2 Foreign Variable

[2437 Words]

[Next Morning]

I love the woods in the morning. Birds chirping, cool breeze….. That's actually it. Those are the only things I like. It's doing a good job at distracting me from the very real possibility that I'm not in the right world.

I mean. The entire feel of this place is just.. off. These people don't feel like anyone I've met from Ramsgate or beyond. It's like their strength doesn't come from them. If I'm being honest they have a similar feeling to behemoths. Like people who were changed by aether. Aether that is clearly not theirs. Besides, I'm sure my comms would at least have static if I was anywhere near a receiver.

I spent some time looking around after the other went to bed. The flora is similar to the shattered isles but is clearly not the same. Some fauna are the same but whatever the energy of the world is has altered them to be different. Kinda like back home. Aether slowly corrupted animals to become stronger and survive, the corruptions of this world were similar but fundamentally weaker.

I don't know how it works, but whatever energy the people of this world use is by far worse when compared to aether. I'm sure I shouldn't feel pride for the energy that is essentially killing my world, but I'm slayer, and we're weird.

"Rise and shine sleepy heads!"

I don't really like Tsubaki. A few moments later all of their group leaves their tents and begins to pack up. Everyone besides Tsubaki looks dead inside. How can you be a fighter and have this crappy of a reaction to a low quality night's rest? They seem pitiful.

"So!" The woman's voice rings out. "You're heading to the village not far from here right?" I nod. "Any plans after that?" Loud woman.

"Not yet." Ignoring her I take a look into my inventory to find a more suitable set of armor. I look way different from everyone else if I'm going to be interacting with other people. I need to find out as much information as I can and it'll be annoying if I have to explain why I look like a monster to everyone because of my armor.

'Oh perfect.' A wave of light envelopes me as my [Agaric Armor] Is removed and a new set is put on me. While it's technically a worse [Terra] set, the [Koshai] set is good looking in the right ways. I will have to ignore the helm since it's a bit too extra for now. Feeling it wrap around me I take a look at the coat the armor has.

'Yay! It's warm.' Most armors we make are climate controlled since like half the islands are frozen over or are just lava pits. But this is one of the few where we have it be a little warmer. I don't really know the reason why but I am definitely not complaining.

Deciding to keep the [Terra] and [Shock] dynamic going [Cyclonic Fury] vanishes from my hip and is replaced by a [Sahvyt's Cutlass]. Now this one is way worse. But honestly it's probably still the best weapon in this world. It is kind of sad I had to bench her though.

'Later friend.' I can practically hear Fury thrum in sadness and understanding in my inventory.

Unsheathing my weapon from now on I give it a few swings to get used to the drastic change in weight. It's a lighter blade so finesse and speed are required more, but hey that's what I do.

'Maybe I should switch my [lantern] to-'

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

…..loud

Looking back at the harpy. She and her friends had fully packed up and were staring at me like I was an alien or something. Which…. I guess I am, but also, rude.

"What?" Not letting her respond, I started walking. I assume it took them a little to reboot since nearly fifteen seconds later they all come running up to me and match my pace.

An hour later we reach the edge of the woods and can clearly see the village maybe thirty minutes away. Everyone obviously sighs in relief at the sight of our destination. Honestly I can't blame them, since they were obviously ready to be able to sleep in a normal place.

After listening to their conversations I learned that they had come from that large city I saw from the mountain. Apparently called Orario. They were on a caravan to this village but when they were a day's walk away they heard about a goblin shaman being a threat to the people here so they broke off to kill it. Leading them to me. So they were at least good people.

'So immature not to be honestly.'

When we were about ten minutes away one of Tsubaki's friends walked up to me. He was shorter than her and had pale skin. His golden hair was shaved on one side due to an obvious scar. He looked a little more experienced than you would expect seeing as he looked so young. Yesterday he introduced himself as Ranmi.

"Uh hey Mr. Shai sir?" Oh god he sounded young.

"What?"

"Uh.. would you be interested in coming back to Orario with us?" He asks. Looking back at his group they all had some twinge of hope or worry at my response. "Well be staying here until the next caravan out and then heading back. But.. We'd love to have you!"

"..." Looking at the kid it was obvious he meant it. He seems innocent. Honestly he's probably the age I was when I started forging. I had been fighting since before that, but still. The point is he's pretty freaking young.

"....maybe."

We kept walking until we got to the edge of the village. Unsurprisingly, the caravan that Tsubaki's group came with was camped out right on the outskirts. As they all went to catch up I just walked into the village and headed for what looks like a trading post.

Honestly if you want information the best way to go about it is usually talk to people who travel around. Not 'information posts' like you may think. There weren't many in Ramsgate but they were always a little sketchy, while material traders were some of the coolest people I knew. I highly doubt it would be very different even if it is a different world.

Right when I walked in, a familiar sound rang in my ears. People talking about prices and petty arguments is like music to my ears. I almost teared up. Looking around for a second I spot an empty desk with a sign that says 'currency exchange'.

'Perfect!' Walking up to it, the very bored looking attendant sits up a little straighter and puts on a customer service smile if I've ever seen one. Honestly the tallest person I've seen so far. She's probably 180 centimeters, thin, and has pointy ears peeking out from her short black hair.

"What can I do for you sir?" She asks. I give her a smile back.

"I was wondering what the conversion rate for these would be." Reaching into my coat I pull out a small stack of about five [Rams].

Once I place them down her brows furrow at not being able to recognize it. She picks one up and pulls out a small eyeglass and starts inspecting it closely. About a minute later she places it down and begins thinking.

While she's pondering I take a small look at the desk and see something I definitely wasn't expecting. There were small booklets filled with information about relevant cities.

'....This is why traders are the best.'

"I have to ask…" Looking back at her she was looking at me with a questioning look in her eye. "Can you tell me where you come from? Because I've never seen anything like this before."

"Uhh, the village I'm from was a mining town. So instead of paying us the chief would just give us gold coins that we could exchange goods for. It was easier than forging gold bricks I guess hehe."

That seemed to work as she nodded at my words and went back to thinking. A minute later she gave one last nod.

"The gold quality is excellent, so I should be able to give you about 4,000 valis for each coin."

She's smiling so I'm sure the conversion isn't the best. The only problem with that though is I have no idea what valis value at. I made my confusion a little obvious and she quickly noticed.

"A good meal would cost you around 150. With everything on the table I can give you 20,000 right here."

Nodding at her explanation I take out a decently sized bag and drop it on the table. Her eyes widen as she opens it and sees about 300 more coins. With a wink I slide it closer to her.

"Don't worry about the size of the bag. Oh and can I get one of each of your city information packets?"

---

[Later]

The food in this world was pretty freaking good. I'm at this little homestyle restaurant near the center of the village and holy it's amazing. Honestly I should have expected it when I walked in and a sweet old lady greeted me and told me to grab a table.

Not fifteen minutes later I was sitting in front of a huge plate of amazingness. I didn't even care that half of it was potatoes. A huge bowl of chunky potato soup, cheese, bread, some smoked meat and a fried potato dish I've never tried before.

"I'm gonna cry (T⌓T)."

"Haha well I'm glad you like it sugar." The nice lady said. With a smile she poured me a glass of what looked like orange juice. "Call me over if you need anything." Nodding quickly I watch as my personal angel goes back towards the kitchen.

After a little bit of soup I start to multitask and start reading the information books I bought. For the price these things were crazy informative. They were only 200 each and they covered most important information for traders with some political tidbits thrown in. Honestly this Rakia place sounds like the absolute worst.

Racism was a forgotten topic back in the shattered isles. We lived in life and death scenarios everyday and lived through enough to know that nobody is above another. Even their laws about sexual orientation were confusing. Hell, my sister is gay. And I know for damn sure that if anyone told me she was an 'abomination' I would rip them apart.

'Burn Rakia if they mess with me added to the to-do list.'

By far the most information was about Orario. It included an explanation on adventurers, and what they do. As well as prominent groups called Familias and their leadership. Tsubaki was even mentioned. The tower, and the dungeon beneath it were pretty intriguing. There was nothing like that back home. Reading a little further I saw something I really wasn't expecting.

An illustration with monsters called hellhounds had something unexpected. In the center of their pack, was obviously an [embermane]. The illustration was even labeled. '[Embermane] with a pack of hellhounds.

Sitting the book down I continue eating while thinking about what I just read. Behemoths were in the dungeon and were even recorded. According to the book the [embermane] appears rarely on the 16th floor right before the boss. It's classified as a borderline level three monster because of how annoying it is to kill.

'It's definitely a [Lesser Embermane] though.' According to everything I've read about the dungeon the monsters get stronger the deeper you go. And there is no way it starts off with a regular [embermane]. Absolutely no way. The illustration isn't the best, and it's most likely an exaggerated depiction of what it looks like, so I can't be sure. I do know that according to the book, Tsubaki is a decently above average adventurer. She would get shredded by a real [embermane] no doubt in my mind.

Her group could probably do it together. Cause even weaker slayer groups can handle a [embermane] if they have good chemistry and can run away properly. But if the average adventurer party struggles with a simple [lesser embermane] then whoever enters the dungeon is screwed when an actual difficult behemoth comes knocking up the dungeon.

I finished eating and made sure to give the nice lady a handsome tip. Walking outside I went right up to the caravan that was now situated outside of the trading post. As I approached, another member of Tsubaki's group noticed me and got her attention. She smiled a little before walking over to me.

"Heard you were from some mining village." She says, smirking. "No way."

"Yeah, not exactly."

"So where are you from?" I just look down at her. She doesn't break my line of sight.

"I don't think you would believe me. Not like it matters anymore." I take out the information packet I bought and flip to the page labeled 'Hephaestus Familia'. "You work for a god right?" She nods. "Okay then. I'll go to Orario with you on one condition."

"And that is?" She looks at me confused.

"You help me go home."

---

[Four Days Later, Outside of Orario]

"Shai come up here for a second!"

Hopping out of the carriage I was in, I walked up to the front of the caravan to where Tsubaki and her group were talking to what looks like a border guard. He's armored and gruff looking, but holding a clipboard and clearly has some sort of intelligence in his gaze.

He looks me up and down before nodding and looking back to Tsubaki.

"This is your guest?" He asks her. She nods.

"Yup! Hell most likely be applying as an adventurer and all that so soon a citizen." The guard nods and writes a little on his clipboard. A little later he tears something off and hands it to Tsubaki.

"Have Hephaestus fill out the immigration form and send that in. Say hi to her for me will ya?"

Tsubaki smiles at him and motions for all of us to follow her through the gate. The whole caravan starts to move together and enter the city. As I walk in thought the guard stops me. He was shorter, and I have a habit of glaring at guards, so for a moment I do assume the worst, but he just smiles at me.

"Welcome to Orario."