circles drawn all over the walls, with books on spells and spirits lying around, as well as different colored mists floating through the building. Although this mist was the "mana" that I could see everywhere (faintly, though it varies depending on the location), it was heavier inside this building than elsewhere, probably due to the fact that this was a magic guild. On a side note, the mist in the dancers guild was also relatively high, although not as dense as the stuff here.


    There was no one inside, or at least that I could see. I thought it was weird as I looked around for someone - anyone. The first floor was completely empty of living organisms, so I headed to the second floor. I opened up the thick wooden doors to rooms that had summoning circles and densely colored mists inside them, but still no people.


    Soon there was only one room left - the one at the very end of the hallway. I paused before it, staring at the intricate patterns carved onto the mahogny double doors. It was clearly more important when compared to the other rooms.


    Plus, it was currently lighting up like a lightbulb, courtesy of my handy dandy Sherlock title. I reached my hand out to the golden door handle, my heart wanting to jump out of my throat. What is this suspense, it''s killing me.


    I opened it up with a single yank, revealing what was beyond.


    And proceeded to slam the door shut, before vomiting whatever had been in my stomach onto the floor (which wasn''t much since all I had eaten in these past two days was some bread). After finally getting that all out, I... proceeded to grab any precious items lying around.


    If this was a manga, the main character would have gone back inside to find clues and then search for the answer to the puzzle, but something like that just wasn''t me. I preferred to avoid walking straight to my death thank you very much.


    Even though I said that, I still ended going back, my curiosity winning out. The room was relatively large, lit by a multitude of candles on the floor and desks. The walls were smeared with blood, which had been used to paint the same magic circles that I had seen throughout the entire building.


    How did I know it was blood? Well, what dark red liquid comes out of dead bodies other than blood? You aren''t gonna tell me it''s ketchup or something are you?


    Anyways, lying scattered throughout the place were the corpses of several people, who had been mauled beyond recognition. As if a beast had come and slaughtered them, before feasting on their remains. And the stench. Don''t even get me started on the foul odor that lingered in the air. I would guess that these bodies were, at the very least, several weeks old, but the odd thing was why they had yet to be discovered. The reason might be some magic related type of thing, but I didn''t know enough about the matter to make a decently accurate guess.


    The room appeared as if it had gone through a whirlwind, with things such as magic books and research papers scattered throughout. I would have borrowed those too (literally), if not for the fact that the majority of them were soaked in blood. I am extremely reluctant to be touching that disgusting gooey stuff. Who knows if there was some flesh mixed in.


    The things I did pick up though, were the items that had lit up. Which were - two books, a small note, and a silver key. The two books had appeared rather ordinary at first glance, if not for the especially thick blood red mist surrounding them. Then again, considering how much red (and black) mist there was condensed into this small room, it would be a wonder if anyone could notice the difference between the books and its surroundings.


    Second was the note. It had been crumpled up and thrown into a corner of the room. The writing was barely legible, with the paper itself partially burned and slightly blood stained. I would probably have to get it repaired, but even what I could make out was only gibberish to my eyes.


    Then there was the key. Now this one had been a bit tricky. It was lighting up from within a drawer that had a broken lock and its contents emptied out. It would have tricked me ordinarily - like it probably did whoever went through this place - but if one looked close enough, one would realize that it actually had a false bottom.


    I remained cautious, studying the drawer from different angles. It was faint, but I found a magic circle on the inside. Magic, how troublesome. Something that didn''t exist in my old world...


    But isn''t that what the books I had borrowed are for? Yes, I only borrowed them! To be exact, I only needed to borrow them. I would say almost all of them had been skill books, and the moment I had picked one up, a window would appear asking if I wanted to learn so and so skill. It was easy as that. I didn''t have any use for them afterward, so stealing was unnecessary (plus who knows, I could get tracked down by authorities if I messed up while selling them). One of those skills was "Magic Language", so puzzling out the magic circle wasn''t as bad as it would have been.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    It was actually a pretty simple spell, one that would cause the drawer to burst into flames if someone didn''t open the hidden bottom correctly. To undo it I just gotta do a little this, tweak it here... manipulate the mana a bit, mess with the runes some, and I''m done! (Don''t ask me the details of what I actually did, because to be totally honest, the theory mostly escaped me.)


    I opened up the bottom to reveal a silver key studded with rubies, still looking shiny and new. I pocketed the four items before taking one last look around the room. Nothing else was glowing, and spending any more time here would be inviting trouble, so I made my escape. Of course, through the back door. Who knows what would happen if someone sees me walking out and afterward a room of bloody corpses gets discovered. That''s like asking, nay, begging!, to be arrested. I would prefer not to spend my last days in a dark and disgusting dungeon cell for a crime I didn''t even do (although I do admit I stole some precious looking magic tools).


    I glanced around as I entered the dark alleyway. There was no one in sight, but I didn''t let my guard down yet. Equipping the sapphire blue scarf that had come with the gypsy outfit I had gotten from the dancers guild, I wrapped it around my face so that even if I did get seen, at least my face would be hidden. Sneaking around like a suspicious looking thief made me decide that I would absolutely be visiting the rogue or assassins guild next. I would love to think that I would never need a stealth skill for the rest of my life like I did right now, but that would be a lie.


    Once I had gotten out of the guild district (I think I got out at least; these alleyways can be pretty darn confusing), I was finally able to relax slightly. After I took off the scarf, I went out onto the main roads as if nothing had happened, sticking to places that had large amounts of people while I mingled with the crowd. Near the center plaza of the city, an entertainment troupe was performing, their acts quite interesting and flashy. It was good enough to catch my eye, so I stuck around to watch, although I thought that magic would be much more fun to see (but I hear that magic users are pretty rare so it was too bad).


    A bard sang as sexy ladies with beautiful bodies danced, all of them clothed in bright and colorful silks... that also happened to show off quite a bit of skin.


    There was one phrase that caught my ear. "City of a Thousand Lanterns". It sounded interesting. I mentally marked it down as a place I should visit sometime. I continued listening, but the bard didn''t say anything else about it. So I waited until the performance was over in order to pounce on him.


    Moments later, I was in front of the man, a smile on my face. His body was hidden by layers of his gray robe, a hood covering his (potentially good-looking) face (or maybe ugly, but these types of characters are usually gorgeous, so I could hope). A mysterious type of guy... except for the fact that his titles revealed so much about him.


    Seir Ludan


    ??? Lv.??? | ??? Lv.???


    | Voice of Silver | Weaver of A Thousand Tales | Nightingale | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |


    ... What''s the use if they''re all hidden! I tsukkomi''d, slightly frustrated. Then again, it could be said that the question marks also revealed plenty about a person. Or rather, it seemed there were several more question marks than there should be where it showed the classes. Huh, what did the system say about classes again? That''s right, there were class advancements. But from what I could see, it looked more like he has a secondary class, even though it never mentioned anything like that. Could... class advancement mean secondary class? That wording is so confusing!


    *Tting*


    ?System update: Class advancement has been changed to Secondary Class. Upon reaching level 20, people may choose a subclass to pair with their primary class?


    ... I don''t even have any retorts for that right now.


    I instead turned my attention back to the matter at hand. "Excuse me, Ludan-san?" I said, and the man looked up to me, revealing a pair of sharp golden eyes with pitch black scleras. Wow, so there were people with those sorts of eyes too, I admired.


    Seeing that I was staring at him, he quickly pulled down the rim of his hood, his already pale skin going a little paler. "Ludan? Have you mistaken our Mihai for someone else?" A sweating dancer said as she wiped off her face with a handkerchief, her eyes wide as she walked up to us.


    I didn''t expect him to have been using an alias; I was too careless. I nervously glanced at the silent man before laughing nervously. "I guess I must have," I said, forcing myself to smile.


    "Hmm, well daemons are quite rare, but they all look pretty similar, so I guess it isn''t actually that odd for someone to mistake them!" She exclaimed, laughing along with me. A daemon, huh? Is that why his eyes were like that? Or rather, this girl was able to come up with so much even though I haven''t even said anything... suspiciously convenient right there.


    "You aren''t going to discriminate against him because of his race are you?" She asked, her eyes suddenly turning sharp as she glared at me.


    "No, no, of course not!" I replied. So daemons tend to be discriminated against? Hm, I can''t actually say I find it all that surprising. Although I myself find those slit pupils and black sclera totally great, like a beautiful cosplayer, kind of.


    I kept shooting glances at the bard, wanting to talk to him about the "City of a Thousand Lanterns". I actually wouldn''t mind that much if I didn''t find anything out about it, but how could I give up when he''s right in front of me??


    "So are you looking for this ''Ludan'' person?"


    "Oh, y-yeah..."


    He''s right here though.


    "Hmm, our troupe goes all over the continent. You seem like a pretty enough girl, want to join us?" The woman asked with a grin. Good looks do wonders I say.


    I froze, processing it. Well, this actually wasn''t a bad deal at all. Traveling all around the continent was a good enough incentive, but additionally, I would have several chances to ask Ludan my question (though I doubt I''d remember about it the next day anyways). Plus! If I join them, wasn''t there the possibility of getting paid?!


    "Sure!"


    "Well then, it''s settled! I''m the troupe master, Lennor."


    Lennor Alessandra


    Dancer Lv. 12


    | Kind | Beloved | Unobtainable | ??? | ??? |


    "I am Luna Silverwing, it''s a pleasure to meet you." I replied, narrowing my eyes at the question marks. Well, it was only two titles so I didn''t think too much about it.


    *Tting*


    ?Passive has leveled up!?


    ?Passive Lv.4 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +8%. Events Beyond your control are +8% more likely to yield beneficial rewards?


    I kept my mouth shut, already having given up on this world''s system.


    "Get off your asses and let''s pack up!" Lennon said, clapping her hands and the other troupe members immediately began to gather their stuff while complaining mildly.


    "Lennor-san, weren''t you resting too?!"


    "Yeah, yeah, that''s right, you can''t say anything about us!"


    "I demand a salary raise!"


    Hey, wait, there was something totally unrelated in there, though??


    Lennor stood there, her legs spread out and her arms over her chest, narrowing her emerald green eyes at them. With her long, wavy raven blue hair, and curvy body, it made a pretty good sight. "It''s okay for me because I''m the leader!"


    "Tyranny!"


    "If you''ve got any complaints then just try and beat me!" She cracked her knuckles and everyone began to cower, immediately rushing to finish up.


    Meanwhile, I was still standing beside the ever still and silent Ludan, who had yet to move a single inch. "How did you know?" He asked, his low voice pleasant to the ear and seeming to flow like water.


    "Know what?" I feigned ignorance.


    "My real name."


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about." My eyes wandered away, looking in the other direction.


    Silence. He didn''t say anything, and the silence pressed down on me. You''re making me nervous! Say something! Anything!


    "Okay, okay, I admit I know your real name!" I said, giving in to the silent treatment. "But it''s because of a special skill I''ve had since I came into this world!" I manipulated my words just so that it wasn''t a lie... but it wasn''t exactly the entire truth either.


    "So? What did you want with me? Since you aren''t even searching for the nonexistent Ludan, why are you joining our troupe?" He said, his tone reminding me of a police interrogation, although it didn''t work too well considering how beautiful his voice sounded.


    "Well, her offer was pretty good, and I planned on traveling anyways. As for why I called out to you... uhm... I was actually just wondering..."


    "What?? You don''t know what the City of a Thousand Lanterns is??" He exclaimed, drawing attention to us. I was slightly embarrassed, even though I shouldn''t be. In the first place, I''m not even from this world, okay!


    "The City of a Thousand Lanterns is where Lindel currently stands. They say that the founding emperor of Astarne had personally burned the city to the ground before building his palace on it''s ashes. There have been rumors to this day about how that city, the previous capital of the Kingdom of Sages, still exists in the Spirit World, and that the Spirit Kings possessed the silver key that opens the gate leading to its location.


    "There''s also been hearsay that Raitahy, the guild master of the Summoners Guild, has the ability to summon one of the Spirit Kings, and possibly possesses that rumored key." He explained to me. Isn''t he actually a pretty nice guy?


    But wait. Excuse me. What did you say there? A... silver key... and the summoners guild...? I began to sweat buckets, going a little blue in the face. It''s not what I think it is, is it?


    "Huh? Is something the matter?" He asked, glancing at me.


    "Ahahahahaha, nothing is wrong! Absolutely nothing at all!!" I said, my eyes beginning to swim around suspiciously as I refused to look straight at him.


    "Are you joking with me?" Lennor''s loud voice reached our ears, and we turned to see the beautiful dancer arguing with a kid that looked like a young errand or messenger boy.


    Spotting us, she waved him away and came over, her face weary. "They''ve just found the bodies of fifteen summoners, including the guild master, in their guild building. It seems that the master''s room was ransacked. They''re currently searching for the culprit, with the city is on lockdown for now."


    Oh, shit.

 Chapter 3 - The Silver Key

    The bard was staring at me and for good reason. I probably looked mighty weird as I sweat buckets, and was quite blue in the face. Actually, I already expected something like this, so I shouldn''t worry so much. In the first place, they shouldn''t be able to find me that easily, so first things first was to get stronger. I mean, by becoming strong, I should be able to avoid capture, which means I wouldn''t have to live in the smelly dungeons, which meant- yeah you get it (do you?).


    "We''ll be staying at the Gold Phoenix, what about you Luna? Since you''re now a part of our troupe, we''d welcome you." Lennor said, interrupting my line of thought.


    "The Gold Phoenix? That sounds fancy!" I exclaimed, forgetting my worries.


    ?Passive has leveled up!?


    ?Passive Lv.5 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +9%. Events Beyond your control are +9% more likely to yield beneficial rewards?


    "Right? Get this, but we''re actually sponsored by the second prince!" Lennor boasted, puffing out her chest in pride.


    "Really?! That''s great! Of course I''ll join you guys." I said, and the troupe all gathered up to head to the hotel.


    The Gold Phoenix was a hotel right at the edge of the nobles'' district. The white stone exterior was decorated with gold (was that real?) and two phoenix statues stood before the front doors, making it stand out from the rest of the buildings surrounding it. A fancy enough looking place, the guards (who were bare-chested and not that bad looking) let us in without any trouble, dipping their heads to the leader.


    We split up into roughly three groups to take separate rooms, each one fairly large and consisting of a bedroom, bathroom, and living room. I was given a blanket to sleep on the ground with, but thankfully they had a thick, and unbelievably soft, rug laid out.


    It seems that guys and girls room together here, and so I had been put into the same room as Ludan (Lennor was also with us, along with two other men and three more girls).


    "Alright, how about everyone introduce themselves? Luna, you go first." Lennor said as we all sat down by the fireplace.


    "Right. I''m Luna Silverwing, it''s a pleasure to meet you. Um, after I mistook Mihai-san for someone else, Lennor-san ended up recruiting me. I may be inexperienced, but I hope you''ll take care of me." I said, using Lennor''s misunderstanding.


    "Oh? There''s someone as handsome as our Mihai out there?" A brown haired girl with freckles said, grinning.


    "W-what are you talking about, it''s only because I''m wearing a hood that she misunderstood..." Sudan said, backing me up with my story.


    "It''s such a pity that you hide your face even though you''re so cute..." The girl glanced at the bard with a look of regret. "Oh, right, I''m called Lucille, it''s a pleasure to meet you."


    Lucille Fairwind


    Sword Dancer Lv. 5


    | Fairy of a Hundred Blades | Shrine Maiden |


    Shrine Maiden? Interesting...


    "I''m one of the fire dancers, Miki. Most of our troupe are dancers or acrobats, so you''ll probably end up learning skills for one or the other." The man who spoke up had long and straight black hair and a mole under his left eye.


    Mikishiro Sen


    Flame Dancer Lv.7


    | Flame Eater | Wielder of Flames | Heir of the Sen''s |


    I''ll say this straight out. His face looked just as much as a girl''s as my own. What, with his long lashes, silky hair, and smooth skin... He was pretty well muscled, though, and with his chest bare, you couldn''t deny the fact that he was definitely male. But still, it pissed me off, just a little.


    "Haha, we''d welcome you as a flame dancer if you ever wanna give it a try. The name''s Leo by the way." The other man said, an arm around Miki''s shoulder. Huh. Wait, what is this air around them, it''s so friendly. I know that just because they''re overly friendly doesn''t mean that they swing that way (the same applying to girls), but still! I mean, Miki was hot, and slightly feminine, while Leo was also hot, and not so feminine. With his reddish brown hair and kind eyes, I thought that he fit rather well with Miki''s more elegant looks.


    Leo Kustark


    Flame Dancer Lv.7


    | Lion''s Heart | Sword of Courage |


    Then silence. There were two other girls that I didn''t know, and while one was fidgeting nervously, the other was outright ignoring me, glaring as she stared in the other direction.


    "Alright, this sweetheart here is Mai. She''s the only painter in the troupe. Unlike most groups, we take craftsmen classes as well, and they can sell their wares to the people who come to the show while we can get the buffs from their art. It''s a win-win, right?" Lennor said as she gestured to the fidgety girl.


    "I-it''s a pleasure to m-meet you..." She stammered out. Her round and dewy eyes were hidden behind a pair of large glasses while her dark brown hair was tied in a braid that fell down to the floor (since we were sitting, though, I can''t be sure of how long it really was).


    Mai Yuknir


    Painter Lv.4


    | Shy | Coward | Innocent | Heart of Silver |


    Heart of Silver?? Is that like, you almost have a heart of gold, but not quite? That''s harsh man...


    "And then this sulking girl right here is Diane," Lennor continued, "she''s one of our two beast tamers and has been with us since she was still a babe~ It''s too bad that today we weren''t able to show off any of our bigger animals, but you should see how she is with the drakes, they turn into little puppies when they''re in front of her."


    Diane Morktash


    Beast Tamer Lv.10


    | Protective | Misunderstood | Loved by Animals | Gaia''s Child |


    The small redhead glared at me, her scarlet eyes titled upwards, giving her a mean look. She had lightly tan skin and lean muscles, implying how hard she worked. Her chest was also tiny, like mine (totally different from the wells endowed Lennor and Mai). No worries Diane-san, big boobs aren''t everything in life!


    "Well, last is Mihai then?" Leo said, glancing toward the still hooded bard.


    An evil giggle could be heard in Lucille''s direction, as she smiled slyly... and then proceeded to tackle Ludan, yanking off his hood to reveal teary golden eyes partially hidden under the long, tousled bangs of his slightly messy blood red hair. At the moment, I had goosebumps. The daemon was in a position that made it appear as if he had been sexually assaulted by Lucille, a pinky feminine aura exuding from him. It was a pose that would turn on any guy, if not for the fact that he had a large, although slender, body that definitely belonged to a man. No, I mean, I have nothing against feminine guys, but this just looked wrong. Why are you acting like a virgin girl? Aren''t you so powerful that your classes and levels are hidden behind question marks? Get a grip!


    "Breaking news. A member of the troupe was found raped by L-san!" I said, unable to resist (actually now that I think about it, we have a lot of people whose names start with L don''t we...?).


    Collective gasps sounded.


    "Lucille, for you to do that to Mihai... is my chastity in danger now?" Leo said, his arms crossed over his chest (*cough* boobs) as he stared wide-eyed in astonishment at Lucille, who was still on top of Ludan.


    "I''m more worried about Miki," Lennor said, to which I nodded to.


    "Wait, wait, wait, I was just stripping-"


    "Stripping? So you admit to your crime!" Lennor exclaimed.


    "No, taking off! His hood, his hood!"


    "Stealing his manhood?" I added fuel to the fire.


    "Oh my god, you beast!" Leo covered his important parts.


    "Kyaa!" Mai flusteredly exclaimed, her eyes covered by her hands while her face was as red as a tomato.


    "Alright now, enough joking or else Mai won''t be able to handle it anymore," Lennor said, to which everyone replied yes, with Lucille getting off of Ludan, and the bard composing himself, still faintly blushing.


    "Since Luna already knows Mihai, there''s no need for him to introduce himself." Mihai seemed to look relieved when the raven haired woman said this, pulling up his hood as he hid the upper half of his face again. Did he have a persecution complex about his eyes? I guess it couldn''t be helped though, considering how he was a daemon in human territory. There were a lot of books and manga with that type of setup, huh?


    Miki glanced out the window, the moon already rising as magic lanterns turned on and lit up the streets. "We should probably sleep; we have practice early tomorrow," He said.


    "Ah, ah, that''s right. We''re performing for the prince in a week too. With all of this mess going on, who knows what will happen. He seems like the type to move our meeting up." Lennor groaned, rubbing the wrinkles between her brows. "Seriously, are people satisfied creating this sort of mess."


    That''s right! You say it Lennor-san! Then again, I was also the person that took advantage of those deaths to snitch some expensive looking stuff and learn the skills from the books inside the building... Well, I mean, what use do those have to a dead person? They should go to someone who will actually use them, like me!


    Everyone laid out their blankets, with the leader getting the bed all to herself (it seems that whenever they''re in a hotel, beds go to the leader and the elite members, of which Diane, Miki, Leo, and Ludan belong to).


    The moon was high in the sky when my eyes snapped open. I sat up, letting my eyes focus before counting the bodies. Oen, two, three... they were all asleep (at least I think so). Breathing was steady... yeah, they should be sleeping.


    I took out one of the objects from my inventory. It was a polished gem that shimmered a million colors as it reflected the light of the moon.


    A blue message window popped up in front of me after a few seconds of staring.


    Heart of Magic


    Previously a treasure of a fairy''s, it was stolen by an evil summoner who enjoyed torturing his enslaved familiars.


    Restrictions:


    Fairy Race or


    Possesses one (or more) Fairy familiar(s) or


    Identified as a "Fairy Friend"


    Effects:


    Increase all magic elemental affinities by +40%


    Increase spell effects by +50%


    Increase casting speed by +100%


    Decrease mana consumption by -15%


    Now this is what they call a treasure. To have been just lying around in the guild was such a waste! If I sold this I could get millions of gold.... But I wouldn''t sell it. Actually, I couldn''t sell any of these items I had stolen without raising suspicion against myself. Plus, this was the type of thing that a person should keep for themselves. I''m not sure if be able to actually use it th-


    *Clatter*


    I put the gem back into my inventory, my head turning sharply to the source of the sound. It came from outside. I stood up, and careful not to step on anyone, approached the window. Right below, on the cobblestone streets, were what appeared to be knights. They wore heavy white armor, with helmets hiding everything save for the small slits for their eyes. Engraved on the chest plate in silver was a pair of angel wings encasing a western styled sword. With the magic lanterns having already gone out, they were partially in shadow, the metal gleaming under the pale moon, the smaller of the two casting down an eerie red light.


    ... There were two moons? No, wait, now''s not the time to be thinking about that! That emblem, if I recall, had been the one that I had seen earlier in the day at some church or another. Which meant that they were most likely "Paladins". Why were they here though? More importantly, why were they standing in front of the hotel doors, looking all imposing and stuff?!


    Was it for me? No, calm down, you don''t know that. But now that I think about it, wouldn''t they have magic to look for the criminal? I''m not the killer though. My thoughts went round and round in a cycle, and I got nowhere.


    At the front of the orderly knights was a woman with short dark hair that seemed purple in the light. Since the light was red, that probably meant her hair was blue. Her helmet was under the crook of her elbow as she stood dignified before the soldiers. She was probably the leader... is what I thought.


    The name above her head glowed red. Which meant she had killing intent. I learned in the Beginner''s Village that names glow red when they possess killing intent that is directed towards me (at least that was from my experience with monsters, but I had yet to meet a human who had a red name until now, with them normally being white). She didn''t know me though, so she was probably just leaking that intent outwards in general.


    Yizak Dreik


    Paladin Lv.22 | Beserker Lv.13


    | Captain of the Elmar''s Knights | Peacekeeper | Sword of Justice | ??? | ??? | ???| ???|


    Hmm, so I could still see the level even though it was at 22. So how big did the level difference have to be until it became question marks...? Ludan-san, you are terrifying.


    Even then, that Paladin woman was more than three times my level. Oh, my, god, she is over three times my level. If she''s here for me I will get slaughtered. I backed away from the window as quickly as possible, going back to my blanket and burying myself underneath it. I didn''t see anything, nothing at all.


    ?Passive has leveled up!?


    ?Passive Lv.6 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +10%. Events beyond your control are +10% more likely to yield beneficial rewards?


    This counts as events beyond my control right?! Grant me good luck you darn 10% probability!


    I didn''t even stir a single bit as I counted my heartbeats.


    Soon, a loud banging came to our door, waking everyone else up. I pretended to have just opened my eyes as well, keeping my face neutral.


    Lennor went to the door and opened it a crack. "Who is it?" The person on the other side said something that I couldn''t hear, causing the beautiful women to frown deeply.


    Everyone glanced at each other, confusion clear on their faces. Ludan tugged down on his hood, seemingly a nervous habit of his. Perhaps he was constantly in fear of his race being discovered. At least the troupe seemed friendly enough, and free of racial discrimination.


    That being said, even though I was panicking just moments ago, I feel rather calm right now.


    Lennor opened the door and gestured to us. "They''re gathering everyone in the lobby downstairs - the paladins are here," She said. We all followed her, who followed one of the paladins, his helmet tucked under his arm.


    In the lobby were a large number of people, both staff and guests. The guests all seemed rather well dressed and were arguing with a few of the knights. I felt pretty shoddy in my beginner''s cloth armor in comparison. We met up with the other troupe members, who remained well behaved, unlike the rich guys who were picking a fight with people more than seven times their level (the average level of the knights being around 15, and the average level of the guests around 2).


    "I have had a ''truth'' spell cast in this area. Any lies you speak will result in an electric shock, so choose your words wisely. I will ask the same question to all of you, of which you shall answer one at a time." The female knight said, her sharp gaze scouring the crowd of 30+ people.


    She started with one of the fat merchants. "Are you the one who committed the crime of murdering fifteen summoners in this city of Lindel?"


    It was specific. Like this, telling the truth would be easy. If it had been slightly more vague, I might have been in trouble.


    "No."


    "No."


    "No."


    It was my turn all too soon. I felt like I was bathing in a tub of cool water though, since I had nothing to worry about. The pressure that the knight commander exuded was unreal, but I didn''t back down.


    "No."


    Nothing happened and she gave me one last look before moving on.


    "No."


    "No."


    Soon the entire room had answered. There were no particularly big incidents. A knight that looked like a second-in-command talked with the woman, his gaze on two people. Namely, me and Ludan.


    Ludan I can understand since the guy was still wearing his hooded robe, but why me?


    "You, and you. Please stay here. The rest may leave." The knight pointed to me and Ludan. So I hadn''t just been imagining things when they had stared at us.


    Lennor shot a worried glance at us before herding the rest of the troupe back upstairs.


    "Although you were able to answer the question truthfully, we just wish to confirm a few things." The second-in-command looking guy said.


    Glenn Cophendal


    Paladin Lv.18


    | Lieutenant of the Elmar''s Knights | Competent | Kind | Sword of the Weak |


    Seeing his titles, I already like the guy. Ah, you''re such a good person. Titles don''t lie after all.


    "Firstly, why is it that you wear that hood? We cannot help but be unable to place a certain amount of trust in you do to the fact that you hid your identity."


    Ludan flinched. This is where I come to the rescue. Having super strong Ludan-sama by my side would be for my best interests after all.


    I took a step forward, shifting myself to block the daemon from view as best as I could.


    "I apologize, but everyone has their reasons for being unable to show their face, and not all the time is it due to said person being evil. Perhaps you could show a little consideration, after all, there are people who suffer psychological and or physical damage." I said, my voice smooth and calm.


    "That is true. But as this is a matter of national importance, I am sorry to say that we must order your friend here to show his face." Oh, he''s pretty polite. This guy was the hero type! Actually, I felt he was more that faithful friend of the hero that ends up dying before the hero group reaches the demon king. How pitiful.


    "Then let me ask you, do you, no, does your church possess any enmity towards different races?"


    His chocolate brown eyes widened, probably having realized the reason behind my question. "No, do not worry, we serve Elmar. The church''s that discriminate against the other four races are only found in the 12 kingdoms and 31 duchies, and have been disbanded in the five empires."


    I nodded then turned around to face Ludan, having to look up since he was a good half a head taller than me. "And so he says. As we are currently under the ''truth'' spell, he does not lie."


    Ludan slipped his hand under the hood, slowly pulling it off. I could tell he was shaking ever so slightly. A wimp, despite being so strong. Whatever happened in his past must have scarred him badly. I didn''t feel pity though, since he should be able to overcome this fear by himself.


    "A daemon. No wonder why you kept your hood on. Although what I said was true, there are still many people scattered throughout the empires that continue to discriminate against your kind." Glenn said, nodding his head in understanding. Let me admire you some more Mr. Paladin, you are too cool right now.


    Ludan quickly pulled up his hood again. He''s too shy. I feel like I misunderstood him before, but now I knew that rather than an adult, he acted more like a young child. I couldn''t help but want to pamper him~


    "You may be dismissed."


    Ludan quickly turned around, but before he left, Glenn spoke. "You have a good friend." The bard glanced back, and it may just be my imagination, but it seemed like he blushed a bit, before going back to the fourth floor.


    "Now you must be wondering why you are here."


    No, I just want to leave. Why is it that everyone thinks I want to know stuff? It''s like cliche line #1 that everyone just has to say.


    "Because you are one of the people we are to protect, I will do you the courtesy of letting you know."


    Glenn stared at me sternly, making me straighten up my back upon reflex.


    "We were tracking the traces of the people who were in the summoner guild today, or more accurately, yesterday. You are one of those people. Although we know you were not the one who murdered the summoner, we would like for you to answer a few of our questions."


    I nodded, showing my cooperation. At this time, the blue haired woman stepped up as Glenn backed down with a short bow. The commander knight stared at me, her green eyes seemingly probing my soul for information.


    "Were you, or were you not, at the summoner guild on the fifth day of Sutei, year 667?" She asked.


    F-fifth day of Sutei? How am I supposed to know that? That''s yesterday, right?


    "Um, does that mean... yesterday...?" I couldn''t help but confirm.


    "Yes, it does." The woman answered me. Oh, she didn''t get angry or anything from my ignorance? Perhaps she isn''t all that bad.


    "Yes, I was at the summoner guild."


    "For what reason were you there?"


    "I wanted to learn summoning skills."


    "You have talent in magic?" Her gaze went sharp. You''re way too scary, you know?


    "Yes."


    She nodded, looking as if she made a mental note about it.


    "Who did you see while you were at the guild?"


    "Well... I don''t really remember the faces of anyone... there was probably the guild master...?"


    Since they were mauled beyond recognition, but among the corpses might have been the master. Probably.


    "But they were all members of the guild I think. Since from what I remember they were wearing magician''s robes."


    Yep, yep. Unless one of those corpses wasn''t actually from the summoner guild. I mean, you never know.


    "Did you see anyone you think might have been the killer? Anyone acting suspiciously?"


    Well, I doubt one of the corpses is your killer. Of course, neither would I have had seen anyone acting suspiciously since they were all dead.


    "Not that I can think of, no..."


    "Among the stolen items were several magic tools, gold, gems, and spell books. Have you ever seen any of these?"


    Spell books? I only have the two books from the guild master''s office, but only one of them is a skill book. And that means, singular, not plural.


    "I''m sorry, can you be more specific...? I mean, if you just say that then I''m sure I saw some lying around..."


    "There were recorded, ten spell books stolen. Of them, five were said to have been in the guild master''s room, and the other five in the downstairs lobby. A total of a thousand gold, 30 magic tools, and 19 gems were also found to be missing."


    ... I did not steal all of that, I swear. I only count three magic tools, fifty gold, and 8 gems in my inventory.


    "I can''t say I''ve seen all of those... I have probably seen a few when I was there, but..." I shrugged.


    "I see. We are thankful for your help. If you remember anything else, please come to the Church on the main West road."


    They left, leaving me a bit of room to relax, finally. Still, for the murderers to have gotten their hands on so much more than me... I got mildly pissed, having to compose myself before being able to head back to our room.


    Everyone was still up and looked to me when I entered the room.


    "So? Did you get in trouble?" Lennor asked, raising an eyebrow.


    "No, since I was at the summoner guild before the summoner had died, they were just asking me some questions." I said, and the leader let out a sigh of relief.


    "So you were there... no wonder why you looked so pale when I told you the news." She said, looking at me with a hint of pity.


    "Y-yeah."


    Although nothing can compare to a fresh dose of rotting and half eaten corpses after lunch.


    "Don''t sweat it! It isn''t like there was anything you could have done to prevent it." Leo said, probably in an attempt to cheer me up. He was a good guy, although a different type to Glenn-san.


    Lennor glanced outside. The dark of the night was graying - it was already dawn. I hadn''t even noticed how much time had passed.


    "Well, let''s go ahead and start practice. Luna can choose who she wants to be apprenticed under as well." Lennor said, getting up from her seat on the bed.


    "Weren''t you at the summoners guild? Perhaps you have some skill in magic?" Leo asked, a smirk on his face as if he said this with the expectation of being wrong.


    "? Yeah, I can use magic." I replied as if it was totally natural. I mean, isn''t it, though?


    They stared wide-eyed at me. "You have... enough mana to use the spells from one of the main five magic classes...?" Lucille asked, doubtful.


    "Um, is there something weird about that...?" I glanced around, but they all just continued to stare. I guess magic isn''t as common as I thought??


    "Weird? There are currently only a total of 1000 recorded mages in the entire country. Of course, not counting the forbidden necromancer class." Lennor said, shaking her head in astonishment. "And that''s out of the tens of millions of Astarne residents. Well, the Suisen and Mura Empires have far more mages than this country, but Isdan and Kaikush have about the same number."


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Oh~ I didn''t know that." I nodded, now understanding why they were so surprised. So, breaking that down, although magic seemed common enough to use for support classes such as bards and dancers, a person who had enough mana to be able to use the spells from the five main magic classes (summoners, elementalists, sorcerers, clerics, and necromancers) was pretty rare.


    Suddenly everyone (mainly Lennor, Leo, and Lucille) had sparkly eyes as they looked to me. "Show us magic~" they seemed to say.


    Even if you look at me like that... wait, this might be a good opportunity to summon my first familiar! From what I read amongst the items in the summoners guild, a summoner will possess one of three general affinities - Fairy, elemental, or demon affinity. This will determine what type of familiar they can summon, with fairies mostly as support, elementals as mostly magic damage, and demons as mostly physical damage.


    Frankly, the reason why summoners can also use elemental familiars, even though there existed an elementalist class, escaped me.


    In addition, unlike the four primary elements that elementals can be found in, fairies have several elements beyond that. Such as light and dark fairies, or nature fairies, etc. Long story short, fairies are a million times better. Even if they are mainly a support type, that suits me just fine.


    "Hmm, I might as well summon something then! Although it''ll be my first time..." I said, pulling up the skill window that only I could see.


    Active Skill:


    Summon


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    May summon a "familiar" class being of your general and elemental affinity


    After leveling this skill up, one may summon multiple familiars at once, and those outside of your affinities (with -10% decrease to skill effects as penalty)


    Mana cost will vary depending upon the familiar


    A magic circle was also in the information section, of which I already had a paper version of in my inventory. Somehow or another, the circle I took out looked slightly fancier, but it should do the same job, so it''ll be fine... probably.


    Everyone was looking at it with interest, except for Ludan. He had a small frown on his face as he stared at me from afar. Am I doing something wrong?


    I lay the paper down on the ground. Then with my hand over it....


    "?Summon?"


    I glowed with a white light, my clothes and hair beginning to float up as the runes on the sheet burst forward with the same white light.


    I then opened my eyes to a white world. A blue screen was in front of me.


    Invoking Summon Skill


    Large affinity to all subjects detected


    Which Familiar do you wish to Summon?


    Demon


    Fairy


    Elemental


    I pressed the fairy button. Three cheers for cute fairies!


    Large affinity to all elements detected


    What element of fairy do you wish to Summon?


    Light


    Dark


    Fire


    Water


    Earth


    Wind


    Other (please specify using a verbal command)


    Oh, I can even choose the element? This is pretty hard. I wanted a fancy element, but at the same time, since it was my first summon, I would be more comfortable sticking with a primary element.


    I chose water. Since I liked water (I mean, you can''t live without it...).


    Suddenly thousands of small pixie like creatures appeared, with skin colors anywhere from light and dark blue, to teal and turquoise, and sizes varying from super tiny to extra small, with the biggest (that I could see) being roughly half the length of my head.


    They are so freaking cute, what is this.


    I scanned the crowd for one that caught my eye. There it was. She was about the height of my palm (and my hands are pretty small), with translucent green-blue wings that flapped at the speed of a hummingbird''s. Her skin was a pale teal color, and her medium length bob was a dark emerald. Her clothes were also fascinating - they seemed to be made out of a leaf like substance. The leaves were a dark sapphire blue, and the veins a glowing rustic orange. She practically screamed magical being.


    Of course, the other fairies were also amazingly cute, but I just happened to like this one. After making my selection, the rest disappeared, leaving only the green haired fairy.


    She blinked, suddenly seeming to gain life.


    "Oh! It''s a human~ Nice to meet you!! My name is Khari!" Her voice was like silver bells, and she sounded like a cheery enough person.


    "My name is Luna. I''ll be your summoner from now on." I replied, circling her with a partially suppressed grin on my face.


    "Then let''s get to the contract. I will require [100 mana points] for each summon. I lowered it just for you, hehe."


    "Oh my, thank you for that then!"


    "Hmm, I have a bunch~ of skills. Of course, when I''m summoner you can use them all freely! My main job is to heal peeps. I can also purify, do minor attack spells, crowd control... blah blah blah." She ticked off each item on her fingers. "You know, the usual."


    "Alright, that sounds good." I said, nodding.


    Suddenly I was back in the hotel room, the whole lighting up business finished as Khari materialized above the circle.


    "It only took a few moments huh. How cool." Lennor commented.


    "R-really cute..." Mai stammered out, her voice so soft I almost didn''t hear her.


    "Hmm, so it''s a fairy type?" Leo commented, leaning in to get a better look.


    I spotted Ludan, whose mouth was in an O-shape as he stared at the fairy. "Ti-ti-titania??" He said, before realizing that he had spoken out loud and promptly shutting his mouth.


    "Titania?" Miki looked to Ludan as he titled his head slightly.


    The other troupe members didn''t seem to know what Titania was but in my previous world... it had been the "Queen of the Fae". Khari is? No, rather, how would Ludan know something like that?


    ... Then again, in general, Ludan was pretty mysterious. With his strength, I felt like I could trust it even if he pointed at an apple and claimed it was a pear.


    I don''t know what Titania meant here though, so it''s not like I could actually be completely confident that he meant the queen of fairies when he said that.


    Khari didn''t say anything, her smile unchanging, although I felt that that was more suspicious than anything else. Then again that just might be her personality.


    "Khari is a healing, water type fairy." I said, introducing her to the others.


    "Hmm, a healing fairy? That''s good. Lennor and Mihai can do a bit of healing, but it can''t compare to the spells from the main magic classes." Miki said, his ice blue eyes thoughtful.


    "If you can use magic though, it would be such a waste not to refine your skills as a mage. Instead of having one of us as your mentor, you should just focus on being a summoner." Lucille said.


    No! Wait! Even though I wanted to learn various things like bard skills, and be a super cool fire or blade dancer?!


    "Yes, yes, that''s true." Lennor nodded.


    Noooooooooo!!!


    My inner scream remained unheard as it was established that I would be the troupe''s exclusive summoner.


    "Well we can''t exactly help you during practice now, so just think of it as a free study period and go do whatever you summoners do." Lennor waved me off as we went to the practice area, which was a place of flat land by the inn''s stables.


    "Okay, see you then!" I immediately left. If they won''t teach me the skills then I''ll just have to head to the guild district again, while hoping that I won''t get caught up in any more trouble.


    I stopped when I reached the border of the area, glancing around. At times like these, I had a suspicion that I might be followed. Did anyone light up...? There.


    A man in commoners'' clothing was faintly glowing. He didn''t appear out of the ordinary, with bright orange hair and freckles. Okay, maybe he was a little out of the ordinary, but since this world was filled with wacky hair and eye colors, it looked perfectly normal.


    If you saw past his baggy tunic and pants, you would see he was actually pretty muscular. He was probably a paladin sent to watch me. Like this, I don''t think I would be able to go to the rogue or assassins guilds. Even any of the magic guilds might arouse suspicion. What a pain.


    I went ahead to the chefs guild, where I was granted the cooking skill and a shining kitchen knife. Then I decided on the alchemists guild, where I learned to make health and mana potions (as well as poisons and antidotes) and scored a beginner''s alchemy kit. I felt like go to any more places would be suspicious so... wow this was a serious pain in the neck.


    I didn''t want to escape from the guy because that might also make me look suspicious. Suspicious, suspicious, suspicious, everything was freaking suspicious.


    I decided to hell with it and went to the bards guild. I was surprisingly good with the flute, so the guild master gifted me with that. The skills I got were Music, Flute Mastery, Singing, and Storytelling. Quite a few.


    The acrobats guild didn''t have many people in it since apparently the majority of them go off to travel the world (then again, shouldn''t it be the same with the bard and dancers guild?). I got throwing knives, a ball, and ribbons. Free stuff is always good. The last two sort of reminded me of rhythmic gymnastics, so I would love to try it out later. I generated the Balance stat and obtained the Throwing Knives Mastery skill, as well as Gymnastics, Air Maneuverability, and Juggling.


    My "to hell with it" attitude finally died down by then, and I regained my bearings, letting it go for the day. I was already tired and worn out from learning all those skills, so I should leave it until tomorrow. I went back to the inn, ready to have Khari help me conjure up a fatigue regenerating bath. Who says I can''t use fairies like that? Isn''t that what they''re for? No? Well now they are!


    -----


    The orange haired man was kneeling before his captain and lieutenant. Both Yizak and Glenn had on severe expressions. Their creed was innocent until proven guilty, but even after their discussion with the silver haired woman, they had yet to lift their suspicions against her. She had, according to the truth spell, not told them a single lie, and yet they just could not believe it.


    After all, she was the only person who they had been able to track down that had been at the summoners guild on that day. All the others had seemed to have simply disappeared. It was no wonder why they were suspicious. At the same time, they were protecting the woman so that she wouldn''t suffer the same fate as the others.


    "Report." Yizak said.


    "Yes. Upon leaving the Gold Phoenix slightly after dawn, the target journeyed to the Guild District. After glancing around, she went to the chefs guild, then to the alchemists, bards, and acrobats guilds respectively. She spent no more than a half hour at each location before leaving."


    "Hmm, well, she is in an entertainment troupe, so I find nothing wrong with visiting those guilds. It''s said that the Blue Birds are one of the few troupes that have craftsmen as well..." Glenn said, stroking his chin. He hadn''t shaved in a few days, but that only added to his mature charm.


    "What is she doing at all of them, though? No man can hope to use the skills from even one of those guilds without long and difficult training, yet she headed to four of them within two hours." Yizak muttered, thinking aloud.


    "Perhaps she was just testing the waters, finding what she really wants to do." Glenn shrugged, ever the optimist.


    "Hmph. What was her name?" Yizak glanced at the orange haired boy, who had written up the report.


    "Yes, from my investigation she is known as Luna. I have been unable to discover her last name, if she possesses one at all."


    "Luna, is it? I''ll remember that. Continue with your investigation." The captain dismissed the knight, who left after saluting both of them.


    Once he was gone, the two could talk freely.


    "What do you think?" Yizak asked from her seat at the wooden table before them.


    "Hmm? Just like what I said earlier." Glenn answered, his smile unwavering.


    "Humph, still the same bullshit as ever. If you were so kind then you would have joined the church of Riion or Mirelle." Yizak tapped her finger on the table, her eyes glaring at the wavy-haired guy.


    "What are you talking about? The God of peace is a great deity to serve."


    Yizak snorted.


    "Well, unlike you, I do so believe that she might have been able to escape our lie detection spell. Either that, or perhaps she knows something we don''t, and can not, or will not, divulge that information. Something my questions hadn''t covered." She said, staring into the distance with narrowed eyes.


    "Hmm, do you think that might be the reason she''s been visiting so many guilds?" Glenn asked.


    "Perhaps. But who knows. I''ve put in a request to the church for a high ranking sorcerer. He should be here before the city lockdown is lifted. We can question her then."


    Glenn nodded. He then sighed. "For even a young girl like her to have to go through this..." he shook his head, but his eyes were emotionless. Discerning the paladin''s thoughts were near impossible.


    "Hmph. All is for our God." Yizak responded, her brows forming a V-shape.


    -----


    "That hooded guy. He''s a summoner isn''t he?" Khari asked me, currently floating upside down in front of my face. We were in our room at the inn, the troupe doing rehearsals outside today as well, while I was doing some more ''self-study''.


    "Is he?" I glanced out the window where I could see his robed figure.


    Seir Ludan


    ??? Lv.??? | Summoner Lv.???


    | Voice of Silver | Weaver of A Thousand Tales | Nightingale | Blood stained | Shy | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |


    I could see a little more, and I felt like the number of titles also increased by one. The levels were still hidden, but I wasn''t sure why the first class was still unknown. Was he not just a bard? Mysterious, very mysterious.


    "He called you Titania right? What does that mean?" I asked, looking back to the pixie.


    "Oh, that? It''s a title given to the strongest fairy among their element. The male fairies are Oron." Khari answered.


    It''s not Oberon?


    "Eh, you were that amazing?!" I stared at her. No, rather than that, a healing type of fairy to become the strongest... could I have gotten a super amazing familiar?


    "Fufufu, well, I can''t say I''m that good though, since my combat capabilities are lacking compared to the other elements. Although I have better offensive capabilities than the light fairies, they also have their ''absolute defense''." Khari said.


    "? But doesn''t water have something like an ''absolute reflection'' skill?" I felt it was a type of spell from my old memories. Khari stared at me.


    "That''s genius!" She exclaimed, before falling deep into thought as she muttered to herself.


    I guess there didn''t exist that type of skill here...


    "Oh right, Khari, have you heard of the ''City of a Thousand Lanterns''?" I asked, remembering how Ludan said it was located in the spirit world.


    "Oh. You mean Xan?" She glanced up as she turned herself right side up.


    "I don''t know it''s name, but I guess that''s it." I answered.


    "Well," she cleared her throat and my ears perked up. She looked like she was preparing to tell a long story. "I''d say roughly half a millennium ago, the scholars of Shudeir were able to complete a certain spell, that transported Xan to the spirit world. Or more accurately, the space where the fairy, elemental, and demon worlds meet.


    "No human was able to withstand the forced teleportation, and they all evaporated during the process. The spell had torn open a gap in the dimensions, and so the three rulers of the spirit worlds came together and formed a gate to close the tear, of which they locked with a certain key made from the powers of the three kings. Since then, the key was placed in the care of the worlds on rotation. I would say about 12 years ago, while it was in the hands of the elementals, it got stolen by a certain summoner. Since then, we haven''t seen it.


    "Anyone who has the key will be able to travel to the spirit world freely, but it''s dangerous because if they aren''t contracted to a spirit familiar, they will be unable to handle the journey. I hear that if you''ve passed a certain point in training, you''ll be able to just barely survive though. If you''ve been granted protection from one of the three races, you can also make it. Oh, and-"


    ... Khari-chan, aren''t there too many loopholes? But to think the story was so different from Ludan''s...


    "Khari, I''m wondering, is that key... something like this...?" I took out the silver key in my possession.


    "Ohh, yeah! It should look just like...that..." Her eyes bulged out. "Ehhh?!"


    Sir summoner dude, you should have hidden this treasure a little bit better...


    "I borrowed it. From a dead guy." I said, coughing in embarrassment.


    Khari gasped. "So you kill-"


    "What, no! He was already dead!"


    "Ah, I see. Well, it would have been fine even if you had killed him." Khari said with a shrug. This girl (fairy) is even worse than me!


    "So it really is the right key... who knows what will happen if someone finds out I have it..." I muttered, storing the thing away before anything bad happened.


    "Then just give it to me." Khari said, her eyes wide as if this was the obvious approach to the problem. It was. So I decided to hand it over. I felt much lighter now that that had been taken care of. I didn''t just push the mess under the rug, not at all.


    "Well to be honest, even if you had used it, you probably wouldn''t have survived. The spirit world is pretty dangerous after all. Let''s see... the red-haired daemon would probably live. Anyone weaker than him and I would doubt their survival rate."


    I shuddered. I am glad I didn''t use it. Or look at it for longer than two seconds. That key suddenly seemed rather menacing.


    "Oh, but since Xan has the kingdom treasury, there would probably be quite a few high ranking humans who would try to get this in their hands."


    D-did someone say royal treasury??


    "What are the chances of surviving if Ludan comes with me...?"


    "I''d say about 8 in 10. Why?"


    Eighty percent? Th-that''s not bad at all. No, no, no, calm yourself Luna Silverwing. You have already decided to give the key to your familiar.


    I took out the key, my hand slowly going out to the teal skinned fairy. It shook as I paused, struggling. Then the pixie snatched it away, pocketing the thing into a dimensional storage pouch. Ahhhh, my treasure!! I sobbed violently, as if Khari had shaved off a part of my soul when she had taken the key.


    "Luna is such a good person, the spirit world will definitely reward you for this good deed!"


    I cheered up. Khari left, and I decided I would ask her if I could visit the spirit world once I got strong enough. It seemed like an interesting enough place. On a side note, I am really hungry for some meat. Meat, meat, meat~


    -----


    The man kneeling before Yuzak and Glenn was not the orange haired one, but instead had dirty blond hair that reached his shoulders.


    "Of the troupe members, only seven knew Luna Silverwing by name. Five of them, including the troupe leader and daemon, expressed concern for her wellbeing, while I was unable to talk to one, and the other refused to say anything else."


    Yizak glanced away from her papers to the middle-aged knight. "Continue."


    "Luna Silverwing had just recently joined the troupe. Only the troupe leader seems to know the actual reason for her decision, but she refuses to disclose the information without the target''s permission. Aside from that, it is unknown what the target had done before joining the Blue Birds."


    "I see. And did you find out what she was doing on the fifth?"


    "Yes. When interrogating the guilds, I have discovered that she also went to the dancers and warriors guilds on that day. According to all the guild masters she had visited, her speed and ability in learning skills was unprecedented. Every one of them have proclaimed her a once in a century genius."


    "Hoh? This is near unbelievable. They all claim she''s a genius...?" Glenn shook his head, in disbelief.


    "No. I believe it." Yizak said, standing. "Let us pay Luna Silverwing another visit. Call the sorcerer."


    -----


    "Again?" I stared at the plain faced paladin, the chicken in my mouth half chewed as I spoke.


    "Yes. Commander Yizak and Lieutenant Glenn wish to see you." The man said, and I gulped down my food, standing up. I followed him to where the two were standing outside the inn''s entrance. Aside from those two, there was another man, whom shocked me.


    He wore deep purple robes trimmed in silver, looking like a mage. I would peg him at around 25 or so, his gray eyes hidden under circular lenses. With his unkempt gold hair, he definitely looked like your average scholar.


    Laurence Nuel


    Sorcerer Lv. 14


    | Otherworlder | Revolutionary | Mad Scientist |


    "Laurence!" I said, causing him to look up. His eyes widened.


    "Do you two know each other?" Glenn asked, glancing to the sorcerer, then back at me.


    "... yes, Luna is an old friend. I never thought I would meet her here." He said, pushing up his glasses.


    "You didn''t seem to recognize her when you read the report though?" Yizak said, clearly suspicious.


    "Yes. I never would have expected for her to be here, so I didn''t associate her with the target." His follow-up was smooth. Nice! I like the guy already. I felt like I liked a lot of people, way too easily, but I''m just full of love like that so it''s okay.


    "I see." Yizak left it be.


    "But still, you''re part of the church? I didn''t expect that of you." I said. A mad scientist, as a member of the church? Wouldn''t expect that at all.


    "Oh no, we''re just in a mutually beneficial relationship," Laurence answered, a smirk on his face. He looked just a little evil at that moment.


    "Ah, now that''s what I expected."


    "Pardon for interrupting, but we should get down to business," Glenn said.


    "Ah, right, of course." Laurence backed off with a slight dip of his head.


    "We have investigated your actions in this last couple of days. From what we have learned, you have visited a total if seven guilds, including the summoner guild. From the statements we have taken from the respective guild masters, we have learned that you have learned the skills for the classes of the guilds you visited. Is this or is this not true? Please keep in mind that we are currently under the ''truth'' spell." Yizak said.


    "? It''s true." I answered. I mean, in the first place, learning skills was way too easy. When taught a skill, a small percent bar will pop up, and once it finishes loading, I would have successfully learned the skill. I didn''t even have to pay attention or anything. Then there were skill books, where all I had to do was press the "Yes" button.


    The two stared at me.


    "Hahaha," Laurence suddenly began to laugh. "Is that all? Then that actually has a pretty simple explanation. Although genius has no explanation, in this case it''s pretty easy."


    The three of us turned to look at him. I would like to know too.


    "Luna and I are actually members of the same clan."


    Aha, the "clan" he was talking about most likely meant us "otherworlders". That was pretty clever.


    "You''ve received reports on us, haven''t you?" He pointedly looked to the female knight. She nodded. It seemed like Glenn hadn''t though, as he looked to her.


    "The Heaven''s Sky clan is not a blood-related family but instead consists almost solely of adopted children. All of them, without question, are unrivaled prodigies. It''s said that anyone from the Kikue assassins to the new Suisen General are members of this family." Yizak explained.


    Hold on, this wasn''t just bullshit that Laurence had taken out of his butt?


    Laurence''s voice then spoke directly into my head, giving me a start. Oh yeah, weren''t sorcerers pretty much espers?


    ''The Heaven''s Sky Clan was created by an otherworlder for otherworlders. I think we have about ten members, with who knows how many more like us out there. Let me send you an invitation.''


    A window popped up, and I accepted. At that moment, Laurence''s name turned green, and I could see the words "Heaven''s Sky Clan" beneath his class''s and level.


    Another window also came up, containing several names, of which I glanced through.


    Heaven''s Sky Member List


    Roland Ashborne


    Killian Drakeherr


    Ciara Fiorrai


    Ian Greyhawk


    Yun Hua


    Isolde Myllen


    Rafiq Nioie


    Laurence Nuel


    Luna Silverwing


    Electra Trish


    Saskia Victori


    Galen Zenshar


    Wait, Yun??

 Chapter 4 - Dance, Winds of Change

    "... If you are indeed a member of Heaven''s Sky..." Yizak glanced between me and Laurence. She appeared doubtful, but at the time seemed to have consigned to the fact. "Then we will withdraw for now. Nuel, I presume you wish to catch up with your ''old friend''?"


    Laurence nodded.


    "Then please do so. I will be reporting this to the palace and church as well. Until later, then." Yizak and Glenn left, leaving me with my so called "relative". I didn''t actually know him though.


    "So, ''old friend'', shall we grab a drink inside?" The golden haired sorcerer said with a saucy wink.


    "I am all for some ale," I answered.


    "What? You look underaged, no can do." He said as we walked into the inn.


    "Underaged? Excuse me, I don''t even know how old I am so it''s okay. In the first place, the legal drinking age of this world is zero, zero you know?" I argued.


    "Well in my country it was 18."


    "Haven''t you hear the phrase legal loli? I could be in my 40s for all you know."


    "??? Legal loli?" He had a look of confusion on his face.


    How do I explain this? I should have known that this scholar type of person wouldn''t know the meaning of those words.


    "Um, someone who looks like a small child but is actually of legal age."


    "Huh, is that so...? Well, I guess that could happen."


    We soon reached the table where the troupe members were seated at.


    "Lennor-san!" I called, and she looked to me, curiosity on her face.


    "What did the paladin want from you again?" She asked.


    "Nothing much, oh, but meet Laurence here. He''s a sorcerer that came with them, but coincidentally we''re from the same family." I said, gesturing to him.


    "Hoh? I guess magic is a thing that runs in blood after all. Well, sorcerer or not, any family of our troupe''s members are welcome." Lennor then got the attention of everyone else. "Today we celebrate! We''ve got a sorcerer and summoner in our midst, men! Prepare the ale!"


    Is that something to celebrate though? Plus, I mean, Ludan is a summoner too...


    When we finally finished, I was exhausted, and taking a rest in the garden with Laurence. At that moment, I remembered the important question I needed to ask!


    "Laurence!" I said, making him jump up a bit before calming down and looking at me.


    "What is it?" He asked as he pushed up his spectacles.


    "Do you know Yun?" I stared at him in expectation. Yun, the handsome blue-eyed man who had totally ignored the beautiful and amazing moi. Also, the first otherworlder I had met in this world. It would be a lie if I said I wasn''t curious about what he was up to right now.


    "Hmm? That guy? The captain mentioned him you know. There are quite a number of rumors floating around. The ''Youngest General in Suisen''s History'', the ''First Lightning Elementalist'', ''Storm Dancer of a Thousand Blades'', ''Thunder Beast'', etc. Etc. Even among us otherworlders, it can be said that he''s a top ranking combat genius." What Laurence said slightly confused me.


    "Is he an elementalist or a swordsman?" I asked, then I recalled that he could be both. Brain fart.


    "I think he was something like Storm Dancer. One of those super rare hidden classes. It seems that others have mistook him as having a swordsman class plus an elementalist subclass. Hence the ''first lightning elementalist'' deal." The sorcerer answered, and I nodded. I had also thought that for a moment. But super rare hidden classes, huh? My own class is probably something like that isn''t it...


    "That being said, don''t you have a hidden class as well? I''ve never heard of someone being able to learn all the skills before." Laurence said, his eyes suddenly becoming sharp.


    People can''t learn all the skills? I didn''t know that. I didn''t know that, I swear. Inwardly, I sobbed, just a bit.


    "What are you talking about~ I just, um, have this deception skill you know-" I tried to worm my way out of it.


    "Are you trying to lie to your family?"


    "Bullshit, when were you one of my family."


    "Clan, family, it''s basically the same thing, right?"


    "Uuuuu, I guess that''s true. Fine, fine. But just between us alright?"


    "You got it. But no promises that I won''t tell our ''family'' if they ever ask."


    "Alright. I have a ''polymath'' class. I get plusses to every skill I learn, no class restrictions whatsoever." I said, scratching my head.


    "What?! That''s practically cheating!! Here we only get two classes, and you''re saying you practically have all of them?" He complained, a little bit too loudly.


    "Quiet down!" I snapped. "This is why I didn''t wanna say. I thought everyone could learn all the skills and that I just got bonuses for doing so..."


    "Then that would just be too overpowered. How did you get that class anyways??" He looked at me curiously.


    "Some former king or duke guy gave it to me as thanks. He served a council in this place called the Kingdom of Seven Stars, or something."


    "What?? That legendary country?!"


    Are all fallen kingdoms legendary or something. They won''t just be satisfied with the Kingdom of Sages, you got to have fancy fallen democratic kingdoms too.


    "Err, maybe...?"


    "Ahh, ahh, I wish I got the luck you have."


    Luck, huh? Now that I think about it, isn''t the reason I''m so lucky because of my passive title, which pretty much increase my luck? Or rewards, or whatever. It was along those lines.


    "Well, don''t they say that truly great people make their own luck?"


    "That''s true! Just watch me, I''ll show you what this old man can do!"


    ... What? Old... man...?? Ehhhh, even though you don''t look any older than 20?!


    I repeated that out loud and he looked at me.


    "Didn''t you know that they change everyone''s age and appearance? The races are also randomized, at least according to Isolde. We all pretty much end up beautiful though. For the record, I''m actually in my sixties if I remember right."


    "Wait, then why did you say I couldn''t drink ale?"


    "Ahahaha, it was a habit, a habit."


    "..."


    I sighed, giving up. We registered as friends before he left to go back to the church. I spent a little more time outside, deciding to summon Khari. No circle needed, since that was actually just a show for the crowd. It had even said in the skill description that otherworlders just needed to use the verbal incantation "Summon" in order to conjure up one''s familiar. OPness has been acknowledged.


    Khari appeared, her usual smile on her cute and tiny face. "Yes~ Khari at your service!"


    So cuteeeeeee~


    I rubbed my cheek against her, making her giggle. Letting go, I coughed and regained some semblance of elegance. Not really.


    "So, I was wondering, how strong do I need to be to survive the spirit world?" I asked, turning my lavender eyes on her.


    "The spirit world? Well, I would say... if you''re going by yourself, then [Level 20] should be fine. Oh, but if you go with the summoner boy, [ Level 15] would be okay in order to increase your survival rate to 100%."


    I am still level seven right now (since I hadn''t gotten any quests or anything after I came to this city), so that meant increasing my level by 13. Or 8, if I convinced Ludan to come with me.


    First thing''s first would be...


    "Can I go to the spirit world?"


    Even though the silver key had already gone to Khari, I still had hope.


    "What, it was only something like that?" Khari laughed.


    What, is my question that funny? I mean, I don''t think I''m that funny of a person... in the first place, what''s there to laugh about?


    "The thing is, the kings had wanted to invite you in the first place, so the answer is yes, you can go. To be honest, I think they said something along the lines of ''even though it''s such a weak and greedy human, we should thank it since it went through a lot of trouble, even giving up the key. Perhaps their race has some virtue after all''."


    Well, excuse me for being a weak and greedy human that got the important key you just happened to lose. I''ll show them.


    "Khari, forgive me, but tell them I can''t go until I''ve become stronger."


    "Eh? I think you''re fine right now though. Since they said to give you the ''Fairy''s Blessing''."


    "No, that''s not the point!" This is a matter of my pride right here!


    "E-eh? It isn''t?"


    I shook my head. "Nope."


    "If you say so..." She looked like she didn''t get it, but that''s okay. Since I''m just a weak and greedy human after all.


    All fired up, I went back to my room. Only Ludan was inside, the others probably still drinking and partying hard. Still in the throes of passion, I pushed him do- no, that''s the wrong type of passion.


    Anyways, what I really did was go up to him, grab his shoulders, and stare straight into his startled golden eyes.


    "Seir Ludan."


    "Y-yes?"


    Wow, now that I get a good closeup of him, this guy is way too beautiful. His fair skin is smooth like a baby''s, and his eyelashes were long, framing his almond shaped eyes. Hiding these eyes, that glittered seductively in the light of the candles, with his bangs was just a pity.


    Ah, I''m getting distracted.


    "Seir, please teach me your summoner skills."


    "How did you know I was-"


    "Never mind that, just teach them to me!"


    He fell silent. Was I being too forceful?


    "Fine. But first..."


    "Yeah?"


    "An unmarried girl shouldn''t be..." He blushed.


    ...


    I let go. Which one of us is the unmarried girl again? It''s me right? IT''S ME RIGHT?


    "Anyways, how did you know I was a summoner?" He said, coughing as he regained his composure, arranging his robes so that he looked a little more presentable.


    "Oh, Khari told me." I sat down in front of him, my feet under my bottom. It was the position that people in Japanese dojos sat in, although I don''t know why that was the first example that came to mind.


    "Ah, I should have known..." He muttered, sighing. "From what I''ve seen, you don''t need to learn anything more though."


    "Why not?" I tilted my head in confusion. It was true that I had learned the skills in the instructor''s center, but that couldn''t have been all that I needed to learn was it?


    "You know the circle you used for Khari''s summoning?"


    I nodded, taking it out.


    "It looks similar enough to trick a beginner magician, or a commoner" - like me? Beginner magician here you know - "but it''s actually a circle for summoning a celestial being. In other words, a more powerful version of normal familiars. When you invoked the spell, it looked like you were using it properly, but the flow of magic was all wrong. In the end, you summoned a normal, if not high ranking, fairy. From this, I can infer that you''re powerful enough to not use a summoning circle. Yet, despite not using a circle, you were still able to contract with a familiar of Titiania rank. Plus, to have that high class magic circle means that you are most likely a summoner of greater strength than I." He took a sip of water from the cup next to him.


    "Eh, I''m a beginner though."


    Wahh, what a beautiful rainbow... is what I thought as he spit out his drink, coughing violently while choking a bit.


    "W-w-what? A beginner??" He said after he finally stopped dying.


    "Yeah. I learned those skills on the day I met you. The summoner circle is something I sto- ahem, borrowed from someone." I was about to be a little bit too honest there.


    "I-i see. You have amazing talent. Even though it took me so many years to reach the point of..." The last sentence was mumbled and I could barely hear it, but I detected a hint of envy and anger in there. Only a hint though.


    "Well since it''s like that, let me ask, what summoner spells do you know?"


    "Hmm~~" I pulled up my skill list. There weren''t that many summoning skills, since those murderers had snatched the good ones (at least I assume they were the good ones) beforehand.


    Stolen story; please report.


    "Summon, Guardian Contract, Slave Contract, Soul Bond, Shattered Chains, Guardian''s Heart... and that''s it."


    Active Skill:


    Guardian Contract


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Costs 5 levels


    Can only have one Guardian Beast at any point in time (will increase up in leveling the skill)


    The familiar who has become your guardian may be summoned without the use of mana and can stay in the physical realm for an infinite amount of time. Can only be used when the familiar has granted their consent.


    Active Skill:


    Slave Contract


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Costs 50 levels


    Can bind a familiar so that they will be forced into the "Guardian Beast" status even without their consent.


    Active Skill:


    Soul Bond


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Costs 500 MP


    May cast any of the familiar''s Beginner Level skills without the use of mana within 5 seconds.


    Active Skill:


    Shattered Chains


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Cost 1 familiar and 30% of your current health


    By breaking the contract between yourself and your familiar, you may automatically regenerate 20% of your mana in order to cast any one skill that is one rank higher than the rank of this skill that any one of your currently contracted familiars possesses.


    Active Skill:


    Guardian''s Heart


    Beginner¡¯s Lv.1


    Restricted to Guardians


    Costs 1 Guardian


    In exchange for the contract between yourself, and one of your guardians, you may automatically regenerate 50% of your health and mana.


    I felt that, despite being only beginner level one, they sounded pretty powerful...? Or rather, the costs are too high! Some of them had that last resort ultimate skill type of feel, which made me wonder if the murderer had actually only taken the good skill books. If he did, how powerful were those skills...


    "Those skills... why do you have those skills?" The bard looked at me in astonishment.


    "Eh? It''s weird?" I tilted my head. Although they were the last attack sort of spell (at least some of them were), I thought they sounded like skills any summoner should have.


    "Yes, it''s weird! Those are all class B skills! I mean, I have them too, but those aren''t something a beginner summoner should have." He said. Class B? Only sounds second rate. Does that mean the murderer stole nine class A, or wait, even class S books? Or something.


    "Is that so?"


    "Yes! Spells are ranked from class F to A, and then as S, SS, and SSS. I would say, roughly 20% of mages know class B spells, and 5% know class A, 2% know class S, 1% class SS, and only 0.001% know class SSS spells. That''s out of all the professional mages in the five empires."


    Twenty percent, huh? Meh...it''s only okay.


    "Hmm, well I just temporarily sneaked a peak in some spell books I found lying around." I laughed, embarrassed. But Ludan is amazing like I thought! He''s part of the 5%~


    "..." He let out a long and deep sigh. "I''ll teach you some class A spells... but this is only because I appreciate you standing up for me the other day."


    "Oh, then can you teach me your other class skills in the process?"


    He looked as if he''s given up on life. The eyes of a dead fish, or something like that. Don''t be like that Ludan! I''ll share some of my treasure with you so you can appreciate the beauties and riches (literally) of life!


    "I only know three class A skills, but this is actually impressive considering that half of the 5% I mentioned earlier will only be in possession of one class A spell."


    I nodded, making sure I looked like a good little student. Even though I wouldn''t really be paying attention while learning. All that stuff goes over my head anyways, and it''s fine since even if I don''t listen I can still learn the skill.


    "The first spell is called ''Spells of the Holy Sacrifice''. Basically, what happens is that by sacrificing your familiar, blah blah blah will happen, which results in being able to cast one of the three holy spells of the racial elemental pair, doing blah blah blah, and etc. Etc."


    Of course, he didn''t actually say blah blah blah, and etc. Etc. But that''s what it sounded like to me. I just suppressed a yawn as I watched the loading bar fill up.


    *Tting*


    ?You have successfully learned the skill "Spells of the Holy Sacrifice"!?


    I swiped away the skill window since even though I wasn''t paying complete attention to him, I did catch the basic explanation if the spell''s practical application.


    "The second skill is ''Starry Night in Silence''. This is actually restricted to a dark fairy familiar, which is my main familiar. There is a class A spell for each type of familiar, so it would probably be better for you to just wait and learn the water fairy spells..."


    "Nope, continue!"


    He sighed. "Are you even learning this properly?"


    "Mm, yeah, probably."


    "Probably...?"


    I continued to stare at him wide eyed until he started to explain again.


    "''Starry Night in Silence'' is a spell that makes use of your familiar''s power to invoke itself. Like I said before, there is a separate spell for each type of familiar. The way it works is blah blah something I didn''t understand, more blah blah blah stuff and what happens is that the area surrounding you is completely enshrouded in darkness and your power will be increased while every ally and yourself are granted maximum stealth and night vision, etc."


    I made it my decision to contract a darkness type fairy next.


    "The third spell is ''Bonds Under Heaven''s Skies''. You can temporarily contract any friend of yours under the same sky as your familiar and use any one of their skills, yada yada yada, something or another or whatever."


    This would be useful to me until I reached the point where I had learned every skill under this wide open world~ But that probably wouldn''t happen anytime soon, if ever.


    "Thanks for the knowledge~" I clapped my hands together as if in prayer.


    Ludan sighed, mumbling to himself gloomily. "She can''t actually have learned it properly from just now did she, all my hard work, this is why geniuses are..."


    "Now, what''s your primary class?"


    "... it''s bard."


    "No, it isn''t."


    If it was that simple it would have already revealed itself.


    "Fine. I am actually a... ''Daemon of the Four Songs''. Or more accurately, a ''Bard of Shadows''."


    I took a glance slightly upwards.


    Seir Ludan


    Bard of Shadows Lv.??? | Summoner Lv.???


    | Voice of Silver | Weaver of A Thousand Tales | Nightingale | Blood Stained | Shy | Daemon of the Four Songs | Minstrel of the New Moon | ??? | ???|


    Now there were only two hidden titles left. What''s the difference between a minstrel and a bard though? I asked Ludan.


    "? Why are you curious? A minstrel is a singer and a bard is a storyteller, though." Even though he said something like that at first, he still answered my question. But if it''s like that then what would you be if you''re both? I asked the question aloud.


    "There''s no real term, but if I had to say, it would be a jongleur or a jester."


    Hmm... is that so? I''ve learned much today (although that whole stuff was mostly useless knowledge). Now that I think about it, isn''t it fine if the world just came up with an entirely new term to classify someone who''s both a bard and a minstrel?


    *Tting*


    ?System Update! Those under the classification of both bard and minstrel have been given the new class of "Barstrel"?


    OIIIIIIIIIII WHAT IS WITH THAT UNBELIEVABLY LAZY NAMING RIGHT THERE!!! No words could describe how hard I tsukkomi''d at that moment.


    Ludan-san forgive me your class name has turned into something lame, may god bless all the poor men and women who must carry this "Barstrel" title for the rest of their lives.


    Or rather, if you''re gonna be that lazy just keep it as bard!


    *Tting*


    ?System update! Those under the classification of both bard and minstrel shall remain as "Bards"?


    Phew, that was close. But still. Even though I should be used to it by now, having my thoughts invaded by the world makes me feel quite awkward.


    It makes me wonder if they listen to my inner thoughts during the time I shipped Miki and Leo, or when I drooled over so and so, or when I stripp- yeah let''s not go there. As a pure maiden of innocence and virtue, I totally don''t have those sort of thoughts about the beautiful men and women of the world. Totally don''t.


    "The basics of my class are- are you even listening?" Ludan waved a hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my thoughts.


    "Yes, I am. What''s the difference between your class and the normal Bard class?" I asked.


    "If you were really listening then... never mind. The difference is that I am specifically a dark elemental bard. This is actually a class advancement that resulted from my daemon blood and dark fairy affinity. It basically means that my songs are more powerful at night, or when the shadows are stronger. Additionally, my debuffs have greater effects than my buffs, since the majority of a bard''s buffs rely on their light or nature affinity."


    "What? Wouldn''t that mean that there''s a different type of bard for every elemental affinity?"


    "It depends on how high your affinity is... high elemental affinity is pretty much equivalent to a high mana pool, so the majority of those with a good enough elemental affinity to receive a special class advancement would only be in possession of one of the five main magic classes in the first place. Take me for example. My dark affinity is great enough for me to have become a necromancer, but since I had decided to take on the bard class, it automatically changed itself to suit my magic constitution."


    A lot of those words sort of went over my head but that''s okay~


    He would only teach me one skill, because according to him since my affinity is water I wouldn''t be able to learn half of his bard skills anyways. Even though I remember having something like affinity to all elements...


    Active Skill:


    Song of Ice and Shadow


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Requires High affinity to either Dark or Water element


    Costs 300 Mana


    Temporarily immobilize or slow down enemies with ice while decreasing the accuracy of their attacks by blinding them. Lasts 10-15 seconds.


    Did he teach this to me because of my water affinity? In the first place, I actually think Ice is a slightly different category than Water (even though it''s pretty much the same thing). I do know, at the least, that Khari is unable to use any ice spells. We''re restricted solely to water spells.


    Well, either way, I took the skill gratefully, leaving Ludan be. I went downstairs, to find all the troupe members sprawled across the dining room in an undignified manner, their faces red from drinking too much. Here we are in a prestigious hotel that even nobles and royals come to, yet they''re...


    I joined them. Let''s sleep until noon, yeah!!


    -----


    The man glanced at a blue window before him. It had a list of twelve names on it. "Luna...?" He muttered, his cold blue eyes staring at the white name emotionlessly.


    His hand rested onto the hilt of his katana.


    "General, it''s time." A feminine looking man with a soft voice said, his peaceful smile partially hidden by his fan.


    He looked up, dismissing the window with a swipe of his hand. Suddenly the aura around him grew dark. It was an aura that could kill. The soldiers before him all cowered, taking a few steps backward, unable to handle his oppressive blood lust.


    "Let''s go."


    ~~~~~


    Sorry for the information dump, I tried to lighten it up with some humor though so forgive me. To be honest, I wanted to spice up the story with some action this chapter but once I started writing it turned into the opposite pretty much hahaha. Anyways I hoped you guys enjoyed it please look forward to chapter five.

 Chapter 5 - The Endless Sky

    I got pretty sick, with various other things happening, and so ended up with such a long hiatus D: Sorry for not giving any notices, and not releasing any chapters or anything ;^; I hope you guys will forgive me and continue reading (if you''re still here) QwQ~ Here''s my first chapter in ages. My style probably has changed, and I don''t know if my humor is as good as before... anyways, critiques and comments are welcome as always. Please enjoy u.u


    ~~~~~


    I stared up at the sky. ¡°It¡¯s wide~¡± I said, as the blueness stretched as far as the eye could see.


    ¡°What is?¡± Ludan looked at me, his eyes hidden underneath his usual hood. Although I got the feeling he was wearing a different cloak and robe from usual. It was probably a bit more sparkly? Oh well.


    ¡°The sky.¡± I said with a smile, tugging down my hat as I looked to him. We were currently with the troupe as we traveled to the palace to perform for the second prince.


    The daemon looked up. ¡°There aren¡¯t any clouds¡­¡± He muttered.


    ¡°None, huh~¡± I answered.


    ¡°What are you two doing? Hurry up!¡± Lennor called from behind, her outfit jingling with every step. Even the troupe leader was all dressed up. I looked down at my own outfit. It was fairly modest. I nodded. It was only fitting for a pure and beautiful maiden like myself.


    I jogged to keep up with the rest of the group, and we arrive, caravans and all, at the palace gates. Guards stopped us in our place. They were similarly dressed to the guards at the Gold Phoenix, with their mostly bare chests. Showing off your abs, ooh la la. Well, granted, it was to be expected considering the heat.


    ¡°So what¡¯s this second prince like?¡± I asked Ludan, who paused for a second to think.


    One second passed.


    Another.


    A few minutes later.


    ¡°Lu- Mihai??¡± I waved my hand before him. He was still in a thoughtful pose as we had finished getting pat down by the guards. Having already entered the palace grounds, he still hadn¡¯t answered my question.


    ¡°A weirdo.¡± He finally said, nodding in affirmation to his own words.


    ¡°A¡­ weirdo¡­?¡± I tried to imagine it. A fat pig of a prince wearing a leather corset while whipping a poor maid. Or a fat pig of a prince in ropes and being whipped. I stopped myself from going further. Just thinking about it made me feel like my purity was being tainted.


    Flash forward to the throne room, as we kneeled down before the King, Queen, and the princes and princesses of the country.


    ¡­ They were all beautiful. What? What¡¯s with this? Are they reinforcing the stereotype that royalty are all beautiful? Or rather, I was expecting ugly and spoiled brats. No, they may be ugly and spoiled brats on the inside. On the outside though, they literally, and when I say literally, I mean LITERALLY, sparkled. Can such sparkly people even exist?!


    The rap- I mean, the assault- no, I mean- ¡­ there¡¯s no way to word this correctly. The scene where Lucille had taken off Ludan¡¯s hood came to mind. Yeah, at that moment he had been sparkling huh~ Oh, and the time when I first met Yun. Yun sparkled in a different sort of way though. Like the way the light had hit his hair...


    ¡­ I know a lot of sparkly people, huh? But still, even beautiful, apparently the second prince is a weirdo. I pondered on the though.


    ¡°You may rise.¡± The emperor said, a playful grin on his face. Even though I heard from Lennor that the emperor was already in his forties, he looked fairly young and robust. His energy seemed limitless, and he was wearing a similar attire to that of the guards from the palace gates. He had an almost bandit like appearance to him. Not very kingly or majestic at all, save for his beautiful face and well muscled body.


    ¡°Father~ I especially scouted these guys out you know~¡± A frivolous looking man said, his playful grin different, yet similar, to the king¡¯s. He had short golden hair and fox shaped eyes the color of green jade, his looks more European than the tanned Arabian appearances of the native people of Astarne.


    Weird¡­? I studied him. His eyes met my own, and he smiled. Eh? Were those flowers? I rubbed my eyes, and the small five petaled flowers that had popped up in my vision disappeared. Ah, ah, I was just imagining things. Yes, that¡¯s right, no real person can sprout flowers with a smile.


    I had forgotten the fact that no real person could sparkle with each movement, but that was besides the matter at the moment.


    ¡°Alright, everyone, just like we practiced.¡± Lennor said, seemingly in full confidence of our abilities.


    ¡­ Let us just mention that I¡¯ve only practiced with the group twice. If I mess up, then that¡¯s what they get for making me practice alone all this time!!


    I was then pushed up to the front, while the troupe dancers took their positions behind me. All the stares were on me. Ahahaha~ Stop staring at meeeeeee. I cried inwardly, breaking out into a cold sweat. I took out a paper with the summoning circle drawn on it (the real one, this time), and my lips mouthed the word ?Summon?. A white light burst forward, enveloping my entire body.


    When it died down, I was in the deep blue gypsy outfit the dancer¡¯s guild leader had given me, and Khari was hovering an inch or so above my cupped hands, which were reached out in front of me.


    Who knew I could change clothes while summoning. I only learned this when Lennor had suggested it. One wouldn¡¯t be able to imagine the shock when it really worked. Like what are summoners, magic users or magicians¡­


    I smiled brightly, making some of the men present blush. Muahahaha face the wrath of my sexy beam.


    ¡­ I didn¡¯t just think that. Erase it from your memory.


    While I was inwardly cringing, we started. ¡°?The Beautiful World?,¡± I said. This was a spell that locked everyone in it¡¯s radius into an isolated space controlled by the user. I had practiced it just enough so that it could encompass the entire throne room.


    With me at its center, a bubble expanded outward. The inside turned from a throne room to the glittering depths of the ocean. Unbelievably beautiful, and unbelievably realistic. My silk scarves began floating. Despite this, everyone could breath fine.


    The Beautiful World


    Beginner¡¯s Lv.9


    Requires high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Costs 900 MP upon activation, and 5 MP/s until deactivation.


    Creates an isolated space that the caster can control freely. Spells cast in this space by the caster and allies have: mana cost decrease -20%, effects increase +17%, cast time decrease -8%, increase duration of effects +12%, and attack increase +19%. Allies will also receive speed increase +20%, attack increase +20%, defense increase +20%, affinity increase +20%, and mana and health regeneration increase +20%. Enemies will receive speed decrease -7%, attack decrease -7%, defense decrease -7%, and affinity decrease -7%.


    The dancers behind me started their routine, twirling as they surrounded me. Their movements made the best use out of the buffs that my spell gave, and their fluttering silks covered my vision.


    ¡°?The Children of Hakshyl?,¡± I said, my voice echoing pleasantly. In a flurry of sea foam, the dancers had turned into beautiful mermaids, their tails taking on the color that their gypsy outfits had been. They fluidly swam through the room, getting up close and personal with the audience.


    The Children of Hakshyl


    Beginner¡¯s Lv.4


    Requires above average affinity with your familiar to activate


    Costs 300 MP upon activation, and 2 MP/s until deactivation.


    All targets of the spell will be granted a momentary transformation into a mermaid or merman.


    Even though we had only done this twice, they were pretty good huh~ As expected of professionals.


    I surprised that fairies even had these types of skills though. I had spotted them when scrolling through Khari¡¯s skill list, and so brought up the idea for this routine to Lennor.


    Right about now should be when they switch out with the blade dan-


    *BOOM*


    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re-¡±


    *BOOM*


    Several loud sounds resounded through the air, shocking me. My spells unraveled, and the girls all dropped to the ground with a crash.


    ¡°What is going on?!¡± The emperor shouted, outraged.


    The throne room doors burst open, and the corpses of several guards were thrown in. One slid to a stop by my feet. Ew, don¡¯t throw this corpse toward me. How am I supposed to eat dinner like this?! I thought as I took a few light steps backward.


    Several people walked in. The man in the lead was well dressed, his suit like one of those old Victorian era ones. He had a cane in one hand, and his short top hat in another as he bowed. His black, slightly wavy hair, was neatly slicked back, and his face was covered entirely by a pure white mask, like all the others who had entered.


    ¡°It is nice to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty. You don¡¯t know me¡­ but I¡¯ll be taking your life,¡± He said. His voice was deep and seductive, like black velvet.


    ¡°Wha- you dare,¡± His Majesty began to exclaim, outraged.


    The leader-like man snapped his fingers, and an glittering arrow of gold and jade green light flew at break neck speed straight to the head of the king.


    ¡°?Mirror of a Thousand Reflections?,¡± I said, backing up until I was just a few feet in front of the king. A force field of water appeared in front of me, in the shape of a circular mirror that one would find above their vanity.


    Mirror of a Thousand Reflections


    Beginner''s Lv.3


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Cost 1000 MP


    Creates a shield made from a thin layer of water that reflects physical and magical attacks to the caster. Will break if the sustained damage overcomes the amount of mana used in casting the spell.


    This happened as several other mages began chanting spells, and the guards began activating skills.


    ¡°?Flame Wall?!¡±


    ¡°?Physical Reinforcement?!!¡±


    ¡°?Shield of Protection?!¡±


    ¡°?Tier¡¯s Blessings?!¡±


    The room burst into chaos. The arrow met my mirror, and disappearing into it, reappeared to shoot straight back at the person who had fired it. It almost hit the masked ranger in the chest, at least, until it was cut down by the one with the cane. A secret sword, huh.


    ¡°I don¡¯t recognize that spell,¡± the man said, as he put his hat back on. He was the epitome of calm as disaster reigned through the room and his comrades cut down the guards that charged towards them. An invisible force field was surrounding him, absorbing any of the spells that had been fired toward him.


    Yeah, because Khari invented it five days ago. I thought to myself, a frozen smile on my face. It had just been added to the fairy¡¯s universal spell book the other day. Because, yes, apparently that was a thing.


    Khari was not an offensive familiar. I reverse summoned her. My eyes quickly darted to where Ludan was. Not here, not there¡­ Where are you?! I finally met eyes with him, who was wreathed in shadows and hidden in a corner. Yo. Yo! What are you doing!


    My eyes darted back to the man who was slowly and calmly walking toward me. Uwaah, don¡¯t come any closer!


    Gilbert Sverhart


    ??? Lv.??? | ??? Lv.???


    | Sword of Darkness | Light of Hope | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |


    You freaking terrify me!


    My eyes frantically darted to Ludan, hoping to make some form of telepathic conversation with him. His eyes met mine¡­ and immediately turned away.


    ¡­ You-!!


    ¡°?Contract Familiar?,¡± I said, my voice barely audible in the cacophony.


    Contract Familiar


    Intermediate Lv.1


    Requires Summon Skill


    Cost 600 MP


    Contracts a new familiar of your affinity. Can now contract with a familiar of a nonopposing elemental affinity.


    Invoking Contract Familiar Skill


    Large affinity to all subjects detected


    Which Familiar do you wish to Summon?


    Demon


    Fairy


    Elemental


    ¡°Elemental.¡±


    Large affinity to all elements detected


    What type of elemental do you wish to Summon?


    Light


    Dark


    Fire


    Water


    Earth


    Wind


    Hm, so there were six elemental types you could summon, huh? I thought it was only four, but I guess not. Wait, that¡¯s not what I should be doing right now though.


    ¡°Water!¡± I said, and a million water elementals appeared. They all looked the same. Are you kidding me right now.


    Okay, there were differences in their size, shape, and color, but many of them looked so similar it would be difficult to tell them apart.


    Oh, wait, wait, that one looks cool! I thought, catching sight of a wolf shaped one the color of ice. There was a giant Eastern Dragon elemental above me as well, this one a sapphire blue. Ah, and lots of cute girls. Cute girls made out of water seem to be a must, huh?


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    But nah, I already have my adorable Khari. So it was down to the dragon or the wolf. Dragon or wolf. Wolf or dragon. Damn, I didn¡¯t have the time to be debating this. I stared the wolf in the eye, but he didn¡¯t move, frozen in time as he was. I tilted my head up to look at the giant dragon above me. Dragons were pretty OP, and flashy as hell, huh~


    I pointed at the wolf.


    ¡°Summoner, call my name.¡± A deep voice that resonated through my soul said, and with a flurry and ice and water, everything disappeared, bringing me back to the real world.


    Gilbert had walked to the halfway point of the room.


    ¡°?Vihar?.¡± From my side appeared a man. A really handsome one at that, like I would hit on hi- not the time for that!


    I thought Vihar was a wolf, why are you adding to my reverse hare- no, not the time for that either! Who are you?! The handsome man, whose thick and wild hair fluttered in the air (with a silky quality comparable to the locks in a L¡¯Oreal commercial), reached the floor in front of me. What was L¡¯Oreal? I didn¡¯t know, but I guess it had something to do with hair, since that¡¯s what came to my mind.


    Just as his feet touched the ground, he turned into the icy blue wolf that I had chosen. Phew, here I had thought that they had sent me the wrong thing. I don¡¯t mind getting hot people as gifts, but when you choose a wolf and get sent a sexy young man, it¡¯s pretty lucky huh~ No, no, not. That¡¯s wrong.


    I reared in my inner straight man so that we could get this over with. With each step that Vihar took, the floor rippled like he was walking on water.


    I brought up his skill list, not even taking a look at the descriptions and just going by my gut. ¡°?Through the Looking Glass?,¡± I said. I felt like there was something I needed to tsukkomi about here, but I didn¡¯t know what.


    Through the Looking Glass


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Cost 750 MP


    Creates a portal on a liquid or solid surface to teleport large parties to a randomized location or any place that you have previously been to.


    The floor beneath us rippled, and a foreign scenery appeared. It was of a- hey isn¡¯t that Yun? I stared down at him, and he stared up at me. My purple eyes were wide in shock, and his blue eyes were wide in shock.


    ¡°Jump!¡± I said, and Ludan didn¡¯t need anymore words, immediately taking a leap into the water like substance that the ground had become. I need to tsukkomi! My desire to tsukkomi was so strong at this moment, but I used my amazing self-control to keep silent. The other troupe members soon followed.


    ¡°Your Majesty, jump!¡± I said, and he stared at me. A moment passed by. The leader of the terrorists, or whoever they were, seemed to realize something was odd. He calmly raised his voice, and said something to his comrades.


    The emperor grabbed his wife and jumped through the floor. The guards ushered all the other members of royalty and nobility through. Soon, aside from the guards, I was the only one left.


    ¡°This spell disappears once I go through.¡± I said, waiting for the remaining people to jump.


    ¡°Lass, just go. We have to hold off these bastards.¡± One guard said. He was bleeding from a deep cut on his arm.


    I still hesitated.


    ¡°Go!¡± Another man exclaimed, pushing me through.


    There was a splash, and bubbles, as I closed my eyes and entered the cool pool of water. Only seconds later and I was falling through the sky, not even slightly wet. I looked up. I could see the guards who had pushed me in as a rippling image in the sky. It soon disappeared. I then looked around. The people who had all jumped in appeared relatively safe, if not rubbing their butts from hitting the ground to hard.


    That makes me think, my fall didn¡¯t really hurt at all. Is this because I¡¯m OP?


    ¡°Oi.¡± A cold voice sounded from beneath me.


    ¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­


    I broke out into a cold sweat. My smile twitched nervously.


    ¡°Oi. Get off of me.¡± Insert internal scream here.


    I immediately got off. The pissed Yun, who was looking snazzy in his military uniform, got up, dusting himself off. ¡°You¡¯re freaking heavy, you know that?¡± He growled, glaring at me with icy eyes.


    ¡°What?! Did you just call me heavy?!¡± I screeched. What person in their sane mind would call a slender and beautiful maiden like me, heavy?! Heavy! Me?!


    He seemed to close his eyes and ears at my screaming. ¡°You little! Take that back, I¡¯m not heavy! Stop ignoring me!!¡±


    The surrounding soldiers, who had become chaotic with the arrival of our group, whispered among themselves. ¡°That girl sure has guts¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe she¡¯s screaming at the General¡­¡±


    ¡°That General is being screamed at? Am I dreaming?¡±


    ¡°Oi, shut up already. Your screaming is annoying.¡± He said, unleashing his killing intent. You little~~~!!! Just because I haven¡¯t seen you in a while doesn¡¯t mean you have a right to be so impertinent towards your senpai!!


    I slapped him. Everyone stared in our direction in shock. The emperor who had been talking with some of the soldiers, the troupe who had gathered up together, the other people who had already been spectating our fight - they all stared at Yun and I. My hand was stinging, and his cheek was bright red.


    ¡°Is this how you treat your senpai after not seeing me in so long?!¡± I said, standing up and stomping my foot.


    ¡°Oi, I never acknowledged you as my senpai!¡± He stood up, glaring down at me. I was several inches shorter than him, so I had to glare up at him.


    ¡°Pfft, even if you never acknowledged it doesn¡¯t change the fact that I¡¯m still your senpai!¡± I said, laughing through my nose.


    ¡°... I¡¯m your senior in the clan.¡± Wha- that was a low blow!


    ¡°... Vihar. Bite this guy!¡± The wolf, who had been lingering behind me, immediately pounced at Yun. I didn¡¯t acknowledge that fact that my blow was ¡°lower¡± than Yun¡¯s (supposedly ¡°low blow¡±).


    Yun¡¯s eyes turned sharp, and he crouched down, drawing his katana. It sliced through Vihar in a single move, breaking his shape and allowing the water to fall to the ground and disappear. He sheathed his sword again with smooth movements, whipping his sword through the air as the water on it fell away.


    I gasped. ¡°Murderer! I can¡¯t believe you killed him!!¡± I exclaimed, right as Vihar appeared behind me again.


    Yun rolled his eyes. ¡°So, why are you here?¡± He asked, relaxing his position.


    ¡°His Majesty got attacked~ So I used a spell to bring us to a safe place~ Well, coincidentally it ended up here.¡± I said, laughing heartily.


    ¡°You mean that guy?¡± Yun looked to the emperor, who had already gotten friendly with a guy holding a fan.


    ¡°Yep! Emperor of Astarne, His Majesty Sharlne!¡± I introduced the man with jazz hands. It was slightly awkward though, since the man was quite a distance a ways from me.


    ¡°Yo, you¡¯re soldiers aren¡¯t very well trained though, are they~ I expected swords and spears to be pointed at me when I landed~¡± I continued, a grin on my face.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I told them to stand down before you even got here. Be grateful, if not you¡¯d be dead.¡± He replied with an arrogant tone of voice.


    ¡°Oi, aren¡¯t you underestimating me??¡± I said with a huff.


    ¡°... You do realize you¡¯re still level 7 right?¡± He said, staring above my head. That¡¯s right. I hadn¡¯t gained a single level since I left the Beginner¡¯s Village. Although my skill masteries had increased, it didn¡¯t have an impact on my own level.


    I looked up at Yun¡¯s level.


    Yun Hua


    Storm Dancer Lv.21 | Martial Artist Lv.13


    Heaven¡¯s Sky Clan


    | Otherworlder | Dedicated | Martial Genius | Sword of Ice and Storm | Winds of Change | Fierce | Ice Heart | Poisoned Tongue |


    ¡­ Ew. Why you be so high level, dammit. No, my low level can¡¯t be said to be my fault, okay? It¡¯s not my fault the city was stuck in a lockdown!


    ¡°Yo, the city was on lockdown, okay? What could I do?¡± I protested, and he shook his head in exasperation.


    ¡°Either way, it¡¯ll be a headache bringing you guys back to the capital.¡± He grumbled, rubbing his temples. Ah, like I thought, teasing this guy is the best. His glaring face changing into a look of exasperation or frustration was quite satisfying.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, where are we anyways?¡± I asked, glancing around for real this time. Grassy hills and large green trees. Mountains in the nearby distance, and a forest some several tens of meters away to the upper left of me. Then behind us was a small town, and then beautiful yellow green flatlands beyond that.


    ¡°Estryl, a small town to the west of Suisen. It lies at the feet of the Mordein Moutain Range, which isolates Suisen from the other kingdoms and empires. It¡¯ll take a caravan several months to reach the capital from here.¡± He said, pointing in the direction opposite of the mountains.


    ¡°What¡¯re you guys doing here?¡± I asked, tilting my head.


    ¡°Patrolling the border, what else?¡± He answered, snorting, possibly at my stupidity.


    ¡°...¡± I slapped him again¡­ only to be thwarted as he grabbed my wrist before my palm could meet his face.


    ¡°Tsk,¡± I spit on the ground, mildly pissed.


    ¡°Oi, slap me again and I¡¯ll break your arm.¡± He said menacingly.


    ¡°Make fun of me again and I¡¯ll castrate you.¡± I retorted. Collective gasps could be heard. Some of the people surrounding us even covered up their privates, wincing as I said ¡°castrate¡±.


    ¡°Oh, you wanna go?¡± He snorted, clearly looking down on me as his hand rested on his sword.


    ¡°...¡± I backed up and grabbed a loitering Ludan, pushing him forward as I peeked out from behind him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I said, a completely serious expression on my face. I could almost hear our audience face palming.


    ¡°Wait, no, Luna-!!¡± Ludan protested, sounding like a girl who was being groped by the magnificent moi.


    This guy, why is he more feminine than me. ¡°Man up and help me defeat the evil demon king!!¡± I said, scooting forward. Of course, with Ludan as my shield.


    ¡°You¡¯re dishonorable, bringing a powerful third party into our dispute.¡± Yun said.


    ¡°Oho? So the arrogant Yun-sama doesn¡¯t think he can defeat my shield?¡± I smirked. But the words lost all meaning considering the fact that I was still hiding behind Ludan.


    His brow twitched ever so slightly. Eh? Was he really gonna be provoked with just that one line?


    He unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Ludan¡¯s face.


    What, really? He really got provoked that easily?


    ¡°I challenge you to a duel.¡± He said coldly.


    ¡°Wait, wait, Luna, and you too! You guys can¡¯t be serious right??¡± Ludan said, looking between me and Yun.


    ¡°Totally serious.¡± I said, face still completely serious. Yun was silent, his face stone still and emotionless.


    The crowd of people increased, a circle forming around us.


    I gave Ludan a single push, retreating to the crowd.


    ¡°Good Luck~!!¡± I shouted with a wave and smile.


    ¡°Wait, you-¡± Ludan began, and a sharp slice from Yun¡¯s sword went straight through him. He dissolved into shadows, reappearing behind the black haired man.


    ¡°Let¡¯s calmly talk this out, okay?¡± He said, his hands up in surrender. Yun¡¯s glare was enough to kill a man as he turned around, roundhouse kicking the daemon, who just dissolved into shadows again.


    I cheered with the other men around me, collecting bets. Ufufufufu, ima be rich after this. I couldn¡¯t stop the grin from spreading across my face.


    I suddenly felt a kick on my back and I left the crowd, hopping into the area where Yun and Ludan had been fighting in. I whipped my head around to see the cloaked bard with his leg raised. This guy! So he was capable of such treachery?!


    He had on a sad, puppy dog like expression. Just because you look like a cute and pitiful puppy doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll forgive you!


    I shivered, feeling a cold aura at my back. ¡°Hiii!¡± I dodged the sword that came from above by a hair''s breadth. That was close! That was so close!!


    ¡°Vihar!¡± I shouted, and the wolf materialized in front of me. A force field appeared, taking the sword strikes for me. In two strikes, it shattered into pieces, but had also harmed Yun. Lines of blood appeared on his cheek and left arm, respectively.


    Thus began our game of tag. Of course, I got beat up though. I must say, it¡¯s quite impressive I held out for longer than a minute.


    My back was warm against the grassy earth, and I stared up at the sky. It was the same blue sky from earlier in the day. ¡°It¡¯s wide~¡± I said, arms and legs spread out as I relaxed. I could fall asleep like this.


    ¡°Oof!¡± I exclaimed as Yun hit my stomach with his sheathed sword. I writhed around the ground as I clutched my poor stomach.


    ¡°Get up already, we¡¯re leaving.¡± He said. I sat up, watching as everyone was gathering up their stuff and walking to the village.


    I looked to Yun, who glanced down at me. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, smiling. The sky didn¡¯t seem so wide anymore.

 Chapter 6 - Misery is Thy Name

    So, I edited the last chapter to include skill descriptions. If you want to look at those then they are there~ Please enjoy this chapter... u-u I tried to get it out last week but failed :c soweeI will try and come out with a second chapter before Sunday (may or may not actually happen *cough* busy af *cough cough*)


    ~~~~~


    I yawned loudly, the pale light of the early sun shining down on me. ¡°Ah, thanks,¡± I said, as a feminine looking guy put down a cup of water in front of me. He was wearing some ancient style Chinese clothes (Hanfu? Or wait, Chinese? I tried to recall more, but failed), that slightly resembled a kimono, and a fan was tucked into his stash.


    Cheng Fu


    Tactician Lv.12


    | Cunning | Lotus of the Misty Lake | Shadow¡¯s Reflection | White Mask | Silver Tongue |


    Uwah. I immediately knew that I could not trust this guy. I mean, from the first and last titles, who would dare believe in his words? Not me.


    He smiled sweetly, but it only sent chills down my back. No, even if you¡¯re beautiful doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll be tricked.


    That aside, he had the same feminine like beauty that both Miki and Ludan possessed. He leaned more towards the elegant style of beauty that Miki was. His hair was long, and pure black, like that you would see on a traditional Asian beauty. It fell down his back unhindered, reaching below his hips. His facial features, though delicate, still had a distinctly male feel to them, and radiated beauty. His hair stood out against the pure white of his hanfu, which was lined in gold thread and glittering under the sun.


    In short, he was gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous. I will not be lead astray by you, incubus!


    I turned my eyes back to Yun Hua. I won¡¯t be led astray by you, either! I thought, glaring daggers at Yun. He was currently bare chested, his chiseled muscles glistening with sweat. I feel at this moment, all the fangirls in the world would swoon as they watch him swing his sword. More accurately, his practice sword strapped with weights. I would not want to try and lift that.


    It was currently two days after arriving here from Astarne, and we were waiting on an answer from Suisen¡¯s courts before beginning travel to the capital, Sensui (real good naming there, eh). Yun finally stopped swinging his swordand leaned it up against the tree he was practicing under. I swore I could hear the wood creaking under the weight of that thing. He walked over to the table I was sitting atand downed all the water in the cup in front of me.


    Ah, so that was for you?


    I let it go. After all, I didn¡¯t want to get beat up by him again. I¡¯m not masochistic after all. No, really, I swear I¡¯m not! It¡¯s true I¡¯m telling you!


    ¡°I¡¯m bored.¡± I said bluntly, as I stared at Yun. More accurately, Yun¡¯s abs. Those were some impressive abs.


    There was no answer. ¡°I¡¯m bored~~~¡± I said again, looking up with puppy eyes to the cold hearted Yun.


    He snorted. ¡°We¡¯re going to eradicatea bandit hideout tomorrow.¡± Oh? Ohhh?


    ¡°You can tag along.¡± Yun-sama! The warm hearted Yun-sama! I take back all the bad things that I may have ever said about you! Eh, what, I only ever commented how handsome he was? No, no, there should¡¯ve been some bad things in there too.


    ¡­ Anyways! I was all sparkly heart eyed as I worshiped Yun in my mind. Of course, not a word of it left my mouth. That¡¯d be creepy, after all. I mean, he¡¯s that cold hearted Yun. Wait, no, he¡¯s warm hearted. Eh? Cold- no, warm- no, eh? I began to confuse myself.


    Whatever! I¡¯ll just look forward to tomorrow!


    -----


    ¡°You¡¯re giving this to me?¡± I asked, staring at the beautiful bow in my hands. It was a beautiful bow, and despite being a traditional one, had the shape and curve of a modern styled one. The limbs appeared lined in mithril, curving in like sharp blades. I could use this as both a ranged and close combat weapon, I noted as I touched the edges, cutting my finger ever so slightly.


    I was also handed a quiver of arrows, with mithril tips and bodies, and plated metal where the feathers should be. I hear that a master archer would be able to enhance their arrows with mana, or even completely replace metal arrows with mana arrows, but I had yet to reach that point.


    Fufu, it seemed that showing off my archery skills in front of him last night had been the right move after all! I tilted my head. But how was I supposed to carry this on my back? One wrong move and I¡¯d have a gaping wound from the bladed limbs.


    ¡°Yeah. You can¡¯t be going around killing bandits with that.¡± Yun eyed the rusty beginner¡¯s dagger that was sheathed at my hip. Ehehehe.


    ¡°Yeah, but I can always summon a familiar.¡± I said, not even knowing why I was trying to find fault with his kindness.


    The icy eyed man shrugged. First new armor, now new weapons. Ehehehe. Isn¡¯t Yun actually a total softie? That¡¯s right! I discovered new armor when I had woken up this morning! When I had put it on, I discovered that, and I insert a dramatic gasp here, it actually covered my body decently! No, I mean like, you know in some games and art, they depict female armor as barely covering anything? Clearly that would never work out in a real battle, but still. I was shocked when I realized the armor actually covered the things that needed covering.


    Not only that, but it still looked attractive. Then again, I would dare say with this appearance even rags would look like brand named clothes. The only problem was probably the coloring. It was a pure snowy white, from the hood down to the leather boots. The leather was lined with pale blue embroidery, which formed elegant designs similar to that on the bow. In other words, it was most likely a set. Either way, I knew I would stick out like a sore thumb.


    I eyed Yun¡¯s attire. It had the same pale blue lining as my armor, but instead of white and blue, it was black and blue. Only his greaves and gauntlets were made of metaland even those where the same pitch black as the leather he wore. Two swords were strapped to his right hip. I got the feeling I expected katana (no idea why), but from the outer appearance, they were sabres¡­ with a fantasy design. The hilt was a black color, but the guard had a black base with a blue glow. Truly unique. He¡­ would probably stand out as well.


    I realized that soldiers and knights always wore revealing armor. After all, they had no need to blend into the environment. But for even the ranger to have eye catching clothes was a bit¡­


    Well, let¡¯s just be grateful for the new stuff. New shiny stuff¡­ for free to boot! I couldn¡¯t stop myself from grinning lecherously. Wait, that¡¯s the wrong word. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from smiling brilliantly. Yeah, that¡¯s better.


    ¡°Oh, right, those cost a lot so you better kill a lot of bandits to make up for it.¡± He said flippantly as we walked out of the inn we had stayed at for the night.


    No free lunch, eh? Well¡­ I paused for a moment, realizing I still had yet to kill a single person in this world (or my old world to my knowledge). I had become comfortable with the sight of corpses (note, the room full of butchered summoners did wonders), but actually killing I had yet to experience, so I didn¡¯t know how it would go down.


    ¡­ Meh. Whatever. My thoughts can wait until after it happened. Yun stopped before the platoon of soldiers, who were standing at attention. Their iron and leather armor were shining a bit brighter than they had been the other day, probably due to the cleaning routine before a fight I had heard about.


    Yun¡¯s cold gaze swept across them, making them shiver with the fear and anticipation of an upcoming battle. Even if they were only bandits. Cheng¡¯s snake-like smile was hidden behind a fan, and the troupe members were gazing at us from the distance. Ludan was even further away than that. I got the feeling that he was keeping his distance from me after I had dragged him into the fight between me and Yun. I winked at him, waving goodbye as I left with the troop. I think I saw him flinch a bit, but that was probably just my imagination. I¡¯m not that scary after all.


    I was pantingand sweating. Gods was this leather armor making me hot and sweaty. I was sticky all over, hair clinging to my face. ¡°We, uh, there yet?¡± I asked, bending over and pushing up against my cramping stomach as the troop took a rest.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± Yun said. This bastard hadn¡¯t even broken out in a single sweat yet.


    ¡°The same answer for the seventh time,¡± said a giggling Cheng. This bastard hadn¡¯t broken out in a sweat yet either. He was lightly fanning himselfand appeared like he was taking a peaceful walk in the garden and not a hike up the mountain.


    ¡°...¡± I stared dead eyed at the feminine man.


    ¡°?Khari?¡± I said, and my little fairy familiar appeared. ¡°?Restoration?¡±


    All my fatigue disappeared, and my sweat was gone. My armor was no longer soaked and dirty, appearing like it had been this morning. Hmph, I can look beautiful and flawless just like you guys, I thought with a snort.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Yun said, and the soldiers immediately stood up, their armor clanking loudly as they did so. I also stood from my seat on the rockand followed behind Yun. Khari sat herself down on my shoulder, humming to some unknown tune as we continued on our way through the thick forest. Not only was it a mountain, but it was a mountain overgrown with trees and greenery. I wanted to cut down every single damn branch that hit me in the face as I proceeded onwards. It didn¡¯t help that I had decided to carry the bow in my hands instead on my back, lest for the chance it¡¯d cut me had I made the wrong move.


    Two more hours later, I had used Restoration at least twenty times by now. I was swatting weakly at any bug I saw, and it was a wonder I hadn¡¯t run out of mana by now (thank the gods that my OP Khari¡¯s Restoration spell includes MP regeneration).


    Yun stuck out his arm, bringing the entire troop to a stop. I straightened up my back, my dead eyes turning sharp. Finally! We were finally here!! After five hours of constant questions, had we finally reached the bandit¡¯s hideout?! It¡¯s already afternoon, like damn! We woke up at dawn to do this, and now I¡¯m sleepy as hell, with an empty stomach to boot!


    Actually, I lie about the empty stomach. Khari¡¯s restoration spell is a means of ¡°turning back time¡± for the person it¡¯s used on. So in other words, I feel the same as I felt at the very beginning of the day after every time I use it. Apparently most people couldn¡¯t use it more than a few times, since it was a high level spell, but I had no trouble in repeat casting it. Is this the power of an otherworlder showing itself?


    Yun made some simple gestures with his hand, and the soldiers silently split, moving through the woods with an eerie silence. I was shocked at how they could move without their armor giving them away.


    Pointedly looking at me, Yun then prowled, nay stalked, nay¡­ there was no word to properly describe the way he slipped through the greenery. I followed him, and though I was sufficiently silent, it could not be compared to the elegance and dignity he had as he walked without making a sound. He stopped, pointing at the entrance of a cave. Uwah, how cliche. Two bandit guards were standing there, glancing out at the trees and bushes. They hadn¡¯t noticed us yet.


    I stared at their clothes. Hm, I felt something was a little off. Rather than the clothes I was expecting (rags and animal pelts), they were wearing pretty decent armor. Granted, they still had on animal pelts and roughly tanned hide, but it was a lot more¡­ wealthy?, then what I had expected.


    Were they perhaps a big bandit group? Hm. With a motioning of Yun¡¯s hand, I was already up in a tree.


    ¡°?Eagle¡¯s Eye?,¡± I muttered under my breath. My vision went out of my body and up to the sky, looking down on everyone. It resembled the sight that one would see as they play a third person RPG. Yun glanced briefly in my direction, jerking his head toward the guard on the right. I nodded in understanding, locking onto the man. Alright. I got it. Breath in, breath out.


    My purple eyes were sharp, the faint light of a lock on cross inside the irises as they narrowed at the men. A deadly expression filled with blood lust. I took out a silver arrow from the quiver strapped to my back, and nocked it on my bowstring, drawing it back. I synchronized my breathing to the loud beating of the heart. I pulled it back until it went taut, and I couldn¡¯t pull any further.


    Release. It whizzed through the air, flying straight and true¡­ WAIT DON¡¯T MISS! The arrow did not fly straight into the neck of the man like I had thought it would, and instead just missed his cheek. I, uh, forgot to mention that my accuracy was still only at 90%...


    Yun was there to back me up though, and before the time to blink had passed, they were both on the ground bleeding from their throats. He was staring at me with a dead look in his eyes. My eyes wandered elsewhere as I hummed a silent tune.


    I jumped down from the tree and landed without a sound, walking up to Yun.


    ¡°You missed.¡± He said, his voice as dead as his gaze.


    ¡°...¡± I stuck my tongue out at him as I picked up my arrow.


    He sighed, and turned away, putting his back to the stone wall of the mountain as he peered into the cave. I leaned against the wall next to him, staring at the sky. I wasn¡¯t gonna try and peer around the guy or else I feared that I would fall on my face and become the laughingstock of the troop.


    He slid into the darkness of the cave.


    ¡°Oof!!¡±


    ¡°Wha-¡±


    ¡°Gah-!¡±


    There were various sounds but they all ended with the thump of a body falling to the ground. He came back out. You could barely see the blood on his sword, the black blade showing nothing. Only where it glowed blue could you find traces of the red liquid, which appeared purple under the light of the sword. He did a fancy motion that splattered the blood onto the ground, and in one smooth move, wiped the rest off with his thumb before sheathing it.


    It was a move in Kendo, Iaido, and other Japanese martial arts that used the sword, known as Chiburi.


    I wondered what Kendo and Iaido were.


    He beckoned everyone inside. We followed like sheep being lead to the slaugh- er, that¡¯s wrong. Don¡¯t wanna jinx our incoming battle.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The steps of the soldiers were completely synchronized. Further in, when the darkness started to deepen, torches began to appear. Yun and the others didn¡¯t take one, so I didn¡¯t touch them either.


    ¡°Huh, is someone-¡± Before the bandit could even finish his words, he was riddled full of arrows and throwing daggers. This time my arrow actually hit, and right through the eye too. I looked at Yun with a triumphant smile, pushing away the fact that I had just killed a man to the back of my head.


    He snorted, and continued on. Man, can¡¯t even acknowledge my great skillz huh?


    We only encountered small bandit groups along the way, none exceeding more than five members. None getting a chance to even scream. When we reached a fork in the road, Yun finally sent out scouts, one for each path.


    Waiting~ Waiting~~ Waiting some more~


    After what seemed like ages (a minute), one of them came back. He reported several empty rooms.


    More waiting. It didn¡¯t seem like the other scout was coming back. Yun¡¯s brow had furrowed into a deep V as he glared down the right tunnel.


    ¡­ Is that a rumbling? I stared at the ground and saw small pieces of dirt and rock bouncing around. Definitely a rumbling. Yun¡¯s head turned sharply back, ¡°Retreat!¡± he yelled, just as an arrow came flying at him.


    I jumped in front of him, knocking it down with the blades of my bow. ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡± The message passed along the soldiers quickly and we all began backtracking, even as more arrows began to shoot toward us.


    ¡°?Mirror of a Thousand Reflections?!¡± The barrier couldn¡¯t cover up to the edges of the tunnel, but it was enough. All the arrows that flew at us were immediately sent back, and screams of pain could be heard, along with the familiar thump of a corpse meeting ground.


    ¡°?Rain of Blades?!¡± I said, knocking one arrow onto my bowstring. It may seem like an odd skill name at first, but it wasn¡¯t. Although it¡¯s true capabilities could not be shown in this cramped tunnel, it would still be effective.


    Rain of Blades


    Beginner¡¯s Lv.5


    Requires the Archery, Multishot, and Mana Reinforcement Skills


    Costs 500 MP


    Releases a single, mana enforced arrow that splits into several blades, raining down on a targeted area. Each contains the base damage of a flying sword.


    My bow glowed a bright blue, and as it shot outward, it split into multiple streaks of light, each one appearing more like a sword¡¯s blade than an arrow. It entered the darkness and more screams resounded, bouncing off the walls to reach me. It gave me a headache.


    The light at the end could now be seen. Five hundred feet. Four hundred.


    ¡°?Penetration?,¡± I whispered, and my arrow began glowing with a bright white light. As it left the bow, there were no other noticeable effects. The arrow had been blessed so that it could pierce through at least seven bodies before losing its momentum.


    Penetration


    Beginner¡¯s Lv.7


    Requires the Archery and Mana Reinforcement Skills


    Costs 100 MP


    Releases a single, mana enforced arrow that turns into a blinding light which pierces enemies. Can pierce through up to seven bodies


    I shot a few normal arrows as well, though blindly. No one could see in this darkness without a torch or skill though, so I hoped that at least a couple might hit someone. Hah, me wishing for my arrows to kill a person. It was despicable. I gritted my teeth and continued to run back, stopping only to shoot another arrow.


    We finally reached the outside, and Yun immediately ordered us to disperse through the forest. We would be using the vegetation to our advantage. I climbed up a tree as fast as a monkey and peered through the bright green leaves.


    ¡°?Reflection?,¡± I said, and immediately a shield of water appeared around me. No, to be more accurate, it was a shield, but more of an invisibility cloak. It combined my light and water affinities to manipulate the light waves and render me invisible. I came up with it while Yun was taking care of the bandits. After all, the fact that, as an archer, I couldn¡¯t hide in the forestry with such pure white clothes, worried me.


    Reflection


    Beginner¡¯s Lv.1


    Requires high affinity with the water element


    Cost 300 MP upon activation, and 10 MP/s until deactivation.


    Creates a thin shield of water that surrounds the caster. Reflects light to match the surroundings and render the caster invisible.


    I was surprised that a spell that I only made based on my gut actually worked. Quite amazing, really.


    Yun stood a few feet outside the opening of the cave. Uwah, what courage. Then again, I wasn¡¯t worried for him. That bastard beat me black and blue three days ago.


    His hand was resting on the hilt of one of his swords as he waited patiently for the bandits to arrive. Arrows began to whiz out, and he knocked them all down. He was so fast that his blade had only turned into a black and blue blur. Like the bruises he had inflicted on me. Actually, no, the image was cooler than that, but I still had a grudge you know? Just because you gave me all this cool stuff doesn¡¯t change the fact that you beat me up, okay?


    I prepared an arrow. Hmmm, I could use Rain of Blades another time. Now that we were in a wide open area, it¡¯s true prowess could be shown.


    Warriors came out, roaring barbarically. They were dressed similarly to the guards that we had first taken down. ¡°?Rain of Blades?,¡± I said, taking the initiative before Yun could kill them all.


    I aimed towards the sky, slightly angling my bow toward the direction of the enemies. The blue light shot up, and up, and up. It finally began to dip down, splitting in four. Then in four again. Then again. Soon the sky was filled with tens upon tens of blue blades, and they all crashed down upon the bandits.


    Some managed to get their shields up in time. Others didn¡¯t.


    Still more people rushed out. I tilted my head. I had always thought that their armor was slightly off, but the way that they ran at Yun only made the uncomfortable feeling that I initially had increased. Their steps were just as synchronized as that of Yun¡¯s troops, and they split up into even teams, going at Yun in a pincer formation.


    What sort of bandits knew military tactics?! Not any ordinary ones, that¡¯s for sure!


    Such things, though, could only crumble in the face of strength. And that was what Yun was. Strength.


    He drew one sword, then the other. Twirling them in his hands, his left held the blade normally, while his right used it backhandedly. A left dominant ambidextrous swordsman. He dropped his knees so that he was closer to the ground, his left blade covering his upper chest and neck, and his right blade protecting his lower abdomen. He lunged forward, going straight at the place where the group had split. The two bandit squads turned, and rushed toward him. They got closer, and closer, and closer.


    His foot dug deep into the earth, and he lept into the air, flipping as they collided into each other. When he had done half a rotations, with his head facing the ground, he swung out a blade. It glowed whiter and whiter, an arc of lightning landing in the chaos. Screams went up with flames and odor of burning flesh.


    They had all turned to ash, only their armor remaining as pieces of melting iron.


    ¡°...!! Dammit! All men charge!!!¡± A gruff voice shouted, and a wave of at least fifty people emerged, all aiming for Yun. I snapped out of my trance.


    ¡°?Penetration?,¡± the arrow sang as it cut through the bandits¡¯ armor like butter and killed seven people in a single second.


    ¡°Men, to arms!¡± Yun said, slashing at the speed of light. Each slash flashed bluish white and was accompanied by lightning and flames.


    Streams of gray armored men rushed out from the trees, sieging the animal clothed bandits. It was an amazing sight, they way they suddenly popped out. Was it a stealth spell? Was that it? That¡¯s right, I still need to learn one of those. First thing I¡¯m doing when I get back to town is to ask someone to teach me a stealth spell.


    I unleashed normal arrows after normal arrows, steal killing everything. Pfft hahaha, the feeling of riding on another person¡¯s coattails was actually fairly satisfying. I could practically see my EXP shooting sky high, along with my level.


    Screw taking the hard way out. Who even does that anymore, when you can take it nice and easy? I feel like there maybe some backlash later on if I didn¡¯t put in any real effort (I do though, I swear!), but oh well. For now I was overcome with an intensely smug feeling that I didn¡¯t really pay attention to my other frivolous thoughts.


    The last boss has come! A pretty boy came out of the cave, a blank look on his face. He had wild fiery red hair, and daemon eyes. A pair of what looked to be Mouflon horns, curling down first, then up in a circle, towards the back, before finally curling even further upwards to point to the sky. He had on minimal cloth armor, almost as if he had come straight out of an eastern fantasy tale.


    Hiki


    ??? Lv.??? | ??? Lv.???


    | God | Souryuu | Tales of Misery | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |


    I felt like he was familiar. Somehow. His face, that name. I ground my teeth in frustration, trying to remember who he was as I squinted at him. His sparkling visage was comparable to all the other handsome men and women I had met. If I had to say, he looked like Ludan, but with lighter colored hair.


    Ah. Ahhhh!!! AHHHHHHH!


    ¡°AHHHHH!!!!!!!¡± I said, bolting straight up as I pointed at him. And hit my head on a tree branch, falling out, rolling some, before landing on my butt in the clearing before the cave. Everyone was staring at me. This is embarrassing.


    The man, Hiki, was looking with wide eyes. The most amount of emotion he had shown since he came out of the cave.


    ¡°Hiki!!¡± I said, pointing at him. Yun looked at me with a puzzled expression that said, so what?


    ¡°Hiki!!!!!¡± I exclaimed again, as if the name should have some other meaning.


    ¡°...¡± Hiki was silent, his mouth opened as if he had the need to say something. ¡°Luna?¡± He asked, tilting his head.


    ¡°Oh my god, it really is Hiki!!¡± I stared at him and he stared at me.


    Now let me explain what was going on. Hiki was not a person that I had known before coming to this world. No, rather, he was a game character! I believe I had once mentioned the fact that I had been playing a game before coming to this world. I was unable to recall any details, but after seeing Hiki here, a flash of a faint memory hit me, slowly becoming vivid and clear.


    The game had been a popular VRMMORPG known as ¡°Misery¡±. In it, one could capture various gods and monsters and tame them, making them their servants. Sort of like a certain legendary Pok*mon.


    And I had been one of the top players! That¡¯s right! I was a no lifer who spent thousands upon thousands of hours on this game (and various other games), and had reached the pinnacle! My pok*mon- er, I mean my familiars- had all been top tier gods and guardian beasts!


    Hiki had been one of them!


    Hiki, known as one of the Seven Gods of Misery, was a serpentine demon god with the ability to control water and known as the ¡°Dragon King¡±. His offensive power was the greatest among the Seven Gods of Misery, yet at the same time, he was said to be one of the more temperate gods. As a result, he was sought out by many of the players. In the end, he became mine though.


    In the end, he became mine though.


    Yes, that needed to be said twice.


    That being said, even if he was one of the more temperate Misery Gods, he was still¡­ I didn¡¯t want to recall our epic battle. Uwah, that sneer still remains in my head as a traumatic memory~~


    Hmm, I wonder why I was able to remember such a thing though. Despite the fact that everything else remained fuzzy. No, rather than that, why was Hiki here? He had been an advanced AI in the game, but he wasn¡¯t real.


    I was confused. Very confused.


    ¡°Luna¡­ Luna-sama!¡±


    ¡°Bugufuuuu!¡± The breath was knocked outta me as Hiki suddenly pounced on me. My head hit a rock, and I saw stars.


    Wahh, what a nice river. I see the old ferryman grandpa!


    Hah! Wait, now¡¯s not the time to be dying!


    ¡°You know this guy?¡± Yun asked, glaring at me. His sword was still drawn and he eyed the guy suspiciously.


    ¡°Rather than know¡­¡± I said, furrowing my brow and unsure how to respond.


    ¡°I¡¯m Luna-sama¡¯s servant.¡± Hiki said with that blank look on his face. Nay, it was more like an ¡°isn¡¯t that obvious¡± type look on his face. Not helping. NOT HELPING.


    *Tting*


    ?You have obtained the Fourth God of Misery, ¡°Hiki¡±, as your soul bound guardian?


    ?Soul Bound Guardian - A Guardian Beast that has transcended the limits of just blood contracts. The contract between you and your Soul Bound Guardian can never be broken, even through death. You cannot use the skills of your Soul Bound Guardian as your own.?


    STILL NOT HELPING.


    ¡°Master? You¡¯re the bandit chief¡¯s master?¡± Yun had this deadly look on that was scaring me.


    ¡°No! No, no! It¡¯s that¡­ well... ¡° I glanced at the people who weren¡¯t otherworlders. I gently motioned Hiki to get off and stood, going to Yun.


    ¡°Well, you know games right¡­?¡± I said, in a low voice.


    He raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Well you see, I just remembered this, but I normally play a game where you capture different things like gods and holy beasts. He¡¯s a god I captured.¡± I said.


    ¡°That guy is?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°A god?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I looked at Yun with innocent eyes.


    He sighed, finally sheathing his swords.


    Hiki was standing there looking clueless like a small child. That blank look is pissing me off! Just because you can act like you don¡¯t know anything-!!


    Ah, it feels nostalgic. I wonder why. Although I had grasped my basic memories about the game, I didn¡¯t recall anything in any more detail. For some reason, I could name every single god and beast I had captured though¡­ Former Luna, just how obsessed were you with this game¡­?


    ¡°Men, back to the village.¡±


    Ah, does this mean I have to walk all the way back again?

 Chapter 7 - Dont Forget to Pack Well Before Travelling

    Hiki was immediately interrogated once we had returned, but he completely ignored everyone. Yep, that¡¯s Hiki alright. He instead decided to follow me around like an obedient little puppy. And what does that do? That means I get scolded, that¡¯s what.


    I clenched my fist in anger, only hitting the god ten times.


    On a side note, I was now level 11! Ahahaha! First time I¡¯ve leveled since the Beginner¡¯s Village! I felt an inexplicable sense of smug pride. I could see my nose growing in arrogance right now.


    ¡°Oi, Luna, you listening to me?¡± The cold and annoyed voice of Yun reached my ears.


    ¡°Y-yes sir!¡± I said, straightening my back. we were sitting across from each other at a table, and he was full on glaring at me. Hiki was beside me, arms wrapped around my waist as he stared wide eyed at Yun. My heart was going doki doki right now, but it wasn¡¯t for that reason (or actually, in my eyes, Hiki was this small fluffy animal that was in need of petting).


    Yun¡¯s glare is too terrifying! I thought that I had gotten used to it already, but no, he amped up the level of killing intent. My poor delicate heart can¡¯t take much more of this pressure~~~


    I wailed inwardly.


    Poking at Hiki, I grumbled to him, ¡°Answer Yun¡¯s questions already. Before he beats me up. Quickly, okay? Okay?!¡±


    Of course, Yun heard everything and glared even harder. Was that even possible? How terrifying can you make your glare when it¡¯s already at the level of demon king terrifying?!


    ¡°I beat them up and they asked me to be their boss,¡± Hiki said, his answer short and to the point.


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Yun and I said in sync, staring at him blankly.


    ¡°W-well, you know, Hiki has been like this since I first met him!¡± Although what I met was a game character.


    ¡°The god. Huh?¡± Yun stared dull-eyed at the red haired ¡°god¡±.


    ¡°Y-yeah, Hiki, tell Yun.¡± I said in a flustered manner, looking between the two of them.


    ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Hiki cleared his throat, looking more energetic than usual. Eh. Why do I have a bad feeling¡­?


    ¡°A long, long, long~ time ago¡­¡±


    Two hours later.


    ¡°And so that is how I came to be here- wai- Master?¡±


    ¡°Zzzzz- ttt-! Huh! Whu-!¡± I woke up, my snot bubble popping as I glanced up, dazed and still half asleep.


    Yun was sleeping across from us, his cheek leaning on his fist as he breathed quietly. Uwah, even his sleeping is elegant.


    ((Different from a certain someone))


    Hm? I feel like there was a small fly buzzing around next to my ear?


    ((...))


    ¡°Were you paying attention?¡±


    Hiki asked.


    ¡°Well, I mean, I already knew all this so¡­¡± I mumbled some half-assed excuse, rubbing the back of my head with a silly smile.


    After a while of more scolding, we were finally released. I grumbled the entire way back to my room and opening the door... I found Ludan sitting on my bed.


    I stared at him wide-eyed, blinking once, then twice before squinting. The daemon pulled at his hood, seeming slightly embarrassed over my excessive staring. "Hallucination?" I finally said out loud. "I mean, I knew I was tired, but I didn''t think it wasthatmuch..."


    "It''s not a hallucination! How did you come to that conclusion??" Ludan answered with shock on his face. Well, as much as one could tell, seeing that half of it was covered by the hood.


    "Of course I was joking you idiot. But seeing as how much you''ve been avoiding me lately, it was either that or you came to my room drunk in order to-" I gasped, not daring to speak further. "You aren''t really drunk and here to do various unspeakable things to me, right?" I raised an eyebrow.


    "Wha- no! Why would you think that!" His face turned bright red. "In the first place, and unmarried girl shouldn''t be-"


    "Yes, yes, we get it." I rolled my eyes, once again wanting to ask who the unmarried girl here was, because it certainly seemed like Ludan was more befitting of the part. "So? What are you doing here?" I asked as Hiki and I took a seat next to him... only to have the guy sneakily inch away from me.


    ... What did I ever do to you? I mean, aside from that one time I used you as a shield, but that wasn''tthatbig of a deal, right? You''re supposed to be a high leveled bad ass! But what the heck, here you are, cowering in the corner during that terrorist attack, or sacrificing me to run away from Yun Hua... I get his glare is deadly enough to kill, but I cannot believe you would actually kick such a beautiful lady like myself out at him, like sacrificing a virgin princess to the demon king!


    Thinking of all this, I couldn''t help but get slightly upset, frowning. But, this only caused Ludan to move away from me at a faster pace until his shoulder touched the wall and he could move away no more.


    "..."


    "..."


    Silence descended between the two of us.


    The bard fidgeted nervously, seemingly desiring to speak, yet at the end time, not wanting to be the first to break the silence. I continued looking at him with emotionless eyes. He finally broke. "Well, you see, the troupe has decided to leave, so Leader asked me to notify you..."


    "Huh... is that so..." My expression turned thoughtful. "Where do you plan on going?" Although this was the perfect chance to get away from a certain demon king, and I was also a member of the troupe anyways, I felt that I still had to know where we would be going before carefully making the decision of whether or not to leave with them.


    "We''ll be headed to the Eastern Continent. One of the members, a half-Naga, has family there." Seir replied with a slight frown. Was there something wrong about the Eastern Continent? Or was it the half-Naga part?


    ... What is a Naga anyways? After thinking long and hard... when I heard Naga, the first thing that popped into my head was a snake. Or maybe a dragon? Dragon-snake? But no matter how much I continued to think, nothing more as recalled, so I gave up.


    *Tting*


    ?Passive has leveled up!?


    ?Passive Lv.7 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +11%. Events beyond your control are +11% more likely to yield beneficial rewards?


    Why!? I can somewhat understand the previous times, but why is it that you choose now of all things to level!? Is it because you were lonely for not appearing in the past couple of chapters!?


    But, a half-Naga huh... if what I feel like a Naga should be is correct, then... Isn''t that pretty cool? I mean, half-snake... or no way, could it be, half-dragon?


    "I''m coming along!"


    "No." Yun replied after we had gone to notify him, his face stern.


    I revealed a hurt expression, like a small animal as my lip slightly trembled and my pretty eyes turned red at the edges, tears threatening to spill over. The handsome man glanced in my direction before snorting in disdain. I began trembling... in rage.


    "Why no!?" I yelled, pouting.


    "Obviously because you need to come with me to report to the Emperor." Yun Hua replied coolly.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "Tsk, just go report to him yourself," I said, face gloomy.


    "No means no."


    "..." At this moment, I had a sudden realization. "You can''t stop me from going," I said, as if speaking a fact. "Hahaha, you can''t stop me from going!" My face turned incomparably bright with joy as Yun''s turned dark.


    "Really? You want to give that a try?" He asked, face stormy.


    I was certain that if I gave my all in leaving (escaping), he wouldn''t be able to stop me. Yes, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be true... "No thank you." I obediently returned to my room after meekly answering. Well, I was certain... but you could never be too safe. And I had just had a very brilliant idea...


    ¡°?Contract Familiar?,¡± I said, a grin plastered over my face.


    Contract Familiar


    Beginner''s Lv.7


    Requires Summon Skill


    Cost 600 MP


    Contracts a new familiar of your affinity. Can now contract with a familiar of a nonopposing elemental affinity. Can now contract with a familiar of all general categories, disregarding affinity level.


    I wonder what the difference was between the two skills, summon and contract familiar...


    Invoking Contract Familiar Skill


    Large affinity to all subjects detected


    Which Familiar do you wish to Summon?


    Demon


    Fairy


    Elemental


    "Fairy." I actually would have gone for Demon (gotta collect em all!), but the only thing was that Demons strictly belonged to the "Dark" or "Fire" or whatever other seemingly evil and menacing element category... Plus they were more of a "physical" type of being anyways. And I was looking for a very specific element that couldn''t be found amongst the six elemental categories, so fairy it was.


    Large affinity to all elements detected


    What element of fairy do you wish to Summon?


    Light


    Dark


    Fire


    Water


    Earth


    Wind


    Other (please specify using a verbal command)


    "Space! No, void? Which is it..."


    A repeat of what had occurred with Khari now repeated, fairies appearing in my vision. The color scheme was black and glowing purple! To be honest, I don''t think that fairies actually suit "all elements" - rather, it should be flipped with elementals, right? Elementals of all elements, and fairies of the restricted big six... But, oh well, it''s not like I could change the rules of the world anyways- WAIT, NO, I KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING! DON''T-


    *Tting*


    ?System update pending: Elements corresponding to Elemental and Fairy summons will be switched. Please wait 48 hours before system update has been completed. Contracting or summoning Elemental and Fairy familiars will be suspended during this period?


    FFFFFFFFFFF-


    After a long time, I was finally able to regain my calm, restraining myself from spewing all sorts of colorful curse words.


    *Tting*


    ?Luna Silverwing has learned the Passive skill "Restraint"?


    Passive Skill:


    Restraint


    Beginner''s Lv.1


    +5% increase in control over your emotions and actions


    ... Excuse me, can I ask for a new system? New GM? I don''t know! Someone more agreeable than this bastard, poking me where it hurts, doing system updates at the worst times!!


    *Tting*


    ?Would you like to prolong system update for 24 hours??


    ?Yes/No?


    ... I take it back, you''re a pretty decent guy aren''t you? I hit yes, before proceeding to happily contract one of the space fairies. It was a very cool and handsome looking man... just fairy sized. I wonder what would happen to this familiar once the system update completed though... would he be switched out with an elemental? No, in the first place, was it alright for the world to change so much?


    I thought about it, but such concepts were just a bittoo complicated for me to understand... Okay, maybe they were way too complicated... I admit, I''m a simple person. As long as I have a table of delicacies to try, a few beauties by my side, and a mountain (or two) of gold to roll in, I''ll be satisfied. Just the normal things in life.


    This time, the fairy didn''t say anything, only a skill list and status window popping up before me. Err... Was he just not the talkative type, or...?


    Status Window


    Name: Ciro


    Race:Fairy


    Level: 79


    Alignment:Chaotic


    Titles:


    Oron - Title granted to the strongest Void Fairy


    Health: 5000/5000


    Mana: 10000/10000


    Strength:39


    Agility:101


    Vitality:77


    Intelligence:140


    Wisdom:165


    Luck: 42


    Equipped:


    Void Stone


    My god. My. Sweet. Jesus. Christ. Holy... Let me just mention that this is the highest level I have yet to see... well, minus question mark levels - since I don''t even know how high level those people are, there''s no reason for me to think too much about it. Now, let''s see. The average level of adults is about one or two. Very small. The village elder was level seven... but his class was Diplomat and he was a former Duke. The average level of Blue Bird''s members was roughly seven. The Captain of Elmar''s Knights was a level 22 Paladin and level 13 Berserker,while the lieutenant was level 18. Yun Hua was a level 21 Storm Dancer and level 13 Martial Artist... wait, make that level 22 Storm Dancer now. And he was a General of the Suisen Empire.


    From this, it could be said that... level 79 was OP as fuck. Huh? Couldn''t you take over the world with this sort of level??


    Thinking up to here, without even taking a glance at the skill list, I, of course, had ended up contracting him as my familiar.


    We were back in the present, and his tiny face was stoic and cold, like a certain well-known demon king. No, actually, I would peg him more as completely emotionless and indifferent to the world, rather than cold like Yun.


    I then took a proper look at the skill list, looking for something in particular, until one skill caught my eye - not what I had been looking for specifically, but...


    Passive Skill:


    Spatial Manipulation


    Advanced Lv.9


    Increases effects of void type skills by +95%


    Increases independent control of void type skills by +95%


    I squinted at it. Independent control...? This... Independent control, independent control, independent control... My 26 intelligence and 35 wisdom was working hard at this moment, slowly turning the gears of my head over and over again as I digested this. In other words... to independently control the skill... meaning... meaning... It''s no use. I think I''m too stupid for this.


    Just as I was about to give up, I suddenly gasped, realizing something. This wasn''t actually a game! It was a real world!! I mean, obviously, but playing it like a game makes it real easy to forget about this key fact. But, what I mean by this was that, in other words, the people around me would obviously not have the ability to just say the skill name and have the spell automatically invoke itself - they had to do thingsmanually. So, essentially, native Arkon residents could only live in manual mode, while otherworlders played on automatic. But, this didn''t mean that they couldn''t switch to manual mode!


    I feel like I had the realization of a lifetime, feeling extremely proud of myself. Well, I would experiment with the idea later. It''s a pity that the skill was my familiar''s, and not mine.


    Active/Passive Skill:


    Little Garden


    Intermediate Lv.2


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Costs 1000 MP


    Creates a mustard seed dimension resembling a miniature world. Can hold living beings. Size increases in proportion with skill level (currently 1000 meters in radius). Those that are more than 10 levels higher than the skill user may freely exit your dimension.


    This was essentially an advanced version of the inventory and interdimensional storage ring...? (Which basically added slots to my inventory.)


    Active Skill:


    World Gate


    Beginner''s Lv.3


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Cost 10000 MP


    Creates agate that allows you and others to travel through worlds.


    Worlds currently accessible: Arkon (World Level C), Spirit World (World Level C)


    My mouth opened and closed once, then twice. Isn''t this basically useless!? Was what I thought, but I knew that if I leveled them... If I leveled them... Couldn''t I... return home? The moment this thought entered my head, I discarded it. There''s no point. It''s not like I can even remember anything from that... Earth? I sighed, shaking my head.


    Active Skill:


    One Step Crossing a Thousand Miles


    Intermediate Lv.1


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Cost 1000 MP


    Long distance teleportation in one direction, one step equalling a thousand miles.


    Can currently use in succession 10 times.


    Active Skill:


    Blink


    Advanced Lv.9


    Cost 100 MP


    Short distance teleportation to one location, maximum distance 100 meters (increases proportionately with skill level).


    Active Skill:


    Asura''s Gate


    Beginner''s Lv.7


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Cost 1500 MP


    Opens the gate to the netherworld, spilling forth a variety of Earth Demons and other inhabitants of hell.


    Lack of skill proficiency may result in skill user and allies being caught up in resulting damage.


    May currently control beings who come out of the gate under level 40.


    Passive Skill:


    Void Travel


    Advanced Lv.6


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    All teleportation and travel void type skill effects are increased by +90% (effects stackable).


    Active Skill:


    Mass Teleportation


    Intermediate Lv.1


    Requires extremely high affinity with your familiar to activate


    Cost 1500 MP


    Generates a large magic circle that will teleport all those within it to a location specified by the skill user.


    Current radius of magic circle: 3 meters (increases proportionately with skill level).


    Mana cost will decrease or increase depending on mass and status (living or nonliving) of items and beings teleported (+10 MP for every kg of nonliving being and +30 for every kg of living being teleported - mana cost will decrease proportionately with skill level).


    May currently teleport to any previously visited location.


    Mm, tears appeared in my eyes. Truly, too OP. But... but... I couldn''t use them! Okay, I could use Blink... Void Travel was a passive skill, which meant I couldn''t use it as my own... And the others all cost way too much mana. Mm... After thinking, wasn''t it just fine if I used Through the Looking Glass...? I''m an idiot, aren''t I? Why is it that my intelligence and wisdom had increased steadily according to my status screen, but I couldn''t feel the effects at all?


    After lamenting my life, I decided to not think too much into it. So what if I''m stupid? What''re you gonna do about it, bite me!?


    But, now that my route toward freedom had been confirmed, I could move on to other things...


    Mother always told me - don''t forget to pack well before traveling!


    Alright, I don''t actually remember that happening, but the phrase itself still remained true.


    Sayonara demon king! Sayonara Suisen! It was about time I hit the road again anyways.

 Chapter 8 - Never Trust Beautiful Women, Myself Included

    I tossed a small candy into my mouth, sitting on a large rock. Before me was a vast expanse of green, stretching on as far as the eye could see, grass swaying in the wind. A few sparse trees could be seen here and there, and the blue of the sky was interrupted by wisps of pale white cloud.


    This was no longer Suisen. I wasn''t with the Blue Bird Troupe either - but IhadaddedSeir as a friend (maybe forcefully), as well as Lennor. I was surprised to find that adding Arkon residents to my friend list was possible. By the way, after adding Seir as a friend... well, his level finally showed up clear as day on my friendlist.


    Friend List


    Lennor Alessandra


    Dancer Lv.12


    Current Location: The Silk Road, Suisen


    Yun Hua


    Storm Dancer Lv.22 | Martial Artist Lv.13


    Current Location: Ling Forest, Suisen


    Seir Ludan


    Bard of Shadows Lv.81 | Summoner Lv.66


    Current Location: The Silk Road, Suisen


    Laurence Nuel


    Sorcerer Lv.17


    Current Location: Black Iron Border City, Astarne


    My god, his level is higher than Ciro''s. In fact, if you add both of his classes together, it''s 147 levels... Dude. What the hell. He could have wiped the floor with the terrorists and Yun with not even half a pinky. He could probably conquer the world twice over and still have enough energy left to go and fight a few dragons the same night.


    So why in thehellwas he such a coward? Is it that everyone is actually all crouching tigers and hidden dragons, their levels not reflecting their true strengths? That, in fact, the level 22 Yun could beat the level 81 Seir? Was that it!? Even if level jumping is possible, isn''t that a little bit too extreme!?


    I sighed. As for the reason why I split with the Blue Bird troupe... Well,it was only because I had to take care of a few things first. I planned on meeting up with them later - and it would have drawn too much attention if we left together.


    As for my current location... honestly, I had no idea where I was. It was a gorgeous place.


    *ROAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR*


    *BOOOOOMMMM*


    The scenery was extremely lovely, perfect shades of blue and green meeting at the horizon.


    "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"


    The scent of fresh morning dew and spring wind filling my nose, with a symphony of screams and explosions echoing- wait, no! That''s wrong! What the hell is happening?


    I opened my eyes in confusion, looking this way and that as I tried to find the source of noise that interrupted my moment of peace.


    There, in the not so far off distance, was a... gigantic lizard. It was large, bulky, and after zooming my gaze on it, I could see it had a squarish face with spikes, the color of its scales a slightly dull dirt brown.


    "Lv. 30 Earth Dragon" floated above its head, while a group of people dodged its fierce claw and tail swipes, occasionally casting a spell or slashing a sword in retaliation.


    Neo Light (Taiyou Natsuki)


    Party Leader (Party Name: Hero''s Party)


    Spellsword Lv.18


    | Otherworlder (Summoned Edition) | Summoned Hero | Child of Light | Holy Sword | Mark of the Hero | Class A Adventurer |


    Kiara Ley


    Party Member (Party Name: Hero''s Party)


    Cleric Lv.15


    | Holy Priestess | Daughter of the Heavens | Saintess of Sacrifice | Class A Adventurer |


    FairenEndelle


    Party Member (Party Name: Hero''s Party)


    Ranger Lv.16


    | Guardian of the Holy Forest | Prince of the Elves | God''s Blessing | Class A Adventurer |


    Sasha Ember


    Party Member (Party Name: Hero''s Party)


    Elementalist Lv.15


    | Empress of Flames | Fireborn | Royal Magician | Class A Adventurer |


    Ruin Vladimir


    Party Member (Party Name: Hero''s Party)


    Assassin Lv.25


    | Master of Disguise | Shadow Walker | Puppet Master | One Shot One Kill | Envoy of Darkness | Child of Chaos | Vampire Lord | Class A Adventurer |


    Wow... what a lineup... Especially that last one, what the heck, you''re even higher level than your party leader and the hero!? Wow, but it''s actually a hero! And it''s a different type of otherworlder than me, a summoned hero! Wow! Wow!


    I wonder if they can beat the Earth Dragon? Although he''s level 30, I''ve learned that you can''t actually really trust levels - after all, otherworlders find it really easy to jump levels and beat their opponents... To top it off, they have the advantage of numbers. The assassin was real impressive though, from just his status. Though after observing for a few more minutes, it was clear that he was withholding his abilities.


    I then noticed. There was a "(Summoned Edition)" beside that Neo guy''s otherworlder title.


    Huh. That was... Huh.


    Interest caused me to stay, even getting up to approach a bit closer - of course, remaining a safe enough distance away. If I accidentally got caught up in the edges of the battle, I would definitely end up as ground meat and bones, set to revive with another appearance and name.


    Of course, this allowed Ruin, the only one who had the capability of paying attention to their surroundings, to quickly notice me. But he didn''t do anything, continuing to harass the Earth Dragon. I noted it as he glanced my way, one eye on him and the other eye on the rest of the happenings. Although as an otherworlder, I had an advantage against the original residents of the world, I didn''t dare underestimate him. I mean, come on, a level 25 Vampire Lord plus Envoy of Darkness plus Puppet Master plus whatever else... that''s just scary man.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    At the same time though, I was curious as to how many levels an otherworlder could skip when fighting enemies. To top it off, I had a wider variety of skills than other people, almost to the point where I could be considered the very definition of "OP". (Though I still couldn''t beat Yun. I''m sorry. He''s just too strong, that damned demon king.)


    Watching them, they appeared to be mildly struggling but still continued to hold the advantage. Although occasionally the cleric would let out a high-pitched scream of panic when the Earth Dragon''s attack fell a little bit too close to her - she was the source of screaming that I had heard earlier.


    Seeing that they would probably not be defeated unless something unexpected happened, I could leisurely go about sating my curiosity. First and foremost, was that "(Summoned Edition)" behind the blond haired hero''s otherworlder title. I narrowed my eyes at it, feeling that if I concentrated enough, then it would magically generate a description. Of course, this time, I was bound to be disappointed. There were many times when I would do or think something, thinking that there was no way it would actually happen, only to have it actually happen, but in this case, I guess I could only remain disappointed.


    I wondered if there was a way to see the effects of another person''s title though. I know for myself, all I have to do was to pull up my status and press the title I wanted to see the effects for, in which the description would then pop up, but obviously, you can''t see the status of another person... Wait, unless you could?


    Hmm. How to see the status of another person... I sighed. If only the help system was still active! If only there was a game forum! If only there was Google! Thinking all this, I once again sighed. I paused, preparing myself... but nothing happened.


    Eh? Wasn''t this where the system says something like, "System update: User forums have been implemented," or some nonsense like that?


    ... Even waiting for a few moments, nothing happened. I felt a little bit disappointed, but at the same time, a forum option might be a bit pushing it, huh? Thinking up to here, I could only sigh and continued observing the hero party. Hmm. Stare. Stare some more. It didn''t seem like they were making much progress... Neo was panting, standing his ground as he gave off a mighty roar, seemingly about to unleash his final attack with all his power.


    A bright golden light began to gather on his silver blade, flashing with a sharp and burning aura that almost completely blinded me. I couldn''t help but shriek out like a specter being purified, "THAT FREAKING HURTS YOU BASTARD-!!!" Such words echoed through the plains, only partially drowned out by the sound of the Earth Dragon perishing.


    The hero party couldn''t help but look in my direction with wide eyes as the Earth Dragon lay on the ground, life seeping out of it in the form of dazzling ruby red blood. I huffed, glaring at them. "What? The light of the attack is so bright that it makes me think you do it on purpose, in order to blind your enemies..." I gasped. "No, that makes perfect sense. So you make the light that bright so you can blind others, thereby striking them while they can''t see. Hm, I should take notes..."


    Neo looked slightly embarrassed. After all, this really wasn''t the case, his ultimate was just naturally that blinding!


    I then looked back up, chin propped on my hand as I raised an eyebrow. "So, what''s the hero''s party doing here? Ah, wait, no, let me first ask... Um... where exactly is here...?" My face flushed a slight pink as I asked this, glancing away in embarrassment.


    "..." The silence stretched on for at least five minutes before Neo finally spoke. "We''re currently at the Great Central Dragon Plains, located to the North of the Kaikush Empire."


    The Kaikush Empire? I feel like I''ve heard that before... somewhere... I thought, but I didn''t recall anything, so I decided it was unimportant anyway and nodded. "So, what''s the hero party doing here? I''m especially interested in you..." I glanced, not at Neo, but at Ruin, the beautiful black-haired assassin with seductive red eyes and dressed in a tight fitting all black assassin''s outfit. Mm, it''s not because he was my type, but due to his titles, okay? I mean, if we''re talking about looks, the elf was equally attractive. Mm, as for the actual hero... Well... Well... let''s just say I felt a little bit bad for him when his party was filled with such heavenly defying beauties.


    "Ruin?? Why are you interested in him?" Neo asked, looking slightly confused. To be honest, he was actually feeling a bit wary of the person before him. Partially because he had learned that beautiful women were terrifying, and she was no doubt a one of a kind, empire toppling beauty with the looks of a divine fairy. The main reason, though, was simply the fact that she had suddenly appeared here with full knowledge of their identities, watching from the side as they fought with the Earth Dragon - he had glanced at her briefly during the fight, only to see her cold purple eyes trained on him, an amused smile dancing on the edges of her glossy red lips, sending chills down his back.


    I tilted my head, eyes sweeping over the five people. There was the slightly wary Neo, with honest and barely above average looks. The indifferent and beautiful silver-haired elf. The fiery haired mage who glared at me with her sharp eyes. A nervous looking Priestess with a meek and demure appearance. And finally, the vampire lord... Mm, it was an odd lineup.


    I smiled brightly. "What? Why should I tell you that? It seems Mister Summoned Hero is a little bit foolish?" These words immediately put them on their guard. I had on a slightly puzzled expression.


    "How did you know that!? Summoned Heroes are a Class S national secret!" Sasha said, her temper just as fiery as her hair and magic, like a spicy little red pepper.


    My eyes bulged as I stared at them. I then looked to Neo, who nodded. "Wow... really? How unexpected! I can''t really understand it." I then switched languages.I kept tilting my head back and forth, feeling something was odd. Wait. Could it be... the summoned hero couldn''t see my titles? "Hey, Summoned Hero, you don''t know me?" The group was notably confused, looking at Neo, who shook his head with an equally confused expression.


    "Huh, that''s weird..." I muttered. It really did seem like he couldn''t see my identity! Was this the difference between a summoned hero and us? I wondered what other differences there were... Could he still see his own status? From what I vaguely remembered of those light novels, I felt that was the case... I suddenly had a realization. Was he even from the same world as I was!? The World Gate skill flashed through my head. Hell, there were already two worlds that I knew of, who knew if there were more! It was possible! Completely possible!


    Curiosity continued to plague me as my expression continued to change, the silence between us stretching on longer and longer. I finally sighed. "The reason why I knew you were the summoned hero is because I possess a high-class skill that allows me to see your identities..." Note: Yes, this was bullshit. Further note: Was this believable bullshit? How should I know? I kept my eyes on them, wondering if they would buy into it. I mean, granted, you could say this was true. It was the effects of a title though.


    Although they were still staring at me suspiciously, I feel that theymighthave relaxed by a bit, decreasing their suspicion a little... Okay, who am I kidding, I have no idea if they actually believed me or no-


    "What, if it''s just that, then why didn''t you say so earlier? And here we almost thought you were an enemy spy! Granted a bad one, but," Sasha grumbled as they all set down their weapons, sighing in relief.


    YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVED THAT?