Chapter 2

The sun was starting to rise up. The rays fell on Raimundo's face.

"Uh… what! What is this place! Where am I!? Kimiko! Omi! Clay! Where are you guys?" called Raimundo desperately.

"There is no need to shout, Raimundo. We are under here," said Omi about 10 feet away.

.That's 'over here'. Anyways, thank goodness you're all here," said Raimundo, running to Omi and hugging him. When he released Omi, he realized that he was not wearing his normal Xiaolin robes, but brown clothing instead. When he looked at Kimiko and Clay, he saw that they were wearing the same type clothes. "Hey, what's with the weird duds?" ask Raimundo.

"Don't laugh Rai, YOU'RE wearing them too!" said Kimiko.

Puzzled, Raimundo looked at what he was wearing. "WHAT!! Why am I wearing this stupid outfit too?!"

"I have no idea. We'd better go ask the locals about this. Hey! There's a woman beside the bridge! Let's go ask her!" said Kimiko, pointing at a woman.

They ran towards her. The woman suddenly noticed them and said, "Hey! You Novices! Do you need my help?"

"Novices? What's a Novice?" ask Kimiko.

"Let me explain. I am Zion. You four are clearly Novices. You need to go inside the castle and begin training. After your training, you can get your first jobs. Now go in the castle and talk to the guest receiver. He'll explain the jobs." said Zion.

"And where exactly is this 'castle'?" asked Raimundo.

"Just over the bridge." said Zion.

The monks (or should we say Novices) crossed the bridge and entered the castle. After the guest receiver explained to them what they must do, they talked to all the guides, who helped them with the basics. Afterwards, they continued to start their practical test.

After they have finished their practical test and their job aptitude test, they asked the Kafra staff to teleport them to Prontera, the capital city of Rune Midgard.

Suddenly, they heard a girl's voice in their heads, "So, you've finished your training, Omi, Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay. We are waiting for you in front of the castle of Prontera. Find a Priestess with blonde short hair. That's me. Or, you could find my partner, a Knight with spiky red hair.

"Great, now I'm hearing voices in my head." complained Raimundo

"You're not going crazy, if that's what you're thinking. The others can hear me too." the voice explained.

"Whoa there partner, slow down. Who are you and how do you know our names?" asked Clay to that voice.

"If you really want to know, just come here," said a heavy voice.

"But we don't know the structure of the town yet." said Kimiko.

"Then go ask the guide in front of the town gate." said the heavy voice.

"We'll be waiting," continued the girl's voice.

The four Novices ran to the south gate. They asked where the castle was. The guide gave them a special map with a moving mark on it, showing their position. After searching for ten minutes, they found the castle. They saw a girl no older than 17 with blonde hair and blue eyes sitting on the edge of the bridge to the castle. The girl saw them and stood up.

"Hello, glad you could make it here."

"How do you know us?" asked Raimundo

"Simple. I'm the one who brought you here." said the girl, with a simpering smile.

Raimundo charged at her and tried to attack. A red-haired boy with red eyes of about the same age as the girl came out from nowhere and said "Counter Attack!"

Raimundo attack was countered. He was thrown 30 feet backwards.

"You didn't have to do that Rein, I've already casted 'Kyrie Ellison'." complained the girl.

"I just want to give him a lesson about respect and patience. I think it was better to counter his attack than allowing his weapon to be broken by your shield, Nova. He's going to need it." said the boy called Rein.

Omi, Kimiko and Clay helped Raimundo to get up. Raimundo's back was hurt badly. The girl known as Nova walked over to Raimundo and said in a soft voice, "Heal!" The pain on Raimundo's back was completely gone.

"Hi, my name is Nova. Glad you could pass the novice test." said Nova with another smile.

"And I'm Rein. You'd better not mess with me." said Rein coldly.

"Who are you? How did you get all those wondrous powers?" asked Omi

"I would love to tell you but this isn't the time or place. Let's gather at my house, it's not too far from here." said Nova. Nova led them to her house. She asked the novices sit on the sofa opposite to her and then got them some drinks. "Now, I'll tell you the history of this place..." said Nova when she got back.

She told to them about an evil force that had been troubling Rune Midgard, and about how four people from a different world were supposed to save them from it.

"... and you guys are the four who the old Sage had told us about." said Nova, ending her story.

"So you mean we're here to save you all from that evil force?" asked Kimiko.

"Yes." said Rein

"Any idea who this evil force is?" asked Raimundo.

"We have no idea. The only thing we know is, this evil force came from the same world as you did." said Nova. "So, what do you say? Will you help us? This world is depending on you or Ragnarok will soon begin."

"I accept the challenge!" said Omi, almost immediately

"I'm with Omi!" said Kimiko.

"Count me in!" said Raimundo.

"Don't leave me out, partners!" said Clay.

Nova stood up and bowed down to them, "Thank you..." she said.

"Well, there's only one last thing to do. We have to make all of you stronger. You can't face the evil force if you're still novices." said Rein

"Have you guys chosen your job?" ask Nova after getting back to her normal sitting position.

"I would like to be a Monk." said Omi

"I think I'm going to choose Wizard." said Kimiko

"Assassin would be nice." said Raimundo

"Hmm...Gunslinger... Cowboy style..." said Clay, grinning.

"Okay, but you need to take the first job level first. Omi, you have to become an Acolyte first. Kimiko, you have to become a Mage, Raimundo, a Thief, and Clay….um…. you've only got one job level, so you can just become a Gunslinger. We'll start with Omi because his job quest is the closest." explained Nova. The six of them went to the Prontera church. Nova told Omi to talk to Father Thomas. Father Thomas told him to go meet Miss Milthida in Morroc. Nova picked up a sapphire stone and held it tight between her two hands and casted a spell. "Warp Portal!" she shouted. "Everybody to the portal!" cried Nova. The group walked into the portal. In a blink of the eye, they were in Morroc.

"Nova, you help Omi to find Miss Milthida, I'll help Raimundo become a Thief." said Rein. Nova nodded. Raimundo and Rein walk into the pyramid while Nova and the others went to find Miss Milthida.

Meanwhile, on top of Mount Mjolnir, a big red bean was watching over them with two little kids to its right and left. "Those fools, they don't know what they're going to face. Mwahahahahaha!"

"So, I've got to steal mushrooms?" asked Raimundo.

"Well, if you want to become a thief, that's the test." said Rein.

"That's so lame! Isn't there any other way?" asked Raimundo. Rein shook his head. "Aw, man!"

"That's why Nova asked you if you have decided your job. You have to be prepared to take the test. Not just physically but also mentally." said Rein. Raimundo reluctantly walked over to the one who was going to teleported him to Shibu's mushroom field.

"One more thing, be careful when choosing mushrooms, some could be a monster." said Rein with an evil smirk. After that, Raimundo disappeared, meaning that he had been teleported to the mushroom field.

At that time, Rein heard Nova's voice in his head, "Rein, me and the others have met Miss Milthida. Has Rai finished his test?" asked Nova.

"He just got started. You guys go ahead to Prontera, I'll wait for him." replied Rein.

"Okay." said Nova and then, she opened another portal. Nova, Kimiko and Clay waited for Omi outside the church. 3 minutes later, Omi came out from the church in his new clothes.

"Do these clothes suit me down?" asked Omi to everyone.

"Huh?" Nova exclaimed, confused.

"He gets slang wrong all the time. We go crazy trying to figure out what he means. I think he meant 'suit me up'." explained Kimiko.

Nova gave a little giggle and then, she gave Omi some kind of fist. "That weapon is called Claw. You could use it when you become a Monk." said Nova and then she continued, "Now, let's pick up Rein and Rai. "Warp Portal!"

They entered the portal, which took them back to Morroc.

In the meantime….

"Aargh! I didn't know those weren't mushrooms!!" screamed Raimundo. Two Spores were now chasing him because he thought those mushroom-like monsters were real mushrooms. Luckily, those Spores were now nowhere in sight.

"Phew!" Raimundo sat on the ground, wiping his sweat. "Wait a sec…I already have more than 25 mushrooms! I am such an idiot!" Then, he finally made it out and became a Thief.

"Here you go Rai." Nova gave Raimundo a pair of Katars. "That weapon can only be used by Assassins."

"Thanks!" said Raimundo, putting the Katars inside his bag.

"So, now it's your turn, Kimiko and Clay. I'll take Kimiko to Geffen, but before that, I'm going to open a portal to Einbroch for Clay," said Nova.

"Well, we'd better split up into groups of three," said Rein. "I'll take Omi and Clay."

"Okay, come on Kimiko and Raimundo. Prepare yourselves." said Nova. She took the blue gemstone again and casted warp portal. "That one is for Omi, Clay and Rein." The three of them entered the portal. She took another blue gem and casted again. "And this one is for us." she said. They entered the portal.

Einbroch, the city of industry. Where the Merchants become Blacksmiths. Where the Novices become Gunslingers. They entered the house where Clay was going to change his job.

"Talk to the Wise Bullhorn in Payon." commanded the Gunslinger who was going to change Clay's job.

"We'll take the airship from here. Here, some zeny for you." said Rein. He gave them a pouch of zeny. "That would be enough to get to Payon and back." he continued.

The three of them went to the airport. They talked to the staff at the airport and walked into the airship. They landed in Juno, and took one more flight to Izlude. In Izlude, they asked the Kafra staff to teleport them to Payon.

"Is travelling from one city to another always so complicated?" asked Omi to Rein.

"It depends on whether the Kafra Staff can get you there. Otherwise, you're just gonna have to teleport several times."

Clay talked to the Wise Bullhorn and the Wise Bullhorn asked for some items. "Nova, can you get 3 Zargons and search for 3 Shells?" asked Rein with the telepathy system called 'Whisper'.

"What for?" she asked.

"The Wise Bullhorn that Clay talked to needs a lot of items. Zargons and Shells are two of them." replied Rein.

"Ok, I'll send them later. I'm trying to get Kimiko to the Mage community." said Nova

"Thanks." said Rein. "While we're waiting for Nova to bring the Zargons and Shells, let's go find the other things we need." said Rein to Omi and Clay.

In the meantime…

Nova, Kimiko and Raimundo walked to Mage community. Kimiko was told to make solution 4. Then, they went to the west gate to go to the land behind it. It was easy to find the Fluff but not the Jellopy. After finding all the things they needed, they warped to Morroc to get the Morroc Solution. Afterwards, they warped back to Geffen. Nova went to the equipment shop to buy the Zargons that Rein asked for while Raimundo waited for Kimiko in front of the community house.

"Ingredients... Serial numbers…" muttered Kimiko under her breath in front of the machine.

"Is she done yet?" asked Nova when she came back from the equipment shop.

"No, not yet..." replied Raimundo.

At that moment, a girl with a black hair came out from the community house. "Are you sure this the way Mage should dress?" asked Kimiko, blushing.

"Yes, sorry I didn't tell you." said Nova. When Nova looked at Raimundo, his face was red and his mouth was open while seeing Kimiko's revealing clothing.

"What do you think, Rai?" Kimiko asked

"Huh? Oh… umm…" Raimundo's blushing face made Nova giggle.

"Okay, we're done. Now let's go and help Clay." said Nova, giving them one pouch of zeny each.

They warped to Prontera then Payon through the Kafra staff.

"By the way, I almost forgot. Here you go Kimiko; it's the Staff of Soul." Nova gave Kimiko a staff with a blue orb on the top of it.

"Thanks." said Kimiko, putting the staff inside her robe.

"Hey, over here!" screamed Rein.

"Here you go, 3 Zargons and 3 Shells." Nova gave Rein the Zargons and the Shells. Rein gave them to Clay. Clay then gave them to Wise Bullhorn. The old man asked for one more thing: Milk.

"Well, the only seller I know of is in Prontera." said Nova.

"Just search the place, there are a lot of vending Merchants here." said Rein.

"But from what I know, Merchants rarely sell Milk." said Nova. At that moment, someone tapped Nova's shoulder.

"Huh? " Nova turned her head, looking for the one who had tapped her shoulder.

"Yo! Nova!" called a boy.

"Kyor! Long time no see, how are you?" asked Nova to that boy. He was about the same age as her. He had spiky hair like Rein, but unlike Rein's, was blonde.

"What's with the Milk?" asked Kyor.

"Well, one of my friends here needs it to become a Gunslinger. Do you have one? I'll pay for it." asked Nova.

"Here, but I won't accept payment." said Kyor and gave Nova the Milk. "Got to go vending now, see you later." he said as he waved goodbye.

"Thank you!" screamed Nova to Kyor. Nova gave the Milk to Clay and Clay gave it to the Wise Bullhorn. The old man told Clay to go back to Einbroch. Nova opened the portal and six of them entered it. Clay went inside the Gunslinger community and changed his job.

"That job suits you well." said Rein.

"Here you go, a Crimson Bolt." explained Nova, giving Clay a red gun.

"Thanks." said Clay.