Wonder carefully approached the main gate. He didn’t understand enough of this world’s backstory to be sure he wouldn’t get shot. Especially since it seemed like he was approaching during the night. And even in the real world, typically if the city is walled, that means nasty things came after the town. And nighttime was the perfect time for such nasties to sneak in.

Izuku whimpered, shifting. Wonder looked, and his gut dropped. “Dear… you okay?”

Izuku whimpered, “Potty.”

Fuuuuuuuuck.

Wonder groaned and looked around. Finding a decent-sized rock, he brought Izuku over. “Here, sweetie.”

He waited while Izuku did his business. Meanwhile, a man in armor walked up. “Ho, stranger! What brings you here?”

Wonder said, “I got very lost. And I think an asshole threw me in the middle of an unknown forest. Mind telling me where I am?”

The knight actually groaned, “Malchon…”

He glanced at Izuku, who was waddling out. The knight said, “Come on, I’ll bring you inside. Welcome to Hoseki.”

Wonder picked Izuku up, and followed the knight. “…sounds like I’m not the first.”

“Nope. Malchon is a Forest Spirit Mage somewhere in the woods. His joy and delight is to throw people from other lands into Hoseki.”

Woooooooooow.

Wonder said, “Sounds as much of an asshole as he sounded like. And acted.”

They soon reached the main gates. An older knight looked up. “Malchon?”

Younger Knight said, “Malchon.”

The older one nodded, then looked at Wonder. “Inn is only a few minutes’ walk. Adventurers’ Guild will be open in the morning.”

Wonder said, “Thanks, but… I wasn’t brought over with the money to buy a room.”

The knight shook his head. “You’ll be fine. Jinron gives free rooms for those with kiddos. Won’t be luxury, but it’ll be warm.”

Wonder said, “I’m not gonna decline that offer.”

********************

The night passed peacefully. The elderly innkeeper just took one look at Izuku before giving Wonder a key. The room was small, but it had two beds and a clean restroom. And then the next morning, they got a free breakfast.

Wonder’s first stop was the Adventurer’s Guild, of course. In most games and isaeki stories, that was the central hub for players. It was where you could pick up quests, rewards, and news. It also typically provided a form of ID, which could be useful.

Wonder glanced around the town in the daylight. It actually looked more modern than Wonder expected. With the exception of no cars and not everyone being on cell phones, Wonder could have walked into any small town back home. Then again, that bathroom had seemed pretty modern. Maybe magic and technology were in better cahoots here than most isaeki worlds?

Wonder reached the Adventurer’s Guild, which was the most fantasy-looking building yet. It was completely made of wood, with even the old-fashioned sign. Izuku giggled at it, pointing and saying, “Bear!”

Wonder smiled gently at his son. “Yes, that’s a bear.”

He opened the doors and walked in. A few staff looked up from where they were sweeping, but then ignored Wonder. The lobby was mostly tables and seats. Two of the three walls were lined with what looked like bank teller windows. The final wall had a bar built into it, and a staircase going to another floor.

Wonder walked to the only open tellers’ booth. A traditional looking dwarf looked up. “Hmph… Malchon transplant?”

Wonder said, “You got it. I’d like to apply for my Adventurer License… and Hunter one, if that’s possible.”

Izuku bounced. “Me too!”

The dwarf’s tone instantly went cooing, “Aw, you wanna be an Adventurer like your daddy~?”

Izuku chimed, “Yes please!”

Wonder had to smile and mouthed, “Got a kiddie license or something?”

The dwarf winked at Wonder. He said, “I think Mally is running the Junior tests upstairs if you wanna try, kiddo!”

Izuku perked, and looked at Wonder. Wonder smiled. “Of course. Just be nice to Mally and the other kiddos, okay?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Izuku said, “Ok, Daddy!”

With a static-filled pop, he was gone. Wonder looked around. Izuku waved from the top railing, then a tall woman gently helped him down and brought him out of sight.

The dwarf chuckled. “A little bundle of energy you have there.”

Wonder smiled. “And a total sweetheart. Thanks, by the way… and I have to ask…”

The dwarf nodded. “Totally legit. Well, kinda. The Junior License is for anyone under 13 years old. Any child of an Adventurer is eligible for one, Mally is just good at making ‘tests’ they have fun with. The license is bonded to the child, and acts as a protection. The child will have a barrier automatically around them in danger, and will warp to the parent’s home or Guild if it becomes too much. It’ll also evolve as they grow older, so you don’t have to bring them in to retest.”

Wonder sighed out of relief. He had been wondering how he would do this with a child. Izuku would be able to summon minions eventually based on the description, but Wonder had no idea how soon that would be.

He said, “…do you offer children’s classes?”

The dwarf said, “Not officially. But if you’re ever in town for a day or two, Mally offers basics for free.”

Wonder sighed out of relief. “Good… I read that Izuku will have some mojo, but… let’s put it like this. He’s very newborn.”

The dwarf said, “He’s a lucky kid then. Anyway, let’s get you signed up.”

Wonder nodded. He filled out the paperwork, using his avatar name “Wonder” instead of his birth name. With the swap in gender, people wouldn’t get it anyway. Due to his ugly stature, he decided to use the name Hyde as his last name, like from the old classic The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Huh, he had been thinking of himself as Wonder for a while now. Was this part of the transition process?

The dwarf took Wonder out back to a shooting range. Wonder summoned his bow, and saw a targeting array in his vision. It took him a few minutes to figure out movement, but he was soon hitting targets easily. He just had to move his bow to align the circle, then act like he was pulling an arrow out of his quiver and pulling it back. Whatever magic ran Hoseki popped the arrow in his hand and shot it.

The dwarf said, “For a beginner, you’re not bad.”

Wonder said, “I’ve always wanted to be an archer, even before Malchon summoned me. Never could afford classes, but I, hmm… dabbled with some tech that helped me with my aim.”

The dwarf looked bored. He said, “I know you’re trying not to do culture clash, but here in Yas Village, you don’t have to bother. We get Malchon’s transplants all the time, and not all of us have left.”

Wonder blinked. “Wait… you are a transplant?”

The dwarf nodded. He said, “I admit I have been in Hoseki a lot longer than most, so I probably seem much more Hosekin than others. But I was brought here with my dad. I basically grew up here.”

Wonder said, “I… don’t know to be sorry or not.”

The dwarf smiled. “Don’t be. It turned out to be a better life. My dad got married, I grew up in a loving household, and now have a decent job and a girlfriend of my own. And despite whatever rumble Malchon said, Hoseki is a pretty peaceful place.”

Wonder said, “So the war crap is false?”

The dwarf thought a moment. “Hmmm… more like, it’s at a stalemate. The two sides seem to have settled on their own territories and some unofficial rules. It’s when they clash that things get nasty, but it hasn’t been nation-impacting in eons.”

Wonder nodded. So this was more of a slice-of-life-y isaeki. He could totally live with that. He may miss his family, but… they’d appreciate him actually getting out of the house and living his life away from them. He was too weird for Earth.

Also, he had a kid now. No way in fuck was he abandoning Izuku.

Wonder shot a few more targets, more for practice. He saw that his quiver was unlimited. He doubted that was a feature for everyone, so decided to stay shut. He would use the advantage when he needed it… though, admittedly, it may be saving money on arrows.

Wonder was taken back into the Adventurer’s Guild, where they finished the signup process. Wonder was given a magically-enhanced card. He got a notification immediately:

Attained your Adventurer-Hunter License! Now you may interact with any Adventurers’ Guild, and any Hunting Locations! REP has increased [ERROR]!

Wonder froze. An error? Some sort of bug…?

Alert! Izuku has attained a Junior Adventurer License! This will protect your child from low to mid level damage with an automatic barrier, and teleport your child to a safe place if the danger levels get too high.

Wonder smiled. “Izuku just got his Junior License. I should go congratulate him.”

The dwarf smiled. “Agreed.”

Wonder headed upstairs. To his surprise, this was basically a giant upstairs playroom, though with targets and trees. Izuku ran up, holding a sparkly license with cute Chibi characters. “Daddy! I got my license!!!”

Wonder smiled. “That’s amazing, Izuku! Daddy’s so proud of you!”

After some hugs and congrats, Izuku went to play. The tall woman, Mally, walked up. Holding an undead bunny.

Wonder walked up. “He’s already summoned his first minion?”

Mally nodded. “Well… sort of. We have a bunch of rabbits for the young Dark ones. I turned around to set up one of the plush dummies, and when I turned back around, Izuku had turned one of these and feeding it carrots on his lap.”

She whispered, “Sir… do you know what your child is?”

Wonder waved his hand. He said, “Yeah. I got a description.”

Mally relaxed. She handed Wonder the bunny. She said, “Good… then you have an idea what he’s going to grow up into.”

She looked at Izuku, who was playing with a dollhouse. “I doubt he’s going to be a havoc-causing Spirit, though. It’s my gift… I can sense how people will turn out. And Izuku definitely is more a hero and kind soul than the chaotic type some of his people turn into.”

Wonder chuckled. “Good… I’m not sure how I’d handle an army of Undead zombies.”

Mally laughed at this.

Wonder said, “Dare I ask what I show up on your radar?”

Mally looked him over. She smiled gently. “I think you are more a Hero than you know.”

Wonder had to blink at the wording. Hero? Like in My Hero Academia…No, it was generic for fantasy worlds. But why did she put a capital H there…

And she was walking away before he could start quizzing her. Dammit.

Wonder walked over to Izuku, smiling gently. He said, “Daddy has to go check for work, kiddo. Be good for Miss Mally.” He put the bunny down.

Izuku perked. “Ok, Daddy!”