Dungeon Masters and Dragon Riders

Chapter 3: After the First Adventure; the Fate of Those that Fail

The doors opened, as the pantheon was bustling with adventurers and the receptionists hard at work. But at the moment, the four individuals were walking towards a particular receptionist, with Z leaning at the table. Eina was cheerfully conversing with an adventurer dressed in the same gear getup as Alex was, but something was different. He was now wearing a black turtleneck long sleeved shirt that hugged his frame, with blue straps on his biceps with the buckles facing outward, black baggy pants to go with it, and a blue vest with the tail reaching down to the back of his knees with dark blue trim, and held together with a blue satchel belt fitted with a back satchel bag on the rear and two pocket satchels on the side, and brown boots that went up under the knee with blue trim, heels and toes.

"Alex," a familiar voice called out to him.

When he turned around, it was actually Alex, and on the desk was a strange creature. It looked like a feline between kitten and cat in size, with aqua blue fur all over him, a diamond-shaped tip on his tail, fluffy light blue fur on his belly and mouth, as well as a fluffy mohawk of hair on his head, long ears that were pointy with light blue tips on the back, and light blue on his front paws going up to his elbows, and yellow eyes. Though the most surprising thing about the creature was that it had light blue wings. Dragon wings. And was gnawing on a fish like a sandwich.

The creature looked, and spoke in a happy tone, as it smiled, "Hey, guys! I figured you bums wouldn't make it at all."

Before the two were Twilight, Alisa, and two fully recovered Ember and Ming before them. With Alisa and Ember in different but more capable adventuring attire.

Alex smiled at them all, as he greeted them, "How was the sendoff?"

"The girls are heading back to their families, as are the three that we rescued," Twilight smiled but teased, "You could have gone there and seen it yourself."

Alex blushed as he looked away, while Ceruleas teased, looking sly, "Well, you know Alex. He's so shy around women." He then joked, "He probably sees you four as one of the guys."

Ember gained a vein on her forehead, as she tried not to blow it, "You're gonna be seeing black and red if you keep this up, Ceruleas."

"Whoa, so scary," Ceruleas mocked, as he rolled over in laughter.

Alex shook it aside, as he looked to them, "You guys ready?"

Alisa nodded, as she patted her abdomen, "Twilight and Ember have their leather armor, but Ming and I went to the store yesterday to get some chainmail."

"And look," Ming replied as she held up her forearms. She was now wearing metal battle gauntlets, as she also pointed at her ankles to show that she was wearing martial arts greaves, "I also procured some arm and leg armor for a martial artist. Like you suggested."

Alex nodded, "Cool." He pulled out a job offer, as he explained, "I found a job that might help you guys in leveling up. It has to deal with Balloon Monsters."

The girls looked surprised on that, as Emer asked, "Aren't balloons supposed to be weaker than said Goblins?"

"Yeah, but they're tricky to connect," Alex explained, as Ceruleas finished up and landed on Alex's shoulder, "They'll help you anticipate the movements of your opponent, and they'll be easy for you guys to handle than Goblins. All they can do is swarm, jump, and bite. Which doesn't hurt all that much. What do you say?"

The four smirked at this, as they all nodded in agreement, as Twilight smiled, "Sure, let's do it."

And with that, the four set off, as Z and Eina waved good luck to the newly formed group before them. The new members of the Jupiter Familia.

Okay, I know what your'e thinking: what the heck? What was with the time skip? And who's the little blue furball flying cat-thing? Not to mention why are the four girls coming along with me when they would have quit? Well, let's go back a bit.

7 Days Earlier

After the incident at the Goblin Cave nest, things seemed to pretty much go back to normal. The adventurers had been healed and given a clean bill of health, as Alex had been taken care of in a separate room, while the others were treated in another room over. Innerly, Alex wanted to say hi to them, but after what had transpired, he wasn't sure he was allowed to even talk to them. He did smear goblin blood on them, so he figured they'd punch him if they ever saw him again. So like that, he left the area, and headed out. Since he was on his own, he had to think on where he had to stay, but at the moment, he walked towards the gate to head back outside somewhere.

3 Days Later

Ward of the Earth Mother Temple

The Temple of the Earth Mother was a white temple to those who worshiped the goddess of the Earth Mother. It was also a place for healing, both spiritually and physically. It acted as a healing station for adventurers after a big job involving quests that needed more than just one party, as well as Dungeon events in which some would get injured. But it was also a recovery station for the women that suffered the Goblin

Inside

3rd Floor

'SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHH!'

The sound of a loud, horrible sound made Ember's eyes open wide in shock as she looked around. She found herself in her family's study. It was a large room filled to the brim with books on shelves all around her. The room was filled with sunlight from a large window on the side of the room giving a full view of the outside.

"What- Wasn't I just," Ember began to ask as she looked around when a loud snap got made her jump.

"Are you paying attention, Ember," a loud commanding voice shot out causing Ember vision to focus on the tome before her as she knew the consequence of losing focus on her studies.

The source of the voice was one Ember knew all too well. The owner was as women in It was Ember's mother, Mrs. Shimmermane. She was a middle age woman wearing a purple royal gown. She had dark orange hair and was shooting a stern look with her blue eyes at Ember.

"Yes, mother," Ember said as she tried to hide her fear, "I am."

"As a member of the Shimmermane family," Ember's mother declared proudly while pacing in front of her daughter, "You have a responsibility to uphold our family legacy by being the best at everything except failure!"

"Yes, mother," Ember said as she returned to her studies, "The best at everything but failure." Ember looked down at the large book before her. It was a large tome heavy enough to break a small table with its weight. The pages were filled with ancient spells but mostly based on fire and lightning magic, the specialties of the family.

"That tome has been in the family for centuries..."

Ember once again knew whose voice that was without having to look. The voice came from a middle age man. He had a semi muscular body covered by his royal garb. He had wrinkled on his face, a grey streak in his red hair and beard and brown eyes. This was her father, Mr. Shimmermade, the head of the Shimmermane family.

"It's filled with the knowledge and experiences of the family," her father continued as he spoke with pride for his family, "Going as far back as the day our forefathers first settled in Melromark and built the very building we call home."

"Yes father," Ember said as she continued memorizing the contents of the books while listening to her father's lecture.

"This is why you and your siblings must show no signs of weakness," her mother added, "Weakness leads to failure. Which is why our family will not tolerate any signs of weakness." Suddenly, Ember saw a hand in front of her face, and felt a sharp pull on her face as the hand removed her glasses. As soon as the corrective lenses were off her face, her vision became blurry, and the text in the time became next to impossible to read.

"These for example," Mrs. Shimmermane said with disgust, "They serve as a sign to people that there's something about you that is weak."

"Instead of using magic to fix your eyesight," Mr. Shimmermane added with equal dislike for the eyewear, "You choose to hide behind a pair of glasses that only serve as a temporary solution."

"Yes mother, yes father," Ember said attempted to read the text without her glasses, but the words looked like a stain from a glass of wine than actually words.

'BANG!'

Ember jumped in her seat from the loud noice at the edge of the table. She looked up from the tome to look at her mother who had slammed her riding crop on the table, her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her. Without her glasses, Ember's mother didn't have her regular face. Instead, they had the faces of goblins staring daggers at her.

"Are you going to shame our family with these glasses," Mrs. Shimmermane demanded to know while spitting in her daughter's face.

Ember didn't know what was going on as she moved her face away from the goblin's face. "What- Mother," Ember asked as her fear began to show on her face, "Why is you-"

Suddenly, another goblin face appeared in front of her own face again and grabbed her shoulders.

"Do not answer a question with a question," the new goblin face responded in Mr. Shimmermane's voice, "Are you going to shame your family name by showing weakness?!"

"N-No," Ember responded with a shaky voice, "I- I would never shame our family in any-"

Both of her goblin faced parents got right in her face as they glared at her. "YOU ALREADY HAVE! WEAKLING," they both shouted in rage and pushed Ember out of her seat.

The moment Ember hit the floor, she got up and backed away as fast as she could to the wall. "I didn't shame my family! I- What in the world," she said when she noticed something had changed.

No longer was Ember in her family's library, but she was now in a familiar dark cavern. Without a torch, Ember was unable to see anything, not even her hand in front of her face.

'What's going,' she thought to herself as the fear and confusion was growing more and more, 'What am I doing back here!?'

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEE!"

The sound of sinister laughing surrounded Ember as she looked around in a panic. Suddenly, yellow glowing eyes appeared in all directions. Recognizing that these eyes belonged to goblins, every part of Ember's being was screaming to run for her life. But before she could, hundreds of dirty feeling hands grabbed onto her, and pulled her onto the ground. She looked all over in fear as the eyes of the goblins surrounded her. She could feel the warmth and smell the stench of their breath.

"NO! Get away," Ember yelled out. But the goblins answered her pleas by tearing all of her clothing off. From her dress, undergarments, to her boots, they removed everything, and held her down.

Ember looked all over in a fear as two more sets of yellow eyes appeared looking down in disgust at her. "Our family has no place for weakness," the voices of her parents said as the eyes lunged forward towards the terrified and broken girl.

Ember's eyes open wide in horror as she shoots up breathing loudly from the fright. She could feel a cold sweat going down her forehead as she tried to catch her breath. As her vision cleared, she began to notice her surroundings.

The room was clean but white, with a few guest chairs and a dresser that separated the bed she was in with another one. Though with the wall to her right was a window that let the morning to afternoon sunrise upward. Ember looked down and saw that the bed she was in also had white sheets, and with her a white nightgown most suitable for patients.

"What? Where- Where am I," Ember whispered as looked around, "A nightmare. Just-just a powerful nightmare…" As she looked to her left, she saw something that chilled her blood.

Sitting in another bed next to hers was completely still Ming. Only from a first glance, one could tell she was naked with only her hair loosened hair covering her from and a blanket over her lower half. If Ember could see her face, she would see Ming just staring at the blanket, and was in a daze. It was as though she had become detached from the world around her.

"Ming?! What happened," Ember asked her, "Where are we?" Ming didn't respond though as she just sat there. 'What's happened to her,' Ember thought in shock as she looked around for answers. Suddenly, Ember saw Twilight sleeping in a chair next to her bed with her head on the side of the bed.

Twilight blinked, as she saw her friend, who had been poisoned three days ago, was sitting up, a bit bedridden but healthy and recovered, but asked to be certain, "E-Ember?"

Ember blinked at seeing her friend, as she dared to ask, hoping it wasn't a dream, "Twilight?"

Suddenly, a banging sound caught their attention at the door of the room. There, having walked in with a fresh cleaning pan and cloths, was Alisa. She had come in to wash both Ember and Ming as they were still out of it, and had been doing it for three days. It was mostly due as a duty of being a member of the Earth Mother's Church. Though for Alisa she needed to do this, because she was part of their group, and that she wanted to help them. She couldn't heal Ember properly in the Goblin's cave, and wasn't able to do much for Ming. For her, this felt necessary to help them both. But now, she was shocked to say the least when she saw Ember awaken after three days of sleeping and healing.

Alisa nearly went to tears, but instead cried out as she ran over to Ember, and hugged her dearly, as she sobbed, "You're all right, Ember! I'm so glad you woke up!"

Gently prying the priestess off, the redheaded wizard looked to her friend, and asked, "Um, what exactly happened? All I remember was slowly dying of poison, my clothes all shredded off with the goblins planning necrophilia on me, and then… nothing. I wake up here."

Alisa gently sat down next to her, while Twilight pulled up a seat to explain everything. They had told her all about the strange blue-haired boy, who was armed only with a torch and an oaken branch as a shield, had rushed in to save them. He had taken down all the goblins, even helped to stay off her death using King's Foil weed with an antidote mixture. And the fact that he helped them save Ming and the other girls, all while beating the two Hobgoblins, all before someone blew up the goblin nest. And the craziest part was what set Ember off initially.

"He's a rookie? A porcelain ranked adventurer, and the guy you bumped into earlier that day," Ember asked, not sure if she could swallow any more of this.

"I know it seems pretty hard to swallow, but that's the whole truth," Twilight replied.

A moment of silence also went through, even with Ming still sitting up like a statue looking down at her hands. The failure had rung up through the whole time; the failure of their first adventure, and might be their last to say the least. Until Ember spoke up asking, "So what now?"

"Now?"

"I mean, what now? The first adventure didn't turn out as what you'd expect," Ember implied.

Twilight thought about it for a moment, and then stood up, "I'm going to go find that blue-haired boy."

Both girls went wide eye and asked, "What?/Huh?"

"I know it seems a bit hasty, but in honesty, we got out because of him," Twilight explained, as she set off. "And I'm not ready to give up being an adventurer because of one failure." She the set out of the room, but not before she explained, "Which is why… I think if I'm with someone like him, I might be better at it by learning from someone with his knowledge. So for those girls back in the cave, and for Roudahn… I can't give up because of this." And then walked out of there in search of the boy.

At that moment, Alisa also started to leave, but not before Ember spoke up, "Hey, I get why Twilight wants to keep going, but you too?"

Alisa turned with a gentle smile on her face as she confessed, "It's like Twilight said, I can't give this up simply because of one failure. I wanted to become an adventurer to help others, not because of some personal gain. If I gave up now, those we lost in the cave… well, I… I just can't forgive myself for giving up so soon." And then bolted after Twilight.

Ember slowly got up, as she called out, "At least wait for me to get dressed." Quickly putting on one of the spare dresses, belonging to the Holy Earth Mother Temple, she and Alisa took off as well.

Meanwhile, Ming, not completely oblivious of their conversation, thought in her head on the past events. Roudahn dying as he did, and unable to help him at all got to her. Even with her skills, she was no match for the Hobgoblin. And she was almost raped by the goblins as well. Even with her strength, she was too weak-willed or physically unable to do anything that day. During that moment, she was mentally debating on what to do, and what she was going to do now, even as her hands tightened into fists in her lap, and her eyes slowly starting to come back with life again.

At that moment, two maidens of the Temple were coming with a change of clothes for her. Since she had refused to move, it was deemed she was traumatized by her experience, and would probably serve the temple herself. "That poor girl. Oh well," one of the temple maidens replied, as they turned the corner to her door, "Alright, missy. Time to get cleaned up and…"

But as soon as they got in, the room was empty, both beds empty, including Ming's bed, which was missing a sheet.

Meanwhile

Back at the Adventurer's Guild

Throughout the hall, adventurers were sharing stories with each other to mugs filled with ale, looking for new jobs, or eating meals with friends filled the building with a happy atmosphere. While most sat with their party enjoying their friends' company, one person was sitting at a lone table by himself. It was Alex who was staring at his hands that were clasped together on the table while deep in thought. Despite sitting down, he continued to wear his backpack out of habit.

He then slipped the backpack off, as he gently placed it in front of him as he rummaged around. The bag itself had come from the goblin horde cave. After the fires had settled down, and the place a smoldering pit once the girls were treated, he decided to explore it. Usually item drops were normal in a game, and in it the Goblin Horde was stashed full of stuff from other adventurer that weren't as lucky. He had actually found some pretty useful stuff in the storage in the horde room, though he avoided the bodies, especially the baby goblins. He had to hold his lunch in for that. He rummaged through the bag, as he pulled out what appeared to be a coin purse sack with a blue strap on it. He then pulled out a lovely ring with a green butterfly-like jewel on it. But the next item was a strange one to boot. It was an egg roughly around the size of an ostrich egg, colored light blue, and with coral-like growths around it giving it an aquatic look to it.

Alex arched an eyebrow on what to do with these items, but just put it back in his bag, as he sighed, remembering his situation.

'It's been three days and I still can't believe it,' Alex thought to himself as he went over all of the events in his mind since he awoke in this strange new world, 'I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up in my bed and that this will all be a fantastic dream. But I haven't... This is really happening. And I still have no idea how or why.'

As Alex sat there in thought, he could see some adventurers give him weird looks out of the corner of his eyes while also hearing some whisper things about him and his clothing unaware that Alex could hear them. Alex also noticed groups of adventurers walking past him without giving him the time of day. The feeling of being overlooked and ignored, things he was used to by now. 'Ignored for being different or looked down,' Alex thought as he sat there and didn't react to any of the adventurers' words, 'Even in the world of my favorite game with a new body, I'm still as invisible as I was back home on Earth. Maybe it's my fate to be alone forever.'

After years of being alone, Alex thought he would be used to the cold feeling of loneliness that went through him from his time on Earth. He was used to it though, as though it was as natural as the air he breathed. 'Not that I'm not used to it by now. It seemed almost obvious that I was going to be alone here too,' he thought to himself, 'More importantly, I need to start earning a living in this world, and finding my own place-'

"There you are."

Alex's train of thought came to an end when he heard a familiar and friendly voice, 'That couldn't have been for me,' he thought as he looked out of the corner of his eye to see the source of the voice.

It was the three girls from before with a smiling Twilight in front of him, Alisa to her left waving at him, and Ember with a neutral expression to the right of Twilight. "You remember us, right," Alisa asked him.

Alex looked in silent shock at the three girls. 'They're talking to me... Girls are talking to me,' he thought in alarm at this new development that he never thought would happen to him. "Oh, hiya," Alex said as he weakly waved at the girls standing before him while blushing, "G-G-G-Good to see you three again. A-A-A-Are you all doing all right?"

"We're doing great, thanks to you," Alisa answered with a smile on her face, "Right, Ember," she said while looking at the wizard that was wounded before.

Ember nodded in agreement, "Indeed. We are all in your debt," she said to him.

Twilight nodded, "That's right. Please, allow us to properly introduce ourselves," she continued while not noticing Alex's confused and blushing face, "I'm Twilight Sparksman," she said referring to herself.

"I am Alisa Argenta," the young priestess said with a smile, "And this is our friend Ember Shimmermane," she continued referring to the wizard.

"I'm Twilight's friend, Priestess," Ember calmly scolded the Priestess, "You're still an acquaintance." Which earned the Priestess Alisa to shrink in shame and forgiveness.

'They're still talking to me,' Alex thought to himself as he felt his heart beat faster from receiving so much attention, 'What am I supposed to say now?! I've never talked to a girl, let alone three of them!' But with a little bit of courage, he managed to speak up. "N-N-N-Nice to meet a-a-all of you," he stammered nervously, "I'm uh- Al-Alex. My name is Alex. Alex Killian. G-Glad to see you're all oka-"

Suddenly all three girls bowed their heads much to Alex's surprise. "We came to all say thank you for saving us," Twilight spoke out before Alex could ask what they were doing, "If it wasn't for you, we'd be dead in the cave."

"I know I'd be," Ember said, looking and sounding rather embarrassed, but mostly about her own carelessness and weakness, "Thanks to you, I- No, all of us have a second chance to be adventurers."

"But I," Alex started, "I got there too late and your other friends-"

"That wasn't your fault though," Alisa said, as she looked back up to him, adding in her thanks, "We chose to go on the mission despite being unprepared."

Hearing that hit a nerve within Ember as it sparked a memory of her parents telling her to be ready for anything. 'They would be angry if they ever found out about this,' she thought in dread at the idea of her overbearing parents.

"Please, if there's anything we can do to return the kindness you showed us," Twilight said as she and the others continued to bow before him, "Please don't hesitate to ask for our help."

"Th-Th-Thanks, but that's not necessary," Alex answered with a nervous expression waving his hands in defense, "And please, there's no need to bow." He began to slowly sit up, 'Ooookay... This is getting too much for me,' he thought as he felt his way of life being at risk of destruction from further interaction with the girls, 'I need to get out of here before this gets any worse.'

While the girls were still bowing their heads in thanks, Alex's eyes darted around the hall for anything to use as an excuse until he saw the clock. "Sweet geez, is that the time," Alex said trying his best to sound like he was late as he went for the door, "So much to do, so little time. Great seeing all of you again, have a great day. Don't forget to te-"

"Wait a minute," Twilight suddenly said.

The next thing Alex knew, he felt his arm grabbed by a pair of soft hands causing him to turn and see Twilight holding his arm to stop him.

'A girl is grabbing me by the arm! BY THE ARM! This is like one of those confession tropes you read in anime/mangas,' Alex flipped out innerly, not used to this kind of physical contact from a girl. Ever in his life. Ever.

Have you been wearing the same set of clothing you wore when you saved us," she asked with concern and shock in her voice. Ember turned to look in surprise while Alisa stared in shock at this new information.

Alex began to sweat with an expression of nervous guilt on his face, "Well... Yes, but there's a good reason," Alex said while trying to think of something on the spot, "You see... All of my clothing from before is being washed at the local laundromat so I'm just waiting for it to be picked up." While the Universally Misplaced Youth continued to nervously smile, his mind raced. 'Laundromat? Seriously,' he thought to himself, 'That's the best I could come up with!? They won't believe that! Do they even have Laudromats in RPG-like worlds?!'

"Regardless of the reason," Alisa said as she got in front of him with concern in her eyes, "we can't just stand here, and leave you wearing dirty clothing," Alisa told him.

"Alis… um, the Priestess is correct," Ember said looking at Alex in bewilderment, as well as trying to refrain from being friendly around Alisa, "It's one thing to be a mess after a mission, but to continue wearing the same thing without going out on another job is something I won't stand seeing in a fellow adventurer."

"They're right," Twilight said while still holding Alex's arm, "Forget whatever you were going to do today. We're going to get you some new clothing and pick up your old ones from this laundromat place. Whatever that is."

"What?! Oh- Well- Well, none of you have to do that," Alex said as he went to removed Twilight's hands from his arm, "None of you owe me-"

"We insist," Ember said as she grabbed Alex's other arm and the two girls began to pull him out of the guild hall, "We could use new outfits ourselves and we can work on repaying our debt to you by helping you look more presentable."

'What is happening!? Is this... THE LEGENDARY DATE,' Alex thought in alarm as two girls held onto him as he felt himself be pulled away. "But-But I don't have any money," Alex confessed hoping that would be enough for the girls to release him, "I- I- I won't be able to pay you back! Not to mention I shouldn't have too much stuff until I find a better place to live."

"Don't worry about money," Alisa said with a smile, "Whatever we spend on you is nothing compared to the gifts of saving us and keeping our inspiration of staying adventurers you've given us."

Alex stared in shock and silent horror at Alisa's words as he was dragged through the guild hall as some eyes watched the scene. 'This can't be happening,' Alex thought in dread as he felt his heart beat faster and his brain overload from this unknown experience. With no idea how to handle a situation like this from years of solitude, Alex felt his mind freeze as he submitted to the girls pulling him out of the hall. 'This is the end... My last day among the living,' Alex thought as the idea of being with others was so foreign, that he felt like he was on his way to the end of his life. But then a thought struck him as he blinked, 'Wait a minute. What do they mean by inspiration of staying as adventurers?'

Streets

As Ember and Twilight dragged Alex down the street with his feet dragging, Alisa followed after them. Alex's mind was overloading not only from where the girls were taking him, but also from the fact that two girls were touching him. Something that never happened to him back home.

'This can't be happening! This really can't be happening,' Alex thought to himself in alarm, 'This really has got to be the dream after all! It's gotta be! This is the trigger that ends this dream,' he thought. He was so consumed by his thoughts, he failed to notice where he was going, or all the eyes from the crowd staring at the group. 'I mean, no one, especially girls would give me the time of day back home,' he thought as he remembered his years of being ignored by the other kids at the orphanage, adults who came to adopt kids, and even the workers.

"We're here!"

Alex was snapped out of his train of thought as he noticed his surroundings. The building from the outside looked like a regular mall he would've seen back on Earth. From the size of the building, it looked as though it had two levels worth of stores. Though it had what appeared to have been outside stores, much like the malls in his world, only there were weapon shops and restaurants. And the second and third floors were stacked atop one another, much like a pyramid or a Greek structure.

Alex just stared at the sight before him. He didn't even notice the girls lift him onto his feet and release their grip on his arms. "It's a lot grander than I thought it would be," Alex said out loud as he expected something like a flea market with makeshift stands rather than a full building.

"You clearly haven't been to the capitol," Ember responded as she walked towards the doors, "It's much grander than this with more stores."

'This isn't grand,' Alex questioned to himself the absurdity of this place compared to the capitol's stores.

"Indeed. That one had one of the best book stores, but I'm sure the book store here will have a unique variety to choose from," Twilight added as she looked at Alex, "Do you read as well?"

Alex looked at Twilight's smiling face as she waited for an answer. Seeing her so close made his heart beat faster and his face go red. "I- uh- Yeah- Yes," Alex answered nervously as he looked away out of shyness, "I enjoy reading every now and then."

Twilight smiled at his answer, "That's great," she said as she headed inside, "After we find new clothing, we should compare favorite books and authors."

Alisa stood next to Alex before she looked at him, "She's really likes books, doesn't she?" A still blushing Alex nodded in agreement unable to find his voice. Alisha then grabbed Alex's arm while still smiling, "We better catch up with them." She then proceeded to pull Alex who was still in a daze through the doors.

Every Style Clothing Boutique

The clothing store looked rather impressive and humble. It was easy to tell that the place was both a tailoring and clothing store. On the right side, were displays of various outfits, both male and female, with a display window at the front. And on the right side were sewing and fabrics neatly stocked for display and for shoppers who would do their own sewing. In the back were booth-like dressing rooms, with the teller at the front, managing things. Though on the left, there was also a bargain bin shelf and box for stuff that some people would get on the cheap.

Alex stood there looking at the many racks of clothing. He had never seen so many different kinds of clothing in so many unique shapes and sizes. 'So many racks of clothing... I never even knew so much clothing could be in one place. But then again, in the gaming world, outfit skins aren't all that common to come out in the hundreds,' he thought to himself in awe. Growing up in an orphanage, he always had to wear whatever was donated which was very little some days. He was lucky to find an entire set of clothing that fit or matched. He was snapped out of his amazement when he remembered one important fact, 'What am I doing?! I can't afford anything here! I can barely afford the cash'

"Where should we start," Alisa asked the others, her voice snapping Alex out of his train of thought.

"Figuring out our budget," Twilight said as she pulled out her purse, "Otherwise, we may end up trying to buy something we can't afford, or spend too much. And considering the payment for the first job we took kinda killed it for medical and healing."

"This doesn't feel necessary," Alex spoke out getting all of their attention again. 'They're all looking at me again! I better make this fast,' he said as he cleared his throat, "I mean, I- I appreciate the offer of new clothing, but I'm really fine with what I have. Plus, I can't ask you to use money on me on something like this."

"If you're worried about our money reserves, you don't have to," Alisa told him as she counted her coins, "Twilight and I have been doing some jobs while we waited for Ember and Ming to recover."

"Just small things here and there such as washing dishes for the guild and clearing the sewers," Twilight explained, "Besides, helping you expand your attire is the least we can do."

"That and the adventurers will have one less thing to make fun of you for," Ember told him getting the others' attention, "I heard them talking while we were leaving. They seem to think you are some kind of slob."

"But that was because he messed his clothes up to help us complete the job. And it's mostly goblin blood and viscera," Alisa said, cringing at that last part, remembering her own coating. But she snapped back to normal, as she looked at Alex, "Surely you told them that when they asked you about that."

"They didn't ask me, let alone spoke to me these past three days," Alex admitted to the girls, "Just as Ember said, they kept their distance the past few days. But I just thought it was because I was new." But then lifted his left arm and sniffed the sleeve, as he cringed, "Ugh, or the goblin corpse smell."

"Well, after we clean you up, that should change," Twilight said as she and the others started looking at the racks, "Now let's see if we can find you something that fits you."

A Few Minutes Later

The three girls were now in the changing room area waiting outside for Alex as he changed into his new outfit. After going through all the racks, the girls couldn't find anything they thought fit Alex, looked good on him, or were too expensive. Just as they were ready to move on to another store, Ember noticed that Alex wasn't with them anymore. Suddenly, Alex reappeared as fast and silently as he had disappeared holding a pile of clothing. He explained that while the three of them were looking through the regular stock, Alex noticed the bargain bin and figured he check there due to being used to looking for cheap stuff.

Twilight was standing a few feet away from the room Alex was in while Alisa and Ember were sitting on opposite sides of bench nearby.

"I wonder how he'll look in the clothing he picked," Alisa asked while trying to break the silence that filled the room.

"Hard to say," Ember answered while not making eye contact with Alisa, "I'm more concerned if all the clothing he found will fit him at all. Let alone make it easier to blend in with the rest of the adventurers."

"I'm sure he will," Twilight said as she looked behind at Ember, "He has a creative way of thinking."

Alisa sweatdropped, as she half-smirked, "I'm still trying to forget how creative it was to cover us in goblin blood and viscera."

Ember cringed at that, as she shivered, "The more you two keep mentioning that, the more I worry he'll do the same thing again. And this time, I'll be experiencing it as well."

"If it wasn't for that quick thinking, we'd all have been the goblin's playthings," Twilight reminded her.

"You seem to think highly of him, Twilight," Ember said as Twilight turned to face the curtain again, "This is the first time I've seen you focused on something other than books and our studies."

Before Twilight could respond, the curtain opened, and all three girls watched at Alex stepped out.

Alex was now wearing a black thin turtleneck sweater with blue straps on his upper shoulders and his wrists. The sweater that left no imagination to his new body frame and muscles. He also wore a blue sweater vest with an open V shape showing his chest with a couple of small bags around his waist. He wore a pair of black pants while wearing a pair of brown boots that went up half way his shins. The boots had blue decals on the toes, heels, vamps, and counters.

As Alex stood there, he moved his arms around to see how well he could move in them and testing his boots to ensure they fit properly. 'Feels good,' he thought to himself, 'Thank you years of going through the donation bin at the orphanage,' he thought as he remembered all the times he had to dig through the donations available to him. Alex looked up at the girls as they stared at him. "Oh, um... Hi," he nervously said, "So... How do I look?"

All the girls looked at him in surprise at his new outfit. The sight of Alex in his new attire made all three blush crimson. Although Ember's was the least noticeable of the three as her eyes looked away. "Wow, Alex, you look great," Alisa exclaimed as she stood up, "Like a completely different person."

Alex nervously laughed at her words, 'Which isn't so far-fetched considering that I changed when I came here.'

"She's right, Alex," Twilight said as she approached him, "You do look much better now. But how were you able to find clothing like that so easily?"

Twilight's close proximity to him made him blush as his eyes looked away to try and calm his heart down, "Well... I uh... Grew up with little to no money so I had to improvise when it came to clothing and food," he told them.

"It sounds like you had to work hard for most of your life," Ember said, "Were you a farm boy?"

"Umm, no," Alex said as he looked away, "I was never in one place for long, that's all." He cleared his throat, "So... Uh, I remember something about everyone else needing clothing. Any luck finding any?"

"Well, it's just Ember and Alisa who need new clothing," Twilight began to explain, "We were going to look after we found something for you."

"Well, uh, how about you three start without me while I change and go pay for these," Alex suggested with a nervous smile.

"Alisa and Ember can start," Twilight said, "I'll wait here for you so I can help pay for it."

"Are you really sure about this," Alex said, "I mean, I'm grateful for the offer but if it puts an-"

"We offered to pay for it as thanks for saving us. A little bit of money is nothing compared to what we might've lost in the cave a few days ago," Twilight said as she and the others smiled and nodded in agreement. Twilight then moved in closer until she was right next to Alex's ear, "And I'm not about to let you go sneaking off on us," she whispered in Alex's ear due to seeing through what he might have been planning.

Alex froze from Twilight's words. He's eyes shot wide open, his shoulders shot up, his spine tingled, and blushed like mad. The girls thought it was embarrassment from his plan being stopped, but it was actually from Twilight's close proximity to him and from her unintentionally breathing in his ear. 'Oh my Bahamut! She just- My-my-my-my-my ear,' he thought as the panic feeling began to mix with a happy and warm feeling, 'She just! A Girl just- And she- My ear- AND- AND! Indirect and uh-'

As he stood there with frozen eyes, Alisa waved her hand in front of Alex who didn't even process the motion that just occurred in front of him. "I think he just fainted," Alisa said as she and the equally confused Twilight and Ember stared at the frozen boy.

Back in the Main Store

As the girls looked through the different clothing racks, Alex stood on the side watching them nervously from the wall after he had paid for his new clothing with the girls' money. 'I wonder if all people are like this when it comes to returning favors,' Alex thought to himself, 'I mean, I wasn't expecting them to give me anything. It was nice of them, but no one has ever given me anything before.' He began to feel warm feeling in his chest. It was sense of things will work out for the best for him. It was the same feeling he had when he first played Dungeon Masters and Dragon Riders. For Alex, feeling this when not playing the game felt alien to him.

After a moment, he noticed Ember was standing near him watching Alisa and Twilight continue to look through the racks. 'She's right next to me! Why,' he asked himself in horror. Suddenly, he remembered his bag as he looked at Ember. 'Well... I did carry this for her and now's a good time,' he thought, 'I just have to start some small talk. Yeah, that's it.'

Alex swallowed hard as he took a deep breath. 'Here goes,' he thought as he began to open his mouth to speak.

"Strange..."

Alex tensed up at the sound of Ember's voice as he nervously looked over at Ember who was staring at Twilight go through the racks with Alisa. "I've never seen her so enthusiastic about something other than books and reading," Ember admitted to Alex.

"Oh... I see," Alex spoke out while looking at the other girls, "Are- Are you two childhood friends?"

"No. But we did go to the Mage's Academy and were roommates there at the age of 13," Ember answered without turning to face Alex.

"I see," Alex said while looking down at his feet. 'I must sound like a fool who can't even hold a conversation with one person for crying out loud! But what am I going to do!? I can't talk about the stuff from home! She and everyone else will think I belong in an insane asylum!'

"Not that those lessons did any good for me," Ember said getting Alex's attention again. He saw that she was looking down with a slight glare on her face, "The spells I learned there couldn't even save my graduation staff from goblins." She looked back at Alex, "Not that I'm giving up. Like the Priestess said, I intend to continue adventuring," she told Alex, feeling weakened and defenseless without her staff in hand. "I just... Can't go on any quests until I find a new magic staff."

'I never thought of that,' Alex thought to himself, 'In the game, you just find them in chests or at stores. Finding one in this world must be harder.' He looked at his bag again before looking at her, "Are they... hard to come by?"

"Only the really good ones," Ember answered, "Although I haven't seen any at this district yet."

"Well... I think I can help with that," Alex said as he turned to face her as he held his bag out to her, "These might help you."

Ember looked inside the bag as her eyes widened in surprise.

In the bag was a sorceress's attire. It was a red turtleneck dress with no shoulders with an outer V-neck line like a cocktail dress, with a miniskirt in a V-shape that stopped at the upper thighs, with a black and red leather corset guard tied around for the wearer's protection. The broch she had from her old cloak was included with the clothing. The dress had black leather sleeves with red straps underneath the shoulders connecting the sleeves under the armpit part, with black sorcerer sleeves showing red leather forearm guards with red fingerless gloves with yellow straps on the wrists. Attached to the red belts on the shoulders was a yellow shoulder shawl that exposed the back but acted like a cloak or something. There were also black leather thigh-high high-heel boots with yellow trim on the ends, yellow V-shaped pentagon kneeguards, yellow heels, and yellow trim on the ankles and at the toe part. There was also included a red leather satchel belt of Alex's design, with a black robe shawl around the waist that ended at the ankles with red trim on the bottom and yellow above the red, but embroidered on the center was the symbol of a flaming phoenix in yellow. Included with the outfit was also a black pointed hat with red on the rim and yellow designs on the top part. Outside of the bag, Alex presented a new staff that was as long as Alisa's, but was made of golden yellow metal materials, with a red hilt holding atop a figurehead of a roosting Phoenix, with an empty space that could include a magical gemstone. Not only her broche was there, but there was also a red and yellow ring on it with a phoenix insignia carved into it. There was also a yellow hair clip included, and to finish the items was a pair of red-rimmed glasses that resembled her old ones.

"Where... Did you find all of these," the Wizard Girl asked in surprise as she looked at Alex, "Don't tell me you bought these and not clothing for yourself."

"No. After the fire went out in the goblin cave and when you, Ming, and the others were being treated, I went back inside a day later to see what I could find," Alex began to explain to her, "I found a few things in chests stacked up as a sort of Goblin horde that survived the fire. There was a whole lot of stuff, meaning they must have been there for a while and just building up the numbers. The outfit and accessories were among them. I don't use magic and since I figured you could use these more than I could. Especially after what the goblins did with all of your stuff." Alex noticed how her hands moved away from the bag quickly from the mention of the cave where she almost lost her life. "Don't worry. I cleaned everything I found there three times each," Alex told her as a way of reassuring her, and looked at her deadpanned, "It took that many times just to get the smell off them."

Ember's eyes looked away from the memory of the goblins destroying her glasses, staff, and her clothing after she was poisoned and almost raped. "Are you sure? I mean, you were the one who completed the quest," Ember asked him as her hands approached the bag again, "Shouldn't you keep the rewards for it?"

"I can't do spells, and if I did, I don't think I have Fire Affinity like you do. Besides, this is tailor-made for a woman of your build. So these would be wasted on me," Alex told her. "If you want to try these one to see if they fit, I already spoke and showed these to the manager, so he won't think you're stealing."

"So that's what you were doing earlier. I noticed you took a little while after buying your new clothing," she said as she took the bag. She remembered noticing that Alex had stayed at the front speaking to the owner about something but she couldn't hear him. She looked at Alex and gave him a small smile, "You're a strange person, but thank you," she said as she headed for the changing room.

"You're welcome," he answered smiling at being thanked again.

Moments Later

Female Changing Room

Ember put the bag down and began to put replace her temple gown with the new outfit. 'That's two times someone has acted strange today,' Ember thought to herself as she got dressed, 'First Twilight and her search for clothing for Alex and the Priestess. Now this Alex is acting so kind to us. The people who he saved, and we're practically strangers to him.'

She began to remember how most of the boys at school expected something for saving or doing something for anyone. 'Instead, he gives and gives... He's far too nice for his own good,' Ember thought to herself thinking he must be taken advantage of for his kind nature, 'Yet... It's somehow refreshing to see someone that nice for a change,' she thought as she put her new glasses on as the fixed her vision, and then looked at herself in the mirror to see her newest attire.

After finishing, she stood up, and moved her body around. 'It's a little tight here and there,' she thought to herself, 'Especially around by boobs.' She turned around and glanced at herself in the mirror at her new attire. She looked all over at herself as she smirked, "Not bad..."

For a moment, she seemed to admire it… and then bent down to give her chest a little shake as she teased in thought.

'You like my bosoms, boy? They're so bouncy.'

Hearing that excited voice in her head made her blush like mad. She grabbed her cheeks in shock, "What? Where did that come from," she asked herself in embarrassment, "Maybe I need some more recovery time."

Meanwhile

At the moment, while Alisa and Ember were changing outfits, both twilight and Alex were alone together. This was a bit on the difficult side, as both seemed to have a lot on their minds. Mostly Alex, since he was never used to being around females a lot. It was easy back in the cave, as it was a life or death situation. But now that things had calmed down, this was just plain old torture. Though it got a bit worse when Twilight spoke up.

"So um, Alex," spoke up, as she decided to speak up, "Why don't you tell me more about yourself."

Alex was a bit taken back, as he asked, "Um, what do you mean? You mean like what kind of person I am? My hobbies while not adventuring?"

"More like where you're really from," Twilight replied. "And how you're so good from three days ago when you clearly started out as a Porcelain. And aside from that, what your level is."

This was getting in too dangerous a topic, as Alex's fears of her labeling him a heretic and being sent to the church for whatever punishment they gave for heretics started to bubble and rise up, as he quickly got back to his 'story', "I already told you girls. I've been practicing these skills since I was…"

"You're lying, and I don't believe that story," Twilight bluntly interrupted.

Caught off guard, Alex sweatdropped as he looked nervous, doing his best to hide it, 'Crap! She's already onto me! It's gonna be burned at the stake for me if I don't resolve this!' He cleared his throat, as he innocently asked, "Um, what do you mean by that?"

"I've never heard of someone who started out at the age of 8 in this kind of stuff. You also clearly skills that have been developing even before sixteen, which is clearly the age all adventurers start at. You also have knowledge about Aquarius even though you're not a celestial summoner, much less not even aware of her personality, even though most people know she's difficult to work with if you get on her bad side." She then jabbed a finger at him, as she pointed out, "And besides, you mentioned something about a boss battle! And the things you mentioned earlier made no sense at all, like you knew more about the goblins than we do, even though you started out a Porcelain ranked adventurer, meaning you dealt with goblins before. You couldn't have known all this without having a little bit of experience other than books." She then spoke again, while imitating his voice, "I also remember you saying, "Yeesh, even in reality, the boss is harder to kill', right?" She then spoke normally, "That made no sense at all."

'Me and my big gamer mouth,' Alex freaked out innerly.

She then innocently looked to him, and asked, "Alex… who are you? Really? I want to honestly know who you really are."

One look at that innocent pleading face to him, Alex couldn't help but crumble. He knew the answer would have to flush out, as he sighed, "Alright, I'll confess. I'm actually from another world. And this world, Mid-Gaia, is acutally a fictional game in mine called Dungeon Masters and Dragon Riders. I've been playing the game since I was 8 and have spent my hobby time absorbing and learning all I can, building up a reputation as the Sapphire Slayer, my gaming character. And somehow or another, I ended up in this world, in which I became my game avatar as well as the skills and level I had gained in my old world." Once he finally finished, he innerly groaned, 'She's not gonna believe me at all.'

"No way," Twilight replied, as Alex looked to her… only to see her starry gaze and smile as she acted like a giddy school girl, "You're actually from another world? That's amazing!"

"Huh?" Alex asked, seemingly shocked about this response in general, 'That… wasn't the reaction I expected at all.'

Before Twilight could ask more about Alex's reveal, Ember emerged from the changing room back in a new attire she had picked out after Alex gave her the new Adventurer attire. The two turned to see her walking back with the bag full again, but was wearing a different attire from the bag.

Ember was now wearing a white button up long sleeve shirt with black wrists and red couplings. A red vest that is snug on her chest, with a red mini-skirt with slits on the sides for ease of mobility, with two brown straps, and a red pouch belt, black pantyhose with a spat feature, and brown shoes. It also comes with the yellow and red hair clip.

"What's wrong," Twilight asked her, "Did the clothes that Alex found not fit you?"

"No, they fit just fine and suited me very well," Ember said as she looked away with an annoyed expression as she tried to hide her blush, "I just find it's ill-suited for a trip around town. But thank you, Alex." As Alex nodded nervously at the appreciation he received, Alisa's curtain opened and she emerged from the changing room.

Alisa was wearing a white and cantaloupe green healer outfit. It consisted of a cantaloupe green turtleneck and white long-sleeved dress with a shirt skirt for mobility purposes with gold trim on the sleeves. On her shoulders was a cantaloupe green hooded and white shoulder shawl with two green tassel belts on the back that went down to her hips and gold trim; it went down to her elbows with the tail going down her mid-back. She had on white thigh high boots with cantaloupe green trim on the legging part. She had a white robe around her waist that exposed the front and had gold trim on the bottom that reached her ankles, and had a cantaloupe green top part on it with a green satchel belt, much like Alex's design on it. And in the front was a cantaloupe green loin cloth piece with gold trim on the bottom connected to the belt, and like the robe went down to her ankle. The outfit was designed for ease of running and travel.

Everyone looked at Alisa's new outfit as she looked shy about her new outfit and the attention she was receiving. She looked away, "Does... Does it look bad," she shyly asked as she turned her eyes back to the teens.

"No, I think it looks great," Alex said, "Much easier to move around than your previous outfit when in battle. Plus, your new sleeves are shorter now so there's less risk of them being caught on anything," he continued while failing to notice Alisa's blush from happiness and embarrassment from having her legs mentioned.

"I agree with Alex," Twilight added, "That new adventure attire looks very good on you. It should make going on quests much easier now." Twilight looked at Ember, "Right Ember?"

Ember was silent for a moment as she looked at Priestess for a moment, before turning away and folding her arms, "Yes... She does. But are you sure she can afford that?"

Alisa noticed this and felt the same slight coldness from Ember as before in the goblin cave. "Thanks," Alisa said as she tried to stay positive, "I think so. I could always se-"

"If you're short, I'll cover the rest," Alex quickly said, "I still have some cash left from the contents of the cave I found. Plus, it's the least I can do after you brought me here for new clothes."

"You're not going to let us to decline your offer," Ember asked with a smirk, "Are you?"

"I guess I'm the same way as all of you," Alex said, "I just... wanna help." All three smiled as Alex's nice guy personality. He cleared his throat while looking away with a blush on his face, "So, after Alisa's clothing are paid for, what do all of you want to do next?"

Later On

The four decided to eat out at a restaurant after their short shopping outfit spree. At the moment, Twilight and Alex were sitting at a table nearby while Ember and Alisa weren't present. At the moment, the two were in the bathroom freshening up as Alisa was putting on a new casual attire as she put her adventurer outfit in a bag for later missions. At the moment, Twilight and Alex were in a private discussion about his true place of origin, as well as the differences of his world to her. Of which, Twilight found all fascinating as he had told her everything he could.

"So your world is solely powered by science, you have iron birds and carriages that have no horses or energy lacrimas that power them, and you also live in something called the Digital Era," Twilight beamed with a smile and glinting fascination of it all. "That world sounds absolutely amazing!"

"Not as amazing as this world though," Alex calmly argued. "I mean magic exists here while it's fake in my old world, you've got dragons and other crazy creatures…" He then blushed and fantasized, "And then there are demi-humans."

Twilight blinked, "You like demi-humans?"

"Are you kidding? In my world, guys and gals fantasize meeting them," Alex explained like the fanboy he was. Though leaned in and whispered, "Though in honesty, some guys often fantasize about being n a relationship with demi-human girls." Alex leaned back and shrugged, "It's mostly because of the ears and tails. Guys melt metaphorically over petting them."

Twilight had to giggle, as she concurred, "I have to agree with that. My maid, Momoka, who's a catgirl, lets me pet them when I had the chance. I couldn't get over how fluffy they were."

Both had a friendly and heartfelt chuckle about it, but stopped as Twilight asked, as she confirmed on what he had told her earlier, "So this prototype game in your world, it somehow summoned you here?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah, and the weird thing is this girl, Hope, she was waiting for someone to be summoned. But in honesty, knowing what I know about this game in my world, and if it's based from this world somehow, I've never heard of any being named Hope."

"What I'm wondering is how someone in your world learned about all this world if they've never been here," Twilight pondered.

Alex thought on it, and guessed, "Maybe someone from this world ventured into mine and told some people about this. Maybe that's how the idea for the game came into being over there."

"It's theoretically possible, but that kind of magic was lost a long time ago," Twilight theorized. "The only other worlds that are known to be outside this one are the Celestial Dimension and the Void." But the moment then brought up a big question, as she asked him, "So… what are you planning to do now? Will you try to find a way back home?"

Alex shook his head, "Nah, in honesty, I don't have any family there. And my social and job life are a zero sum in accomplishment. In honesty, I've always felt more akin to the world the DM&DR game was based on was more comforting."

Twilight looked a little surprised, and yet comforted by that, as she asked, "So… you'll stay?"

"It's not like I have much of an alternative, even if I did," Alex shrugged.

"Alternative to what?"

The two jumped out of their seats as Ember and Alisa popped up. Alisa was now dressed in her white thigh high boots with cantaloupe green trim on the legging part, but she had a white long sleeved shirt with a green cantaloupe collar and an upside-down design on the chest part. It also included a cantaloupe green mini-skirt that slit on the sides with white buckles on the front, and had on her green utility belt on.

The two blinked, as they saw the awkwardness between the two, and Alisa asked, "Alternative to what?"

Alex looked to Twilight pleadingly asking her not to tell them, and she silently agreed, as she replied, "Um, an alternative on the menu. It seems some of this stuff can be a bit on the gassy side if we're not careful."

The two awkwardly laughed on it, while the other two thought, 'They're obviously hiding something…' but left it aside as they shrugged on it and sat down for their meals.

Later that Night
Guild Hall

As the teens returned to the guild hall, the guild hall was now filled with people having supper after a quest, before heading home for the night. There were still some people having conversations but not as loudly as when it was during the day.

"Well, I'd say today was a success," Alisa said as the four of them headed for a table, "We got new outfits for our next set of jobs."

"Indeed," Ember said without looking at Alisa, "The real test is how the next quest goes."

"Yeah, thanks for today, and sorry for resisting at first," Alex told them as they sat down at a table, "I'm glad you talked me into it."

All three nodded acknowledging both the appreciation and the apology. "So Alex, are you going to stay here as an adventurer," Alisa asked him, "I remember you said you tend to wonder around the land."

"I kind of haven't figured that out yet," Alex said nervously as he tried to maintain the image of being a wonderer in the world rather than being from another one, "I have to wait for my clothes to be cleaned first though."

"Well, until you make a decision, how about joining our group," Twilight suggested much to Alex's surprise.

"Me? You want me to join your party," he asked in surprise and was touched that someone wanted him to join them.

"Of course," Twilight said, "Your skills saved our lives and you've shown to be a good friend. It would be an honor if you joined our group."

"Oh yes! I agree completely," Alisa happily said. "You'd be a wonderful team member. Right, Ember," she said as she looked at Ember.

The Fire Sorceress folder her arms as though she was in deep thought, "Well, I don't know. We still don't know a lot about him," she said trying to be realistic and revealed she wasn't sure if he was fully trust worthy yet, "But I suppose if you joined our group, we could learn more about you, and you would be a big help to us."

As Twilight and Alisa began to argue with Ember about her reasons why she didn't fully trust Alex, the boy in question just stood there oblivious to the girls' discussion. 'They... They want to be with me? They actually like me,' Alex thought to himself as his mind began to overload again from this new experience. 'These girls... actually like me... Want me to be their friend? This... This has never happened before. H-Ho-How do I be a friend?! What does a friend do? Maybe this isn't just a good idea... I've been alone for so long, I wouldn't know how to be a friend,' he thought as he began to consider that being in a group wasn't such a good idea.

Ember looked behind him, and finally dediced to ask, "By the way, what's with the bag? You didn't have it with you that day we met… or when you saved us."

"Oh yeah," Alex blinked, as he pulled it off, as he held it in front, "I got this from the Goblin horde stash they had." They girls paled, as they realized he was carrying something stained with goblins. He opened it as he explained, "Though it wasn't the only thing I found in the place, there were a lot of other stuff I'm keeping somewhere else. Right now I've got a few other stuff…" He then began to rummage around in the bag, as he pulled out the egg, "Like this thing."

The three girls blinked at this, also clueless as to what it was, as Twilight was the first to ask, "What is it? I've never seen an egg like…"

Suddenly, the doors shot open. Everyone in the guild stopped what they were doing and looked at the door to see the cause. Everyone went wide eyed at the sight for different reasons, but none were more shocked than Alex's group. There at the front doors, stood Na Ming with her hair down as it covered her left eye while the rest hung down in a mess, and she was wearing white blankets wrapped around her. She had a glare in her eyes as she spotted her target... Alex and the girls.

"Na Ming," Twilight exclaimed in shock along with Ember, "You're awake!"

"What are you doing here," Alisa asked in surprise and concern for her fellow party member, "You should be back at the temple resting!"

Ming said nothing as she stomped forward through the crowd of stunned adventurers as they watched her walked by. As she walked forward, Alex eyes widened in shock as he blushed like mad while looking away. The other adventurers also became stunned at the sight of Ming walking towards Alex. A number of the boys had nosebleeds with creepy smiles while others just stared in shock while blushing. Some of the girls covered the eyes of their teammates.

'Oh man, she's ticked! I wonder what I did,' Alex thought in alarm as Ming drew closer, 'I mean aside from what just happened to her! Could she blame me for not getting to the cave in time and failing to save her friend!? I mean, Twilight and the others don't blame me. But what if she does?'

Before Alex could think of anything else, Ming was now right in front of him and the girls still glaring. She then took a deep breath as though she was ready to say something. As Alex shut his eyes expecting some very angry words, the other girls were about to stop Ming from speaking out of fear she was going to blame him for their mistakes.

"PLEASE TRAIN ME," Ming exclaimed as she bowed at a 90-degree angle much to everyone surprise. The adventurers watching were still staring from Ming's words and just wanting to see how the situation would play out. "My lack of training and inexperience put my friends in extreme danger, got my best friend killed, and I was almost doomed to horrible fate," Ming continued with her eyes shut so she could focus on her plead to Alex, "It's only thanks to you that the four of us are still alive today! If you are part of our group, we would be able to learn beyond our mistakes to be better adventurers! I beg you, join our group as our new leader!"

"All right, I'll do it," Alex exclaimed without giving it a second thought, "Now please, put on some clothing," Alex pleaded.

Ming's eyes opened from relief that Alex said yes, but also confusion from his words as she lifted her head up. She saw that he was looking up towards the ceiling with a red face while the girls were staring at Ming for her words and something else. Ming looked back down to see her naked body still at a 90-degree angle causing her to moon the guild members behind her. As her face became as red as Alex's, she realized that the blanket and sheet she took from her bed at the temple had fallen off her as she marched through the guild.

Ming's eyes shot wide open as a sense of embarrassment filled her body instantly. "EEEEEEEEEYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA," she screamed in embarrassment as she dropped down onto the floor and covered herself to avoid being seen. 'Why didn't he say anything while I was marching forward,' she asked herself in embarrassment and anger.

"Uh here," Alex said as he took off his vest jacket and handed it to Ming, "You need this right now m-"

KA-POW!

The next thing Alex knew, he had been decked hard in the jaw by Ming's foot in rage.

"DON'T LOOK YOU PERVERT," she exclaimed in anger after kicking out of instinct.

'Who's the pervert,' everyone in the guild thought as she was the one who accidentally stripped down, 'He's the one trying to keep her decent.'

The kick caused Alex to flip in the air and land flat on his stomach.

"Why did you do that," Alisa asked as she looked anger at Ming, "He was only trying to help."

As Alex laid on the floor, he lifted his head up to reveal a dazed look in his eyes from the impact to his jaw, "Here I thought that sort of thing only happened in-"

BONK!

Another sudden burst of pain went through Alex from his head as something heavy and hard landed on his head. Alex's eyes shot wide open from the impact as streams of anime tears fell from his eyes. He was so out of it, he failed to notice the cause of his head injury roll off his head in front of him.

"Alex, are you all right," Twilight asked him in concern as she helped him up and looked at him, "Speak to me! How fingers do you see," she asked as she held up two of her fingers.

"You lovely LADY," Alex said in a goofy voice as his eyes seemed unfocused as birds flew around her head through his eyes, "YOU have you very nice teeth..."

Though the object now in question, rolled into Alex's hands, as they all looked at it. It was the strange blue egg; when Ming had kicked him, he accidentally flung the egg into the air, and crashed onto his head. The crack on it started to show, as Alex came two, and realized it, "AGH! The egg I found in the Goblin Cave's cracked!"

"Oh no," Alisa panicked, not liking it when a living thing was hurt.

But then suddenly, the egg started to shake and crack more. To everyone's relief, it was a sign that whatever was in there, was hatching to be born. Everyone, including Ming who had gotten the sheet back around her, all huddled around it, as Alex smiled, "Awwww, it's the miracle of birth. One of the great wonders of…"

Even Twilight smiled at this, "Yeah. It's a moment of extraordinary beauty int the world…"

But suddenly, the egg exploded open, much to the disgust of all five around it, as the contents of the inside splattered on them. They all backed away, even with Alex still holding the bottom and the occupant inside in his hands, even as he gagged out, "GAADAGH! That was disgusting! I think I got amniotic sac in my mouth!"

But as the grossness was passed over, they all looked at the newly born creature in Alex's hands. It looked like a feline-like creature about the size of a newborn kitten, with aqua blue fur all over him, a diamond-shaped tip on his tail, fluffy light blue fur on his belly and mouth, as well as a small but fluffy mohawk of hair on his head, small catlike ears that were pointy with light blue tips on the back, and light blue on his front paws going up to his elbows, and yellow eyes. Though the most surprising thing about the creature was that it had small yet still in development light blue wings. Dragon wings.

It looked at them with its big baby-like eyes, as surprising them further, it spoke in a child-like voice, "Hello. Are you my family?"

The five looked at the creature, not surprised any longer about it talking, but by its question to them. They then looked at one another, and then back at the other adventurers, who were oblivious about what had happened. Then they looked to one another, as they nodded before turning back to the newborn creature.

As Alex was about to open his mouth, Ember beat him to it, as she answered, "You don't have a family, and we're eventually gonna die. Sorry."

The little creature looked saddened, as he asked in concern, "What?"

Twilight elbowed her, as she asked, "What is wrong with you?"

"What?" Ember asked innocently, "I thought after what happened three days ago, I thought that's what we all were thinking about."

Alex shook his head as he looked at the little creature, "No one's gonna die, little fellah." He then gently petted the creature's head, who seemed to like that, as Alex answered, "You know what you've got, um… Ceruleas? You've got us. We've got each other, and if that's not a family, I honestly don't know what is." He then looked to the others, as the four girls had to smile at that, even Min who forgot about flashing everyone and drop-kicking Alex.

But Alisa asked, "Ceruleas?"

"Yeah, is that my name now," the creature, now known as Ceruleas asked.

Alex nodded, "Yeah, I mean it's a playoff of Cerulean Blue. And it sounds cool."

Ember sighed, "Of course it is."

At that moment, the four girls who were down on their luck, had not only gained one but two party members, but also a second chance to start again as Adventurers. But what they didn't know, was that the future before them wasn't just a roll of the dice by the Gods, but by the destiny they would soon stumble upon.

Next Chapter: The Day in the Life of the New World; Everyday Life and Jobs