Spoiler: Quick Notes
Been a few weeks… yeah, sorry about that. Not much momentum going right now with my weak-willed self and life. This particular chapter has had at least two failed starts, one of which actually got somewhere and may or may not have different jokes than those in this posted one. The scraps can be found here but I don’t recommend trawling through it. This chapter is a bit of a patchwork of all the scraps and whatever my mind is thinking at the time of writing (currently 2AM local time) so you’re not really missing anything.
The entirety of the Noodle Knight development folder can be found here or through my TTC so drop me a comment or suggestion in the comments or on the docs. Just be aware that some links may be missing or out of date.
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
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[Experimental] Nathan POV
Barring the future “doom training”, I think everything so far has gone considerably well. Despite the fact that my two friends and I have been mysteriously transported to another world in a flash of light. What if one of us had been in the bathroom or something? That wouldn’t have been good…
Anyways, our current trainer/mentor/babysitter is a Noodle Knight named Bob. Like his name suggests, he’s a fairly simple guy, if a tad dense at times. It’s like he’s a few cards short of a deck. He’s even oblivious to the ladies’ advances around the castle. Several clearly have eyes on him, including Edith’s open advances. Sadly for her, I don’t think he sees her more than a little sister. All in all, Bob is jovial, but dense.
I know, I know. Like I’m one to talk. I know that both Serina and Riley feel something towards me by the way they’re so forward, but I’m worried about what the future holds. How can I act knowing that one mistake may spell our doom? If I accept one, what happens to the other? If I reject one, what happens then? We’ve been friends since childhood but I’m not sure when it developed into the subtle stalemate it is today. Best to remain friends than uncertain couples/rivals, I guess. I don’t want to hurt either of them or cause them to do anything rash.
*sigh* It’s difficult playing the cliched dense harem lord. What am I gonna do? Oh well. No use worrying about it now.
Paying attention to my surroundings again, it seems that we’ve arrived at the mages’ tower. A central spire stands erect between two small grass-covered domes and a doorway lays at the base.
As Bob knocks on the door, the sound of something large and mechanical can be heard in response. The girls cling to my arms as we step back in worry.
*BAM* The top of the spire splits open, ejecting something white straight into the air. Seconds later, that white something lands with a thud on the grass before us on one knee, arms spread open in welcome… pointing the wrong direction.
“Tadaa! And welcome to thy Hole of Glory. The very place where- Huh? Where art the heroes and Bob? The sensors doth proclaimed they hath arrived.”
Bob coughs lightly to grab the guy in white’s attention.
Turning around to look at us, he appears to be a wizened old man much like Gandalf, but with 90% less awesomeness. I must have whispered that last bit under my breath as Serina giggles. The rest of us continue to stare blankly at the guy, even Bob seems shocked with the whole thing.
“Why for the looks of Bill? Art thou not amazed?”
Behind the old dude, somebody pops their head out of the doorway. “Did you activate the eject sequence again, Sam? You know that’s only for emergency releases so that experiments don’t blow everything up. Also, I believe you meant to say “Hall of Glory”, sir.”
“Pish-posh Simon. Hall of Glory, Hole of Glory, same difference. We have a bigger problem. I just jumped from the top of a tower, landed on a knee, went ‘Tadaa!’ and nobody is amazed?”
Bob then breaks from his shock only to utter, “So cool… Teach me how to do that! I wanna fly too!” It looks like somebody was amazed. We still don’t know who this old guy is though. Riley starts to join Serina in nudging my arm in an attempt to get things moving. I get it, but I wish they would be more confident in themselves to ask instead of relying on me all the time. I won’t always be there to help them.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Excuse me? But who are you? Is this where we learn magic?” I say, only to be ignored.
“Seriously? The only one who is amazed is Bob? He doesn’t count by the way. He’s amazed at just about everything. All the magical prowess in the world and the only one that’s amazed is oblivious. No offense meant, Bob.”
“None taken.”
Time to put plan ‘get things moving’ into action. “Err, if you’re done doing whatever you’re doing, could we please continue on?”
“GRAAAAHHH!!! Nobody appreciates the finer things in life any more!” By this point, the old man looks like he’s ready to start pulling his hair at any moment, which, in fact, he does. Wispy patches of cottony hair start falling onto the grass. A couple minutes later, he’s leaning against the wall and panting for breath. Next, he procures a sparkling vial, full of golden liquid, from within his robes and downs it in one go. To everybody’s amazement, except for the lab coat guy called Simon, his hair grows out in moments, leaving his once patchy head now a frizzled mane.
Man, I really wish this world’s inhabitants weren’t so… peculiar. With any luck, it’s only the Kingdom of Noodles that’s this crazy. I can’t wait to get strong enough to be let loose and get the heck out of here. The only thing they have going for them is the food… I might literally kill for Bob’s cooking.
“Now that I’ve calmed down a bit, might I inquire as to your intent for coming to the Glory Hall today?”
“Actually, I was just dropping off the heroes here so that they could learn some magic. Now that that’s over with, I’ll be going now,” Bob replies as he turns to leave. Before he could, however, the old dude grabbed Bob by the collar and started dragging him towards the oddly shaped building.
“You’re not going anywhere, Bob. I need you for some practical demonstrations.”
The three of us follow behind after a moment’s hesitation. Hotdog had left earlier with Edith to accompany her in her life lessons.
…
The interior of the Hall of Glory was surprisingly plain. A cozy couch and table furnished a simple lobby before forking into two paths, one up the tower, another down and further in.
“I do believe introductions are in order. My name is Samuel the magical magician man of the Noodle Kingdom. This here is my assistant, Simon. Might I have the pleasure of your acquaintance?”
I start followed by Riley who peeks from behind me.
“My name is Nathan. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Riley…”
“And I am Serina.”
Feeling left out, Bob interjects with, “Hi! I’m-” :(
*CRASH*
“What was that, Nathan?” Riley asks as she pulls closer to me.
“Worry not, for that is simply Logic being thrown out the window. Sometimes us magicy types need to throw Logic out the window in order to test new theories or make innovative discoveries.”
Throwing logic out the window, huh? I guess that sort of makes sense, sometimes. What I want to know is how to use magic.
“Hey, Old Man! Can we please learn magic now?” Oh Serina, how I wish you weren’t so blunt.
“So eager, are we? Let’s get you all situated then. Follow me into one of the testing rooms and we’ll begin your lessons on magic.”
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Spoiler: A/N
Hey-o… Yeah, not much going on here. I’ve kinda started an impromptu unofficial RRL guide… thingy. Meh, check it out if you want. It’s called Trending News (According to Narrator) and is mostly me derping about with my narrator, Narrator. (Yes, that's grammatically correct. You'll get it if you checked out NQaA.)
P.s. I am aware of the chapter title. Intentions and results rarely go my way when writing. That may be a trend for a while or I’ll just rename the training bits with only their sub titles.