SHINJIS NEW LIFE
by Gunman & Reisfriend
Disclaimer: We own nothing.
Summary: Lianna appears before Shinji to give him advice.
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Chapter 4
Talk With A Goddess And A New Friend
Ayl opened the double doors of the Inn and Shinji looked around to see that the left wall had some landscape paintings and there were small round tables with stools around the entrance hall and a small stage at the right wall.
There was a bar counter at the end of the hall with colored bottles on the shelf behind the counter and a door near the counter, which likely lead to the kitchen, Shinji figured.
Ayl walked over to the counter and rapped on the top of it with her fist.
"Just a minute." They heard from the kitchen. And a few seconds later a young woman about 17 years old came out. She was wearing black leather pants and a short sleeved black leather shirt that hugged her G-cup breasts and she had leather sandals with white socks. Her short, light brown hair barely touched her shoulders and her eyes were light green.
"Hello Hana, I have returned." Ayl told the girl.
"AYL!" Hana shouted and suddenly jumped on Ayl, hugging her tightly.
Ayl looked rather amused at the sudden hug.
"How did your quest go?" Hana asked.
"Aside from getting caught up in a rain, it went quite well." Ayl answered.
"I'm just glad to see you again. It has been rather boring without you here." Hana said and released Ayl. She noticed Shinji standing behind Ayl, giving him a questioning look. "And who might this be?" she asked.
"This is Shinji. I met him at the Hearth Inn. I decided to take him as my apprentice." Ayl answered.
"Nice to meet you Shinji. I am Hana, the receptionist and cook of The Silver Eagle's Inn." She greeted him and extended her hand to him.
"Nice to meet you Hana." Shinji replied and shook her hand. He thought that she was quite friendly and beautiful. Unlike his roommate Asuka, who was only beautiful. Shinji noticed that she had thin scars on her fingers.
"So Ayl, are you taking your usual room?" Hana asked.
"No, I would like a room with two beds." Ayl answered.
"We have 2 such rooms available, on the second floor. That would be 2 silvers." Hana said.
"Shinji." Ayl said as she pulled out one silver coin from her pocket. Getting the hint, he pulled out one silver coin and they handed them to Hana.
"Alright. Do you want something to eat? We still have some meatbuns and bread left from breakfast." Hana asked.
"Yes, please, I'm starving. And a bottle of mead." Ayl answered as her stomach growled suddenly, which made Shinji and Hana snicker at how adorable and well-timed that was.
"Of course." Hana said and went to the kitchen.
"She is quite friendly." Shinji said to Ayl.
"That she is. That's one of the reasons why she is so popular with the customers and adventurers who rent rooms here." Ayl retorted.
"I bet. In my world, she would have also been quite popular." Shinji said.
Hana came out from the kitchen carrying a tray with the food on it. She set the tray on the counter and grabbed a small bottle from the shelf, which she set next to the tray. Then she reached for a key beneath the counter which she set next to the bottle.
"There you go. Enjoy." Hana said. Ayl handed two more silver coins to her after taking the tray while Shinji took the bottle and the key.
"I'll see you later, Hana." Ayl said.
She just smiled at Ayl before going back to the kitchen.
Shinji followed Ayl upstairs and when they got to the door that was their rented room, Shinji opened it and as they entered, Shinji noted that the room had two beds with sheets and mattresses, one small window, a desk and a lantern on it. There was also a small closet near the left bed.
"These beds look comfortable." Shinji said.
"They are, since they are of higher quality here in the city. But let's eat now." Ayl said and started eating one of the meatbuns after setting the tray on the table that was between the beds.
"Why did you give Hana two more silver coins?" Shinji asked suddenly.
"While meals are included when you rent a room, you have to pay for the alcoholic drinks separately." Ayl answered.
"Oh. And why wasn't there anyone downstairs? Is this place not doing well?" Shinji asked.
"Oh, no. This time of day everyone is just out doing their jobs, so there is no need to keep the full staff during the day. The place get's busy in the mornings and evenings so that's when the staff comes in." Ayl answered before taking a swig of mead.
Shinji nodded and took another bite of the bun. It was good, far superior to anything Misato could have cooked. Ayl offered the bottle to him.
"I'm underaged to drink that." he said to her.
"How old are you?" Ayl asked.
"I'm 15." He answered.
"In this world, you're an adult when you are 15. So drink up." Ayl said.
Shinji decided to just take a swig because he was curious as to how the mead of this world tasted.
As the liquid went down his throat, he felt a tingly sensation but the mead was quite sweet and tasty. He could get used to this drink.
"Quite tasty." Shinji answered and placed the bottle on the table.
"That it is. The winemakers know their thing." Ayl said and took another swig.
"You're not going to get drunk are you?" Shinji asked, reminding him of Misato by the way she drank.
"Of course not. I have a great tolerance for booze. I just need some for a short nap before I begin training you." Ayl said and suddenly took off her cloak.
In seconds, Ayl's form changed from a man to a woman. She was a foot shorter then Shinji, her hair was golden brown and very long, reaching past her slim waist. And the clothing she had on was something like a dominatrix swimsuit that exposed a lot of skin and showed off her huge breasts that would have made even Misato jealous and his two friends, Toji and Kensuke, would have died of nosebleeds.
Her eyes were light gold and quite captivating in Shinji's mind. She also had leather boots that almost reached her knees.
"So Shinji, what do you think of my real form?" Ayl asked in a harmonious and beautiful voice that was almost like music.
"So beautiful." Shinji answered, thinking that he must have sounded pretty stupid just now.
"Fufu, I knew you would say something like that. Have you fallen in love with me now?" She asked with a teasing smirk.
'What the hell is this sudden change of personality?! She is kinda like Misato!' Shinji thought, finding her teasing to be harder to endure then Misato's because even she didn't wear risque clothes like the one Ayl had on.
"Maybe a little." Shinji answered her question.
She flopped down next to him and grabbed his arm, hugging it between her breasts. "Are you sure that you are not completely bewitched by me?" She asked with a toothy grin.
'Uwaaah! What a softness! Breasts like this would feel incredible to the touch!' Shinji thought as he felt her breasts with his arm. They were so soft that any man would want to fondle them forever.
"You won't bewitch me with something like this." Shinji replied, deciding to play along with her flirtatious teasing.
"Ohh. Then how about this?" She asked before she blew into his ear.
"That won't work." Shinji replied. 'If she wants to play around for now, then let's play along.' He thought. "Now it's my turn Ayl." Shinji said as he blew into her ear.
"HYA." Ayl moaned out rather cutely.
'So her ears are sensitive. Good to know.' He thought, remembering a couple of mangas where the elves had sensitive ears. And her elongated ears seemed to be really sensitive since he didn't even blew that hard.
"Take this." Shinji said and started to tickle her sides.
"NYAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP THAT! NO! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Ayl laughed like crazy as he tickled her without mercy.
'So she is ticklish as well. An unexpected cuteness and weakness discovered.' He thought in triumph and stopped tickling her after a minute.
"AHHAAHAHA! Huaah." Ayl sighted when the tickling stopped and she was gasping for air.
"You're quite ticklish Ayl. I must admit that it is rather cute." Shinji complimented with a teasing smirk.
She giggled. "Well that was fun Shinji. I thought that you are some kind of serious man, but you also have a playful side to you. I'm starting to like you even more."
"Well I'm glad to hear that you like me Ayl. I also like you." Shinji replied with a small blush.
"Mufufu. As much as I would like to continue this little play, let's finish eating and drinking and take a short nap before training." She replied.
Shinji didn't usually take naps, but considering how hard it was to move around in a world with no motorized vehicles and how much walking one had to do while carrying stuff, naps were a pretty good idea.
So they just ate the food and drank the mead without talking and drifted off to sleep on their beds.
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It was about 4 hours later when Shinji woke up only to see Lianna's face hovering over him.
"Time to wake up Shinji." Lianna said.
"Lianna-sama." He said before he rose up from the comfortable bed to look at her.
"Good job making it this far Shinji. Now we can have that little talk that I promised you." She said with a kind smile.
He looked at Ayl, only to see her still sleeping with her mouth slightly open.
"Oh don't worry about her, she won't wake up as long as I'm here. I'm using one of my powers to keep her asleep." Lianna said.
"Oh, okay. But where is Galac?" Shinji asked after not seeing her father in the room.
"I came alone. Father is currently seeing his other Champion in another parallel world, where 9 out of 10 people are women." She answered.
'I'm a bit jealous of that bastard.' Shinji thought a bit jealously.
"You don't need to see my father about your powers. Since you have my cousins favorite elf training you in how to use your powers, Galac figured that he didn't need to explain things to you. I can tell you this. You have the full blessing of my father, so if it is metal, you can manipulate and control it however you can imagine. As your body becomes more adapted to it, you can control larger quantities of metal. However, moving a mountain is impossible, even if it was completely composed of metal." Lianna explained.
"Got it. How long do you think my body becomes completely adapted to it?" Shinji asked.
"If you keep practicing with coins, gradually moving on to larger metal objects, then I'd say about two weeks at the most, then your body will be fully adapted." She answered.
"Okay. By the way, your cousin is Libra, Goddess of Nature, isn't she?" Shinji asked.
"Yes. She gave a partial blessing to Ayl when she was younger. She can control 3 large logs of wood at most. The only difference between your powers is that yours are stronger then hers, since you have a full blessing, and she can control wood while you can control metal. So her training you is a good thing." Lianna explained.
"But can I trust her?" Shinji asked, thinking that this might be too good to be true.
"You don't have to worry about Ayl betraying you. I have also watched her over the years and I have never seen her betraying those that she likes. And my cousin also thanks you for saving her life when she was poisoned." She answered.
"You saw that?" Shinji asked.
"Of course, I have watched you ever since we left you at the meadow. The part were Ayl moved to use you as a pillow was quite funny." Lianna giggled.
"Give me some privacy when I sleep, please." Shinji said in embarrassed tone.
She giggled harder before she talked again.
"But anyway, I should give you an explanation about your healing powers." she said.
"Yes, please." Shinji said, eager to hear what he could do.
"First and foremost, you can use a chant 'Appraise' to see what kind of condition a person has. You can use it to see what kind of chant you need to use to heal them. Try casting 'Appraise' on Ayl now."
Shinji did as the goddess told him and said 'Appraise'.
A green status screen appeared over the elf, (like in the movie Jumanji Welcome To The Jungle) which had her name, age and race at the top and on the bottom there was a text 'Conditions: None'.
"Since Ayl is completely healthy, there are no conditions on her. But if there were, then the screen would show you the chant needed to heal her and on her body there would also be lights, which indicate where you have to focus your healing power to heal the conditions she has. Like for instance, if she had a heart condition, there would be a light where her heart is. And the light is visible only to you. This ability is most useful when you are healing conditions on a person." Lianna explained.
To Shinji, the whole thing was like something out of RPG game.
"What kind of chant's are there?" Shinji asked.
"As you know by now, 'Recovery' heals physical injuries like cuts, bruises, wounds and headache's. 'Cure' is used to neutralize and cure poisons. If someone has a condition they were born with or it developed in them, you can heal it by saying 'Heal'. That also works for psychological illnesses. If someone is ill or sick with a disease they heal naturally from or that illness kills them, you can cure it by saying 'Cure Heal'. You can also put others to sleep for as long as you want with 'Tranquil' and to wake them up, you just say 'Wake'." Lianna explained.
"And I can do all that because you gave me your full blessing?" Shinji asked, finding all these abilities very convenient and useful.
"That's right. But there's even more what you can do so listen up. If someone has lost a limb or a body part, you can grow them a new one with 'Regrow' and you can remove foreign substances with 'Detoxify'. That works for drugs and other harmful narcotic chemicals and even hangovers. Then there is 'Clean' which disinfects wounds and you can use 'Clean' to keep your teeth clean as well. I recommend that you use it since dental care in this world is rather poor. Then there is 'Dispel' which lifts curses and 'Rest', which recovers stamina for those who are tired. And if someone is low on mana, you can accelerate their mana recovery by saying 'Mana Recovery' and your own mana recovers faster then most people since you have my full blessing. Then there is 'Resuscitate' which will completely heal and revive someone who is dead, but there is a time limit for it. If that person is dead for more then 1 minute, you can't revive that person anymore. And for beautification, there is 'Remove' which heals scars." Lianna continued.
"Well I'll be..." Shinji began.
"Are you excited about what you can do?" She asked with an amused smirk.
"Yes, I can't wait to try them out." He answered.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think that you have a case of chuunibyou." Lianna giggled.
"Well, I always fantasized going to a fantasy world and meeting all kinds of people and going on adventures so this is a dream come true." Shinji answered.
"Fufu. And maybe you also want to build yourself a harem as well." Lianna said.
"Is that possible in this world?" Shinji asked, perking up for the idea.
"Of course. Polygamy is quite normal in this world because 6 out of 10 people born in this world are women. Even the king has 3 wives and there are some nobles with a harem." Lianna answered.
Shinji was really excited now. A harem of warrior babes was not impossible anymore.
"By the way Lianna-sama, who is that person who can use 'Cure'? Shinji asked.
"You mean the person Ayl referred to when she told you to use 'Cure' on her? That person no longer lives. She died 7 years ago and now lives in another world as a normal child." Lianna answered.
"Oh. And thank you for leaving these clothes for me at the ruins." Shinji said, feeling a bit sad that he didn't get to meet the person who had indirectly saved Ayl's life.
"We didn't leave them there for you. Those clothes belonged to a person who lived there long ago, and since he has been dead for years he no longer needs those clothes. And if you're wondering why they were so well preserved, there was a preservative magic in that chest that keeps everything stored in the chest in the same condition as they were when they were put. Time won't damage them at all." Lianna said.
"There's magic like that?" Shinji asked.
"Yes. You can cast it as well. My grandmother, The Goddess of Magic, granted you Water and Darkness magic when you were reincarnated into this world. Ayl will teach you to use those and there are books in the Guild where you can learn more spells. She wanted to give you some other magic affinities, but decided against it since you already have higher powers. So she settled on the magics that would be most useful to you." Lianna said.
"Most useful, huh? In that case, give my thanks to your grandmother." Shinji said.
"I will. And I suggest that you tell people that you are from the country of Arcadia." Lianna said.
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.
"Your backstory. You can't exactly go around telling everyone that you are from another world. There would raise many unwanted questions. Especially if you happen to mention things like technology and weapons you used. So I suggest that if you have to tell someone where you are from, tell them that you are from Arcadia. It's an island nation west of here. And as to where from Arcadia, you are from the northern part of the island, from the town of Lille, which was destroyed in a tsunami. Your family perished and you decided to leave Arcadia to build yourself a life somewhere else. That's my recommended backstory." Lianna explained.
"But what if I encounter someone who is from there?" Shinji asked.
"You don't have to worry about that. There are currently no people from Arcadia in this country and the survivors of the tsunami went to their relatives all over Arcadia. So the chances of you meeting a survivor here is virtually none." Lianna assured.
"Alright, that sounds good." Shinji said.
"Do you have any questions?" She asked.
"Why did you bring me to this world?" Shinji asked after some thought.
"As we said, to give you a new chance in life and to help the people of this world. As an added bonus, we Gods get some entertainment as well." Lianna answered.
"Entertainment?" Shinji asked with a look of disbelief.
"Since we Gods live forever, we always search for entertainment like those novels and mangas of your world, we choose our Champions and send them to other worlds to help those worlds and we also get to watch how they do with their new lives and we get to see some funny things happen occasionally." She explained with a hint of embarrassment.
"That sounds so wrong on so many levels." Shinji commented.
"It can't be helped Shinji. Even Gods get bored when we have an eternity to spend. So don't judge please." Lianna said, sounding a bit upset.
"I'm sorry. You must have your own problems as well." Shinji apologized, wondering what he would do if he had an eternity.
"Apology accepted. Any other questions?" Lianna asked, her mood returning to normal.
"Not right now. Thank you Lianna-sama." Shinji thanked.
"You're welcome Shinji. I'll drop by from time to time to see you and talk with you. And let me tell you something good. That girl Hana downstairs. She has a poor eyesight and hemophilia. So if you take care of those for her, you might score some points with her." Lianna said and disappeared in a flash of light.
'Poor eyesight and a hemophilia. That explains the scars on her fingers.' Shinji thought, now wanting to help her.
"Huaaahh. Oh Shinji, you're awake." Ayl said and stretched her body to wake up.
"Are we going to start training now?" Shinji asked.
"Yes. I'll just..." Ayl started but was interrupted.
"KYAAAAAHHHH!" They heard from downstairs.
"Hana!" Ayl said and grabbed her sword before running out of the door with Shinji behind her.
At the entrance hall, Ayl looked around and didn't see anyone, but then she another scream from the kitchen.
"WAAAHHHH!"
Ayl looked at the direction of the kitchen and ran there. "HANA!"
"No, I cut myself again." Hana whimpered, looking at the deep cut on her left finger.
"Shinji, help her." Ayl told him, who went to Hana.
"Calm down Hana, I'll help you." Shinji said and kneeled down next to her.
"Eh? What are you...?" She started, but stopped when Shinji grabbed her hand and said 'Recovery'.
Not even 2 seconds passed when the cut in her finger was healed and she looked at her finger in disbelief.
"You're a healer Shinji?" Hana asked.
"Yes. I was given the blessing of the Goddess of Healing." Shinji answered.
Hana gave him a pretty smile. "That's amazing Shinji. Would you also...?" She paused, looking away.
"What is it Hana?" Shinji asked.
"Forget it, I have bothered you and Ayl enough already. And I don't like asking favors." She answered.
"You want to know if he can heal your conditions." Ayl said.
"AYL! DON'T TELL HIM THAT!" Hana shouted in panic.
"Conditions? What's wrong with you Hana?" He asked with a concerned look on his face, though he already knew the answer. He thought about telling them that the Goddess herself already told him about Hana's conditions, but decided that it might be a bad idea.
"Hana has a poor eyesight and a bleeding disease. Meaning if she starts bleeding, she has to see a healer every time to close the wound or she will keep on bleeding." Ayl answered.
"AYL!" Hana shouted again.
"So how about it Shinji? Do you want to help her?" Ayl asked.
"She is your friend Ayl. And I want to be her friend as well. So yes, I want to help her." Shinji answered and turned to look at Hana, who had backed up against the wall.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" She screamed.
"What's the matter Hana? I want to help you." Shinji tried to assure her.
"NO! YOU WANT TO EXTORT ME AFTERWARDS!" Hana screamed.
"He won't Hana. Shinji isn't that kind of person." Ayl assured her.
"Really?" Hana asked, calming down.
"He won't. Shinji is a person who wants to help those in need because it's the right thing to do." Ayl said. "And besides, I'd never let anyone extort you."
Hana looked at Shinji with teary eyes, still feeling a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing, but she trusted Ayl.
"Very well, I'll trust you. Shinji, would heal my conditions?" She asked.
"Of course. But let me appraise your condition first. 'Appraise'." Shinji said and soon Hana's status screen came visible to him. 'Name: Hanahana Doma. Age: 18. Race: Human. Conditions: Glaucoma. Hemophilia. Required chant: Heal.' There were lights over her eyes and on her stomach.
"Alright, I know what I have to do now." Shinji said went over to her. Placing his hand over her eyes, he said 'Heal'.
Hana felt the power of his healing coursing in her eyes and when it was over, she opened her eyes.
Looking around, she saw everything clearly for the first time in years.
"Can you see clearly now Hana?" Ayl asked.
It took her some time to answer. "I can see clearly now! My vision isn't cloudy anymore!" She answered happily.
"Great. Now to your bleeding disease." Ayl said and Shinji placed a hand on her stomach, which made her flinch, but she calmed down soon after that.
"Heal." He said as he applied his power to her stomach and Hana felt a pleasant sensation when the healing power surged into her.
When he finished, Hana looked at the pair. "Did it... did it work?"
Suddenly Ayl grabbed her hand and made a small cut on her finger with a knife.
"OWW! AYL!" Hana shouted as blood started dripping from the cut.
"It's the only way to know if your disease is cured. Don't worry, Shinji will heal you again." Ayl said and wrapped a cloth on her finger. "Now we wait."
Hana sat on a chair and took a drink of water from a tankard that was on the table. Shinji just looked at Hana, confident that his power cured her. Ayl was looking over the stock of food they had, thinking what they would eat later.
A minute later, which felt like an hour to Hana, Ayl unwrapped the cloth from Hana's finger to look at the cut. They noticed that the bleeding had stopped.
"No way. It's not bleeding. I'm really cured?" Hana asked in disbelief.
"Looks like it. Shinji's healing power can truly heal anything." Ayl said with a smile.
"Recovery." Shinji said and healed the cut on her finger.
Hana looked at her finger, still in disbelief that she was finally free of the diseases that caused her nothing but trouble.
"Hana, do you want me to remove the scars on your fingers as well?" Shinji asked.
"You can do that?" Hana asked in disbelief.
"I can. So what do you say?" He asked.
"Please do." Hana replied.
"Remove." Shinji said and the healing removed the white streaks from her fingers.
Hana looked at her hands, still in disbelief that not only was she cured, her hands had no scars anymore. She started crying.
"Hana?" Shinji asked when he saw her tears flowing.
Suddenly Hana had her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you Shinji! I can finally live normally again thanks to you!" She said happily, her tears flowing. Ayl was smiling at the scene.
"You're welcome Hana. I'm glad I could help you." Shinji said, enjoying the hug and feeling good about helping her.
"How can I repay you?" She asked.
"I don't need payment for this. But I would like you to not tell anyone about this. And I would like to be your friend as well." He answered.
She looked at his face in disbelief. He did a huge favor for her and asks practically nothing for it.
"Of course Shinji. I would be glad to be your friend."
"Fufu. You're quite a charmer Shinji." Ayl said with an amused smirk.
"Maybe." Shinji replied.
"But as much as I hate to interrupt this moment, we have to start your training. You can talk with Hana later." Ayl said and walked towards the door.
"I'm sorry Hana, but let's talk later when I have finished my training." Shinji said.
She released him from the hug. "Of course Shinji. Be back soon."
He ran after Ayl with Hana watching.
'I might fall in love with him.' She thought after the door closed.
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(Training Montage)
Day One: Ayl starts training Shinji to use his Metal Powers by getting him to levitate several coins at once. She also teaches him how to make drinking water with Water Magic and how to clean up their clothes and bodies, making visits to the bath house unnecessary.
Day Two: Shinji is capable of levitating several coins with ease, and can even use them as throwing weapons. He also learns how to create ice projectiles and blades of water that can cut steel.
Day Three: Shinji has moved up to a bag of coins and can easily manipulate it like it was a balloon. She also teaches him how to use Darkness Magic to see in the dark.
Day Four: Ayl goes to the local blacksmith for some scrap metal. Shinji is able to levitate a thick steel rod with ease by the end of the day. Shinji also learns how to create a dimensional storage with Darkness Magic where he stores the scrap metal and other materials.
Day Five: Shinji is capable of levitating two metal rods, and Ayl has him bend the rods into different shapes. After lunch Ayl has Shinji levitate several pieces of metal in a figure eight pattern as fast as possible.
Day Six: Shinji is working with Ayl's blacksmith friend, learning how to levitate hot metal and dip it into the water to cool it. Shinji is also shown how to craft swords, daggers, knives and other metal trinkets as part of his training, but also because he wants to learn how to do it. He also assist the blacksmith in his work to earn money for living expenses.
Day Seven: Shinji and Ayl continue to work at the blacksmith shop, training him in how to control all types of metals, but also Water magics. This reminds Shinji of the water-benders from Avatar The Last Airbender.
Day Eight: Shinji spend the day at a healing practice, helping to cure various injured people, mostly in order to give Shinji experience in using his Healing Powers and to earn some money while Ayl was doing an herb-gathering quest to earn some money.
Day Nine: Shinji's work at the blacksmith shop has firmed up his muscles, and given him a bit of a tan, thanks to the raging heat of the forge. Ayl starts teaching Shinji how to use more powerful spells of Darkness Magic.
Day Ten: Ayl shows Shinji how to use Darkness Magics to create shadow-copies of himself that he can use to preform useful tasks like carrying things around and even sparring.
Day Eleven: Shinji learns to use small amounts of Water and Darkness magics simultaneously. A cup of water and his own shadow prove to be useful training tools.
Day Twelve: Shinji's shadow-copies are helping around the blacksmith shop while Shinji trains with his Water Magics and levitating tools and weapons around the shop. Ayl's blacksmith friend is able to take a break for the day.
Day Thirteen: Ayl shows Shinji how to teleport between shadows with Darkness Magic. He was able to do it rather effectively, until the blacksmith opened up one of the doors, casting light into the room and causing Shinji to run right into the wall. Ayl just had to laugh at that.
Day Fourteen: Shinji is able to switch between using his Metal powers, his Water Magic and his Darkness Magic with ease after hours of reflex training.
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(Silver Eagle Inn)
Shinji and Ayl were eating lunch, courtesy of Hana cooking, after hours of extra training since breakfast after waking up. Ayl had insisted on training a bit more just in case. And during the past 2 weeks of training, Shinji had also gotten to know Ayl and Hana better.
Ayl was originally from the forest of Elgin where High Elves live and trade with other races. Her father is a noble who trades armor for those who pay for them and her mother teaches archery to young elves. Her father is quite overprotective of his only daughter and had to be knocked out by his wife so Ayl could get out of the forest when she started her life as an adventurer.
She had also told him some of her adventures where she had saved some people and eliminated a few ghosts in an abandoned house which was later rebuilt as a forge. She hadn't mentioned any of her friends that she had lost in her adventures, Shinji thinking that it must have been too painful to talk about it. And her story with Hana is that Ayl helped her by paying her debt to the healer who previously took care of her injuries. Said healer was smitten by Hana while she wasn't and he tried to extort her for sexual favors. Ayl said that those who don't pay their bills are sentenced to hard labor at the mines and with Hana's constitution, she wouldn't have made it.
After that ordeal was settled, Hana took a strong liking to Ayl and always made sure that her usual room was always available for her. Hana had even paid her debt back to Ayl 2 years ago and she managed to save money for treatments if needed.
But now that Hana didn't have to worry about her conditions anymore, Ayl said that she had never seen Hana this happy before and sometimes she joined them for lunch, which made her fans jealous of Shinji and swearing bloody murder for getting too close to their Goddess.
Hana's story was that her father was an adventurer who died on a quest and her mother is a tailor at a clothing shop. Her vision started fading when she was 9 years old and she had to constantly adjust her habits to get by and be careful because of her hemophilia. And when she became of age, she had a tough time finding a suitable job, and because of her conditions none of the merchants wanted to hire her, so she had to turn to her aunt who owned the inn they were currently staying at. Hana also suggested that Shinji buys some more clothes, which he did with the money he had. Hana's mother was quite talented in making clothes and she was like an older version of Hana, with only B-cup breasts. Hana mentioned that her mother was irked by the fact that her daughter had bigger assets than she did.
Being a cook wasn't on her list of jobs she wanted to do, since she could hurt herself in the kitchen, but she had to do it in order to earn the money she needed. And now that Shinji had helped her, she wanted to get to know her benefactor. So she joined them for drinks in their room to talk and when Shinji told his story, the one Lianna suggested, she started to comfort him with a hug.
Shinji even taught them the game of rock-paper-scissors, which they played sometimes and everyone won pretty evenly, most of the time. Shinji was surprised that this world had scissors, Ayl saying that tailors used them all the time.
Ayl questioned Shinji about his backstory, with him having to answer that Lianna appeared before him when he arrived into this world and suggesting the backstory, which made Ayl surprised, since she had met her Goddess Libra only once when she received her blessing. But Ayl said afterwards that she should have thought of that.
Finishing their lunch, Ayl said: "Now then Shinji, I think that you are ready to join the Guild."
"So are we going to get me registered?" He asked, glad to hear that he could finally start doing something exciting other then training.
"Yes. And after we get you registered, we will take our first quest." She answered.
"The salt mine quest right?" Shinji asked.
"That's right. I heard that another adventurer just died trying to fight the golem, so the reward went up with to 40 gold. And salt is becoming even more scarce, so this has to be done right away. And the miners are also hurting for money since they haven't worked in a while." Ayl said.
"Then let's get to it." Shinji said, standing up.
Ayl did the same as Hana came over. "Are you going to take on the quest now?" she asked.
"Yes. It's about time we get that matter settled." Ayl answered.
"Be careful. And good luck." Hana said.
"I am always careful. That's why I lived so long." Ayl retorted.
"I know. But I can't help but worry for my friends." Hana said.
"Don't worry Hana, we will be fine." Shinji assured her.
"When you get back, I'll make some boar stew for you." She said.
Ayl's mouth started watering, so did Shinji's. Hana's boar stew was to die for, even without salt.
"We're off now. Come on Shinji." Ayl said and went towards the door with Shinji.
'Please be alright Shinji.' Hana thought as she watched them leave.
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Authors Notes:
Not much action in this one, since it's mostly a training chapter, Shinji learning just how much power he has and what he can do. But he's also met a new friend and helped her so she is developing a crush on him. And this is eventually going to be a harem thing, so keep an eye out.
Next chapter: Shinji and Ayl take on a metal golem, so expect a lot of fighting.
Also, next chapter will have a couple more Omakes, to make up for the lack of one in this.
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