"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.
'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.
(One hour later.) = Time skip.
"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.
[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.
{Gate} = Spell name.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
"Huh?"
"I apologize, maybe I was being too hasty. I said that you, Mochizuki Touya, are dead and it was all because of me." The old man apologized, his tone heavy with regret as he bowed his head in shame.
Mochizuki Touya was taken back, his mind filled with questions but when he tried to speak out it left him with a slight headache, almost as if his mind was not able to understand the situation he was in, nevertheless, Touya persisted and asked what the old man meant by him being dead.
"I'm sorry, but what do you mean I died? I was just walking back from school a few moments ago?" Touya inquired, looking around, he saw that he was sitting on a tatami mat with no walls and only a table, and a closet, surrounded by an endless amount of clouds that stretched as far as his eye could see. Speaking of the table, there was a teacup in front of him, taking a glance at it he figured he might as well take a sip of it, it would be rude not to since he was offered it if the tea was next to him is any indication
"You're awfully calm for someone who just died, you know?" The old man raised an eyebrow, the teenager was taking the whole dying thing way too well for someone his age, "Usually when you tell someone they died. They'd call you a maniac or deny it."
"Because I have no sense of reality right now? Everything feels like a dream at the moment. But seeing as I'm sitting on clouds I feel like you're telling the truth so there's no use crying over spilled milk." Touya shrugged, taking another sip of the tea, it was a piece of advice his grandfather told him and something he took to heart as it shaped him into the man he was today, or at least when he was still alive.
After a couple of word exchanges, Touya found out that the man sitting across him was God, the big G himself and that the reason he died was that God threw a lightning bolt that just happened to be where Touya was and killed him, he apologized again, this wasn't the time he was supposed to die nor was it supposed to happen.
"Well. Now I know what the light at the end of the tunnel looks like." Touya chuckled, making light of his situation, he finished the tea and looked straight at God, "So, heaven or hell? Where will I go?"
"No, It was because of me you died, I'll have to correct this mistake so I can reincarnate you immediately," God explained, causing the young man to perk up.
"Then can you revive me back to my world?" Touya suggested.
"Unfortunately, I can't. There're rules when it comes to these things and you're no exception, however, I can reincarnate you into a world with swords and magic." God shook his head, his solemn tone was enough for Touya to understand, nodding. God continued, "And since I did kill you, you can ask me for anything you need before I send you to the world to start your second life."
"Okay, first of all, is it ok for me to be reincarnated there with no knowledge of the world? If this is a world with swords and magic. Then the language is gonna be different than the one I'm used to…" Touya said in deep thought, as he thought of the potential dangers he might encounter, monsters, bandits and the like were a given in a fantasy world with magic.
"Yes, I can help you with that problem, I can make it so you'll have perfect memory and the ability to understand both the written and spoken language. Is there anything else you'd like?"
"Well, would it be alright for me to have this?" Touya took out his smartphone from his pockets and handed it to God, the divine being inspected the small rectangle object, humming in consideration, God nodded and handed it back to the youth.
"It's no problem, though you can't have direct contact with your old world, phone calls, messages, emails, etc, you can still search up and watch things on the internet like usual, for example, making a gun, you'll still have to learn it through trial and error mind you." God explained, "I can also enchant it to be able to recharge with just your magic, and change the map settings to be in line with your new world, how does that sound?"
"How about my currency? I don't think Japanese Yen will be accepted there." To emphasize his point, Touya reached into his back pockets and pulled out his wallet, showing God his current financial predicament.
"That's no problem, I can just convert that into the currency used in your new world, here gimme a second." God rose from his sitting position and held out his palm near Touya's wallet, a yellow light enveloped the youth's wallet transforming his old paper currency into shiny, gold-colored coins. "There that should do the trick, I changed your Yen at hand into gold coins, this will help you get started once you land."
"That should be everything you need right?" God asked, Touya nodded, every question he had was answered and now there was nothing but to reincarnate.
"Oh, before I forget, I should enchant your body as well, normally I wouldn't but think of this as a bonus for my mistake." God pressed his hand onto Touya's forehead and the same yellow glow that changed his money also changed him as well, "Your reflexes, instincts, physical and mental abilities are doubled along with your already established skills. With this, you should be able to effectively fight against things just as long as you don't do anything too crazy."
"And don't take this the wrong way but It would be a shame if you came back early." God quipped as Touya felt his body get lighter yet stronger, his sense was sharpened and his mind was like it was on overdrive, the glow stopped and it took a few seconds for him to open his eyes and adjust to the changes, when he did he stood up and stretched out his body, getting a feel to the changes, he looked at God and nodded in approval.
"Oh one more thing, once I send you there I cannot intervene in your affairs but you can still call me for advice if you want." Touya nodded and gave the divine being a smile. It was reassuring to know that God has his back, even if it was because of a freak accident.
"Now, let's not waste any more time and get started shall we?"
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
"If you find any new clothes, please bring them to me. I can pay you a hefty price when you do!" The plump short man cajoled, he was Zanac Zenfield, a fashion designer that was traveling back to his shop in the town of [Reflet] when he spotted Touya wandering around the road and his attention was taken solely on the young man's uniform. Seeing that an extra helping of money wouldn't hurt, Touya agreed to sell his school uniform to the older man along with his undershirt.
"Sure." Touya rubbed the back of his head, wearing new clothes free of charge from Zanac. Well, he does take his craft very seriously, something Touya can understand and praise. Perking up the younger man asked the fashion designer a question, "By the way, is there an inn or something similar in this town? I want to secure a place to sleep before the sun goes down today."
"If you're looking for an inn, just head down the main street, turn right and follow it straight. There's a sign for the [Silver Moon Inn]. You can't miss it!" Zanac directed.
"Thank you very much!" Touya gave his thanks and bowed, taking his leave the young man followed the directions and made his way to the inn.
Zanac who watched him leave waved, wishing Touya good luck in his endeavors, and went back inside his shop, preparing for the next customer.
Pulling out his phone, Touya inputted the inn's name in the search bar, and it was in the same direction Zanac told him to go, nodding to himself, Touya closed his phone and placed it back in his pocket, there's no use in using the map now that he knew the way.
He shrugged it was still plenty of daytime, so Touya decided to take a little detour and explore the town. There were things he wanted to see and with a wallet and pouch full of coins he could spend a hefty amount before he ran out of it.
But before he could even think about spending the money, a loud shout caught his attention.
"That's not what you promised!" A female's voice argued, "You were supposed to pay one gold coin in return!"
Touya perked up, he turned his head to the source of the voice and saw an alleyway, secluded from the main street, looking around, it seems like he was the only one who heard it or took notice as everyone carried on like normal. Deciding that things might get ugly, Touya followed the voice and made his way toward the alleyway.
He saw four people upon entering the alleyway, two men, a lanky-looking guy with a knife sheathed on his sides, a big and bald muscular guy, both of them standing in front of two girls, both silver hair wearing similar dresses, Touya figured they were twins as the only differences between the two were their choice of legwear, the short-haired twin wore black pantyhose while the long-haired twin wore a pair of knee socks.
The two men looked like a bunch of thugs, something Touya was all too familiar with back when he was in his old world, readying himself, Touya slowly approached the two as they had their attention on the two girls, giving him the chance to strike first so he made his way towards the bigger threat.
"No can do, this thing is scratched." The baldy denounced, bringing the glass antler up and showing where the supposed scratch was when in reality it was just a small one.
"So just be glad we're still paying you for this, here's a silver coin." The lanky guy threw a silver coin on the ground near the two girls.
"Only one coin!?" Frustrated, the long-haired twin clenched her fists, raising her voice at the blunt disregard shown for her and her sister's hard work, "Just cause it got a small scratch doesn't mean it's damaged!"
She complained, her sister worried for her and tried to calm her down but she wouldn't listen, the two men laughed mockingly which served to only piss her off even more, the lanky guy took out his knife and pointed it towards the two girls.
"Look, if you know what's good for you, you'll shut the hell up and take the fucking coin already." He threatened them, waving the knife as if to dare them to say anything.
"Yeah, now be good little girls and we'll be on our way-"
"Here, let me help you with that." Touya interrupted
The young man grabbed the wrist of the bald guy and gripped it so hard it broke, causing the man to yell out in pain before he kicked on the back of his knee forcing him to bend, Touya then grabbed the antler throwing it up as he slammed the bald guy into a nearby wall, shutting him up and knocking him out unconscious just in time for him to catch the falling glass antler.
"You bastard!" The lanky guy cursed as he ran towards Touya with the knife pointed at him, the reincarnated teen sidestepped from the thrust and dodged out of his way.
'Huh, that was easier than I thought.' Touya mused as the lanky guy passed him, his reflexes were better now as the thug was moving like he was in slow motion, grabbing the back of his collar, Touya pulled and slammed the thug onto the ground.
The action was executed so fast and so hard that the thug didn't have time to react as the breath was forced out of his lungs. Not taking the chance for him to recover, Touya kicked the knife away from the downed thug to disarm him and went for the killing blow by stomping his head to knock him out.
Touya sighed, that was disappointing, but to be fair they were thugs so it's not like they could last longer in a fight, especially against someone like him who has experience in self-defense, with the antler in hand he walked towards the silver-haired twins and handed them their glass antler back.
"Here, I think this belongs to you," Touya commented as he handed the object to the long-haired twin.
"Wow, thanks for the save." She gave her thanks and took the antler, "By the way, I'm Elze Silhoueska, and this is my younger twin sister. Linze Silhoueska."
"Thank you very much for helping us." The short-haired twin, Linze bowed in gratitude.
"No problem. I'm Mochizuki Touya." Touya nodded.
"Mochizuki? That's a rare name." Elze wondered, which got Touya to correct himself that it was his family name and that Touya was his actual name, Elze raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, "Oh, so you say your family name first, are you from [Eashen] by any chance?"
"Well, somewhere close, yeah." Touya laughed awkwardly, he guessed that maybe there was a parallel country here that was similar to Japan going by Elze's question.
"In that case, why did you come to this town?" Elze asked.
"Oh, for starters, I'm looking for the [Silver Moon Inn], then I was going to think about it from there." Touya shrugged, he then clasped his hands together, he already knew where to go but asking them wouldn't be bad, "You don't perhaps know where it is huh?"
"The [Silver Moon Inn]?" Both twins blinked their eyes and looked at each other.
"That's the inn we're staying at," Linze confirmed.
"Is it now?" Touya raised his eyebrow.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
"Welcome to the [Silver Moon Inn], will it be a meal or a stay for the night?" An orange-haired female greeted Touya with a smile, smiling back. The teen went up to the counter and asked how much one stay would cost him.
"Well, if you stay for one day, that would cost you two copper coins with both dinner and breakfast included." She mused, "Oh, and paying in advance is that alright?"
Touya hummed, he pulled out his pouch full of gold coins he got from Zanac and placed one on the counter.
"How many nights will this get me?" Touya asked, the cushier hummed in thought as she calculated the amount.
"Fifty."
'Fifty? Then that means one gold coin is almost equal to two-hundred copper coins?' Touya pondered in his head, right now on his person were 60 gold coins from when God converted his Yen.
Touya knew he was well off thanks to the money he had before he died but he didn't think it would be this much here. Still, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Touya accepted the terms.
"I'd like to stay here for a month, please," Touya asked.
"Thank you for your patronage! That'll be thirty days worth of lodging!" She smiled, taking the gold coin and reaching into the drawer to give Touya his change, "We haven't gotten many customers lately, so I appreciate you helping us out! Oh and here's your change, sorry we're all out of silver coins so we can only give you copper coins for now."
'Forty copper coins, that means it costs around sixty copper for a month.' Touya smiled back as he took the coins into his pouch, 'So, thirty days is a month here too? At least that hasn't changed.'
"Finished checking in?" The voice Elze brought Touya out of his thoughts and turned his attention onto the two twins he saved.
"Yeah. Sorry for keeping you waiting."
"My, you three know each other?" The female cushier questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"He helped us out just a moment ago." Elze nodded.
"What? You've already found a man?" She jokingly asked, teasing Elze whose face lit up in a red blush as she flailed her arms in denial.
"NO! TH-THAT'S NOT IT!"
"I mean, I wouldn't mind, Elze is cute." Touya blurted out loud, catching the attention of all three females.
They all looked at him, the female cushier with her hand covering her mouth as she giggled, "My, what a charmer!"
Linze smiled, and Elze whose face was increasingly getting redder by the second, whether it was from anger or embarrassment, no one knows.
"What?"
(A few minutes later.)
"I see, so you too have just recently arrived in this town?" Having calmed down from her embarrassment, Elze commented, taking a sip of the tea, the female cushier whose name was Micah, prepared for them.
She, along with Linze, sat on one of the chairs, Touya who was across them did the same and nodded to Elze's question.
"Yeah, that's right." Touya smiled, taking a sip of tea, 'Well, rather than saying this town, it's more like I just arrived in this world.'
"How about you? Why did you two come to this town?" Touya asked, keeping the conversation going.
"We came here to deliver the [Crystal Deer Horn] as per request but…" Elze sighed, "But as you can see, we ran into some trouble."
"That's why I was against the whole deal from the start." Elze rebutted, as she shook her head in disappointment, "For once, I wish you'd just listen to me, sis."
"Yeah, sorry about that, I'll listen to you next time." Elze laughed, scratching the back of her head.
"So, why did you two decide to accept the request in the end?" The only male in the group asked, his curiosity peaking, "I mean, even I saw how sketchy they were from the start."
"A small lapse in judgment." Elze shrugged, leaning back into her chair, she continued, "We've defeated a [Crystal Deer] before and gotten our hands on its horn as well. Word got 'round and requests started appearing, so I thought we might as well."
"But it was a complete bust." Elze pouted, Touya mentally commented on how cute she looked, "I guess that if it's not through the guild, any request accepted will only get you in all sorts of trouble."
"Guess we should just use this chance to register with the guild, right Linze?" Elze clarified, Linze nodded, smiling at her sister.
"Sounds like a good idea, let's go register tomorrow."
'A guild?' Touya mused, 'Now that I thought about it, a guild is usually where adventurers get their income from by doing various tasks and requests. If I want to survive in this world, I might as well become an adventurer.'
"Would it be okay for me to accompany you tomorrow?" Touya asked, "I'd like to register as an adventurer as well."
"Fine with me." Elze approved.
"Yes, let's go together." Linze had no complaints.
With that, both parties decided that first thing in the morning, they would go to the guild and register as adventurers, and so they departed for the night.
After saying his goodbyes to the two sisters, Touya decided to return to his room and retire for the night.
"What a day." Having plopped down on his bed face first, Touya let out a sigh of relief, a lot had happened in just one day.
First, he died because God threw a lightning bolt and accidentally killed him.
Second, he was reincarnated by the same God.
Third, he ran into a Zanac and sold his clothes for some extra cash.
Fourth, he encountered Elze and Linze, fought against two thugs, and won.
And finally, he was now laying on a bed, awaiting the new day as he idled around on his phone.
Not a bad first day in a new world if Touya had to say anything about it, but it sure as hell made him tired. A yawn escaped his mouth, Touya blinked and rubbed his eyes, checking the time on his phone and seeing that it was around midnight and that he should probably get to bed by now.
Sighing, Touya closed his phone and set it down in the drawer next to his bed. He slipped under the blankets and made himself comfy. Letting out one last yawn, he closed his eyes as he slept with one last thought.
"Wonder what new and exciting thing will happen tomorrow?"
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
The hustling and bustling of the Guild Hall was a sight to see for Touya. Different Adventurers made their day taking and completing requests for the guild, while some idle and hung out in it after a hard day's work. Various faces, both young and old chatted with each other, or amongst their party.
Touya, along with Elze and Linze, made their way towards the register counter, to register as adventurers and find a quest to suit their needs for the day.
"Yes!" The female guild receptionist replied, "This is the guild registration desk!"
"Is this the first time any of you three have registered with the guild?" All three nodded, "In that case, allow me to provide you with a quick explanation."
"Basically, advertising the client's requests and managing the rewards is the job of the guild." She began, "The jobs are categorized according to rank, so please choose a job appropriate for your rank. Once it's been confirmed the client's request has been completed, you will be given a reward."
"However, should you fail the request, you will be penalized." She clasped her hands together, "And should you continue to fail requests the guild will revoke your registration."
'Guess we'll have to choose our jobs carefully.' Touya sighed, better be careful with their future requests and what to take.
"And so, with the registration over, job requests can be found on this board, once you have found a quest you want to complete, you come here to submit it." The receptionist gestured to the board on the right, showing various jobs and quests to take.
The three nodded and made their way towards the board looking for a job to take, while the twins marvel and searched for a job to take, Touya did the same, surveying for a job that they can confidently finish, rubbing his chin, and the young man focused his attention on the board, drowning out the ambiance around him.
"Hey, Linze. How about this one? The rewards are pretty good and it's not a bad place to start."
"...Yeah, it's not bad."
"What do you think, Touya?"
'Hmm… A goblin extermination quest? Nah I got a bad feeling about that one. Denied.' Touya searched for another quest that didn't involve green short monsters, but all he could see on his side were quests that were either too high rank or paid too little in comparison. Sighing, Touya turned his head towards the twins.
"I got nothing on my end. How about you guys?" He told them. Linze then pointed at one.
"This one." Linze began, "It's a mission to exterminate beasts in the [Eastern Forest]. It says to defeat five [Horned Wolves]. They aren't powerful, so we should be able to defeat them easily."
"Is that so… Ah crap!" Touya exclaimed, his eyes widened as he facepalmed.
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I just realized, I don't have a weapon yet." Touya shook his head, cursing under his breath for forgetting something important.
"Really? Then I know a place to buy one, come on." Elze waved, leaving the guild with Linze and Touya in tow.
And so, following Elze and Linze, Touya was brought to a shop with the sign saying [Weapons Shop: Kumahachi].
"Welcome." A deep and manly voice greeted them, the owner was a large and beefy-looking man, he was no shorter than 2 meters tall, Touya was a little intimidated by the man, but he just brushed it off.
"I'm looking for a weapon that would fit this person, could we take a look around?" Elze gestured to Touya, the man stared into Touya intensely before he smiled.
"Of course! Feel free to look around!" The man laughed.
'Wow, never mind, he's friendly.' Touya sighed, he then followed Elze to the weapon section.
There were a lot of various weapons, befitting a weapons shop, but that would only mean that Touya had way too many to choose from, however, one weapon did catch his attention among the rest, which rested on a wall, the Japanese sword, the katana caught his eye, while it was a good thing to get there was also another Japanese weapon he saw.
"...Is there something wrong?" Linze asked as she saw Touya stare intensely at a barrel.
Placed inside of a barrel of various polearms, the spear of Japanese origins, was a yari, Touya grabbed the spear and did a few practice stabs, he then took the katana and unsheathed it, taking a glance at the blade Touya nodded and showed both weapons to his party mates.
"Those are [Eashen] weapons, right? I saw them last time and thought you'd like something from your homeland." Elze grinned, "Though I'm surprised you picked up a spear, I thought you'd be more of a sword guy?"
"Yeah, it's a common misconception about these things, this sword, the katana is usually just for self-defense or a sidearm compared to the yari and well, I'm better at the spear than I am with a sword anyways." Touya shrugged and walked to the owner of the shop to buy the weapons he had.
"I'll take these if you please." Touya placed the needed amount of copper coins down.
"How about armor?" The owner asked.
"For now, I'll put that aside, these should be enough for the quests we'll be doing," Touya answered.
"I see! Well then, come back when you need it!"
Touya nodded, turning his attention to the twins, and saw Linze and Elze buying their equipment. Seeing that it might be a while before they're done, Touya struck up a conversation with the owner and found out his name was Barral and he was a retired [Blue Rank] adventurer.
"Alright! Preparations complete!" Elze cheered, "Let's go hunt us some [Horned Wolves] in the [Eastern Forest]!"
(At the [Eastern Forest].)
Arriving at the [Eastern Forest] didn't take the trio much time, with that said, they made their way through the densely packed forest. Touya was in awe for the sole fact that he could sense everything around him, from the sounds of the leaves rustling to the smallest of sounds.
'God wasn't kidding when he said I'd have better senses.' Touya commented as he moved away a tree branch to get a better view of the path.
As beautiful as these were, Touya needed to move further in the forest and find a clearing, the trees would only serve as a hindrance for him with his yari, and while he had his katana. He'd much rather have the range advantage.
He immediately stopped in his tracks and sensed some unfamiliar presence running towards them. 'That must be the wolves.'
"Get ready, they're coming." He informed his fellow party mates as he readied his spear in preparation. Elze stood beside him and took a fighting stance while Linze readied her wand to support them from the back.
They waited for the arrival of the beasts, and just then. they pounced.
Touya dodged to his right and swiftly stabbed the wolf in the head, taking it out in one fell swoop. Another tried to sink its teeth into him but he blocked it using his spear, the wolf tried to claw away at him but he didn't let up and wrestled the wolf off his spear.
Thankfully they were in an open space, giving his spear this much to move around, unhindered.
Before it had the chance to recover, Touya killed it with another swift stab to the head. A wolf flew past him and collided with a nearby tree. Elze came to arms against one wolf as it bared its teeth, it charged hoping to bite down on the silver-haired girl but all it got was a hard fist covered in metal to the face.
"Come forth, flame of red stone: Ignis Flame!" Linze chanted as her wand glowed a red hue before a red flame spewed from it and burned the two wolves in front of her.
'So that's magic huh?' Touya stared in awe as he saw the effects of Linze's fire spell, 'Wonder if she can teach me.'
"Welp, that looks to be the last of them." Elze declared as she looked around to see if they missed one. Seeing as there wasn't, she sighed and looked at Touya, "How many did you get?"
"I got two of them, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Touya pointed back with his thumb at the deceased wolves behind him. His spear resting on his shoulders.
"I took two down too, how about you Linze?"
"Two as well."
"Great! We're all done then." Elze then went up to her kills and proceeded to cut the horn off. Taking her lead, both Touya and Linze did the same.
"Although, from the request's descriptions, we just needed to take down five of them…" She did a head count and they did slew 6 [Horned Wolves], leaving them with one extra horn. "Guess we can keep this one to commemorate this quest?"
"Sounds good to me!" Touya nodded as well as Linze.
And so, they made their way back to fill in the request and get their reward, in doing so the trio went back to [Silver Moon Inn] to celebrate their first completed quest.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
"Cheers!" They celebrated over a cup of tea and coffee.
'I think this is as good as any to ask Linze to teach me magic.' Touya mused as Linze and Elze conversed about the quest they just completed.
"Would you mind if I ask a favor from you two?" The question caught both of their attention, "I was thinking if you could teach me how to use magic."
"Touya, you have an aptitude for magic?" They said at the same time, causing Touya to let out a confused 'Huh?'
"Th-then." Linze coughed, she then took out a small crystal from her pocket and hovered her hand near her finished tea cup, "Come forth, water."
After her chant, water started to pour out from the crystal and filled the cup, Touya stared in awe as a small object manifested water right in front of his eyes.
"Magic is activated by using these." She brought up the crystal to give Touya a better view of it, "This stone amplifies and releases your magic power. The stone reacts to magical power and produces water on command."
"Coincidentally." Elze started as Linze handed her the stone. "Come forth, water."
Unlike Linze, when Elze tried the same chant, no water came from the stone, handing it back to her sister.
"If you don't have any aptitude with water this happens." Elze stated as a matter of factly, "That's why I can't use water no matter how hard I try."
"So even though you're twins, Elze can't use it?" Touya pointed out.
"No need to rub salt into the wound…" Elze pouted, clearly not happy about the fact.
"While everyone does have magical power, If you don't have the aptitude for it then you will never have the skill for it," Linze explained as she went around comparing it to how Elze could use {Boost} she couldn't. "First, we will need to find out what Touya has an aptitude for…"
'My aptitude huh? God did say he made it so I can use magic but he never specified what kind of magic I could use.' Touya thought. As he tried to recall God's words. "I think it'll be fine. A certain important person said there shouldn't be a problem."
"What kind of person told you that?" Elze asked but Touya just laughed it off. Not gonna answer that. Linze handed the stone to Touya who accepted it.
'I guess everything all depends on my aptitude…' Just like what Linze did, Touya's hand hovered over his used coffee cup, "Come forth, water."
And just like with Linze, the water poured out of the stone. However, unlike Linze's which was like pouring water, Touya's was like a waterfall, spewing all over the cup causing him to drop the stone in surprise.
"Woah." Touya gasped, as the amount of water that manifested surprised him. The twins on the other hand were just as flabbergasted as he was, Linze most of all, "What just happened?"
"...I believe that the amount of magic you possess, Touya, is quite large… With such a tiny stone and a partial chant…" Linze muttered, "I've never seen something like this before…"
"Furthermore. The amount of magic you have is just colossal, I can hardly believe my eyes…" Linze sputtered.
"...You'd definitely be better suited as a mage without a doubt, I've never seen anything like this before." Elze commented.
(Sometime later)
While outside, Linze and Touya sat on chairs at the back of the inn where they continued their lessons on magic, Elze on the other hand had no point in being there so she went back to the guild to take up a solo gathering quest.
"Um… Let's begin." Linze began. She placed a pouch bag on the table.
"Linze-sensei I'll be in your care." Touya said.
"Ca-calling me sensei…" Linze fidgeted in her chair in embarrassment, which Touya found to be cute. She coughed into her hand and steered her nerves.
"Let's start with the basics first…" Linze took out the same small crystals as before and placed them on the table, "Magic is made up of the seven different [Elements], fire, water, earth, wind, darkness, light and finally, non-elemental or null."
"Without needing to check, we already know you have an aptitude for water. Apart from non-elemental magic, most magic is activated by your aptitude and magical power and brought together with incantations. In order to find which elements you have aptitude with, let's go through each element one by one." Linze explained, handing Touya a red stone.
"Come forth, fire." Touya chanted, and the stone glowed as the red hue exploded in itself and brought forth a fiery blaze. "Woah…"
The fire crackled and snapped before it finally subsided, the flame put out by the wind. Touya then proceeded with another one.
"Your magical power sure is massive…" Linze commented as Touya chanted through a brown stone, sure enough, sand spewed from it.
The green stone, a large gust of wind.
The yellow stone, a blinding light emerged.
The purple stone, a dark eerie mist appeared.
"Is something wrong?" Touya asked as Linze was deep in thought after witnessing his magical potential.
"AH, no this is just the first time I've seen someone who's able to use six elements…" Linze started and then her face morphed into excitement, "I'm able to use three elements, fire, water, and light and even that's considered rare! So… You're incredible!"
While her praise was nice to know, it was misplaced, Touya felt like he didn't deserve such words as he practically got to start on NG++ in his new life thanks to God. But he isn't going to say that in front of her so he'll just keep his thoughts to himself.
"Hmm… The last one is a non-elemental stone. How am I supposed to activate this one, do I chant?" Touya asked, grabbing the colorless stone.
"Non-elemental or null magic is special, it doesn't have a set incantation. You simply have to concentrate your magical power and call out the magic's name." Linze answered, "For example, my sister's body enhancement magic is null magic and it's activated by saying {Boost}, there's another that increases muscle strength {Power Rise}, then there's an unusual one that allows you to travel long distances called {Gate}, however, Elze's can't use that one."
'So whatever doesn't fit into the other six elements is classed as null magic, huh?' Touya thought as he nodded, "How am I supposed to figure out if I'm able to use null magic?"
"According to Elze, the name of magic sometimes just pops up in her head." Linze replied, "Null magic is a very personal magic, it's very rare for two people to be able to use the same type of magic, even people who have multiple null magic spells are extremely rare."
"So, I would have no idea if I have any aptitude for null magic at all, huh?" Touya inquired, 'How inconvenient…'
"No, if you just hold onto the stone itself then you should be able to find out if you can use null magic or not." Linze shook her head, "Even without activating a magic spell, the stone itself should exhibit some sort of change. Like lighting itself up or shaking a bit."
"And if it doesn't change?"
"...Unfortunately, then you do not have an aptitude for null magic."
"I guess for now I'll just have to test it out…" Touya sighed. "Okay, focus…"
'If I remember correctly, Linze did say something about {Gate} being able to travel long distances… That would be useful later down the line…' Focusing on his mana, Touya envisioned the [Eastern Forest] where he and the twins hunted the [Horned Wolves].
A few seconds later, the stone shone as a white transparent door appeared, Touya got up from his chair and inspected the magical gate.
"It appeared."
"...It sure did." Linze was amazed by Touya's ability to create a {Gate}, the raven-haired adventurer thrust his hand through the gate and heard a female shriek on the other end of the gateway.
Touya then moved his upper half through the gate and saw Elze on the ground surprised and startled at the gate in front of her, "What're you doing down there, Elze?"
"Wh.. wha... WHAT IS THIS!" Elze yelped, as she frantically pointed at the {Gate} spell as Linze stepped out of it, "TOUYA WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING AND LINZE TOO? WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?!"
"Well, you see…" Linze began to explain the circumstances of what happened and why they were able to come here out of nowhere.
"Huh, it worked." Touya absentmindedly said as he scanned his surroundings, "Yeah, {Gate} is definitely gonna be useful later down the line."
"Hah… Honestly, to be able to use all the elements, you're such a weirdo…" Elze remarked, letting out a tired sigh.
"I've never heard of a person able to use all the elements! You really are amazing, Touya!" Linze praised. Again, Touya felt like he shouldn't be praised for something he was given for free.
'I guess I can at least work harder for it, wonder if Linze can teach me some spells?' Touya smiled, nodding as he gestured back to the {Gate}.
Linze nodded as she grabbed her sister's hand and went through the portal, Elze was a bit skeptical but otherwise went with her sister and they both walked through, Touya lagged as he took one last glance at the forest before following suit.
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(Later…)
It has been a little more than a few weeks since Touya arrived in the new world, and he has slowly but surely adjusted to his new lifestyle. In addition to learning magic, he also learned some new spells and refined his spearmanship and swordsmanship as best as he could. He also figured out that he could use magic without using a chant but only with spells he had mastered.
Right now he was at the guild along with Elze and Linze, trying to find a quest to fill today's needs. There were a lot of them though that was the problem, they couldn't pick one from the various amount of odd jobs to monster subjugation.
"Which one should we accept next?" Touya questioned, his eyes fixated on the request board.
"How about this one? Deliver a letter to the royal capital." Elze pointed at the paper on the board, "Reimbursement for travel expenses and seven silver coins, what do you think?"
"The client's name is Zanac Zenfield."
'Zanac? Wonder if it's by the same guy I sold my clothes to.' Touya mused. "How long would it take to get to the royal capital from here?"
"Hmm… By carriage, about five days?" Elze guessed.
"That's quite far… But we can use {Gate} to return in an instant so it won't be a problem…" Touya thought over, then he nodded, "Okay, let's accept this one, the client is someone I know."
"Really? Then lead the way."
Finding his way to the [Fashion King: Zanac] shop didn't take them too long, with Touya already having familiarized himself with the layout of the town and the streets. When they entered the shop, Zanac was already there to greet them and motioned for them to follow him upstairs.
"It's been a while hasn't it!" Zanac joyfully greeted Touya, offering him a hand, the younger man accepted and shook hands with Zanac, "Have you been well? Are these your companions by any chance?"
"Yes, let me introduce them. These two are Elze Silhouseka, and her sister, Linze Silhouseka, they're twins." Touya introduced the twins to the fashion designer.
"Nice to meet you." Elze nodded.
"Thank you for having us." Linze bowed.
"Haha! Yes, the pleasure is all mine, and I see you're doing yourself just fine, Touya! And to still be wearing the suit I gave you!" Zanac boasted.
"Yes, what you did for me was a big help." Touya nodded, "As much as I want to catch up, we're here for your request."
"Yes, yes! Please forgive my stalling." Zanac laughed, before placing a wrapped-up scroll, "The job description is to deliver this letter to Viscount Swordreck in the royal capital. He should understand if you give him my name, I'd like you to bring his reply back as well."
"Also, here are the travel expenses, I put in a little extra so if there's any leftover, you don't have to return it, do some sightseeing in the royal capital." Zanac then placed down a sack of coins.
"Thank you very much." Touya thanked the man, accepting both the traveling funds and letter. He and the twins stood up from the couch and walked downstairs to the door, waving goodbye to Zanac.
Touya asked if any of them knew where to find a carriage they could rent, Linze intervened, saying that she knew where to rent one, and then guided the party to the place.
They procured one and set out their sights for the nearest town as a way to stop for the day.
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(Arriving at [Amanesque Town].)
"Let's find an inn in this town for today," Linze suggested, as the half-day-long journey they experienced was weighing on them. Touya and Elze agreed, hopping off the carriage and looking around their new surroundings.
The trio began walking around, sightseeing the town, and finding an inn to stay in for the night. To pass the time, the twins conversed with each other while Touya thought aimlessly about anything to distract him.
While walking down the main street, there was a large crowd gathering in the middle of the street center, curious, the trio took a closer look at what all the commotion was about. Getting past the crowd wasn't too difficult for them and upon arrival, they saw a group of men surrounding a lone female.
"That girl… She's wearing strange clothes…" Linze pointed out, and sure enough, the clothes got Touya's immediate attention.
"...It's a samurai." Touya's eyes widened, here it was, a genuine, bonafide samurai right before his eyes, 'Though her clothes are a little non-traditional…'
"You treated us well this afternoon, missy." One of the men spat, as he held his sword up, "We've come to show our thanks."
"...Oh? Though I have no recollection of such treatment." The samurai girl tried to recall. Speaking in the typical samurai fashion got Touya to perk up in excitement.
"Don't play dumb!" One of them shouted, pointing his blade at the samurai, "Did you really think we'd let you go after beating up our friends?!"
"...Ah, you are with the men I turned in at the royal guard, yes?" She asked, finally understanding who these men were, she crossed her arms, frowning, "That fault lies with you, it is recompense for drinking since noon and running amok."
"Shut up! GET HER!" Having had enough of her attitude, the men rushed her, blades drawn.
The samurai easily read their sloppy movements and dodged out of the way, one of them tried to stab her with her back turned but she knew he was behind her and let his blade arm pass her as she ducked underneath its path.
She grabbed onto the outstretched arm and used it to lever the man's body forward, judo throwing him to the ground. She did the same to another man foolish enough to have a go at her.
However, just before she could steady her footing, something caused her to wobble and that was almost enough for one of the thugs to take the chance and attack her. Unfortunately for him, Touya wouldn't stand there idly and let him harm her.
Without thinking twice, Touya ran towards the thug chanting an earth spell {Blind Sand} to disorient him. He cried out in pain as his eyes were blinded with sand only to be silenced as a swift kick to the head knocked him out.
"Ah, jeez." Elze sighed as she donned her gauntlets and rushed in to help Touya, "You just had to stick your nose into trouble!"
'You seem to enjoy beating up the thugs though.' Touya mused, seeing Elze gleefully lay a smackdown on the thugs. One did slip through her eyes and tried to attack Touya only for him to absentmindedly dodge and knock him out with a right hook to the head.
After the brief but overwhelmingly one-sided fight, the thugs were laying on the ground, beaten up and humiliated in public, the bystanders dispersed as the fight was already over and went back to their daily lives.
Though not before calling the town guards about the incident.
Touya, not wanting to deal with the guardsmen, took the samurai's hand and led her away from the scene.
"Ah! Excuse me-" She tried to speak but Touya cut her off.
"Come on! Don't wanna get caught by the local officials!" Touya insisted, already forcing her to run as Linze and Elze were trailing behind them.
Leading the group to a nearby secluded alleyway, Touya finally let the samurai's hand go, letting her introduce herself properly.
"I am grateful for your assistance. I am called Kokonoe Yae." Yae bowed, "Ah, Yae is my name and Kokonoe is my family name."
Touya had a sense of deja vu, from the way Yae corrected herself, 'Huh, so that's how I sounded like.'
"Are you from [Eashen] by any chance?" Touya inquired.
"Indeed, I come from [Oedo] in [Eashen]." Yae nodded.
'Wow, even the name is similar…' Touya mused, then decided to ask why she lost her balance during the fight, "I was wondering, you looked a bit unstable during the fight back there, are you hurt somewhere?"
"No, there are no problems with my body but-..." Yae held her hands in embarrassment, "As embarrassing as it is. I lost my travel funds on the way here… So-"
Her stomach decided now would be a great time to remind her that it existed by grumbling, an awkward silence filled the atmosphere, Yae holding onto her stomach in embarrassment while the other three stared at each other trying to see who would break the silence.
Fortunately for the twins, Touya decided to break the ice first, "If that's so. Good timing, we were just about to grab some food ourselves. Care to join us?"
"...Eh?"
(At a food stall.)
"...No, I couldn't accept such charity from someone I've never met..!" While her words showed her denial, her stomach spoke the truth, grumbling at the prospect of a warm fill of food.
"We would love to hear about [Eashen] as a memory on our journey. In exchange, we'll share our meal with you." Touya offered, which was convincing enough for Yae's resolve to crumble and give in.
"In that case…" She cupped her chin, going over the pros and cons of such a deal.
'Too easy.' Touya shook his head, smiling.
While Touya did say he would offer Yae their food, he didn't think she would order so much food to the point that it actually put a dent into his savings, and he had several gold coins!
Nevertheless, the information Yae provided the trio was valuable though was it a fair trade? Touya still debated on it.
"Wow, so you're traveling to improve your martial arts, Yae?" Linze asked, clearly interested in the samurai so far from her homeland. Or would she technically be a ronin?
"...Indeed, my family has produced warriors for generations." Yae nodded, "My older brother is the predecessor so I decided to depart to hone my skills."
In Touya's first impression, Yae is a really cute girl, he just wished she wouldn't talk while eating…
"I see, you've had a pretty hard time, I'm impressed." Elze praised.
"What do you plan on doing now, Yae?" Touya asked, taking a sip of his cup, "Do you have a destination in mind?"
"...There is a person who once took care of my father in the royal capital… So I am thinking of visiting them." Yae answered, stuffing her face with some ramen noodles.
"What a coincidence! We're going to the royal capital as well for work." Elze informed the samurai, "Would you like to come with us? One more should fit on the carriage and that way would be easier for you right, Yae?"
"Are you serious?" Yae asked, "I haven't asked for this but… *nom* Are you sure?"
'As cute as you are Yae, can you please not talk with your mouth full?' Touya groaned but kept his words to himself. Wouldn't want to anger her now.
"We don't mind, right, Touya?" Linze smiled, urging Touya to agree to their suggestion.
"Sure, the more the merrier…" Touya nodded.
After that, they all finished their food, the three girls took this time to catch up on some girl talk, leaving Touya to pay for the dishes, and when he got the receipt he almost fell from his spot, Yae really did put a dent in his savings and it was just on one setting!
'Cute or not, Yae is going to eat us out of our money if she keeps this up!' Touya complained, taking out the appropriate coins to give to the cashier.
While in the grand scheme of things it wasn't much. Touya will forever remind himself to be more careful when it comes to food expenses.
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