3 Chapter 3

"Jo-Jo!" Lavinia draped herself over Josh's right shoulder, her arms going around his neck and pulling him in for a tight hug.

"Lavinia." He stiffly greeted the affectionate magician.

"Noo~." Lavinia whined in his ear and pouted. "I told you to call me Lavi or Lavi-chan! That's the correct honorific, right? I'm still getting used to them, but Tobi's been teaching me."

"San, senpai, or even sama would fit better in our situation." Josh said, starting to get uncomfortable in her grasp. It's not that he didn't enjoy it. Being hugged like this soothed his soul, but Azazel's words hung on his mind. Especially with how her bust pushed against him. Those two mountains, there was no other way to describe them, were just too big. He had never seen ones as large as hers before.

'Could something...' Lavinia was beautiful, kind, and intelligent, everything a man could ask for and more. He could never even imagine having a chance with someone like her, considering how plain he looked. The only distinguishing feature he had was his green eyes, and that was it.

'I have more important things to focus on.' A relationship with Lavinia, as good as it sounded, wasn't on the table. It would distract him from his goal, and she deserved someone better, someone not damaged like him. That's if she was even interested in Josh in that kind of way since Lavinia could just be acting on her gentle personality.

"Mou~, but isn't chan used by those close to each other." His heart quivered at that.

'She just doesn't know what that means and is being kind, nothing more.' He had to repeat this in his mind a few times before calming down.

"Would you please let me go, Lavi-chan?" If he didn't call her that, she wouldn't release her grasp on him. "We do need to leave now, or we will miss our plane."

"I can teleport us if needed to." Lavinia finally released him and stuck her tongue at him playfully.

Josh's eye twitched. "Then why are we using a plane in the first place?"

"Because this is your mission, silly. I'm just here to make sure nothing goes wrong and to keep you company." Lavinia smiled at him.

Josh wasn't the brightest out there. Events wouldn't have played out the way they did if he was. However, he wasn't stupid. Lavinia wasn't sent alongside him with the sole reason of keeping him safe.

Again, the words of Azazel came to his mind. Lavinia was being used to make him consider joining the Grigori. But did she know what Azazel was planning, or was she unaware? Josh didn't know the answer, so he clamped down, keeping her a distance away for the duration of their trip. As much as he could, that is.

'Maybe I'm just overthinking it.' That thought passed through his mind as they boarded the plane from Greenland to the USA.

The Grigori had many bases all around the world, with their main one being in the Underworld. All of them had different purposes, but the one in Greenland focused on studying Sacred Gears, which was why he was there.

The Grigori also had a lot of connections with the governments of the world and various companies. They set him up with a bank account, got him identification papers, and presented him with a visa in less than a day. The more Josh learned about the supernatural world, the more he realized how much they controlled outside of it. It's no wonder humans weren't aware of it since they suppressed any information that might reveal their existence.

The flight to the USA was uneventful. Lavinia was her cheery and bubbly self, happily chatting with him on their way. Josh tried keeping his distance, acting a bit more coldly than he would've wished with her. It ate him away since she didn't deserve that, but the thought that this could all be a ruse was still fresh on his mind.

They finally arrived at their destination, Little Rock, Arkansas. From there, they took a bus towards Perryville, a small city in the state, and the location of his first mission. Their first order of business was to book a hotel for their short stay.

"A doub-"

"Two single rooms for two nights, please." Josh interrupted her before she could request a double room. Lavinia pouted and looked at him with watery eyes. His heart quivered, but his decision remained the same.

"That's not fair." Lavinia whined on their way to their rooms.

"It's better this way, so no misunderstandings happen." Josh was resolute in his decision and tried not to look at her expression. Plus, he had an ulterior motive for staying in separate rooms.

"Fine, fine." Lavinia grumbled. "But we will eat dinner together, right?"

"I can agree to that."

After their dinner, they returned to their rooms, and Josh was finally alone with no prying eyes to watch his every move. He laid on his bed and closed his eyes as he focused deep inside him. His consciousness appeared in an empty space where a purple cat was marching back and forward in a soldier's outfit.

"Joshua!" The Exceed turned to him. "Have you finally decided to join the army?"

"I want to visit Earthland." Josh ignored the cat's antics and got straight to the point. Every time he had met with the Exceed, it had a different outfit that apparently came with its own personality. He was used to it at this point.

The cat appeared in front of his face, teleporting from its location in a split second. With a smirk on its face, the Exceed tapped Josh on the forehead, and he felt some kind of force dragging both his consciousness and body.

The reason why Josh hadn't made use of this particular ability of his Sacred Gear was due to knowing his body would be transported somewhere else. The Exceed had warned him about that when it informed him about the world residing in him.

Azazel didn't seem like he wanted to let Josh just walk away, and that's without him knowing about the inner world residing in the teenager's Sacred Gear. If Josh used this ability in the Grigori base, he risked the chance of someone finding out, something he preferred to avoid if possible. Otherwise, Azazel won't ever consider letting him go. It was better if he believed his Sacred Gear wasn't that special.

"Welcome to Earthland! I'm happy to be your guide for the day." Josh appeared in an empty plaza void of people with various buildings around him. The cat was next to him, now in a different outfit that resembled that of a tour guide.

"Is there any particular place you wish to visit first?" The Exceed asked.

"Somewhere where I can learn magic." Josh easily answered.

"Oh-ho, a magician? To the library it is then. Please follow me." The Exceed led him to one of the buildings that looked more like a bookstore than a library. The cat entered inside and calmly walked over to behind the counter. Its clothes morphed into a professional suit, and a pair of glasses formed on its face.

"Welcome to the library. I'm The Librarian. How can I help you?" The Exceed asked with a daring smirk on its face.

Instead of asking if the cat had a personality disorder, Josh focused on the more important matters. "I want books on magic."

Lavinia had tried teaching him some of the weaker spells she knew, but Josh hadn't been able to learn a single one of them so far. He didn't know if he wasn't compatible with them due to his Sacred Gear or not, but Josh knew for a fact that he could learn magic. The cat had proved it to him in their first encounter.

"Is there any particular magic you are after?" The Exceed asked.

"One that can help me fight Devils." Josh didn't need to think about his answer.

"Oh, we have just the right one for that here." A book appeared on the counter with the title 'Ice Devil Slayer Magic.'

That's all he needed to see. Magic specifically designed to kill Devils? Josh couldn't ask for anything better than that. His hands reached out for it, but the Exceed quickly took it away from him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You first have to pay." The cat shook its head.

"Pay? Pay with what?" Josh asked, anger seeping into his voice. Wasn't this his Sacred Gear? Why did he have to pay for anything?

"With Jewels, of course." The Exceed answered as if that wasn't obvious.

"You want me to pay with gemstones?" Josh was bewildered by that.

"Not gemstones. Jewels! That's the currency in Earthland." The cat said.

Josh blinked a few times at that. He'd never even heard of such a currency. "Where am I supposed to get Jewels from?"

"You can complete the quests offered in the Guildhall, or you can fight in the Colosseum." The Exceed explained. The more he learned about his 'Sacred Gear,' the less he understood about it. It worked nothing like the ones he read about.

"And." The cat wrinkled its nose. "If I'm sensing correctly, and I do believe I am, your Magical Core is too weak to make use of this type of magic."

"How would I go about increasing my Magical Core?" His low magical reserve was one problem he wished to fix as soon as possible.

"By absorbing Lacrimas sold in the Magical Goods store."

"And I'm assuming I need Jewels for that as well."

"That's right."

'So I have to complete quests or fight in the Colosseum to earn Jewels if I want to get anything from this blasted cat. This Sacred Gear of mine seriously resembles one of those newer RPG games where everything costs a price. Though there are benefits to it. I can learn other types of magic, increasing my magical reserves, and get fighting experience. I just have to work hard.'

Josh was about to leave the Library since there was nothing else he could do there without Jewels, but he turned around before exiting. "Out of curiosity, how much does the Ice Devil Slayer Magic cost?"

"1, 000, 000 Jewels." The Exceed cheerfully answered.

"And how strong would my Magic Core need to be?"

"At least level 4 to properly make use of the magic."

With that, Josh left the Library with the Exceed following after him. Its clothing changed back to its tour guide outfit as the cat continued guiding him.

"Where would you like to visit next?" The Exceed was back into its tour guide role.

"The Guildhall." Since Josh needed Jewels to get anything from this place, he decided on that first.

"Follow me then." The Exceed led him to a three-storied building that looked like a pagoda, with each floor being smaller than the one below it and sitting on the latter's roof.

The interior of the Guildhouse looked more like a tavern with many tables stretched across it and a bar at the end. Josh didn't know what was the purpose of it since he was the only one who could access it besides the Exceed. The cat in question walked over behind the bar as its clothes transformed into a formal suit that looked like a butler's.

"Welcome to the Guildhall! How can I help you?"

"Quests." Josh was already getting accustomed to the split personality of the being in his Sacred Gear.

"You can pick one from the request board and had it over to me." The Exceed pointed at the request board next to the bar.

Josh walked over to it and looked through the flyers stuck on the board. He quickly noted that all of them had 'Rank-D' written on top of them. The reward varied from 1 000 to 5 000 Jewels depending on what the Quest was about, with the easier ones that didn't involve any fighting at all giving out smaller rewards.

After looking them over, Josh took two of the Quests since they were issued by the same person, the Farmer. At this point, he didn't even question the name since he already knew who was the one commissioning the Quests.

"I couldn't help but notice that all of the Quests were Rank-D." Josh stated as he walked over to the Exceed.

"A keen observation, young man. Higher-ranked Quests will become available to you when you prove yourself by successfully completing more Quests. You need to complete 20 Rank-D ones to unlock the higher rank." The Exceed informed him and took the flyers from his hands.

"Oh, 'Build a Fence' and 'Drive off the Crop Beetles?' The Farmer would certainly appreciate your help, young man! We need more people like you around here." The Exceed then stamped both Quests, and the world around Josh morphed.

Suddenly, he was no longer in the Guildhouse but in front of a house with a large farm behind him. The door burst open, and the Exceed walked out, wearing clothes stained with dirt, a straw hat, and a pitchfork in his hands.

"Finally! Took ya long enough! Them critters been eatin' my crops for the past month! I need em driven off and a new fence to block em out."

Josh ignored the Exceed, opting to look around. The farm was big with plenty of different types of crops growing from the ground. The leaves of some of the vegetables looked as if a large bug had munched on them, and the fence surrounding the property was broken down. However, the Crop Beetles were nowhere to be seen.

"Well, are ya ready to start the Quest, or are ya goin' to just stand there?" The Exceed's tone was harsh, displaying his annoyance.

"I'm ready." The moment Josh uttered those words, the Crop Beetles made their appearance, rushing at the farm from a small distance away.

There were about a dozen of the critters, all resembling Hercules Beetles. Though they were as big as a dog and their mandibles looked dangerous. Josh was sure they could snap his limbs with those sharp-looking things and had no desire to get close to them to check out his theory.

A green magic circle formed as he clapped his hands before pointing them at the incoming beetles. "Wood-Make: Homing Spears."

Chanting a spell wasn't a necessity, but it helped with visualizing what he wanted to achieve and helped with controlling his magic. Josh figured that out with the help of Lavinia after she explained how important was chanting for magicians. At least he only needed to intone the name of the spell, unlike most magicians.

From the green magic circle, three wooden spears flew out, darting towards the incoming beetles. The projectiles moved in the air as if they had a mind of their own, aiming at the critters' mouths, and skewering inside them.

Despite the spell's name, the spears weren't actually homing since Josh was the one controlling them. He had a sort of telekinetic control over all of his creation that allowed him to control them with his magic power. Otherwise, how would a wooden bird fly in the air? It wouldn't have been capable of flight with wings made out of wood if something else wasn't at play.

"Tsk." Josh clicked his tongue as the spears got stuck in the beetles' bodies. His magical reserves were still low, and the spell cost him 20% of them. It was still much better than when he first used his Wood-Make magic, but it was far from what he wished it to be.

"Wood-Make: Homing Spears." Again, he cast the spell as he slowly backed away from the beetles. They had been rushing at the crops at first, but now they were coming after him.

Three more beetles got gutted by the spears, turning them into skewers. As much as Josh wanted to kill them all in a single spell, his current limit was only three spears at a time. The moment only six remained, the beetles opened their wings and took flight.

"Fuck." Josh cursed as this became just that much more difficult. He scrambled backward, running away from the incoming beetles while casting his spell again.

The spears flew at the beetles, but since he was on the move and the beetles were in the air, Josh was having a harder time aiming the projectiles. Only a single one stuck home, skewering a beetle, but the other two got snapped in half by the dangerous mandibles. The critters learned their lesson and were on alert.

Josh jumped out of the way of a beetle that reached him, rolling on the ground before jumping on his feet. As much as he disliked Azazel, staying with the Grigori had proven fruitful. Not only did he get to practice his magic with them under the guidance of Lavinia, but he also got to spar with a few of the lower-ranked members. Josh learned a thing or two from those bouts.

Dodging their attacks, he continued moving around. He could only cast his spell two more times, so he had to make sure he won't miss. Josh waited for the perfect moment when at least two beetles were in his face.

His magic circle blurred into existence much faster than ever before and fired the spears in their face. The two spears pierced through the beetles while the third flew past them. It sought out one of the flying skitters and found purchase, but it didn't fully skewer it. That was still enough to at least take it out of the fight, however.

Only two remained, and Josh felt at ease now. They were mindlessly coming after him, so he just waited until they neared him before blasting them with the spears at point-blank range.

"Whoosh." Josh let out a deep breath.

"There's still one more writhin' about!" The Exceed called out, pointing at the squirming beetle.

Josh looked at it, wiggling on the ground with green blood oozing from where the spear had pierced it through. His reserves were practically empty, so he couldn't just blast it with a spell.

"Hmm." Josh turned his attention to one of the spears in the dead beetles. All of his creations were permanent and didn't need any magic power to sustain them. He pulled the spear out of it and walked over to the squirming beetle. After making sure it couldn't get him with its dangerous mandibles, he started plunging the spear inside it.

Josh's thoughts turned to the fact that he had just killed a dozen living beings. He had killed bugs before, but they had never been this big. Their size just made it a different experience. Though he wasn't even sure if they were alive or if the beetles were constructs formed by his Sacred Gear.

"Ya have one more Quest to do." The Exceed yelled after the last beetle died.

"I need a moment to rest and recover my energy." Josh said with a twitch of his eye.

"Youngsters these days." The Exceed shook his head. "If ya can't complete two Quest at the same time, then don't take em!"

Josh ignored him and just plopped himself on the ground. Meditation helped with recovering his energy. Not by much, but it was still faster. It also helped that his current reserves weren't that big, to begin with. So in about half an hour, he was back to full capacity.

Completing the second Quest was so much easier than the first. Josh just had to set up a fence around the farm, which a simple task with his magic. The Exceed kept grumbling under his breath about how slow he was, but he just ignored him. The moment he was done, the world around him morphed, and he was back in the Guildhall.

"Congratulations on completing your first two Quests! The Farmer had some complaints, but it's your first time, so worries." The Exceed placed a stack of paper on the counter with a happy smile. "4 500 Jewels as promised. 1 000 for 'Build a Fence' and 3 500 for 'Drive off the Crop Beetles.'"

Josh took the Jewels and walked out of the Guildhouse with the Exceed following after him, its clothes already changed to its tour guide outfit.

"To the Magical Goods store." Josh said the moment they exited the building.

"Follow me."

The Magical Good store had a simple counter with many shelves behind it, all filled with various objects.

"Oh-ho-ho. A new aspiring wizard? What are you looking for?" The Exceed asked from behind the counter with a pointed wizard hat on its head.

"Lacrimas." Josh still had no idea what that was, but the cat told him that's what he needed.

"What kind? We have Lacrimas for Enchanting, Lacrimas for Magical Crafting, Lacrimas for general use. What kind are you after?"

'Of course, crafting is a thing. I already established this is like an RPG game.' Josh wasn't even surprised at this point. He even saw a building that looked like a forge on the way to the store.

"Ones that can help me increase my Magical Core."

"I see, I see. I have just the right ones around here. What rank of Lacrima are you after?"

"How much are the cheapest ones?" Josh didn't think he could afford the highest-rank Lacrimas with his current funds, and he was right to assume that.

"The low-rank Lacrimas go for 2 000 Jewels each."

"Two of those then."

Two crystals appeared on the counter that resembled crystalized teardrops. Knowing how things worked around here, Josh handed 4 000 Jewels to the Exceed before taking the two.

"How do I absorb them?" Josh asked as he held them in his hands. The two were big enough that they fit in his grasp.

"You bought them without even knowing how to use them? Young ones these days." The Exceed shook his head. "It's quite simple, honestly. You just reach out with your magic and take the energy for yourself. Just don't eat them. They tend to leave in a very explosive manner."

"Thank you." Josh said with a bow of his head and turned to leave.

"It's of no problem! I enjoy helping aspiring wizards. If you have any questions about magical items, you are free to ask. I'll be happy to help."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The Exceed was next to him the moment he left the store. Josh walked over to the plaza and sat down on a bench next to the fountain in the middle. The Exceed quietly waited for him as he focused on the Lacrima in his hand.

Josh closed his eyes and reached out to the crystal with his magic. It took him some time to latch on to the crystalized energy before he started absorbing it. He didn't know how long he kept at it, but when he finished, the Lacrima crumbled into dust.

[Joshua Arata]

[Magical Core Lvl. 1]

[Wood-Make(Apprentice)]

Josh looked at his status. The Magical Core was still level 1, but he felt he had more energy. If he had to guess, he needed to absorb around twenty low-ranked Lacrimas to increase it to the next level.

"I want to leave Earthland." Josh turned towards the Exceed, who was still beside him. He had one more thing he needed to test.

"As you wish."

The world morphed around him, and he suddenly found himself back in his hotel room. Josh's clothes were wrinkled and a bit dirty from his time on the farm, but most importantly, the second Lacrima was still in his hands.

Josh's Sacred Gear was proving that it was far from simple. He could even take the things he purchased from Earthland with him. Josh would have to check all the stores for all their goods. His current priority was increasing his Magical Core, but getting a good magical weapon seemed like a good idea. That, however, was for the future. Now he had one more Lacrima to absorb.