Kazuma took a step forward. He gasped in awe, "It- It's a fantasy world! It's really a fantasy world!"

He had completely forgotten about Aqua, who was sulking next to him at a loss for words.

"That means I'll really be able to go on adventures! Goodbye shut in life, hello new world!" He shouted, drawing the weary attention of a few local residents.

Aqua stood up, finally gathering enough mental strength to pull herself together. She hugged herself, gripping her arms in fear. She had been dragged away from her comfy goddess lifestyle into a world where she had nothing. Her attention snapped to Kazuma as he shouted, letting out pitiful sobs and groans in response.

The man in question looked at her, "Oi, stop that. What'll I do if everyone thinks i'm friends with a crazy woman?"

She gripped her head, her cries of anguish increasing in volume.

"More importantly, isn't there something you should be giving me here? Look at me, i'm in a track suit. Here I am in a fantasy world, in a track suit. Shouldn't I get some armor or a weapon at least?"

Aqua screamed as she lashed out at him, finally snapping. She wrapped her hands around his throat and shook him violently. She seemed to be attempting to yell at him, but it was incoherent through the sobbing and screams of despair.

"Ow! Stop it, I get it already," Kazuma grabbed her wrists, attempting to loosen her grp, "I'm sorry ok! If you hate this place so much, you can go home. I'll work this out on my own", Kazuma said as he pushed her away.

"What are you talking about? I'm in trouble because I can't go home!", Aqua stepped back and cried, "What am I supposed to do, huh? What do I do from now on?"

Kazuma felt guilty, more from the pitiful sight than anything else, "Ok, calm down goddess, I'm sorry ok? I didn't think asking to take you with me would actually work. I was just a bit wound up and frustrated. I was just spouting words to spite you. You really need to learn to treat the dead better."

Her crying slowed and she wiped her eyes. "What am I supposed to do here?" She asked weakly, crossing her arms again.

Kazuma sighed and looked around, a few people were staring but kept going about their business. "We'll figure something out. But you really need to get yourself together and stop annoying me ok?"

She nodded, "I'll try"

Kazuma scanned their surroundings once more before deciding, "Alright, let's go then, goddess"

"what? To where?" She asked.

"Times like these call for an adventurer's guild or tavern, someplace where all the heroes gather for information."

"I guess being an otaku does have its benefits," she took another jab at him masked as a compliment.

He turned away from her and walked down the road.

"Hey by the way, you can call me 'goddess' if you like, but you should call me 'Aqua' so we don't cause a commotion"

"OK, I get that," Kazuma kept his focus on the buildings around them. Any of the large structures in the distance could easily be a guildhall, "By the way, if you're a goddess, then shouldn't you know where a guild is?"

"Exactly, I'm a goddess, there's no way I'd know of a lowly place like that", Aqua said, holding her head high.

Kazuma tilted his head, "You really shouldn't insult the people we're going to need help from. Besides, haven't you done the 'sending other people to this world' thing before?"

"I gave them their gifts and then sent them off, it's not like I watch over them" she explained.

"Really? Isn't it your job to take care of them though?" Kazuma asked.

"I'm not the only one who greets people in the afterlife," she shook her head, "and it would be unfair to pick favorites as a goddess"

"Right, I guess that would be hard," he agreed.

"Do you know where we are headed though?"

"Oh, well I thought we should just follow the groups of adventurers around. One of them will be heading back to the guild right?"

Aqua went silent, staring at Kazuma.

"What is it?" He glanced behind him, noticing her look.

"Why not just ask someone?" Aqua suggested.

"huh?" Kazuma mentally smacked himself, too dumbfounded to reply. She smiled as he walked towards a rough looking adventurer eyeing a weapon in a market stall.

"Excuse me" Kazuma called out to him.

"Hm?" The large adventurer faced him. The ruffian studied him and Aqua. Pointing to Kazuma he said, "Haven't seen the two of you around here before. What's up with the clothes?"

Kazuma took a deep breath. He crossed his arms and with, what was supposed to be, a smug grin he replied, "Well, we've actually come along way and just got into town you see. I'd like to become an adventurer and fight the devil king's army too"

The ruffian returned the grin, "Is that so, you reckless punk? Then welcome to the gates of hell!" He slapped Kazuma on the back, who coughed in agony, "If you're looking to apply to be an adventurer, the guild is that way".

Kazuma followed his direction further down the street, between the market stalls towards a large building ahead of them. Kazuma gave his thanks and Aqua followed after him. Kazuma kept looking around them however, watching the people and noting any weapons of interest in the stalls.

"What do you keep looking around for? We already know where the guild is" She prodded.

"Just watching how people interact with each other. I figure we shouldn't do anything to offend them so we should learn a thing or two about how they act. The best place to do that would be here, during exchanges right?"

"Ooh," she seemed to be in awe, "You suddenly seem so reliable"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She replied, "Well, aren't you a shut-in otaku? How can you think like this when you should be panicking with me or something?"

He rubbed the back of his head, choosing to ignore the former of the questions, "I don't know"

She waited for him to continue.

"Ordinarily I would be panicking in situations like this. I'm not exactly emotionally stable myself. I panic easily and I have a short temper. You know, like shoving that girl out of the way of the tractor and then dying from shock or spiting you and dragging you here with me" He put a hand to his chin.

"Then something about this world?" Aqua guessed, "Because it's like a video game or something?"

"Maybe," he shrugged as they reached the end of the street. He looked up at the large structure in front of them, a tall tower stood off in the distance behind it. He looked at Aqua, who seemed to be taking it in as well, then looked at the banner above the door. Green and yellow.

"This seems like the place," Kazuma stepped forward, noticing the noise escaping from inside.

"Eh really? This seems so scary though" Aqua stepped behind him.

"We don't have much of a choice," He turned around.

"What is it?"

"Listen, Aqua"

"ok," she nodded.

"Today we're going to register with the guild and then get a place to stay for the night. Ok? That's all we have to do today"

"Right. I dont know much about video games, but i guess it's pretty similar after all, huh?"

"Exactly, come on" He lead her through the doors. A passing maid gave them a quick greeting.

"Welcome! If you're here to eat please find a table and someone will come serve you shortly. If you're here to apply as an adventurer, the reception desk is over there" She gestured toward one end of the hall with her head and walked to the other side to serve the mugs she was carrying.

"Thank you," Kazuma replied and made his way to the receptionist.

"Hello, how can I help you?" She smiled.

"Uh," Kazuma smiled back, trying to keep his eyes on hers. A difficult task with the forbidden valley calling him from below, "We'd like to become adventurers" He gestured to Aqua and himself.

"Great! Then first, you'll have to pay the registration fee"

"Right of course," He smiled and took a step away from the counter. He leaned towards Aqua and whispered, "Do you have any money?"

Shs shook her head, "You dragged me here without any warning, of course not"

Kazuma gave a sheepish grin to the receptionist and awkwardly excused themselves. They made their way to a table far off from the other adventurers. Luckily for them, it seemed that the rush hour was ending, with most of the patrons filing out of the guild. Minutes of silence passed and a maid interrupted their thoughts.

"Are you ready to order?"

"We're still thinking about it, sorry" Kazuma replied with his head against the table.

"That's ok, take your time!" She exclaimed cheerfully and left them alone.

With a sigh, he sat up and said, "Hey, what do we do now? We've been stopped before we've even began. Usually at the start we're supposed to get basic equipment or gold to cover the costs of them."

Aqua returned the downcast look, "I don't know. There aren't any games where you start off with absolutely nothing?"

"In games like those, you're usually strong enough to beat the starting monsters by yourself. The equipment you get is there to help you as you face higher level monsters"

Aqua held up her head with a hand, "So now what?"

"You don't have any smiting powers or anything?" Kazuma asked, hoping for anything.

"I have a few weak self defense abilities I guess, but i'm more of a healing goddess. I don't think i'd be able to hurt anything more than a human or smaller animal"

"Right then, so we've got nothing to do"

"Could we just beg for money on the streets?" Aqua looked out the window, watching people pass by.

He shook his head, "I doubt we'd be able to make anything that way. We just got into town and the people seem to know each other fairly well here"

They sat in silence again.

"Are you ready to order?" The maid returned with the same cheerful smile.

"Err, no i'm still thinking about it" Kazuma looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact.

"Take your time. The rush hour is over so call someone when you're ready" She replied and wandered off again.

Kazuma waited until she was out of earshot, "Can't you ask one of your followers for help or something?"

"Do you really think they'd believe someone declaring themselves to be a goddess and begging or demanding money?" She closed her eyes, imagining the situation. Or worse yet, if she were to accidentally ask a priest of a different sect.

"When you put it like that..." Kazuma trailed off and sighed.

"Right over here," The maid from earlier returned and the two looked up.

"There you two are!" The ruffian greeted them with a smile. "Thank you," He told the maid before standing in front of Kazuma and Aqua.

"Eh? Hello" Kazuma started as the maid left.

"Trouble with the registration fee?" He grinned when the two wouldn't meet his eyes. He set coins down on the table and slid it to Kazuma, "I had a feeling like you would, neither of you have any equipment after all."

"Thank you, but..." Kazuma was at a loss for words, watching the coins as if they would jump away at any moment.

"But why help you?" The ruffian gave them a thumbs up, "I don't know"

They both stared at him, unbelieving at the turn of events.

The ruffian laughed, "I just have a good feeling about you two. Something tells me you're going to do great things here. So i'm looking forward to your work in the future"

Kazuma looked at the coins again, then back to the large adventurer.

The ruffian shook his head, "No catch, no fees, nothing of the sort. Look, take these coins back to Luna over there and get yourselves signed up. I'll tell you of a place you can spend tonight afterwards for free. Tomorrow, you can head into town and find some basic labor jobs to get yourselves started" He stood up and waved behind him as he left to find a table for himself, leaving them mute between themselves.

Finally Kazuma spoke up, "So, do we take the coins?"

Aqua shrugged and peeked back to the ruffian, who gave them a thumbs up and a smile. She looked to Kazuma, and then to the coins, "You said it yourself earlier, we don't have many choices in what we can or can't do". Yet she stared at Kazuma, waiting for him to take action.

Kazuma nodded and collected the coins into his hand. He stood up and felt the weight in his hands, bouncing them around. "Are you coming?" he asked Aqua.

She slid out of the bench and followed him back to the receptionist counter, where Luna, as they learned her name, was wiping off the counter. She set the rags aside and smiled at them.

"We brought the coins for the registration fee," Kazuma forced himself to make eye contact.

She simply nodded, taking the coins out of his hand, and disappeared behind a door. She came back with two cards and handed one to each of them.

"Well, allow me to explain. Adventurers all have an occupation, this is your registration card. It keeps track of how many monsters you've slain and your experience. As your level rises, you'll earn points that you can use for skills, so please work hard to raise your level. Now will you please hold your hand over this crystal?"

"Like this?", Kazuma hovered his hand over the blue ball and it began to spin and glow, "Whoa", he said in awe. The crystal spun and whirred with ticks as it filled out the information on his card.

"With this, you'll learn about your current status so please choose your occupation based on your stats", she continued.

"Here it comes, now my tremendous talent and abilities will be revealed and there'll be an uproar about the hero who will slay the Devil King in the guild!', Kazuma smiled, excited for his grand protagonist start. He eyed the blue crystal impatiently as it finished filling out his card.

"Ok, let's see", the blonde picked up the card and looked through his numbers, "Satou Kazuma is it? Average across the board with the exception of high intelligence and- oh wow! Your luck is extraordinarily high. Of course, while this is excellent for finding loot, merchants or traders are more likely to use this than adventurers as it's not exactly a combat related stat."

Kazuma sighed. "So much for a heroic start. Make my primary job 'adventurer' please", he said, downcast.

"Well, you can always change jobs when you level up", she tried to assure him, "Most heroes start off as a different class from the one they want!"

"You're right!", he hid his sadness behind an unnecessary amount of joy and pumped his hand into the air. He looked over his card while Aqua went up to check herself.

Scanning his card, disappointment filled his mind, 'I guess we'll really have our work cut out for us after all. Starting from the very bottom and work our way up to something worthwhile'

"What!?", the receptionist yelled, interrupting his train of thought, "aside from your intelligence being just average, and your luck being the lowest possible level, all of your stats are drastically high!" She turned to Aqua.

The goddess smiled, "I see then". She faced Kazuma and teased, "I'm pretty amazing, don't you think?"

"Amazing is an understatement!", the maid held up her card, "The mage class which requires intelligence is out of the question, but other than that, you can be anything you want!" The remaining adventurers began to turn their attention to Aqua, "Crusader, sword master, arch priest or any advanced class right from the start!"

"I see, it's a shame there's no 'goddess' option, I guess I'll settle for 'Arch Priest'"

"Arch priest, the class that controls all recovery and support magic, while having enough strength to fight on the front line"

The cheers ran throughout the tavern for the surprising newcomer among them.

"Without further ado, welcome to our adventurers guild, Aqua!", she gave the goddess a grand welcome, setting Kazuma aside, "Our staff wil be looking forward to your future expeditions"

Aqua blushed as a circle of adventurers formed around her, cheering her on and giving her compliments.

"Starting as an arch mage is really impressive!"

"Wow, someone so amazing is with us!"

"You might actually be able to beat the devil king you crazy girl!" people yelled from the crowd.

'Nothing like this for me, huh?', Kazuma watched from the sidelines.

"It's the adventurers life for us, starting today, Kazuma!" Aqua pointed to him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He nodded, at least one thing was going there way, "Right"

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us so you can get me home"

He smiled at her, knowing he had a lot of expectations to live up to. Despite starting so low however, he felt ready for the challenge more than anything else.

"Well basically everything so far has been character creation. But now our adventure finally begins!' Kazuma assured himself. The crowd parted just enough for the two to make their way outside. The sun, though still high in the sky, was beginning to set. The ruffian gave them more directions to a farmer who cheaply rented extra stalls in his barn or stables to new adventurers. Their first night would be free, but they'd need to get jobs in the morning if they wanted to keep staying there.


And there's that.

Thanks again for reading!

So for Kazuma, I decided to set him off as his normal start because he'll have the freedom to grow more this way. Maybe he'll have a few fighting abilities of his own, but I'm thinking that he will still just find a way to use the girls' abilities to fight the bosses. Or maybe he'll have them weaken the boss and he'll give the finish blow. So, you know, Aqua doesn't destroy most of the town and things like that.

And I know the beginning doesn't have that many changes to it, but there's only so much I can come up with for a start. I'll probably base a lot of it off the anime but i'll also try to come up with a few of my own quests. Quests for Kazuma to get better gear or lots of levels for better skills. But what should Kazuma change his class to as he levels up?