Chapter 3

That was the first time I met most of the Loki familia awake. The real first time was while I was still passed out and had fallen from the sky and hit Loki while she was climbing the castle walls. Finn left out the sordid details which Narvi and the other women were more than happy to fill in. Loki was trying to peek in on some of the girls getting dressed for the morning when I suddenly appeared and smote her for her evil deeds.

I wasn't conscious so it was sheer dumb luck that it happened, but that didn't matter because it was the closest the familia's women had to divine providence against their own deity's dirty tendencies. Title of Loki's sextape. Oh yeah, they had these magic crystals that could record video and audio but they were damn expensive and did shit under crappy lighting. And no, Loki wasn't the kind of pervert who'd do her own followers, that would be Freya—Ottar's god. But it wasn't really clear if she wanted to do anyone per se, though she wanted a lot of someones.

Yeah, that one would be a story for later. And it was bad. Real bad.

Right, so typical cliché, I was naked when I appeared out of nowhere, but since no one else saw how I appeared out of nowhere everyone thought Loki kidnapped me and wanted to get frisky in public. They tied her unconscious body up—and before you ask, gods in human form were pretty durable themselves against physical harm to some extent—and clothed me and placed me in one of their guest rooms so they could apologize later.

Loki came in and checked up on me a few times after talking it over with Finn—the captain—and the other executives and later found out something very important about how I got to their world.

When I came back to Twilight Manor, rather, when I was forced back by Ottar and was received by Finn, we had to wait for a bit for Loki to return from an emergency meeting with Ouranos, the god who was in charge of the Guild—again, again cliché but yeah, they called themselves that—and for all intents and purposes served as the mayor of Orario. Also the Guild serviced most of the typical government functions like adventurer licensing, currency exchange, even population censuses and general welfare.

They sat me down in Finn's office, with the usual book case behind, big windows to the side, and an imposing desk with a just as regal chair behind it. And even if it looked a bit weird at first glance, the set fit the guy like he belonged there. It was part of the image he was cultivating as a self-made hero. And damn did he look good doing it. As for why he was doing it, well, on some level it was a personal mission, but a bigger part of it was to give their people someone to look up to. We'll be talking more about that later when I get to the part where he finally reached level seven after years and years of chasing it.

Any awkwardness from my unexpected entrance was mellowed out by how much time we had to spend in that office before Loki finally got back. We talked about some general stuff like my name and did some introductions just so we could properly talk to each other while waiting. Together with me in the room was Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, the big three of the Loki familia. Finn I already told you was a hobbit, while Riveria was a female elf, and Gareth was a male dwarf. I think I've mentioned him before? Anyway, really cool guy. Riveria too was pretty chill most times but was really the responsible one of the trio. Finn was the headstrong but level leader, while Riveria was the details behind the big picture and Gareth was down in the dirt with the others doing what the vision guys needed doing.

It was less about a hierarchy and more playing into what people were good at doing and doing it well. Gareth was the strongest and most durable in the entire familia—way more so than me physically. Riveria was easily the strongest magic user in all of Orario in terms of both firepower and scale. And Finn was best known for his strong command of the familia's forces and tactics.

But all that info came later. What we really talked about were first a round of apologies from both sides with them not keeping a better eye on me or having someone waiting to explain what was going on—and me for running out even if I didn't know better. There were the immediate circumstances of me landing on Loki and how it surprised everyone and I shared a bit on what went down after I met Ottar. Riveria couldn't believe her eyes at seeing the torn sleeve of my shirt after having my arm cut off and looking good as new but it was what it was.

There were also some other more mundane things since they already knew I came from another world so we talked about food, places, general knowledge, and a little bit of our world's people and theirs. Ultimately, it was all useless information on their end since no one there had the power—so far at least—to break away from the boundaries between dimensions. I could because I apparently ended up with a real Keyblade—but that was a lesson for much much later. I'm just saying it now but so far I haven't met anyone else with a Keyblade—but if Nomura was really telling the truth and god forbid might even be the real Master of Masters I'm still not sure whether I should try and contact him.

Might be for the best, but that one I don't think I can take you with me just to be on the safe side.

One of the other elves, Alicia, went up to serve some cakes and coffee—all familiar tasting which was both a relief and a little disappointing. The other three felt the same when I told them.

And finally Loki arrived after two hours more of idle chit-chat surrounding the very obvious plot hook that stood in the middle of the city: the gaping maw of hell that was the Dungeon and currently covered up by the tower in the middle of the city.

"It's a good thing you're back, Thomas," she said first thing through the door. Then she walked over to Finn's desk and sat her butt on it and crossed her legs.

I was a little bit disappointed at first that the Loki I met didn't look as good as Tom Hiddleston, but that was to be expected since that was just creative interpretation from Marvel's direction—what I didn't expect was to meet a lady since normally Loki was written up as a male.

Now, out of everyone else I'd met so far they all pretty much wore your stereotypical period attire: robes, tunics, armor, and then the only real break from that norm were the amazons who wore what might've been stereotypical jungle wear—but were really just glorified body suits and bikinis paired with maybe a sarong or something similar for the more conservative ones. And elves usually wore the same stuff that weebs would usually draw them in. And in hindsight, a lot of that world's fashion was influenced by the gods after thinking it over. Weebs each and every one of them.

And those guys really dicked a lot of people over, looking back at it now.

Anyway, Loki was dressed in a skimpy black and blue tracksuit. One that looked like something you'd see in Nike's women's section, but without any actual care for functionality. She wore this sleeves and hood thing that was just ridiculous since she had to wear a separate tube top just to be decent and paired that up with short shorts. As for why this was important? Well, it was because there was what passed for a goddamn Uniqlo back there in that other world. Among other brands that had near similar execution.

People's fashion sense there were so all over the place that it was so jarring having to get used to being able to buy and wear nearly the same clothes—the quality of textiles there was actually better than here because people wore them down in the Dungeon—I wore here every day while having to literally go down a dark hole and fight monsters for pocket money.

"I take it this is the part where I get the whole backstory of how I ended up here?"

Loki raised a brow. "You're taking this better than I expected."

"I've been here three hours and having small talk with the Lords of the Rings over coffee and cakes and talking about almost everything else you haven't told them not to tell me about and were just about to get to interracial reproduction when you got back."

"It's all magic Thomas."

"Wait, seriously? No matching chromosomes or anything?"

"Nature fits whatever will we imposed on creation, and that's how it worked it out. The egg came before the chicken since an egg needed to have come out for a 'chicken' to have come to be. Happy?"

That was really annoying of her to just unveil the wonder of it all like that, but yeah, that answered that question at least.

"I was hoping for some mind-blowing revelation."

"A god literally told you how creation worked."

"Yeah but like… that just takes away the awe from it."

Loki face palmed. "Then don't ask next time."

"In all honesty I was hoping you'd play it off as some closely guarded secret or something."

"Maybe we should get back to the topic?" Finn cut in. He looked a lot worse for wear, and I swore I caught Gareth mumble something about how troublesome and bad for the heart hearing all that was.

"Right right," Loki said, she scratched her cheek and just said it outright. "Thor was the one who sent you here and asked me to take care of you, something took you away from where you came from, he tried stopping it but could only try to send you to me, and so here you are."

It wasn't so much an awkward silence as it was just bad delivery. Though looking back the prick had the right idea not to make too big a deal about it since I wasn't the only one who had special circumstances in the familia. Ais, one of the other executives actually came from like a thousand years ago and was sealed in crystal until Loki and the others found her.

"By any chance do you guys have matcha lattes here?"

Riveria stood up from her chair. "Why are you asking?"

"Woah, is it something to get that worked up about?"

Finn and Gareth both sighed and rolled their eyes respectively. While Loki sat by the wayside nearly forgotten.

"Answer the question," the elf demanded.

"Because I drink that to calm down?"

"And its taste?"

"Oh, so it does exist he—"

"Answer."

"I like the stuff."

Riveria shot the two other executives a look, then smirked. "Thomas here, has taste."

Yeah, everyone had something going on in Loki's little band of misfits.

Everyone else groaned.

"I'm sure the other elves would be delighted to invite you to one of the nicer shops in the city," Riveria added before sitting back down all prim and proper in her seat as if the manic energy that swept the room was just a seizure in the otherwise normalcy of reality.

Loki waved her hands to bring the attention back to her. "Look, I get you'd be more suspicious about what I said and I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have before we move further."

"Only one for now." I brought my hand forward and summoned my Keyblade. "Is this familiar to you?" Because and as you've seen, the reason I was able to get back to our world was because of that nifty little thing. Though it took a lot more preparation to actually do just that. And that I learned after countless half-baked, impatient attempts.

"Yeah," she said. Which was both nice to hear and just as downright terrifying. "But I've never seen a real one before. Because they were supposed to be just from a game. Apparently not."

Which was the same for me. These only existed so far in games. She knew of Keyblades as something that came from a game because gods in that world had knowledge of the rest of the multiverse up to some degree and could send their conscious to experience things elsewhere. They weren't omniscient in the sense that they knew everything all at once all the time, but they could focus and hone in on things they wanted to know about—almost like they could do a Google Earth and just, see and feel things without actually being there.

Loki was a fan of the Kingdom Hearts games herself—but it freaked the flying fuck out of her to meet someone with a Keyblade. Because they didn't exist elsewhere. Or at least, in the universes she'd seen before. And if she saw someone with one, then in the grand infinity of everything—it meant there must have been others out there. And more people like me with the ability to travel the multiverse—minus some very large limitations—was not a comforting thought.

Especially for me.

"Yeah. Same."

"I take it you don't know how you have one?"

I shook my head.

"Then how can you use it if you've never had one before?"

"I just do somehow, that's why I thought I was dreaming when I first woke up. Because how else would I simply know I had a Keyblade and just know how to use it?"

She stared at me long and hard. Then turned to her executives. "Finn, how do you feel about Tiona?"

Finn massaged the bridge of his nose. "I fail to see how that's relevant right now."

"Come on, just let your goddess know?"

He rested his chin against his wrist. "You know how I feel about that."

She nodded. Then turned back to me. "Well, that proves it for me. I can't tell if you're lying. Either Thor was right, or somehow you're able to defy a deity's divine senses. Maybe both even. But they might not be correlated either."

Finn and the others tensed from thst.

"So I guess this really all boils down to whether you're willing to hear me out and stay with us?"

At the time I hadn't believed a single word she said but was relatively calm coming from the fact that I had magic and could probably survive on my own for a good long while far away and wherever if I needed to, but part of me wanted to believe that us meeting was like the introductory chapter of a game or story—call it the intro stage. And almost nothing too bad happened during that period. Usually.

Which again in hindsight was a lot of faith in a total stranger. But damn was I really lucky ending up with her. It could've been much worse after all. I might've been sent over to Freya.

"I have no reason not to trust you right now even if you were lying, and if Finn's to be believed that Ottar was the strongest person in Orario right now and I survived that, I think my chances of keeping myself safe are pretty alright. Your group has no reason to hurt me, and you know what Keyblade wielders could do from the games. And lastly I think its in both our best interests that I find out about the busy end of this… weird thing with it pointed at something else other than your group."

"Bold threat," Loki said with a smile. From behind his desk Finn was smiling too, but Gareth and Riveria were both unreadable. "I can respect that."

"One word: Megaflare."

Loki chuckled. "From the simple fact that I—and any other god—can't tell when you're lying already makes you worth your weight and more in diamonds. Everything else after that is just a bonus."

She stuck out her hand.

"Looks like we're on the same side for now."

"Well, to be honest, you already were from the start since you've been one of my children since before you woke up." Loki stuck her tongue out. "That was part of the favor Thor asked for, to take you in and keep you safe."

"You could've started with that."

"And miss all the jabs and barbs?!"

Gareth massaged the bridge of his nose.

"Also, just curious, but is Thor a woman?"

"Nah, he's a man, and I'm a woman here but to me it doesn't really matter."

"Ah, that makes sense. So there was some truth to our myths then." It was really weird saying that out loud. Because I was in front of a literal god. Not exactly like the Christian capital G god, but a god nonetheless.

"Before we wrap things up, there's also the matter of your level."

"I did hear about those, and I'm guessing you're bringing it up since this is related to me coming from another world?"

Loki sighed then brought out a piece of paper and handed it to me. "I couldn't make sense of whatever appeared in that accursed thing. All I know is that Thor gave you his blessing and left it open for me to accept, but other than that I can't read anything else. Literally. There was a lot written down though, and what glimpses I found had me seeing you fighting Heartless. From a game. That didn't make sense. Since I should only be seeing things you did, not what you did in a game."

"And that doesn't explain the Keyblade I take it?" God was I so wrong about that. But that I better tell you about much later.

"Not in the least. That isn't even supposed to exist. And yet here it is right in front of me and in the hands of some random guy. No offense."

"None taken." But yeah, it really was by sheer dumb luck that it was I who was abducted. Didn't make the fact any lighter though.

That paper really only had my name and some useless stuff written on it.

Basic Abilities

Strength – I 0

Endurance – I 0

Dexterity – I 0

Agility – I 0

Magic – I 0

XXXXX – X

XXXXXX – X

XXXXX - X

XXXX – X

XXXX – X

Magic

XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX

Skill

XXXXX XXX

XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

"The Falna doesn't work that way, it's supposed to bring out feats you've done and materialize them into tangible manifestations, not create out of nothing! Whatever happened to you or put you here did something to you, and it wasn't done through any kind of arcanum. Doing that would always show in the Falna, but yours… it's all there just unintelligible."

Well, it was as ominous as she said, and even knowing what I did now, it was still a doozy.

"Is that a bad thing then?" Because it was really the only question that made sense.

"I don't know." Loki shrugged. "You could be a ticking time bomb for all I know, but you might also be a great opportunity right in front of me. And I'd be stupid if I let the risks outweigh the possible gains. Not to mention Thor entrusted you to me anyway so even if you were a demon yourself, I was still morally obligated to take care of you. You aren't some kind of monster in human form, now are you?"

I wasn't. But I wasn't sure yet that time.

"I hope not," was what I said.

After that Loki stood from where she sat upon Finn's desk and clapped a hand against my shoulder.

"Now that that's done, breakfast is tomorrow at eight, your room is the same one you woke up in and the first thing I want you to do tomorrow is write down everything you can remember before waking up here. Thor wasn't too keen on any details so I need to know as much as you can remember."

She was good at distracting people from the thoughts that were best left to a good night's sleep.

"I don't mind talking about them now." Since the night was still young and you know how used to working late I was. It was really convenient that clocks had the same layout and number of hours in that world. But still, Loki was right and it was better to ride out the craziness of that day with some shut eye.

"You just went through a lot. Get some good sleep, take some time to think things through better. Freak out a bit maybe. We'll talk about the heavier stuff tomorrow."

Which was sound advice. Stop when you're tired, not when you're done, because there was always something that needs to be finished masking itself as if it were important and critical. Rest was, and should always be, part of the priorities.

After that Finn got Orba, one of the younger members, to show me around the compound. There was the dining hall where meals would be served, the men's baths which were really modest in comparison to the women's bath where Loki frequently went to to peek, then the library, the armory, the meeting hall, and the courtyard where everyone else went to to either train or just relax.

There was also a garden asked for by the elves, but it wasn't much since I wasn't a fan of it. The kitchen though, that was an impressive place. It was mostly chrome and looked similar to any line kitchen found in a typical fancy restaurant, and it worked the same and even better too since they used magic instead of propane. Less heat waste and much easier to clean with too.

We greeted everyone we passed by followed by a short introduction of the newbie: there was Raul, Lefiya, and Anakitty pouring over some paperwork that were part and parcel with running any big organization, together with them were Sonia, an elf; Rakta a rabbit person; and Narvi, a human. They pulled double duty of fighter and back office since the six of them were good with details and helping Finn manage the familia's books.

Money moved like a swarm of epileptic pigeons back in Orario, and prices were all over the place and they mostly worked with physical currency so it was just hell. Orba also showed me where the castle's vault was but it was a place best left unspoken since it was just a room filled to bursting with coins. It was absolute madness. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how Orario could survive with such a crazy almost made-up economy.

And that's coming from how shitty our bank's mobile app was for doing absolutely anything related to money.

It was a rough night after that. Having to come to terms with where I was and what had happened. It was one thing to be riding the euphoria of knowing I had magic but another matter entirely to be lying down on a bed I didn't own and staring up to a ceiling I didn't recognize. It was like that one time I went on a business trip to Europe. But worse. That time I could reach everyone I wanted to from the net.

Back in Orario, the only proof I had of the world I came from were the memories. I came into that world naked and without a single morsel of anything I had on me the night I was taken. What was even weirder was when I came back apparently barely any time had passed. I found myself staring at my computer again and dressed in the same clothes—on the same day that I supposedly left.

And almost the same, one of the proofs I had after coming back to this world were the memories just with a little extra. The Keyblade made for one hell of a souvenir after all.

That, and Magic.

The following morning, I watched the ceiling until the light of the morning sun peeked in. My room was high enough to get a bit of the sunrise's first rays. It was painful to look at just like back here. From back home. That hadn't changed.

But that morning I was fresh and sharp as ever despite not sleeping at all. Jarring was putting it lightly. I should have been feeling dizzy and out of it. I threw off the covers and stood up only to lie back down against the floor flat on my back for my usual exercise routine. I might not have been able to control where I had ended up, but at least I could keep up my old habits. I'd always been out of shape ever since college, couldn't quite work up the discipline to really keep at a proper regimen to cut down, but even then I tried to keep some semblance of physical activity.

When I saw my feet right there, only then did it occur to me I'd lost my belly overnight. It was the one constant I'd had throughout the years—sad, yeah—but it was familiar. You'd seen me before in my ill-fitting suit because that was made after I'd already started working, and I came back here in my conscious body a changed man despite it all seeming like a dream.

I went ahead and lifted my legs but didn't feel any strain despite going until a failure—that never came. I counted upwards of a hundred before deciding it wasn't going to do anything for me if I wasn't even winded or sore. Neither did doing any push-ups or squats make me feel anything in the slightest.

My body wasn't even my own anymore. And an unfamiliar manner of grief came with that realization. I went over to the vanity and had a good long look at my face. It was like looking at an old mall from years back and seeing the new hotel it had been replaced with. The familiarity was there but everything else had changed. The eyebags were gone and so were the small, discolored scars from the times my dandruff got so bad from the stress. My cheeks had always been a bit taught from being fat, but what stared back at me was a sharp jawline that I only barely remembered from back in high school.

I checked everywhere else. The crick in my right shoulder when I rolled it slowly; the slight pain in my left knee when I put all my weight on it, the uneven muscle tone between my left and right arms from playing badminton and err, other things. Heck, even my circumcised dick. There was even that constant splintered nail on my right pinky toe. That was gone too. All replaced by an almost statuesque caricature of what I might have looked like imagined as a Greek god.

It felt wrong, and even now you'd seen how much of me was left from whatever I went through. Explaining that to my family was another story and a half. At least at work I could just pass it off with a sick leave and a particularly nasty case of diarrhea. Nobody bought it for real, but no one was complaining since I was doing much better at work. Let me tell you now, but using Haste magic to speed up my thinking was an absolute game changer working in middle management.

I let the feelings wash over me, feeling the full breadth of what I'd just woken up to, then got dressed in clothes I didn't own yet felt so familiar—yes, they were that not Uniqlo brand.

There were some groggy faces here and there, but all of them and me headed towards the same place downstairs to the dining hall.

It was a breakfast buffet.

There was toast and various hams and cheeses and some fruits on one table, and on another there was fried rice, eggs, sausages, some other meats, and whole host of potato goodies; and on an even further table were lots of veggies and juices and even a little bit of wine. Which Loki was shamelessly chugging straight from a bottle while one of the cooks set aside another bottle for everyone else. There were pastries and jams, and porridge some not so light dishes like a straight up roast and even a whole pig.

Loki walked over to me with a bottle in hand and pushed my jaw up with a finger.

"If this is surprising, you should see us celebrate." There was a dangerous glint to her eyes. "And no, we're not yet celebrating, this is just breakfast."

She wasn't kidding. But that also didn't mean there was a lot of variety with how many dishes had to be made to cater to most of everyone's tastes and preferences. Having a big familia meant she also had a lot of races and regional ethnicities and all of us ate different things. For example elves were all vegetarian but different forest regions also had different tastes in how their meals were prepared and even what kinds. The animal people also differed in diet depending on whether they were carnivorous or omnivorous. Animal people didn't have any restrictions per se in their diet, they just tended towards their ancestral diet.

Also, that we had to run a buffet for every meal meant that keeping everyone fed was just one of our many constant financial crises. Not even one of the strongest familias—arguably the strongest after I joined and Finn reached level seven—was safe from the perils of capitalism. And we went through a lot of money almost every day. And what was even funnier was how Freya's familia got so strong because everyone there was a total simp for her, while in Loki's it was because try as they might to deny it, everyone there had a taste for luxury that they couldn't let go of.

Sure there were some noble missions like what Finn had, and there was also Ais's case, and maybe Riveria's to some extent. But really, almost everyone there was in it for the money and the lifestyle they led. Not all of it purely from desires though. Raul, the same guy who was in charge of keeping me from trouble was supporting his parents who lived in an outside village. Then there was Cruz who wanted to save up for a farm and raise a family there. So… in all honesty Loki's familia felt almost the same as the atmosphere I had at work only that potential career ending problems were replaced instead with literal life or death ones.

I lined up first at the meat table and with Claire a dog person in front of me and, Kalos a human right behind.

"Hi, I'm Thomas just joined." Usual introductions, nothing too fancy.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Claire, and Loki must really like you for her to invite a guy. I think last one that joined was about two years ago with Morel?" Which said a lot more about Loki than the familia as a whole. On some level though you had to admire how true she was about what she wanted.

Kalos chimed in. "And he's already a level two too, time sure flies. Nice to meet you too Thomas, Kalos."

I shook his hand and we went over to a few other tables, picking up some bread for me, a salad for Kalos, and some porridge for Claire. We sat together and I met Remilia, a dog lady, Anju, another elf, and Line, a human. All of them women. The familia had only a fifth of its population as male, and everyone else was female. It didn't really make too much of a problem since in the Falna practically levelled out any biological differences in terms of strength between the sexes.

And this might be surprising for you Kat, but in that long year with Loki familia, not a single one of the women suffered through their periods. Whether that was from the enhanced pain tolerance from the falna or through sheer force of will, I didn't know. There were feminine hygiene products though so its not like everyone there stopped menstruating. But still, wouldn't that be the dream.

After that I met a few others, Elfy, a human; Lloyd, a rare guy, also human; Lox a just as a rare as a guy dwarf; and Liza a wolf person; they were by the courtyard just chilling. And then Raul came up to me and we did the rounds to better get acquainted with everyone else. He also wanted to introduce me to Ais and the other executives I hadn't met yet properly, but they were already down the Dungeon and earning our living expenses for the next week.

After that I excused myself towards the library so I could write up my report to Loki. There I met Lefiya who was reading up on magic, which I also tried to read but couldn't make sense of. I apologized for giving up but she offered anyway to help teach me if I were interested.

From there I got myself a table in a quiet corner and secured some paper and a dip pen and went to town. I wrote down everything I remembered: getting pulled from my seat and out the window without breaking it; some guy, who was likely Thor, pulling my hand and yanking me away from a mass of shadow tentacles; then a burning sensation in my hand before the shadow tentacles pulled me into what could have only been a portal to here. After that it was all blank and the next thing I knew I was dreaming and flying through Orario which wasn't a dream at all.

I dropped that off by Loki's room—she had a pigeon hole right next to her door for anything that needed signing and went down to the courtyard to see if anyone was willing to accompany me to explore Orario. Staying cooped up in my room and brooding wasn't going to solve any problems, and I had the rare opportunity to explore another country without having to worry too much about the work I left behind since I had way bigger problems. It was to no end of my relief that I ended up back at almost the same time as I left somehow. I… don't think I could have survived coming back to this world with everyone I loved already dead and gone.

To my luck, Lefiya was right there and willing to be a good senior to her junior.

"Hello Thomas, I heard you wanted to go around Orario?" She was a very earnest person who always made an effort to do her best in everything. It was admirable to be that earnest. "Elfy and I were just planning to pick up a few things from the market."

Turns out she and Elfy were roommates and wanted to get some scented candles to keep their room smelling fresh. Small joys really. And they weren't half bad. A bit on the expensive side sure, but they really helped make a room feel cozy and lived in. Housing in Orario was just as crazy as its economy since land ownership was handled by the Guild and prime real estate was reserved for the familias that could rake in the cash. And adventurers did whatever they could to get that little slice of heaven wherever and however. Some found it in the thrill of the dive, some in the brothels, a lot found it in the money, anyone and everyone eventually came up with their own ways of dealing with what they've chosen for their lives.

Me, I was in it to get home—but even then I had to find my way to unwind. Which is how I ended up rekindling an old fantasy—mainly portable tiny living. I always loved watching Youtube videos of those van conversions into compact, mobile, and comfortable living spaces, and it was just my luck that part of my newfound powers included having access to a pocket dimension that had enough space to store two city buses in. Yes, I've already checked. And I could probably fit more if I tried.

Lefiya and Elfy showed me around the usual jaunts in Orario while they did their shopping: there was the fashion street where I found the store that was for all intents and purposes a Uniqlo along with all the other styles of clothes that eventually crept their way into people's lives there; then there was lover's street which was filled with all kinds of stores catering to people in love—yes, including sex toys and love hotels. The brothels though, they were in an entirely different area.

There were a whole lot more places to look at but so far those two were the easiest to show since they were on the way. Our Twilight Manor was built on the tail end of fashion street so we had to make our way through there to and down lover's street to make it to the general market area where said scented candles were. And they really meant general when they said general. They practically sold everything there in the general market except slaves since that wasn't a thing in that world.

Foodstuffs like meats, fish, veggies, spices; general goods like wood, stone, mortar, and even some metal rods for construction; there were also cheaper rough spun clothes made with traditional means compared to the advanced techniques the other gods of craft came up with—that is, gleaned from the many other universes within their perception. Surprisingly there weren't any electronics, which was rather sad since it would've been great to at least have a portable music player and earphones if I found them, but no such luck.

There were countless other goods for sale, some for livestock, some for gardening and farming, some even for potions making or smithing. There were the more specialized districts for some of those too, but the cheaper stuff was found there in the general market for those who couldn't quite afford yet the name-brand stuff, case in point, anything made by the Hephaistos familia. And yes, I did ask, Hephaistos was a woman in that world.

We were on our way back when Elfy struck up conversation.

"So Thomas, how are you liking your stay so far?"

Most of the familia was pretty friendly, those that was probably more due to a majority of them being on the younger side, the oldest member was Riveria at ninety-nine, then Gareth at fifty-nine, then Finn at forty-two, the next oldest after that was me at thirty and the next oldest after that was Alicia at twenty-six.

Everyone else was younger than that.

"It's surprisingly familiar," was what I said. "Though that's because there are shops here that are somewhat similar to where I came from."

Where I came from was a secret kept only by the executive and second-string groups since the more people who knew about it then the easier it could get out. Especially with what happened between me and Ottar, then it wasn't a stretch to say that there would be people asking. Besides the fact that I was apparently a level one that had no right to call myself one.

"All good things I hope?" Elfy was just a kid really, sixteen if I remember right. But she had a good head on her shoulders and a mean fire spell. Got to see a lot of that during the first expedition I went on, and damn did we have to pull out the big guns straight out of the first chapter.

"All good things yes," I told her. "The food was all almost the same,if you'll believe me. Looks like no matter how far apart, things that taste good more or less end up meeting half-way one way or another." It was a blessing that there weren't anything too alien in any of the foods I ate.

Even the things that grew in the Dungeon—yes, food could be foraged in the Dungeon—were really just magical fruits that didn't have magical properties sadly. At least now when consumed on their own. A different ability was needed to bring out the magical properties of the materials after making them into magical tools or potions.

"Then it's a good thing you're a male," Lefiya added. "Otherwise goddess Loki would be all over you like she is with us women." The girl sighed deeply.

She was also sixteen, very young for an elf and should really be illegal for a being of unfathomable age to be coping a feel almost on the daily. On one hand, it could be argued that there was hardly any malice in the thoughts, just pure simple desire. But on the other hand that somehow made things worse.

We talked more on the way back, and I found out about how Elfy went to Orario looking for her fortune since she couldn't see herself growing old farming like her family before her while Lefiya went to Orario to keep herself safe when she developed the Spell that made her famous all over the world: a spell that allowed her to cast any other elf's spell as long as she knew its chant. It was valuable in the sense that she essentially had a way to circumvent the natural limitation of the Falna's three Magic slots. To be fair though, the Falna as a system was far from perfect and neither did it always make sense.

Case in point, me.

As I listened to them talk more and more about the minutia of their day to day lives, their little worries and inconveniences, their small joys and habits, it hammered home just how… real things were. I might have had some doubts when I'd woken up whether this was just an elaborately long delusion but the level of detail with which these people in front of me laid their every day lives so plainly was, magical.

Only then did it truly click for me that I was in another world.

And I knew exactly where I needed to go to start looking for answers on how to get back home.

"Elfy, Lefiya, who should I talk to enter the Dungeon?"