I take the map out of my pocket. I put it on the ground and both Danji and Ikattef look over both of my shoulders. I look over the entire map in search of our location. “Maybe it’s this field?” Ikattef says while he points over at Hane Field. “Well then we should be next to Missu Forest which should be filled by some acacia like tree, which I don’t see if I look over at that forest there.” I speak. “How do you even know that it’s that type of tree on that map?” Danji asks a bit confused. “Wait you can’t see the spheres with information about the color of the wood and stuff?” I ask as confused as Danji. “Wait you can see that?” Ikattef asks me. “Give me that map for a second.” He demands right after. I give him the map. He closes it. Then opens it again. He holds it upside down for a few seconds. “Could you please give the map back Ikattef?” I ask. “Alright.” He says and he gives the map back to me. I close it again.

This time somethings off. A faint light comes of the sides of the map. I fold the sides and a text begins to form the light. Mana Maps, made by Chizu del Mahõ. Mana? The last time I heard that word was in an anime. I didn’t think that’d follow me here. “So why are you staring for so long?” Danji asks. “There’s something on it.” I tell him. “Okay at this point I feel like you’re too overpowered. First you make a cloud of white mist and then the map gives you extra features. Is this even fair at this point?” Ikattef rants.

“What can I do about the fact that stuff just happens?” I just ask him. “Ikattef’s got a point though, you’re really overpowered.” Danji confirms. “Says the guy who doesn’t feel pain.” I say to him while staring at him intensely. “Okay, okay I get it.” Danji says. “So magic map reader where the actual hell are we now?” Ikattef asks frustrated about the small argument. I look around for a few landmarks. I see on the map a lake called Shita Lake and there also is a dark oak forest nearby.

“Alright I’ve got it. We’re in Hajirudo Field and the closest city is Mashiki City which is maybe an hour walk if we’re lucky.” I shout proudly. “And what way is it?” Ikattef asks. “That way, I think.” I tell them while I point towards the east. “Are you sure?” Danji asks unsure of my suggestion. “Well, it’s the only shot we’ve got to get somewhere before sundown.” I tell him while looking at the sun.

“Alright then, let’s get going!” Ikattef shouts. We start walking. We decide to sing some anime intros to kill the time but also because we don’t want to forget them. And maybe because it was pretty funny to hear three different manly voices singing high, difficult, foreign sentences and trying to stay in sync. It sounded like chaos. After around an hour we arrive at a gate of Mashiki City. The city is surrounded by a massive wall which looks to be made of stone bricks. The gate is still open even though the moon’s rising. People of every race are flooding into the city, probably searching for some shelter or a place to sleep. We get into the long row of people and after a bit we’re let in.

This city is amazing. Most buildings remind me of the Middle Ages but with a modern touch to it. For example, they’ve got glass windows. And they’re even clean. “What now?” I ask as we keep on walking. “We could always go to the pub…” Danji suggests immediately. “You mean the same place that led to us getting killed?” I ask him, hoping that he will reconsider. “I still haven’t gotten that one beer you promised me Danji.” Ikattef says. “That was a joke, right?” I just ask, even though I know it isn’t. “What do you expect?” Ikattef asks me with a straight face. “You know what let’s go into the first public place that we can get into, and we’ll maybe stay there for the night.” I state, hoping that we’ll find an inn before anything else. “Alright, but don’t break your promise if it doesn’t work out for you Segate.” Danji says. I see both of them smirk a little and I’m getting nervous.

Five minutes later Danji and Ikattef begin to laugh, and I begin to worry. I look around and don’t really see anything that looks like a pub. Then I look again and see something worse. A place called: Yokobi’s, the Elf Café. “I hate myself.” I just sigh. “You know the rules and so do I.” Ikattef just says. “Let’s just get in there and get it over with.” I just state and we all walk in. When I walk in the building, I begin to feel warm. It’s got a bar, with red chairs, it also has a few tables and red carpets. There also are a lot of female elves who are smiling. “Hello boys take a seat if you want to or come and sit with me at the bar.” One speaks. She’s wearing a long red dress with a pretty deep cleavage.

We just go and sit at the closest table. When I look around a bit more, I see that there aren’t any people in this café. I begin to get a little worried. One of the other elves comes up with something in her hands. She’s wearing a shorter white dress, red lipstick and has a little shorter hair then the one with the red dress. “Here you boys have the menu, buy something you want. Like me for example.” She says as she winks at me. Even though I know this is just business it made me blush a little. I take one of the menu’s and I look at what’s on there. Other then a lot of drinks there also is a service with an elf of your choice, a bit of food and even a room to sleep in. “Alright we’re not going to buy anything other than a room because we don’t even know how much money we have.” I tell them before they can order anything. “Damnit man.” Danji just replies. Another elf walks up to our table in a long black dress, high heels, and a black long hair. She leans over Danji’s shoulder, and I hear her whisper to him. “I could do it for free.” A few seconds later both Danji and Ikattef were gone with the elf. Now that those two are gone, I could start figuring out how the money in this world worked.

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One room for a night costs 15 Jins and 2 Shiru. I take the pouch. I take every single golden coin and silver piece out of there. We’ve got 17 golden pieces and 6 silver ones. I inspect one of the golden pieces and see an J on it. Then I take a silver piece and it has an S on it. Well, that was easy. Then I look at the prices of the drinks. A water is one Jin. Then a beer, which costs 2 Jins and one Shiru. Maybe that’s just a cheap room.

I put the coins back in the pouch. Damn we’re broke. I just look around a bit more. There still haven’t come any people in. Is this café just not popular? I wouldn’t know. An elf comes to my table. She’s a little short, wears a longer dress, long blond hair, and glasses. She comes and sits on the chair right in front of me. “So how do you like our elf café?” She asks. “Well, its pretty a little perverted but it’s nice.” I just tell her. “But why did you come here if you don’t like this?” She asks a little interested.

“Well to make a long story short, me and my companions were exploring this city and it got dark. We don’t live here so we searched for the closest place to stay for the night.” I tell her. I do feel a little bad for lying to her, it sounds a little more believable then saying that I died in a car accident because my friend was too drunk to think logically.

“But why did you come to this town then?” She asks after a few minutes of silence. “Well, we are just exploring the world a little and were close to this city. And I also have a few little things I want to find out.” I speak. She stares at me for a few seconds and says: “So you’ve got two options. First, I could try to help you, or I could just stop get a drink and fuck you or your friends. It’s your choice.” “Ill just take the first one.” I respond immediately, even though she’s probably bluffing. “Okay I like that. So, what can I do for you?” She asks. “Well, when I was fighting a little ago a white mist began coming out of my hands.” I explain. “Oh, you’re blooming then. That’s pretty late for Dragonborns. It basically means you are beginning to develop your magic. Wait, you know how the basics of magic work right?” She asks. “Well… No but that’s another story.” I just say to her. “Alright let me explain then I guess. So, you’ve got the five basic elements: Water, Fire, Air, Earth, and Arcana. Everyone can learn one of these but Arcana, is the most difficult to learn. You can learn spells from every single element, but most people specialize in one element, that makes them more powerful. All magic is fueled by mana, which everyone produces on a daily basis. To train your magical abilities and get more mana you need to use all of it, every day. You can gain new spells by learning from others who use them or by studying nature. Eventually you’ll be able to use Unique spells or maybe even Expert after a while.” She explains. She just takes a quick breath and continues.

“There are also Divine spells, the highest tier of spell. They are able to move countries, defeat armies, resurrect the dead, you name it. Even though we only have records of the highest-level beings such as gods and demons using those spells, some believe that everyone can learn it after one hundred years of meditating and being the highest level of mage/wizard. That’s all you have to know to start your journey as a wizard/mage.” She smiles for a second. That was a little cute. “Could I ask a question?” I ask quickly after she’s finished. “Of course, you can, although I’m not sure if I’ll be able to answer it.” She tells me. I hesitate for a second. After a few seconds of reforming my sentence, I ask her.

“How do I even know which element I should specialize in?” “You said you got white smoke, right?” She asks after a few seconds of silence. “Why does that matter?” I just ask, a little confused that I wouldn’t know. Shouldn’t I have Greater wisdom or something? “Because the color of the smoke tells which element you can handle the best. So, we can scrap of Fire, Water and Earth. Those mists have another color. So, it could be Air or Arcana. I could try to learn you an Arcane spell to determine if it’s your main element.” She requests. “I’d love to learn a spell.” I tell her immediately. “Alright then let’s start.” She speaks.