The morning sun had come to banish the beautiful night, and I for one cursed the world…worlds…multiverse? That thought got me to sit almost straight up, and look around the room I was in. Another room, not my apartment, and then sigh. It wasn't a dream, which I'd already known, but still, a guy could hope that his whole view of reality had not been shattered, in a few minutes by magical world override.

Getting up, I found, to my pleasure, a set of clothing waiting for me. Not the robes I'd been wearing, or the underwear I was, but a nice leather jerkin. Probably not time to make anything metal, save some plated gloves and greaves. Good enough though, and they fit like a dream as I slipped them on, even doing a few punches in the air like a Power Ranger, smiling to myself, before looking into the corner.

My bow…my Bow sat there, glinting in the morning sun with silvery light. I moved my hand, just like my info box had told me, and suddenly, the thing vanished in a flash, and was in my hand, me pulling back the string, and the outline of an arrow appearing in the weapon's draw. This was cool, but I soon went back into my menus, finding something I'd held off on toying with the night before.

Weapon Alteration. The tooltip said this version of it wasn't like the transformations I could get by copying weapons, whatever that meant, or unlocking them via the Skills menu. This was just about changing the look and feel of it, and I cycled through the options already open, smiling as the weapon began to shine, and then morph in my grip, the shape altering until it was in another form.

The first was a short bow, which made the weapon look positively dinky in my hand. The second, a long bow, was okay, but not useful in all circumstances, too large and unwieldy. A crossbow was good, but I saw custom, with a tooltip from a previous Bow hero about all I had to do was picture what I wanted, and so long as it fit within the idea of 'Bow' the weapon would try to take that form.

I clicked the custom, and began to concentrate on a Rat-Plagued city, and a man with a mask going around killing those who had brought him low. The feeling of a dead queen in my arms, and the idea that only I could break the back of the conspiracy. It was a trip, as I felt the Bow start to shift, and then slowly its shine merged with my bracer, until it had changed into a wrist mounted Crossbow.

Laughing aloud, I did a few stances, and felt the string pull back, the weapon shimmering with magical energy. Oh yes, this felt like the weapon of a…well honestly an assassin, but you know what, I thought it was kickass, so I kept it in that form as I exited my room, finding the others were still asleep as I slipped downstairs, having a small breakfast with some of the rest of the staff, finishing up as the young men finally came stumbling in.

I tried not to make fun, given I know they had several more hours sleep than myself, but looked like they'd had barely any. Motoyasu, Spear, especially looked like he wasn't used to getting up before noon, which made me smile, as the three of them ate some of the stuff, and then we were escorted towards the door to the throne room, instructed to wait outside for a moment.

I took the chance to observe that no one else had been given new clothing. Were they saying my underwear wasn't good enough for this world? I mean, it wasn't really. There was a hole in one cheek, and it was most certainly not clean, but still, it was the principle of the thing. Regardless, after a few moments, the door opened, and the room was literally FILLED with people this time.

Knights in armor lined the approach to the throne, and the upper balconies were covered in people, all looking like nobility save some that just screamed merchant, everyone staring down at us. It was a bit disconcerting honestly, as we stepped forward, as if on some kind of cue, with me taking the early lead thanks to the longer legs, and having to reduce the size of my steps to fall back into line with the others.

In front of the King, as we approached, were twelve people, ranging in size and clothing, looking less like normal people, and more like DnD cosplayers to me, but I suppose that made sense. The tallest was still only about six feet, which did not bode well for doorways and myself in this world. I was already annoyed that a few of the castle's were a bit short for my liking, but if this were average, outside was going to force me to duck, a lot, to get into buildings.

Still the obvious range of their skill sets was not in question. A few mage looking types, holding sticks, a fencer, a few swordsmen, and even some females mixed in. All in all, a good pastiche of humanity. But that last was the problem. These were only humans. No Demi-Humans or Beastmen, which, as I'd also seen none in the castle staff said something very untowards about this particular kingdom.

Numbers of their population put the Demis at about fourteen percent of the population, and Beastmen made up another eight. That was twenty-two percent all together, and looking around, I noticed none in the crowd either, despite this likely being most of the local nobility and higher ups, as well as the higher leveled Adventurers. I could guess only a few reasons why an entire fifth to a quarter of the population wasn't present.

Gods, this setting had fantastic racism, didn't it? I really hoped that wasn't something we were expected to solve, or that one of the other peoples hadn't summoned the Waves in retribution or something. I was so not a fan of the Weird West setting myself. Still, it might just be that the local area had fewer of them…but I was not hopeful there, and decided to speak up, no reason to hold my tongue.

"They are a fine group of Warriors and Magic Users, your Grace," I began, with a bow, which got more than a few eyes to turn to me, including the other three who weren't saying anything, but now seemed like they were wondering if they should. I didn't let them get a word in.

"However, if it pleases you all, I wish to know more of my own skills, and this world, before we…party up is the only term I can think of, if you'll excuse my common vernacular," I continued.

"I am to be their commander, correct?" I asked, and the adventurers looked back towards the King, who nodded. It made sense, I had the Legendary Weapon, and was going to grow stronger faster, even if being in my party was an EXP boost for them too.

"Then I wish them to be assured of my ability to do such, and to fight alongside them, if it pleases you," I said, bowing my head again, and keeping it lowered to await the answer.

"Hmm…an interesting proposition…very well, but you will need a guide, even so. One of these fine warriors will accompany you, to make sure you come to no harm while 'proving yourself'. Is that acceptable?" he said, and I looked up, and trying to keep a neutral expression, nodding my head.

"As your Highness wills it," I answered, and then looked to the group, wondering if I should maybe pick one for it, but before I could, one of them, the woman with a cloak and staff, stepped forward, and then came up to me. I bowed to her, to show my thanks, an act that apparently caught her off guard, and then, with a snap of my heels, I turned us around, figuring the others would pick from the remaining members.

We stalked out of the throne room, and the doors opened to us, a small incline of my head towards the guards in thanks, as we left and then were taken from the keep. It was…loud behind us for some reason. Sounded like Shield was objecting to something as the doors slammed shut, but I ignored it as we had adventuring to get on with, moving from the keep into the city around.

The gate rising up allowed us onto the bridge that connected the castle to the rest of the city, and soon we were in the streets. Like I'd feared, everyone was a tiny person. Seriously, land of smurfs. Still, at least it meant I could see over everyone's head, and…humans as far as the eye could see, lending at least some credence to the lack of Demis and Beastemen in the castle to be a result of local demographics. Still wanted to see for myself.

"Alright, I think the first place to go would be the local Adventurer's Guild, would it not, my lady…?" I asked, letting the title hang for a moment, and wondering if I should tip my hat…er hood to her. The woman behind me merely looked at me, with a set of deep silver eyes, shadowed by the brim of her large hat.

"Lucia, Lord Bowman, of the Blue Valley," she told me, and lifted her rod up, as if presenting her weapon. Mind, it took me a second to remember that was the fake name I'd given, and for a moment, I was tempted to tell her my real one…but decided against it. Magic tended to have 'True Names' as a thing you didn't give out without reason.

"Lucia then, and you may call me Bard. Now let us go before a snarky narrator catches up to us and never leaves us in peace for our whole adventure," I snarked, not that she understood of course, but it made me feel better as she led the way to the local guild branch, a rather large building of heavy stone with a weird banner hanging off the top that I assumed was the guild symbol of some kind.

Inside I finally found one of the people I was looking for…not Demi or Beast mind, but someone who was at least above the height of my shoulder, and a lot broader in those to boot. Guy probably had to turn sideways as well as duck to get in most places. I wanted to make friends with him, but he was in a corner, drinking something that I assumed was alcoholic in nature, and I decided to leave my fellow giant to his own musings. We could commensurate over these tiny people who built the world for their kind some other time.

For now I walked up to the line of people who were standing before a counter, where an obviously overworked woman was giving out either bags of coins of varying sizes, or slips of paper that had something written on them, likely missions or jobs. At least one of the people in line noticed us, and I felt glad I'd made my weapon less obvious, as none seemed to realize who we were, instead taking a moment to stare because of my size, before returning to their own tasks.

Truth to tell, it only took about fifteen minutes for us to make it to the front of the line, with me watching the goings on in the place, and finally seeing someone who wasn't human in the area. A child demi-human…one with what I recognized from one of the pictures I'd seen as a slave seal on his bare chest. That was…disconcerting, but I tried to put it out of my mind as I stepped up to the counter.

"Hello and welcome to the…Lucia, weren't you supposed to go to that thing at the Castle?" asked the woman, and Lucia nodded, before gesturing to me.

"I was, and the Hero of the Bow had a strange request. He wishes to 'test' himself in combat, before he allows others into his party. The King was insistent one of us accompany him, and I chose to do so," she explained, and the woman looked up and down at my frame, obviously not sure what to say, as she then pulled herself back into the chair she was sitting in and sighed.

"Okay, so…what sort of job do you want? Heroes probably get to skip the basic stuff, but you have a job to do, and I won't have you playing escort or something," she told me, and I understood. I did have a job to do, but I wanted to be prepared for it.

"Understandable. Perhaps there are some missions involving hunting low class monsters or animals near the city? Rat extermination perhaps. The Bhaalspawn started with those, and seems as good a first prey as any," I said, trying to sound 'heroic' but the word 'rat extermination' wasn't exactly the sort to roll off the tongue. She smiled at me though, and quickly drew out a poster.

"You know, we have just that. The Wave from a few months ago poured some kind of magic into this whole country, and the sewer rats are breeding like mad from it. Normally, that's a ten copper a tail job, but the city bumped it up to a silver because they're apparently getting smarter. More dangerous and harder to find," she explained, handing me the poster, which included a small note, along with a description of the quest. It was, as she said, mostly just hunting rats in the sewer. Not exactly the same as a barn, but I could see myself doing it. Still, I had a few tricks the locals might not, and I smiled as I handed the paper back to her.

"One moment," I asked, and then opened my status menu, and scrolled to the skill web thing. I'd already investigated that a bit, observing that the left side was mostly transformations and attacks for my bow, while the right was more about useful skills. Two in particular would really help with this, and thanks to starting at level three, I had a few skill points to use, and invested them with a thought.

"May I ask for a tray, or box or some kind?" I asked when I returned to the regular world, and she, raising an eyebrow, got up and got something, a small wooden tray into which sheets of paper were obviously normally loaded. I was not thrilled about doing this to something used, but remembering this world probably didn't have much in the way of manufacturing, boxes were probably not used in offices like the Guild the way they were in my world.

"Okay, let's see if this works," I said, and then tapped my finger on the tray, instantly, a sort of 'light pulse' passed between my finger and the wood, and I had a thing pop up in my vision that said 'loot destination enabled'. A handy little skill would now deposit anything I considered 'loot' into this container, from any distance away. Better, I had to take an (Auto-Loot) skill as well to get it, which wasted most of my skill points along with two others I'd wanted, but it would make this easier.

"I thank you ma'am. Please, keep people away from that tray. My bounties will appear on it once I begin collecting them," I told her, and then, with that, turned around, and Lucia, taking a moment to look between me and the guild woman, chased after, having to take at least two steps to every one I did as I made for the door.

"So…how do we get into the sewer anyway?" I asked, and she looked a bit unhappy about that pronouncement.

"There's a river that runs through the city, we passed it on the way here. The sewer has various tunnels that flow into it, and their exits are accessible from the riverside," she told me, and I nodded, the pair of us soon coming up to the place. It smelled…well sewer-like. Terrible in other words, but I soon pulled a small bit of fabric from one of my pockets, and wrapped it around my face, offering another to Lucia.

"I'm fine," she said, and then wove her staff before her. In a moment, she was shimmering in a way that probably meant she wasn't smelling anything. Useful spell that, and after descending some stairs, I was staring into a large tunnel. Like, very large, with paths to either side of a river of water that was obviously more than just water. It also echoed with the squeaks and screeches of our prey.

"Ah, a proper level one adventure. Starting at the worst, and hopefully ending up somewhere better," I mumbled to myself, as we proceeded into the dark and dank, to begin my first quest.