Rondor City, a city in the far west reaches of the Kingdom of Kines and one of the only city civilizations bordering the demon continent. It has a rough population of 3,000 people and an area of approximately 20 kilometers. Due to the uprising of the demon continent, the population density of the city is quite low, being that most people have escaped towards the center of the kingdom. Despite that, the condition of the city seems to be very well and lively due to the Adventurer’s Guild, although there was still some deterioration due to old age.
The Adventurer’s Guild takes care of most of the order in the city. They hand out quests and jobs to adventurers and mercenaries, sell and distribute raw material to the citizens, and provide support to the guards and knights in protecting the city.
Or so we were told by Mira.
We walked passed many shops and stalls selling a variety of goods, from local farm-grown vegetables to a blacksmith with stands of swords displayed in front of the shop.
“Cabbages! Come get your cabbages here! Fresh cabbages!”
“You there, young lad! Come get yer armor! We got the finest wears that you can get for any situation. Be it dungeon crawlin’ or questin’! We got it all!”
There was also a stall that was selling skewered meat marinated with some herbs. We had only realized just then, that through all the running in the dungeon, we were hungry. Problem was, we had no form of currency that would be usable here. All we had was a total of 7,000 yen in paper bills. I highly doubt that we would be able to use those here.
[So, I guess that we’re going to have to find some work.]
{I guess so.}
[You can sell your body at a brothel like you did before.]
{I told you! It was a ramen restaurant! It just happened to be near the red-light district.}
“Before we go to the Adventurer’s Guild, there’s a place that I think you guys might want to visit, especially you, Reiny. It’s on the way there, anyways.”
{Reiny…?}
“Yep! The church!”
Mira pointed at a cathedral like building. The exterior was lined with white bricks and the roof was lined with black tiles. Like the rest of the city, due to old age, the white bricks were slightly tinted with a faint black and the roof seemed to be missing some tiles. There were also some vines grow up along the side of the walls. Overall, however, the place seemed to be very well kept and majestic nonetheless.
We walked inside and it was as we would and expected of the interior of a church. However, there were seven statues aligned at the far end of the building. Each one depicted what I assumed to be one of the seven deities of mentioned by Mr. Hawthorne.
A nun walked up to towards us. She wore a black dress with a cross hanging from her neck. Her smooth, golden hair contrasted quiet well with the dress she was wearing and her cyan-blue eyes gave off a very calming feeling. She was a very beautiful lady overall.
“Welcome to the Church of the Divines. My name is Ardent, the head priest. Ah, Mira. I have not seen you around for a while. I hope you are doing well. Ara, now here are two faces that I have never seen around here before. A human and a…. dark elf? Friends of yours, Mira?”
“Yep, I just met them today in the dungeon. Oh, and also, surprisingly, they are both humans.”
“Oh my. I have never seen a human this tall before. My apologies. Well then, what business do you have at the church today?”
{We just arrived in town today, so we don’t really know the area. Mira is taking us around, and since this place was on the way to the Adventurer’s Guild, we thought it was a good idea to stop by.”
[But, now I’m actually interested. We know of the goddess, Vel, but what of the other deities?]
We walked up towards the statues, stopping right in front. I could feel many strong presences, a different one coming from each of the statues, almost as if they were clashing with one another.
“As you might already know, these seven are known as the “Seven Deities”. Each of them governs a certain aspect of life and a corresponding element. Other than their names, they are also well known by their titles:
1. Lento – Light; The Creator
2. Vel – Darkness; The Nightmother
3. Ignis – Fire; The Godflame
4. Terra – Earth; The Gaiaforce
5. Aqua – Water; The Tidecaller
6. Ventus – Wind; The Windfury
7. Jest – Time & Space; The Jester of Dimensions
Each of these deities are worshiped by most affiliations of the Church, with the exception of the Demon Continent, strictly aligning with only Vel, and Teikoku, who have their own set of guardian deities.”
We walked closer to the statues, as if there was something that was drawing us towards them and ended up in front of the statue of Jest. Like the other deities, he was dressed in a white robe, but had a mask covering his entire face but his eyes.
{Miss Ardent, can you tell us a bit more about Jest?”
. . .
{Miss Ardent?}
I turn around to see if anything was wrong, but everything seemed perfectly normal. I turned to Abel, as seemed he confused as well. Then I began to realize; she was stuck in place, frozen in time. The same was for Mira, not moving a muscle. Not even breathing. Moments later, the surroundings started to fade away until everything around me and Abel was nothing but white.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
[Oi! What’s going on here?!]
{Look at that…}
In front of us, a black door started to materialize from the ground up. It looked a Victorian-era double-door, with roses and vines decorating the outer parts, also black. The doorknob slowly started turning until a click sound was hear. The right door eerily opened. I could hear the sound of each creak being made as black smoke continually flowed out.
A shadowed figure walked out and came towards us. The door behind it disappeared and with each step it made, the shadow dissipated away from its body. What stood before us was a man with short red hair wearing a black ballroom suit, white gloves and holding a ruby-embedded cane. His beautifully light skin further emphasized the glaring yellow of his iris. The most notable thing about him was that he had a white smiling mask positioned on the upper right side of his head. Placing his right hand on his heart and bowing, he spoke.
“Good day, gentlemen. How are you enjoying this world so far? I hope that it has been welcoming to you. I am Jest, the Jester of Dimensions.”
[Jest? Of the “Seven Deities”?]
“That is correct, Jun Edwards, or should I be calling you Abel Freikas now? I believe the same goes for you, Rein Silvers?”
{You know of us?}
“Of course. I am a god after all. The god of time and space, to be specific. But I am pretty sure that you already know that.”
{What business do you have with us? I’m pretty sure an almighty god like yourself wouldn’t just go and greet someone without reason.}
“But that is exactly what I am here for, my dear sir. Welcome to Yggdrasil. Though you have probably already experienced it for yourself, this world is not like your own. This world is what I believe you on Earth would call a fantasy world.”
[So, you brought us here? What about our lives back on Earth? What about our families? What about my hard drive?!]
“My apologies. I was not the one who summoned you here, but rather, a magician capable of using summoning magic, and a competent one at that. People from different worlds usually carry higher potential than those originally from Yggdrasil, so having one could greatly influence a country’s warring strength or economy. Although I find it strange that you would wake up inside of a dungeon.”
{Is there any way that we can go return to Earth?}
“It is possible, but it requires much more magical power in order to send you back compared to bringing you over here. Approximately 1000 times more, as a matter of fact. I could send you back, but it would cause me to go into a passive state for a few hundred years, which I would prefer not to. We might be called gods, but we are not almighty. But I won’t just leave you out here to die helplessly.”
[“Huh?”]
Rows and columns of words appeared out of thin air, presenting themselves in front of us. Luckily, it was in a language that we could actually read, so that was a relief. What was unexpected was the contents.
[What are these?]
“You did not think that I was going to leave you without some kind of advantage, did you? While I am already giving you the innate ability to use magic, would it not be better if you were to distinguish yourselves from the denizens of this world? Although you will be able to acquire new skills as you gain more experience, these skills are unique and cannot be acquired by normal means, so choose any one that might suit your interest.
The list went on and on. There were some that seemed over-powered, but after thinking about it, its use was quite limited. Some were just plain ridiculous. [Mighty Libido] …
I would prefer not to go down such a route. There was one, however, that I found to be very interesting: [Lesser Creation Magic].
[Lesser Creation Magic - An ancient magic form. Allows the user to create and transform material into various forms. Being of the lesser variation, the usage is limited to lesser, simple designs. Imbuing magical properties is not possible. Able to grow.]
The concept of being able to create equipment and items is quite appealing to me. It, also, being able to evolve into a stronger variant also means that it wouldn’t become redundant further down along the line. With that being said, I made my mind.
Abel chose a skill called [Manifestation].
[Manifestation – Allows the user to manifest their desires into physical form. The clearer the image, the stronger the effect. Duration and strength of manifestations will be proportionate to magical power.]
When I asked him about it, he said that he thought that it was a good match for him, seeing that he was an artist, he was able to image and objects in great detail which would make his creations stronger.
“Lesser Creation Magic and Manifestation, huh? Interesting choices. Here is another gift from me: [Analyze]. This skill allows you to gain information from practically anything in detail and numerical value. Think of it as somewhat of a “God’s Eye” if you would, though not omnipotent. Try it on yourselves.”
A chart of numerical values and lists filled up my field of view. I was initially taken back by the amount of information that appeared but was soon later able to look through it properly.
Rein Silvers (Aono Izumi)
Level
2
Race
Human
Age
19
Class
Commoner
STR
12 (+ 2)
DEX
13 (+ 2)
VIT
9 (+ 2)
AGI
10 (+ 2)
INT
15 (+ 2)
WIS
14 (+ 2)
Skills:
· Language Comprehension (Lv. Max)
· Analyze (Lv. 1)
· Lesser Creation Magic (Lv.1)
Abel Freikas (Jun Edwards)
Level
2
Race
Human
Age
20
Class
Commoner
STR
15 (+ 2)
DEX
8 (+ 2)
VIT
14 (+ 2)
AGI
10 (+ 2)
INT
13 (+ 2)
WIS
10 (+ 2)
Skills:
· Language Comprehension (Lv. Max)
· Analyze (Lv. 1)
· Manifestation (Lv.1)
“Your status will reflect your general abilities and attributes and will increase as your level increases. Your class and specialization will also give slight benefit and, being from another world, your stats will also have a slight increase as well.”
{Why are you giving us all of these benefits?}
“To simply put it, I am bored. I am quite interested in you two, so I am willing to invest some of my power in order to see what you two may become. I may be a jester, but I also need to be entertained at times too. I am running out of time here, ironically, so I will return you to your own dimension. Feel free to do as you please. “We” will be watching you from above.”
The white room started to dissipate and the familiar scene of the church had returned. Simultaneously, time also began to flow. Miss Ardent and Mira continued talked like nothing had happened.
“So that was a brief explanation of the “Seven Deities”. Is there anything else that you would like to know? Ara, are you two alright? Your faces are quite pale.”
{No, everything is fine. Thank you very much. We will come by again sometimes, but we would like to go to the Adventurer’s Guild before it gets dark.}
[Thank you for having us.]
“See you later, Ardent!”
“I hope to see you again soon. Feel free to come by anytime.”
We left the church and headed to the Adventurer’s Guild, somewhat anxious, yet eager to experience this world. I had a feeling that we would be meeting with Jest some time again in the future. But for now, I’m excited to see what this has in store for us.
----------------------------------------
“They seem like an interesting couple, Aqua, are they not?”
“I’m looking forward to they will do in this world.”
“So, Jest, since you showed such favoritism to those two, you wouldn’t mind if “we” gave some “assistance” to the others, would you?”
“Why certainly. The more the merrier.”