1 Reincarnation or Transmigration

Red Mage in a Berserk World

Sitting in the middle of a grassy plain surrounded by nothing but trees, shrubs, and leagues of bountiful nature for miles, was a young man wearing a Crimson Mage's Robe.

His top half was long-sleeve with an open high collar, but was close enough to his body that it showed off his muscles. The ends of the sleeves were connected to thin metal plated gloves that covered all but the tips of his fingers and had a circular gap in the center of the top side of his hands.

His torso was covered in a single black chest piece made from a thick hide from a Behemoth, and the hood hanging from the back of his neck was black on the inside and red on the outside.

The robe part of the outfit was more apparent at the waist. Four slits were lined on the ankle-length cloth, two for front and back, and two for side to side. Underneath the robed flaps were black leather boots, black denim pants, and knee guards with silver caps.

A/N: [Imagine Vash the Stampede's outfit for the lower half.]

Lastly, he had a simple red cloak that could cover his whole body down to his ankles.

The confused man shook his head and stood up before shaking his head as if he were in pain. He noticed a nearby river and stumbled his way to see his reflection in the water.

As he fell on the ground near it, the young man noticed that he had short blond hair that was more shaggy than spikey with a small wolf's tail, vibrant blue eyes, stood around five feet and eleven inches tall, and body was built to have well-defined muscles.

As he looked around, the young man scratched his head as he said, "This scenery can't be from Fantasy World Online. Is it? Did release a new patch? Let's see, the last thing I remember was getting a Crystal for the Crimson Warlock Class Advancement,"

"It did look a little buggy. Is this a glitch? Did I spawn in a locked zone or back room?" The man thought as he stood up and looked at the world around him.

"Did I lose out on the mission because they were updating? I can't tell if I upgraded my class. Well, I guess the patch they used sure improved their graphics. I can't tell the difference between the game and reality anymore." The Mage said as he knelt to his knee and touched the grass.

"They even improved the textures simulation. It doesn't feel like cheap paper!" The Mage commented as he stood up and waved his hand.

"Huh?" The Red Mage gasped as he swiped at the air a few more times.

"Menu!!!" The Mage shouted into the air.

However, nothing occurred. The Crimson Warlock started to sweat as he pinched his cheeks and yelped, "Oww!"

Feeling his cheeks throb, the Red Mage paused while the color faded from his face. The Crimson Warlock then grabbed his head and said, "This isn't possible. I can't feel pain in a virtual world, and I can't log out if I can't access the menu. If I don't get back to the real world, my body will starve in the Digitization Pod!"

Shaking his head, the Mage slapped his face a few times before saying, "Calm down, Glenn. Nothing good comes from panicking. First, see if I can access my inventory."

Grabbing at the bag around his waist, Glenn noticed that the moment his fingers touched its leather surface, a window popped up in front of his face that showed his full inventory.

"Good, all my items are still here. For now, let's equip my Mega-Flare Staff and explore the area," Glenn mumbled before clicking on the item window. As if being teleported, the Magic Staff that looked like it was crafted from a Dragon's tailbone suddenly appeared in his hand.

Even though weapon was crafted from a creature's bone, the black staff had a metallic sheen to it that glowed in the light of the sun. At the top of the rod was a dragon's claw facing the sky with a transparent red orb firmly in within the claw's grasp.

"Okay, relax, Glenn. Either I have had a stroke and am dying inside the Digitization Pod, or the system is still updating…but I've never heard of someone not being able to log out before. Every time I played during an update, I was simply kicked back to reality."

Glenn looked at his surroundings and noticed that it was getting dark and that there was a forest nearby.

"I can find food and monsters to hunt in the forest. Plus, I should climb the tallest tree I can find to get a look at the surroundings," Glenn muttered to himself as he started marching towards the forest line.

"Haste," Glenn chanted as he felt his MP drain slightly.

His body sped up while he ran through the forest, looking for signs of life.

He spotted several packs of wolves, bears, foxes, boars, and many other types of wildlife one might find in a forest, but nothing that came from the Final Fantasy game. Not a single goblin, kobold, or dire wolf.

Before he knew it, Glenn was starting to sweat, something else that was impossible if he were still in a game. As he climbed a tree, the Crimson Warlock only saw forested terrain and trees tops for miles. In the distance he could see mountains and plains, but once again, he realized that none of this scenery belonged to what he'd grown accustomed to seeing in FFWO.

After climbing back down the tree, he traveled to the river he spotted and cast freeze over a group of fish and used his float spell to carry the ice to his side.

"Well, at least magic works the same," Glenn hummed as he examined the fish.

"I should experiment for a bit if I want to understand if there are any differences in my casting," Glenn thought as he stored the fish in his bag.

He then spent the next hour or so playing with his magic, discovering how it worked, and what had changed since he lost the system assistance. At the end of the hour, there were dozens of dead fish on the ground and a few scorch marks around him.

"Well…at least I won't be starving anytime soon," The Crimson Warlock thought as he stashed away all the fish inside his inventory. He had 999 slots and 381 items stored inside it. The long time player had never once sold any item he had collected unless it was for selling or he had multiple duplicates of the item. Adding the fish to the inventory, he was glad to see that it still worked the same.

"I guess I can't stay here. I have to find out where I am and if there are other people that are trapped in here with me," Glenn thought before he started crossing through the forest.

After several hours of walking and running, Glenn couldn't help but notice that he was tired and hungry, something else that should be impossible if he were still in a game.

Glenn used a fireball to melt the ice and cook his meal over a rock, "Okay, three times is a pattern. Now I know that I'm not in FFWO. I guess I'll have to be careful with my MP. I can't see the bar anymore, but I should have around 1,400 points to spend. The first thing I should do is learn how to quantify my Mana," Glenn mumbled to himself as he dug some numbers into the ground.

"I can use most Rank-1 spells around 175 times since the average spell cost is 8. I can cast 77 Rank-2 spells, 24 or so with Rank 3 Spells, and 16 for Rank 4 Spells."

As Glenn wrote out the math on the ground with his staff and grumbled, he suddenly heard the sound of metal clashing against metal in the distance.

"Huh? People?!!! Are there other Players here too?" Glenn stopped what he was doing and ran over towards the sounds of commotion.

While tracking the source of the loud noises, he managed to find a group of heavily armored warrior-types chasing a girl with half-plate, light brown skin, and black hair.

Glenn frowned as he saw her trip over a tree root while the men gathered around to pin her down. His instincts as a cop kicked in before he then rushed towards them. He made it just in time to witness the woman stab the eye of the man mounting her with a random twig.

She then freed herself and grabbed her sword before cutting at the screaming soldier's throat while pulling herself to her feet.

Standing a few dozen feet away, Glenn stood shocked and impressed with her skill. But could see something was wrong with her breathing, "Is she injured? Crap, this is no time for observation! There's no time to waste! They're already surrounding her!!!" Glenn thought before he raised his staff and it began to glow.

Casting the Blizzard Spell, Glenn shot out four spikes of ice that ran through their armors, pierced their flesh, and killed them instantly.

Glenn almost barfed when he saw the blood and guts spilled on the ground. The carnage was enough to make any sane modern man loose his lunch.

Thankfully, as a cop, he had grown accustomed to seeing scenes like this. Normally, one would expect such a job to allow him to quickly gather his thoughts and regain his calm since it wasn't his first time taking a life.

However, guns don't cause such physical trauma, and being the one to cause such a gruesome murder was an entirely different matter. The act of murder, justified or not, made felt sick to his stomach, and nearly threw up all over his boots.

After swallowing his bile back down, a sudden rush of energy poured out from the fallen soldiers and surged into Glenn's body. The Crimson Warlock had never felt this kind of sensation before in his life, but assumed that it was the feeling of gathering of experience points.

"So not all of my system functions are gone," Glenn thought as he shook his head and came out of the nearby shrubbery. Just when he was about to speak out to get her attention, a louder voice suddenly drowned out his own.

The Crimson Warlock could hear the worried tone as the stranger shouted, "Casca!!!"

"Casca? Wait…that name sounds familiar," Glenn thought to himself.

The girl then turned around and shouted back, "Judeau!!!"

An armored blond-haired man with a small ponytail and freckled face appeared on a nearby slope. Accompanying Judeau, were a group of soldiers armed to the teeth with swords, bows, maces, axes, and armor ranging from full-plate to everything in between half-plate.

"No, way," Glenn muttered, gaining the attention of the two he suspected of being fictional characters.

"Who are you?!" Judeau shouted as his men quickly surrounded Glenn.

Seeing the cautious expressions on their faces, Glenn raised his hands and dropped his staff as he said, "I'm not with them. As a matter of fact, I helped her earlier."

Glenn pointed to the dead mercenaries as he continued speaking, "That's my handy work."

Judeau wanted to look at the bodies. However, Casca grabbed Judeau by the sides of his armor, and with tears in her eyes, she pleaded, "Please, Judeau, we have to help Guts!!!"

"Guts? What's wrong with Guts?" Judeau questioned.

"There's no time! He stayed behind to hold off the enemies! We have to help him!" Casca shouted as she started to run off back the way she came.

Judeau nodded his head and shouted, "You heard her, fellas! We have to save our Raid Captain,"

The men shouted as they followed Judeau's lead before chasing after Casca.

As he followed from behind, Glenn couldn't help but think, "I'm in the Berserk Universe? How is this possible? Did I die in the V.R-Pod and get reincarnated as my Avatar? Did I get Isekai-ed like in those Novels I like to read?"

After a few hours of running, Glenn got his answer when he saw the field of dismembered corpses strewn across the forest terrain.

"Incredible! There must be a hundred bodies here. Did Guts really do all this by himself?" Judeau questioned as he looked over the destruction caused by what might be Glenn's favorite protagonist of all time.

"Guts!!!" Casca cried out before she leaped into his arms.

"Holy crap, is he alive?" One of the Hawks Raiders said as he looked over his captain.

"This is bad! These injuries are terrible!!!" Judeau called out while Casca cried into Gut's chest.

"Quit moving me so much. You're making the wounds worse," Guts coughed out in pain.

"By the gods, you're alive!" Judeau murmured.

"Guts!!!" Casca said as she smiled while the tears ran down her face.

"We need to get him to a doctor," One of the Raiders shouted.

Glenn could use Cure, Cura, and Regen. However, he was unsure if he should. Witches and those involved with the dark arts are persecuted and hunted down like Pagans in this world. Not to mention the Apostles that considers witches and sorcerers to be their greatest threats. Glenn wasn't sure if he could take demons in this world, so he wasn't willing to push his luck.

"Someone get him a stretcher!" Someone from Casca's unit shouted.

"There's too many here. Maybe I could reveal it to a small hand of people. Plus, I'm not sure how the cure spells work in this world," Glenn rubbed his chin in deep thought.

While the men worked to make something to carry Guts on, Judeau marched over to Glenn and spoke up, "Sorry for the wait. I'm thankful for what you did for Casca, but...who are you?"

"A traveler and map maker. I've been camping in these woods for a few months now. The entire time, I've been working on filling in a map of this fine forest." Glenn announced as he pulled out a map from his bag that was on the inside of his coat.

Judeau looked over the rolled up paper map and showed an impressed expression as he inspected it.

Breathing a breath of fresh air, Glenn was glad to see that his mapping functions worked. Just like in the game, everything he sees gets transcribed onto the World Map Key Item instantaneously.

When Judeau noticed the depiction of the forest they were in and the small portion of a nearby field expertly drawn on the canvass, he believed some of Glenn's lies, but not all of it as after he handed back the scroll, he looked at the Crimson Warlock and questioned, "How did you kill those mercenaries, if you don't mind me asking?"

Glenn shook his head and said, "Not at all! It was a gift from a Fairy I met at a traveling group of performers. It's a onetime item I used though, so I'm unarmed now."

Judeau looked a bit surprised as he tilted his head and asked, "Did he have short green hair, insect-like wings, and was completely naked?"

"Yeah, you know the guy? I think his name was...Puck!!! Yeah, that was it!" Glenn said as he snapped his fingers with a look of discovery on his face.

"I see. It seems destiny works in mysterious ways," Judeau replied with a smile on his face, thinking back fondly on the time he spent with the traveling troupe.

"You mind if I follow you out of here? I didn't know there was a battlefield was nearby, and I don't want to run into any stray mercenaries or men from the army," Glenn pleaded.

"Sure, since you helped save Casca, the least we can do is escort you out of here as a thank you," Judeau said as he got ready to march back alongside the rest of the group.

It didn't take them long to make it through the forest with an armed escort. It was pretty uneventful throughout the whole trip back.

The only thing remotely of interest that happened to Glenn was that the Band of the Hawk members repeatedly questioned him about his attire and origin. Because of how intricate the fabric looked, they assumed he must have been a Noble.

"No, I'm not a noble or anything like that. I make maps and sell them, so I've never had an issue with gathering coin. As for my outfit, I had it custom made, and it was expensive to boot. As for the appearance, it's my personal style. What do you think? It looks pretty cool, right?"

The men nodded their heads as some agreed with his style. It looked comfortable, warm, and non-restrictive to his movements.

Luckily, they let him off. The Band of the Hawk he was traveling with had no idea that his outfit was a level 70 item that had magical properties.

This cloak was imbued with the ability to restore his Mana by 3% every sixty seconds, high magic and physical resistance, and the once per day spell, White Wind. The outfit gave him a variety of bonuses that greatly improved both his physical and magical abilities.

He didn't lie when he said that he paid a fortune for this gear. Glenn spent 1,200 real dollars to get this item made by a blacksmith in Final Fantasy Online. He saved up for months to pay for the entire set.

Glenn's weapon, the Mega-Flare Staff, was a level 75 drop item from Bahamut's quest boss, Tiamat.

Other than having a high Magic Damage, it had the once-a-week ability to summon Bahamut, the King of Dragons.

He had a few other enchanted staffs and rods that wouldn't draw as much attention, but he couldn't just pull them from his bag and say, "Well, what do you know? It's a magic bag."

When they finally arrived at the Hawk's encampment, Guts was carried away, while Judeau kept an eye on Glenn and approached him before saying, "I'm surprised you could keep up with our marching pace."

He complemented the Warlock, a decent strategy to lower a perp's guard, but Glenn knew he was fishing for information. You can't fool a seasoned detective with 10 years of interrogation methods under his belt.

"I could do this all day! I walk just about everywhere on foot, and I have to run from wild beasts from time to time, so staying fit is a must if I'm to make maps," Glenn deflected.

"Ahh, the troubles of topographer," Judeau said as he placed his hands on the back of his head and started to walk away while whistling a fancy tune.

After Glenn let out a sigh of relief, Judeau cocked his head over his shoulder and said, "A word of advice, friend. Walking around with that strange staff is dangerous in these times."

Glenn paused before thinking, "From what I can remember about Judeau... He did travel with an Elf for some time. I wouldn't be surprised if Puck told him about witches and mages. I know the story is over a hundred years old, but damn it if I don't love most these cast members."

Glenn then placed the staff behind his back and said, "I'll make sure to be careful then,"

Judeau chuckled and replied by saying, "You do that," in a playful tone.

Glenn followed after Judeau and said, "So, is this a mercenary band or something?"

Judeau shook his head before he answered, "No, we're an army for the Kingdom of Midland. Does the name Band of the Hawk sound familiar?"

"Wait… Are you talking about 'THE' Band of the Hawk?!!! The same band of mercenaries that rose up to knighthood, and currently is considered to be Midland's greatest army?" Glenn did his best to sound surprised. All those years of roleplaying his character were finally playing off.

"Yep, I don't know about being the greatest army in Midland. But, we've never lost a battle," Judeau bragged as they moved towards Gut's tent.

Even standing feet away from the grey cloth tent, they could hear Gut's yelling out in anger, "God Damn it! That HURTS! I'm not a rag. How can you call yourself a doctor?! Do you even know how to sow?"

Judeau cracked up when he saw Guts trying to force the doctor away by pushing his face.

"Incredible, a man in his condition should be unable to move. If you're this spry, then you'll live. However, this is the end of the campaign for you. With those wounds, you won't be able to recover in time for the next battle," The doctor announced with a frustrated expression.

Everyone around them had a pensive looks on their faces when Guts yelled out, "Screw that!!! I'm fine! I'll crawl to the next battle if I have to."

Glenn could see the look on Judeau's face. He knew he was going to give Guts the Fairy Dust pretty soon. Or rather, based on how Judeau was looking at Casca's expression, he was going to let her give it to Guts.

Knowing that this was as good a chance as any to test out his healing magic, Glenn made himself scarce and wander around the area. Since he had time to kill, he did so by filling in the blank spaces on his map until the sun had set completely and the bonfires lit up the encampment.

Seeing the lone tree on the hill top, Glenn waited on top of its largest branch because he knew that Guts would rest here in a few minutes.

"So, you're up here? Shouldn't you be lying in bed?" Casca asked as she approached the tall warrior.

"Got too hot down there, the heat was bothering my wounds. It's nice and cool up here," Guts replied as he looked out over the scenery.

"Guts…" Casca started up, getting his attention, but the words, "Why'd you save me?" Never came out.

"What? Worried about me?" Guts grinned as he got ready to stand up.

"Sit down, you idiot. You're going to tear open all of your stitches. Judeau gave me some medicine to put on your wounds. Said he got from an elf," Casca declared as she pushed him back down and started unwrapping the bandages.

"Easy, I'm not made of stone," Guts complained as she noticed all the scars on his body.

Casca placed her hand over one of the wounds and sighed, "You got this messed up because of me…"

"I didn't do it for you. I was just mindlessly swinging my sword like I always do," Guts replied while shaking his head.

"You killed a hundred men, just because you like swinging your sword? Do I look like I was born yesterday," Casca sighed as she picked up a bit of the Elf Dust and placed it over the wound.

"Ooh, hey, that actually feels pretty good. Maybe Judeau was telling the truth," Guts snickered.

"I think now would be the perfect time to use cure now!" Glenn thought as he shook his head, "No, that would be too quick. How about Regen? That might work better. I can use the medicine as a cover for Gut's rapid recovery."

After casting Regen, Glenn was surprised that he felt the same rush of gaining experience from when he killed those mercenaries.

"I can EXP through healing?!!! Wait…It's way weaker than what I felt from killing those soldiers. It's almost like when I cast my Blizzard and Float spells earlier on those fish. I thought it was just my body reacting to knowing I was finally able to eat. I need to experiment more with my magic. There are too many unknowns without the system to guide me." Glenn thought as he listened to Guts compare the bonfires to a grouping of dreams all gathered under the great fire that is Griffith.

"But me? I feel like a visitor just gathering around for the warmth," Guts shook his head as he stood up and placed his sword on his shoulder.

"Brr…you speak so fancifully, almost like a prince. It doesn't match you at all," Casca commented.

Guts laughed before saying, No, I don't suppose it does. Come on, Griffith will probably be here shortly. We might as well greet him."

As he started walking down the hill, Casca frowned as she realized what Guts had said, "A visitor? Guts? Are you planning to leave the Band of the Hawk?"

Guts paused before he shook his head and said, "I'll be with you until the end of the campaign."

Casca felt conflicted. She thought that she'd be fine with him leaving, but when she thought of him actually doing it, it hurt.

"Guts…wait…" Casca called out before a cheer erupted from the encampment.

"Come on, we're going to miss out on all the good booze," Guts laughed as he walked down the hill.

Casca followed after and Glenn only jumped down from the tree when he saw the cost was clear.

The Crimson Warlock took the long way around and reentered the encampment when he was caught off guard by Judeau throwing his arm around Glenn's neck and forced a cup of mead near his mouth.

"Drink up, new friend! Tonight we celebrate the return of our two precious comrades!" Judeau commanded with a slightly buzzed expression.

"I'll pass. Besides, I have better liquor than that piss water you're drinking." Glenn bragged as he pulled out a bottle of Whisky known as the 7th Heaven.

It was an in-game item that could only be gained by going to the Final Fantasy 7 World Crystal and purchasing it at Tifa's Bar.

You could only buy this item for a limited time, so Glenn made sure to buy x99 of them. Over the years of his gaming experience, Glenn had finished off 81 of these bottles with friends. Yet now, he was down to a mere 17.

Glenn popped the cork, threw out the mead, and poured a cup for himself to drink.

Once Judeau caught a whiff of the alcohol's aroma, he looked at Glenn with a smile and said, "Say, is that distilled alcohol?"

"Yep, a drink distilled and made at my homeland. Care for a cup?" Glenn offered while holding out the glass bottle.

Judeau dumped the contents of his cup on the ground and held it up to the Whisky bottle before saying, "Don't mind if I do!"

After pouring the cup for Judeau, the two clicked cups while shouting, "To new friends!"

After downing the shot worth of Whisky, the two then breathed out with a satisfied and crisp groan.

"That's good!" Judeau yelled as the other Band Members grew curious.

Glenn had to agree with Judeau. The game world was never able to fully capture the essence of taste, but they did a real good job of getting it to about 70% accurate to real-world taste buds.

However, now that it was real, Glenn could only describe the taste as beyond wondrous. It really did what was written on the label. A single drink could send you straight to Heaven.

"Hey! Share, Judeau," Pippin, the giant dark-skinned, Raid Captain spoke up as he held out his cup.

"You're not hiding the good stuff again, are you, Judeau?!!!" Corkus, the knight everyone loved to hate, shouted out.

"Hey, give me a cup too!" Guts shouted out.

"Aren't you still injured?" Casca growled.

"Don't you know? Alcohol can cleanse you from this inside out," Guts replied while laughing.

As he poured everyone within reach a cup, Glenn stared at the empty bottle and sighed before saying, "That went by quick."

Everyone else, on the other hand, breathed sighs of joy as they downed their cups.

"Got any more?" Guts said while licking his lips.

"Sorry, that was the only one I brought with me," Glenn lied while thinking of his precious short supply,

"You know normally a bottle would last a couple of months." The Crimson Warlock declared while trying to drip the last few drops onto his tongue.

"Um, thank you for helping me back there in the forest," Casca said while bowing her head down.

Glenn waved his hands and said, "It wasn't any trouble. I don't think of people who do those kinds of things as people. They're just beasts in human skin."

Guts looked at Casca and lifted a brow, then back to Glenn with a softer expression. If he didn't know any better, Glenn was almost convinced that Guts was about to thank for that good deed.