2 Chapter 2
The next thing I knew, I was seated in a clearing on the grassy forest floor. My head pounded as all the memories of my rebirth poured in. I knew I should be panicking as I looked around calmly, assessing my situation neutrally. There was some sort of block in my mind that kept my thoughts from getting too distressed one way or the other, Gamer's Mind, no doubt. I sat up from the ground, the feeling of tough leather and light chainmail rubbing against my skin as I did. As soon as I was on my feet, I looked down at the light armor that I was wearing, noticing that a short sword was belted to my hip as well.
As I looked at the weapon, I instinctively knew how to use it effectively. I was no master swordsman, but I was definitely better than your common soldier or guard who only had basic training with a blade. Next, I noticed that I had a bag slung over my shoulder, so I quickly riffled through it to see its contents. I found some basic camping supplies, a waterskin, a bit of food, and a bit of money. After inspecting all my supplies, I noted that everything I had, from the armor and sword to the bag itself that everything was worn but well-maintained. It was like everything had been continuously used and maintained for years.
I didn't bother dwelling on that fact since it's not like I would ever know where the supplies came from. Once that was done, I placed my hand on the bag and willed it to enter my inventory. Nothing happened. I tried to harness my innate psychic talent to do anything. Nothing happened. 'Perhaps I need to get a fauna before my abilities get unlocked,' I muttered in annoyance. I would have preferred to get more familiar with my abilities before finding my way to Orario. However, it seemed like my luck only went so far, and I knew I was already quite lucky to be in this situation at all. I looked up at the sun through the trees and guessed that it was about mid-morning.
Just as I slung my pack back over my shoulder and prepared to set off in a random direction, I saw something. There was a small arrow pointing opposite of the direction I was about to start walking. The arrow was traced in a patch of grassless dirt beside me in the clearing. After a moment of consideration, I set off in the direction the arrow indicated due to the fact that it gave me a direction to walk in. It could be a random arrow somebody drew, but given the circumstances, I was fairly certain that it was put there for me. With that, I began my journey, always making sure to angle myself in the direction the arrow pointed in.
Several times I had to venture around terrain that I couldn't traverse. Eventually, after a few hours of travel where the sun hung high in the sky I came to the break in the trees where forest turned to grassland. That's when I saw the city of Orario for the first time. I was fairly certain I had overshot where the arrow was pointing a good way to the left since I had to move around some particularly large swaths of difficult terrain to arrive at the edge of the plains, but even still, the city was so massive that it didn't matter. The tower of Babel rose high into the sky and was clearly visible despite the city being nearly flat on the horizon from where I was standing.
It was clear that I had a few hours of walking ahead of me, but I could also see the road now. I saw people and carrages moving along in the distance, so I started heading in that direction. I wanted to meet up with the road and then follow the rest of the traffic into the city. I walked just inside the treeline so that I didn't have to deal with the waist high grasses of the plains. I emerged from the treeline onto the road a while later, right as an older man and and teenage boy were passing by with their cart. They were clearly startled to see a man in armor emerge from the treeline, but their concern passed quickly. No bandits would be bold enough to operate this close to the city.
"I got lost on my way," I called out with a wave, suddenly feeling awkward as the pair gave me a strange look after I spoke.
I had begun to worry that I was speaking a different language, before the teenager responded, "Lost coming from where? The roads are more or less straight to all the nehiboring towns and cities."
I nodded and pointed off in the direction I had come from, "I ended up treking through the forest." I said, not bothering to explain the situation in favour of letting them come to their own conclusions.
"Heading to the city? Of course you are, you're here to become an adventurer." The older man chipped in with a soft chuckle.
"Guilty as charged," I said with my own small laugh "If I give you some coin, do you think I could hop on the back?" I asked, pulling out a few coins from my bag.
The man considered for a moment before waving his hand, "We're both going to the same place. Just hop on. No payment needed."
I tossed him a coin anyway, and before he could protest, I clarified, "Let's call this a speaking fee. Do you have any information that might be handy for an outsider like me? Just assume that I know nothing about the city." I said with a smile.
The old man grunted but obliged my request. I hopped on the back of the cart and began to eat some of the food I had packed while the man and the boy took turns giving me relevant details about the city. Most of it I already knew from the anime, but it was always good to have everything confirmed by a local who knew the ins and outs of the city better than I did. They also told me that I was coming in right as the big familias were holding recruitment for new members. I also used this opportunity to try and gauge when in the timeline I got transported into.
"Any adventurers making big waves recently?" I asked casually as we slowly moved along the road.
I couldn't help but glance at the natural beauty of this area. Flowers bloomed all along the plains, making it look like a scene straight out of a painting. In the distance, mountains rose high into the sky while still seeming dwarfed by the grand tower of Babel in the middle of Orario. I had lived on a single mountain in a large mountain range in my past life, so I was accustomed to nature's beauty, but I could only describe the landscape as magical. However, I guessed that was more or less right on the mark in this case. I focused back on the older man as he answered my question.
"Everyone is always talking about the Sword Princess, but nothing major has happened recently that I know of." He answered while scratching the back of his head under his large-brimmed farmer's hat.
"What level is she again?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
It was the boy who spoke up this time, "She hit level 5 last year, according to everything I have heard, at least."
I nodded and thanked him while my mind raced internally. Ais hit level 6 near the beginning of the show, and I remembered watching a video that stated there had been a three-year gap between her hitting level 5 and leveling up to level 6. That meant I was roughly two years before the plot started. I wasn't aware of any major events taking place during this close to the start of the series, so I was basically going in blind. I was lost in thought after that, and the conversation lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while. I was only drawn from my thoughts when we entered the shadow cast by the massive city walls.
I got Attack on Titan flashbacks for a moment before I remembered what world I was in. I couldn't help but admire the city and its massive, finely crafted gates as we waited at the back of the line to enter the city. I thought that I would have to deal with the usual trope of a low-grade villain harassing the protagonist at the back of the line into the city, but it turned out that reality is much more boring compared to the stories. We slowly approached the front of the line and were let in without much trouble. It seemed that these two were regulars, so the guards knew them, and with the old man vouching for me, I only got a warning to stay out of trouble before we were in.
From there, I separated from the man and his son, then prepared to set out on the start of my adventure in this world.
