“Unfortunately I do not have the authorized time to continue this general question and answer,” The smiley face said. Arthur had been questioning him for some time. He’d learned a few things, but there was more he still wished to know. He suspected he’d pursued details on the last question a bit too doggedly, and had annoyed the smiley face entity. “Do you have questions about this world you are about to visit or your bounties?”
Arthur looked again at the bounty board. It was hard to read the blackboard from his seat but it didn’t matter. The act of will in trying to read it brought up his new mental HUD. It was odd, a corner of his vision - and with focus expanding it to completely cover his field of vision - getting a less than utterly opaque text scrolling across his eye. Or maybe it was just his mind’s eye, but in this place that was the same thing.
They seemed to be divided into two categories: Universal Bounties, and World Bounties. “Shouldn’t they be multiversal bounties?” Arthur wondered ‘out loud’ as he looked them over. Chuunibyou pose? Change his name? 50 CP to change his name. He wasn’t sure yet how much CP was really worth. It was the measure of the power he had to wrap fragments of realities around himself, but even the smallest aspects seemed to cost 100 CP, and 50 CP seemed to be the smallest unit that most bounties offered.
“The very first definition of ‘universe’ is the whole body of existence that is or has been postulated, and it can also mean a set which contains everything relevant. Multiverse is a silly word for small minded people who confuse a large microcosm for the entire macrocosm.” The smiley face’s tone was excessively chipper, and almost disturbingly sweet and happy even as Arthur was fairly sure it was scolding him for being an idiot.
“They expect me to change my name for 50 CP? Like legally changing my name or…”
“No, you are not allowed to simply change your name and change it back. Nor are you allowed to simply change it and continue going by your old one. Don’t be a smartass. If you change it you will be going by it at least for an entire world.”
And an entire world, he had been informed in the Q&A session, was typically but not always an entire decade. Was he really that attached to his name? If he changed his name he could get 50 CP right now… and another 50 CP for completing his first bounty. And be 100 CP closer to a bonus 200 CP at 400 CP obtained. It might be worth it. It should be worth it.
He looked at the test that showed his first world he’d be visiting. Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima’s manga that took place in the fantastical world of Earthland. He could buy his overall magical power, overall magical skill, and…
“What exactly happens if I buy one of these backgrounds and what does it mean to ‘drop-in’?” He asked.
“A background will weave you into the world. In most worlds this will make certain portions of the reality in question easier to wrap around yourself. So certain powers or objects of power of the world will be more affordable. This one is an exception to that. However your background weaves you into the world. An entity is created, a piece of your soul woven into the fabric of the reality in question in the role you selected for it, and you will remember its life, you will feel its emotions. It will influence you with its nature and existence, and while this will be strongest while you’re in the world you will have lived in their shoes.”
Arthur immediately decided it sounded like a trap, a path to ego death, and to being changed into someone else entirely.
“I did say it’s a piece of your soul. At their core they are still you. Though yes it will change you. But who you are now is not who you were a decade ago. Change is life. There is no avoiding it. Well some powers you may obtain might allow you to,” The smiley face entity stated, again demonstrating its power to if not read his mind predict it.
Arthur nodded. “So with the lowest tiers of perks and items,” the former were powers that once he had wrapped around his soul would be intrinsic to him, following him into other worlds, and self-enforcing their metaphysical structure as if it was part of the reality he found himself in, the latter were external manifestations of the same effect, “It says I have so many free, and warns it’s forfeit if I don’t take it now, but for the higher tiers I get so many discounts and can use them at any time. Why?”
“To stop you from trying to game the system by taking freebies whenever convenient for you or when you discover you need something in the moment.”
Arthur nodded. Unfortunately, that had ramifications for his choice in magic style. One was free, and additional bore a surcharge, but certain styles did as well, and without any CP he couldn’t choose them without that additional surcharge. Unless of course he changed his name to get 100 CP, and even then the strongest were 200.
And there were races. Human, Etherious, Dragon, Celestial Spirit, and Exceed. Of them Etherious and Dragon weren’t options because they cost CP he did not have. Celestial spirit gained him nothing worth trading his humanity away for. But Exceed promised a free style of magic granting winged flight - and, with enough magical power, high speed - but it would also weaken his body and trap him in the form of a small cat-furry for a decade.
And then there was his character sheet.
Strength 1 - your body has been improved to a basic level of fitness expected of an amateur athlete.
Dexterity 1 - your body has been improved to a basic level of fitness expected of an amateur athlete.
Constitution 1.2 - your body has been improved to a basic level of fitness expected of an amateur athlete. You possess A Hardy Sort.
There was a sort of hyperlink there, that by mentally clicking took him to the details of A Hardy Sort and how it improved his general hardiness and ability to bounce back from torture. It almost seemed an afterthought that it included sword skills.
Intelligence 1.
Wisdom 0.9.
Charisma 1.1. You possess Crimson Moody Eyes.
Again the hyperlink. Again the description of how it changed his appearance and allowed making allies with a grim reputation to be easier.
Magic 0* - Devilish Draughts grants potion making.
A thought and the asterisk expanded. There it explained that despite lacking innate magical power he was able to make use of magic through ancillary means. Following the Devilish Draught hyperlink he could see that it granted him herbalistic and magical potion making skills.
That was it for his ability scores. From there it was just moving onto his special abilities, but only one of them was not listed in his ability scores. Kinslayer. Even the name was disquieting. It was a special ability that made him expert at killing those who he had fought alongside as allies. Of his ‘cheat’ powers, 3 seemed exceedingly minor and rather unsettling in their very nature. The last was potentially useful, depending upon what potions he could make it might provide him with a great deal of power and versatility. The other three just made him think that the entities behind this just wanted him to be cutting a bloody swath across reality.
The fact that one of the bounties was offering him 200 CP to kill one of the main characters only added to his belief that the sponsors wanted him to wreak bloody havoc across Earthland. Another one offered 200 CP and other powers besides, to the protagonist in specific, though it was either befriend or kill. And if he had to keep them entertained…
Arthur shook his head, or what passed for it in this dream-world, and thought about the last five items on the character sheet. These weren’t abilities inherent to him. These were equipment, and seemed to include his actual ‘cheats’. A fine steed, which was described as a lizardhawk, and when he thought on it he could see it looking like some fantasy artist’s representation of a pteranodon come to life. He also got some literally shining armor, and a regenerating supply of potion making ingredients which would make better potions than they should. Both were potentially useful, especially the later, but it was the last two which drew his attention. He recognized them after all. Their names weren’t the same, but they were the Sad Giant’s Shield and Stormbringer. Well no, it was specifically not Stormbringer or Mournblade, and somewhat less inclined to kill his friends. The fact that it said less inclined and not not inclined just added to his unease about this whole situation.
What kind of people were the first choices for this adventure?
Still he was Elric. But Elric without his awesome, fantastic, Arioch calling, elemental king summoning, god mode wizard powers. Oh he had his potion making, and those devilish draughts were powerful, but other than that he only had the weak, mopey, kinslaying, swordsman side of Elric. The lame side of Elric.
And they wanted him to kill a main character. Even if he didn’t doubt that Stormbringer was up to the task, he doubted he would be. Still there were other options. Like kill a dragon for its lacrima. Or join a guild, especially a top guild. Or obtain lost magic. None of those exactly screamed easy to his mind.
He breathed and focused a bit. Returning his attention to the document for what he could wrap around his soul. Etherious wasn’t worth pursuing before things began. Magical Skill might pay for itself if he could get it high enough; that reward for non-slayer lost magic was high and it would maybe make it possible. But he’d need to obtain CP first. There were two other options there that overlapped with it too. Two powers he could wrap himself in for the same purpose, at least from his point of view.
“Why take Fairy Founder over Magical Skill?” He asked.
“Better application to other forms of sorcery and magic. Discounted it’s also better than the equivalent magical skill for learning speed,” The smiley face answered.
Arthur nodded and looked at the sheet. The other option was specifically for inventing new magic and re-discovering lost ones. It was probably the best of the three? Or maybe Fairy Founder? But Magic Skill was probably better until he was sent to more worlds with magic. Any of them should make the 500 CP for learning a non-slayer lost magic a real possibility. But also they were 200 CP each on their own. Another option had popped out at him, one that would make him lucky. If he was going to get anywhere having a bit of luck on his side was essential, and it was relatively cheap too. If he changed his name he could get it before things began.
50 CP. To change his name. To sell away a part of his identity. Names were power. Names were magic.
400 CP to kill Natsu, and he’d get the kid’s powers. Arthur pictured himself doing it. Pictured himself plunging totally-not-stormbringer into the pink haired idiot’s chest and feeling his soul going into him through the sword. How would that even feel? Still the idea was enough to make him feel sick on his stomach. Natsu was a shonen idiot, but he liked him.
That was at least 200 CP he wouldn’t be getting. He’d be more likely to see if totally-not-stormbringer could overcome the Curse of Ankhseram and he could survive absorbing Zeref’s soul than kill one of them for a bit of power. There was 800 CP on offer for that one, as suicidal as the attempt sounded. Could he even survive that? If he killed some dragons with his black sword the amount he could absorb would expand. Maybe he could level up to killing Zeref.
He felt an odd little tingle through his being, and he knew it was an alert that his character sheet had updated with new information. His mental focus shifted and he saw a new statistic listed. Soul Capacity 3.
He felt his stomach turn a bit. The points seemed mostly from killing - 200 for Lucy, 400 for Natsu, 800 for Zeref, and that’s before getting into the dragon gods and Acnologia. Or else being a Celestial Spirit Summoner.
He was going to have to kill, sooner or later, if he wanted points, and he’d need every bit of power he could get when he got home if someone who was willing to do those sorts of tasks came back with a truckload of free powers. The idea of what horrors they could put him through. What special torments they might have for a potential rival who wasn’t really in their league. He could see in it his potential justification for killing Natsu, though for only 200 points over befriending him it wasn’t that tempting when he could get six times that for killing Acnologia… he just doubted that even Stormbringer could do that at least in his hands and without him dying on the way. Still it would be easy to justify anything as potentially preserving and protecting his world, the real world, just by killing some fictional characters. Certainly his life, the real world, was more important than some fictional hero.
He looked at the sheet, his mood sinking and dark. Damn it he really was going to become a whiny little angst-ridden brooding morally conflicted edgelord like Elric.
“How does the ‘may your life be eventful’ bounty work? Is it permanent or just this world or?” He asked. He wasn’t sure if it constituted free points or not. It sounded like it would skew things away from the center of the probability curve. Which would be dangerous at times, but helpful. And if he had good luck as well that should be a net positive? He hoped.
“Just this world,” The smiley face said in its unchangingly joyous tone.
“And am I changing the world by picking it?”
“Of course. It will shift you from the targeted world line to another world line on the more distant curves of random events," came the answer.
“Wait, would I be altering the world, or altering which world I go to?” Arthur asked.
“The latter.”
“Why is it worth twice as much as Danger Magnet? Am I missing something?” Arthur was wondering. For 100 CP it would make events and luck more swingy. Good and bad. Almost never potentially fatal, and not applied to combat. Good went to GREAT and bad went to BAD. For 200 CP it would be unrestricted and he had the feeling a lot more dangerous. That didn’t seem as bad as being the first pick for targets.
“The sponsor selected its value. If you really think it’s worth less than the other, well that’s their decision not yours. Be thankful it’s easier on you.”
He nodded. There was one about anime hair. He just needed anime protagonist worthy hair. “With the anime hair one do I have to actually fix my hair like that or?”
“I will apply it to you when you are embodied,” The smiley face stated.
“And can I change it afterwards?”
“It will revert as much as possible as quickly as possible for the full time you are in the world it is selected for.”
Arthur nodded. Still if he was even going to survive to have these moral quandaries he needed something. Compared to deciding to be a murderer, assassin, or dragon slayer - Arthur tried to not think about how dragons in this world were fully people too - something like having anime protagonist hair was easy. He checked it, and focused on a hair style and he felt his hair begin to change.
If he was going to be an Elric expy he’d go with white hair. Albino white. And with some variation of Akira Toriyama spikes; Chrono or Goku or what have you. It would stand out, but how much would it stand out in a world like this? Or maybe something with an ahoge? Protagonist needs hair that stands out. And where Toriyama spikes stand out enough? Maybe add highlights?
“Done,” The smiley face said.
“Wait! I wasn’t done deciding!” Arthur exclaimed, but he could feel it already was complete. There was a ding in his mind, a little notification informing him that a bounty had been completed followed almost immediately by another. And then just by thinking to collect the reward he could feel something changing in his being. It was like there was some energy filling him up, and somewhere in his mind he could feel a counter beginning to roll up as a zero became a one, became a two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven… He could feel it accelerating, feel the little pouring in feeling of ecstasy, a rush which might be better than anything he had felt before except for its sheer brevity. It reached 50 and stopped, only to start again as another bounty ticked off, one for completing his first bounty.
He couldn’t help but cry out as the pleasure surged through his being. It was all encompassing, like a blinding light of pure ecstasy and then it was at 100. And so many grayed out options turned bright.
“Can I speak their language?” He asked as he looked over the options again. The freebies still mattered and too many appealed to him. He had to pick the two which were most essential. One let him pick up languages quickly; if he didn’t know the local language that was essential. If he did it was not nearly as much.
“You will be able to speak the same language as Natsu,” the smiley face entity answered. But lost magic would be in lost tongues, and skill with language could be important.
“And in future worlds?” Arthur asked.
“The main cast’s main language,” The face answered.
Arthur put the language skill as a maybe. And even as he did he noticed something. There was the sound of a ticking clock, and it was suddenly far too loud and noticeable.
His head shot up, and the smiley face, its unflinching and unchanging smile still on its face said in its unchanging, overly happy tone. “This wouldn’t be much of a test without a timer. Do please make your choices before the minute hand reaches 12.”
Arthur wanted to scream, but it was time to debate his magic options more quickly than he would have liked. And picking up the #2 pencil once more he began. He had only 100 points with which to acquire powers. No. He checked the bounty classified as a world-modification. He’d live in eventful times. It was, after all, Fairy Tail and Earthland. It was a happy place where the power of friendship won out, how bad could it be?
And that gave him 200 points, and a whole plethora of new options became available. He knew if he picked up general luck he was forfeiting many other things, but even if he did he could get greater raw magical power, and become an equal to Natsu or Gray at the start of the manga, at least in raw magical power as well as skill. He could take Ice Make magic and really become Gray.
He had to wonder if that’d be enough to let him make Juvia fall for him.
But he wasn’t here to try and pick up barely legal, definitely crazy sorceresses. Though that begged the question of why he was here. He knew why he agreed, he didn’t want to die from falling in the tub, but now that he was here why was he here? Did he really want to entertain these entities? Or just gain enough to survive falling in the tub? See how far he could go and how much he could gain? Ignore the bounties and enjoy the worlds he found himself in? Make places better? Well he had a feeling if he just ignored the bounties he’d be going straight home. And ‘strong enough to survive tub slipping’ wasn’t going to cut it if any of the other 5 returned home. They’d be getting free power, and Arthur had the terrifying suspicion at least one of them would be a sociopath. Or worse someone convinced they knew what was best for everyone. If he was going to survive this journey, and if he was going to be meaningful back home, he needed to complete bounties.
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He glanced again at the bounties. There weren’t bounties for seducing young girls, terrifyingly crazy or not. There were bounties for killing things, and joining guilds, befriending spirits, and even getting cats out of trees, although that one didn’t give points but instead gave him a power flat out. And not a bad one. There were other steps, but the task actually put a smile on his face; maybe he could get some of this stuff without completely forfeiting his soul.
The ticking of the clock reminded him he only had so much time to decide.
Magical power, magical skill, or a stronger form of magic. Those were the options his mind was circling as he absent-mindedly chewed the eraser of his pencil. He looked at the items. He got one free, and with his 100 he could get a dragon slayer lacrima. There was a bounty about acquiring one of those, worth 200.
“Would buying a lacrima here fulfill the bounty for getting one?” He asked.
“No.”
That was that. He still considered it. It was magic to slay dragons and there were bounties for slaying dragons to turn them into lacrima himself; kill a dragon and turn it into lacrima and he’d get 300. Spending 1 to get 3 wasn’t bad. But even with it would it be possible for him to slay a dragon with raw power?
The clock continued its aggravating ticking, each little click of the second hand seeming to echo through the air.
No. He remembered the events surrounding the eclipse gate and the dragons there. Even many times stronger than he would be, slaying a dragon hadn’t been an easy task. His resource was his faux-Stormbringer, he’d have to figure out how to capitalize on it. There were many magic styles which would be nice, like healing magic or archive, but they wouldn’t give him what he needed to get more points which could become more styles or other, potentially better, things.
He considered the higher level magic styles. He made his decision, marking it down. And he chose his powers. He turned and he looked at the item options once more, hearing his time running out. Some of these could provide an entirely additional form of magic. But with his low magical skill mastering it would be difficult. He couldn’t imagine that just by picking up a guitar he could play the Rock of Succubus.
Then again he didn’t have a clue how to play guitar even when it wasn’t magic, and he didn’t see an option to magically know how. Narrowing it down to two was possible, though.
He finished the sheet, with 7 minutes to spare. And so he went back over the options. And then he changed one. If he failed his journey in this world he didn’t want to die the pathetic death slated for him.
One of the free options should be able to prevent it. It might not match the potential power he could otherwise get, but damn it, just not stressing over the fact that if he messes up he’s going to die a pathetic death would be worth it. Perfume magic might have had promise, and would have allowed him to end up with 3 different styles of magic to begin with, but it wasn’t worth his peace of mind. Besides this one could help him get more points to buy more, better, options. Maybe. He should ask about that, but the clock was ticking too low.
And then he saw the option of Binary Stars. There was a bounty for befriending Celestial Spirits. It was a perk he could pick up to help him befriend his summons. If he befriended just one spirit it would be enough.
But did he give up luck for that? Did he downgrade his magical skill?
“One minute warning,” the smiley face creature said, as Arthur frantically weighed his options. He’d just need to befriend 1 combat worthy summon and he could buy back what he’d given up… but was it worth giving it up?
“Pencils down.” The ever cheerful voice was irritating to Arthur saying that hated phrase. But suddenly everything went black.
The darkness only seemed to last a moment, and then Arthur found himself looking up into a fantastic sky. It was a night sky, but things in it were strangely illuminated. Small moons seemed to fill the air and they were close by, because on their faintly glowing surfaces he could make out buildings and creatures.
Of course he couldn’t keep his eyes up in the sky, he had to see where he was. He was in a body again. He could feel that. But it felt different. The old pain in his leg from an injury in high school was gone, and his body felt light like he had lost forty pounds, mostly from his gut. It was like his body had been refreshed, renewed, and reinvigorated to its prime. Even the armor he was wearing didn’t seem to weigh him back down to what his own life had brought him to before.
A massive shield was attached to one of his arms, and a sword hung at his waist. The Chaos Shield and the Black Sword, he surmised. Four silver keys were attached to his belt by the sword scabbard, and a large, winged reptile was a little distance behind him. He had a sack which seemed fairly heavy, and which he presumed were his alchemical reagents.
He would have checked, except that there was an immediate problem to be faced. He was being quickly surrounded. A mass of small, cone-nosed little creatures that looked like living cartoons were surrounding him. But they were merely the smallest creatures around him. A grandfather clock, an archer in a horse suit that seemed to be a part of him, a large, blue, robotic bear, and weirder creatures. He knew the setting material well enough to have a guess where he was.
“I think it’s a human,” One of the celestial spirits stated. Arthur couldn’t figure out clearly which one with them crowding around him. It was hard to make out specific voices, too many people talking at once. The horse costumed archer - the zodiac spirit Sagittarius - was making his way through the crowd, shouting hello, as well as requests to be allowed through. When he got close, Arthur found himself face to face with the first major character, and the first supernatural being he’d ever really been addressed by.
“Hello! Sir, I am pleased to make your acquaintance, but I must inquire, are you in fact a human?” His tone was polite, his speech pattern almost knightly.
“Yes,” Arthur hazarded.
“And would you happen to have been invited here by the king?” Sagittarius continued.
Arthur’s hand flinched. A part of him wanted to reach for his sword. What were they going to do? Arrest him as an unauthorized intruder? He couldn’t fight his way through them. Even if he could, it'd be self-defeating.
“I didn’t exactly mean to come here, so no,” He said, feeling anxiety eat away at him. He wanted to turn, and run, or find someone else who could deal with them for him.
“In that case, sir, I am afraid that I must place you under arrest,” The horse man said. “Please do not resist.”
A part of Arthur’s mind was screaming he had a sword, he could use it. He had powers. It’d still be self-defeating. He had to trust that the king was a reasonable authority figure.
“I will not,” He said softly, extending his hands empty and open. Being seized and arrested was an excellent start to his journey. He was so lucky.
At least Celestial Spirit jail was probably more interesting than Earth jail. He wasn’t there long either. It was maybe an hour between taking him to the king’s palace, and then putting him in a holding cell until the king could see him. It was a bunch of fantastic sights he’d love to have been able to focus on further.
Instead anxiety, nerves, and worry had been eating away at him, and he’d spent most of the time in his cell emptying his stomach in response to his feelings of fear of what was coming up. He was glad he didn’t have to stand too close to the king when he was brought forward on trial. The rest of his time spent in the cell was cursing himself for choosing luck over befriending summons. How was he supposed to know he’d end up in the world of summons immediately? What kind of luck was this?
The king towered over him, a massive mustached giant standing in the air and looking down towards him. Arthur stood, as straight and tall as he could, as the king began to state his crime. It was simple. He was an uninvited intruder. And when it was done: “How do you plead?”
Arthur swallowed hard. His mouth was dry. They’d - naturally - taken his weapons and keys from him. “I was brought here without my intention and by accident,” He began.
“So you confess you have broken the law?” The king interrupted.
“I would love to leave this place immediately if I knew how, but yes.” Deny it wouldn’t do him any good. Besides, the king was supposed to be a reasonable figure. This couldn’t be as nasty a crime as killing your contract holder. Of course Loke was his friend and he almost killed him for that.
“You say that, but is it not as simple as returning where you came?” The king’s gaze bore down at him, making him feel small and weak.
“I do not know how. I materialized where I was arrested.”
“And how did you materialize?”
Arthur hesitated. He could lie. Try to think of something that’d fit this world. Or he could tell the truth. If this was a choose your own adventure book this is where he’d have flipped ahead to the speech option to make sure it wasn’t something nearly suicidal. He breathed heavily, and he began to tell the events that led him here, his meeting with the smiley face entity, and his limited knowledge of events.
The king watched him throughout, eyes narrowing, his focus only increasing Arthur’s worry and fear, as his speech at places began to almost break down into stammers and fear.
At last the king would speak, however. “In light of these extenuating circumstances, I will send you onward to Earthland.” The king stated and raised his hand.
“Wait, you believe me?” Arthur asked.
“You bear 4 silver keys that should not exist, contracts with spirits you have never summoned, and yet they swear the contracts exist. It would seem to confirm your story.”
Arthur sagged, starting to gasp and pant.
“Now to send you to Earthland,” The king began raising his hand and Arthur could feel himself starting to fade.
“Wait! My sword and bird!” The fading stopped.
“Oh yes, taking them was not my intent. Kochab, could you fetch them,” The blue robotic bear which had been sitting among those watching the trial moved to obey. It was a few minutes before it returned, leading the pteranodon-like creature, and carrying his sword and shield.
“Now,” the king began as Arthur started to strap his sword and shield back on himself.
“Wait!”
“What now?” The king said.
“Could you send me to the northern continent near the dragon slayers guild of Diabolos?” Arthur asked. Before awkwardly adding, “Please.”
“Is that all?”
It occurred to him that he hadn’t met the spirits he had contracts with. But the king seemed to be growing irritated. So Arthur nodded.
“That is all, sir,” He said, trying his best to sound properly deferential and not overly scared. And with that he was fading once more.
“You’re standing on my plate.” The voice was a bestial growl, the rumbling of an angry tiger about to strike. Arthur still hadn’t actually got his senses about him, as the plate was yanked out from under his foot, and he found himself falling off of a wooden table. He thankfully didn’t hit directly on his head this time, but his oversized shield, then his back, and only then his head. Even with his armor on, the shock was unpleasant.
“Who sent you,” The wolf-in-human-skin asked as he rose. He was a half-naked man, well into his 50s if not older, but his body was a mass of muscle and scars, his white hair forming a wild mane. His teeth looked inhuman, more like fangs than anything. This was the next generation of Acnologia. A man who was part way towards dragonification, and who had consumed so many dragons his power was beginning to bleed outwards.
There were other people within the room, standing further back, sitting at other tables. They had been eating. He apparently had arrived in the middle of a meal. But Georg the Dragon Eater, master of the Dragonslayer’s Guild Diabolos, demanded too much of Arthur’s attention to even notice them.
“No one,” Arthur stammered, and the man kicked the table clean over him, letting it clatter into the wall.
“You don’t smell strong enough to get into my guild without me sensing you first,” Georg growled out as he stomped down towards Arthur’s face. The lizardhawk squawk and bit at him, only for a casual backhand to send the beast collapsing to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Uh well, I told the Celestial Spirit King I wanted to meet Diabol-erk.”
Georg’s hand had reached for his shield, lifting him and his armor and it all off the ground with one hand and holding him in the air.
“The Celestial Spirit King?” Georg’s eyes narrowed. He noted the keys. He recognized the materialization. It was plausible the magic was related. But the king was not easy to meet. And… “You don’t seem impressive enough to merit his attention.”
“I’d reached his realm by accident and he was just kicking me out again,” Arthur was trembling in his armor. He hated talking to strangers to start with. Angry ones who looked like they were a step away from devouring him especially.
“Is that so? So why do you want to see us, got a dragon you need slain? If you do, I might spare you,” Georg said.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck, he’s going to kill me. Fear was filling Arthur’s body and mind. “I wanted to join your gui-” Arthur began but cut off as he was flung - hard - into the wall.
“I don’t need cowards,” Georg stated. “Or weaklings. You’re both.”
Arthur lay there for a moment, his entire body screaming. He didn’t think anything was broken, especially as he rose to his feet. “I want to slay a dragon,” He said, looking towards Georg. Fuck he probably should actually run. Leave when he had the chance.
“You want to slay a dragon? Don’t make me laugh.”
“I want you to teach me how. I want to help you kill a dragon.”
“Why?” The man’s spittle sprayed across Arthur’s face.
“What kind of man doesn’t want to kill a dragon?” Arthur answered, trying to fake a bravado he didn’t feel.
Georg began to laugh out loud, a long, low, rumbling laugh. “You really think you can kill a dragon? Tell you what. Get one good blow on me, and I’ll give you a shot. But if you’re too weak, or cowardly I will kill you here and now. What do you say?”
The man’s eyes looked mad. Still Arthur took the opportunity to tremble a little, to think about his answer. He could walk away and…
This madman was looking at him like a hungry wolf, and obviously pissed at him. If he walked away would he leave him alive? He drew his sword, grabbing two of his celestial spirit keys with the hand that was mostly strapped to his shield.
He could already taste blood in his mouth.
“Like you’d let a coward too scared to face you walk out of here after he…” He started to speak, his head ringing. He hurt all over.
“‘After he’ what?” A young girl, who couldn’t be older than 14, called out from the sidelines.
“I think he’s broken,” A guy a little older than her, dressed in heavy armor, said.
Oh, wait, he’d just sort of forgotten where he was going with what he was saying. Georg though was laughing. “Like I’m going to let you walk out of here at all,” The guild master said and then Arthur felt the force of impact.
It was against his shield but he was still knocked back against the wall. It hurt. “Open gate of the bear, Kochab,” It was the first time he’d used magic, summoning one of the celestial spirits he knew somewhere inside he had a contract with.
The blue, robotic bear he’d seen in the spirit realm appeared between him and Georg and blocked the follow up attack.
He could hear the impacts of the blows, though, the sound of metal tearing. A celestial spirit was immortal, but they could be beaten in combat, and Kochab was losing this fight.
After three dent inducing blows, Georg had locked hands with the robotic bear and was pushing it back, overpowering the bear-spirit - which dwarfed him - with ease.
“Open gate of the chisel, Caelum!” Even as the robotic sphere - were all his spirits going to end up being robots - appeared it was already firing its laser.
Georg didn’t bother to dodge, he merely ripped one hand free from Kochab, and blocked the beam with his hand. “One good blow or you’re dead, weakling,” Georg howled with a half-laugh. “And you haven’t got nearly the power needed for that.”
Arthur was afraid he might be right, his magical power was quickly running out, and Georg was dominating the two spirits. Even, presumably, trying to avoid damaging the guild hall or his guild members, Georg’s dragon roar produced a terrible beam of light which sent Kochab crashing to the ground.
For Arthur, it felt like watching the new pokemon he had high hopes for get brutally one-shot by a critical hit from a hyper beam. Caellum was firing again, shooting a series of beams towards Georg, but the dragon slayer wove through them with a horrible speed.
Arthur released Caellum’s summoning a moment before Georg crashed into where they’d been. He knew he wouldn’t be able to summon them again, but there’d been no reason not to.
Georg was rushing then. Arthur didn’t have time to raise his shield, but it didn’t matter, Georg was slamming into it and pinning Arthur by it against the wall.
“Four beast dragon’s roar!” Georg’s voice filled the air as he roared and his beam shot forth again. It was horribly concentrated and carefully controlled only to destroy Arthur.
Fortunately, Arthur wasn’t there any more. A disc of swirling shadow formed, a spatial rift that appeared around both him and Kochab as they swapped positions. Kochab took the blast, enough to shatter his summoning and break the key used to call him from the sheer feedback. Still, despite the disorientation of the swap, it was the opening he needed. With every bit of strength left in him, the sheer fight or flight instinct of facing down a rabid beast that was going to kill him, and the instinct and power of the black sword guiding his hand. Really the blow was more the sword dragging him along than anything of his own doing. Still, his black blade struck with a superhuman speed, the tip pointed towards Georg’s gut.
The dragon eater’s head seemed to swerve 180 degrees, his body following in the same split second. His hand moved to catch the blade, the point barely millimeters from his belly. “Not good enough,” He stated, even as Arthur could feel the blade’s happy song thrumming through his body. It wasn’t enough. It couldn’t eat the enemy’s soul from a flesh wound. But he could feel energy flowing into him from Georg.
There was a moment. Georg had felt the drain as well. It’d cut his hand. It was the surprise more than anything, he hadn’t expected it to hurt and his hand pulled away, but the moment he did the black blade struck like a hungry viper and plunged into his gut pulling Arthur along behind it.
And then Arthur felt a fist to his jaw and his grasp on the sword go limp as everything went black.
When Arthur woke up again, he was surprised not to be falling towards a toilet seat temple first. He wasn’t sure if that would even kill him now, a mage’s - even Lucy’s - body was tougher than normal, the ethernado inside of him might save his life. He’d hoped that by choosing a contract with the clock he’d have it appearing on its own to save his life, like it often did Lucy’s. He was apparently wrong.
He was also apparently alive. And on a bed. It was dark. There was absolutely no light, and his magical energy was still rather exhausted unfortunately. He lay back in the darkness and drifted back into a tired sleep.
He woke up again when someone poked him. It made him wince in pain, but his eyes opened. The young girl who’d watched the fight was looking at him. “Oi, awake yet?”
“Owwww!” He howled.
The girl proceeded to poke his rib again.
Arthur walked into the guild’s dining hall. He’d been bandaged, his fractured ribs set as well as possible. Apparently there’d even been a low end healing mage sent for. Once Kiria, the young lady, had stopped poking him in his broken rib, she’d introduced herself and explained that the guild master wanted to see him when he was awake.
His black sword lay on the ground, blood dried on it. It looked like they had left it where he’d dropped it. Unlike his shield and armor which had been in the bedroom with him. He’d assumed it was because they didn’t trust him armed with it, but here it was just laying where he could pick it up if he dared.
He didn’t.
“Sit,” Georg said. The master had a table all his own. There were two others, where what looked like the elite mages of the guild sat. Kiria was moving to one of those tables and sitting at it flanked by two armored men, who Arthur guessed were in their late teens. The other table had a woman and two men as well. A youth maybe 15 or 16, an older man who looked around 30, and a woman in her… mid 20s?
“Where?” Arthur asked.
“Is that anyway to talk to your guild master?” Georg demanded, slamming his fist into the table.
“No,” Arthur snapped. “Sorry sir. Where should I sit, sir?” He asked, trying to sound respectful more than scared. The last thing he could remember was this man physically beating him into unconsciousness, and he had been armed, and armored then.
Georg pointed across from him, and then belatedly said, “Grab a chair from one of the other tables, I want to talk to you.”
“Yes, sir,” Arthur said, his heart pounding. He was scared. He didn’t want to be beaten into unconsciousness again. Obtaining a chair, he pulled up at the boss’s table, sitting across from the wild beast of a man. It felt like staring down a hungry tiger.
“Your sword tried to kill me,” Georg said. He was eating a meal of meat with a side of meat. It looked rather bordering on raw. And the man didn’t use a fork or knife, but just lifted it and bit into the slab of meat, ripping it with his teeth, red juices flowing down his face.
“You told me to land a good hit… Sir,” Arthur stated.
He flinched when Georg growled at him and snarled. “After you were unconscious. I picked it up, and it twisted in my hand and,” He pointed at his chest, a fresh scar standing right over his heart.
“Well it is my sword,” Arthur said. He wished he’d said something cooler, something more confident, something less sniveling, but that’s all that came to his mind at the moment.
Georg growled a little more. “It’s a nasty piece of holder magic you’ve got there. I haven’t seen one like it before. It doesn’t feel strong. Doesn’t even feel magic at all. But when I touched it.” The monster-in-human-flesh flinched a little. “Got more tricks like that?”
Arthur hesitated. There wasn’t a notification that he had joined a guild. Even if Georg had called himself Arthur’s guild master he very much wasn’t part of the guild yet. “Maybe,” Arthur said. “You don’t show your full hand except to friends. Am I part of the guild?”
“Probationally,” Georg said. “We’re a guild of dragon slayers. You’re not one yet. But I’ll let you tag along and assist some of the members, and if you do good work you’ll get your shot at a dragon.”
“Well then, I’ll do my best to do good work,” And complete the bounties that require him to make friends. “And they’ll hopefully get to see some of my tricks.”
Georg glared at him, and Arthur froze like a deer in the headlights, his rationality forgotten as he simply prayed inwardly that this monster wouldn’t choose to kill him this time.
“You’ve got balls,” Georg said, before his head turned, “Oi, Midori, get the lad a beer and some meat.” He looked back at Arthur, and flashed his fangs. “This meat is nothin’ compared to a dragon’s, but before you get too big for your britches, boy, you gotta know I was playin’ with you. And you were still out for 2 days. You made the minimum cut, kid, and just barely at that. Don’t think you’re a match for anyone in my guild. But I can probably make a real man out of you.”
Arthur found himself feeling a strange sense of pride at this. He felt like he was smiling even.
“Eat, before I decide to eat ya instead, brat,” Georg said with a growl. Arthur saw little choice but to begin to eat. It seemed he wasn't in the guild yet, but that he was at least in part. And for now that was good enough for him.