Summary: "You have died" Ichiro didn't know what to say when the Goddess spoke these words. He had no memories, no friends, and no way of escaping this fate. His soul was deemed a special case, Heaven or Hell not being a good fit. So, he was sent to Purgatory where his soul will be sent to start a new life. Is this just a game or is this actually real? Without his memories, there's no way to know but to survive in this world. Welcome to Asteria.
I got the idea off of this story from both my fanboy-ism when it comes to dxd, Danmachi, and Konosuba. While this isn't a cross-over, it is a virtual fantasy world style fanfiction and as such I thought it would be good to post it here. This is a complete world-building story using OC characters of my imagination. With that out of the way, onto the story.
Prologue Welcome to Asteria
When I opened my eyes there was nothing.
Darkness.
I was floating on nothing. Who am I? Was this life?
I tried to think back to what I was doing before I appeared here and nothing was coming to mind. I looked down at my feet to see gray clouds. Have I've been traveling this void my entire life? But that doesn't seem right, that doesn't make sense. I remember a planet, I remember Earth. The lush green environment, the cities, the skyscrapers, the technological advancement. Japan? Maybe I was Japanese? Or maybe, American?
I was getting lost at the details however I knew something was wrong, something was different, but...but my memories were gone.
"Welcome young soul" a boy with silver hair and piercing hazel eyes looked forward through the darkness to see a glowing light coming towards him. "W-where am I?" he mumbled lowly, his throat sounded hoarse, like he was gray clouds below his feet, he was standing in the air.
He then looked up at the bright light to see it wasn't a light at all, it was a beautiful woman with long pink hair and piercing red eyes. She had a golden crown on her head and six beautiful pair of white wings on her back. However, despite her beauty, the boy couldn't help but shake at the energy she was radiating. .
"Wh-where am?" he mumbled again as he stared up at the beautiful angel, the last thing he remembered was…nothing…more darkness. He didn't even remember what he was doing before he got here, all he knew that this world was unnatural.
"You don't remember?" the woman said blinking in surprise, "you died, and now you're passing onto the afterworld."
"Death? So, this is death? Blackness? A loss of one's memories?" he mumbled to himself, however he could still remember a name, Ichiro, his name was Ichiro. He looked down at his clothes, a plain black t-shirt and a pair of boxers, almost like he had been sleeping before his death. Nothing distinguishable to indicate how he had died or what he had been doing. Or more importantly, who he was.
"When individuals die they are either sent to Heaven or Hell based on how they acted in their lives. However, you were sent to neither, you are one of these special cases therefore you are sent here, a special place called Purgatory, where your soul is meant to wander here for all of eternity."
Ichiro's eyes widened in shock, he didn't think of himself as a Saint but he knew he wasn't evil either, but he guessed most people thought this way about themselves, to be sent to Purgatory, to spend his entire life wandering in a black void, until he happened to meet other souls, to reflect on his past life. But without his memories, what would be the point?
"However, as a Goddess, I'm sent to soul like you to offer you another option, a option you won't possibly refuse."
"What kind of offer?" the boy asked as he stared at the beautiful goddess, realizing there was no escape of this situation.
"It's not so bad, your world was Earth, right? I don't really enjoy that world, no magic and it's very dull compared to other worlds. Well, the world you are being sent to, you have the chance to either prove yourself as deserving of Heaven or Hell. You can either be a hero or villain of your own design, no Gods or Goddesses would dare stand in your way and at the end of your life you will be judged for your actions".
"My memories" Ichiro stated, "what happened to my memories?"
The Goddess smiled at the boy, "don't worry, your soul was cleansed during your time in purgatory, however after you make it to the new world over time they should start coming back but everyone starts their journey with nothing. But to get started in this new world I need you to pick a class."
"A class?" Ichiro asked, "do you mean like poor, middle-class, or rich? Well rich obviously!"
The goddess laughed at this, "by class I mean warrior, mage, priest, martial artist, or thief. This world is more like a rpg video game in your world, it's a digital-like world, so to get started you need to pick a starting class. You can change your class later in the story however starting off you need to pick one".
Ichiro thought about it, he knew these words held some meaning in video game but he couldn't quite remember what they meant, "which one is the most balanced?"
"If you're looking for balance that would-be Warrior. Warrior is the basic starting class being average in strength, magic, and speed. Martial Artists possess immense durability and strength however they can be defeated by high speed opponents. Thief are more speedy fighters however they run the risk of being defeated by stronger or more magical opponents and if one of their legs get injured their speed is cut in half. And last is mages and priests, both these classes rely heavily on magic, however the type of magic is important, mages focus on offensive magic and destroying their enemies and priests rely on healing and supporting magic for their allies, of course their enhanced magic runs the risk of running out when they're low on mana and they possess very little in terms of speed and strength."
If this was a normal rpg game Ichiro would've picked warrior, however he had to think about more than just fighting, if this was real, then his life and surviving a battle was much more important than just winning, "I guess I'll go with thief, finding money and treasure and being able to run away will probably be as important as fighting strong monsters."
"Alright if that is what you desire. Now, your race has already been chosen for you based off the life you lived previously, however unlike class, these are much more important because once chosen they are impossible to change, the races of this world are as followed: human, angel, fallen angel, or dragon. These races act as enemies towards each other, fairies possess powerful dragon slaying magic, angels and fallen angels possess light magic that can harm demons, and demons possess demon magic that can harm fairies, angels, and fallen angels very easily".
"So, it's like a game of rock-paper-scissor" Ichiro said putting his hand under his chin. "So then for the sake of balance, that would mean the best play would be human, however I assume humans have their own disadvantages as well?"
Ichiro turned towards the Goddess who nodded, "of course, humans are naturally weaker compared to the other species, also dragons are much more powerful than other species and while as an angel you'll have much more support from Heaven, fallen angels are able to move freely and follow their own agendas much more stealthily."
"So, this is the game I must play in this new world" Ichiro said with a sigh as he lied down in mid-air, looking down at the black nothingness and stars that surrounded him. "Which race was chosen for me?"
The Goddess smile, "fallen angel, a being that is neither entirely evil or entirely good"
"Do you mind telling me what this new world is called?" Ichiro asked, seeming to wave off the race thing.
"Asteria" the Goddess said as she outstretched her hands, Ichiro could feel some form of energy flowing into his body.
"Good luck on your new journey, and remember, The Gods and Goddesses are all
watching, judging you, and keeping track of your progress good luck!"
Ichiro then felt his body began to fall. He didn't know how long or how much he was falling but he felt his eyes drifting into a deep sleep.
.
.
.
"WAHH!" Ichiro opened his eyes, a shocked and confused expression on his face. He looked around and realized that he was surrounded by four walls and sleeping in a bed. A wide smile crossed over his face, "I knew that was too crazy to be real life" he mumbled to himself as he stood up.
"I don't remember anything but fallen angels? Classes? There's no way that stuf- "Ichiro flipped a light switch and he felt his heart stop.
The room looked like an inn, the type of room you would see in a RPG game. There was a bed, and a dresser however there was nothing else in this room. It was then he felt a knock at the door.
"Hey kid, open up" the voice commanded as the female voice was followed by a couple of more knocks at the door.
Ichiro shrugged his shoulders and opened up the door to see a beautiful woman with long black hair and piercing red eyes, wearing a maid dress. However, the craziest thing about her appearance wasn't just the outfit she was wearing or the angry look on her face.
It was the two-white eagle-like wings stretching out of her back. "I promise Gods and Goddesses who send humans like you to this world to promise you one free night on your first day. However, I'm under no obligation to offer you free rent or let you stay any longer for free".
"With that case what's your problem?" Ichiro said angrily, "I only been here for a
few minutes!"
"Actually, you've been sleeping in that bed for twelve hours" the woman said as she retracted the wings into her back, "if you think I'm offering free room and board another night you're dead wrong so pay-up!"
Ichiro looked into his pockets and looked around the room and realized he had no money. 'Damn it…' he mumbled to himself.
The woman then put her hands on her hip, "I already had one demon and one fallen angel scam me out of another day and I don't plan to let you do so as well, so pay up or leave!"
Ichiro clenched his fist, the urge to punch this woman growing stronger, "for an angel you're kind of a jerk!"
The woman smiled, "I may be an angel but I'm still a business owner, since I'm in a good mood I'll offer you a shower and one free meal before I send you on your way. I'll even have one of my workers wash those rags of yours".
Ichiro looked down and realized that he wasn't just wearing a boxer and black t-shirt anymore, he had at least a pair of black training pants.
"At least that goddess didn't leave me completely hanging" Ichiro thought with a sigh.
"She also gave you that training sword" the woman said pointing towards the sword standing behind Ichiro.
Ichiro walked back towards to the bed, it was a very simple sword, it was a long sword with a plain steel blade that reached about three feet and a very mid-length handle about 6 inches long. Ichiro picked up the sword and he felt some numbers and words flash through his mind.
Strength: +5
Speed: -1
Magic: 0
Defense: 0
Sell Price: 1 copper coin
Description: A starter sword, typically given by a God or Goddess for one who is stating their journey. The sword has no special or unique powers.
Ichiro then smiled cockily as he turned towards the Innkeeper, "may I sell this sword to you for a couple of more nights?"
To Ichiro's surprise the innkeeper laughed at him, "as if, my inn is divided into three sections, you have 1st class which is 1 gold coin a night, 2nd class which is 35 silver coins a night, and 3rd class which is 40 copper coins a night. This room you're staying in is 40 copper coins a night and you'll be lucky if someone will take that cheap piece of scrap metal off your hand for even 1 measly copper coin."
A small "tsk" sound escaped Ichiro's lips as he let out a sigh, "alright, I'll take you on your offer, and I'll be gone as soon as I finished" Ichiro stated.
The innkeeper nodded, "alright, just leave those clothes outside your room and I'll have them washed. A word of warning for a newcomer like you, don't go around speaking and squealing about a Goddess or whatever Deity sent you to this world. Most people will think you're crazy and there are some who will try to capture and torture you for any information you can give regarding this deity of yours. So, for you own safety, keep it to yourself. And if you happen to find other adventurers or know anyone from your world, it would be best to not say anything."
"Thanks for the tip" Ichiro said as he walked into the bathroom. He fumbled around for a few minutes before he found a light switch and clicked it up, light illuminating the entire room. He then walked towards the bath and turned on the water causing steam to quickly fill up the small bathroom.
'At least this place has modern technology similar to Earth' he thought to himself.
.
.
.
When Ichiro got out of the shower he looked in the mirror and was pretty shocked, 'I can't believe I didn't notice this earlier' he thought. He looked in the mirror to see that his black hair had changed to a silvery-white color and his hazel eyes had lighten to the point where they looked gold.
Was this because goddess made him into a fallen angel? Or was this his true appearance and the one from earlier had only been his purgatory body? Just thinking about this stuff was giving him a headache. Ichiro opened the door to see standing on the bed was his clothes but cleaned and dried.
Ichiro put on the t-shirt and black training pants. He then slipped on the white sneakers and picked up the sword and placed it in the sheathe. "Since this is like a RPG, that means I have to get better armor and weapon.
My stats are probably low-lever and…
Ichiro began to think back to what the Goddess and Innkeeper had both informed him of. There were people from his world here. How many? What had he been doing before he died? How long did he stay dead before appearing in this world?
As far as he knew, they were at an advantage compared to him and he didn't even know what he was going to do exactly in this world.
Ichiro slung the sword over his back as his stomach began to rumble. "Whatever, I'll go get something to eat first and worry about that stuff later" he said to himself, "If I have one free meal at this inn I might as well use it now so I can go exploring."
Ichiro made his way down the brown wooden stairs to see a giant table. There were already a few individuals eating there, almost twelve in total. They were a mixed group of individuals, and were all wearing the same simple and basic clothing that he was, and Ichiro could tell they all felt anger, sadness, and even dread about their current situation.
Being reborn into a new world. With no memories, no family, and having to form your own allies and bonds does that to a person.
Ichiro sat down and a man wearing a butler outfit put a plate in front of Ichiro. It was a basic inn meal, some bread, soup, and a piece of fish. "It's not much but it's the best we can offer to free customers" the butler said bowing his head to Ichiro.
Ichiro shrugged his shoulders, "It's fine, I understand". A free meal was a free meal after all. Ichiro took a spoon and began to dig in. After almost ten minutes the innkeeper came into the room.
"Have you all enjoyed your stay and got well-rested?" she asked, "I haven't properly introduced myself and I apologize if I seemed a bit rude this morning but my name is Petrova, I run the best inn in the city so if you all manage to become established adventurers then come back for a stay."
Ichiro raised his hand causing everyone to turn towards him. "If you don't mind, I was wondering, is there some form of guild or tutorial in this world you can point me to?" he asked standing up and picking up his sword, deciding he had finished his food.
"Well" Petrova said with a smile, "glad to see someone is ready to go out and start earning a living."
"It's either that or face homelessness and I'm not prepared to give up so easily."
"You're a fallen angel, right? So that means you'll share the same training guild as demons. At every town or city with established guilds they'll have the training guilds broken up into four sections, angels, fairies, dragons, and demons plus fallen angels." Petrova explained.
"What about clans?"
"No guild will help you with that" Petrova stated, "guilds are where you can find jobs or simple work and make a living of some sort. Forming clans or alliances is entirely up to every individual. If you wish to learn more about this world and its system then you should report to
your guilds for basic training."
Ichiro and a few others began to walk out of the room. 'Should I take this time to build a alliance?' Ichiro thought to himself, he turned towards a boy who appeared to be the same age as him except he had long shoulder-length blonde hair and emerald green eyes.
"Hey, my name is-"
"Don't talk to me fallen angel!" the boy said as he angrily glared at Ichiro.
Ichiro then turned towards a girl with curly black hair who simply shook Ichiro away, "you were born the wrong race in a world like this. I understand that as a child, the thrill to be a free agent without Heaven or Hell calling you must seem fun but as a fallen angel nobody will want to ally with you until you build some sort of reputation."
"A reputation?" Ichiro questioned he then looked at the girl and noticed the two black and purple butterfly wings sprouting out her back.
And instead of the basic sword he had, she had a whip.
"I met a fallen angel just like you a few days ago and he stole my bag of coins and now I'm being kicked out of the inn! Fallen angels are nothing but thieves and criminals who only care about themselves!" the boy said.
"The fallen angel and demon training guild is just to the west of here" Petrova said. "And you, you'll find the angel guild to the North, and the fairy guild to the East. Good luck on your journey" the innkeeper said as she closed the door behind the three.
"I was lucky, to be sent to this world with a few coins and now it's all gone and I have to start fighting. If a fallen angel ever crosses me like that again I promise I'll cut them down!" the boy then angrily walked away and the girl followed suit leaving Ichiro alone.
Alone. It was the only word Ichiro could think of to describe his current situation.
No memories.
No Allies.
Nothing.
Name: Ichiro
Class: Thief
Race: Fallen Angel
Level: 1
Welcome to Asteria.
Ichiro finally made his way to the demon/fallen angel guild. To his surprise the building was more beautiful and more designed then he expected it to be. It was almost the size of a mansion and had the appearance of a castle, on one side of the building you could see a pitchfork with two bat wings etched into the middle of the building along with a door and on the other side you could see two black wings, crow-like wings and a door.
"I assume that door is the fallen angel door" Ichiro said as he pointed towards the door with the black wings.
"Out of the way kid!"
Ichiro turned around and he felt a shiver go down his spine. Standing behind him was a rather muscular man of about 6'1 with a giant great sword in a handle on his back. He had an angry and annoyed expression on his face.
'Is there a chance he could be from my world' Ichiro moved out of the way and the man walked through the fallen angel door, Ichiro decided to follow him inside. While the inside of the building didn't have the same glamour as the outside it was still decent. Multiple rows of round tables were spread around the area, on one side of the building he could see people standing behind windows and on the other side he could see a bar-like setting and people drinking.
He could instantly tell the experienced and strong adventurers from the new ones. All the experienced had their own personalized and stylized weapons and armors plus they were the big spenders at the bar. However, the new adventures, they were buying the bare minimum in terms of food, and their weapons and clothing weren't anything to be desired.
Ichiro already knew what camp he was in the moment he walked through the door.
However, there was also a wall, a wall with multiple papers stapled to it. He watched the man he saw outside walk towards the wall and read through the papers until his eyes laid on one, he then snatched it off the wall and left the guild.
"Good evening" Ichiro looked to his side to see a woman with blonde hair styled into a bun wearing a white business suit, Ichiro could tell she was one of the workers.
"Good morning" Ichiro said bowing out of respect, "I've came here to receive some training and to become a registered adventurer."
"Alright, no problem. If you plan to become a registered adventurer I'll be happy to help you with that, my name is Ametria, I'm one of the guild workers, before we get started may I have your name?"
"I-Ichiro" he said shyly, with his memories gone, he didn't even know if that was his name, however with nothing else to go on he might as well stick with it.
"Alright now hold out one of your hands so we can get started" Ametria said with a smile.
Ichiro held out his right hand, and the woman tapped his hand and to Ichiro's shock a crimson red magic sigil appeared on his hand, it was a octangle with triangles around it dressed in diamond-shaped symbols around the edges, and in the middle, was a cursive "I".
"There, that's your personalized sigil, it can be used to track your level as an adventurer, and will be your main basis for magic. Now to start off are there any special skills or previous jobs you can give me?" Ametria asked.
'Is this what the goddess meant when she said this world was like a rpg? Is this how I will gain exp and learn new spells' Ichiro thought to himself, 'if I give her some special skills will that be added as experience? Could that help me level up?'
Ichiro thought about something he could give her, if it would give him an advantage in surviving in this new world he would use it. However, his mind was drawing a blank, "I'm sorry there's nothing I can give you."
"That's fine! Most young adventures start off this way" Ametria said with a cheery smile, however Ichiro could see the pity in her eyes.
"Alright now, may I see your equipment so I can register it?" she asked.
Ichiro held out the basic sword he had been given by the goddess, the guild worker took the sword and inspected it before typing some keys into the magical keyboard, "alright! You're all set. Training should be in that hall, just wait in the hallway and then a trainer will meet with you personally." Ametria explained.
"And this is all free, right?" Ichiro asked.
Ametria then touched Ichiro's right hand, "your first training session is free of course, however I'm sure you don't want to start adventuring with just that, guilds have listened to the problems of new adventurers and now they give you the option of buying equipment and paying it off later."
'That's just like credit cards in the human world' Ichiro thought as he looked at the crimson sigil tattoo on his right hand. 'Is this really a new world or is this just some type of video game?'
However, Ichiro thought back to the food he ate earlier, the shower he took, it all felt so real, this possibly had to be real.
He just needed to adapt to this world or he wouldn't survive.
"Alright, where can I buy equipment?" Ichiro asked.
Ametria pointed towards a vendor, an old man wearing a baseball cap who was sitting at a desk and behind him you could see different types of armor and weaponry.
"Thank you, Ametria-San," Ichiro said bowing his head respectfully to the worker.
"-San? What does that mean?" the woman asked, "is that some type of foreign slang?"
'So, this world doesn't have honorifics' Ichiro thought to himself, he waved to the woman before walking over to the vendor.
Most of that equipment was worth gold, he knew if he bought it, he wouldn't be able to pay it back. However, his eyes laid on basic leather armor.
Strength: 0
Speed: 0
Magic: 0
Defense: +10
Sell Price: 35 Copper Coins
Ichiro looked down at the boots he was wearing, 'If I buy this basic leather armor that should be enough to carry me over until I actually make some money'.
"I'll take that Leather armor please" Ichiro said. The vendor nodded as Ichiro placed his hand on the reader. After his magic sigil was approved the man handed Ichiro the basic leather armor.
Ichiro inspected the armor, it was a copper-like color and consisted of a chest piece with two straps for both of his shoulder, the armor however offered upper leg protection because of the Fauld-like pieces that went downward.
Ichiro quickly placed the armor on. It barely added any new weight to Ichiro's body but he could feel the extra protection. Ichiro could tell there were eyes on him, to some of the adventurers he was competition and to others he was simply fresh meat, an easy mark.
He thought back to what the angel had told him.
A fallen angel had robbed him.
And he was a fallen angel surrounded by fallen angel.
He had to be careful in this environment.
Ichiro began to make his way to the back room for training. When Ichiro opened the door to the room over a dozen eyes turned towards him while another couple of dozen didn't even seem interested in him. As he looked over the other individuals almost all looked young just like him however a few even looked older than him. They had competitive looks on their faces.
That's what they all were, competition. 'Are they in the same situation as me, or were they born in this world and just starting their adventures?"
"Welcome young adventurers!" all the eyes in the room were fixated on a rather large and muscular man. He had spiky short black hair and blue eyes and a bright smile on his face despite the scars that covered his face, neck, and left arm. He easily doubled over almost everyone in the room. "You have come to start your journey as adventurers, born as fallen angels, your race will be less likely to be trusted by others, for most fallen angels are known as be thieves or downright narcissistic".
'Nice motivational speech' Ichiro thought as he rolled his eyes and listen to the man ramble on about how hard being a fallen angel would be as an adventurer and how evil they were, even a few of the members began to walk out due to frustration and anger.
"Now with that out of the way, does anyone have any questions?" the man asked with a smile.
Ichiro and a couple of other individuals raised their hands, "you".
"Are there any rules for an adventurer killing another adventurer?"
Ichiro stared up at the boy, a spiky green haired boy that was almost 6'1 in height, in shock while a couple of individuals backed away from him out of fear and shock. The man however didn't even seem faze, "knowingly killing another adventurer is forbidden by our law, if you commit such an act, your adventurer sigil will burn black and you'll be considered a stray adventurer, therefore you'll be hunted out to the ends of the Earth by the King and his men, plus other adventurers will want your head out of vengeance."
'So, player killing is forbidden in this world' Ichiro thought to himself.
"However, if two adventurers want to formally challenge each other for rare items, wealth, or simply for the challenge then you can come to any guild, even the guilds of other races and they'll set up the match" the man explained.
'That also carriers the risk of other races knowing what your techniques, moves, and items are like. This could be dangerous and you run the risk of adventurers of another race taking advantage of this knowledge and using it against you' Ichiro thought, every decision and every thought, he had to think it all through in order to survive in this world.
"You, boy with the golden eyes" the man pointed to Ichiro.
"Can you explain the world of Asteria and also go over the current state of this world" Ichiro asked boldly however he received looks of annoyance and rolled eyes from some of the individuals, however others seemed glad Ichiro asked such a question.
"If you're asking a question like that then you have no business trying to become an adventurer" a girl said with a mocking laugh.
"Dead man walking" another boy said with a laugh.
"That's enough" the man said annoyed, "no questions are considered useless, any knowledge an adventure could hope to gain is just as precious as any piece of gold or rare item they receive. However, how far are you asking I go back?"
People turned towards the trainer, wondering how old he could possibly be.
"I would just like to understand the general area of this world, the King, and the evil that works in this world" Ichiro answered.
"Alright" the man said, he outstretched his hand and a giant made entirely out of magic appeared, "this world is divided into nine different regions: Tempest, Raylea, Fiore, Aerilon, Unnova, Nemea, Avalon, Underworld, and Heaven".
'All those continents' Ichiro thought.
"Obviously Heaven is the floating city in the sky, there's no way in Hell a fallen angel can possibly make it there. However, the Underworld is the region the farthest North, that area is controlled by Satan".
"Satan?" Ichiro thought, 'so Judeo-Christian is here in this world'.
"Currently the Demon King, Satan is trying to take over the other realms however he is constantly being pushed back by the angels. However, there is constant war going on. Out of Satan's 72 Generals, 20 of them have died, so now only 52 Remain."
'The 72 Demons from the Lesser Keys of Solomon' Ichiro thought to himself.
"If you managed to kill a General, you get that general's special power however, if you kill that General, Satan and his four strongest knights will hunt you until the day you die. Every adventurer who has ever managed to kill a general is either dead or in hiding".
'Are the Generals the bosses of this world? Is that what that Goddess was talking about?'
"There are also Gods that wander this world from time to time, however if you aren't an idiot I suggest the second you see a God, especially an angry or wrathful God you'll run away lest you want to taste death. Of course, if you actually managed to kill a god you'll gain their special power however even I couldn't manage that" the man said with a dark laugh as he held up his right arm to reveal it was mechanical.
'So not only are there demon generals and Satan and Heaven, but there are also Gods?' Ichiro began to wonder, could he possibly rule this world or save it.
"Anyway, each region has its own Ruler, plus every town has its own set of political and social beliefs so as adventurers to hide in plain sight you should try to make sure you don't mess around and anger the people."
"What region are we in?" Ichiro asked.
"Haha! Do you live in a rock?" a woman yelled.
"Yeah quit dicking around man" someone shouted.
"Absolutely hopeless" another person mumbled.
"Silence" the guild trainer shouted, "Currently we are in the region of Raylea, at the capital, King's Isle".
'King's Isle? Does that mean, one of the world's Kings is here?' Ichiro thought to himself but didn't dare ask the question. "That's all I needed to know" Ichiro said not wanting to draw any more attention to himself.
Ichiro finally began to recognize how this "game" of a world worked.
To be a villain of this world: wander the world and join Satan and his army and try to conquer Heaven or try to conquer this world for himself.
To be a hero of this world: defeat the remaining 52 Demon Lords of Satan (based off of the lesser kings of Solomon) and wander the world saving and helping others. Or even getting strong enough to beat Satan himself.
'Is this what beating this game will be?' Ichiro thought to himself. 'Is this really a game I want to play? What choice do I have? Playing this game, or if this really is my reincarnation I need to survive and the only way to do that is to get my memories back.'
"Alright since all the questions are out of the way" the trainer stepped aside revealing six more doors, "I want you to go into the room corresponding with your class, there you will find someone of your class to aid you in your training"
As everyone began to break off into individual rooms, Ichiro realized that he was one of the only three individuals in the training guild who had chosen thief as their class. Ichiro opened the door and stepped inside to see a woman in her mid-20s with long blonde hair and grey eyes and a cigarette in her mouth. However she had two black feathery wings on her back indicating she was indeed a fallen angel.
"So you three have chosen to follow the path of thieves?" she asked. She took the cigarette out of her mouth and put it on the ground and stomped on it with one of her boots. "Alright now it's time to show me what you got" she said calmly pulling two short swords out and holding one with both hands.
Ichiro and the two other thieves looked at each other, one was a boy with a lance and the other was a girl with a sword similar to Ichiro.
"So what made you three lots choose to follow the path of a thief? You were already at a disadvantage being born fallen angels and you choose a class that will only draw more suspicion and animosity for your kind" the female instructor asked. "My name is Julie by the way we'll start with you on the left."
Ichiro and the other girl both turned to the boy with the lance who had a confused expression on his face, "my name is Kigaya and I chosen the class of a thief because I wanted to help find treasure I could send to my family in Tempest."
"For greed" Julie said without even blinking, "next, you."
"My name is Rina and I chose a thief because I thought I would be useful to a party because I could help them scout out rare and valuable objects."
"Because you have low self esteem and wanted others to protect you. And last how about you."
'She's just going to take whatever I say and make it sound negative' Ichiro thought as he rolled his eyes, "Well I guess because I didn't want to just focus on fighting but I also wanted the speed to escape a attack if I needed to."
"Oh so because you're a coward" Julie said with a sigh, "and you three are the weaklings that old man sent back here for me to train. Alright, show me what you already know."
The girl and the boy both held up their weapons and Ichiro followed wrapping both his hands around the long sword. "In a battle it's about much more with attacking with your weapons, your focus should be combining the right amount of melee fighting with the right amount of magic to completely overwhelm your opponent. It seems you three have little to no experience in battle. I can tell both Rina and Kigaya were the children of farmers but what about you, Ichiro, what were you like before you decided to abandon your home and choose the life of a adventurer."
'I should have prepared a backstory for times like this' Ichiro thought as he realized the trio in the room were staring at him.
"From that attitude of yours and the way you hold that sword were your parents nobles or someone with a upper class status like that?" Julie asked with a witty smile.
Ichiro decided to play along, feigning a look of shock and surprise, "how did you guess that?" Before Ichiro could even react he found himself pinned to the wall by the woman, she was a few inches taller than him but to Ichiro and the other three's shock she possessed abnormal strength.
"I can always sense a noble brat like you out of the flock, well let me give you a lesson that might save your life, in whatever town you come from you should keep your upbringing to yourself and focus on surviving another night. Some of these adventurers, they'll catch onto your nobility and they'll exploit your trust and use it against you". Julie then placed Ichiro back on the ground and raised both her hands up in the air and two daggers appeared. "For your first lesson, you're not knights and you're not commoners either, you're adventurers and it's time for you to start acting like one, no more holding your weapons while traveling. You have adventurer guides now, that sigil on your hand, it can do much more than buy armor to blend in with newbies" she pointed her finger at Ichiro.
Ichiro couldn't help but be kind of surprised at her believing him to be a person of nobility, she probably assumed that Ichiro did have money and that he bought this basic armor to blend in. It got Ichiro thinking if he was truly a rich or noble person in his former life.
Julie held out one hand and a digital-like menu appeared and she could see all the items she had, she tapped on a few things and the daggers appeared, "in towns or villages you can summon the menu and scroll through your items, however on the fields of battles this would get you killed, your adventurer guide is linked to your head, so you can think to summon weapons, equip or unequip armor, and to summon potions however in a battle your options are limited to just that".
'That's just like a rpg guide' Ichiro thought as he watched the instructor scroll through the rpg-menu guide.
"So now I want all of you to try this" she commanded making her "adventurer's guide" disappear. Ichiro held out his right hand and the crimson sigil on his right hand started to glow and then to his surprise the same menu appeared.
"Alright, now I want you to unequip your weapons" Julie said with a sadistic smile.
Ichiro could tell she was planning something but he decided to comply, tapping a few buttons and the sword in his hand disappeared. He watched as the other two did the same and the three were without weapons.
"Good, now summon your weapons again!" before the three could react she charged Kigaya and deliver a punch to his stomach causing him to roll over in pain. Ichiro summoned his sigil again but before he could tap on the sword he felt his body collapse to the ground from the shock of a kick delivered to his abdomen.
"Didn't I tell you three morons that in a life or death battle you can't rely on your menu, you have to use your head to summon your weapons. If you keep trying to use your menu on the field you'll die!" Julie said angrily as she twisted Ichiro's arm behind his back causing him to groan in pain.
Ichiro couldn't tell why but he was beginning to realize this woman has chosen him, she likes inflicting pain on him the most. "What's the point of this. You're a level 67, I'm a level 1, Rina's a level 7, Kigaya's a level 4, even if all three of us attacked you at once you would still overpower us" Ichiro mumbled angrily.
Julie let out a laugh as she stood up, "so if you're battling a monster or a demon king far surpassing your strength you plan to give up or do you plan to fight?"
"There's no point dying in a battle you can't win. I would use my allies and try to run away" Ichiro stated.
"What allies does a fallen angel thief like you plan to gain?" Julie stated, "you had the misfortune of being born in the most hated race in this world, even more hated than demons, and not only this you chose to become a thief, you can forget about a party, let alone even joining a actual guild or clan."
"I have these two, the three of us can form a party" Ichiro stated.
"Oh really" Julie then pointed towards Rina and Kigaya, "do you two actually plan to form a guild with this silver haired noble brat?"
It was then Ichiro could see the look of discomfort on their faces, they didn't trust Ichiro, let alone plan to form a party with him. Ichiro offered nothing to the both of them, Rina and Kigaya were both levels above his own and they didn't trust him, he was a fallen angel noble to them, not only this, a noble who chose to become a thief.
"If nobody will ally with fallen angel thieves then how did you manage to survive this long?" Ichiro asked Julie.
"Because-"Julie pounded her fist in the wall leaving a large crater with spider-web like cracks running through it, "-my strength was enough to make any party or guild in this game ask for my alliance, they didn't trust me but they trusted the power through the reputation I had developed. But you, you're a weakling, despite being born in this world you haven't even managed to get one level of strength, your only skill seems to be [scout] which allows you to read the level of monsters and allies in this game, however even that is a worthless trait, even for a thief. Face it boy, you were born the wrong race in life and you chose the worse class."
Ichiro clenched his fist angrily, 'that Goddess could've at least gave me a warning for this, a warning for all of this'. "Why? Why are fallen angels so hated in this world?"
"Because to be a fallen angel either you or your parents would have to disobey Heaven, you sinned and decided to turn away from God. At least demons have some loyalty to other demons and to become a adventurer they had to abandon Satan and become stray demons, fighting against the Underworld, however we are the only race in this world to abandon good for evil, free to act however we want, we are known for stealing from our own allies and even leaving them to die for financial gain." Julie shrugged her shoulders, "this is just how the world works."
"Well how about we stop being like that" Ichiro stated.
"Do you honestly think any fallen angel is going to listen to a weakling who was born with some silver spoon in his mouth? Noble"
Ichiro wanted to deny this nobility he had been granted, but it was too late, he had already adopted it as his cover, if he were to take it back now, he would look like a liar which would only further damage his image.
"I don't need this" Ichiro stated as he walked through the double doors, "I'll get stronger and form a party of my own." he declared to himself leaving the three behind.
.
.
.
"Here's your food sir"
"Thank you" Ichiro flashed the waitress a small weak smile while she simply winked at him in response before walking out. He looked at the food set before him, it was a basic meal that consisted of two turkey legs, celery, and a potato dish. It was all he was willing to risk take out considering he just learned there was a limit to how much debt he could take out.
This world followed RPG currency game logic. !00 copper coins equals 1 silver coin and 100 silver coins equaled one gold coin. It was something simple that Ichiro could easily remembered. However after paying for this meal with his sigil he learned that he had a limit of only 2 silver coins. Due to having no past experience before walking into this guild it was the limit they had set forth.
Ichiro paid for the basic armor using 35 copper coins and then he paid for this meal with another 5. That was 40 copper coins gone meaning he only had 160 copper coins left or more specificial 1.6 silver left.
"This math is exhausting" Ichiro said with a sigh as he bit into a leg. He needed to raise his level if he wanted to join a side in this world and form a party or guild but the only way to do that would defeat powerful monsters but to do that he would need powerful weapons and armor, and the only way to get those things he would need to take up guild missions that would pay him enough but the only way to do that would be to form a party or guild. It was a difficult and endless cycle.
Even if he managed to raise his level high enough, without a party, without any teamwork he would be nothing but high level cannon fodder for another party to use to take out monsters.
And what would happen if his life dropped to 0? Would he be revived again by the goddess? Meaning he simply loses his memories again and go back to purgatory and start this all over again? Or would he disappear?
Ichiro couldn't help but feel his entire body shake at the thought of fighting for his life. There were Gods, Demon Lords, and even Rogue Adventurers in this world, even though Ichiro wouldn't provide them enough in terms of a battle, they would probably kill him for pure enjoyment.
Ichiro took the last bite of his meal before he let out a sigh, "I guess I should go look for work" Ichiro mumbled to himself. Ichiro walked over to the board and began to check for a easy job he could take.
Capture the werewolf pack that has been attacking King Isle's-200 gold coins
The fishermen have been being attacked by a Sea Monster, help them make it to their destination and defeat the monster-500 gold coins
Satan's troops have been spotted regrouping around the outskirts of Nemean, there are suspicious that one of Satan's 52 generals is among them, help defeat these troops and hopefully capture or kill one of Satan's generals-3000 gold coins
"What gives?" Ichiro said angrily, "all these missions are C-Class or Above, isn't there anything easier? For new adventurers?"
One of the attendants who overheard Ichiro turned towards him with a bright smile, "sorry sir, the board is updated monthly, most of the easier adventurers are taken by the first of the month, it's all a matter of first come, first served." she explained.
'Well isn't that perfect' Ichiro thought to himself, in a normal rpg game the hero reborn in this world, everything would perfectly fall in his lap, all the easy missions would be handed to him so he could train and level up and then when he was ready, he would be given more difficult quests.
However this wasn't a normal rpg game. And Ichiro wasn't the protagonist of this world. He was just a normal fallen angel who chose to become a adventurer. There was no special place for him in this world. No special power or special sword he inherited from the Gods. No special lineage.
Even if he was believed to be a noble, he was nothing but a poor fallen angel in poverty, with no memories.
Ichiro stepped out of the building angrily realizing there was nothing more for him here. He was about to walk past the gate when something caught his ear.
"Face it guys, a mission like this, only someone with a class of thief can [scout] a monster like this" one of the voices said.
"Yeah, even if we managed to cover the entire forest, it'll be like finding a needle in the haystack. This mission is relatively easy but for a group like us we don't have the correct skills for this".
Ichiro thought back to what Julie had told him, his ability to sense the levels of others was known as [scout] a basic ability, which would allow him to sense and make out enemies even in the dark and he could sense their power or tell if they were holding rare items.
It was a useless ability to most adventurers, especially adventurers who could tell the level of others however it could be useful for detecting powerful items and powers on it's own. Ichiro turned towards the group. There were four individuals.
The first and who Ichiro percieved a leader was a boy with shoulder length brown hair adn piercing red eyes. To Ichiro's shock he was the only one not even bothering to wear any armor, instead wearing a red v-neck and a black short jacket, that stopped mid-length along with black jeans and boots.
The second was a girl with white hair similar to Ichiro wrapped in a bun with a red bow and icy light lue eyes. She was wearing japanese-like kunoichi armor which consisted of a traditional chinese red and dark blue dress with gold lining and armored pieces around her hands and legs.
The third was a boy with short messy red hair and gold eyes similar to Ichiro. However he was wearing a basic breast-piece armor along with a red shirt that matched the first and black pants. The two things that stuck out to Ichiro were the multiple crosses around his neck and the orange and black jacket that extended mid-thigh.
And last was a woman dressed completely in knight armor, black metal decorating her chest, legs, and the only exposed part being her face and a black knight helmet covering the top of her head. SImilar to the other boy, she had a cross around her neck.
Ichiro let out a sigh as he swallowed his pride and discomfort and walked towards the group, "I heard you're looking for a thief".
The brown haired boy turned towards Ichiro, "yes, you know someone?"
"Me" Ichiro stated pointing to himself.
"You?" The girl wearing the japanese armor let out a laugh, "what level are you exactly?"
Ichiro could tell by their clothes, they must be high level, unless he saw them in battle there was no way he could detect their level, however to get them to trust him he needed to be truthful, "I'm a level 1 and I just finished the basic guide training however I possess the [scout] ability that you could use".
"Forget it" the red haired boy said, "we need a experienced thief who won't die on us, thanks for the offer though".
"Hang out" the brown hair boy said, "I think we can offer him basic protection, we just need him to help us find the target. My name is Ichijou, I'm a dragon, mage, level 15 adventurer and the leader of the Twilight Enforcers."
The girl wearing japanese armor rolled her eyes before letting out a sigh, "I'm Rose, level 13, warrior and angel" she said before releasing two pure white wings from her back.
"I'm Jason, level 17 mage, oh right and I'm a demon" he said with a laugh, pushing his fingers through his crimson red hair.
"And I'm Ariana, level 16 warrior and a demon as well".
Ichiro looked between the four, they were all levels above Ichiro and experienced adventurers and even had a guild of their own. Ichiro felt a bit uncomfortable having asked them for help.
"So tell us fallen angel, why do you want our help?" Rose asked, staring Ichiro up and down suspiciously, "just because we meet Jason and Ariana at their guild doesn't mean we have faith or any trust in a fallen angel like you!"
"Look" Ichiro said holding his hands up, "I"m new to this adventurer thing and I'm extremely low-leveled, I chose the wrong time to become a adventurer and all the starting adventurers are gone, I'll do this for free, I just want the chance to gain some experience".
The other three Twilight Enforcers turned towards Ichijou who let out a sigh, "alright, we'll allow you to party with us for this one but after our mission is over we'll give you a good review if you do mildly well, we'll offer you protection but we need you to find this monster."
Rose glared angrily while Ariana smiled faintly and Jason clapped his hands excitedly. "What is this mission?"
"At the edges of King's Isle, a monster, a goblin or wendigo has been abducting and eating children and using the forest to evade capture however his last victim was a noble boy who was carrying with him a rare gold medallion. Because of this, we might be able to find this monster and kill it. The prize money is 400 silver coins, since you're joining our party for this one I'll give you half the money and my team will keep the rest".
"Are you serious!" Rose stomped her foot on the ground rather childishly while glaring angrily at her leader, "you plan to give him half? That's less money for the four of us and he's a level 1 so what use will he be in combat?"
"Rose that's enough!" Ichijou said turning towards his teammate, Ichiro could see his blood red eyes flashing a aura of dark red, "he may be a level 1 but he's the only chance we have of finding this monster and getting the reward. How many fallen angel, thieves at that would come to us and tell the truth about how useless he would be?"
Ichiro felt his face fall at the remark, realizing that he was underhandedly being insulted.
"Since he will be joining our party as a temporary worker for this mission it's only fair we give him half" Ichijou stated.
'Wait...he's talking about me like I'm the NPC, the supporting character of his story' Ichiro thought to himself, realizing that this was basically the role he was being asked to fulfill.
"Outstretch your hand" Ichijou commanded as he held out his own. Ichiro hesitated at first but then connected his crimson red sigil with Ichijou's blood red sigil and after a flash of light he noticed the sigil around his hand now had a "TE" label attached in the middle replacing the "I", "that sigil will last until the end of this quest, afterwards you'll get paid and your role as a member of our party will be gone".
Ichiro pulled his hand back and looked at it, "alright, that seems fair".
Ichijou stared up at the sky to see it was already slowly falling on nightfall. "Meet my peerage at the front of the forest in a hour, we're going to go get our equipment refined before we venture out, I recommend you do the same". With that the Twilight Enforcers were off, leaving Ichiro alone.
Despite not showing it, a small smile crept on Ichiro's face, 'two-hundred silver coins? Did I just win the lottery? With that money I could probably buy a small apartment to act as my "base" and if things go well I can use their good review to find reliable to dependable party members and build my own guild from the ground up. And to think I was about to give up' Ichiro let out a small laugh.
'Maybe Asteria isn't so bad after all
And on that note I think I'll conclude this prologue, a little shorter than what I usually write but eh I introduced some characters and built the world a little bit. And regarding the fallen angel thing, I was trying to build some mystery later down the road and I hope it got you guys wondering, who Ichiro was in a previous life.
With that out of the way thank you for reading and until next time. Bye.