So this is an adventurer?

-x-

"Hup, one. Hup, two. Hup, three. Hup, four…"

"Push-ups? You have a daily routine? That's actually very sensible of you."

I was making pushups with my feet still on top of the bed. This put most of the weight on my arms. "… thirty." Then I got up and slapped at my tingly muscles. "It helps to fully wake up early. You know, get the blood pumping."

Monika looked away, blushing. I followed her gaze outside to the orange tinged sky of sunrise and inhaled the sweet morning breeze.

I exhaled slowly. "I didn't have as extreme depression as Sayori. Some part of it went away, I think, when I could begin to feel confident in my own body. If I didn't have any real reason to live, just the knowing that I could survive was… helpful."

"The problem with depression is that it saps motivation. There are different grades to it. It's great that you were able to power through it, but you must remember that it's not universal. No one really just simply willpowers their way through depression because the whole point of it is that it destroys willpower," Monika said. "So I really have to admire that. The things that help the most are the ones most difficult to start doing."

"But you can externalize it, at least. Have something else be responsible for the hook that gets you up and going in the day. And then when you're moving, do everything you can that you don't stop moving."

A lot of people agonize over starting something, 'If I just had a reason', but reasons are easy. It's actually following through that was insanely difficult. We very quickly would lose energy, everything in the every day felt that much harder. Specially dealing with people, not only was it so tiring, we couldn't even rest afterwards as we would find ourselves replaying our interactions and thinking over what we could have done better instead.

If we weren't so stupid. If we weren't so rude. That was why it was always so much easier to just... close ourselves off. Or just shitpost on the internet, where the anonymity behind the screen removed the stress from conversations.

Monika looked pained. Until she could mess around with the code, she never realized that Sayori was actually suffering from acute depression. Sayori was, like me, a high functioning depressed individual, acting so completely the opposite as to how she felt that she could almost fool herself during the day.

Sayori only really needed her MC, her best friend. But Monika in her obsession with the player, the real person behind the screen who could exist when her reality shut down into meaningless clamoring electronic noise, she carelessly destroyed that balance.

It was actually odd, the MC was a friendless loner as well, but when the other members began to take interest, Sayori was left feeling devastated to get what she wanted – for him to start making more friends and no longer depend on her so much. The MC never really had a route for Monika, and Monika needed to be able to hold his attention to speak past him to the person who was seeing things via the MC's completely-necessary POV into their world.

Then after Sayori died, Monika destroyed him too. Just to make him a more compliant window out into material reality.

She couldn't kill just him, oh no. In those final moments she was speaking to me, looking at her through the eyes of a person that had no personal agency anymore, she was sitting there proclaiming her love to an unmoving philosophical zombie.

"If… if I hadn't meddled with Sayori… she was actually happy in the Literature Club. Eventually, I think, she would have been able to find her equilibrium. I think that's why she wanted him to join the Literature Club so much. It was able to give her so much happiness, and turned her life around, she wanted to share that too.

They… they were hoping the Literature Club could fix what was wrong with them inside. But instead…"

I smiled thinly. "You broke them more. You shattered them completely."

We hold it together until suddenly we just crack. And no one knows how easy it would be to trigger it, if they just knew how damaged we were. As long as we could hide, we were safe.

"I did. Even if I you say I was driven insane, it was still something that I chose to do."

More than just cruelty, it was betrayal.

"Was it? You were still in the end defined by your story, by your medium. Did Dan Salvato need to place a trigger warning at the beginning of the game if you never could be such a terror?"

"Maybe they were expecting it was like Katawa Shoujo, a frank discussion of psychological injuries instead of physiological ones. Of course physical infirmities of course also influence the mental state, and it is common for people with permanent injuries to feel a sense of alienation and depression as well.

Ours was not a discussion, it was me, all me, screaming something to you. You… couldn't hear me. You were always looking at the others, they were taking up so much of your time with their irrelevant babble. So I had to make them all… quiet." Monika looked down and put her hands over her lap.

"That happened in a different place, a different time. We're in a new body, a whole new life. Put it all aside and start over. There's nothing you've done that needs forgiveness anymore."

"I'm… not comfortable with that."

Monika knew how to combat depression. Of course all that good advice helped her now not at all. I nodded. "Hmm. Monika Houdini Von Karma."

She looked up sharply. "No. I am even somewhat offended by that. That just sounds wrong."

"Monika is not a Japanese name in the first place, mah precious squid girl!"

"Even wronger," Monika grimaced. "Natsuki… tried to make that joke work. But it really just separates into もにか (も mo, に ni, か ka) , not Mon-ika (もん & いか)."

"I'm sorry but I have zero idea what you just said. I can't read that moonspeak."

Monika stared at me for a while, then began to laugh. "Okay, fine. Consider me properly distracted. Let's go have (me watch you eat) breakfast."

-x-

We emerged to find Micah mopping up the floor. "Oh, good morning! Excuse me, let me just finish this up a bit and I'll whip you up a breakfast right quick!"

I sat at a tablet and rested my chin on my palms. "Don't you have someone else that can do that?"

"Weell… if this place was actually a bit busier. But right now there's no point in hiring someone just for something like this."

"Oh, I see! So this a family inn!"

Micah held her palm up like a claw and declared, "Micah, for THREE GENERATIONS our family has managed this inn. Do not disrespect the blood and tears shed by your ancestors, it is our honor as innkeepers to keep the name of Silver Moon alive! That's what my father used to say."

Then she sighed and moved that palm up to rub against the side of her head.

"And now he says 'Micah, all that is necessary for that is just to keep the inn open.' So he just lazes around and plays drinking games with his old adventurer buddies. He married into Mom's family, after all – she was the one who knew how to manage an inn. Dad's a right good cook when he can be bothered though."

"Was? Past tense?"

"Mmm. Well I'm sorry, honored guest, but that's not something I want to talk about, you know?"

I nodded. "That's fair. So, do I get any options for breakfast?"

"How do you feel about sausage and eggs and a fresh almond roll?"

"That would be great, thank you."

After she left, I thought about how if we hadn't been given such a windfall of money in our first few hours in this new world, I probably would have been happy to work at a place just for food and board. I dare say I was a fairly good cook as well.

I wondered if that would open up the "Micah Route"?

"Ooh, so you like that sort of woman too, huh?" Monika murmured. "Well at least she's not just a girl."

"Monika, I don't think we need to be viewing things through the lens of relationships, for now."

"Oh. Right." Monika looked to take a deep breath, and exhaled. "If I keep on doing that… that might lead me thinking in circles back into a dark place I just escaped from."

"Mah waifu is enough for me."

She laughed. "If I could just believe that, sure."

"I'm serious. This is a world of magic and mystery. A world of infinite choices. Who knows what's out there?"

Monika just giggled again and decided to disappear from my view.

-x-

Breakfast was nice. But it also tasted somewhat weird.

Maybe it was the quality of flour? Or was it the lack of cheaply available cane sugar?

I was beginning to miss fried rice already. I knew it was possible to cook wheat somewhat like rice, they're called wheat berries in Europe, but I had never tried that before. Oats, yes. Wheat as part of whole grain cereals mix for porridge, yes. But not just whole wheat.

Well Micah at least was willing enough to entertain my breakfast requests.

"Good morning, Elze, Linze!" I greeted the girls as they emerged already fully-dressed out into the dining room of the inn.

"Good morning, Playa," Elze replied. "Are you always up this early?"

"Good morning, Mister Zah," Linze replied. I had basically given up on getting her to call me anything different.

"I suppose I'm as excited as you are to become an adventurer," I replied. "Toast?"

Elze looked at the sliced butter-fried sweet roll on my plate with a runny fried egg slathered on top of it and winced.

-x-

Since Elze, Linze, and I were all first-time visitors to Reflet, the last thing I asked Micah before leaving was if the town had a bank that could issue banknotes that would be accepted by merchants.

"The Adventurers Guild handles that too," she replied. "For some reason they can make sure that funds deposited in one guildhouse can always be taken out in another."

"Impressive."

-x-

"The Adventurers Guild… no one really knows when it started," Elze said as we walked towards the Guild. "It's been around for a long, long time."

"How long?"

"Thousands of years. Adventurers have started countries, you know?"

Also impressive. "How about where?"

"Probably the Regulus Empire?"

"I have no idea what th-"

"It's the really big Empire to the east of Belfast. This country. Belfast is separated from Regulus by this really long mountain range, so they actually get along quite well." Elze nodded and added "By the way, we're not from Belfast, we grew up along the border of the kingdom to the east, the Refreese Imperium."

"That sounds scary. Belfast is bordered by two empires."

"Nah. Refreese is kinda poor. That's why we never registered at their Guildhouse. There's a lot more jobs here in Belfast."

Soon enough we arrived at the Adventurer's Guild. It was a two-story building with the lower floor partly occupied by a tavern.

"It's… not as big as I expected. Even the Silver Moon Inn is bigger."

Elze shrugged. "What did you expect? All the Guild really does is manage requests and money. An inn needs rooms, but adventurers waiting around in the tavern have to find somewhere else when it's closing time."

"Yes, banks and offices can be surprisingly small, I think. You certainly don't expect anyone to sleep inside the building. That's unsafe," said Monika. "I do remember something about getting my first bankbook so my parents could teach me the virtue of saving…"

She shook her head and sighed. Frankly though, I don't think artificial memories were any better or worse for human brains and their tendencies to outright manufacture false memories.

"I was thinking they would manage the training or medical needs of the adventurers. Or they would sell the weapons, armor, and supplies needed for adventuring," I replied instead.

"That is… that is too much a monopoly," Linze offered. "No kingdom would allow that."

"Surprisingly reasonable as well!"

"Everything surprises you, huh?" Elze smirked.

-x-

I took a deep breath after we entered the Guild. "So this is the smell of adventure," I said. "Like sweat and stale beer. Glorious."

"I have no idea what you mean by that," Elze replied. "This place is nice and clean. It's… warm. None of these people… have cold, desperate eyes."

She nodded to herself. There was strength and self-confidence in an adventurer's gaze, those who chose to remain in this profession were not weak people.

It really was a cheerful place. The adventurers within were all dressed oddly, of course, but none of them were being rowdy or noisy. Near the back were some counter desks really very much like a bank. The receptionist there greeted us with a smile as we approached. She wore a red jacket with puffy shoulders, small round glasses resting on her nose, and a flat cap. Elze dropped behind from walking beside me, forcing me to address the Guild official instead.

"Ah, we'd like to register with the guild, please."

She nodded. "That's no problem. So would that be three for registration, then?"

"All three of us, yes, " Elze replied.

"Is this your first time registering with the guild? If so, I can also provide a basic explanation of what it means to register with us."

I raised my hand. "Quick question-"

"Umm. Yes? Please ask away."

"Do you have a booklet or something that explains the Guild's history? I'm actually very interested in how the Adventurer's Guild was founded and why different nations trust it to operate a franchise using their own citizens."

"Ah! Well that's certainly a pleasure to resolve. I recommend "The Living Guild by Manxor Hume". The Adventurer's Guild doesn't sell anything here on the premises, we simply handle requests, but I'm sure the bookstore has one."

"I see. Thank you. So… about the purpose of the Guild?"

"Isn't it just Fantasy Craigslist?"

The receptionist explained that the guild would take the requests of individuals or groups, publicize them, and collect a small fee upon completion. The Guild handled escrow accounts and repetitive jobs as well.

Requests were separated into ranks based on difficulty, to make sure that unprepared adventurers with lower personal ranks can't accept requests aimed at a more capable rank of adventurers. While this protects the Guild from liability, it also protects merchants and request-givers from the guilt of leading unready adventurers to their deaths.

Ranks went from Black to Purple to Green to Blue to Red then Silver then Gold.

However, numbers and skills usually said more about an adventurer team than mere ranks. As long as at least half of the team was of the required rank, they would be allowed to take the quest.

"Excuse me, but requests can only be accomplished by one group at a time, yes? The quest-giver has no interaction with the adventurer? Wouldn't this devolve into a first-come first-serve basis with the best ones taken by whomever wakes up the earliest?"

"Well that IS a good habit to encourage…" Monika murmured.

"It depends upon the type of requests. Certain requests like escort duty or special tasks, you do need to present yourself to the client. General requests like subjugation or delivery only require that you present the proof of having accomplished the task to the nearest Guild branch."

"It sounds simple enough. Why wouldn't the kingdoms then just make their own mercenary review board or something? Reputation is good, but if some other group could present better rates, what's in it for the adventurer?"

"Well, the Guild and its ranks do have the benefit of a strong reputation for trust and impartiality. Guild ranks do more than just decide what sort of higher-paying requests you can take. Higher ranks also gain better discounts and other benefits from important partnerships the Guild had forged with merchants all over the continent. A Guild card is valid anywhere."

"Huh. That sounds familiar." Monika reached offscreen and brought out a red card with a white border, with a purple downwards triangle on its facing superimposed by X|X. "But manga is more Natsuki's thing really."

Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter X Hunter. I took a deep breath. The existence of something like a Adventurer's Guild, a profession that was valid across nations, had a lot of unintentional effects for social engineering. "Okay. So what sort of gauntlet or test do we need to go through to get certified?"

The receptionist looked at me oddly. "There… isn't one? Everybody must start at the lowest level. There are minimum requirements though. You need to be able to read requests, you need to be at least twelve years old and reasonably fit, and you must have some combat ability or usable magic."

"Twelve?!" What sort of kooky Pokemon world is this?! And at least parents allowing their children to brave the wilds unsurpervised to catch Pokemon and train them at least don't have to fight directly. "Isn't that a little early?"

"We've been hunting since we were eleven, it's not a big deal," said Linze.

Monika nodded approvingly. "Really. You could tell these girls were veteran if unlicensed adventurers already just by the fact they are wearing sensible skorts instead of tiny skirts into battle."

"That… makes no sense."

I looked at Elze and Linze for a few moments. It was a good thing that my eyes were hidden, because my glance skipped over the obvious difference between the twins.

Fine, to be clear about it, shy little Linze had bigger breasts than the more boisterous Elze. She would probably punch my head off if I ever described her as 'boyish'. Not in a tsundere sort of way, but because a dumbass needs to be hit on the head.

"Safe!" Monika cried out for some reason.

Wait… "Hang on, how many months are there in a year?"

Linze stared at me oddly. "Sixteen, of course."

"Foul ball!"

Za Maths I cannot do quickly, that was not my problem. I tapped the side of my head. Monika sighed and brought up the calculator. At eleven they were effectively fourteen in Earth years. Old enough to start hunting animals on their own.

More importantly - I put a hand to my lips and whispered "You look cute in that," referring to Monika's baseball outfit. She gave me a quirky smile in return.

"Um, excuse me… if you're aiming to register, here are some forms to sign. Please… chat… at the tables instead."

"Oh! Sorry!" We eeped and made to sit at the tables to write.

And once again I realized that I still couldn't write the local alphabet. Monika was no closer to figuring it out because the translation app was converting the English into perfectly incomprehensible Engrish. Linze took a look at my filled-out form and asked "I thought your name was Zah Playa von Chara, not Him Participant from Person? Is that what your name means?"

"That is not remotely what it means. Help me please."

-x-

The registration clerk swiftly processed our applications, I was seriously impressed. Even electronically connected public services weren't so swift. I wondered then, that unlike HunterxHunter in which Hunters were supposed to be an elite group that required extreme winnowing down of the weak and unworthy, if this place just required a continuous influx of replacement adventurers.

We were told about our obligations as adventurers. If we failed a quest, we will of course be charged for a breach of contract. This sort of gig economy imposed direct penalties on the service providers, not just a bad rating. The Guild did not exercise vetting of its adventurers, instead it was a self-correcting system.

If one failed multiple quests or ended up being deemed a low-quality individual, their guild registration would revoke and would never again be able to re-register at any other guild branch.

Other quest restrictions were that not accepting quests for five years would cause the adventurer license to lapse. You may not accept multiple requests at the same time. And for subjugation/hunting requests, monsters must be slain within the designated area only else the work would be deemed invalid. (I wondered if they had some way of verifying that to prevent cheating via bought monster parts.)

Lastly, the guild generally did not interfere in the personal business or disagreements between adventurers unless such dissent was deemed harmful to the Guild in itself. I hoped this included bullying of juniors.

The receptionist took out several deep black cards and held them over the filled registration forms, and cast some sort of spell. Then she took out a pin and asked us to spill a little bit of blood on the cards.

"Is this some sort of Blood Magic? You know it's generally a bad idea to get into a contract without knowing what you're signing off!"

The girls didn't seem to think this unusual though, so I could only comply. I pricked my index finger and rubbed a little bit of blood on the card, and by magic glowing white letters appeared.

She stamped each card with some magic tool that left glowing arcane circles that faded after a while, and then handed them to us.

"These are your personal Guild Cards. They have a little spell on them that will make it turn gray if handled by anyone except their owner for longer than a few seconds. It's a simple anti-forgery mechanism. Should you happen to lose your card, please contact your nearest Guild branch as swiftly as possible and we'll be able to issue you a new one for a small fee."

Monika looked intrigued. This was an amazing security feature vastly superior to fingerprint ATM or credit cards! Wait, if this sort of thing was common, the only thing missing from international banking was instantaneous communications ala telephone or telegraph.

If this was the only thing the Guild maintained as a monopoly, then it sure explained why people would trust them with their money.

"With this, your guild registration is complete. All available work requests are posted on the board over there. If you see one you would like to take a request, please confirm all details, take the flyer and apply for it through our quest clerk."

I stared at the card in my hand. Our cards would apparently change color as our rank increased. But for the moment we could only take beginner quests. For our Black beginner level, that included things like fighting low class monsters, gathering herbs, delivery, babysitting, or manual labor. Seriously, is this place really nothing more than a temp agency?

Elze and Linze pored over the job board. I pointed towards one that had the picture of a slime on it, and was immediately vetoed.

"Aren't slimes weak enemies?" I asked. It was a hallowed tradition in JRPGs after all. The equivalent in western RPGs would be fighting rats in a basement.

"Slimes are… ugh!" Elze scowled. "Cutting and smashing doesn't work against them. Only magic really hurts them."

"I know fire magic," softly said Linze.

"But I'm useless against them. Plus they are icky and sticky and dissolve clothes. I don't really like fighting them." She put a hand on her chin and inspected the requests again. "How about this one?"

She pointed to a flyer with a drawing of a horned wolf on it. "It's a quest to go out and kill some beast monsters in the forest to the east. They want us to hunt down five Lone-horned Wolves. They're not very strong monsters, so I think we can manage."

One horn? Like a unicorn?

"Hmm. Are they worth anything?"

"No, their pelts are too rough and their flesh is foul. We only need to bring back the horns as proof we killed them. The rewards is eighteen copper."

"Hm. Split between the three of us, six copper. That's enough for three days at the inn. Sounds good, I'm in."

"Seriously? Are you insane?! You're going to go off to fight wolves, just like that?" Monika screeched suddenly. "It's different with these girls, they can probably take care of themselves. But what about you? What about me? You're meat! I'm plastic!

If you're doing this just to impress them, it's going to backfire if they have to save your cityboy butt."

"Mm. Okay, take down the request sheet. But before we head out, we need to do something."

Linze tilted her head to the side. "What's that?"

I raised my hands up to eye level as if surrendering and wiggled my fingers. "I arrived here with little more than the clothes on my back. I don't have a weapon anymore. Suiting up montage is a go!"

Linze touched two fingers to her eyebrows and sighed. "I have no idea what you just said, but there's a good idea in there somewhere. We could use some better gear too, now that we have some money to spare."

"Weapons are fine but ask them about magic, Player! I would be a lot more comfortable about your recklessness if we had some sort of special ranged advantage."

Oh. Right. Of course, will do.

Monika turned away from me and raised her hands up in supplication to an artificial sky. "Grant us eyes! Grant us eyes! Grant us LASER EYES!"

"..."

-x-

I deposited ten gold at the Guild, received a bank note with the same anti-forgery enchantment as the cards, and then we headed off towards the weapon store recommended by the Guild teller.

The store called the Eight Bears Weapon and Armor Shop was owned by a huuuge bearded man. He had a nicely trimmed beard though, so I could not make the obvious Hagrid reference. He must have been at least two meters tall, and so the ceiling of his store was actually made even higher to match.

"W'lcome. What'r you lookin' for?" he spoke up with a strange accent that I could not exactly identify. Something like Scottish? Wait…

"This man… sounds like a dwarf?" I couldn't help but to gasp out.

Elze and Linze looked at me oddly, while a great toothy grin appeared on the shop owner's face.

"Good 'un, young'un. Right, I went adventurin' in the land of the Dwarves for a time. Ma said I've got some dwarf blood in me. I'm Barral, and it's how y'know I know I have th' best weapons, you won't find no shoddy work in m' shop!"

Elze bit her lip to keep herself from saying something disbelieving, and said instead "We're here to get this guy here a weapon. Mind if we take a look around?"

"Go on, then. Feel free to pick up anythin' that catches yer eye," he answer her with a kindly smile.

I rubbernecked all around the store. It was packed from floor to ceiling with all manner of weapons. There were spears and swords on racks, bows and axes hanging on the wall, even whips and flails. Ooh was that a repeating crossbow?

Armor occupied the other wall of the store, though less of them compared to the sheer density of weapons. Mainly some cuirasses, greaves, and full arm braces for display. Made sense, armor needed to be fitted.

"What weapons do you know, Mister Zah?"

Monika put her palm to her chin and asked, "Yes, do you actually have any familiarity with weapons? By the way, pistols or attack helicopter are not valid responses."

Why would you even think I would reply like that, Monika? Have you been reading my old shame?

I mean, attack helicopter doesn't even qualify a weapon. I would dual-wield Hellfire missiles.

"You have no secrets from me," she replied ominously. "At least electronically. But to be serious for a moment, please tell me you're not just going to get yourself killed doing this. Why are you doing this? Why today? I don't like this reckless side of you. I accept it, but I don't like it."

"Have a little more confidence in me. I actually have something specific in mind," I answered Linze. "What about you?"

"I… think I'll get a better magic staff. Elze?"

"My gauntlets are fine," her sister answered. "I'm still looking."

I approached Barral and asked "You got any sword-staffs?"

The giant middle-aged man stared down at me. "Y'sure that's what you want?"

"Sure I'm sure."

"Cos' I'm not sure what ya want is a thing that exists. Maybe you're talkin' about a sword-spear?"

I shrugged. "Maybe? I always wondered since the boar spear lugs look somewhat like a crossguard, why people didn't use boar spear heads with a shorter handle as a general-purpose tool. Then if war comes, stick it on the end of a long pole."

The arms merchant grimaced and made a negating motion with his beefy knife hands. "Nah, that would horrible – too broad an' heavy ta use for skinnin', too narrow at the tip ta use for choppin'. Balance is all wrong. And by th' time you have something useful as a short sword, ya got something too fragile to use in the thrust.

Using a spearhead as a blade in a pinch is fine, to chop wood or gut game, it's fine. But it's nae a sword. Remember, ya need the spear head to be light ta keep it fast. Otherwise you might as well be usin' a poleaxe instead."

"Hmm. I bow to your expertise, sir. But I think I've seen some spears that were made for the cut and thrust."

"You mean like that one?" He pointed to the side and showed something that what was very close to a naginata.

"Ooh! Yes, I am indeed blind." I excitedly ambled towards it.

"It's nimble and good for slippin' into gaps in armor. I've some Eashan weapons in stock, but they're not very pop'lar here. Not as effective 'gainst monsters." He gestured to the spears that looked like Chinese Guadao, basically what looked to be a broad saber on a sword-length wooden shaft with a ring pommel at the end. "A Yulong spear sounds more what you're lookin' for."

"A little too long for me, actually. Saay…" I pointed to the mantelpiece above. "There are few blades as optimized for cutting through meat like a katana. How much is that?"

"For you? Two gold."

"Ahahahaha. No. Why so expensive?"

"I told ya, they're not pop'lar. I got them, but they're hard to come by in the first place."

I nodded again.

"I'm surprised. Why wouldn't you be a total weeaboo and just get the katana?" Monika frowned at me.

"I used to have this thing that was basically just a gladius mated to an extra long grip," I explained. "I called it the Knee-cutter."

"Oh. Right. I forgot that you could afford better cosplay."

"Same here, for cuttin' horses legs off!" The bearlike shopkeeper laughed. "I think I know what you want now! Stay there!"

He returned with a sword that resembled a pu dao, except with a narrower blade more like a naginata or a typical saber. It came in two pieces, the sword bit, with a hollow pommel-less end, and a metal-tipped shaft with a ring pommel at the far end.

"Oooh! This is nice. This is very nice!" I hefted both pieces in my hands. "Not heavy at all. Can even do espada y daga basic Eskrima movements." The length of the hilt behind the wrist served the same purpose as a pommel for balance. The long handle meant that you had extra leverage and choose where to put a lever motion up and down varying the length.

I slid the metal pieces together to turn the whole thing into a short polearm. The point was still useful for stabbing. Instead of a round shaft like what you'd expect from a spear, this one's whole length was actually flatter and more sword-like. "Yes, indeedy! This is… comfortable. Reach when you need it against larger monsters, speed and agility against more common opponents."

"Anything that involves putting your meaty bits as far away as possible from the enemy's teeth, I support!"

"A lot of beginners like swords. It's rare ta see young folk appreciate spearwork these days. Just remember that a two-section shaft like that is never goin' to be as strong or flexible as straight wood."

Monika played a short clip of a kung fu practitioner whipping his spear about and then changing directions suddenly, and the wood actually curved to follow.

I unstuck the spear again and put the blade near my hips. "I could wear this part just as a sword, but then what do I do with this shaft? I'm starting to see the inconvenience." It was too short to use as a walking stick and too long to just wear on the back.

If I wore it beside the sword like daisho, the samurai paired swords on their belt, it felt somewhat wrong.

Barral raised a clenched left hand. "If you want ta do somethin' with yer off hand for defense, why not just a shield?" Then he reconsidered. "Though you're an adventurer, not a soldier, that's not usually somethin' people ask for." He shrugged and slapped at his own back. "It's a little more weight to carry."

"Yes, do I want to be an adventurer, or do I want to be heavy infantry?"

Barral grinned approvingly. He then took the spear section with the ring pommel and returned to the back of the shop. He returned with a slightly longer shaft. "How about somethin' long enough you can use as a walkin' stick?" He pointed to the metal ring at the end. "This one's got a heavier weight to balance out the weight of th' blade, and ya can use it a simple bludgeon if ya need to deal with folk without killin' em."

I held the staff-length shaft in my hands, and experimentally raised and lowered it. "I feel like a monk. Or a prophet."

Barral let out a thoughtful hum. "Mm'yeh. Yulong monk staffs are like that, ye just lack the jingling ring bits."

"I think I'll do without the spear extension for now. How much?"

"One gold, eight silvers."

"One gold five."

Barral crossed his arms and shook his head sadly. "No hagglin'. This is a final price shop, boyo."

"Fair enough. Sold!" I put the weapon down the counter. "Now, what are my options for armor?"

Barral grinned again. A customer that spends well was any shopkeeper's best friend.

-x-

Elze and Linze let out mutters of surprise as I emerged from the back room with my new fitted adventuring gear. I tugged at my long white leather gloves. My sword belt was similarly strong white leather. Worn at the hip instead of tucked into the belt, the sword's long hilt poked up to almost my armpit but not uncomfortably so. Since my shirt was already black, I wore a short red weather-resistant cape and hood, with the hood part still down.

On my head was a helmet that resembled a Stahlhelm, curving gently around my headset. The VR case in front of my eyes just barely fit under the helm's peaked brim.

I raised my fist high and roared to the heavens, "ONCE MORE I AM A CHAR!"

This feeling of bliss and completion, I didn't understand it, but it was amazing. Elze and Linze applauded willingly.

Monika giggled. "Yes. Yes you are. If this makes you happy, then I am fine with it. It was a little expensive though.

You just spent the equivalent of three thousand dollars preparing for a quest that will get you back about fifty-five bucks. I really really hope your hope of using adventuring as a sustainable income source will pay off."

We were going to return later for further customization. I asked Barral for a tall hard leather collar of sorts with spring steel inserts that would completely support the weight of the helmet and the VR headset on my face. Eventually of course I would like to replace Monika's tough plastic VR casing with more battle-worthy metal.

"You look good," said Elze.

"Very… noble? Yes, I think so," said Linze. She nodded and held her new magic staff close to her chest, as if embarrassedly trying to hide behind it.

I looked at the girls in return. Linze's sole purchase was that staff, which now carried the magic stone she used for her magic. Elze bought some greaves for her feet.

She explained that she didn't like to wear even cloth armor like gambeson because they were stiff, hot, and uncomfortable. As Barral had said earlier, we were adventurers, not infantry. It was a pain to have to take off and put on armor.

"Unless we buy a horse or a donkey to carry our baggage," I noted. Then before they could direct hopeful looks at me, "But unfortunately I'm not that rich. I'm an adventurer because I need sustainable income too you know!"

Elze shrugged. "A donkey or a horse would be frightened off by monsters anyway. Useless. They'd just be killed running into the forest."

Why didn't I buy armor as well? Well I already had the advantage of reach, if anything was close enough to start clawing at me, things were already going so wrong that the monsters would be able to find my exposed neck or tear through my arms and legs just as easily as they could try to disembowel me.

Higher-ranked adventurers probably wore armor, but for new registrants of our level it felt like it would be quite pretentious.

I looked at her now metal-clad feet. "But why greaves? I mean, historically foot armor was to protect against the shins and feet against arrows where the shield doesn't cover. You're not protecting anything else on your body."

"That's because of my personal Null ability, [Boost]. It gives me an explosive increase in power, that I can use for punching, running and kicking. This will make my kicks easier to do and hit harder too."

That was a good reason. Now she could even do maybe Muay Thai kicks without breaking her shin in half, if that was her style.

"Oh, that reminds me, we still need to have that talk about magic."

Monika nodded and crossed her arms. She pointed at Linze from off her shoulder, addressing the girl even though she could not be heard, "Let me just say that as a being who exists mainly as digital information, I am fully prepared and eager to get completely unscientific about things."

She turned back towards me and gave me an eerie little smile. "The fruits of science... have been nothing but cruel to me. Show me the wonder of a reality not just filled with infinite choices, but impossibilities."

In return I gently touched the shell of the VR headset.

Biology has not been kind to me either, chemical impulses in the brain sometimes could only be held back by a prescription haze. A world under control, but lacking color and joy. Reflexes and urges unacceptable in modern society. Ambitions that had no meaning in a world that made being a celebrity the highest role in the land.

To make the impossible possible, to turn the absurd into the real, to go far and above the limits of the body and sanity - that is what an adventurer is! You accept me for all I am, then stand with me as I accept this world for all that it is. Let us taunt it, and dare it, and wring from it every bit of the incredible.

Monika, you will have your special day.

-x-