2 A New Start

Tommy awoke with a start. He looked around and got his bearings.

He was leaning against what appeared to be a USMC Desert Patrol Vehicle outfitted with a passenger seat M249 SAW. The vehicle had olive pain and seemed for most intents and purposes a standard version, except instead of a gun mounted above the roll cage the buggy had a larger back storage area.

Looking at himself and his equipment, he was wearing some variant of USMC woodland MARPAT in a darker green with the brown replaced with black. He had on top of that an MTV vest/plate carrier in a dark coyote color configured for a rifleman with mag pouches a small first aid kit and a couple M67 frag grenades. On his waist was a combat belt with more mag pouches, a holstered M18 pistol, and an okc3s with a gunmetal gray grip in its sheath. On his back, a FILBE rucksack in the same dark coyote as his vest, combat knuckle gloves, and on his head was a Natick HEaDS-UP which he noted was upgraded with integrated nods. All of this on top of the M16A3 rifle loaded with PMAGs on its sling.

After gathering himself and checking shit out, he realized there was something wrong here. From what he was told, he would be summoned as some sort of hero. Now unless their idea of summoning was to put their clueless new hero in the middle of fucking nowhere, something had gone wrong here.

He remembered that she had told him he'd have the ability to communicate with her. He concentrated on it and he felt a connection form within his head.

[Aleina?] he asked within his head.

[Tommy so you are awake. I apologize for the situation at hand, it appears my idea was sniped by a careless goddess who didn't check the roster. Instead of you being summoned as a hero some Japanese young man took your place. In apology for this, I have given you much more to start with than I originally intended. I greatly apologize.]

[No no it's fine. I was just curious as to what exactly happened. In fact, this might even be a better setup seeing as I'll have the freedom now to go about things as I wish. This is actually a much better result.]

[I am glad you are ok with this Tommy, I thank you for your understanding. I don't really have anything else at the moment, so unless you have questions feel free to begin your adventure.]

[Thank you Aleina, that is just what I will do. Take care of yourself alright.]

He somehow felt as though she was smiling,

[Thank you, Tommy. I don't know of many other people who would worry about a goddess' wellbeing like that. Take care, I'll be here if you need me.]

He felt the connection end and he felt a little bit of warmth in his chest about this new relationship. Not many people can claim to have a goddess in their head, especially not one that you could consider a friend.

He sat down in the DPV setting his bag in the passenger seat. Sure he could've put it in the back so he could slide over the SAW if need be, but he figured he'd just leave the M16 leaning against the seat within easy reach.

Instead of a keyring, there was a small thumbprint scanner attached to a button. He took off one of his combat gloves and pressed his thumb up against the scanner. A green line came down scanning his thumb before the button turned green. He clicked the button and was rewarded with a surprisingly quiet buzz.

He looked at the fuel gauge and instead of an F it was an M. THrowing together his knowledge from fantasy novels and manga, he assumed it was mana, which would explain the far quieter engine. With that quiet engine, he could move around without causing such a stir via offroading. He'd have to ask Aleina about fueling the DPV, but for now, he eased it into drive.

Surprisingly even though he himself didn't even have a driver's license back on Earth, he was controlling it like he'd been born behind the wheel. He drove through the lightly forested area like he owned the place, dodging and weaving expertly around each obstacle. A smile formed on his lips as he just let go and enjoyed the ride.

Soon enough he found himself in the middle of a clearing. He drove forward to the other end of the clearing and saw a slight hill. He dismounted throwing his pack on and slinging the M16. He crested the hill and saw before him a village.

He went back to the vehicle and drove it into the trees off to the left, then covered it with foliage. Thanks to the olive paintscheme it was easily hidden with a little bit of work.

He knew that his helmet made him look completely alien, as if his clothing and equipment weren't enough. Sighing, he took off the helmet and stowed it in the vehicle. He dug through his pack a bit and found a booniehat in the same dark marpat as his outfit. He took a look at himself in the mirror on the vehicle and smiled. He was getting to play marine in another world, and he'd be damned if he didn't look the part.

Tommy left the vehicle and walked up the hill. He slowly started walking down the hill with the gun loosely slung in an easy to reach position. The people would have zero idea what exactly the rifle was, but better safe to assume they'd be able to tell it was some sort of weapon.

As he made his way to the perimeter of the village, heads started turning his way. He could hear people whispering to each other in the fields and by their houses as he walked on through. He walked through the village when an older looking man greeted him.

"Howdy stranger, what can I do for you?"

"Aw hi there, pleasure to meet you, my name is Tommy," he offered his hand.

Luckily even in another world it seemed the handshake was still the universal sign of goodwill, as the man shook his hand and gave him a smile.

"Francis, nice to meet you Tommy. What brings you around here? We don't get many travelers," Francis asked him.

"To tell you the truth I'm traveling completely blind. I've come from a very far off place and don't know this land one bit. I saw your village and figured it was a good place to stop by and get my bearings."

"Certainly. I'd be happy to help you. I could offer you lodgings for the night aswell if you'd be willing to help out a little bit."

Tommy nodded, "Nothing wrong with some good work, I'd be happy to take your offer."

"I appreciate it, we just need an extra hand with firewood and some other menial tasks, One of the other men is ill at the moment and not looking super good." Francis looked down sadly.

"Here wait a minute," Tommy said as he unzipped the firstaid kit on his vest. Inside he found a box of pills labeled "general aid: good for illnesses easily cured by modern medicine". Tommy took out one of the pills and handed it to Francis.

"Are you an alchemist by chance son?" asked Francis.

"No, but I come from a place with many a smart alchemist, have him try this, it might just help him through it."

"You sure about this? Most medicines around here cost quite a lot," asked Francis.

"It's the least I could offer in return for your hospitality," replied Tommy.

"Now you said you needed a hand? How about I help you guys get that done now?"

The man nodded. Tommy and a few of the other villagers spent the afternoon doing the usual tasks around the village. Tommy noted that both his physical strength and endurance had improved by a good margin since coming to this world. It made finishing the tasks rather easy.

When he was taking a short break sipping from his camelback, a man approached him before falling to his knees.

"Thank you so much mister! If it weren't for that expensive medicine of your I wouldn't have survived. Really mister you saved my life! If there is anything I can do for you while I'm here please let me know! I know I can't repay you for the medicine, but I can offer you what I have!"

Tommy took the man's hand and pulled him up, "There won't be any need for any of that sir, I gave that medicine as a gift. I don't expect anything in return for it, that'd just be stealing."

"Oh thank you for your kindness mister, really thank you."

By now a small crowd of the villagers had gathered to see what all the commotion was about. They were shocked to see that the man who'd been slowly dying was now up and walking around fit as a fiddle.

Francis came forward after the man was whisked away by his worried wife. He took off his hat and spoke to Tommy.

"I really have to thank you Tommy. Not only do you come in here and lend us a hand when we needed it, but you even managed to heal Mr. Darren. His family couldn't afford to go to the capital to buy medicine from the healers there, and we couldn't quite offer up the money either, not with the harvest so soon and the cost of replanting. I really must thank you for today. You can stay the night in my guest bedroom. My wife is cooking dinner, and I'd like to offer you a meal aswell."

"I'm much obliged sir," Tommy responded.

He followed Francis into his home and was greeted by Francis's wife and his adult daughter.

"Oh thank you very much for helping us out today mister, we all greatly appreciate it," Francis' wife said.

"Are you the man that healed Mr. Derran?" Francis' daughter asked

"Yeah I suppose I am. It was no trouble really," Tommy scratched the back of his neck not used to receiving so much praise.

"This here is my wife Martha and my daughter Lucy," Francis introduced him, "And this is Tommy."

Tommy gave a slight nod not quite sure what the proper reaction was. They either didn't care or he'd done it right as they settled down for dinner. Dinner was a wonderful chicken soup with fresh bread which they thoroughly enjoyed.

During the dinner, Tommy learned that Lucy was 19. She was very curious about Tommy's stories of travels. Tommy gave very vague answers or danced around the question as he didn't really have any experience traveling or adventuring just yet. Still, she ate up what he did give her. It seemed she was quite interested in setting out to become an adventurer in one of the larger cities. Her parents supported it but worried that she'd get hurt or taken advantage of. All in all though, they enjoyed the dinner.

Tommy was lead to the guest bedroom where a nicely prepared futon waited for him. He said goodnight to the family and slipped off to sleep.

He woke up in the morning and gathered his gear together. He thanked Francis for the stay as he was leaving.

"Heading out so soon? We wouldn't mind you hanging around one bit if you'd like," Francis offered.

"I appreciate it but I'd really like to go out and explore the land some. Get a feeling for the place you know?"

"Though a good deal in the past, I was an adventurer at one point, it's how I met Martha. I understand. You take care now."

Tommy nodded and headed on out. He didn't walk too long when he called out behind him.

"I know you're there Lucy."

He turned around and saw Lucy step out from behind one of the houses.

"Why were you following me?" Tommy asked her.

She nervously looked at the ground before gathering up courage and looking at him.

"I know this may be a lot to ask, but I really want to come with you! I really want to go out and explore but I know I wouldn't be able to get far on my own. You seem like a rather earnest man so I thought maybe you would let me come with you."

"I had a feeling you'd ask something like this," Tommy said with a slight smile.

She looked surprised so he explained, "You were really hinting pretty hard last night, it was pretty easy to read."

She blushed a bit and looked down.

"I'm not against it though, did your parents approve of it?"

Like flicking a switch instantly she was elated.

"Yes! I talked about it thoroughly last night and they agreed that going with you might be a good idea! They gave me their blessings!" she said and then covered her mouth realising how that could easily be misconstrued.

"Alrighty then. Honestly, I do need someone familiar with this land. Even though you come from a village it's fair to assume you know a helluva lot more about this land and kingdom than I do. I come from very far away like I said last night, so having someone familiar with the common sense would help."

[wouldn't want to end up like one of those clueless iseaki protagonists] he chuckled.

[Or at least if I am one of them, I'm a heavily armed clueless protagonist.]

"Alright come on then. What did you bring with you in that bag? Just wanna know what I'll have to get for the two of us," he told her.

She opened the bag and showed him the contents. Some dry meat, a dagger, and about 10 silver coins.

"I'd been saving this from selling small tapestries," she explained with a light blush.

"It'll come in handy. I promise to pay you back, but at the moment I don't have any capital and it may cost a bit to get started with an adventurers guild."

She nodded and followed him like a puppy. He could almost imagine a little tail wagging behind her.

When they reached the edge of the forest he began taking down the foliage cover much to her confusion. She became even more confused once it was fully uncovered. He opened the small passenger door for her.

"Hop in, just don't touch that at all," he pointed to the saw.

Tentatively, she sat down in the odd machine. He sat down next to her in the driver's seat. Quiet as it may be, the engine still was a completely foreign sound that surprised her quite a bit. She looked down and became incredibly embarrassed when she realized that she had grabbed his arm instinctively. She quickly took her arm back and he chuckled at it all.

He revved the engine a bit and drove off beginning his adventure in this world that would prove to be mere cannon fodder for the might of modern weapons.