"Shalan! "Are you okay?" Asked Quinci with a worried look on her face.

"The onlookers gathered around the location of where the crystal was. The crystal knows where it is at all times. It does this by subtracting where it is from where it isn't. However, now the crystal isn't in all places, that implies that it doesn't know; therefore it isn't. I think Descartes said something along those lines."

"Nevermind, I guess. Still doing your dramatic nonsensical narration of events. I guess that means you are fine."

I would've died for sure. Had it been an ordinary omnidirectional burst of energy, it would not have been life threatening. But I think the shards all chose to fly at me after the crystal exploded! I don't know what Sharlan did. But he definitely saved my life. Honestly, audience, I think you know who's saying (and thinking) what.

"Sharlan, thank you! You saved my life!"

"It is only natural that I protect a fellow party member. Now remember that you must follow the code of honor and do the same when a situation like that does occur with our positions reversed."

"Sharlan. How'd you actually do that?" Quinci was curious.

"Using my ability, which I have dubbed Doors of Death, I am able to completely remove the moment of inertia of an object. By doing so, I am able to rotate an object around an axis that possesses a thickness equivalent to that of the extremities of the object. However, this does not allow me to go beyond these extremities. For this reason, I can only rotate things I touch directly. When the crystal exploded, and all the shards were sent flying at Lloyd, I placed my hand on his shoulder, which made us count as one object. As soon as a fragment collided with the extremities of our mortal containers, we were rotated around the shards at near instant displacements. It seems that my abilities work subconsciously, probably stemming from the Id, or the instinctual portion, of my biological neural network."

"Oh. Huh. That's an interesting ability."

"Wait, you got all that?" Asked Quinci, amazed that there exists a person capable of understanding Sharlan's speech.

"Hey, explain it to us. All I saw was the two of them moving through the air and it looked ridiculous." This is a new character! Yay!

"Yeah. I would also like a slightly simplified explanation." Asked the other new character!

"What purpose would it serve to reiterate my eloquence in far simpler and plebian terms?"

"We'll join your party. My name is George."

George looked like if Arnold Shwarznegger and Ronnie Coleman had a baby, the size of Tron and if that baby grew up and had three meals a day along with 7 smaller meals throughout all stuffed with 7 million Liters of synthetic testosterone.

"By the way, before you ask. Yes. I'm natural. It's genetics."

"Ain't no way. Like, how is that even possible? I think that if I double in height, I'd still be shorter than you. And I'm the tallest in this party. Are you like a giant or something?" Hint in dialog as to who says this. You've read this far, start using your brain because it's about to get really complicated.

"Answer my question first and then I'll tell you what I know."

"Ok fine. So basically, to restate what Sharlan said, when the shards collided with either one of us, his ability activated and rotated us around the shards, out of the way. This just happened really fast and probably looked very weird. Concerning his ability, I'm not sure how it works, where he got it, or even whether he knows that stuff."

"Okay. That's a pretty good explanation of the events. And no, I'm not a Giant. I was actually just born with crazy genetics. I have no explanation for this. Hey Bro, let's join this party and go on some quests."

"Sure" said the other guy.

The group, now five members, headed towards the Quest boards. The employees of the guild were cleaning up the mess made by the crystal and already had another one brought in. They approached the guild manager.

"I witnessed that wonderful display of magical power! I have never seen anything quite like it before. If you want, I can show you some of our best wands and magical gear that will probably be able to utilize most of that power!"

"Sure, that'd be great! Show me the way."

The group entered a large hall with all sorts of magical items. The room had a mystical fog spread throughout. Some of the objects were hovering, others sparkling with magical energy. The room was longer than it was wide, and if I keep describing things in boring details like this, this book won't be interesting.

"Here are our best wands. Although a bit pricey, these are the only wands that can utilize even a fraction of that magical power you displayed. We also have enchanted gear equipped with mana utilizing abilities and mana crystals for those of us who are a bit lacking in certain areas of our capabilities." You probably know who he was looking at at the end there.

"How much for this one?"

"Oh my! You have a good eye my friend. This wand is carved from the great Lifewood tree found in the deepest region of the Western Thetian Focus. It is one of the best wands we offer but that also means that it is a bit expensive. It will be 700 gold before taxes."

"I'll take it." Said Lloyd with a smirk on his face. The other members of his party all looked at him with surprise.

"Hey, are you sure you can afford that?" Asked the protagonist.

"Yes. Very."

"Okay, the total comes out to 1389 after taxes."

"Um, excuse me what?"

"The tax raises it to 1389. Is that not affordable for you sir?"

"Well damn, that's like almost twice the amount! I'm sorry for yelling. Yes, I'll still take it."

The party now all had extremely wide eyes, probably in a attempt to analyze and locate the source of such wealth on this guy that they had just found in the woods only hours prior.

Lloyd excused himself while he went to procure the capital required for the payment. After Lloyd came back and made the payment, he also bought some cheaper gear for other members of his party stating "Don't worry. This costs nothing for me."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

George received a specially crafted suit of armor that took his tremendous stature into account. Quinci and Bro received a mid tier wand and a spell book. Sharlan only got a low tier wand and a bunch of mana crystals so that he could actually use it.

"Okay, now let's go accept a quest!" Sharlan was really excited to go on a real quest instead of picking rare mushrooms in the woods or other menial tasks.

You might have a lot of mana and money, Lloyd, but I have a tax exemption and I have multiple special abilities. I'll prove to you that I can be the leader of this party during this quest!

"...goblins."

What the heck? Why did I miss conversation? Isn't time supposed to stop when I'm thinking and making elaborate plans in my head like every other anime character?

"...low."

Focus!

"Wait, what's happening?"

"The guild master says that our reputation is too low for us to take on a major quest yet. We have the options of going to mow someone's lawn, or to take care of a group of goblins. I say we go fight goblins."

"Yeah, that sounds more fun. I agree with Lloyd."

"You're the leader!"

Damn it George! Now you've even dubbed Lloyd the leader when I'm the one who started this party. Calm down. It's just one small set back. All I have to do is demonstrate my competence during the quest and everyone will soon acknowledge me as the one to follow. Also, why is this party made up of mostly men? Aren't I supposed to get a bunch of girls to follow me around to quests in another world? I'll have to work on that later. Right now, let's focus on the quest. Hey did they all already go?

Sharlan exited the building and found his party discussing the plan for the quest right outside.

"Hey guys. Wait up. Why are you planning without me?"

"Well, you looked super deep in thought so I didn't want to disturb you just yet. All we're doing is looking at the map and finding the best way to get there. I was gonna go and call you when we were ready."

"Ok, then what's the plan?"

"So, our final destination is this village right here. Reports have been coming about there being goblins attacking villagers. We were planning on taking this route right here until the mountain. Then walking over and entering the village."

"Okay then, let's get moving then! Let's not waste any daylight for the setting of the sun marks the appearance of beasts." Dramatic proclamation while walking away from Lloyd.

"Hey Sharlan, wait. We're not walking there. We're taking this baby."

Is that a car?

"Wait what? I thought that this was a fantasy world? How are there cars? Also, how do you have one? Does it use mana or employ a combustion engine?"

"Yeah, they have cars here. Didn't you know? Well, I guess they are way too expensive for ordinary people to afford though."

Honestly. I think you're just flexing on me with all your wealth at this point.

"Guys, I don't think it would feel like a real quest if we use a car. I want to experience a sense of adventure, which involves the buildup of lactic acid in our largest muscle group through the term known as hiking to our destination."

"What do you guys think?" Lloyd addressed the group.

"I'm going to choose Lloyd's suggestion."

"Yeah, me too."

"Same."

"C'mon guys! You don't want to have an authentic quest?"

"We are still going to have to fight the goblins when we get there. What is the point of exerting our efforts now and then being tired and not as effective at the job. I think that if we have the means to, why not optimize our journey there?"

"That's the most I've heard you talk in a while Bro."

"Fine. You know what. You guys can go there by car. I'll go do a different quest by myself."

"Hey. I don't want you to leave the party!"

"I'm not, I'm just temporarily removing myself from the presence of those who don't understand what true adventure is. Call me when you go fight a dragon or something."

The party left for the quest and Sharlan stayed behind.

You know what, a common trope to do in this situation is go and buy support in terms of a slave companion. I have some money saved up from the gathering quests and I have a tax exemption so it shouldn't be that expensive. Huh, I doubt they'd just let me get away with a tax exemption as a normal citizen though. I probably have to at least wear a military uniform if I want to be able to use it. Now, who should I request a military uniform from other than the man whose life I saved? I know he's still in the city because of the festival that started two days ago after I healed the queen. I just have to convince him to give me his uniform. I buy a slave with a tax exemption and then I go on a real quest of my own! Good plan. Now, let's get started.

Sharlan started walking away from the guild, towards the center of the city. Suddenly he heard a noise that sounded like someone crying as well as yells in the distance. He immediately headed that way thinking this time I'll answer the call for help. I already know how my ability works and I have even defeated a troll, almost on my own. Plus, it seems that I'm immune to projectiles. And if worst comes to worst, I still have the healing rock. Hmm. I still need a name for it. I wonder what I should call…

"Help! Someone!"

"Don't worry. I am here. Ha ha!" Damn that was the lamest intro ever. Gotta work on it.

The group of thugs looked at Sharlan and laughed. The girl protecting the puppy, looked longingly at him with tears in her eyes.

"You dare raise your hand against such a fine lady? Your evil deeds shall be judged twice. First by me and then your maker. Make haste and disperse yourselves if you still have the goal of staying alive in the end."

"Who do you think you are? Don't you dare look down on me!" Said the main thug.

His fist landed on Sharlan's face. However, Sharlan's face appeared to the right of the fist, along with Sharlan himself. He then laid a single finger on the face of the main thug. The force with which the guy collided with the ground would probably have been fatal if it was a concrete surface. Luckily for the thug, Sharlan made sure to hold back, and accounted for the structural stability of the skull when making rapid contact with relatively solid soil. The thug was knocked unconscious and the other two, seeing this 20 second sequence of events, realized that they were no match for the guy who took down their boss. They ran.

Sharlan walked up to the girl and stretched out his hand. Now, let's not mess this up. This is the part where I have to act cool. "You…that's, I mean…I…mgh..mgh…I" Oh no! I messed up!

"Thank you for saving me and the puppy! What is your name? I'll do anything to repay you!"

"Shh..shar…the grea…"

"Sharting? Pff. Why would your parents name you that?"

"No..you misheard me! I said Saitou!" Huh? What? Was that a Semi inception induced Freudian slip? Did that happen because everyone kept calling me Saitou when they were trying to hang me? Or is it because there is some deeper meaning to it?

"Saitou?"

"Noo. Sharlan!"

"So wait. Which one is it? I'm kind of confused. Is your name Sharlan, Saitou, or perhaps actually Sharting? Hee hee" saying that last name caused her to accidentally laugh at him again. "I'm sorry! I don't mean to laugh at you!"

"My name is Sharlan." He was looking at the ground, face completely red from embarrassing himself in front of someone so pretty after having had the opportunity to make a good impression and failing.

"My name is Jolene. Let's get along!" She said while taking his hand.

Oh my god!!! She's holding my hand!!! What do I do?!??

"So, you gonna help me up?"

"Uh yes!"

"Bark bark." The dog barked. I guess that also deserves dialog.

"Wow, that's a cute puppy you have. May I pet it? Or, I don't have.."

"Sure, go ahead." She said with a smile.

"Is it yours?"

"Sadly, no, it isn't. But I've been taking care of it for quite a while now. I come by here and feed it every day and it seems to like me. I don't know who the owner is, but when I saw those guys kicking it. I stepped in even though I knew that it was only gonna hurt me. But thanks to you. Now, both of us are fine! Thank you again!"

"Sure, n.no problem. Ha ha"

Suddenly, one of the crooks from earlier created an engraving of his body in the ground behind Sharlan. The other did the same but had turned the other way. Now a mold can be made of standard crook if anyone were to desire one.

"Ahh. I didn't even see them attack! You're so strong!"

"Ha ha. Of course! It's just my crazy reflexes." If I didn't have the ability, I would've been dead. When have mooks ever gone back and attempted a sneak attack? Even my Int Factor could not predict that.

"So, where are you heading, Mr. Sharlan?"

"Oh, I was just gonna go threaten a soldier to give me his uniform so that I can buy a slave without paying a tax… I mean.." Keep your mouth shut, stupid!

"Oh, well, that's unexpected. So you're the risky type. I kind of like that." She said with a coy smirk.

Stop looking away from her face. She's gonna think you're autistic if you don't face her. Come on me! Snap out of your stupid lack of experience.

"Can I come along?"

"Wait, seriously? Why?"

"Well. I feel safe around you. You clearly have the strength to beat the crooks up and you are treating me nicely. I kind of want to see you fight again. If that's okay with you? If not, then I'll g…"

"No no! That's great! Of course. You can come along if you want, but expect to see some scary things."

The same goes for you.

"That's okay. I've seen many things. My family are all elite level mages and they have been showing me all sorts of things. I think I could have even won against the crooks if I had more mana but I used it all up already today. But, I'm sure you're super strong and you're mana is probably higher than even someone from a mage family like me."

"Ha ha. Yes. In terms of magnitude, I can guarantee my superiority. But, y'know there are two parts of a vector…"

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Nothing. Anyway, let's get going."

Jolene placed the puppy into her hand bag and then latched onto Sharlan's arm, pressing the soft tissue mostly composed of lipids, finding itself attached on the opposite side of the thoracic region of the spinal column and often serving as the defining feature that places homo sapiens into the catagorization of the English word for 哺乳類, up against it.

Hee hee. That feels nice. But I gotta focus!

They found Jake at a bar drinking. As soon as he noticed Sharlan, his face darkened.

"Do you want something?"

"Yes, your uniform. Now give it to me!"

"Hell nah. Who do you think I am? Your friend? All I did was testify for your innocence and that was just to repay you for saving my life. I think that's enough."

"Well, I think you owe me a bit more. So here's the deal, I use my tax exemption to buy you drinks for the rest of the night, while you give me your uniform for a couple of hours."

"Okay, then. We have a deal then."

The uniform was handed over and then Sharlan asked. "Oh yeah, do you know where I might be able to buy a slave?"

"Yeah, there are plenty of locations around, just literally walk into a dark alley way and scream 'slavery'. You'll find some quickly."

"Thanks. I'm off then."

Sharlan and Jolene entered a dark alley and Sharlan saw a guy leading a couple of slaves into a building.

"Hey, wait! Do you sell slaves here?"

"Ye'h. Ya want'a buy one?"

"Yes."

"Then why don'tcha follow me."

They entered into the building with the slave trader.

"Here are the slaves. Pick one or more. The strong ones cost more."

Sharlan looked around the store for a bit. None of the slaves seemed very appealing to his tastes. He kept looking until he stumbled upon one slave who looked super depressed.

Gotta think of a good pickup line. Hmm. Let's see. "Are you a slave? Cuz I'm gonna make you mine." Hmm. Maybe "Are you picking cotton? Cuz I'm gonna pick you up at 6." Nah. Prolly too racist.

"Hey~, are you free tonight? Cuz you can be."

The slave looked up at Sharlan with a puzzled expression. "Are you going to…free me?"

"No. I kind of do need a slave." I should've gone with the cotton one.

"Yo, slave trader. I'm gonna buy this one."

"Sure. That one will be 18 carbon or 4 fluorine."

"Ok. Here you go."

Sharlan handed over the money and left the slave trader's place with a new companion.