Mellow Town Stories: Ankha's Destiny

by TheFoolOfTheNoon

Time passed since the Immortal Shagaru incident and things have been returning to normal. However, one day another Chosen of the Egyptian god's shows up and inform Ankha of her negligence to her duty to the Goddess who chose her; to set up a place of worship. However, with Aten looking for her, this is impossible, but a new way is revealed to her and she takes it.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Preparations

Author Note:

Here we go! Another chapter for you to view. Still not yet to the exciting stuff, but here some quick preparation stuff to get out of the way. Also we finally get to see what our friendly characters here would be classified in a RPG. Yep, we are going fantasy here and I got some good ideas...along with some unexpected returning creatures. Hope you enjoy this chapter because I had some fun writing/typing it down. Either way, read and review and feel free to tell me what you think of the idea so far for the story. This is TheFoolOfTheNoon, signing off!

/

Ankha's P.O.V.

Months have passed since Diva came to me and reminded me of my duties to the gods, especially Bastet. Much preparation was made during that time as Nacho made calls to Rover and Tortimer for them to substitute for him and Isabelle as they join me for my journey. Nacho also had to get through the paperwork in order to get the permits needed to setup a campground far from town. Thankfully Isabelle was there to help him through it, so they got all that settled. Lucky eventually moved in and was brought up to speed on current events and introduced him to Diva and Amr.

We had very few days to gather ourselves as we spend other days to train and brush up on our skills. My magic has improved since then and I have expanded my repertoire of offensive fire magic, but I must admit that it needs some refinement. Same applies to my curses and try as I might I cannot activate the beast trigger ability that Nacho and Isabelle share. I can't figure it out despite sparring with Nacho and Lucky constantly. It doesn't help that we know little how the phenomena works, just a rough understanding of it. Not even the researchers back in the old world could figure it out for sure.

Thank goodness on the days to ourselves Nacho, Isabelle and I use the time to ease our stress; both mentally and physically. Those two had been running themselves ragged to get this done as soon as possible. It warms my heart to see them sleeping peacefully by my side. However, eventually the time came. After Nacho got the paperwork done and got work done in the camp, he got to work building the temple we shall use in order to communicate with the Egyptian Gods, or at least one of them. The building itself was cleverly painted to look like a temple for the people, sporting images of various villagers holding their hands around the world. A universal temple as it was described, for people to get together and pray for good fortune.

The temple on the inside was empty but has the structure that a temple should need. While medium sized it should have enough room to do what we need to do. As a matter of fact, the first section of the temple was devoted to the Ancient Egyptian worship. That is where I was able to place the statue of Bastet I had inside my home, along with some other objects of worship. Diva did the same and we managed to make a workable alter that should be acceptable to summon the presence of the gods without making them spend too much energy. With everything set, we prepared ourselves for the journey before the next day.

I was packing my clothes which are mostly meant for traveling and exploring. Of course, I was going to bring armor, but instead of the one from last adventure I was given this protype armor that is meant to help contain the dark field made of the virus. This was custom made and given to me and Isabelle by Nacho as the hunter association had to make sure those affected don't spread the virus and reduce possible damage to the ecosystem. Anyway, I also packed some weapons which include the molten Tigerex dual swords, but also a hunting knife and a bow with a quiver filled with arrows. Lastly, I packed some supplies such as medicine, potions, antidotes, null shrooms, and some camping food. Not sure how long the journey is going to be, so I must make sure we can sustain ourselves for a possibly long trip.

"Are you okay Ankha? You look a little tense."

"I'm alright Lucky, just having the traveling jitters."

"But we traveled together in the past. You even went off on your own for a time. How can you have the traveling jitters?"

"It sounds crazy, but unlike our original travels I'm not sure what to expect. We're heading to an entirely different world that existed alongside this one. Who knows what we're going to see or find?"

"I'll admit, the curiosity is killing me, but you have nothing to worry about. We're all going into this together remember?"

"Yes, I remember," I take a deep breath as I pack the last of my supplies into my backpack, "Let's all watch out for each other okay?"

"Of course, Ankha. As your brother I would have it no other way," He said with a bow.

"Thank you Lucky."

My sworn sibling packed what he can into his backpack. He doesn't need to eat, drink, or worry about medicine, but the extra manpower would allow us to carry more supplies. I know this makes Lucky a pack mule, but it is a benefit that we can't miss out on. After packing everything we needed. I told Lucky I was going to check up on Nacho and will be back soon.

/

Nacho's P.O.V.

"That's all you want me to do sir?" I said with a bored voice as I stared at the screen where Jarhead just got done briefing me on my mission.

"Yes, agent Ohkan. You are to survey and record what you see in that other world along with your personal mission to help Ankha."

"Okay then, thank you sir for allowing me to do this."

"We may have butted heads agent, but you are among the best. While you're increased strength and threat potential with the virus inside you from your last mission has some here worried. I believe in you, and in honor of your success, you are now allowed to hunt monsters of any kind. Not just the ones in the old world. May you return with more victories under your belt."

"Thank you, sir, agent Ohkan out."

The feed cut out and the screen went away. I took a deep breath as I looked over to my bag which had all my basic needs including my weapons. Duel blades made from a Brachydios, a hunting knife, my DP-12 shotgun, and ten boxes of 12-gauge shells, each box holding 14 shells. As much as I wanted to bring more firearms, I needed to keep things light or else I'll just over burden myself. Of course, I'll bring some armor, but this time I'm wearing the prototype Beast Hunter armor. A new kind of armor that is being tested for hunters that can use Apex mode and Beast Trigger. Design wise, it's basically an improved hunter armor with purple and crimson colors, and a frenzy symbol to tell others that the wearer can use the previously mentioned abilities. Not sure if it's going to hold up to my power so it's probably best to avoid using my more powerful beast trigger forms such as the Gore Magala. Of course, this may leave Isabelle without the ability to use beast trigger since it's her only form. Not sure about Ankha as she has yet to invoke the transformation.

Still we must watch what we do as Apex mode can modify our attacks with the virus, and our fluids are basically tainted with the stuff. If anything happens, we have null shrooms to help treat it. Granted I have been given a few vaccines injections just in case of emergencies.

"Man, going to a new world. It's going to be like when I first stepped into the old world again. I hate to leave my town again, but I have to for Ankha's sake."

"You know…you don't have to go if it bothers you that much."

I nearly jumped as I turned around to see Ankha looking at me with concerned eyes, "Whoa, you surprised me there Ankha. I need to remember that I gave you and Isabelle copy of keys to my house."

"Indeed, but let's not ignore the bigger topic at hand. Are you sure you want to leave your town? We could be gone for far longer than our previous adventure. I know you have Rover and Tortimer covering for you and Isabelle, but…I think this will reflect poorly on your position as mayor. You could lose your job and maybe Isabelle too. I won't mind if you and Isabelle chose to stay as this is my duty and I'm fine just going in with Lucky, Diva, and Amr."

I sighed as I walked over to her, "Ankha…I appreciate the concern, but I'm not changing my mine and if Isabelle was here right now, she would say the same thing. Yes, I'm putting my job in jeopardy as this adventure could take far more than a few weeks. However, I want to be there for you both physically and emotionally. This is your quest yes, but I'll be the worlds worst boyfriend if I let you go on this alone. Same thing applies to Isabelle, as we care for your well-being."

A small smiled cracked on her face as we embraced in a hug and kissed each other briefly. After she broke the kiss, she nuzzled me affectionately. It was a bit embarrassing, but I didn't mind at all. However, she started sniffing me before a sly smile appeared on her face.

"Nacho…you're emitting mating pheromones again."

I gave a sheepish smile. The old pheromones that can drive a female into heat when they smell. It is one of the virus's gift to me and something Ankha discovered the hard way. Thankfully, I'm able to control it better and unless another lady stands next to me for a period, they won't get affected. My feline and canine lovers have developed some resistance to it over time and are able to sniff it out. Another thing I'm thankful for is that it is a seasonal thing as it only happens once per year. Bad news is that it can last for a few weeks, I even joked about it being my heat period.

"It's that time of the year again I'm afraid."

"You're getting better at suppressing though. I had to be right next to you to even smell it, but of course you know two can play at this game?"

I didn't even get a chance to get a word in as suddenly a sweet alluring smell began to invade my nostrils. Not too long after smelling it I felt my body grow hot; it was her own pheromone. You see, later down the line in our relationship. Ankha revealed that she can alter her scent via fragrance manipulation. It's one of the godly powers she was bestowed after taking a portion of Bastet's power. It also gave her music and dancing manipulation which I saw first-hand as she hypnotized the crowd at a concert just so her, Isabelle and I can have some private time. She knew how to use these powers very well and unlike my pheromones, she can alter her scent with different properties and as such I can't naturally defend against it. Hence why I'm growing an erection right now.

"You and your fragrance manipulation. The only thing that can beat out my pheromones, but the fact you are using it on me means…"

"Yes, let's relieve some of the stress that have built up since our last time together."

I chuckled, "My stress or yours?"

"Does it matter? Call up Isabelle, I'll tell Lucky that I will be spending the night with you."

"All right then, best to get it out of the way then do it during the adventure eh?"

"Eh…we could still do it then, but only when the mood strikes."

"Roger that Ankha."

We shared a laugh as went to go do what we set out to do. I called Isabelle and she told Lucky that she will be staying for the night. We gathered together in my house and well…you can be surprised how long three people can go at it with mating pheromones in play. Let's just say it was a noisy night.

/

The next day came, so did Rover and Tortimer as planned. I made an announcement that me and Isabelle are going to be gone for a while and they will substitute for us until we come back. Many questions came up and I answered them the best I can. After that hassle, Tortimer echoed what Ankha said to me last night as he wasn't sure how long he can do this and make sure Isabelle and I will still have our jobs. So of course, we tell him what's going on and if push comes to shove, I tell him to call this specific number. It is a secret branch of I.G.M.A.D.A and they should have some sway, but I knew ultimately the people will decide if we should stay or not.

After saying our goodbyes, we took a train to the out of town campground. Eventually we made it there and thankfully there was only a few campers walking about and admiring the scenery. We greeted them before going inside the temple I had built here. To them, this was just a nice get together, but what they don't know is far from the truth. Once inside the temple, we made sure that there is no one around before heading to the Egyptian section of the building. I smiled as we reached the statue of Bastet.

"Here we are, Ankha. Do your thing."

"Right," she takes a deep breath before standing in front of the statue. Taking a standing praying gesture and with some hand movements she began speaking in her native tongue. It was quite strange to hear her speak like that as she sounds a bit different. While I was tempted with the translator, given to all agents, to understand what she is saying, but I just took in the uniqueness of it as the statue began to glow a blueish light.

The glow faded and before we knew it, we were all consumed in a light and teleported into a secret room. This room was made purposely to be unreachable unless a priestess called upon the gods. Diva told me to make this so we can have privacy in the public place. In the secret room, there is another statue of Bastet, but there is a stone archway now behind it. There was a small moment of silence until suddenly the Bastet statue's eyes glowed, and a voice began to speak out of it. It's the cat goddess herself.

"Ah, is this everyone?"

"Yes, my goddess," Ankha said while kneeling, "My lovers, my guardian, and my fellow chosen immortal with her guardian are joining me on this journey."

"I see, bigger group than expected, but I'm not complaining. Anyway, I shall gather Ra, Osiris, Isis, and Set here. With their combined might they will open the portal to a world that all gods from across the globe decided to separate from this world."

The statue's glowing eyes faded and once again we waited together in silence. Frankly I don't know what to say right now as we waited for Bastet to return with the other gods. After a minute of waiting, the statue's eyes flared up again and lightly spat out five balls of golden fire that spread out. Sprouting out of the flames was five human sized figures, one of which I immediately recognize is Bastet herself as I met two times in the past. However, the other figures are completely new to me. It doesn't help their bodies are the same color as the flames.

Ankha, Diva, Lucky, and Amr bowed before them in respect. Isabelle and I did the same since we are in the presence of actual gods, even if it's just their avatars.

"You may all rise," Spoke the voice of Ra, I knew this as the tone is gentle yet regal, "Ankha, chosen immortal of Bastet. Thank you for giving us a conduit so we can appear here you today without spending too much energy."

"You are welcome, God of the sun."

The gods gave their own respectful bows to us, which was something I wasn't expecting. However, I remained silent as the clearly powerful deity began to speak again.

"So, this is the group you plan on bringing? This looks promising I must admit, but I stray from the task at hand. Ankha and Massika, as you already know, you both need to establish the worship of the gods who made you immortal. However, this won't be your only goal."

I raised a brow in confusion, looking at Ankha and Diva they are both also surprised by this new information.

"Not our only goal? What happened?" Ankha asked.

I watch Ra sigh in frustration while the other Gods looked to the ground, "It's Anubis, he has grown ill."

We all gasped in surprise; this is seriously bad news. However, the question on how the heck that happened is still in the air.

"Anubis, ill? How is that possible?!" Ankha exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, aren't you all highly resistant if not immune to disease?" Diva added.

"Normally yes, but something terrible has happened. Something we did not think could happen; his link to his chosen has been severed."

Ankha covered her mouth in shock, "Aten what have you done?"

Silence befell all of us. I can only guess how bad that is, but judging how Ankha reacted to the news, words cannot describe how terrible this is. Still curiosity got to me and I must ask for details.

"Ra, me and Isabelle here are new to this stuff you're talking about. Just how bad are we talking about here?"

"You must be Nacho I heard about, as for your inquiry, when we gods select a person to be our chosen immortal, we give them a portion of our power. The connection between chosen and god is sacred and must not be broken as terrible things happen if the connection is severed. In this case, Anubis has been horribly weakened and is currently unable to fulfill his duty until he recovers."

"What about Aten? What happens to him?" Isabelle asked.

"Normally the same would happen to him, not to mention he would become mortal again. However, I fear other forces may be at work here as it takes powerful magic to even severe the connection. We gods are investigating the matter, but this could be the beginning of a bigger problem. I hate to add more burdens to you all, but we must ask you to find a suitable replacement for Anubis."

"Great Ra, we are willing to help, but how are we going to find a suitable replacement? A chosen must be native to Egypt in order to be even considered!" Ankha said with a hint of worry.

"Ah…you do not have to worry about that Ankha. You see, there is another Egypt in the world you are going to."

"There is?! When did that happen?"

"Since we saw the decline of our religion. We knew it was only a matter time before we lose all our worshippers and a chunk of our power. So, when making the new world with the other gods we recreated Egypt and transported some of our most loyal priests and intelligent scholars to make a new kingdom. Thanks to this we managed to keep strong, but you and the other Chosen Immortal's goal remain to same. I don't expect you Ankha to complete your goal at this place as they already worship Bastet there, but if you are looking for allies or more help then I suggest you go there."

"Okay, thank you for the advice, oh divine one."

"I do what I can to make things easier for you all. To recap, these are your main objectives: Find a suitable replacement to be Anubis's chosen, and find a spot to set up a place of worship with a stable number of worshipers. I won't lie, your journey will be difficult as there are many dangers unique to this world, but well do our best to aid you when needed."

"Again, thank you great sun god."

"I appreciate the formality Ankha. Anyway, we shall open the portal. Please stand back," we all did as he said as Ra and the other gods in the room began chanting as they started glowing with power. To my amazement, they fired beams of magical power into the wall in front of us and it nearly blew us away. We all managed to hold our ground as a large blue swirling portal stood before us.

I whistled; it was truly something to see a bunch of gods at work. Never thought in my life I will get to experience this. But that isn't important as the gods return their attention to us to speak again.

"It is done, I must warn you that this is a one-way trip. You cannot return here until your quest is complete. The portal should drop you off outside of a melting pot town called Crossroad. Make your way to it and familiarize yourself with the new world. You should also meet up with a guide we contacted to meet you. His name is Azhum Spellslinger, he will aid you greatly on your journey. Just…don't be too surprised when you meet him."

"We will keep an eye out for him."

"Good, now set off. We wish you well on your journey."

"We will not fail you all great gods of Egypt. Come on everyone, a new world awaits!"

With no arguments we made our way to the portal. Ankha led us and stopped just in front of the magical vortex. I visibly saw her take a nervous breath, so to comfort her Isabell and I took both of her hands into ours. She was a little surprised at first, but she thanked us both for the emotional support.

"On a count of three, we jump in alright?" I said before giving her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, like a band aid as people say."

"You just need to pull it off in one quick motion," Isabelle said cheerily.

"So? What are we waiting for? One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

On the last count we all jumped into the portal and the next thing I felt was rush of force pressing on my entire body. It was a rush, but I kept my grip strong as feeling Ankha's hand kept me grounded. I was only a few brief moments before finally the experience wore off and we finally exited the portal.

/

Isabelle's P.O.V.

Who knew traveling through a portal would be such a rough first-time experience? I had to hold back my urge to scream in those brief moments in the portal. Before I knew it I felt the beating of the sun on my closed eyes and the tickling grass on my body. I gave a few groans before getting up.

"Oooh…what a ride. Is everybody alright?"

"A okay Isabelle, if not a little dizzy," Nacho said groggily in response, "What about you Ankha?"

"Agh…been better," Ankha replied as she too got up, "I don't think I will be too eager to do that again."

We all helped each other up as our senses returned to normal and we were able to get a hold of our surroundings. It was breath taking really as we were in a wide open grassy plain with a dirt path to the side of us. The sky was basically the same as back home, but I could see minor glimpses of nearly invisible light flying across the blue sky. Looking ahead I could see a nice-looking town that looks drastically different from anything I seen back home. It's healthy and a well maintained medium sized town with a mainly white color scheme on the body of the buildings with the roofs painted in red, blue, and green colors. Adding to it are these strange looking crystals that appear to be some kind adornment or accent to the town.

"*Whistles* That must Crossroad, I got to admit, it looks really good from over here."

"Yeah, with a name like that I was expecting a rougher looking town, but this is a pleasant surprise."

I became quite giddy at the thought of meeting new people, "Just think of the locals we could run into. What do you think they look like?"

"Heh heh, easy Isa, maybe they look like us."

"Or perhaps more unique? This is a world created and separated by the gods after all, so maybe we are more likely to run into creatures of myth."

Hearing that just made my excitement grow even bigger, "Really?! Maybe we can run into more unicorns like Julian! Or or, maybe elves and fish people too!"

My imagination really ran wild, but I had to stop myself from fan-girling. As we have yet to see anyone native to this world yet. Still that doesn't take away from my excitement.

"Oy vey, can you keep it down? I'm trying to recover from the traveling here, yah know?" All three of us turned around to see Diva, Lucky and Amr recovering from the experience of traveling through the portal. The first to stand was Lucky as he shook off the aftershock and helped the other two up.

"My thanks Lucky, that was by far a strenuous experience," Amr said gratefully.

"Your welcome! I guess being an undead mummy makes it easier for me to recover from these kinds of things."

It didn't take long for them to recover and to join us in the view. They also marveled at the town with us before we all started walking the dirt path to it. We shared a few of our thoughts and expectations before reaching the entrance of the town. What we saw truly blew our minds.

The town was active and full of life. We saw familiar races like humans, cats, dogs, and even horse villagers! However, we also saw rather fantastical races like snakes, sharks, elves, goblins, orc, and even dinosaur villagers! I can only imagine what else is living in this world.

"Isabelle? Are you still with us?"

"I think she is lost in her own fantasy, love."

I didn't realize I was staring into space until I saw Nacho's fingers snapping in front of me, to snap me out of my trance. I jumped a bit in surprise while my two lovers laughed in amusement. I must admit, it was kinda funny, but also embarrassing as it also got the attention of a few passerby's who looked at us for a bit before going on their way.

"Oops! Sorry I must have went to space there," I said sheepishly.

"Heh heh, I don't blame you Isa, I mean I didn't expect to see dinosaurs of all things walking around here. I like to say we are all pleasantly surprised seeing this."

"I agree with that sentiment, I expected to see creatures of myth of fantasy here, and I say I wasn't disappointed so far. Still I think there is more to see," Ankha pointed to a standout being walking across the public walkway. To my surprise, it was a Pegasus villager and not to long after seeing it, it took off into the air and flew out of town.

I was simply awestruck from witnessing the event, "Oooh…they do fly gracefully."

"Er…sorry to break you out of your moment of joy Isabelle, but we need to find this Azhum guy. So, we should get a move on," Diva stated.

We all agree with this and walked into the town. It was a slight awkward experience as we got plenty of stares from onlookers. No doubt from the equipment we are carrying around, and Lucky himself. However, it wasn't long until a raptor man came up to us.

"Hello there, are you an adventuring group?" It was surprising to us that this dinosaur man came to us and can speak English. We were expecting him to speak to us in a different language, but regardless Ankha answered for us.

"I guess you can say that. Umm…who are you?"

"I'm called, Featherweight the light footed by my people. I act as a scout or messenger group for the Adventurer's guild. However, a group as large as yours is not on our list of adventurer groups. Are you all new here?"

"Yeah, you can say that we are from out of town. Is it bad that we aren't on file?" Nacho asked.

"Indeed, you see, the guild keeps tabs on all adventuring groups on active duty. That way we can call them if something important comes up or we can send a rescue team should they be in serious trouble. My boss can give you more details at the guild, so I strongly suggest you follow me and get yourselves registered. If you want that is."

We all looked at each other and frankly we didn't see much of a problem of doing it. Frankly, after talking it over, we think it could be a benefit to us since we are new to this world. It was unanimous, we agreed to follow Featherweight to the guild so we can register. It wasn't a long walk as the building itself was just around the corner from the center of the town. It was there we learned why the town is called Crossroad as there four paths that act as the entrance and exit of the town.

The guild building was quite large and much more extravagant than the other buildings in town. Makes me wonder why we didn't assume that building could be a place of interest, but that isn't important right now. The building still held the white color scheme as the other buildings have, but with gold accents, a purple roof and more large crystals integrated into the structure. My engineering senses wanted me to know how such structure is even built, but my curiosity would have to wait for now as we are already entering the fascinating building.

I had to hold back my wonder and awe as there was many people walking around, I didn't want to accidently run into them. People of various races in armor, robes, light clothing and the like are sitting around and socializing. Many of them are speaking in their native tongue and I couldn't understand a word they said. Some of them stop to look at us as we made our way upstairs to another floor where it was quieter. Eventually we were led into another room where we saw an aged man behind a large desk working with what appears to be a computer and writing on some paper. Probably doing some paperwork like me and the mayor do back in the office.

"Ah, hello there Featherweight. What brings you to…bring this large group into my office?"

"Guild master, I bring you these new adventurers as they wish to register and become an official adventuring group."

"I see, I'll take care of it. You are dismissed Featherweight, Goadi doya," the guild master said while lightly beating his chest with his left hand.

"Goadi doya, Mr. Keno," Featherweight repeated the gesture before leaving the room.

"As for the rest of you, take a seat. I made sure to supply my office with plenty of room for groups like you."

We did what the guild master asked and seated ourselves on his couches. Mr. Keno stood up and walked around his desk before seating himself in front of us. During that time, we saw how well built he is despite appearing to be a middle-aged man. Clothing wise he is wearing a decorated purple formal suit.

"Well now, let's get to business. First off, which one of you is the leader of this group?" He asked us. We looked at each other with confusion as we never really set a leader for this group. Frankly the ones with leadership qualities is Nacho and Ankha, so maybe they both can act as leaders? It's certainly better than us trying to figure something else out on the spot.

"Mr. Keno sir, our leaders would Nacho and Ankha here," I said much to their surprise. Clearly, they didn't expect me to answer for them and now they had to quickly work along with what I left them.

"Really now? You two are the leaders? That wouldn't be a first but call me pleasantly surprised. It's not every day a Hume and a Felimew can work together and get along much less one from Egyptapia."

Hearing this caught Ankha's attention immediately, "Excuse me, Felimew? Where I'm from my race is called Felinian and I'm from Egypt."

"Also, Hume? Is that how this world shortens the word Human here?" Nacho added with similar surprise.

I saw Mr. Keno raise an eyebrow upon hearing this before giving out a laugh, "So, all of you are not from around here huh? Heck not even from Mythica, the guys in robes are right then. There is another world."

Nacho sighed, he knew that there is no way we are keeping what we are a secret, "Well that secret is out of the bag, not that we planned on keeping it a secret anyway. We must as well introduce ourselves. I'm Nacho, Mayor of a town in our world and seasoned hunter of monsters. This is Ankha, Egyptian priestess. Isabelle, my lovable secretary. Diva, another Egyptian who is capable. Then Lucky and Amr, guardians of Ankha and Diva respectively."

"I see, well I'm Mr. Rhetoric Keno. Former adventurer, now guild master and mayor of this town. Pleasure to meet you all," We returned the greeting in kind, "So, welcome to Crossroad and welcome to Mythica, other worlders. So, you want to be adventurers? For what reason I dare ask? Trying to get back home I'm guessing?"

"Actually no, we have a special secret mission given to us by the Egyptian gods. But since we're new to this world we think being registered adventurers would help us in our journey," Ankha explained while keeping the more sensitive details hidden.

Mr. Keno gave us all an observing eye before taking a deep breath, "I see…normally I would be pretty suspicious of this kind of story but judging from your group size and the fact one of you is an undead mummy. I'm inclined to believe you."

"Wait, you know I'm an undead mummy?" Lucky blurted with confusion.

"When you go out adventuring as long as I have. You can tell the difference from a costume and the real deal. You my friend are the real deal, but I'll admit that your voice really threw me off."

"Heh heh, yeah…I get that a lot."

"Anyway, you all seem quite capable people, so I'll get you registered. Follow me to scanning crystal," He said as he got up from his seat and headed towards the door. We were confused by what this scanning crystal is, but we held our questions until we saw it for ourselves. We followed him downstairs and around the main hall until we saw an area where there was a long tall crystal with a line of people.

"That's the scanning crystal? What does it do?" I asked, as I observe it emit a wide thin light that scanned the entire person's body.

"It does as what you think it does. It scans you body so we can get a good look at your capabilities and put it into your adventurer pad. It shows your stats, your skills, and what class you are based on your history and experience. Class is basically what role you are likely to be like a warrior, knight, wizard, etc. It's may sound weird at first, but that's how it is. Don't worry about it being permanent though. Your class will change based on how you go about doing your business and life in general."

"Oh, so it's like one of my RPG video games then. That makes sense in its own way I guess," Nacho remarked.

"Yeah I suppose it can be viewed that way. Anyway, all you need to do before the scanning is to fill out a quick sheet on your name, date of birth, etc. Don't need to worry about your biological sex and race as the crystal should do that for you. As for anything else, you can ask one of the staff members for more details."

"Alright, thanks for your aid Mr. Keno," Ankha said with a friendly smile.

"Your welcome, good luck on your journey."

With that said he left us and returned to his office upstairs. We headed towards the desk where a dog girl was signing up adventurers so they can get in line to be scanned by the crystal. We greeted her and tell her that we want to be adventurers. She just took one good look at us and allowed us to step in line before giving us our information sheets of paper. Here we wrote our names, date of birth and other small information before handing them back to one of the staff members working here. The process went by quick and getting scanned by the beam tickled a bit. The adventurer pads we briefly heard about are these small portable devices when turned on created a screen of blue light that acted as the pad. The device itself is just this white gold cylinder-shaped object with buttons on it. Turning mine on I was greeted instantly with a menu with a few different options; profile, skills, stats, quests, bestiary, scanner, map, and survival information. Apparently, this piece of Magitech, as it is called here, is possible with the mix of modern technology with the natural magic of mana crystals. Not sure how that works, but it is pretty amazing. The others thought so as well when they boot theirs up.

Pressing on the profile option, a full colored image of me came up, it was me holding back my laughter much to my embarrassment. Next to the profile image of myself is my name, sex, age, height, weight, and class. According to the scanner I'm apparently a Beast Shifter, which makes sense considering my current abilities right now. Nacho and the others shared their profiles and I was quite amazed to see what others got classified as. Nacho's is a Beast Monster Hunter, Ankha's is a Warrior Priestess, Diva's is a Hydro Mage, and lastly Lucky and Amr are both Guardians.

I was hoping also to see Ankha's and Diva's true age, but apparently the crystal couldn't tell from their actual age from their physical one. Ankha being 23 years old and Diva being 21 years old. As for Amr, he was scanned as 35 years old, but all Lucky got is a simple long dead in his age section. Another part of the profile we noticed is group name and adventurer rank. Right now, it says unranked and group is unnamed.

"Huh, so we need to name our group. What should we call ourselves?" Nacho asked.

That was a good question, what should we call our ourselves in this world. If we are going to blend in with other adventuring groups. We started passing ideas around and of course some odd balls came up like, The Diva Squad or Desert Brigade. While the latter isn't so bad, I still think our name should include all of us somehow.

"Uhh…maybe the Egyptian Warriors?"

"Nacho, only four of us is Egyptian. Maybe the Otherworld Adventurers?" Ankha suggested.

"That's a bit on the nose don't you think?"

"Yeah but coming up with a name is harder than I thought."

"Hmm…Isabelle, you got any ideas?"

Lucky for Nacho some has popped into my head while everyone was brainstorming. I was refining the idea until a good name came into my noggin, "Actually one good one, how about Heroes of Mellow?"

Both Ankha and Nacho looked at each other, then the others before looking back at me with a smile, "I actually like the sound of that name. What about you Nacho?"

"I say that is the best name I heard. What about you guys? You feel the same way?"

"I like it, because we are heroes from Mellow!"

"I agree, being a resident in your town it is only natural."

"I still like my idea, but that name speaks volumes, you know?"

I smiled cheerfully as I put my hands on my hips, "Then it's settled then, from here on out. We are the Heroes of Mellow!"

*Yeah!*

After our small cheer, we went over to get it registered as our official group name. From here on out we will be recognized by that name. Frankly I'm very excited, while no doubt adventuring is serious work, but this is a new start in a new world. I don't know what lies ahead for all of us or what hardships will await us, but what I do know that we're going to leave mark that everyone will remember.