A New Party Member!

I slashed at the last slime and it burst into goo, getting all over me and Pastel.

"Yuck...This is absolutely disgusting." Pastel said as she looked at her clothes.

"Look it dropped something." I said then picked up the item.

「New Item Found! Slime Ball: An item that used to be used for condensed jelly but now is sold at a low price at the Adventurer's Hall.」

The Slime Ball disappeared into my inventory. I took two potions from my inventory then gave one to Pastel. We drank the potion and were left with empty bottles. I placed the empty bottles in my inventory then we pressed forward. We've been out here for a few hours now, fighting slimes and Kobolds.

"It's certainly beautiful out here when we aren't getting covered in slime essence." I said and chuckled softly.

"Yeah, but I hate being covered in anything monster related." Pastel said and stretched then sat on the top of my head in her pixie form.

"But you like to sleep on dirty, dusty couches. Right makes sense." I smiled and looked around, seeing other adventurers travelling the Grasslands as well.

"It's literally only temporary until we get enough money to renovate the home!" Pastel yelled and weakly hit my head.

"Alright, alright!" I smiled and chuckled. I looked at the map and zoomed out, noticing an icon on the map marking the main enemy we need to defeat. "Hey Pastel? Has anyone else gone through the phenomenon I'm experiencing now?"

"Nope. Not from what I know anyway. This is an experience that's new to me as well. I'm just so used to...y'know going through my lines and getting ignored for the rest of the game. I've never had so much freewill before. It feels amazing at the same time...so...weird..." Pastel said and looked at the sky.

"I feel you. I mean, I'm from an entirely different universe now forced to live in this one. I've also got to be the most boring one here. I don't have any notable lore or anything as of right now." I shrugged and closed the map.

"Yeah that's true. You're kinda just going with the flow here." Pastel said then listened to what she said. "W-WHICH ISN'T A BAD THING! Sometimes a little boredom is needed. These days everyone tries to hard to stand out and be different. Being different isn't bad but when you try too hard to be it...I don't know it seems unnatural."

"Yeah I understand. I mean to be honest, I was pretty ordinary in my home as well. No refining qualities, just a nerd who liked playing video games is all." I chuckled and kept walking ahead.

Pastel looked at me and smiled. "Alright! Let's focus on our quest! Okay?"

I nodded and ran ahead. I slid forward seeing a masked goblin. He spotted me and jumped up then I noticed a question mark above his head. I backed away and noticed him getting less suspicious then when I back away enough the goblin turned away and walked off.

"Enemies have suspicion meters. If they spot you, they won't immediately attack you unless they know you'll be a threat or you enter their territory. This will be a perfect time to teach you more combat lessons such as Sneak Strike where you sneak behind your target and hit them with a powerful attack from behind!" Pastel said. She looked around and spotted another masked goblin. "Look there! A Level 2 Goblin! Her back is turned. You'll gain more EXP for doing Sneak Strikes and Blindside Attacks. Try hitting a sneak strike on that goblin."

I nodded and crouch walked towards the masked goblin while her back was turned. As I neared her, I began walking slower. I unsheathed my sword then stabbed her back. She groaned and I slashed upwards. Her body fell to the ground then dispersed into magic particles.

「Level UP!」

Captain Name: Axel

Class: Knight

Ability: N/A

Level: 2 -> 3

Rank: F

Attack: 13 -> 17

Defense: 10 -> 15

M.Attack: 6 -> 8

M.Defense: 8 -> 11

Speed: 10 -> 14

Luck: 8 -> 12

「Skill(s) Learned: Vortex Slash, Upper Strike, Verticle Sweep」

"Nice one!~ Also the way EXP works is everyone in the party shares EXP and also your Celestias can never be a higher level than your level. Celestias don't have Ranks but do have something called Connect Rank. Depending on how high your connection with them is, they gain a noticable boost in their stats." Pastel said.

I picked up the Goblin Mask and sent it to my inventory. I walked ahead and a goblin spotted me then jumped, but this time an exclamation point appeared over their head.

"You're spotted! Time to battle!" Pastel said. "Time to teach you more combat lessons! Launch Attacks and Aerial Attacks. Launch Attacks are attacks that will launch your opponent in the air, allowing for more extensive and flashy combos. Aerial Attacks are self explanatory! I spoke as fast as I could to get all of that out before he approached, now kill that thing!" Pastel said.

I dashed ahead into battle then blocked the goblin's jump slash. I pushed the goblin backwards then struck his body with three consecutive slashes then used Upper Strike, launching the goblin in the air. I jumped up and hit the goblin with three more attacks then a Dual Slash followed by a Splitter Slash, slashing downward and knocking him back to the ground. I landed on top of the goblin and stabbed his chest.

I stood up and took my sword out of his chest and noticed the blood of the goblin trickling down my sword. The goblin's body dispersed into magic particles. "Wow...that was pretty badass."

"So cool!" Pastel said excitedly.

I picked up a crystal off the ground and looked at it.

「New Item Found! Monster Crystal: A Crystal that can be found from defeating monsters. These crystals are extremely rare and have a low drop rate. They usually go for a high price at the Adventurer's Hall.」

"Huh, these things usually don't drop. Got pretty lucky there captain." Pastel smiled.

I nodded and walked ahead. As I walked forward, I heard scared yelling. I looked back and groaned as someone crashed into me and we tumbled down a small hill. Pastel screamed as she held on tight to my hair, I yelled because Pastel as nearly pulling my hair out of my scalp and the woman who crashed into me screamed because we were yelling. We landed in a pond and all three of us groaned.

I sat up quickly and pointed at the woman who had all of us tumbling down the hill. "Yo! What's the deal with that?!"

"Nyaa.." she groaned softly as she sat up slowly. Her cat ears twitched and she looked at me. "Oh!~ Thank nyou for breaking my fall nya!~"

"Breaking your fall?! You nearly broke me!" I said.

"I'm really really sorry, nya.." The neko woman said and her ears slightly folded back. She chuckled nervously and blushed.

I sighed and looked up at Pastel who plopped back up on my head, I looked back at the woman. She had long brown hair styled in two twin tails, she had brown eyes, brown cat ears and tail. She wore a white and pink mage robe with high brown boots and fingerless gloves that extended to her elbows. She wore a little bell around her neck.

"Who are you exactly?" I asked.

"My name is Coco!~ Nyice to meet you, Mister!~" Coco said excitedly.

"Coco huh? My name is Axel." I said then stood up and helped Coco up.

"Axel...Okay!~" Coco smiled and looked at me. "What's her name?"

"The name's Pastel and don't you forget it, furball!" Pastel pointed at her.

"Kyaaa!" Coco yelled out of fear from Pastel's aggressiveness.

I sighed and ran my hand down my face. I looked up the hill and crossed my arms. "What the hell were you running from anyway?"

"Oh! I was running away from these wolves who tried to attack me! I'm really really afraid of wolves, nya!" Coco said and looked up at me.

I looked at Coco and scanned her with my Stat Check ability.

Celestia Name: Coco

Class: Mage

Ability: N/A

Level: 2

Attack: 8

Defense: 11

M.Attack: 17

M.Defense: 16

Speed: 19

Luck: 13

"A Celestia huh. They have as much freewill as any other adventurer out here. Hm." I said then closed the interface.

"Are nyou a captain by any chance?" Coco asked and tilted her head a bit to the side.

"Yeah I'm a Captain. A new one in fact." I answered.

"In that case can I join nyou?!" Coco said with excitement. "I've been looking for a nyew master and all the others rejected me because I'm too low of a level...Those meanies."

I crossed my arms and looked at Coco. "What happened to your old master?"

"Ehehe..." Coco chuckled nervously. "She abandoned me..."

"Ahh yeah, you can release your Celestias in exchange for Zil. That happens quite often that's why we have a lot of roaming Celestias around." Pastel said.

I looked at Coco and she gave me pleading eyes with a trembling lip. I rubbed the back of my head and smiled. "Alright, I'll take you in. Not giving me much of a choice with that look."

"Hehe! Yay!~ I've got a new Master!~" Coco said excitedly.

「Coco has joined the Party.」

"Alright, gotta find a path that leads us back to an elevated area." I said then walked ahead, leading the party.

Coco followed behind and her left ear twitched. She sensed something in the pond stalking us. She looked at me and noticed I was busy looking at the map. She looked back at the pond then noticed a Lizard Knight jumping out the pond. "Master look out!"

I closed the map then noticed the Lizard in the air. I dodged the attack then grunted. "A sneak attack..?"

Coco summons her crystal ball then locked onto the Lizard. "Lightning!" She yelled and a bolt of lightning struck the Lizard.

The Lizard yelled then fell onto the ground and dispersed into magic particles. The lizard dropped a green scale.

"Are you okay, Master Axel?" Coco asked and hurried to me.

"Yeah, thanks to you." I smiled and nodded.

Coco smiled and blushed slightly.

"I found a pathway so let's hurry from this area." I said.

"Nya!~" Coco said in agreement.

The three of us took a path leading away from the pond area and back onto the Greenlands. We decided to set up camp and take a break in a safe area.

Pastel's stomach growled and she laid on my head. "I'm hungry..."

"Yeah...We did skip breakfast so it's understandable." I said.

Coco's left ear twitched and she looked around, sniffing the air. She caught the scent of food being cooked. She stood up and sniffed the scent of food. "Master...I smell food. Maybe someone can help us!"

"I mean it's worth a shot." I shrugged and stood up.

I followed Coco as she followed the scent. We ended up walking into someone's camp and I noticed it was an entire Guild here. Coco and I looked around and saw everyone was relaxing and taking a break.

"Captain Raven, we seem to have some visitors." A man said and pointed at us.

A man with black hair and a blue strand of hair, orangish yellow eyes, and a serious face looked at us. He wore a white long coat with black fur around the hood, black shirt with a white outline, black pants, and silver boots. He carried his sword in his scabbard which hung around his belt.

I looked at Raven and looked pretty surprised as I scanned him.

Captain Name: Raven

Class: Dark Hero

Ability: Blacklight Shimmer [Boosts ATK, DEF, & SPD by 120%, Boosts Stamina by 100%, Boosts all Dark and Light Elemental Damage by 100%. Boosts chances of Critical Hits by 50% and Reduces Stamina consumption when using Magic Skills by 50%]

Level: 112

Rank: S+

Attack: 1,120

Defense: 1,023

M.Attack: 994

M.Defense: 1,002

Speed: 1,111

Luck: 1,022

"What do you want..? You lost or something..?" Raven asked and noticed who I was. "Ahh, you're that guy who fell from the sky. You're the talk of Erstonia Town."

"U-Uhm...well we were wandering around fighting monsters and we got hungry and we sorta smelled the cooking here." I said.

Raven scanned me and crossed his arms. "Hmph...Level 3 huh. Alright, just this once I'll help a new Captain. I can't let you stay here since we'll be on the move after our break."

"Thank you, sir!" I bowed.

"Don't call me sir. The name's Raven." He said then walked off.

"Seems like the hard edged kind of guy. His level is like super high as well. Surprised he agreed to help us out." Pastel said.

"Yeah, he's been here for a while now. I didn't expect veterans to be in an area like this. He must be going to the Temple that's nearby or coming out of it at the very least." I said then looked at his Celestias. They were also very high leveled and powerful Celestias.

Raven came back with a large bag of food for me, Pastel, and Coco. "I see you still have your Star Guide as well. Surprised you decided to keep yours. Most Star Guides get thrown out after they get done with the tutorial."

"Really? Well I'm not throwing Pastel away. We may have just met, but I can tell she's important even if her time in my party is temporary." I said.

Pastel smiled as she laid on my head on her stomach. She looked at Raven.

"Well it is your life. Anyway here. Now get going. We'll be leaving soon." Raven said.

I took the bag and looked at Raven. "Thank you, si-...Ah Raven."

Raven nodded then walked away.

"Well ladies, we have food, so let's dig in at our camp." I smiled.

Coco and Pastel agreed and we headed back to our camp to have dinner and rest for the night.