A New World
Jayr POV - Arifureta Universe, Tortus, ??? - ???
"... it!", I just passed through the Unigate's portal, and I find myself in the middle of nowhere, in what appears to be a forest, the first thing I do I check the surroundings, and I quickly notice that nothing is nearby, only some weak wildlife in the distance, at the same time, I notice that I can't use my Cosmo anymore, I can still feel it inside me.
But after trying a few times, I realize that I can't ignite or move my Cosmo in any way, 'As expected, in this universe ruled by magic I'm nerfed, luckily my senses are still the same... And I still have my training!', and while thinking this, with my senses I feel an alien energy all around me and think, 'This should be the Mana in the air... It feels totally different from Cosmo, it is strange...'.
After checking my condition and making sure that I'm safe and alone, I finally focus on the elephant in the room "What the holy hell happened!? I made sure to input my choices at the speed of light, and at the time the Unigate activated! How is it possible that someone was faster than me in coming here!!", and right as I asked this, I hear Culture's voice in my mind as he replies "Oops! I forgot to tell you about this... You see all the Universes' Time is more or less synchronized, which means that time passes the same way for everyone... Well, unless really special circumstances happen... But that doesn't mean that all the Champions are born the same day at the same time".
And just as I hear this, I start to have a bad feeling about what he is about to say, and indeed as he continues speaking, I realize the little details I missed that resulted in my predicament "In fact, even if you were sent to reincarnate at almost the same time, there is a clear order in which you were birthed... In fact, it is the same order in which you became our Champions... This means...", but I finish what he was going to say "... That I was the last one to be born... Then how much is the time difference between my birth and the other Champions?".
After a few seconds of silence, Culture answers "Not too much... A champion is only born 3 days after the following one... that means that the first Champion, the one blessed by Void, is only 99 days older than you... but unfortunately, that also means that he can travel to any Universe 99 days before you... And before you say that this is already an unfair advantage, you have to know that you guys aren't forced to travel as soon as the Unigate activates, in fact, you can use it at any time or even not using at all, and once that you have used it you have to wait 1 year before you can use it again... The only exception is during the opening of a Competition Universe or in the Forced Travel that happens in two years where all the Champions will be teleported to a Random Universe with a high chance of meeting each other! Now, that is all good luck, CIAO!".
And after saying that he left not giving me the chance to say anything more, and so I sit on the ground and start to think 'Damn! This means that I'm late and someone has at least a day of advantage... Moreover, it is his chosen time! I do not even know when I'm, it could very well be at any point in the story... I had chosen a time before the main plot because I didn't want to worry about Hajime and the Hero group and all the shit that they bring with them, I just wanted to quietly learn the Age of God Magic and some other basic magic in peace, then quickly kill the shitty evil God, and save the people of this world from his manipulations while also gaining an advantage over the other Champions that could come here, before going back to Saori and Seika! Now, that plan is scraped at the first step!'.
After thinking that, I clap my cheeks and get up, then I say "No use sitting here crying on the spilled milk... First thing, I have to learn where and when I'm, after that I'll plan on what to do... I just hope that the Champion in this Universe is a good horny guy that just wants to bang a legal loli, or a dragon girl, or a bunny girl...", then I start to use my senses to choose where to go, but after a few seconds, I let out a sigh and say "Ahh... Without my Cosmo, my senses are only at the peak of what humanity is capable of... I still have my 7th and 8th senses, but without Cosmo, I don't feel anything from them... God, it is so annoying!".
And so I decide to use my good old foolproof method, when I do not know where to go and do the good luck ritual, I take a handful of salt and throw it behind me, spit three times on the ground in front of me, made the gesture of the horns with my hands using my index and little finger pointing at the ground while saying three times "Tiè, tiè, tiè!", then I take off my shoe and throw it in the air a watch it falls on the ground, after that, I pick it up and move in the direction it pointed.
After walking for a few kilometers undisturbed, I'm finally out of the forest, and in front of me all I see is an extensive rocky plain with big mountains all around, and in the distance, I see a small town that is surrounded by a large cliff and finding it familiar, I think, 'This feels familiar... As yes! It Konoha! No, no, wait! That other town Hotard... No... Hogwarts... Neither... Damn too much time passed since I have read the novel... Well, Ho-something, where you can enter the Great Orcus Labyrinth, one of my targets... Lucky! If I remember well, it is where Yue is imprisoned and where I can learn the Ancient Age of Gods Magic, Creation Magic!'.
I move toward the town and as I get closer, I start to study its layout, it has one large pathway in the center that leads to the Great Orcus Labyrinth, which is the primary reason why people travel to Ho-something, in addition, I start to hear the noise made by the people there and notice that it is full of various vendors that try to sell their goods to travelers that visit, and once inside the town I notice that several buildings are actually made out of the cliff walls that surround the town, such as what clearly appears to be the Adventurer's Guild, easily recognizing the signboard with a large sword drawn on it.
Seeing that building and the signboard I think, 'That should be the Adventure's Guild, an isekai novel trope, hell even the signboards are almost always the same more or less... Good, I can register there, and obtain the Status Plate, that thing should be useful for identification, and I admit that I'm curious to see my status screen, it is another thing from my bucket list together with riding a Mobile Suit, standing in front of Aizen Sosuke and tell him that everything he did went according to my plan, build a statue of me doing the T pose in my enemy's place to show my dominance, and put together the ultimate Ero team and watch the universe collapse out of their sheer unique charisma...'.
And with a grin I think about those that I remember 'Hisoka Morrow from Hunter x Hunter, Issei Hyoudou from High School DxD, Sanji Vinsmoke from One Piece, Kon from Bleach, Makarov from Fairy Tail, Jiraiya from Naruto, Happosai from Ranma 1/2, Meliodas from Seven Deadly Sins, Kensei Ma from History Strongest Disciple Kenichi, and of course, Master Roshi from Dragon Ball, plus many others that currently slips out of my mind...', while I was thinking this, I have already walked inside the town and am now moving through the large pathway.
But all of the sudden, I hear some strange sounds of voices coming from one of the alleys and quickly understand what is going on, I let out a sigh and say "Ahh... Quoting a great man: Why can't the world be more ero and peaceful?", at the same time, I start to run toward the alley and once there I see the scene of ten rogueish men harassing a young woman, they all have some kind of leather armor and different kinds of weapons on them, and seeing this I think, 'Just how clichè can this Universe be? Not even a minute in this town and I have already met such a classic trope...'.
The most menacing looking one among them says something to the woman "#### ##### ########...", obviously I do not understand what he is saying, but it is obvious that the woman is shocked or afraid as she covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a probable silent scream while her eyes widen, and I also see her eyes growing misty as the hint of tears is about to fall from her eyes, at the same time, I see the other men surround the woman and move to pull something out of their pockets, I'm about to act when I'm stunned by the scene happening in front of me.
All of the sudden, the man gets on his knee in front of the woman offering what is clearly a ring, while the men around the girl joyfully yell something and start throwing colorful petals in the air, 'What the...? A proposal in such a shady alley!?', I look in shock as the woman hugs the man and they kiss while the friends surrounding them cheer the couple, so I quietly leave the alley why muttering "Never trust what you read in a novel... I was about to ruin a proposal and beat up a man and his friend in front of the future wife...".
I return to the large pathway in the center and start to think about what to do, 'What I learned from what just happened? First thing... I have to learn the language here, as I do not have the Language Comprehension skill... Then find out in what era I'm precisely, but seeing that this town is here and that the Great Orcus Labyrinth is here, I think I'm in the period between the defeat of the liberators and the main plot, which in itself is quite a big time frame... After that, I want to get the status plate, not an important priority... But I want to see my status screen!', and so without losing any more time, I start to search for a prey.
And quickly see someone walking in a desolate alley, he is perfect, an ordinary man, with no weapons on him clearly a civilian, and so I follow him, after making sure that no one is around, I quietly move behind him and put him in a sleeper hold and after he struggles for about 5 seconds he falls unconscious, and I quickly and gently lie him on the ground, and bring him into my Territory.
Once there, I can again feel my Cosmo responding to my will, but I don't stop to enjoy it and quickly put my hand on top of his head and use my Cosmo to read his memories and learn what I need, 'Okay the language of this kingdom is quite simple, in fact, the structure and grammar are the same as the Japanese one, only the phonetic and words are different... And damn it! Hajime and the others were summoned more than 3 weeks ago and already came here yesterday... as there is something about God's Apostle... Wait! If the other Champion did choose this time as his starting point then I can have some clues on who came here... Ehm... No, too many random variables...'.
After gathering all the info I need, I wipe all his memories of my assault and take 2 white coins from his purse, this is the currency of this kingdom it is called Luta, and the white coins are 500 Luta a considerable sum for a civilian, so for this inconvenience, I heal his body of all his ailments and even give him a little boost so that he and his wife can finally have the child they desired so much, and make it so that he'll stay healthy all his life until his natural lifespan doesn't end, then I get out of the Soulbond Territory and put him back on the alley and get away from it, calmly walking toward the Adventure's Guild.
Once inside the Guild, I look around and notice that after the first moment when everyone looked at me passed, now they are ignoring me as I'm wearing some pretty simple clothes that I prepared before coming to this Universe and my appearance is quite normal for this world, crazy hairstyle apart, 'Another trope masterfully dodged...', then I move toward the reception and see that all the receptionist are young women, and so I decide to go toward one with the shortest queue, once I check the rest of the Guild while I'm waiting for my turn.
I see that there is a counter in front of the entrance, and a restaurant to the left, people that seem to be adventurers, are eating and chatting they aren't making as much noise as I imagined, but soon it is my turn, and soon I see the receptionist as she looks at me and with a kind smile she says "Welcome to Hourad Adventure's Guild Branch, how can I help you, sir?", I nod at the woman and say "Good morning ma'am, I'm new in town and decided to become an Adventurer... also I need a new status plate as the one I had before broke during my journey...".
The receptionist nods and says with still the same professional smile on her face "It isn't a problem, to become a part of the Adventurer's Guild, it is required to pay a registration fee of 1,000 Luta, and you must compile this form", hearing that I nod and put on the counter the two white coins, then I look at the paper and start to compile it 'Well this is pretty generic stuff... Name, Age, Gender, where are you from... on this one I'll put the only place I remember the town of Ur... a name with two letters is easy to remember...'.
The receptionist takes the coins and the form, and after checking them she tells one of the free employees to grab a Status Plate and asks "While we wait... Would you like a simple explanation of how the Guild works?".
I simply reply "Yes, please...", and she starts her explanation "On that board over there are posted the Quest that the adventurers can accept based on their rank, Quests can vary from the sale and purchase of various materials, such as herbs or mana crystals, to escort and body-guard detail, as well as subjugation quests, and there are also cases where a guild master can make a personal request to some more famous or accomplished adventurers", hearing that I think 'Until this point, she didn't tell me anything new... But it is always good to have a refresher, after all, many years passed since I read Arifureta... Hell, I don't even remember well the name of all the Ancient Age of Gods Magics...'.
Meanwhile, the receptionist continues with her explanation "Once a person completed a quest, they would report to the nearest guild branch and submit proof of having completed it, such as a stamped request slip if it was an escort job or a specific piece of the monster... Moreover, in times of war, a nation would often hire the guild to aid in domestic security, so you also have to be careful of such events", right at that moment, another employer of the Guild comes with a rectangular silver plate that is twelve centimeters wide and seven centimeters tall, and quickly recognize it as the Status Plate.
The receptionist takes the Status Plate from the employer and thank her, then she gives me the artifact and says "This is your new Status Plate, please register and let me confirm your information...", already knowing what to do, I make a small cut on my finger and drip a drop of blood on it while thinking 'Cultivation Crap is invading this Universe too... I should be careful of the Young Masters...', and after that, I say "Open Status...", and my status appears on the screen of my Status Plate.
Name - Pucci Jayr
Age - 16 Years Old
Gender - Male
Level - 1
Class - Adventurer
Strength - 500
Vitality - 500
Resistance - 500
Agility - 500
Magic - 0
Magic Resistance - 0
Skills - Martial Arts Mastery, Cooking Mastery, Drawing Mastery, Healing Arts Mastery, Music Mastery, Science Mastery, Smithing Mastery, Weapon Mastery, Language Mastery, Chemistry Mastery, Tailoring Mastery, Blessing of Culture, +Improved Learning, +Improved Teaching, +Improved Libido, +Affinity for the Arts...
Looking at my Status I think 'Well the job is adventurer because I wasn't summoned by Ehit and wasn't granted a cheat job... But damn that is a LOT of skill and everything I learned is here, it also shows my Blessing and its effects...', but soon I focus back on what I'm doing, the registration, then the first thing I do I hiding my attributes and skills before showing the Status Plate to the receptionist who looks at it and says "Everything is okay... I'm sure that you have noticed the small blue colored mark next to your class, that is your Adventurer Rank... The founder of the Adventurer's Guild established a ranking system in which the different ranks were equal to the different colors of their Luta, Blue → Red → Yellow → Purple → Green → White → Black → Silver → Gold, and all those that registered immediately starts with blue rank the lowest one".
After that, I thank the receptionist and, without resting, I move toward my next destination, the Great Orcus Labyrinth entrance, once in front of the entrance I see that is quite lively, there are many stalls lined up, and all the shop owners are trying to promote their own goods, it is almost like a festival, 'It is clear that this place is a popular area to earn money because people would naturally gather here, there are many foolish people who challenge the dungeon haughtily every day, which mostly ends with them losing their life'.
I keep moving and arrive in front of a museum-like structure, it even has a reception desk at the side of the entrance, where a uniformed young woman with a beautiful business smile was inspecting the people who enter and leave the Labyrinth, in brief, her work here is to inspect the Status Plate and record the number of people who entered and left the Labyrinth to accurately pinpoint the death toll.
After going through the inspection with some difficulties as the young woman was worried as she didn't see any weapon or armor on me, I had to show her the Martial Art Mastery on my Status Plate to pass, I finally enter the Labyrinth and without losing any more time, I quickly but carefully move through the first floor, 'I have enough supplies to last me a year... And the other Champion has already an advantage over me, I have to reach my objectives as fast as possible...', in this first floor I didn't meet any monsters as they are probably being constantly wiped out by the waves of Adventurers entering every day, and the same can be said for the next 4 floors, so I move undisturbed through the five meter wide gloomy passage, whose walls emits a dim light.
I stop for a moment to check the rocky wall and I see what seems like a lot of special green stones that are buried in the walls that light up the passage and think 'As expected by the Labyrinth created by a Synergist it is full of strange and handy ores...', before moving forward and finally meet the first group of monsters.
It is a group of around 5 Ratmen, they have the form of giant, muscular rats that stand on two feet, they have dark red eyes, and their entire body is covered in dirty gray fur, except for their chest and abdomen, as soon as they see me, they let out a loud screech before rushing at me at the same time, but I'm calm and take the Pankration fighting stance as they are running toward me with murderous fury in their eyes, but even so, I still have the time to think 'So slow... These monsters feel so weak, even without using my Cosmo, I can easily deal with them...'.
Soon the first Ratman arrives in front of me and attack with his sharp claws aiming at my chest, but before his claws could even scratch my clothes, I grab him by his wrist and pull him to the side, while at the same time, I hit it with my right knee on the neck, and the next moment I hear a crunch sound and see it head bending in a strange direction indicating that I killed it on the spot, then I let go of the dead Ratman and jump back to dodge the pincer attack from other two Ratmen, and before they could get their bearing back I throw two quick punches aiming at their head, and grimace at the sick sensation on my fists as their heads literally explode on the impact.
I take a step back while shaking my hands to clear them of the blood and brain matter and think in disgust, 'Ugh... I forgot how fragile the bodies without Cosmo can be! Back home a punch with this amount of force would only be able to crack a Bronze Cloth, and even if it hits a defenseless enemy he would still be fine... At most a little dazed... Gotta be more careful... I fought so many overpowered enemies that I forgot that it is not easy to find enemies that have the power to destroy a galaxy...'.
While I was thinking that, the remaining two Ratmen come rushing at me, and on instinct, I quickly move to finish them off, I move in front of the closest one and before he could react, I throw a low kick snapping off its leg, and at the same time while it is falling on the ground, I chop on its neck with my left hand.
The sight of its head flying in the air tells me that again I used too much strength, but I ignore this problem for now and focus on the remaining Ratman that is now about to bite me in the neck, but he is still too slow and I dodge it with a side step, grabs its head, and crash it on the ground and again it explodes like a watermelon on impact with the ground, seeing the mess I made I can't help but mutter "Urg... It seems that I have to get a weapon, if this continues, I will have to use all the water to wash my body and clothes after every fight... But until I find it it is better to be more careful and kill these monsters in a cleaner way", at the same time, I retrieve the Magic Stones from their bodies and after grabbing them all, I move on.
After that encounter, I keep moving down the Labyrinth, and the only monsters I meet are only a few groups of Ratmen, which I took care of by using simple grappling moves, dislocating their joints, snapping their neck, and from time to time when I grow bored, I experiment on them trying to figure out how their bodies work and how they react to some inputs, sometimes with some messy results that almost made me shout in Japanese "Omae wa mou shindeiru", 'Rats... The best friend of a researcher... Luckily even if they are monsters, their anatomy is quite similar to a human and their weak points are almost the same, only the Ratmen have worse eyesight, but a much better sense of smell... In fact, some acupoints on their bodies are also the same... So I can in theory remove their senses and paralyze their bodies once I'm a little more familiar with them...', but these aren't the only obstacles I meet, moving further down the Labyrinth, I notice an increasing number of deadly traps, but I'm still able to easily avoid them.
After a few hours I finally reach the 20th floor, and now there is a new monster nearby, it camouflage itself and blend in with the rock formations in the caverns, but it can't escape my senses, I can clearly feel his true gorilla-like appearance and using the memories of that man I recognize it as a Rockmount, so I quickly move and attack it before he could unleash his innate special magic, but as my punch break through its chest, he lets out a loud roar, and at the same time, I feel that my body is suddenly paralyzed, and I'm now unable to move, but luckily I was able to kill it before it could counterattack.
As I stay still, unable to move, with my hand still in the Rockmount's chest, I calmly analyze my situation 'Shit... It looks like Magic is truly my Achille's heel at the moment... That 0 in Magic Resistance and in Magic is because I'm not from this Universe, and so I simply do not have magic or resistance to it... I'm sure that Cosmo can protect me from it... But I can't use it in this Universe...', while thinking that, I wait for the Rockmount's magic to end, and it takes over 10 minutes for its effects to end.
After that, I search for another lone Rockmount to make another experiment, I again attack it in such a way to allow his magic roar to paralyze my body, only this time, after killing the monster, I go back to my Territory and use my Cosmo, and as I expected, I'm able to fight the effect of magic with it 'Hmm... Cosmo can indeed allow me to fight the effect of magic... But it isn't feasible to go to my Territory in the middle of a fight simply because the concepts didn't allow it, and made sure that it takes some time to open the portal to my Territory... So I was right in coming here... I just hope I'm still in time...'.