Chapter 2
"Talking."
'Thinking.'
Locations
Noises
"UUOOGH!" Issei eye's shot open as he took in an enormous breath.
He then began to look around frantically as the information about the world around him flooded his eyes.
"Huh! What!?" Issei kept moving his head in multiple directions as he began feeling his body. His breathing slowly stabilized as he began to calm down.
Issei then got one good look at his surroundings, the first thing he saw was the gentleness of the afternoon sky. Looking down he noticed the snow-capped mountains off in the distance, they complemented the scenery of the distant forest that was lush with vegetation. Looking closer he noticed a large river going through the countryside that had mills placed along it.
The massive fields of wheat then appeared in his vision, flowing through the hills around him. He then noticed a city in the distance. The most eye-catching thing was the castle that stood at the top of the city. Guarded by a stone wall, the massive city stood prominent with small buildings near what seemed to be an entrance. He then noticed a dirt road nearby which seemed to be heading toward the city. The road was filled with massive wagons that seemed to be carrying goods and supplies in and out of the city.
"Woah." Those were the only words that Issei had for what he had seen.
"Wait, where am I?" Issei paused as he got a good look around.
"This isn't Kuoh, this isn't Japan." Issei looked down at his hands, the thoughts of what had happened crossed his mind at that moment.
'I got hit by that truck, I DIED!' Issei collapsed to the ground as the realization hit him. He had died, bled to death after being struck by a truck. But he was alive, he had a pulse. He was breathing, feeling, and seeing the world around him.
"Wait, I got hit by a truck and woke up in a different world." Issei fell back to the ground as he couldn't believe what he had just gone through.
"I just got isekai'd, I just got isekai'd!" Issei began rolling around on the ground whilst gripping his hair.
"Are you serious? I can't go back home now!" Issei shed a single tear. He then sat up and leaned forward slightly whilst supporting his head with his arm.
"I can't go home; I can't see my family anymore. Do they even know what happened to me? Do they know that I died?" Issei leaned forward even more and started crying more.
"I didn't even get to clear my browser history." Issei sat in his spot for what seemed like hours all alone.
"Hey, are you all right?" spoke a voice that he didn't recognize. Issei turned his head toward the direction the voice originated. To his surprise, the source was a girl who looked concerned.
"Ye…yeah, I just don't know where I am." Issei looked at her longer, he noticed how her long purple hair flowed in the wind. Her violet eyes looked as if they were glowing from the sunlight that reflected off them. Her outfit consisted of a purple hood that went below her waist and light leather armor that covered part of her chest and shoulders. But what had caught his attention was her large breasts, being much larger than most girls he had seen aside from a select few.
She tilted her head to the side.
"You're lost?" she asked as she got closer to Issei. Issei backed up slightly as she got closer.
"Yeah, I just woke up here a few minutes ago. I don't have any idea how I got here." Issei quickly came up with a lie in hopes of deceiving her.
"Oh, do you want to come with me then until you remember what happened?" asked the girl. Issei's body froze, and he was asked to go somewhere with a girl.
"S... Sure, I guess. Where are you going?" Issei watched as the girl pulled something out of the satchel on her waist. She then unraveled a piece of paper and handed it out to Issei.
Issei grabbed the piece of paper and looked at it.
"We're going to the Dreaded Forest, there was a surge of power that originated from there. I went to the guild in town and there was a poster asking for someone to investigate it. I thought I could since it's just an in and out job." The girl then brightly smiled as Issei read the poster.
"Why is it called the Dreaded Forest?" asked Issei worriedly. The girl looked at him and scratched her head.
"I think there was a battle long ago where we chased someone in there, but they weren't seen after that. Some think that it may be cursed because it gives off a dreadful feeling when people go near it." The girl said in a nonchalant way making Issei very uncomfortable.
"Is there anything we should be worried about?"
"Nah, I'm sure that we should be safe. I'm pretty strong so I think we are good." She smiled and started walking down the dirt road again. Issei quickly chased after her.
The two of them started walking down the dirt road together in silence, Issei having felt a little nervous.
"So, what's your name stranger?" asked the girl as she turned her head to look at Issei. Issei looked down at her with wide eyes.
"I-Issei."
"Nice to meet you Issei, I'm Ahmya." She then held her hand out for him to shake. Issei looked at the hand before moving over to shake hers.
"Nice to meet you too." There was a pink tint to Issei's cheeks which went unnoticed by Ahmya.
Issei looked on at the surroundings, the countryside was remarkable.
'Wow, this place is amazing.' thought Issei as he took in the scenery.
"Where are you from Issei?"
Issei cut out of his train of thought and turned to Ahmya.
"Oh, um Japan." Ahmya raised an eyebrow.
"I never heard of a place called Japan, probably somewhere far away. That would explain your clothes." Ahmya then pointed to Issei's school uniform which had been stained by the dirt he was lying in earlier.
"Yeah, it's probably far away. What about you?" Issei turned away out of embarrassment and knowing how he got there.
Ahmya stopped and pointed behind them to the town in the distance.
"I'm from Jinnestan, that's the city I just left." Issei looked back at the city as it stood above all else around it.
They then turned back around and continued walking on, leaving everything behind them as they walked for hours.
(5 Hours Later)
They approached an entrance to an enormous forest, and the first thing both felt was the dreadful feeling that was being released from the forest.
"So, this is the Dreaded Forest, why does it feel like something wants to come and kill me?" Issei is slightly coward behind Ahmya.
"Hmm, it feels more dangerous than usual. There's something in there." Ahmya then walked forward past the entrance with Issei following closely behind her.
Issei froze in his place as a strong pulse coursed through his left arm, it felt as if his instincts were telling him to flee. Issei stopped moving as his eyes began to dart around looking for the source of what was causing him to react. Ahmya looked behind her to see Issei having a panic attack.
"Issei! Get your head together before you pass out!" Ahmya then flicked him on the forehead which caused him to regain control of himself.
"OW!" shouted Issei as he rubbed the part of his head where Ahmya had flicked him.
"Don't let it take control of you, this forest is dangerous for that very reason Issei. Some people never make it back from coming here, and I don't want to lose a new friend so soon." Ahmya then patted his arms.
Issei was surprised about how she spoke like a mom, her caring for him even though they had only met was different.
"Y-Yeah, I'll be more careful." Issei's face tinted slightly pink once again, this once again being unnoticed by Ahmya.
"Follow me, I think I can feel the source." Ahmya then pointed deeper into the forest; Issei looked over in the direction she was pointing only for the same pulse to course through his arm.
"Agh!" Issei dropped to his knees as his arm began to throb. Ahmya quickly rushed over to him and grabbed his arm.
"What's wrong with your arm?" she asked as he began feeling around to locate the source of the pain.
"I don't know, it just keeps pulsating!" Issei fell over onto his side as Ahmya continued to hold onto his arm. She examined the limb before putting her palm over it.
What happened next shocked Issei as a green magic circle appeared above his arm from Ahmya's palm. The magic circle then moved to the end of his hand and began going up his arm. Slowly the pain in his arm began to fade. After a while, it was gone, and his arm returned to normal.
"There we go, that seal should keep you stable until we leave. If my magic was higher then it would be better." Issei noticed how she said the last part sadly.
"It's fine now, let's just get this done and head back to Jinnestan." Issei stood up and moved his left arm around, much to his surprise it was completely normal.
"All right then, let's go." They both continued walking into the forest, and after some time they reached a cave entrance. The feeling in the air switched from dread to ominous and daunting.
Ahmya was the first to point out the feeling.
"I think we found where the source came from, but we don't know what exactly caused the power surge."
"So, we have to go in there then?" asked Issei who was looking around as the forest began to get darker. The feeling of terror began to surround them.
"We don't have any other option. I'll use my magic to light a fire, just stay behind me and we'll get on our way." Issei nodded and the two entered the cave. Aside from the fire, it was completely dark as if an abyss surrounded them.
Issei looked around as his instincts were telling him that something was wrong, very wrong. But he continued going deeper as Ahmya continued in front of him.
They made their way past the dark and dripping cave as a stream of water made its way past them, Ahmya noticing the water was leading directly into a side of the cave wall that was cracking.
She walked over toward it as it seemed odd, Issei looked around to see if there were any other passages into any other parts of the cave.
"Hey Issei, I think I found something." Ahmya then reached into her satchel and took out a small pick to chisel her way through the side of the cave. Issei walked over to her and picked up a rock to help.
"What did you find?" asked Issei as he began hitting the rock against the side of the cave, slowly breaking part of it off at a time.
"I think there is a hidden room on the other side, the feeling is the strongest past this wall." Ahmya kept chiseling slowly into the wall as fast as she could.
Eventually, they managed to break a human-sized hole in the side, and they were right.
"Ladies first." Motioned Issei as he moved out the way to let Ahmya in, she laughed before entering the other side. Issei followed in behind her.
Ahmya walked towards the center with a small fire still lit above her hand. After walking for a few steps, she bumped into something.
"Huh?" She looked over to her front.
"Issei, I found something." Ahmya's voice possessed a frightened tone that it hadn't previously had. This caused Issei to look over at her and much to his shock he saw the same thing that she had.
In the center of the room, there was an enormous egg larger than a human that was abyssal black with silver veins running through it.
"What the fuck laid that?" Asked Issei as he backed away slightly, Ahmya backed up as well as the feeling radiating from the egg began to visibly radiate as the silver veins began to glow, lighting up the cave around them.
Both of them shared the same expression of horror as the light started flashing.
Crack
The egg then cracked near the top.
Foom
Another massive wave of power shot through the cave, the force was strong enough to travel out of the cave and spread across the countryside.
Ahmya froze as the wave of power shot fear down her spine. Issei on the other hand was pressed up against the side of the cave as the power had shattered the seal on his arm.
Crack
The egg cracked again, this time it traveled down most of the egg.
FOOOOOOOOMMMMM
Both people were thrown back as the wave of power forced them back. The silver glow became erratic as the egg continued to crack.
Issei couldn't even feel his arm as his body began moving on its own. He ran over toward Ahmya and grabbed her by the arm before running toward the exit of the room.
Crack
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
That last wave of power shot Issei and Ahmya out of the room into the main cave they had entered. Issei hit his head on the side of the cave whilst Ahmya was cushioned by Issei.
"URGH." Issei then fell onto the ground, his body going limp as blood began spilling from his head. Ahmya hit the ground and bounced. She looked back toward the egg, much to her horror it had split open, and a humanoid figure made of pure darkness stood in its center. Ahmya's instincts went off as two silver eyes stared her down from the darkness.
Ahmya didn't say a word as she grabbed Issei by the shirt and threw him onto her shoulder, she then ran out of the cave without turning back until she was completely out and was a safe distance away from the cave.
She tried to catch her breath as her body was quickly weakening.
Thud
Issei's body then fell onto the ground, his wounded head hitting the ground hard. Ahmya then collapsed beside him as her body was exhausted.
"I… think… I… lost… it. Issei… are you… ok?" Ahmya looked over toward Issei who was now lying in a pool of blood near his head.
"Oh no!" Ahmya shot up and lifted Issei's head. She quickly reached for her satchel, pulling out a small bottle that seemed to be a golden potion. She then took the cap off and moved it to Issei's mouth.
"Don't worry Issei, this will fix you." She then poured the small bottle into Issei's mouth.
After a few seconds his body began to glow gold, the damage from hitting the sides of the cave quickly vanished as the gold glowed brighter. The wound in the back of his head also sealed up, the blood stopping as it was once again trapped inside his body.
Slowly the light began to die down as the healing process stopped, Ahmya then placed Issei's head on her lap. She gently began stroking his hair.
"M…uuugh." Issei slowly began to wake up. The first thing he saw was the large bust of the woman who had moved him to her lap.
Issei quickly got up and moved away from Ahmya, this confused her as it was unexpected.
"Woah, what the hell?" said Issei as he scooted back.
"Calm down Issei."
Issei looked over at her with wide eyes, that was until the feeling of dread hit him once again. The feeling of being stalked by a predator with no chance of escaping its fangs and claws. Issei turned to the forest, ignoring Ahmya who was crawling over to him.
"Issei what are you looking at?" asked Ahmya as she turned her head in the direction that Issei was looking in. In the forest she saw the figure from the cave staring back at them, its silver eyes felt as if they had pierced their soul.
"W-What is that thing!?" asked Issei with the fear in his voice clear.
The figure then walked forward, each step the darkness around it fading.
Issei's left arm then pulsated again, this time it caused the arm to turn red and slightly deformed. Issei was unable to say anything as the fear in his body had temporarily paralyzed him. Ahmya looked at the figure but still managed to keep control of her actions.
She looked towards Issei and grabbed ahold of the back of his shirt.
"We have to leave now!" She then tugged on Issei's shirt, but it did not affect him as his body wouldn't budge.
The figure walked closer, and as the sunlight made direct contact with it the figure began to change. It slowly turned into a human.
The two of them looked on as it morphed into a human male with long black hair with silver tips, its silver eyes glowing as the light reflected off them. The figure wasn't dressed in anything, the only thing that covered him was the darkness that covered his lower half. Above was a lean and muscular build that would put most people to shame. He stood around six feet tall and continued to look directly at Issei.
Issei noticed this and regained control of his body, but what happened next was terrifying for the young pervert. The figure lifted its arm and pointed toward Issei.
"Drakon." That was what the figure said before walking back into the forest, vanishing into the darkness that surrounded them. Ahmya finally managed to pull Issei from his spot and dragged him farther away from the forest.
"Issei." Ahmya looked at Issei as he looked demoralized. Not even showing emotion.
"…"
"Are you ok?"
"…"
"Let's go to the guild and fill in the report, I'll share the reward with you."
"… ok." That was the only thing that Issei said for the rest of the trip back to the city of Jinnestan, the 5-hour journey stretching into the sunset.
Jinnestan
After the journey was over Ahmya and Issei made it past the walls of the enormous city. They headed directly towards the adventure district which housed many inns and a large guild that was built from the wall side. In the center of the district was a large fountain that was surrounded by flowers and vegetation.
Walking through the city, Issei noticed that everything was paved, uncommon for a city of medieval times.
Soon enough they came across the large building that sat on the wall.
"This is the guild; this is where we come to get quests and meals from time to time. There are also rooms upstairs for people who want a cheap nap or just to fool around, but they can always do that at the brothel on the corner over there." Ahmya then pointed at a building that stood out among the others. Issei looked over at the building and took a mental note.
"Come on." Ahmya then opened the door and walked inside; Issei followed closely behind.
They made their way past multiple people, some looked down at them with looks of disgust whilst others looked then looked away.
'This place is weird; everyone is looking at us oddly.' thought Issei as he tried to ignore the others in the room.
They soon made their way to a counter where a woman dressed in slightly revealing clothing was in the chest region. Her reddish-brown hair complemented her amber eyes, both fitting her tan skin quite well.
"Ahmya, glad your back… who's this with you?" asked the woman as she pointed toward Issei.
Ahmya turned around and lifted her palm.
"This is Issei, I found him lying near the road not far from town. He doesn't know how he got there but I wasn't going to leave him there."
The woman behind the counter looked Issei up and down before looking over to Ahmya.
"You should have left him; he reeks of lust." Issei was taken back as Ahmya then looked him up and down as well.
"Huh, he does. He hasn't shown any form of it since I met him." Ahmya fully turned to face him and put a finger on her chin. Issei's sagged as he lowered his head.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Issei then lifted his head and looked over at the woman at the counter.
"How could you tell just from looking at me?" Issei was curious, the woman smirked as she folded her arms.
"I can see things like that radiate off people, it's one of my magic abilities. That's how I can always identify if someone isn't whom they say they are. I thought it would be a good skill in case of spy's and undercover agents try to infiltrate the human realm. Demons and Devils can keep their conflict isolated without killing off humanity." The woman then slammed her fist down onto the counter, making Ahmya and Issei jump as a red aura surrounded her.
"We suffered for years before they stopped fighting, millions of people were vaporized by demonic power and the Gods failed to protect their worshippers." Issei looked over at Ahmya confused.
"What happened?"
"There was a war long ago where the Devils, Demons, and Humans fought against each other. It lasted for years before some event managed to cause them to stop fighting, but only the highest authority knows what happened exactly."
Issei looked over to the woman at the counter, she had gotten rid of her aura and seemed to calm down.
"Anyway, does the kid want to be measured or what?" Issei was taken back at the mention of him being measured.
'Measured! Wait… she's not talking about that is she?'
"Issei." Issei looked over to Ahmya who was looking at him.
"Do you know your power ranking?"
Issei raised an eyebrow.
"Power ranking? What's that?" Issei looked over to the woman at the counter.
Ahmya sighed as she put her hand on the counter.
"Everyone has a certain amount of magical power in their body, we measure that power and classify the amount you have. The classifications are F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and X. The weakest a person can be is F-Class which is about the same as a corpse. The highest amount of power is known to rival the power of a God which is X-Class." Ahmya then looked over at the woman at the counter.
The woman behind the counter then took some sort of crystal device with a gold casing and placed it on the back of Ahmya's hand. Issei watched as a purple glow wrapped around Ahmya's full person, it swirls around her like a calm breeze.
The woman then looked over at some sort of screen.
"C-Class in power dear, still the same."
Ahmya's shoulders dropped slightly as she forced her smile.
"All right kid, come here and put your left hand on the counter."
Issei walked over to the counter and put his left hand slowly on it, his hand was slightly shaking as nervousness was running through him.
The woman then moved the device and placed it in his hand. A red and green aura began to coat his body. Issei looked over to Ahmya who was staring at him with a shocked expression, but that was short-lived as his left arm pulsed causing him to jerk it back.
"Ah, why does it keep doing that!" Issei held his left hand tightly as the woman looked over at the screen. Her facial expression seemed complicated as she looked back and forth at Issei.
Ahmya noticed this first.
"Is something wrong?" The woman looked back over at Issei.
"His ranking is E-Class, but the crystal is getting another measurement for something at SS-Class. I don't know what's happening. Maybe the crystal is broken?" The woman detached the crystal and replaced it with another one.
Issei, who was unaware of what was happening looked back over to the counter. He then looked at Ahmya.
"We need to run the test again, something went wrong." This caused Issei to look down at his arm before shedding a single tear.
Issei then placed his hand back on the counter. The woman took the new crystal and put it in his left hand. A green and red aura swirled around him once again, but the feeling of this one was different. The feeling of domination was radiating off his person.
The woman looked back over to the screen, her expression not changing from before.
"No, it was right, he's hilariously weak. But there is something in him that is extremely strong in him, it doesn't make sense." Both women then looked down at Issei's left arm, the feeling of something there was now apparent, but it was very faint.
"Ok, thank you. Come on Issei." Ahmya spoke in a sad voice as if her morale had taken a significant hit. Issei looked over at her with curious eyes. They then walked away from the counter over to a table nearby.
As they sat down, Ahmya laid her head on the table, Issei looked down at her as she didn't move.
"Are you okay?" asked Issei who was gently rubbing his left arm as it still bothered him slightly. Ahmya didn't budge but did speak.
"Yeah, just something personal." Ahmya then lifted her head, but she was looking down at the table.
Issei didn't feel comfortable letting her stay sad.
"Hey if you want to talk about what's making you-"
"Please don't try to bring it up." He was cut off before he could finish his sentence, but he did notice the sadness in her voice.
"All right then, I guess you can tell me when you feel like it." Issei looked off to the side.
"It's almost nighttime, I think we should find you a place to stay for now until you can start doing quests on your own."
"Yeah, sorry for just coming out of nowhere and making things hard for you."
"Ha don't worry about it. I still have plenty from the quests I've been doing so far, I don't mind sharing some with you. Or you can stay at my place, I have a spare room."
Issei looked at her with his mouth agape.
"Come on, I have a place not far from here. I don't live with my parents anymore so it will just be us." Ahmya then stood out and put her hand out.
"Let's go." Issei nodded and grabbed her hand.
They left the tavern and began their journey through the crowded streets of the city. Swerving through the traffic of animals and wagons carrying supplies they found their way onto a street with a few houses nearby.
"That's my home over there." Ahmya pointed toward the home in between two others, surprisingly she had a small front yard with a fence to keep people off it.
Issei couldn't help but notice that it was two stories high, thus making it impressive for someone who lives alone.
"Follow me." Ahmya then led Issei inside after opening the door, Issei noticed the very little amount of furniture that was present aside from something like a couch. The home, however, did feel like a home and nothing could replace that.
"Thanks again for letting me stay here, you've been nice to me," said Issei as he closed the door behind him.
"No problem, Issei." Ahmya walked into a room.
"I do have one question though." This caused Ahmya to peek her head out the doorway.
"What is it?"
"Why are you being so nice to me? I haven't done anything to make you nice, so I was just wondering." Issei watched as Ahmya walked out of the room.
"Simple, people think that I'm too nice and tend to avoid me. So, I was happy that someone didn't ignore me when I tried to talk with them. That's why I'm being so nice to you." Ahmya then walked back into the room.
"Oh, all right." Issei walked over to the couch and sat down.
He sat in there until it was time to sleep. Ahmya showed him to his room and wished him a good night. He would fall asleep quickly, thus marking the end of his first day in a new world.
