Their house was located in a nearby village a couple of kilometers away, where they had to take a carriage to travel from the city of Rosenvolt, that city where they were just from. The view on the way home wasn’t particularly exciting for John. The path were only covered on both sides by forests and plains. On the distance are mountains and nothing else. The place is relatively peaceful, without any obvious conflicts going on. That is, if you don’t count the few people hunting slimes in the plains.
They were wearing what seems to be minimal protection and inadequate skills. These people vary from one person to another, but are mostly soldier-esque with their swords and way of fighting. If John were to rank them according to their skills, he would put them in the “Newbie” mark. Not that he isn’t a newbie himself, it’s just that he knows they are due to how they fight.
There was even this one guy who lodged his sword on the dirt and wasn’t able to get it out in time. An archer had to save his sorry hind in the last minute. Magic also seems to be prominent as John was able to determine which of them were mages. Usual indications that he noticed are: wizard hats, staffs, wands, lots of fireballs, and being female. Absolutely no male mages were found, save for that one priest-esque he saw.
It was strange that only women were seen as mages in the fields, but Aren admits that it may be due to cultural shock that he’s thinking that way. He’s used to a society that treats both genders as equals and therefore equal opportunities in any job they can find, unlike here that seems to differentiate them. There must be some kind of reason on why there are only female mages, at least in what he can see. Though it might be just a coincidence that the mages he saw were all females, and that the male mages have been somewhere he couldn’t see. With that in mind, he couldn’t really set it in stone that females are the only mages. There may be some favorability in the female’s side in terms of magic, but he cannot confirm that yet.
For the slimes, nothing much can be said about them. They’re slimes, green blobs. Normally, slimes won’t be harmed by physical attacks, at least that’s what John saw in most of the things he read and played. In this particular world, slimes are apparently hurt by simple physical attacks. It’s maybe due to the fact that these slimes have no core at all, and therefore safe to assume the the whole of its entirety is the slime’s living body. That must be the reason why they are hurt whenever they are physically attacked. Aren thought that his was a good future reference for slime encounters. Other than that, they can be classified as generic weak monsters.
Aside from those, Aren wasn’t particularly enthralled by anything else. The scenery is just an endless sea of green grass as far as the eye can see, and a wall of trees blocking the other direction. Though he expected the world to look like this, he wasn’t expecting it to be this boring. Greeneries have never been an interest for him and he would rather stay in his room to play in his computer. He’s thankfully willing to change his mind if ever he sees a scene that would bring forth a pleasant feeling in him. As for now though that change will have to wait.
When they arrived after about an hour, the orange skies have already marked the sun’s passing. Their house was located just right near the entrance of the village, standing two storey tall. Stone make up the wall, while wood supports its integrity with frames and pillars. Windows are scarcely embedded on the walls, the view of the inside blocked by blue curtains. It also seems to be well maintained or at least newly built with how little signs of withering there is on the house. Its appearance is what you would expect from a typical medieval house, not too shabby nor too outstanding.
“We’re home!” exclaimed Martha while she opens the surprisingly already unlocked door.
A typical inside of a house came into view. Wooden furnitures, stone walls, wooden ceilings, and some lanterns stuck on the walls. What wasn’t typical however was that aside from the inanimate objects that inhabit the area, people were also there. The people inside filled about half of the living room and constitutes of ordinary villagers. In front was a woman with red hair and a white handkerchief over her head keeping her hair braided. She seems to be the leader of this particular group of villagers, though Aren doesn’t know what they could possibly be here for.
“Congratulations on your recovery, Aren!”
A woman with red hair exclaimed, as the others behind her clapped. Before Aren could react, Norman gave Aren a little push forward and gave him a thumbs up. Aren looked at the neighbours, and bowed down.
“Thank you.”
The room immediately became filled with cheers, surprising Aren for a bit. Martha grabbed his hand and led him to a table.
“Your father will come and give you some food, okay? Be a good boy and wait.”
She then left to briefly talk with the celebrating neighbours, while Norman signaled Aren that he would get some food for him. The table in the far edge of the living room held many kinds of food on top, such as bread and roasted meat. Is this kind of extravagance normal just for the recovery of a person? Aren believes that this is much too excessive to be considered just a recovery celebration. Then again, his survival is seen as a kind of a miracle, so he understands at least.
He can’t help but feel special. He’s skeptical about the celebration as he can’t shake off the feeling that there’s something more to this than just to celebrate his recovery. He can take it if it were just his parents, but neighbours came in too. A lot of them at that. This might be just his paranoia speaking to him, but he strangely feels too special. Maybe Norman and Martha is much more than what they let on, or that the neighbours are just really kind. Either way, he can do nothing about it than just let it go and enjoy the flow.
The celebration itself is nothing special. Just a bunch of people talking to each other, and looking at his way. Martha is especially popular with them, and he could hear them talk about him although he doesn't know what it’s about. He could also hear some praise directed to both Martha and Norman, but he couldn’t hear what they are as they were too far away. In another table were few other children busy stuffing themselves with food, and saw one of them stuck their tongue out in disgust after tasting one of the dishes. Everything was going well and he was about to eat some food, so of course he’s somewhat happy and enjoying this.
“You’re okay!” Aren suddenly heard a girl’s voice, before getting hug tackled by someone smaller than him.
It was a small girl, about as tall until his nose. She wore a grayish white dress that fluttered in front of him after she tackled her with what he assumed was full force. Aren almost fell out of his chair from the momentum, but he thankfully lived on. The tackle almost gave him a heart attack, and a train of thought of all the possibilities that could have gone wrong passed through him from nearly falling off to his death. Immediately did he gain his reasoning back when the word “death” came across his mind, because he knew that as soon as that word is uttered in his head, he knew paranoia was getting to him. The girl buried her face on his chest for a moment, before looking up at him.
“I’m sho glad you’re alayb!”
She seem to be distraught during his time at the hospital, evident from the droplets of tears from the sides of her eyes. Aren was caught off guard from how close she was to him. He didn’t know the real Aren would have someone else close to him other than his parents. This being out of his expectations, he instinctively panicked in his mind.
“Err… Um-”
Aren didn’t know what to call her. He doesn’t know her name, and he needs it to diffuse the situation. He may have recovered, but there are still some pains that couldn’t be healed. The girl hugging her just made it more painful for him to even breathe.
“Misha! Don’t just run up to him like that!”
He was thankfully saved by Misha’s mother, who seems to be the red haired woman earlier that congratulated him. It makes sense considering how the girl looks, from her face to her red hair. It’s not clear on the face, but the resemblance is definitely there.
“He just came out of the hospital! He may have recovered, but we can’t be so sure of his health. You might’ve hurt him you know?”
Misha lowers her head in realization. Aren steps down from his chair and approached the two. Although he is hurt, he doesn’t want someone to get scolded for something they didn’t know. He admits that he too would get mad if someone does something without knowing the consequences, but a child like Misha wouldn’t really know there are consequences if the fact that he just came out of the hospital is taken into consideration. She would of course naively think that he’s okay and everything’s fine now.
“Itsh okay. I washn’t hurt.” He said with a reassuring smile.
Misha looked at him with sorry eyes, while the red haired woman sighed. She diverted her attention to Misha.
“Don’t do that again, okay?” Misha nods her head in response.
The woman pats Misha on the head before going back to whatever she was doing. Aren then pat Misha’s shoulder, knowing that she’s kinda down after being scolded. He intends on making Misha think of something else to cheer her up a little, like food.
“Do you want to eat together?” He asked. Misha replied with a cheerful expression and a nod.
Norman came back with two plates filled with food, all filled to the brim. After seeing Aren and Misha together, he slowly walked over their table, and put down the plates like a waiter in a fancy restaurant would. Aren’s eyebrows burrowed as he looks at his father acting silly. Why he’s bringing him too much food is already confusing enough, now he’s acting like this. He feels as if he is a special hog guest, but a loved one nonetheless.
“Enjoy your meal.”
Stolen novel; please report.
What elegance that was left after that display was immediately stripped away as Norman rushes towards the food table like an idiot after witnessing something amazing.
Aren was worried because he doesn’t think he can finish these heaps of food that was set on these plates. What’s more, is that there are two of these mountains of foods. He knows that he said he doesn’t mind becoming a hog, but not like this. Misha then tugs on Aren, and it seems like she’s hungry from the way she drools and points at the food. Of course, Aren and Misha then start eating and making sure they eat just enough. Aren’s definitely not letting Norman pick for him in the future.
While eating slowly, Aren is once again tugged on by Misha. She points at her mouth, which probably means she wants him to feed her. There was no harm in obliging in her request, so he does what she wants. One thing Aren noticed was that she started depending on him to feed him once he fed her. It was starting to get to the point where he could barely feed himself now.
“Misha? Can you pleash eat by yourshelf?”
Misha gulps the food she was chewing.
“Am I troufling yu?”
“Nope!” She actually is. “It’s jusht that I can’t eat very well when I’m feeding you.”
Misha looks back at the plate before her. She looks sad. Aren’s heart crumbled when he saw someone so innocent have their mood go down because of him, but he cannot back down right now. She is being too spoiled, and there won’t be an end to it if he lets her to her own. He knew from experience.
“I undershtand.” she replies, eating in melancholy.
Aren’s heart is starting to fail in keeping itself whole. He needs to cheer her up somehow.
“Uhm, what ish that you’re eating?”
Aren points at the suspiciously white meat she’s holding. It’s so unnaturally white that he’s starting to think it’s made out of salt.
“I don’t know, but it’sh teshty! Would you like shum?”
“Of coursh!"
Misha extended her hand to let Aren take it. He then ate the meat after picking it up from her, rolling his eyes to the ceiling to savour the taste. It tasted like chicken. Too much like chicken. As far as he knows, chicken never looked like this. Then again, he was never often in the kitchen nor did he cook anything else other than instant noodles and canned goods. Though suspicious, he was never the type to complain about delicious food. Suspicious is suspicious, but delicious is much more precious.
“It’sh good!”
“Hehe! Mom maid thish!”
Misha finally cheered up. His compliment on the food directly complimented Misha’s mother’s cooking, making her happy. Seems like Misha is the type to get happy when everyone else is happy due to the things that the people she knows and likes does or make. A joy relay, as Aren would mentally identify her. Just knowing that someone is happy because of her mother’s cooking was enough for her apparently. Aren mentally sighed in relief, before jolting up in surprise after feeling a rough surface touching his neck.
“Hey.”
It was Norman and his beard. He was peeking at the food through Aren’s left side of his head, surprising him from his sudden appearance.
“How’s all the food? I planned for all of these you know. Cooked some of them too.”
He said in a smug tone. This explains the excessive celebration and the terrible taste of one of the foods, showing Norman’s doting side of a father. Aren is fine with spoiling your child every once in a while, but according from previous sources, namely Martha, Norman is prone to being too doting which honestly makes Aren uncomfortable.
“It’sh great dad. Thank you.”
However, efforts need to be rewarded in due. He can’t deny the fact his father just made this celebration just for him, and it was done with hard work with how neatly everything is flowing. The greatest thing he can give his father for such a wonderful celebration, is the most sincere gratitude he could give to him. With his heart filled with joy, Norman showed his reply with a love filled, bone crushing hug.
The celebration then continued with Norman having to apologize to the knocked out Aren, Misha doing her best to wake him up, Martha shaking her head in disappointment, and the participating neighbours having a good time.
Night came and all was lessened to a silent night. The stars gathered on the blackened sky while the moon and its smaller brother shone in their reflected light. Aren lies on his bed, tucked under the blanket by Martha, and kissed on the forehead before being left to finally rest and sleep. He was finally alone in his room, with only the moon from his window accompanying him. He once again viewed his stats.
General Info Name: Aren Montrea Affiliation: None Level: 6 Age: 5 Gender: Male
Jobs Jack of All Trades Brawler
Health: 20/20 Mana: 50/50 Fame: 41 Experience Points: 57
Strength: 9 Vitality: 10 Endurance: 10 Agility: 5 Dexterity: 6 Perception: 7 Intelligence: 31 Wisdom: 22 Fortitude: 19 Charm: 10 Faith: 4 Luck: 21
Bonuses: It's Me!
Here's a gift.
Favors: None Discovered
Status Effects: Sore: There will be slight pain in every movement.
Recovering: Take 50% more damage than usual.
“So this is like a game, huh.” Aren can’t help but think that this world may be created just for Seto’s own entertainment. In the grand scheme of things, he was put here to be the initiator of something interesting for Seto’s selfish reasons. At least, that’s what he thinks. He can never really know what Seto’s way of thinking is. Who knows? That god might be a saint and has actually sent him to help people in goodwill. Aren scoffed and ridiculed that idea. After all, what kind of saint would force someone to do something they don’t want to do?
That aside, there’s more pressing matters, such as how to get back to his home. How? He doesn’t know how. All he knows is that he’s stuck, and must stay that way until he finally finds out what Seto meant by “you need to do something for me.” He never really got a specific answer. Thus, unfortunately, he has to wait for a long time.
There’s also the fact about his family. What happened to them? Are they going to be okay? He has no way of knowing if he was just replaced by some clone, or if really did disappear in an instant without his family knowing where he is. Either option sound horrible in his mind, but at least the former won’t make him worry for them.
Aren scratched his head in frustration, knowing that he’ll probably won’t find the answer for any of his major problems for a long time. Seto is his number one enemy right now for all he cares. Though for now, he wants to know what these jobs are since thinking about those things any more would only lead to nothing. He was supposed to look at them during his time at the hospital, but he somehow forgot. It’s probably due to the fact that he was always tired and had to sleep often. The doctor’s healing was quite effective, but it always ended in him having to doze off.
Wanting to know about his jobs before calling it a day, he first sees what the Brawler job’s all about.
Brawler
Description:
Armed with iron fists and a fortified body, they define raw power and street smarts with their remarkably unpolished but effective techniques. They adapt to almost any situation and can use anything they can grab to bash your head in. Brawlers generally suffer from a lack of range like most other melee jobs, but are the best at dishing out damage in a safety to risk ratio.
Effects:
Access to Brawler exclusive skills
Increased physical efficiency
Can adequately use any weapon
Greater melee efficiency
It seems like the Brawler job is a melee job that deals with physical adaptation and raw power. The job being physically oriented, it has little to nothing to do with magic, which disappointed him to no end. The job also allows him to adequately use any weapon. It’s not clear, but it may also mean that he can use ranged weapons such as bows and guns if he do so desire. With that said however, being melee oriented does not seem to be best for such weapons. It would be a waste.
“I can use adequately use any weapon but not adequately use magic apparently.” he thought in a bummed out tone.
Then there’s Jack of All Trades, Seto’s gift.
Jack of All Trades
[Permanent]
Description:
Jack of all, master of none, the Jacks know how to do anything from measly house chores to grand combat techniques. They can learn much faster and efficiently than anyone else, allowing them to pick up many skills and experiences at a fast rate. There are none others more versatile than the Jacks ever will.
Effects:
2x more efficiency in learning
2.5x all attribute growth rate
No job limit
You are given the skill [Jack’s Eye]
Full spectrum mana
It seems that Jack of All Trades gives him advantageous bonuses that allows him to improve and learn faster than anyone else. Unlike Brawler, it does not specialize on one field only, thus appropriately named Jack of All Trades. The job also allows him to have as many jobs as he wants, though from his experience, a lot of jobs won’t lead to anything good. From the context of the world however, more jobs probably means better opportunities. He also has Jack’s Eye, but he doesn’t know what it actually is. He thought it might be just another bonus, but it isn’t showing up on his status screen. It might be something else entirely but that’s another matter for another time. The last effect it had is what caught Aren’s attention the most. "Full spectrum mana". Full spectrum means he can use any element according to one of the comics he read previously at home. Seto, his greatest enemy, just made his day.