22 Chapter 22 Fantasy, Travel and Adventure
Chapter 22
The next day, Fluffy woke me up when he slapped me in the face when he was rolling over in bed. I was about to hit him back when I noticed he was still asleep and that it was not intentional, so I just grumbled and checked the time. It was 6 a.m., so I could sleep more, but I laid in bed for another hour, just browsing the web for anything fun to do. I trolled some people and sent cat pictures to every account I could find connected to Endeavor, hoping that would cheer him up. Then I started to think of what I wanted to do today.
First I had school, but after that I had nothing planned, but then I remembered that we wanted to prank Alfred with magical glitter. I racked my brain for any world that I knew about that could do it. Harry Potter has the Twins joke shop, and there must be other places in that world, but I did not want to start on that world before I was ready. I already feel I have too many balls in the air, and I wanted to dedicate more time to doing that world.
Maybe I should just try doing a generic magical world? You know, with proper guilds, magic, kings, demon lords, and all the Isekai tropes. The more I thought about it, the more fun it sounded. So find the most generic world with swords and magic, go on some epic quests, and maybe collect a ton of cool magical items. I already wanted to make a museum-type room for all the artifacts I could not show in the hallway. Then it's decided I am going on a magical adventure to find epic loot and some magic person to make me some magical glitter.
In my excitement, I woke up Fluffy by shaking him awake and telling him my plans for today. At first, he was really tired, but the more I told him of the idea, the more excited he got, but not for the same reasons. Fluffy wanted to take quests to hunt down some magical beasts and have Alfred cook them. I already salivated at that thought, and we both sat out to find a generic fantasy world to travel to.
We both used Worldsight to find the ideal fantasy world. The power makes every multiverse look like one big world tree to me. I don't know if this is a visual aid for my powers or if this is how the actual worlds look like. The trunk is the cannon world, or earth prime or however you want to see it. It's the world where all the books, movies, etc. are coming from and the rest of the multiverse expands out of. When we read fanfic about someone getting isekaied into another work like me, the reason the original source material doesn't change is because those people always go to one of the branch worlds where they are the sole difference. The prime trunk universe is protected from any and all changes, as that would ripple to all the other branch universes.
This, however, made it very easy to find worlds with a lot of changes or very few. The closer you are to the trunk of the world you travel to, the fewer changes there are. But if you go further out, you get stuff like My Little Pony and Superman Crossover. And the worlds at the very edge of those worlds have very loose laws that govern what can and cannot happen.
So when we were looking for a world to visit, we looked for worlds that were closer to the trunk, so the divergence point of the world would be us entering the world. But if we go out a little more, there are some worlds where other heroes have been summoned and could be interesting to interact with. Fluffy was the first one to find a good world that seemed to check all the boxes. We don't have a way to check the world for any specific information at this point, so we just shrugged our shoulders and hoped for the best. We saw some villages, towns, and a dragon on a mountain. This will be so much fun that I bookmarked the world.
I got out of bed to get ready for school while bouncing ideas with Fluffy. When I was ready, Fluffy transformed back into his normal form and jumped into my arms for some snuggles. We then met mom in the hallway, as she had just woken up.
"So what got you looking so happy this morning, Sora?" I was too excited to not smile brightly.
"It's a secret," I said with a sing song.
My mother was not having it and put her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation, as nothing I ever did was totally not suspicious at all. I squirmed under her gauze and told her
"Me and Fluffy played with my Worldsight power and found a world with real swords and magic. We got really excited, and we wanted to ask you later if we could go there."
"What was your Worldsight power again? And is this world dangerous?"
"The Worldsight power lets me see other worlds better and inspect them."
"I thought you could already do that."
"Ya, but this lets me do it better and stuff."
"Ok, so is the world dangerous?"
"It looks to be a normal magical world. There are monsters, knights, dragons, magic, and stuff I have seen in those storybooks. You got me."
I am referring to some childhood picture books and fantasy books my mother would read to me as a child... well, younger child... Okay, she still reads them at bedtime. I'm a sucker for audiobooks, and this is the best I can get.
"Those worlds can still be dangerous, though."
"Ya, but those people don't have super powers, and I could totally wrestle a dragon," I said in a confident tone with my hands on my hips. My mother snickered at my antics.
"So what did you two want to do in that world?" I crossed my arms and made myself look like I was sulking.
"We want to get some magic guy to enchant some glitter so we can prank Alfred after he pranked us," my mother went, ahh, that would explain it.
"I got to think about it and talk about it with your dad."
"Now let's go and eat breakfast and get you ready for school. You can tell me all about what Alfred did while we eat."
"Hai mom"
We went to the kitchen together, and she started to make breakfast as we filled her in on our betrayal at the hands of Alfred… We totally did not tell it in a super biased way or anything. Mom listened to our totally evil plan to put magical glitter on Alfred for his evil deeds.
Mom pointed out a flaw in our plan… What if Alfred stops cooking for you… Hmm, let's retract the more evil parts of the plan and just leave the prank… yes?… yes.
The rest of the breakfast we planned, and mom got to help until it was time to leave for school.
The rest of the day was not that eventful, mostly playing with Izuku and the other kids. I told Izuku that we were going on an epic fantasy adventure to a sword and magic world after school, and when his mom came to pick him up, he begged her to let him go with us but was told he had to wait until the weekend. He made us promise to call him when we got home and tell him about our adventure and to take lots of pictures.
Soon, mom and dad came and picked us up, and on the drive home, we talked.
"Well, me and your dad have talked it over, and you both can go to that fantasy world, but if anything dangerous happens, you both run away, ok?"
"Hai mom" x2
"So what do you guys want to see in that fantasy world?" Dad asked us
"I want to see magic," I said.
"I want to eat some exotic food," Fluffy said, as he did not want to say he wanted to hunt it first.
"What about you, honey?" Dad asked what you would like to see if you went?
"Hmm… the people, I think. I want to see how they would live in a fantasy world. How about you?" She said, turning to dad.
"I would like to see a dragon."
"Oh, that's a great idea. Fluffy, we got to see a dragon," I said, knowing my mom would not like this, but it was too funny not to do it.
"SORA! You are forbidden to go and look for a dragon; is that understood?"
"Yes, mom," I said in a sulky tone.
"And don't give the kids any more dangerous ideas."
"Yes, honey," dad said.
We soon came home, and I ran to my room to change out of my school clothing and put on my hero suit. You never know what you will find. We then went to the kitchen to say goodbye to my parents before I left. Mom gave us a hug and told us to be careful one last time before I opened a rift and jumped through.
While traveling, Fluffy's tail was wagging up a storm, and I was not much better. We both really wanted to go on this epic adventure together. Soon we saw the exit open up, and I landed face first on the damp and slippery grass as I lost balance. Fluffy snickered at my misfortune. I stood up and looked around to see where I was.
I had appeared in a field with a bunch of standing stones, and it was the middle of the night. But with my advanced eye sight, I could see like it was daytime. There was not much to see. It appeared to be a big open field with standing stones, and far away, I could see a fire where a man sat cooking something over the campfire. As I walked towards the man, I noticed a forest surrounding the big field and a bit of a mountain peak at the horizon.
I sometimes forget how good my eyesight is, and the man was actually far away, and I had to walk for about 20 minutes to get there. I could have flown over there quickly, but I wanted to take my time, and we used this time to figure out what to say when we got to the campfire.
I was now within shouting range and still had nothing to say, so I just shrugged my shoulders and walked inside the range of the campfire light.
"Hello… sir." This visible started the man as he put a hand on a sword on his hip.
"A… child? What are you doing here? Where are your parents?"
I heard him speak English words, but when I really listened, I could hear the foreign words of whatever language he was speaking. This was a very bizarre experience, but I relished this moment.
"Hello, my name is Leo, and this is Fluffy. We are traveling to see the world, and my parents are at home."
"How did you even get this far away from civilization? The closest town is several weeks away by foot."
"Well, we are really strong and fast." I said flexing, but my body does not display my inhumanly strong physique, so he just sees a child flexing.
"Uh huh… Well, why don't you join me by the fire, and you can tell me all about your adventures."
"Okej," I said, sitting on another stone beside the fireplace. I really hope mom doesn't check up on what I do here, or she is going to scold me for joining a stranger in the middle of nowhere.
"Child… I mean, Leo, where is your backpack?" He asked when he noticed I did not have anything with me… I might need to buy one to not draw too much attention.
"I don't need one," I said, pulling out a cookie from my inventory.
"WHAT! You have such an amazing spark."
"What's a spark?" I asked, tilting my head.
"Have you lived under a rock? Who doesn't know what a spark is?"
"I don't! I said, holding my one hand up in the air, like I wanted to answer a question in class.
This made the man sputter, and it was well worth playing my age. I started to giggle, and Fluffy almost gave himself away by giggling. He wanted to wait for an opportunity to speak. We have made it into a game over the years to surprise people.
"A spark is the gift we get from the goddesses Lunara and her twin sister, the goddess Sundara."
"So do you also have a spark, old man?"
"What? I am not an old man. I am only 25 years old, and my name is Hairrix Locksley. I do have a spark. It lets me travel further and faster the longer I walk."
"So? Your pow… Spark is called longstride, then?"
"I… It doesn't have a name, but that does sound like what my spark does, doesn't it?"
"I'm glad to help."
"So what are you doing out here then?" I asked Hairrix.
"I was hired to do research on the standing stones out here; this is called a menhir field, and we think that a very long time ago, people used these fields to draw in magic."
"WOW, that sounds so cool." I wanted to see magic so badly right now.
"Too bad I don't have the spark to wield my magic as one of the mages do."
"Do you need a special spark to use magic?"
"No, but unless you have a magic-focused spark, you can only do very small household magic, but I am just very bad at magic overall."
"Are you hungry, Leo? We should eat and go to bed soon."
"I am not hungry right now, and I just ate a cookie."
"Ahh, very well."
For the past few minutes, I have seen two men walking towards the campfire, looking behind them every so often as they got closer to the campfire. And they were finally close enough that Hairrix noticed them.
"Who goes there?" he asked into the darkness. I guess he must have been on higher alert after I popped out of nowhere.
"Wow, stranger, we are just two weary travelers who seek some company for the night," the man on the left said as they walked into the campfire light.
"I smell blood," Fluffy said mentally. I took a sniff and also noticed it. I often keep my smell weaker, as I don't get how fluffy can stand all the stronger smells.
"Why are you two so far away from civilization?" Hairrix asked them
"We are D-ranked hunters and are on our way home from a long journey."
"Well, I would not say no to having some extra company for the night."
"Are you also a hunter?" The man on the right asked
"No, sorry, I am a researcher; why do you ask?" The man on the right gave a slight damn under his breath, but we still heard it.
"Nothing… just curious," the man on the right said.
This is when the forest started to light up more and more as 30 men walked out with mage lights and torches, and when they saw us, they walked directly towards us. Everyone in the campfire noticed, and the two men looked over towards them in fear, and one of them whispered under his breath, We are so dead.
"We are sorry we dragged you and your son into our troubles." The man on the right said
When the group of people came close enough and noticed the two men, they shouted.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN AWAY FROM THE SHADOW BANDITS," the guy in the lead said.
"I AM GOING TO MOUNT YOUR HEADS ON A PIKE," one of the other bandits shouted.
"AND DRINK YOUR BLOOD."
The more they shouted, the more they reminded me of borderland bandits, but they hand more animal skin and swords here.
Hairrix stood up with fear written all over his face and looked at me with pity. I think he wanted to run away, but before he had time to put any plan into action, Fluffy jumped down from my lap and walked towards the edge of the light.
"Yo, Leo, give me some ambience. I want to fight them, and I want the rest of the people to see what is going to happen."
"You know mom is going to kill you if she watches you go on a killing spree."
"Ya, maybe, but they have been shouting that they are going to kill and mutilate us this entire time, so I think I am entirely justified."
"Well, it's you mom going to be angry with, so go at it."
I pulled out a flare and shot it into the air, and soon the entire area was lit up with blood-red light from the flare, giving Fluffy the atmosphere he wanted.
"Fluffy... Fetch," I said for the people at the camp, and their reactions did not disappoint as Fluffy grew to his big form and rushed towards the bandits with the biggest smile and tail wagging. He was so happy right now that I could feel it over our bond.
Fluffy knew that the flare only lasted a few minutes, so he had only that window of time to dispatch the bandits. Normal flares last about 30s to 60 seconds, but the flare gun I got from Alfred and Dad was so much better than the normal kind.
The two strangers looked at me, then at Fluffy, and then at the flare floating in the air, Hairrix looked at me with both a bit of fear and happiness that he would not have to leave me behind.
"What is that fox? I have never seen a beast like that." The guy on the left said his mouth agape.
"Fluffy is the bestest fox," I said with a smile.
Fluffy was tearing through the bandits; some of them shot out fire or ice blasts, but Fluffy threw another bandit into the stream of fire and hit the mage. Then he proceeded to jump over and crush both of them under his paw before going after the next bandit. The blood and carnage made me look away before I threw up.
After a few minutes, the flare finally petered out, and Fluffy walked over to the campfire and stood at the edge of the firelight to look cool and scary. But I could see his tail wagging happily, and he kept asking me, Does this look good? Should I go further up or back? and all of this just made him my Fluffy goofball. I walked up to Fluffy and gave him a hug on his big face that was covered in blood, and I got some of it on me but could just clean it off in a bit.
"I… Is ehh… Are they all dead?" Hairrix asked
"Yes… very" Fluffy said with a gravelly growl.
Everyone at the campfire went white in the face when he spoke. I told Fluffy that this was good enough and that he should tone it down or they would leave. Fluffy agreed, shrunk down, and jumped into my arms as I turned around and used my cleaning power to remove the blood from us while they could see.
"There all clean now, Fluffy," I said for effect, nuzzling my face into his fur.
"Do... does your Fox ehh companion also have a spark? I have never heard about that from non-magical creatures."
"Oh… heh… Fluffy, here is actually my spark," I said.
"WHAT?!" all three of them said, and I just love watching people react to my high jinx.
"You have two sparks? That is rare."
"Ehh, more like." I tried thinking in my head about how many, and I just threw out a number.
"20 or so, I think by now."
I had now walked over and sat down in my seat by the campfire. And all three seemed surprised. They looked at me, then at Fluffy, then back at me.
"Do… you really have 20 sparks?"
"Ya, I have roughly that many," I said before I decided to show off a bit and floated off the rock, did a lazy backflip, and then sat down on the rock again.
"That… is… Kid… I am totally not jealous right now." Hairrix said
"Hehe, well, why don't we sit down and eat and then go to sleep?"
The two hunters sat down by the fire beside one another, took off their backpacks, and started to unpack their supplies.
"So what's your names? And what did those bandits want with you two?" Hairrix asked the two hunters
"My name is Tippex Towson, and my friend here is called Dexter Twiddleton, and we hail from the nearest town east of here."
"While we were out hunting in the nearby area of the town, we were captured by the bandits. Then we were taken out here and put in cages, but the bandits got drunk and did not even take our gear, and as soon as most of them fell asleep, I picked the lock, and we fled, but they noticed us, and well… here we are." Tippex said this while taking some dried jerky from his backpack.
"That is awful," I said.
"Yes, but we are happy we met you two… Ehh, three, or we might have gotten captured again."
"What were you two hunting?" Fluffy asked excitedly. The two men started a bit at Fluffy speaking but still answered.
"We were tasked with hunting the nearby wolves, as they had been hunting the nearby farm livestock."
"Oh…" Fluffy said it in disappointment. He wanted to hear about some exotic magical monsters, but they were only wolves.
"So how is it being an adventurer?" I asked excitedly.
"It's very dangerous unless you have a good or powerful spark, but I would not trade it for anything in the world. You get to travel the world, meet people, and go on adventures, but most adventurers don't live to see their retirement or get an early retirement for various reasons."
"That sounds so cool, I want to also become an adventurer."
"Hey kid, you are way too young. You have to be at least 12 years old or have a recommendation letter from a guild master. And those are practically unheard of outside the nobility or the very lucky few."
"Hmm… so there is a chance."
"Well, you can always try, kid, but you should go to the capital's guild if you want a chance. I heard rumors that the guild leader there is... exetric and might give you a chance."
"How far away is that from here?"
"Well, from our town, it would take you three months to get to the capital."
"Wah, that far... It might take me an hour to get there then... maybe."
"You… what… that's… insane…"
"Hehe." I gave him a V sign.
"Well, we should head to bed. Who will take the first watch?" Hairrix asked the group
"Ehh, excuse me," I said, raising my hand…
"Yes Leo?"
"Erm, is it not safe to sleep out here?" I wanted to make sure and not assume anything, as that might be dangerous, so asking is the safer option.
"There are monsters, wolves, and other dangers, and the only reason I was able to sleep out here alone is that I am capable of running away with my spark."
"Ehh, I got a safe spot you can sleep at if you like."
"Is it far away from here?" Hairrix asked me
"Erm, no, well... Let me show you."
I pulled out one of the freestanding doors I got from dad. After I got the power, dad made sure I got some backup doors in case one of them got destroyed. He made sure I got backups for everything important I might ever need in my inventory.
I opened the door, and the three of them leaned over to peek at what I was doing and did a double take when, instead of there being the other side like they expected, instead there was a long corridor with display cases going into the horizon.
I walked inside and pressed the retract button, and now they could see sunlight and a field on the other side of the door.
"Come, you can camp inside here; it's safe to sleep."
"What is this?"
"Hehe, it's my spark. It's a pocket dimension tied to myself."
They eagerly walked inside and marveled at the beautiful sight. The garden and house looked like an ancient and powerful lord's home. Or that's what I am guessing they are thinking from their expressions.
I did not even need to convince them; they moved their camping gear inside, and I made a small campsite with soft chairs surrounding the campfire. Then I made tents like the ones from Harry Potter that are bigger on the inside. I left out any modern stuff, but I did leave a bathroom in both tents, as I did not want to see them go outside.
So that's what they saw when they got back inside, where there was only an open field, there were tents, a campfire, and chairs. I gave them a quick tour, and they looked shell shocked the entire time. After that, I bid them goodbye and went to sleep in the big house after closing the door to the outside world.
The next day, I was up bright and early and saw that Hairrix was outside by the campfire and sitting in the chair, looking like he was in heaven. I put on my hero suit again and walked outside to meet him.
"Hi Hairrix, how was your sleep?"
"It was amazing. I wish you would stay with me forever. I don't know if I could ever go back to sleeping in my own tent again."
"Hehe, I am sorry, but I have to go to the capital today, but I might come and visit in the future... maybe."
"I really hope so."
We spent some time talking by the campfire before the two adventurers woke up, and we ate breakfast while they gushed about their beds. I got some envious looks when I pulled out one of Alfred's dishes and started to eat the warm food. An hour or so later, I said goodbye to Hairrix and the two adventurers. I flew away backwards at high speed and saw their dropped jaws. I was happy with my little side adventure with them but could finally start my real quest.
I only knew the general direction of the capital, so I decided to stop and ask some villages on the way and maybe take a look around.
If I were older and did not have to watch my time, I might have taken my time and traveled as an adventurer. Taking jobs to protect caravans, and traveling by foot, and visiting every town on the way, and sleeping in inns, but my mom would be angry at me if I stayed away for months. So I gave myself until the end of the day to have fun, then I would return home for a day and continue the next day.
I flew for half an hour and found a big city to try asking for directions. I think I might have a better chance at some smaller settlements, but I really just wanted to walk through a fantasy city. I first thought about landing outside the city and walking inside, but Fluffy reminded me I don't have any of this world's money, so sneaking in was my last option. I looked at the walls and found a spot that seemed unobserved. I dashed down at high speed and stopped on a dime in an alley, where I then walked out. Then it hit me… I have ghost powers; I could have just turned invisible or flown through the walls… Oops. I need to start thinking like a criminal and take the sneaky way inside when I get to the next city.
I walked through the city with my head on a swivel; it was so exciting. I get to live my Isekai adventures right now. I start walking towards what I think is the center of the town, where I hope to find a marketplace of some sort. I need to figure out what type of mon... Oh, son of a bi…
"Fluffy"
"Ya?"
"The bandits… They totally had money on them, and we left all of that loot… I forgot TO LOOT!" I shouted it to Fluffy mentally and felt so sad that I missed my first Isekai loot…
"Did you really want to look through that pile of bloody corpses?"
"Eww no! but it's the thought that counts."
"So nothing would have changed in any way... You are dumb."
"Yes~ but I'm your dumb friend." I said with a sing song.
"Now to the market to figure out what money is here!"
I tried to take the most direct route, but all the zigzagging couldn't have been that fast. I started to see more and more people as I left what, I guess, must have been a poorer area. When I looked at the city from the sky, it's streets were mostly straight but not really divided into blocks. I am guessing this city lord did not have an architect help design the city layout when planning to build the city. I asked some kids the direction towards the market. I am guessing they live on the streets, as they were here without any parental supervision. I could not help them, so I thanked them for the help and walked towards the market when one of the kids tucked on the back of my suit.
"Are you new here?"
"Ya, I am just stopping by here before going to the capital," I told the kid. He looked to be about 7-8 years old and looked to be struggling with getting enough food.
"You shouldn't go to the market alone."
"Why?"
"The merchants don't like it when kids run around there without any adult supervision."
"I should be safe. I have a strong spark."
"Wow, really, you already have a spark?" The kid said it with his eyes shining.
"Ya… Don't you have one?"
"No. You don't get a spark until you turn 12 years old."
"Oh"
"Well… Thank you for the help. How about this as a thank you?" I gave him a chocolate chip cookie as a thank you.
"Wow, what's that?"
"It's a cookie; it tastes amazing. Try it." He took a small bite.
"WOW. This tastes amazing; this must be so expensive!"
"Not really. Alfred made them for me, and I have super many cookies left."
"Thanks pal"
"No problem, but if you want to save the cookie, the chocolate pieces will melt if it gets too hot."
"Ok, thanks," he said, running off somewhere.
"Another good deed done," I said to Fluffy, I might not be able to save everyone, but I am happy I could at least make one kid happy.
"You know you could have given him more cookies to share with his friends…"
"Oh, why did you not say anything?"
"I just thought about it."
"Oh well, then it's ok; let's go to the market now."
I followed the instructions I was given to the market and finally found it. They sold all sorts of stuff I wanted to try out. The area smelled of herbs, spices, and food. People in this world must be really clean, as I have not noticed anyone smelling bad. This might be because of the household magic that I was told about, so maybe everyone could keep clean easier.
As I went through the market, I noticed people exchanging coins of some sort, but from my low vantage point, I could not see how the coins looked. I might have to rethink my idea about learning how the coins in this world work. That's when some kids bumped into me as they ran past me as fast as they could. That's when someone grabbed my arm from behind while I was watching the kids run away.
"I finally got one of you damn kids."
"Let go of me," I said to the middle-aged man.
"I won't let go of you and your thieving kids."
"I am not with them."
"Oh, sure, you are now come with me before I call the guards."
"NO! Let go"
"Guards! I need assistance here," and soon two burly guards appeared.
"I caught this thieving kid when his accomplices ran away."
"I am not with them; I said you stupid old man."
"Now come with us, kid, or you will be in worse trouble."
"Do I look like some street kid to you? Look at my clothing. Is this something a street kid would be able to get?"
"He probably stole it," said the middle-aged merchant.
"Well, we will sort this out at the guard station."
I rolled my eyes and let them drag me along. I know I could have easily broken out of his grip and ran away, but I did nothing wrong, and maybe I could get the guards to help me when they learn I am innocent. And if they are corrupt guards, I can always get away anyway, as I don't think they have any way to hold me. And I don't think they would ever even suspect me of having a spark while looking like I was five.
We soon got to the guardhouse at the edge of the marketplace. It was a small building made out of wood and stone that held banners with a tower and a shield on them. I was led inside to the end of the corridor, to the last door on the left, where I was pushed inside, not so gently. Inside the room sat an older lady in her thirties writing in a book, and on the table was all sorts of stuff. I saw a crystal ball, some sort of ornate box, piles of paper, some ink, and a feather pen.
"Lady Amber, we have a dispute in the market place between one of the merchants and this kid."
The lady, Amber, looked up from her paperwork and looked over at Merchen and me before asking
"And what seems to be the problem, Mr. Pagworth?" She asked the merchant.
"Ahh, Lady Amber, this kid and his urchin friends stole from me and ran away, but I was able to capture this kid before he could get away." Amber did not look impressed but looked over at me.
"This man is lying. I was in the marketplace when some kids bumped into me and continued running. I was standing still and watching them run away when he grabbed me by the arm and accused me of stealing."
"Is what the boy saying true?" She asked the merchant.
"No, I totally saw him, and those kids ran away from my stall." This Merchen is trying to get me killed.
"That's a lie! Do I look poor to you? That fat Merchen is a liar, liar, pants on fire." That made the lady, Amber, chuckle.
"Guards take the merchant away and put him in a cell for a week, and maybe that will teach him to not lie so his pants are on fire."
"Yes, Lady Amber." The guards saluted.
"WHAT! No, the kid is lying; he probably stole those clothes nooooooooooo"
The guards had to drag him out of the room as he was kicking and screaming that he was innocent in all of this. I was very confused as to how she knew I was telling the truth. Was she using some sort of spark, or is there something else?
"I am sorry for that child; this is not the first time this has happened. Sometimes merchants will go too far in trying to get someone punished, and that makes me angry."
"So what is your name, child?"
"My name is Leo, and this is Fluffy. Wave hello to the lady." Fluffy waved at Amber like a good boy.
"Where are your parents, Leo?"
"They are at home."
"Did you leave your house alone?"
"Nope, I left with Fluffy." I said, holding up, Fluffy. This is just too funny for me not to play my supposed age. She sighed and slapped her face, mumbling kids.
"You can't just leave home alone, Leo."
"It's ok, mom and dad know where I am."
"Are they mages? Can they track you?"
"No and no."
"They know I can defend myself, and I will go home when it becomes dark."
"You are only a mere child; are your parents so irresponsible?"
"Hehe, nope," I said as I floated into the air.
"BY SUNDARA you have a spark at such a young age."
"I could have escaped that merchen guy whenever I wanted."
"I see"
"Then I must apologize, as your parents seem to have raised you well."
"I'll tell them that."
"If there is nothing more, you are free to leave."
"I… ehh… I got a question." I said, shuffling my feet after landing again.
"Go on"
"How does money work?"
"Is that not something you should ask your parents about?"
"Maybe… but they are not here right now, and you said I could ask." she sighed
"I did, didn't I? Come here, and I will show you."
She then proceeded to take out three coins: the left was a copper coin, the middle was a silver coin, and the last one was a gold coin. The simple answer is that 100 coppers make one silver. 100 silver coins make one gold coin, and 100 gold coins make one platinum coin. There are bigger coins, but only kings and high nobility use them. So, did you understand it?
"Ya… so is this worth a lot?" I asked, pulling out a gold coin from behind my back.
"I... are your family nobility, Leo?"
"I don't think so?"
"How do you have a gold coin?"
"I made it." Ah, the stunned face of the lady was priceless.
"Is… that another one of your sparks?"
"Yes"
"A dual spark; those are rare."
"Why do you trust everything I say? Is that your spark?
"Oh? Oh. No, you see that bookshelf over there? See that orb on the shelf? It's a lie detector orb, and that's how I know if someone is telling the truth and no one knows I got it. So can you keep it a secret?" She said it with a wink.
"Yes…" The orb turned red, and she glowered at me.
"I was only going to tell my parents and my best friend Izuku… and maybe his mom." she sighed
"You can go now and be safe, Leo, ok?"
"I promise," I said as I ran out of the room, but I saw the orb start to turn red as I ran out of there.
I was soon outside the poli… I mean, guardhouse, and now I know a bit more about how money works. I could trade my gold coin for silver coins… Ah, now I want to trade some gold coins for silver and copper, as they could be useful and I want to collect them. But first, I wanted to know where the capital was and how far away I was. I walked around for a bit, and I saw a group of people that looked to be adventurers. I asked them if they knew where the capital was. They told me I was a few weeks away and that the capital was in that general direction while pointing. They told me you can't miss it or the huge wizard tower that reaches into the sky. I thanked them and made my way to an alley to take flight from.
"Hey kid," I heard from behind me as two adults had followed me into the alley.
"Who? Me?"
"Do you see any other kids here?"
"Ya?" I said, pointing at Fluffy, as he was technically also a kid.
"Your beast doesn't count."
"Ahh, Fluffy, you don't count." He only growled at them for that.
"What do you guys want?"
"Give us your money, and we will let you go."
"How about no" I said, giving them the middle finger, and flew away.
I thought of arresting them, but I was a kid, and I really did not want to meet Lady Amber again. So they get to live another day as criminals. I flew at a fast speed while keeping a lookout for a magical spire that pierces the clouds… or was it reaching into the sky? Ah, I will just look for a big pointy tower. I flew for a while and finally saw Korrin tow… wait… wrong world. I saw the pointy mage tower further to my left and banked over to fly in that direction. The capital was huge, and I was so excited to visit the Adventurers Guild. I landed a bit away from the entrance to the capital and walked the rest of the way. This time I knew how much a gold coin was worth, and I wanted to use the entrance fee that they might have to exchange the gold coin.
I followed the people towards the capital entrance, and it was huge compared to a medieval castle I visited in my previous life. As I got closer, I could see two lines: one for merchants and their wagons, and another for adventurers and civilians. So I lined up at that cue, and then ten minutes later, I was the next one in line to get inspected.
"Next"
I had watched the guards do this a few times now, and the adventurers had a guild card that let them enter, and the civilians had to pay a toll price. But there had been no kids in the line in front of me, so I did not know what I was supposed to do. I stepped forward and looked at the guard to see what to do. He looked down at me, then sighed.
"Are you alone, kid?" I nodded my head.
"Do you have a pass?" I shook my head.
"Where are your parents?"
"At home"
We were holding up the line, so he pulled me to the side to continue the talk, and as he did, another guard took his place. And continue doing the inspections.
"Do your parents live in the city?" I shook my head.
"So you are here all alone?" I nodded… he sighed.
"So why are you here, kid, all alone?"
"I want to be an adventurer."
"You must be at least 12 or have a letter of recommendation for that kid. Can you fulfill any of those criteria?"
"No… I am 10, but I could totally get a letter of acceptance if I got to talk to the guild leader," I said.
"That is incredibly hard, and the guild leader doesn't... well, mostly doesn't speak with just anyone; they have to be very exceptional or have a very strong spark. Do you think you still could do it?" So there is a chance? Yay!
"Ya easily," I nodded.
"Hmm… I will go with you to the guild, and if you get accepted, you can get in and out of the city for free as long as you have a guild card. But if you don't get accepted into the guild, you will need to pay for the entrance fee. Is that ok with you, kid?"
"Yes! And my name is Leo, and this is Fluffy."
He took my hand, and we walked hand in hand to the guild house. The entire time, me and Fluffy looked around and saw all sorts of magical stuff. There was a street artist using magic; I saw a floating shop sign; and so much more. I was so excited. Fluffy was smelling some amazing food and told me we needed to find wherever that smell was coming from and eat there after we were done at the guild hall.
It took a while to get to the guild building, as it was located closer to the center of the city. The guard guy told us some information about stuff when I asked but mostly stayed quiet otherwise. I don't know if he was bad with kids or if there was some other reason, but I used the quiet to have a look around.
We soon arrived outside the guild building. It had three? Or four floors and a tower, so that made it five floors, I guess. The first floor was the biggest, and the second floor had a balcony where I saw people in armor and adventure-looking clothing sitting, drinking, eating, and having a good time. The third floor was the smallest, and I think that would be where the guild master had his office.
We walked inside the building, and along the left side of the room, there was a long counter where receptionists scurried around talking to people and doing paperwork. Straight forward, there was a staircase leading to the upstairs, and on both sides of the staircase, there were doorways leading somewhere. The right side of the room had this huge wall of pinned posters that must have been the quest board, I assumed. The center of the room was occupied by tables of all sizes where people were sitting, eating, talking, and having a good time. The atmosphere was really jovial, and I wanted to be a part of this guild.
"Well, here we are. You see the people working behind that counter to the left. They are the ones you have to talk to about getting a guild license."
"Are you not coming with me?" I asked the guard.
"No. If you want to become an adventurer, you have to be brave enough to talk to them."
"I am brave!" I said, walking over to them. I just wanted him to help me by giving me an introduction and maybe getting a better chance at a meeting with the guild master.
"Ehh, hello, miss," I said, waving at the lady behind the counter. My head was about the same height as the counter, so about one meter in height, so I had to wave at her for them to notice me.
"Well, hello there, child, what can I help you with today?"
"I… ehh… could I join the Adventurers Guild, Miss Guild Lady?"
"How old are you?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I'm 10" I said
"You look to be about five-years-old young man," she said with skepticism.
"When I got my spark, I stopped aging, so I look the same as the day I got my spark."
"You already have a spark?" The lady looked shocked.
"Ya!" I said, raising my hand up.
"Is it very strong?"
"The strongest," I said.
"Oh, my, really," she said, gesturing something with her hand.
"Are you saying you are stronger than me, you pipsqueak?" A burly guy that had been watching my interaction with the guild lady said
"I could totally kick your bubbly butt!"
"I am a C ranked adventurer, and you are only a kid. I bet you could not even lift a noodle with those noodly arms of yours," he taunted.
"I challenge you to an arm wrestling match, and when I win, you have to say you are sorry... and that you are a big baby."
"And if I win, you have to run home to your mommy, and then you can cry all about how weak you are."
The rest of the guild had been listening, and when the challenge and ultimatums had been declared, they all cheered raucously, and they quickly setup a table and chairs for us to use for the arm wrestling match.
They all created a big circle around us, and they were all cheering loudly. I heard a lot of cheers for the both of us. The man that challenged me was a big man, six feet tall, with muscles and scars that told people of his adventures. He wore a set of leather armor and had a sword on his hip. He has black hair and brown eyes.
He put his elbow on the table and was ready to arm wrestle with me. I did the same, but there was such a difference between us that Fluffy started to laugh. I had put him on the ground beside the table. I gave Fluffy a death glare as I felt the man put his big hand over mine. That's how big of a difference there was. One of the adventurers was made a judge; he looked to be a younger man, maybe in his early twenties.
"I will count down from three, and you will both start on go. Are you two ready?"
"Yes" x2
"Three, two, one, GO!"
As soon as he shouted go, I put too much force into it, and I put both of our hands through the table, and he went with his hand and crashed down into the ground as the table broke into pieces. This shot up a dust cloud, and I quickly shut my eyes but soon felt a gust of wind. When I opened my eyes, the dust cloud was gone, and Fluffy told me one of the mages had used some type of wind magic to clear up the dust cloud.
I looked down and saw the man lying on the ground, groaning and cradling his injured hand. All of the adventurers were quiet, but then all of them sheared loudly and congratulated me for a great show and victory. I blushed at being the center of attention. I saw a man who looked to be a priest walk over and shine some yellow light over the man I had just arm wrestled. He stood up with a big smile on his face, then put his now-non-broken hand out to me for a handshake.
"Kid, you got an amazing wrestling arm there! haha I can't believe I lost. As for your victory, I am sorry, and I am a big baby who lost to you."
I was now so confused that I stretched out my hand and shook his hand in reflex. He seemed to have noticed my confusion at what had just happened, so he explained.
"Ahh, you see, sometimes kids come in here and want to register, but they don't have a spark or the aptitude to become adventurers. The first test was to see how you reacted when provoked—for example, if you would cry and run away. The second test was to challenge you to something, but you did that yourself and saved me from having to figure out some challenge. And the last test was to see how you used your spark when challenged, and you won with flying colors, kid."
The group of adventurers cheered once again after his explanation, as one of the guild ladies walked over with her arms crossed. Did you have to destroy the table, kid? I looked a bit abashed. I really did not mean to use that much strength.
"Ahh, don't be so mean to the kid, Astaria."
"Brutus, you know that you are supposed to keep the damages to a minimum; that's why we are paying you to help test potential new recruits."
"What is all this commotion?" I heard a loud voice from the staircase. The hall quiets down as they all turn to look at the man walking down the stairs.
"I looked over and saw a man walking down the stairs. He looks to be in his early to mid-30's. Half his hair is white, and the other half is dark black. He is wearing a black vest with white lines, a black tie, and a white dress shirt. He is wearing black pants and a black belt. The man is also wearing a belt on his left arm with a medal that has a rabbit engraved on it. On his vest, there is a heart-shaped pin, and I could see heart-shaped earrings. The man was giving off a warm air around him with a smile that kind of said, You are safe as long as I am here… kind of like all might, but not with as much teeth."
"Ahh, we are so sorry, Guild Master, that we disturbed your work. We were just testing a young man who wanted to join the guild." said Brutus while doing a 90 degree bow to him.
"Oh, Brutus, you know you don't have to be so formal with me. We are practically all family here, and families don't bow down to one another."
"You know I can't do that guild master protocol an…"
"Ara Ara, I never really cared for those protocols'... Maybe I should invite you to one of my training sessions?" he said, tapping a finger on his lip like he was thinking.
"Ahh plea… I mean, you don't have to, sir. I... oh, look, you are scaring the boy…" Brutus said as he saw that I had picked up Fluffy and had half hidden myself behind the guild lady that had walked over before. The guild master looked like he liked kids—in a good way, but more like pinching cheeks and giving hugs and stuff—and I did not know him, and I wanted to stay under the radar… That was until the buff guy threw me under the bus.
The guild master's eyes zeroed in on me in record time. I feel like when mom was watching me and she was not happy that such a young kid was in her adventure guild. I also felt like he was about to lecture me, but I did not know if that would happen before or after I got hugged to death… I shrunk further behind the guild lady.
I peaked around the guild lady towards the stairs, but the guild leader was not there when I felt a pair of hands picking me up from behind with a yelp. I turned around to see who grabbed me, and there was the guild master with his smile. How freaking fast was the guild leader to get from the stairs to behind me without me even noticing.
"Ara, ara, what do we have here? What is your name?"
"My name is Leo, and this is Fluffy. I said, holding up Fluffy so he could see him." I could have turned intangible to get away, but I did not feel any bad intent from the man, so I let him hold me… for now.
"Well, hello there, Leo and Fluffy. My name is Knickolas Crinoline Brazier, and I am the guild master over all of the guilds in the country. It's very nice to meet you."
"Wow! You are like super important, then?" I asked him, playing up my age and turning my cuteness to eleven.
"Well, I guess I am... So what brings you to become an adventurer, Leo?" He asked me with a smile and a hit of disapproval, and I think he was judging my answer.
"I want to become an adventurer, as Fluffy wanted to hunt monsters to eat and I wanted to go on adventures like in the stories my mother would read to me."
"Ara Ara sounds like Fluffy wants to eat something delicious." Fluffy nodded enthusiastically while insisting I get this over with quickly so we can go and eat.
"And what kind of adventures did you want to go on? Save the princess? Slay the evil dragon?" I shook my head in the negative.
"No, that sounds dangerous. I want to just have fun with Fluffy and save or help as many people as I can along the way, because that is what a superhero is supposed to do."
"A… Super… hero, huh? Is that something like a hero who has ascended past a hero to become a superhero?" he asked me.
I… ehh… no? A superhero is someone who has power far beyond that of normal people and uses that power to help people in need.
"Hmm, that sounds awfully a lot like a heroic spirit," the guild master hummed.
"What are those?"
"In times of need, the people of this world have summoned a heroic spirit to this world to help defend it. A bit over 100 years ago, an evil demon lord had risen, and a heroic spirit was summoned to take care of the demon before it was too late. The stories tells of the heroic spirit using powers never seen before or sense to defeat the evil demon lord before returning to where it once came from."
That sounds like someone got isekaid, but maybe these heroic spirits work differently than summoning people from other worlds? Now I had to find one of these storybooks and read it, as it sounded interesting.
"Wow, I want to meet a heroic spirit," I said.
"I'm sorry, Leo, but there has not been a heroic spirit in this world in the past 100 years, and I hope we won't ever need one again… Anyway"
He turned to the other adventurers, who had just stood there listening to us speaking. This seemed to have broken them out of some sort of spell, as they all gave their excuses and moved back to their own seats or work.
"Brutus, Astaria, how did Leo's test go?"
"He beat me in armwrestling without any seeming effort." Brutus said, rubbing his arm.
"He was very polite until provoked but did not seem to shy away or cry after getting provoked."
"Hmm… What is your spark, Leo?"
"I… ehh… I have more than one spark, sir."
"Are you saying you have two sparks?" Knickolas said with a bit of shock.
"Ehh… no, I have a lot more than that." I said with a bit of a blush as their disbelief increased.
"How… how many do you have?" Astaria asked me
"Ehh… like 20 or so… so far…" After saying that, all three of them looked at me in disbelief.
"Ehh, not to say you are lying, Leo, but could you show us some of them?" Astaria asked me nicely.
"Sure, I said in a chipper voice.
I tuned on my flight and intangibility before floating up into the air. Then I lit up my hand to show the ectoplasm. The other adventurers noticed that something was happening, and they all started to observe us as we started to demonstrate our powers. I then threw Fluffy in the air, telling him to think fast. He grumbled but floated above me in a lazy circle.
I then stuck my hand inside the inventory, pulled out ten gold coins, and threw them out into the air before melting them into a golden statue that looks like the guild leader. I then asked Fluffy to come back before floating down in front of the guild master. He tried to catch me, but his hands went through me.
"Tada!" I said it in a cheerful voice, as I always wanted to show off my powers. Most of them are utility or not that flashy, but I liked my little show I could put on.
The entire guild was quiet as all of the people had stopped to watch my little show, and when I said tada, the spell broke and everyone cheered. I made myself tangible before landing on the ground as I gave the guild master a V sign.
"Oh my goddesses, that was amazing, Leo, and you say you have even more powers?"
"Yes, but... they are not as showy or are support powers that can't be seen."
"Well, I will support you and give you a guild leader approval letter, but as I am already here, Miss Astaria here can help you get your guild license. She will give you an explanation of the guild rules, and I will look forward to your accomplishments. I would also ask you if I could buy that statue from you, if that is okay. It looks really well done." When he saw the statue of himself, I think I saw his eyes twinkle in excitement.
"Eh, sure, you can buy the statue." I said as I floated it over to him.
He took the statue and started to inspect it from all sides. He looked like a kid in a candy store.
"I love the statue, Leo. Thank you so very much." he said as he gave me a gentle hug and actually skipped away. As he came towards the stairs, he disappeared without a single trace… I think he can teleport or something.
"Well, Leo, are you ready to get your guild license?" Astaria said to me
"Yes!" I said, following her to the counter.
"First, prick your finger on this contraption here," she said.
She put the square box with a needle-looking thing on top of it. I did as she asked, and with my power, I only felt a quick tingle before it had healed. Then the box turned on and started to buzz for a bit before a ping sound and a card came out from the left side. She took the card and inspected it before giving it to me. On the card, it said
Name: [Blank]
Aliases: Leo
Rank: E rank
Class: SuperHero
Card Class: Black
"What does this mean?" I said, pointing towards the bottom half of my card.
She then started to explain what the ranks were.
E rank: is an adventurer with no experience and often does menial tasks like cutting wood.
D rank: have some experience and go outside of the city to hunt normal monsters like wolves, bears, and other creatures that are attacking villages.
C rank: are adventurers who can be trusted with harder missions like protecting a caravan.
B rank: adventurers are the ones that hunt magical or dangerous monsters.
A rank: are the ones that are sent out to subjugate monsters that could destroy towns and other very dangerous monsters
And we can talk about S rank when you get closer to that rank, she said.
The class: is what type of adventurer you are and gives a quick one world description about that person's combat style. Some examples are fighter, mage, ranger, rogue, and so on.
Card Class tells someone how many sparks an adventurer has.
Copper: one spark or less.
Silver: Two sparks or less.
Gold: Three sparks or less.
Platinum: Five sparks or less.
Black: Ten sparks or more.
The card classes you will often see are copper, silver, and gold, while platinum is super rare and block is almost unheard of.
The rules are simple: do not attack civilians and follow the laws in whatever country you are in. And if you have fire magic, please do not throw it around forests. We have already received enough complaints about small fires breaking out.
"And that should be everything you will need to know for now. If you have any more questions about anything, you are free to come here and ask."
"What about the money the guild leader was going to give me?"
"The money has been deducted from his account and put on your guild card, so keep it safe, ok?"
"Thank you, guild lady," I said before running towards the exit as I heard HEY! MY NAME IS NOT GUILD LADY!
As I got close to the guild exit door, I saw the guard who had been standing there watching the entire time, so I ran up to him to show him my card.
"Look, I got the guild card."
"Yes, I saw everything, and congratulations on becoming an adventurer. I need to get back to the gate now, but I guess I am going to see you more often from now on by the gate."
"Yes sir!" I said, saluting him and running out to find somewhere to eat.
"That way," Fluffy pointed
"It smells divine!" He started to drool.
It took us around ten minutes to follow Fluffy's nose to the food stall, where I got 20 meat sticks. The shop owner looked skeptical and made me pay first, but after he got the money, it was all smiles and food after that.
We walked around the town for the rest of the day to get acquainted with the town and look at all of the shops. We think we found a shop that does magical stuff, but it was too late in the day, and none of us wanted to rush through it. The day ended when the sun went down, and we sneaked into an alley and traveled home.
I appeared in my room… on my feet this time. I shouted that I was back, and I heard my mother from the kitchen. I ran to the kitchen and gave my mom a hug, and she asked me.
"So how was your adventurer, Sora? Did you have fun?"
"It was super fun. I had a sleepover, and then I flew and met some other kids, and then I flew some more, and then I became an adventurer." I gave her a quick summary, and when I get excited, I sometimes leave things out, but my mom will just ask me about all the details after I have calmed down.
"So, did you get what you needed?"
"No… It became nighttime by the time I think I found a shop."
"Oh, but I did get this," I said, pulling out one of the meat sticks and handed it over to my mom.
"Oh my, that smells so good," she said before taking it and taking a bite.
"Mmm, this is so good! What is it?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"I got it in the magic world, and the guy selling it was really friendly, but… I forgot to ask. But maybe it's some magical monster meat."
She looked like she was upset. I did not check what type of meat it was but dropped it after taking another bite. Wow, I need to bribe mom with food next time she gets angry at me. I thought to myself while making a mental note to try it… before she killed me.
The rest of the day we got interrogated by mom about our adventure, and if she failed to ask the right questions about the bandits and that they were dead, well, me and Fluffy were not going to say anything as I knew I would get into trouble as well for what Fluffy did.
That night, we all ate the last of my meat skewers, and I was asked to get more food from the magical world tomorrow. I also showed my adventurer card to my parents, but it was only now that I noticed that the card was not written in any language my parents understood. To them, it was just fancy, squiggly lines on a black card.
After eating, me and Fluffy went into a food coma on the living room couch. After a long day of adventuring, we were both exhausted, and the sleep was a long way coming.
