My Little Isekai Adventure

Chapters

End of day one
Day 2
A very naughty way to end day 2
Day 3 part 1
Prologue: Day 1

End of day one

After catching my breath and thanking my lucky stars, I quickly made my way back to town to turn in the quest to Tiffany. Thankfully, I still had enough energy to haul my tail back to town. However, by the time I made it back, I was so hungry that I had little strength to continue walking. It was only the sheer desire to complete my first quest that I made it back over to Tiffany's shop.

Pushing open the door, I make my way over to the counter and immediately collapse on it, no longer able to support myself. The sound of heavy hoofsteps could be heard coming from the room in the back. "Welcome to my shop. How can I…? Kid, what happened to you?" He asked while walking over to check on me. "Seriously kid, how did you get this banged up from fighting Almiraj?"

"You want the long or the short version?" I ask sarcastically, not wanting to move from my position, especially now that I'm in a comfortable position. Glancing up, I see him pinching his fingers together, leaving only a small amount of space between them. "I went and completed your quest, and I managed to level up. Being the dumbass that I am, I wanted to test out my new strength. So I heard some screaming about a bunny and thought it'd be a good test run. Well, I was wrong. These three guys come running past me, leaving me to deal with this huge ass rabbit."

"You don't mean a Caerbannog?" The way he said the name of the creature made it seem like he was shocked.

"If a Caerbannog is short for giant rabbit with blood red eyes, huge fangs, and a temper a mile wide, then yeah, that's what I fought."

"That's a level ten monster! How exactly did you manage to slay it all on your own?" He seemed curious as he leaned back against the wall.

"Well, I'm not sure I would say that I personally slayed it. I couldn't fight it, so I led it to a pitfall trap and let it kill the overgrown bunny for me." I shrugged my shoulders. "Wasn't anything special, really."

He gave an impressed whistle and propped himself against the counter with one arm. "You shouldn't sell yourself short there, kid. Most adventures wouldn't be able to think of a plan like that, especially while being chased down by a higher level monster. You are one lucky adventurer. And speaking of luck, did you get any good drops from beating that thing?"

"Oh right! I did get some stuff, but at the time, I was so deep in shock that I had survived that I hadn't taken the chance to see what I got." Opening up my menu, I checked my inventory to see what it was that I had obtained from that battle. "Hmm. Looks like I got a Demon rabbit pelt and a lucky rabbit's foot. Also a thousand bits."

In the blink of an eye, Tiff moved over the counter to look over at my items. "You got a lucky rabbit's foot?!" I was now leaning back after having my personal space invaded.

"Uh...yeah...Is that good?" I asked, now curious to know what makes something like a rabbit's foot so impressive.

"Good?! Kid, that's an item that can improve your luck! Of course it's good!" He sounded really excited over this item. "You should equip that item. Believe me when I say it will help you in the long run."

I wasn't sure what the big deal was, but I had no reason to doubt him. Tapping on the item's name, I pressed the “equip item” button. A second later, a rabbit's foot attached to a key chain appeared on one of my belt loops. "Okay, so now what?"

"Check your stats under LUC."

Opening my menu and checking my stats, I saw that my LUC had gone up. "So it seems to have raised it by ten points. Is that a big deal?"

"Around here, the more points you have in luck is considered a big deal. To put it in a way you will understand, for each point you have in luck equals one percent. Now, as you learned from hunting Almiraj, the chance of them dropping those stone axes was low. That's due to their drop rate being only twenty percent. And before, you had five points, which meant you raised the drop rate of that item by five percent. But now you have fifteen in total. If you were to go hunt those rabbits now, your odds will be higher."

I was a little surprised, but I've played a few RPGs where having items that increase the drop rate are key to success. I was going to see what else I could do to increase my luck when…

GRRROOOWWWLLL!!!

A low rumble from my stomach quickly reminded me how I was both exhausted and incredibly hungry. Which is understandable, since I didn't eat dinner when I got to my apartment. 'Huh. How long has it been since that happened? I remember back home that the sun had just set when I got off work. But when I woke up here, it was like noonish.' Before I could give this line of thought anymore considerations, my stomach was quick to voice its hunger. 'I haven't eaten anything after my lunch at work.'

"Sounds to me like you could probably go for a bite to eat." Tiff pulled out his compass to activate it, then moved it down to show me a location on the map of the town. "You should head here. I know the owner. It's a tavern/inn called ‘Hostess of Fertility’. You can get a nice meal and even rent a room while you're at it. You can also sell her the rabbit meat you collecte."

"Well, considering that I'm homeless now, that seems to be the best course of action." Just as I was about to head out, I quickly remembered why I came back. "Oh hey, the quest!"

"Oh, that's right. I nearly forgot. Well, to make it official, all you have to do is open your menu, then tap on the quest that you've completed." I do as he suggests, and after tapping on his quest, a notification popped up.

Quest Complete

Reward

1+ Atlas Compass

There was an overwhelming sense of pride building up inside of me as I read that notification, the feeling of knowing that I had officially completed my first ever quest made all that hard work worth it.

"Feels good, don't it?" He asked as he could see my satisfaction in my eyes. "Hey, before you leave, why don't you leave your gear here? I can patch it up for you, free of charge."

Glancing down at my armor, I soon took note of the condition it was in. In my desperation to stay alive during my battle with that overgrown rabbit, I failed to notice that my equipment was incredibly damaged. There were a few cuts in the leather and my sword’s edge had started to dull a bit on one side. "Wow. I hadn't realized that my gear was in this condition."

"If you leave it here with me, I can have it all fixed and ready for use by tomorrow." I figured that I've done enough adventuring for one day, so waiting until tomorrow to head back out seems reasonable. I was starting to remove the leather vest when I heard Tiff chuckling. "You know there is a faster way of equipping and unequipping your gear."

Evidently, my menu has a section where I can equip or remove my items, and gear, faster. I felt like a total noob. I've played who knows how many different mmorpg games, so how I didn't realize this sooner is beyond me. I left Tiff's shop feeling utterly embarrassed. It also didn't help that he was laughing at my expense.

================================

As I made my way to the tavern that Tiff mentioned, I took this time to look around the town some more. The look and design feels like it came straight out of a medieval fantasy book, from the cobblestone walkways to the rustic looking buildings and bridges. The atmosphere itself radiates the feeling of being in a whole different world.

Not to mention the many varieties of creatures. There were minotaurs, dragons, griffons, ponies, and zebras, all of course anthropomorphic. Some of the creatures like the zebras, ponies, and griffons wore clothing and armor, while the minotaurs and dragons didn't wear much at all. The dragons probably had no need for armor since their scales probably did a better job of protecting them, and the minotaurs seem to just wear pants and gauntlets.

And as I continued my walk to the tavern, I couldn't help noticing the females around this town. More specifically, their, ahem...figures that they had. Now, as a lover of anime, I'm no stranger to the occasional female having very large or overly exaggerated features, but holy hell, this place is no stranger to them! I'm no expert, but most of the mares range from either C cup and higher. I'm no pervert, but dear lord I have been truly blessed to come to this world. Funny enough that I'm already finding myself attracted to the females of this world, but that could be due to my go-with-the-flow nature.

Soon enough, I found myself at the building known as the Hostess of Fertility. It's a fairly large building, probably about two stories high or so. The double doors were already open, so I took that as a sign that they were open for business. The inside looked normal, reminding me of a pub that my older coworkers would take me too. There were tables along the walls, and in the center of the room was just enough space for people to walk between them. There was also a counter with some food ingredients behind it, along with kegs of what I assume to be ale of some sorts. Not that I cared, even though I’m eighteen and was legally old enough to drink back home.

"Hello there. May I help you?" I looked to my left to see that a griffon with silver grey feathers and eyes was talking to me. She wore a green dress with long, puffed sleeves, a white apron, and a frilly headband. She also had a relatively large bust; I'd say maybe a D cup.

I realized that I must have been staring for quite some time as she waved her hand in front of my face. I shook my head to try and regain my thoughts. "S-sorry, miss. I must've zoned out just now."

"Oh, well that's okay. That happens sometimes. I'm Gale Everwind. Welcome to Hostess of Fertility." She said with a happy chirp. "Is there anything I can do to help you today?"

"Yeah. I'm actually here to see the owner if that is possible."

"Oh, sure. I'll go see if Mama Mia is busy or not. Wait right here." With that, she left and ran into the back to get the owner. I decided to take a seat over at the counter till this Mama Mia showed up.

Looking around, I saw that there were a fair number of adventurers here. Some were wearing those ranked tags, and a good amount of them were ranks higher than myself. 'I probably should consider taking quests from the guild if I want to improve my ranking.'

"Hey, do you see that thing over by the counter?" The voice of some male creature said loud enough for me to hear. "Looks like somepony shaved a diamond dog." That earned a few laughs from some of the other patrons.

I didn't bother to pay it much mind, rolling my eyes as I thought of the old expression, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” "Gale said that you wanted to see me?" Looking up, I saw a mare who stood just as tall as Tiff. She had a light brown coat and milk chocolate mane tied in a ponytail...no pun intended. And she had a similar uniform to Gale, except her dress was blue instead of green. She seemed to be in her forties, but I could be mistaken; she had a bit more meat on her bones then the other females I've seen. She leaned over the counter to look me over with a small grin. "Huh. I didn't realize they made adventurers as cute as you."

She gave me a playful wink, making my cheeks flush red. "Please, Ms., I'd appreciate it if you didn't make fun of me."

She laughed a bit, moving her hand to give me a playful slap on the back, which had enough force in it to make my body jolt forward and a loud smack echo throughout the room. "Sorry there, hon, I couldn't resist. Anyway, the name is Grand Mia, but around these parts, they call me ‘Mama Mia’. But, back to why you needed to see me?"

"Right. Tiff sent me here saying this would be a great place to rent out a room?"

"Oh, so good old Tiffany sent ya, huh? Well, if it's a room you're looking for, then you've come to the right place. Our rooms here cost ten bits a night."

"That seems like a fair deal." At least I think it is, given that I have no way of knowing what the denomination of a bit is here to my world's currency. "And Tiff also told me that I could sell you the Almiraj meat I got from doing his quest. Not sure why you would need it, but I’m guessing that it’s mostly for your dragon and griffon customers.”

“Actually, it's for mostly every creature that comes here. Even us ponies.” To say that I was shocked would have been an understatement. My jaw must have been wide open when I heard Mama Mia start to laugh a bit. “Hon, you do know that we ponies can eat meat too, right?”

“I-I-I…” Then I remembered back on earth, while on one of my breaks, one of my coworkers showed me this video of a cow eating a baby chick. Which was followed up by a deer eating a bird, and then even a pony eating a bird, too. The idea must have been so shocking and disturbing that I had buried the memory in the back of my mind. “But why would you need to eat meat? I mean, has your species always eaten meat?”

“Well, not always. It wasn’t unheard of that a pony would eat meat back in Equestria. They wouldn’t do it so much for the taste, but for the essential proteins. Now this was mostly done for those who were recovering from an injury or sickness. But here on the Deadly Archipelago, we needed to build muscle and strength. So, after a while, the ponies and zebras started eating meat.” I guess there really is no such thing as a true herbivore. “Now then, I can buy the rabbit meat for five bits apiece. How many do you have, hon?” I opened my inventory and scrolled through my items till I found them. In total, I had about forty all together. I showed Mama Mia and waited to see how many she’ll take. “That’s a pretty decent haul you got there. I can buy them off you for two hundred bits. If you want, I can rent you a room for twenty days, since that’s how much it would cost.” The offer was a fair trade since I had planned on renting a room anyway, and I still had the thousand I had before. I was going to agree to her offer, when…

GRRRRROOOOOOWWWWLLLLL!!!

My stomach growled twice as loud as my previous one before. My cheeks flushed a bright crimson as I could see Mama Mia grinning. “Sounds to me like you could use something to eat, sweetie.”

I was clenching my stomach as it felt like it was eating itself. “Yeah, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse…” No sooner did that expression leave my lips did I immediately regret it. “I-I-I-I-I-I-I-……”

The blank expression on Mama Mia’s face made my blood run cold as she just stared at me silently. For a moment, I thought I had seriously offended her or even said something wrong. That is, until she leaned over the counter with a devious smirk and half-lidded eyes. “You know, it’s usually traditional to take a mare out on a few dates before asking something like that. But, considering how cute you are, I think I can make an exception.” She moved her hand to gently stroke my chin and gave me a flirtatious wink. My face burned with enough heat to make steam come out of my ears. My mouth was opening and closing like a bass out of water, incapable of speaking a single syllable. “Pft...” I was snapped out of my stupefied daze when I heard Mama Mia snickering, one of her hands covering her muzzle while the other was slamming against the counter. Eventually, she couldn’t hold it back any longer as she let out a hearty laugh while crying tears of joy. “Hahaha! I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help myself! You looked so freaked out that I just had to tease you.” She reached over and gave my cheek a pinch like a grandmother would with their grandchild. Once she had her fill of teasing me, she finally let go of my cheek, which was incredibly sore now. “Seeing as you’re no doubt starving, how about I whip up one of my full course meals?” My stomach was quick to answer yet again, letting out a growl of hunger. “I’ll take that as a big ol’ yes.” She made her way off to the back, where I can guess the kitchen is, and waited patiently for my food.

After waiting a good thirty minutes, a delectable aroma wafted into my nose. My mouth bega to water and my stomach growled like a wild beast ready to consume its prey. Looking over to my right, I saw Mama Mia walking over while holding a large tray with so much food. “Here you go, hon. One Mama Mia full course meal, hot and ready to be devoured.” She set down the large platter of food before me, allowing me to see everything that was on it. There was a roasted chicken, soup, shish kabobs of meat, a plate of rice, and a large mug of an amber colored liquid.

“Well, go on. Dig in before it gets cold.” I need no other invitation as I quickly start tearing into my meal. First, my hands reached over to the kabobs. I moved them to my lips to sink my teeth into the tender, juicy meats, pulling them off the skewers. Once I had finished those off, it was onto the soups. The first one was a light red broth with a potato in it. The flavor was slightly spicy, but not too much to overwhelm the other flavors of the soup. The second soup was much richer and smoother at the same time. I then quenched my thirst with the amber like liquid, which turned out to be hard apple cider. It was crisp and fizzy, probably made with the finest of apples. Finally, I altered between the roasted chicken and rice. Each one helped compliment the other’s flavor.

By the time I was done, there wasn’t a speck of food left on my plates. My stomach had extended outwards from taking in the massive amount of food that I had consumed, and I was left completely and utterly satisfied. “Oh man, I’m stuffed. I wish my pants had an elastic waist belt.” I quickly moved my hand to cover my mouth as I burped. “Phew, excuse me.” Looking around, I noticed that a good amount of the other patrons were staring at me in surprise. “What? I said excuse me.”

“I can’t believe that you managed to finish off the whole thing in one go.” Mama Mai said in what sounded like she was both surprised and impressed. “There aren’t many adventurers that can wolf down one of my full courses so easily. Do me a little favor hon, check your stats for me, will ya?” While the request itself was odd, I saw no reason not to humor her. Opening my menu, I accessed my stats, and much to my surprise, they had increased.

HP 710 SP 300

ATK 210 DEF 230

M.ATK 80 M.DEF 60

STR 100 AGI 180

END 140 LUC 15

“Wait, how is this possible? I haven’t leveled up.” Looking up, I saw Mama Mia had this smug smile on her face. “Did you do this?” I asked in disbelief.

“Sure did. I have a unique skill that lets me boost the stats of anyone who eats my cooking. Now, for certain meals, the boost is only temporary. However, some of the foods I make have conditions that, if fulfilled, can boost your stats permanently. And you managed to fulfill the ones needed to gain the stat boost from that meal.” She held out three fingers. “First, the adventurer must be level 5 and below. Second, they must consume the meal in one sitting. And finally, they have to do so in under thirty minutes.” I was incredibly surprised that such a skill even existed here. Then again, I didn’t have any knowledge on this world except for what Tiff has told me so far and what I’ve experienced myself. “Now then, since you’ve eaten, that will be three hundred bits.” My jaw went completely slack when she told me the price for my meal. “What? You didn’t think a dish that could raise your stats would come cheap, did you?” She had me there, so I paid for my meal, sold her the rabbit meat, then rented out my room here.

I was assigned room eight, which was a corner room in the building. When I opened the door to my room, I was rather impressed with the setup. The room itself was twice the size of the room I had back in my world. There was a four post bed in the center, which was up against a wall near the window. There were three lamps, two adjacent from the sides of the bed and one that dangled from the ceiling. To the left of the bed was a nightstand, and above that was some shelves with some books. ‘I’ll have to look at those later.’ In the corner of the room was a medium sized desk with some wax candles on top of it. And lastly, there was a door to the right of the bed. I moved my hand to push it open to see that it was a bathroom. Thankfully, unlike everything else in this town that looked like it came straight out of medieval times, they had running water and plumbing. I blessed my lucky stars and let out a sigh of relief. There was a sink with a towel rack next to it, however, upon further inspection, I saw that there wasn’t a shower. “Are you kidding me? Well, two out of three isn’t so bad. I guess they must have some other way to take a bath around here. Oh well, that’s a problem for future Arthur to deal with.”

After using the restroom, I stripped down to my boxers and laid in my bed. It was incredibly comfortable and warm, and the pillow was so soft, it was like I was resting my head on a cloud. I was so exhausted that I could feel myself already dozing off and let out a yawn. Before sleep overtook me, I reflected on the events that took place today. ‘To think that I’m actually in another world. This is a dream come true.’ Soon, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and allowed blissful slumber to take me.

Author's Note

Well here is the next chapter. I don't plan on making every chapter supper long, but when i do they will have a lot more action to them.

Now for the characters.
Gale is griffon version of Syr Flova from Danmachi

Mia Grand or Mama Mia is also a charter from Danmachi

I hope that you guys are enjoying this so far and look forward to your comments. and if you guys have any ideas you'd like to share please feel free.

Day 2

Author's Note

Hey there everypony!! Here is the newest chapter to this story and boy is it a long one, probably the longest chapter I've written yet so far. Special to my editor Codex92 for helping with it. So i hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I'm still getting used to writing like this trying to make it seem like a real isekai story. I'll try and make sure that I don't drop a lot of things for you guys to learn right away, I'll gradually add stuff so as to not overwhelm you guys.

p.s while i was checking to make sure the images would show some were invalid, but i managed to link the image of the pics to the words so keep an eye out.

There aren't any new ponified charters in this chapter. and as always please leave a like and a comment down bellow to show your support, I'm hopping to get this story featured at least one time.

Day 2

I slowly began to wake from my blissful slumber as I felt the sun’s light against my eyelids. I groaned, feeling too comfortable to leave my apartment to go to my boring job. “Mmm. And I was having such a nice dream, too.” I whined as I remembered my dream of me being sent to another world and became an adventurer. “Oh well. Reality calls.” I swung my lower body to the side to touch the ground and used the momentum to help me sit up. As I stretched my arms out and let out a long yawn, I could feel the cold wood floor against my feet…Hold on. “I have carpet floors, not wood.” As I opened my eyes, rubbing away any eye crust that I had in my eyes, I saw that I wasn’t in my apartment. Instead, I was in the room that I had rented out in my dream, though I guess it wasn’t a dream after all. “Then I really am in a whole other world.” I guess any normal person would be a bit freaked out by this, but then again, I’m not normal. With a bit more pep in my step, I jumped off my bed and let out a happy sigh as I stretched out my whole body. “Today is a new day!!”

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After getting dressed, I made my way downstairs into the tavern. This time around, I saw more adventurers and maids than I did last night. Some of the other adventurers were either eating or talking amongst each other about their stats or their victories in battles. I would have liked to sit down and listen to them, but I had my own adventures to go on myself. The only question is what kind of adventure will I go on today? My stomach lets out a small gurgle, meaning that it was breakfast time. It is one of the most important meals of the day, after all.

I took a seat at the counter and looked around for a menu. I spotted them written on a chalkboard that was behind the counter, where there seemed to be two separate menus. One side had food that cost under ten bits while the other had food costing over two hundred bits. If I had to guess, one must be for normal food and the other was for trying to raise your stats. And after last night’s feast, I think I can afford to pass up on trying to raise my stats. “Well, good morning.” I looked to my left as I saw Mama Mia walking over from the back room. “Looks like you got plenty of rest. You here to get some breakfast?”

“Yep. I’m gonna need all my strength for whatever adventure I decide to go on today.” I said with a chipper tone, which was kind of new for me since I was never the kind of guy to be this excited in the morning. I guess it must be the fact that I’m currently living my dream life now.

“Oh, is that so? Well, did you have any ideas on what you might do today?” I hadn’t given the idea much thought since I just woke up, but now that raises the question on what I should do today. I guess she could tell that I was a bit stumped as she let out an amused chuckle. “Tell you what. Why don’t you go ask Tiff what he thinks you should do? I’ve known the guy for quite a while, and he might have some ideas that can help a rookie adventurer like yourself. Plus, as a blacksmith, he would know the best kind of gear to use for certain quests or that best fits your fighting style.”

There was the sound of a bell ringing that caught her attention, making her leave to her work and leave me to my thoughts. ‘She does have a point. Tiff has been reliable in his suggestions and what kind of equipment I should use. Maybe I will see what he thinks I should do next.’ While I was deep in thought, I hadn’t noticed Mama Mia had put down some stuff in front of me. It was only when my nose picked up the delicious aroma that I took the time to snap out of my thoughts and look down. There was a plate with two strips of bacon and two sunny-side up eggs with some boiled broccoli. This was also accompanied by a small bowl of soup and a small bowl of salad. I looked to Mama Mia, who was walking away to probably go help some other customers. “Umm, I haven’t ordered anything yet.” I called out.

She just waved it off as she continued walking away. “It’s on the house.” She called out.

I was a bit surprised, but it wasn’t like I was gonna pass up free food. I gave thanks for my meal and started to dig in. And dear lord was this the most delicious breakfast I’ve had, the bacon was nice and crispy, the eggs were perfectly cooked, the soup warmed up my insides, and the salad had fresh vegetables that made a nice crunching sound as I chewed.

After finishing my meal, I let out a content sigh as I stood up, feeling completely rejuvenated, like I could take on whatever this world had to throw at me. “Look out, world, cause I’m coming for ya.”

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I made my way through town, taking in the crisp morning air and basking in the sun’s light. I noticed that I had gotten quite a few awkward stares from the residents, but I guess that is to be expected when you’re the only human in this world. Or at least I think I’m the only human. I didn’t really care since thinking too hard about it wouldn’t do me any good. Eventually, I had made it back to Tiff’s shop and walked inside. “Hey, Tiff, you here?” I called out as I walked over to the counter.

“Oh, hey there, kid! I'll be out with you in a minute!” Tiff called out from the back. I didn’t have to wait long before he came out while wiping his brow of sweat with a cloth. “How did it go with getting a room at the inn?”

“Wasn’t too bad. I sold enough of the rabbit meat to rent out a room for twenty nights. Although, I think I got tricked into buying a three-hundred-bit meal.” I stared at him, seeing that he wasn’t making eye contact with me while whistling a tune. “You knew about the special menu thing, didn’t you?”

He just laughed it off like it was no big deal. “Yeah, sorry about that, kid. But did you at least manage to finish off whatever it was she gave you?” Seeing as it wouldn’t do me any good to get all bent out of shape about what has already been done, I pulled up my stats and showed them to him. He let out an impressed whistle as he took a closer look at them. “Not bad there, kid. Looks like they went up a considerable amount.” I was still giving him an unamused glare, which seemed to be working as he was sweating a little bit. “Okay, look, I’m sorry for tricking you, but come on. In the end, you did manage to get a considerable boost for it and a really delicious meal, too.”

Rolling my eyes, I leaned back against the counter with my arms behind my head. “Yeah, well, I will admit that it was pretty amazing. And I can’t really be pissed since I did get my stats to go up, which I get the feeling is important here, right?”

“Definitely. If your stats aren’t up to par with certain areas, then you're as good as dead. I’ve seen too many rookies die just because they think that after beating one monster that was one level higher than them, they think they can take on the whole world.” Tiff had this sad look on his face that just says regret. “There were times where I felt like if I had just told them some important information, they may still be around to this day.” A lone tear trailed down his cheek as he had this spaced out gaze.

“Is that why you give me so much advice? So that I don’t end up like them?” He gave a small nod. To be honest, I felt bad for the guy. In his mind, he feels as though their deaths were just as much his fault. “Hey, I think you shouldn't beat yourself up over that. What matters now is what you can do for any adventures that come to you now. In fact, if you hadn’t given me those potions yesterday, I’m fairly sure I would have been dead by now.” Though he was still bummed out a bit, he perked up a bit at what I said. “And speaking of helping adventurers now, is my leather armor ready yet?”

His mood seemed to brighten up a bit when I mentioned my armor. “Actually, I went and did you a little favor, kid.” He ran off to the back before I could ask what he did. I didn’t have to wait long as he returned with a box made of wood, setting it down in front of me. “Seeing as you had leveled up and raised your stats up, I figured that basic set of gear wasn’t going to cut it anymore. So I took the liberty of making you a whole new one.”

“...How much?” I asked, getting straight to the point. I didn't even need to look inside the box to know that this was going to cost me.

“Well, since I figured you’d say that, I bought back the old set and put that toward this set, which knocked off a hundred bits. So in total, three hundred bits.” I honestly should have seen this coming; he does run a business after all. I agreed to the prices and paid up. In total, I only have four hundred bits left. “A pleasure doing business with you. I made sure to keep your stats in mind when making this, and I think it will work out great for you.”

I took the set into my inventory and then equipped the set. Unlike my previous armor, this set covered almost my whole body sans my head. The first layer was chainmail that thankfully didn't feel uncomfortable against my body. Next, there was some blue light armor that covered mostly my arms, legs, and chest. And to complete the set, I gained a larger shield then my buckler, and a one-handed longsword. I won’t lie and say that I wasn't completely geeking out as I looked over my new gear. I had always wanted to wear armor like this, but never had the money to buy it or find any use for it should I have gotten it. But now, I was as happy as a clam and couldn’t wait to see what my new gear has done to my stats.

HP 1010 SP 500

ATK 410 DEF 380

M.ATK 95 M.DEF 80

STR 300 AGI 280

END 200 LUC 15

I saw that most of my stats had gone up a good amount, though my magic attack and magic defense hadn’t gone up by much. Maybe that is due to the fact that this is still basic gear and doesn’t have much in the way of great bonuses. I did a few stretches to see if any of my movements would be restricted by the new gear, but much like my leather armor, it felt easy to move in and barely weighed anything. “Wow. Another perfect fit, Tiff. I had no idea that armor could be this comfortable. I always thought it would feel heavy as hell and would be a pain to move in, but this is something else.”

He was stroking his beard, looking mighty proud of the praise that I was giving him. “Well, thank you kindly, kid. I did put a lot of effort into making it. And I should tell you that your sword and shield have some incredibly unique skills.” Glancing at the shield in my left hand and the sword on my hip, I had thought they were only normal pieces of gear. “Your shield has an ability where if you block at the right time, you can knock back your opponent's weapon back enough to give you a chance to strike them. As for your sword, it can deal double damage. However, I should mention that those odds are based on your luck, so in your case, it’s about fifteen percent.”

“Hmm. Hey, I’ll take any chances if I know there is at least one percent in my favor.” I boasted with my chest out and my head held high. Surprisingly, that got a good laugh out of Tiff, which wasn’t exactly the reaction I was going for, but hey, making someone laugh is good enough for me. As I waited for him to finally catch his breath, I remembered the advice Mama Mia had given me earlier. “So Mama Mia said that I should ask you for advice on what I should do next as an adventurer. Do you have any you can give me?”

After wiping a few tears of joy out of his eyes, Tiff took a moment to give my question some thought. “Well, normally most adventurers would take this time to try and raise their ranks. See, around here, having a higher rank means a big deal.” I leaned on the counter as I listened more closely. “An adventurer’s rank tells more than just a position in the guild; they also have its benefits. A prime example would be the rank that is after porcelain: obsidian. Obsidian ranked adventurers get a five percent discount on item repairs. And as your rank gets higher and higher, the benefits will also get better. Moving up in the ranks is the best way to live a better life.” This was something new for me since most of the anime I had watched did have some moments where they did mention rankings, but I don’t think any of them ever mentioned special benefits for certain ranks. “But if you want my advice, I think you should try to level up and raise your stats a bit more. See, while you’re only allowed to only take porcelain ranked quests from the guild, some of those quests will be slightly harder than most, and this is where my advice comes into play. You’ll first level up and raise your stats high enough to where you can take the hardest porcelain ranked quest and clear it on your own. If you accomplish this, the guild will recognize your potential and will possibly bump you up to obsidian quicker.”

I was rather impressed by Tiff’s plan. Not only did it make sense with a simple goal, but the steps I’ll have to take to achieve it will benefit me in the long run. “Okay, so what’s the best way for me to earn exp the fastest?” Once more, he went back to thinking while stroking his beard. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his atlas compass, and opened it. This time around, I got a better look at his and saw that he has covered more areas on these islands than I had originally imagined.

He scrolled through the different landscapes until he found what he was looking for. “Here we are.” Lowering his compass down, he showed me an icon of a stone door. “This is a dungeon that I think will be the best place to try and gain experience, even some bits. On the island, dungeons are spread out all over the place. There is a catch, however.” He tapped on the icon making it grow and made what looked like a rating system pop up next to it. “Once a dungeon has been cleared enough times, the difficulty and rarity of the items goes down. This one used to be a two-star level dungeon with tons of item chests, but after being completely cleared out, the dungeon went down to one star. You would be lucky to find even one chest, and even then, it might have some generic items like weak armor or weapons and maybe some bits. But if you’re not looking for loot, this will be the best place to up your stats and hone your skills.”

While I know it’s important that I level myself up, I was kinda disappointed that I wouldn’t find anything cool inside, I mean, half the fun of searching a dungeon is all the possible loot you could find. But like he said, I wasn’t looking for loot; I was going to level up. “Well, you make a fair point. Is there anything I should know before going in?”

“Yeah, a little bit. The dungeon is about two floors down with a boss room at the end of the second floor. The monster on the first floor ranges from levels three to five, while the monsters on the second floor go from seven to ten.”

“Anything you can tell me about the boss monster? The more I know, the better I can prepare myself.”

Tiff shook his head a bit. “Sadly, I don’t. The boss monster tends to change around, so you never know what it is until you face it. But I do know that the boss’s level could range from ten to fifteen, so if I were you, I’d make sure you don’t go in until you’re at least level ten.”

“The boss is always something different, huh?” I asked aloud. If I was going to go into a dungeon, I’ll need to buy myself some essential items. “Do you have any more potions you can sell me? If I’m going to go down into the dungeon, I’ll need some for when I’m in a pinch.”

“I’ll do you one better, kid.” He ducked down behind the counter as he rummaged around for something. I leaned over the counter, trying to see what it was he was getting. “Ah! Here it is!” He came back up with a small crate, around the size of a shoebox. “I’ve been wanting to sell these things to the guild for adventures to buy, and I think you’ll be the perfect adventurer to test it out.” He opened it up, revealing the contents of the box to me. Inside were a couple of leather satchels. I tapped on one to see what it was.

Small Dungeon Exploration Kit

Potion x5

Ration x1

Whetstone x2

Flash Bomb x2

Escape Crystal x1

“Wow, these are pretty cool, Tiff.” I lifted one out to better examine it. The bag itself was rather amazing: it had two holsters on either side with a small pouch pocket in the front of the bag.

“I’m glad you think so. And best of all, I made it so you can equip it on your person rather than look through your item inventory for the items. You can even attach it to the back of your hip. Why don’t you let me open it up so I can tell you about the items inside?” I passed him back the packs as he pulled out one of each of the items inside, starting with a vial with a red liquid inside. “Obviously, this is your standard potion, which can recover 50 HP.” Next, he pulled out a canteen and some pieces of dried meat. “Your ration of water and dried monster meat. Don’t worry, I’m told it tastes pretty good.” Then he pulled out a flat stone. “This is a whetstone. I’d recommend that you make sure to check the blade of your sword every once in a while, because a dull blade won’t do much damage.” Next came a metal cylinder with a pin on the top. “These are your flash bombs. They’ll blind anything within range for up to 30 seconds. That includes you if you’re not careful. Now to the most important item in the whole pack.” Finally, he pulls out something that I instantly recognize. It was as if it was plucked straight from the show. In Tiff’s hands was gold and blue rectangular crystal. “This is a escape crystal. Besides their weapons and armor, this is an adventurer’s best friend. Although, there is a downside.” I watch as he put everything back in the pack. “You can use the teleport crystal anywhere, even in a dungeon, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that. When you do use it while inside one, any items or bits that you acquire are lost, but you still keep the exp you earn. This one adventurer came into town one day after teleporting from a high-level dungeon, boasting about how he raided all the chests without taking any damage or even taking on the dungeon boss. When he went to show off his inventory, he found that none of the rare items he was bragging about were there. That’s when he got a notification telling him that using a teleport crystal while in a dungeon will strip him of his items and bits that he got from there. He broke down crying like a little bitch.” Tiff chuckled a bit as he wiped a tear out of his eye. “It sure was funny, and it taught us all not to do the same thing.”

I honestly felt bad for the guy in the story. Who knows what he went through to get all that stuff, only to lose it all in a flash because he didn’t know about that rule. Well, there was nothing I could do about that, but there was something I did remember. “Putting that all aside, how much does this kit cost altogether?” I asked, getting straight to the point, knowing full well that this was going to possibly cost me a lot.

“Hmm. Well…I was planning on selling these things for three-hundred bits each.” Someone better go pick up that phone, cause I fucking called it. “But since you're going to be my tester, how about I bring it down to two-hundred bits?” I let out a sigh as I knew that was the best deal I was gonna get, and I didn’t feel like haggling. I paid the man...er, stallion, now only left with a hundred bits. No one said being an adventurer was going to be easy. “Seeing as you did spend a lot of bits here today, I think you could use a reward.” Before I could ask what he meant, he pulled out a cloth bag and emptied the contents of said bag onto the counter, and what came out were some rather cool gems. There were six different colored ones in total: red, blue, brown, green, purple, and yellow. “These bad boys are elemental crystals, and they can tell you what your element affinity is.”

Something about the element affinity rang a bell, but I couldn’t think of what at first. Then it hits me. Opening my profile, I scrolled down to see that under my stats was the word “affinity” with some question marks next to it. “Is that what goes down here?” I ask while pointing at the question marks.

“Yep. There are six base elements that adventurers can use. They are fire, water, earth, wind, darkness, and light. Now, every adventurer who comes here has a natural affinity for one of these six elements, and depending on your affinity, that will be the element that you can use more easily.” I watched as Tiff summoned a fireball in the palm of his hand, much like he did yesterday. “Since I’m an earth pony, my affinity is earth, but as you can see, I’m still able to use fire magic. The reason why is because you can learn how to use any of the base elements, but depending on what element you have can affect the difficulty of learning others. Hang on. I think I have something that can show you what I mean.” He reached under the counter again and pulled out a paper that had the elements on it.

“The heart in the center represents the adventurer.” He then tapped on the symbol for earth with his finger. “Do you see how close earth is to fire?” I nodded my head for him to continue. “Well, since it’s the closest one to my affinity, it’s slightly easier for me to learn.” He then points to a green symbol, which must represent air. “Since air is the opposite of earth, that would be the most difficult element for me to try and learn. This is basically how affinities work.” He then started to rearrange the gemstones until they were on top of the symbols like in the picture. Oddly enough, the earth gem didn’t match the color on the piece of paper, but I shrugged it off. “Okay, kid, go ahead and place your hand in the center where the heart is and we’ll find out what your element affinity is.”

This was rather exciting for me. I had no idea what element I might be good at. Then again, what if I don’t have one? After all, I am only human. There was never any real magic similar to this back home. My curiosity was getting the better of me as I lowered my hand down onto the heart symbol. For a while, nothing happened, and I was afraid that me being human unable to use magic was true. Before I could pull my hand away, the stone at the top started to shine brightly; it was the yellow stone. The light became so bright it was almost as bright as the sun. Tiff and I shielded our eyes till the light had finally died down enough for us to see again. The stone was now emitting a low glow. I stared in awe as the stone twinkled for a bit before the light faded. “Wow, that sure was bright, right, Tiff?...Tiff, you okay there, buddy?”

Tiff’s mouth was hung wide open with his eyes wide. He looked like a bass out of water as his mouth would start to open and close, pointing at me. “Your…affinity…is light.” He said in a shocked tone as his finger trembled and his lips curled into a smile. “That is amazing!”

“It is?” I looked at the stone that represented light with some curiosity. “How exactly?”

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before answering “To put it simply, amongst all the elements, light-based spells are the absolute hardest to use. Even if your element is right next to it on the chart, light-based spells are impossible to use, even the simplest ones. Now, I’ve seen some adventurers use some before, but according to them, it took them nearly half a year to barely get it to work. And in the two years these islands have been around, I have never heard about any creature who had a natural affinity for this attribute. You should see if anything came up in your skills menu.”

I was now a bit eager to see if I did in fact have any new skills. I went to the part of the menu where I would look up my skills and saw that a new tab was added: “Magic skills.” Tapping on the new tab, I saw that I had only one skill listed. “‘Revealing Light’? That’s it?” I tried scrolling down the list to see if there might have been more, but to my disappointment, there were no other skills available to me. “Well, bugger. I was hoping for more than one bloody skill. Oh well. One is better than none, I suppose. Wonder what it does?” I walk to the closest wall, setting down my shield to lean against it before taking a few steps back and holding out my hand, aiming at my shield. “Revealing Light!” I called out, ready for whatever attack may fire out. But it would seem the disappointments just keep on coming as a small ball of light formed in front of my palm before slowly floating upwards and hovering around me.

“Pft!!” I heard Tiff trying to suppress a laugh while banging his hand on the counter until he couldn’t hold it back no more. “Pft hahaha!” He started laughing harder and harder as he pointed to the little ball of light that was floating over my head. “Yeah, I can totally see your enemies fleeing in terror from that! Hahaha!” He laughed uncontrollably as he fell to his knees, leaning his head on the counter.

I was too pissed off to even bother to try and argue. Instead, I picked up my shield, took the pack, and attached it to the back of my pants, then left the shop to make my way to the dungeon.

========================================================================

After a good twenty minutes of trekking through the woods, I finally reached my destination. I did manage to see some Almiraj along the way, but for some reason, they didn’t give me any trouble at all. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought they were avoiding me. I’ll have to think about that some other time since I was now looking at the dungeon entrance. It was almost sticking out of the ground with the frame being made completely out of stone that led down a deep, dark tunnel.

I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t afraid. Even back when I played video games back home, I always got creeped out when my character had to go into one that required me to if I wanted to progress through the story. I shook my head, trying to push away my fears. “Come on, Arthur, snap out of it! I can handle myself. I’m level five, with new gear. I should be perfectly fine…I hope.” I gulped loudly as I made my way into the dungeon, hand firmly gripped on my sword’s handle, ready for anything.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/07/24/c7072484c7a2b7953085bf223d65358f.jpg

My footsteps echoed off the stone walls as I walked deeper in. A foul stench was in the air and grew stronger the deeper I went inside. I would occasionally flinch anytime I would hear any little movements, either from a pebble that I had accidently kicked or noises reverberating off the walls. However, when I heard the sound of heavy breathing from up ahead, I froze in place and quickly drew my sword, a bit too quickly as I had pulled it out so fast, it fumbled out of my hands and fell to the ground. As I tried to kneel down to grab it, I heard a high-pitched squeal and looked up in time to raise my shield, blocking the large creature from sinking its buck teeth into me. Moving my free hand to the back of my shield, I used both arms to push back my attacker far enough for me to quickly pick up my sword and hold it to the side of my shield as I looked to the creature before me. Standing at about four feet tall and six feet long was a rat, and as I tried to steady my breathing from the scare I got from its attack, two more came walking in from the other room.

“R.O.U.S.: Rodents of Unusual Size. Well, this just got interesting. And here I forgot my ACME oversized mousetrap.” I joked to keep my nerves calm as I noticed two of the three overgrown rodents slowly tried to circle around me while the middle rat would make mock lunges to keep my attention on it. Soon enough, I had a rat on either side of me while the one in front of me charged. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what I should do. Should I try and dodge it by jumping backwards? No, if I did that, the other two rats would just rush me soon after. Same thing if I try to dodge left or right. So, going back is out, and going left and right is out of the question, which means my only option is to take it head on! Gripping my blade as tightly as I could, I moved my shield in front of me and waited until the rat was within range. The moment he was three feet away, I raised my shield and aimed at the rat. “Flash Step!” My body accelerated forward at such speed, the rat had no chance to realize his mistake as my shield slammed into his skull, making a sickening crunch sound before his body flew back and slammed into the wall. I didn’t have the luxury of making sure it died as I heard the other two rodents let out squeals,both of them charging me simultaneously. My reflexes acted purely on instinct as I quickly spun my body around in place, causing the edge of my sword to slice through the skull of one rat, while my shield smashed into the face of the other, sending its body crashing in the wall.

I didn’t have the chance to bask in my amazing reflexes as I felt a sudden shock of pain in my left leg. Looking down, I saw that the rat I had first sent flying was sinking its jaws into my leg. I had never felt such pain before in my life, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to do. Fear had taken hold of my mind, telling me to panic and try to pull free. However, another part of my mind came to the forefront of my mind and took over. Twirling the sword in my hand, I now held it upside down and thrusted my sword down, stabbing the vermin into its skull, right between the eyes. Its jaw pulled away from my leg as it squealed in pain before dying and disappearing.

Rat’s Pelt +1

EXP +10

Bits +5

I didn’t bother taking the time to look at the items I had acquired as my attention was focused on the other two rats. The one I had slammed with my shield was wobbling in a daze while the one I had sliced with my sword looked to fare no better. I lunged toward the rat whose HP must have been the lowest and stabbed my sword through its side, causing it to howl in agony before disappearing.

Rat’s Pelt +1

EXP +10

Bits +5

Twisting on the balls of my heels, I dashed toward the last rat just as it had snapped out of its daze. Unfortunately for it, I was already within striking range and brought down my sword, cutting through its neck and severing its head from its body.

Rat’s Pelt +1

EXP +10

Bits +5

I remained in a defensive stance till I was sure that there were no immediate threats. I counted to one hundred before finally letting myself fall to my butt, clenching my leg that had been bitten by the rat and squeezed it tightly as I could still feel the pain. After a good while, the pain subsided and I was able to let go of my leg to inspect the damage, and I saw that there wasn’t any damage to my armor. Not even so much as a dent. So that begged the question on how the rat was able to bite through it? For a while, I sat on the ground, contemplating the possibilities, my thoughts lingering on my previous assumptions that these islands laws were similar to Sword Art Online, in that you can equip gear that can boost your abilities and defense, but if the attack was strong enough, it could still deal damage. Had I not been wearing this new armor that Tiff sold me, I’m sure the pain and damage done would have been far worse.

Glancing to the upper left of my vision, I saw that only a small chunk of HP had been lost, even as it was slowly recovering. The pain I felt somehow surpassed the pain I felt the other day when I had lost almost all my HP. Then again, my body crashed into a tree, my adrenaline might have numbed that out, and I did use a potion shortly after to heal myself.

I remained sitting down until I saw that my HP bar was completely filled. Once that was done, I rose back up to my feet and took another moment to reflect on the fight I had just finished. My thoughts focused on how one of the rats had been stunned after getting hit with my shield, then I remembered how Tiff mentioned that my weapons had abilities that were based on my luck. Looks like I managed to use one just now.

Now that I had finished reflecting on my victory, I decided that it was time to venture deeper into the dungeon. The rational part of my brain was screaming at me that this was too dangerous, to turn back now and call it quits, but that voice was being drowned out by the thumping in my chest, and my heart was chanting for me to keep going. Never in my life back on earth had I experienced thrills that I was feeling now. It was almost intoxicating, even addictive. Truly, this must be what adventurers feel every day, and I wanted more - no, I needed more. I ignored the little voice in my head and instead followed the one in my heart that was screaming out for joy as I ventured onward to adventure!

========================================================================

“ADVENTURE CAN SUCK MY WILLY!!” I screamed as I was running from a small hoard of overgrown rats. I had managed clear two rooms that had rats without taking any damage, making me a cocky little fuck as I strolled in the next room, expecting to do the same. The universe seemed to decide to give me a backhand to the face for my arrogance as the next room had eight of the worm-tailed buggers in it. Now I’m running for my dear life, hoping to outrun the fuckers so I could fight back. I was close to reaching the next room, which I had cleared. I slipped my hand into the pack that I bought from Tiff and rifled around till my hand grasped some kind of cylinder. Pulling it out, I saw it was one of the flash bombs that Tiff showed me. Then I got an idea that just might work in my favor. Looking at my SP bar, I saw that it was full and quickly used Flash Step to sprint into the center of the room, giving me enough distance between me and the rats. Quickly turning around so I was facing the direction of the rats, I waited until all eight of the fuckers were completely in the room before pulling the pin and tossing it into the air. The sudden flying object managed to catch the rats attention. I quickly shielded my eyes just before the bomb went off, the sound of the rats squeals told me that it had worked and I waited a full three seconds before I looked back. The rats were running around slamming into each other, unable to see. Flipping my sword around so I was holding it backwards, I rushed to the closest rat and stabbed it straight through the skull. The rodent howled before disappearing. “Hitting them in vital areas seems to deal more damage.” I thought aloud as I ran to the next and did the same to test my theory. Like the previous rat, it did the same amount of damage, proving that certain monsters have weak points. With this new knowledge, I turned my sights on the rest of the rats. Thankfully, there was just enough time left from the flash bomb’s effect to allow me to clean up the rest of these filthy beasts. After driving my blade through the last rat, I was finally allowed to catch my breath, when…

Leveled Up!!!

LEVEL 6

HP 820 SP 500

ATK 440 DEF 400

M.ATK 97 M.DEF 82

STR 310 AGI 300

END 230 LUC 15

I smiled with a sense of pride that I had managed to level up yet again and increased my stats. “Guess Tiff’s plan is actually working.” I gasped out in between breaths. Though my level and stats had gone up, my body was still getting used to going through this much excitement in less than an afternoon. As I sat on the cold cobblestone floor, I figured that now would be as good as any to check my sword to make sure that it wasn’t dulled out yet. However, that was easier said than done, given how dark this dungeon was. The lighting in here wasn’t the best, barely enough light for me to see where I was going, just a few lit torches along the walls to provide that light. The nearest one was on the other side of the room, and I was too tired to get my lazy butt up to get closer to it to see my sword. Just as I was about to get up, I remembered that there was no need for me to move to the light when I can make my own. I held my hand up, palm facing upwards. “Revealing Light.” Like last time, a small ball of light formed in the palm of my hand and floated in place, providing a good deal of light. I couldn’t tell before, but it was brighter than when I was in Tiff’s shop, possibly due to his shop already being well lit that it didn’t make a difference.

With a proper source of light, I was able to take a look at the condition of my sword’s edge. I’m not yet skilled enough to properly tell whether or not my sword was sharp enough that it didn’t require sharpening at this moment. From my perspective, I thought it looked fairly fine. One side of the blade was still incredibly sharp, so in the worst-case scenario, I would use that side instead until I had the chance to sharpen it again.

After another good five minutes, I was back on my feet, doing a few stretches to make sure that nothing was too stiff. Once that was taken care of, I took out my atlas compass to pull up the map of this dungeon. I looked at the end of the map and saw an icon that looks like stairs. “Hmmm. Looks like there are six more rooms before I reach the stairs that will take me down to the next level.” I noticed that one room that was closest to the stair icon was lit green. Why would it be a different color then the rest? I pushed this thought aside, given it wouldn’t do me any good now to worry about it when it’s so far from where I am now. Glancing up at the little ball of light, I saw that it seemed to follow my movement. I advanced forward, and it followed. It brought me some comfort, like I wasn’t alone and that it was watching over me. “I guess this spell isn’t so dumb after all.”

Making my way down the hallway that I got chased down by that hoard of rats, I made sure that I was on full alert in the event some other creature decided to pop out and attack me. Soon, I saw the next room coming up and mentally prepared myself for whatever creature I would face next. Raising my shield and my sword resting against the edge, I charged forward. “Bring it on!!” I called out as I entered the room, only to find that it was empty. I took another glance around, half expecting something to pop out at me when I didn’t expect it. “Like…NOW!” I quickly turn my body, prepared for a back attack. But to both my surprise and annoyance, there wasn’t anything there. “Are you kidding me? I was all hyped up.” I said to no one in particular as I looked around the room one more time, only this time around, I did see something. In the very corner of the room was a medium sized chest. It was made of wood with metal legs and a lock. I stared at the chest with a smirk. “What’s this? A seemingly normal treasure chest in this empty room with no monsters. It must be my lucky day!” I said in a chipper tone. “Well, I better go walk up to it and open it up for all the sweet loot that’s inside!” I leaned down to the ground, picking up a stone and tossed it up and down, catching it in my hand. “Pft. As if.” Pulling my arm back, I took aim and chucked the stone straight at the chest. The moment the stone collided against the chest, it began to shake violently. The once normal-looking chest started to morph: the legs of the chest turned into long, nail-like claws, the lock started to turn into a mouth, sprouting sharp teeth, and a pair of eyes.

“Ah, the Mimic. Every greedy and rookie adventurer’s worst nightmare. Classic.” The Mimic looked around the room, snarling while searching for whatever had just hit it. Thankfully, I should be a good distance away to not provoke the agro. However, instead of returning back to its normal chest form, the monster moved its body down to sniff the ground, and to my shock, it was sniffing the rock I had thrown at it, quickly turned its body in my direction, and growled. “Oh boy.” The Mimic turned its body sideways and started sprinting in my direction. It was moving almost like a crab in a way; a very fast crab, given it just covered half of the room in less then a few seconds. Seeing that I couldn’t really outrun the creature, I took a defensive position with my shield in front of me and my sword ready to strike. As the Mimic was just about a foot away, it quickly turned its body around and leapt into the air, jaws opened wide. Dropping down into a crouch and rolling forward, I was able to dodge the monster. Pushing off my shield, I got back onto my feet and darted forward to slash my sword and deal some damage onto the Mimic. But just as my sword was about to slash it in the back, the beast spun its body around so that my sword slammed into the metal portion of its body, deflecting my sword, forcing my arm back, and then lunged forward to bite my sword wielding arm. “Ahhhhhh!!” I screamed out in pain as I could feel its long, razor-sharp death digging into my arm. It began to violently shake it around in its jaws, causing me to lose my grip on my sword. I was overwhelmed by the intense pain, as if my arm was burning by the feeling of my flesh being torn by the monster’s teeth. I saw that my HP bar was now halfway gone, and rapidly declining. I was beginning to panic and feared that this would be how I would die. My sword had fallen out of reach and I had no other weapon on me to fight this thing off. Then I quickly remembered that my shield could stun my enemies, but I only had a fifteen percent chance of it working. I began to violently slam the edge of my shield against the mimic’s body, hoping to God that I could get the effect to work. My fear skyrocketed as I saw my HP dropping into the yellow. I continued to punch the edge of the shield into the beast’s face in a panic. I feared that this was it, that my journey was at its end as my HP hit the red zone. But suddenly, the monster’s jaw let go of my arm as its body shook violently. It was stunned; my shield’s effect had worked! And the timing couldn’t have been closer as my HP was nearly gone. I slipped my hand into my satchel and pulled out three of the potions I had, uncorked the lids, and guzzled them down, putting my HP in the yellow. The pain in my arm hadn’t completely disappeared, but it was good enough. I take hold of my sword and slash at the mimic’s body. I slashed at it with reckless abandon until it had finally been destroyed.

Ruby +1

EXP +200

Bits +200

With the monster gone, I fell to my hands and knees, clutching my chest as my heart beat wildly from my near-death experience. I was taking in long, slow breaths as I tried to bring my heart rate back to normal. I crawled to the closest wall and sat up against it, the fear still present in my mind. “I almost died.” I said aloud. That was twice that I nearly died in this world. For a moment, I had considered giving up and calling it quits to go back to the inn. But I knew better than that. I knew that this was to be expected of an adventurer, for this was their lifestyle; a life of danger and close calls with death. And in this world, I wasn’t blessed with high stats, meaning that I had to work harder than most others. “If that’s the case, then so be it.” I waited till my HP had regenerated completely before standing back up. “I will be an adventurer, and I won’t let this set me back. I’m gonna be the best adventurer that I can be!” I raised my sword up with pride. “This will be the last time that ever even think about giving up! This I swear!”

========================================================================

I had managed to clear the remaining rooms of the first floor and leveled up two more times. I found out that the room before the stairs had actually been a safe room where you could rest your body. I also found out that the monsters will respawn twenty minutes after being killed, so the room was a life saver for me. I was now in the first room of four that led to the boss room. I wasn’t sure why the number had gone down, given there were more rooms above. I did a quick inventory check to make sure I hadn’t lost anything. I was down to my last two potions. At least I took my last few fights more seriously and didn’t need them. The same goes for my remaining flash bomb. I still had my rations that I planned to eat once I got closer to the boss room. I then took note that I hadn’t used any of the whetstones and gave my sword a look. One side had been dulled due to all the fighting and the other was nearly the same. Crouching down, I placed the tip of the sword on the ground and rested the flat of the blade on my knee. I started to use the whetstone to sharpen the edges of my blade till the stone had crumbled away, fulfilling its purpose.

With my inventory now checked out and my equipment in peak form, I advanced onto the next room. This room was large with an incredibly high ceiling, and like the room that had the Mimic, empty. I glanced around, expecting to find another Mimic chest, but there wasn’t any sign of one. I did another sweep of the room, trying to see if I was missing something. Then my ear caught something. It sounded like something flapping, then the realization hit me. Quickly ducking down, I felt a small brush of air whooshing over me. Looking up, I saw the culprit was a monster with bat-like wings and one eye.

The bat monster circled the air a few times before diving down toward me with its talon-like feet, aiming right at me. I raised my shield up and waited for the monster to get within striking distance. The moment it was close enough, I thrust my shield out, slamming it into its face, momentarily dazing it as I swung my sword at it. However, it quickly snapped back to reality, dodged my strike, and flew higher up. “Damn! Almost had it!” I cursed as I waited for it to fly back down for another attack. For a while, it continued to circle around in the air out of striking range. I thought that this would have been a stalemate, given that neither of us was attacking the other. How wrong I was as the bat hovered in mid air before launching something green from its mouth. I jumped back in time to barely dodge the green projectile, only to see it was some kind of green residue that sizzled as it sank into the ground. “It’s spitting acid at me.” Looking up, I saw another wad coming straight for me and jumped to my left. “Damn it! If it keeps in the air like that, then I won’t have a chance to kill it!”

I jumped again when yet another glob of acid came my way. I wanted to block it with my shield, but since I wasn’t sure it could melt through it, putting that option on the back burner. For a while, all I could do was jump out of the way as it hacked more of those acid balls at me. Occasionally, it would swoop down to try and take a bite out of me, but each time I swung my sword at it, I barely missed it by an inch. “This is getting me nowhere, and it’s starting to really piss me off!” As I dodge a few more attacks, I had an idea that could work. Looking around the ground, I saw a few rocks and ran over to them, picking up a few. Next, I looked at the flying monster and watched as it moved through the air. I saw that when it gets ready to spit out another ball of acid, its body stops moving around and hovers in places for a bit. That was my window of opportunity and the perfect time to strike. I stood my ground, keeping my eyes fixated on the little devil. “Come on, you Monsters Inc. reject, come at me!” That insult must have gotten to it as it prepared another acid attack, something I was hoping for.

Before it could spit out the ball of green gunk, I quickly tossed one of the stones in my hand straight at it, nailing it right in the eye, causing it to screech out in pain and stop flapping its wings. As its body lost altitude, I got into a running stance. “Flash Step!!” My body stopped right under the beast, putting me in a perfect position to strike. Gripping my sword as hard as I could, I thrusted my sword upward, straight through the bat monster’s eyeball. Its body flailed around before going completely limp and shattering.

Monster Eyeball +1

Monster Wings +2

EXP +100

Bits +50

Checking the list of items I got, I felt rather confused why I received parts of the monster and wondered what they could be used for. My first thought drifted to making potions like in “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”. I shuddered thinking about how my potions could have had some of those ingredients in them. Granted, the potions I’ve drank didn’t taste bad. Heck, I’ll even go as far as to say they tasted rather good, but I still felt a bit queasy thinking about it. I pushed those thoughts out of my mind, trying to focus on the next room. I had thankfully not taken any damage and used just a bit of SP, but I made sure to not let myself get a swelled head over it for fear that it might be my undoing in the next room. I took a moment to reflect on my battles that I had won. This was so I could try and think on how I should adapt my fighting style, given that I really don’t have one. I’m simply fighting on instinct, and thankfully had the mind to analyze my last opponent to spot the weakness in its flight pattern to exploit it and seize victory.

I mentally prepared myself for whatever creature I shall face in the next room. As I walked down the corridor toward the next room, I heard a menacing snarl up ahead, raising my shield for what may come. Once inside the room, I move my light to rise higher up and shine brighter, illuminating the room in a brighter light than the torches could provide. And in the center of the room was the source of the snarling noise. Standing at around four and half feet was a dark-furred canine with glowing red eyes. At first glance, it looked to be a normal dog, however, upon better inspection, I saw that its throat was glowing bright red. The same could be said for the inside of its mouth. Then I heard a faint sizzling sound and saw that a glowing red liquid was trickling down its jaw. I watched as one drop of the glowing liquid dropped to the ground, making the sizzling sound I heard before losing its glow and hardening; it was lava. I then realized that the creature before me must be a Hellhound. The Hellhound let out a low snarl as it started to crouch a bit and slowly moved closer.

I took a moment to analyze the room, seeing that besides myself and the beast before me that it was empty of any other creatures. Next, I spread my legs, giving me a firm and strong sense of balance, my shield held close to the front of my body with my sword resting against my shield’s edge. I began to move in a circle as I kept my eyes fixed on the Hellhound circling with me. I kept my body sideways and my knees slightly bent to move at a moment’s notice. Slowly, we began to inch closer and closer to one another as we continued to circle each other. I could see its long claws digging into the ground with every step it took. As soon as I was close enough, I lunged forward at the hound from hell, thrusting my shield outward, quickly followed by a slash of my sword. My foe dodged my attack, quickly side-stepping to my right to take advantage of my stance momentarily caught off balance. Remaining calm, I shifted my body’s weight to the left and down to the ground to roll out of harm’s way, allowing the canine to run past me. Jumping to my feet, I took up my stance once more and faced the Hellhound as it, too, returned to its crouched position, snarling with rage and hate. I saw it take a quick breath of air, seeing its neck slightly bulge out before snapping its jaws, sending a glowing ball at me. I jumped to my left, hearing a gushing sound, followed by sizzling and ending with a crackling sound. “What is it with you monsters and your loogies of death?!” I asked, receiving another molting ball of lava spat out at me. “Didn’t your bitch of a mother teach you it’s rude to spit?!” That bitch comment might have been a bad idea as the Hellhound rushed forward, barking with rage. “Ahh! I meant bitch in a good way!” I screamed as I jumped out of its way and slashed my sword at its side, leaving a long slash along its body. The Hellhound snarled at me as it glanced at the cut I gave it. It fired three high speed balls of lava at me, forcing me to jump back and go on the defensive. It launched fireball after fireball, forcing me back and keeping me from getting close to strike back. Eventually, I found myself against a wall. In my haste to dodge the Hellhound’s attacks, I failed to notice my position in the room, and was quite literally backed into a corner. The beast took note of this and charged forward, ready to take a bite out of me, but it made a mistake that it will soon regret. Bracing my shield against my body, I lowered my stance and waited patiently until the canine was in range. The moment I saw it preparing to use another one of its fiery attacks, I charged forward. The Hellhound pounced into the air, forcing me to raise my shield. A moment later, I could feel its body landing on my shield. Its claws gripped against my shield as it tried to look past it to unleash its attack. “Heh. Big mistake, Fido. Flash Step!” Upon saying my skill, my body accelerated forward, causing the dog on my shield to lurch forward before being sent flying off as my body stopped dead in its tracks, the Hellhound’s body landing a few feet away as it tumbled on the ground. The dog from hell staggered a bit as it tried to stand back up, but unfortunately for him, I had already shortened the distance between us and slammed my shield into its muzzle, getting a yelp of pain from it. Swinging my sword, I sliced off one of its ears, making it howl in pain. I smacked it with my shield again, forcing it to limp from the trauma caused to its head. I wasn’t going to let up as I delivered slash after slash with my sword, cutting into the Hellhound’s flesh until I delivered a powerful horizontal slash, cutting the head clean off its shoulders. The demonic beast fell to the ground with a loud thud before disappearing completely.

Flame Pelt +1

Molting Magma Ball +1

Fire Fang +1

EXP +200

Bits +150

With the beast finally eliminated, I was able to relax. Despite not taking any damage, I would put that beast’s difficulty on par with the mimic, given its unique method of fighting. Then again, I never had to fight such creatures at home. Sure, I had gotten into my fair share of scrapes at the pub, but who hasn’t? But these creatures aren’t anything like fighting drunken idiots at the bar. Each one moved differently than the last. It’s incredible that I’m somehow still alive and kicking. I honestly feel as though the battle with the Hellhound was actually easier than my previous battles. I wonder if my stats are getting to the point where they are on par with the average pony when they come to the islands. If this was the case, then I may not be too far behind to being able to handle myself on these islands.

With my stamina fully recovered and my equipment checked, I made my way to the last room. Every step I took made my heart race as I wondered what monster I’ll be up against next. Part of me was thinking that it would be an easy battle with my current track record, while another part of me screamed to not get cocky and be prepared for what I may face off against. Entering the room, I didn’t need to wait long to find my opponent. Standing on two scaly legs and wearing leather armor was a lizard creature. I believe they are classified as Kobolds. It had red scales and a tail, wielding a wooden spear in one hand with what looked like either a fang or claw at the end of it, and in its other hand was a large shield that looked to be made completely out of the shell of some other creature.

The kobold let out a low hiss as it raised its shield and took a familiar stance, the same stance I have been using up till now. However, unlike my stance, the arm holding the spear was held further back instead of braced against the shield. Taking my stance, I walked deeper into the room. I kept my eyes locked on the Kobold, for this would be my first opponent that utilizes armor and weapons. As I got closer, the Kobold began to circle around me. Instead of doing the same, I carefully turned my body instead and kept it within my sights. If this creature can use armor and weapons, I had to consider that it may know some form of combat skills. There was no telling what it was capable of doing. As it circled around, it would move in closer while keeping its shield raised, snarling at me to try and intimidate me into making the first move. I didn’t have much of a choice since I didn’t want the Kobold setting the pace of the battle. Pushing off my back leg, I darted forward till I was sure that my sword was within swinging range. Pulling my arm back, I tried to slash at its exposed legs, but was quickly foiled as the lizard creature twisted its upper body to block my attack and swung its shield out, forcing my sword hand back. Before I could step back to raise my guard, the Kobold thrust its spear into my abdomen, causing me to lurch forward as it pulled the spear out, then thrust it back in. I could feel the burning pain as my flesh was stabbed repeatedly, the pain overwhelming my brain as I couldn’t think properly to move. It was only when it went for the third stab that my luck kicked in. When it had pulled the tip out from the second stab, my body twisted enough to my left that my shield blocked the third attack. Backing up as fast as I could, I was able to get my body out of the Kobold’s striking range, I checked to see the damage that it had done on my HP. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as I had thought. It took a fair amount, but not enough to take it out of the green.

I made the mistake of not paying attention to the battle while checking my HP. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt my left thigh being stabbed, the Kobold’s spear firmly embedded in my leg. I managed to pull away enough so the tip of the spear came out and I raised my shield up before the lizard creature could take another stab at me. That was twice that I had been caught off guard, and damaged severely for it. Once the pain had begun to subside, it became clear to me how much of a disadvantage I was in. Though our fighting stances were almost the same, it was our weapons that was the deciding factor. The kobold’s spear, while not that great for slashing, still had the slight advantage in range, the length of the spear maybe two feet longer than my longsword. What’s more is that I need to build the momentum of a slash to do any real damage, but that required me to get in close to do so. And with that shield, it could practically cover most of its body, meaning I can’t brute force my way to getting a clean shot. I had considered using my last flash bomb, but if the Kobold is as smart as I think it is, then it will know to shield its eyes, making that plan useless.

I couldn’t overthink it as I tried to circle around to the Kobold’s shield hand to get in a strike. However, my plan quickly backfired as it jumped back and thrusted the end of its spear into my foot, then rushed in and slammed its shield into me, causing me to stagger back. I raised my shield up and slowly backed away to allow some of my HP to recover and think of a proper strategy to counter this bugger. I had considered stepping in, and when it would thrust its spear, I could try and deflect it with my sword, but then it could easily smash me with its shield to push me back again. Then I had considered trying to use my shield skill, since it worked out for me on more than one occasion today. The problem is that I don’t think it will work if it hits another shield. But maybe I could still use my shield for something else. Glancing behind the snarling Kobold, I got a brilliant idea, and I hoped that this trick would work. Making sure that my shield was raised and I was close enough to my opponent, I braced my shoulder. “Flash Step!” Rushing forward, my shield slammed into the Kobold’s shield, and it seemed like it wasn’t expecting this as his body was properly braced as it was easily pushed back. I stepped in again and lined myself up with the dazed reptile. “Flash Step!!” I called out once more, slamming into the Kobold again, getting a bit more resistance this time, but its body still got pushed back. The Kobold tried to stab its spear into my leg, but I quickly moved my leg to the side and used Flash Step once more when his balance was off, sending him crashing up against the wall. I heard a snapping sound and watched as the kobold’s shield started to lower. It was then that I saw its shoulder had been dislocated, and judging from its eyes rolled back, I’d say that it might have hit its head as I slammed it against the wall. Seizing my chance, I pulled my arm back and thrust my sword into its open mouth and down its throat, cutting it open and watched as it disappeared.

Kobold Shield +1

Kobold Spear +1

EXP +300

Bits +100

Leveled Up!!!

LEVEL 9

HP 860 SP 540

ATK 470 DEF 420

M.ATK 98 M.DEF 83

STR 320 AGI 310

END 240 LUC 15

New Skill Acquired

Shield Bash

When using your shield to strike an opponent, deal damage equal to half of your defense. Odds of success equal to LUC.

SP cost: 100

Not only did I receive a new skill, but somehow obtained the Kobold’s weapon and shield. Opening my menu, I saw that the spear was nothing special, and it was far weaker than my sword. The shield, however, drew my attention; it had a fire resistance of twenty percent. “Wish I had this when I was fighting the Hellhound earlier.” The only drawback was its defense was lower than my shield, but I think it will come in handy later. Now I had a choice to make. I could advance to the next room, which is the safe zone before going onto the dungeon boss, or I could go back and fight the respawning monsters so I can level up one more time. I think I’m as ready as I’ll be at my current level, given that my stats haven’t gone up that much since I leveled up. But on the other hand, Tiff had suggested that I keep leveling up till I was level ten, and he hasn’t steered me wrong so far. I give the matter a few more minutes before choosing to try and level up one more time. If not for the stats, then for the experience of fighting different kinds of monsters. The more I’m used to fighting different monsters now, the more I will have when I face similar monsters down the line. I started to quickly march back to the previous room to start on gaining EXP.

========================================================================

After a good hour of fighting the same monsters three times, I had managed to level up. By the third time I fought the monsters of the second floor, things were a lot easier. The flying bat creature didn’t give me nearly as much trouble as it did the first time, and when I had fought the Hellhound, I had equipped the shield I had gotten from the Kobold to take on its fiery attack and go in for the kill. The Kobold was the same in its fighting style, so I knew how to properly beat it. But instead of going for the quick kill, I decided to drag out the fight to get used to fighting an opponent that fought like myself. It showed me some possible weaknesses in my own defense while also showing different methods I should consider using myself. All in all, my stats may not have gone up, but my fighting skills had definitely improved a considerable amount. “Now all that’s left is the boss room.”

As I made my way to the safe zone, I pulled out my map to better inspect the dungeon. I had wondered if, after I beat the dungeon’s boss, would I be sent out of the dungeon via some kind of portal or would I have to go the long way and fight my way out to the exit. I was really hoping for the former. Just as I was about to enter the next room, something caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, taking a few steps back, I looked to the left wall and saw a large wooden door. Looking down at my map, I saw that there was nothing that showed another possible room, yet here I am staring at one that no doubt led to another room. My first thought was that this could be some form of trap since the map doesn’t show it. Another idea was that maybe it was a secret room that you can stumble on. The second part didn’t make much sense, seeing as Tiff had said this place had already been fully cleared. If that was the case, why am I not seeing this door on the map, and why am I seeing it exactly? While I was thinking, I saw that my ball of light was slowly beginning to fade out before disappearing completely. Though it wasn’t dark enough that I couldn’t see, I did notice that the door before me had suddenly vanished. I was shocked that it just disappeared so suddenly. Was it a timed event? Had I lost my chance to see what could have been inside?

I was honestly a bit disappointed that I had missed out on something possibly rare, so seeing as I didn’t feel like sulking, I raised my hand to activate the spell once more. “Revealing Light.” As before, a small ball of light rose from my hand, illuminating the corridor. And just as it did, the door had suddenly reappeared. I was both happy and confused by the door’s sudden return. I moved my hand to touch the door and felt it was definitely real. “But why did it vanish to begin with?” As I gave some thought, I had an idea that may explain why it doesn’t show on the map and why it vanished a minute ago. I moved the little ball of light further away so it wasn’t near the door, and just as I theorized, the door vanished again, and only when I brought the ball back did it become visible again. “I guess that’s the real purpose of this spell.”

Grabbing the handle of the door, I slowly pushed it open and peeked inside to make sure this wasn’t a possible trap, and what I saw in the center of the room didn’t help my suspicions. The room was well lit, and in the center was a single chest. I had drawn my sword out and prepared for another Mimic attack. Leaning down, I picked up a pebble and chucked it at the chest, expecting it to suddenly morph into a Mimic. But when the pebble made contact with the chest, it didn’t immediately respond, so I counted to sixty to wait and see if anything would happen. After a full minute, nothing seemed to be happening. I took a few careful steps closer to the lone chest with my shield raised and my sword at the ready should anything happen. Once I was close enough, I gave the chest a few pokes with my sword to make sure it wasn’t a trap, and like with the pebble, nothing had happened and lowered my guard. Crouching down, I set my sword down on the ground and moved my hand to open the chest. I waited before looking inside, thinking something might jump out at me. Thankfully, nothing did, and I slowly peeked inside. There were only two items at the bottom, which made me feel a bit down. I reached inside and pulled out the first item: it was a silver ring with a green stripe around it. I moved it around my fingers to inspect it and didn’t see much else. Giving the item a tap, a small window popped up.

Ring of Quick Recovery

When equipped, HP will regenerate 20% faster.

I was actually surprised that the ring had a skill, one that could help speed up the way my HP regenerates. I wasted no time and equipped the item, though I honestly didn’t feel that much different. Pickling up my sword, I gave my hand a quick cut, forcing me to wince at the pain. I looked to my HP bar and saw that the little damage I did had already filled back up. Before, it would have taken a good minute to fill back up from something so minor, but with the ring on, it healed up in seconds.

Next, the second item in the chest. Reaching inside, I pulled out a book with a red cover. I flipped it over to see if there was any kind of writing, but all I saw was a three-leaf clover on the cover.

“Hmm. This is an odd item to leave in a chest. Maybe it’s a journal?” With there being no rush for me to go to the boss room, I decided to walk over the nearest wall, sit down on the ground, and leaned against it. I opened the book up, flipping to the first page, only to notice that the words were written in some language I’ve never seen before. I flipped the pages to see if I could find something in there that I could read, but there wasn’t anything else written inside it. I flipped back to the first page with the strange writing, only this time, something was off. The letters began to glow brightly, and I couldn’t look away for some reason. My eyes began to water as the light began to intensify to the point that it was blinding and engulfed my vision. Then, as if someone flipped a switch, the light quickly vanished, and I was blinking like crazy trying to restore my vision. I gave my head a good shake and looked down to the book that had temporarily blinded me, only to surprise me when the words on the page had suddenly disappeared. I flipped through the pages of the book, trying to find them, only to come up empty-handed. “What the hell just happened?” My answer was given shortly after.

New Spell Acquired!

Firebolt

Launches a high-speed ball of fire at one enemy.

Chance of causing burn stats equal to LUC.

SP cost 100

“……WHAT!?” That was the calmest way I could express my feelings at that moment. I was completely baffled by the fact I had just learned a new spell. That’s when it hit me. “Hold on a bloody second.” Picking up the book, I flipped through the pages again, finding no trace of the strange letters from before and looked at the nameless cover. “Could this be one of those grimoires, those books where you can learn a spell instantly by reading them?” That was the first logical idea that came to mind. I remembered playing Skyrim and how there were books you could buy that taught you certain spells. This no doubt was one of those books, which meant…I extended my arm out toward a wall and called out my new spell. “Firebolt!!” A ball of burning hot fire quickly formed in my hand before jetting straight into the stone wall, making a small yet powerful explosion. I stood there in what I could only describe as pure joy. “Hell yeah!!” I jumped into the air like a little kid after getting the toy he always wanted. “Firebolt!!” Another ball of fire shot out, hitting the same spot, and yielded the same result as before. I was positively ecstatic about having my first offensive spell. Part of me wanted to run back to the entrance of the dungeon and go on a Firebolt-casting rampage, but of course, I knew better than to try something so reckless like that. No, I had one goal in mind, and that’s to defeat the dungeon boss.

After I left the room, the door had vanished completely, even though my revealing light spell was still shining on the wall. Shrugging it off, I made my way to the safe zone of the dungeon. The room was normal in terms of size with the only exception being the large wooden door on the opposite end of the room.

I let out an audible gulp as I stared at the doors that would lead to the strongest monster in this dungeon. It was very intimidating, and I felt some semblance of fear in the pit of my stomach.

GRRRROOOOWWWWLLLL!

The low rumble of what I thought might have been the boss monster turned out to be my stomach. “Well, I guess it’s not just fear that my stomach is feeling.” I chuckled a bit and walked to the nearest wall to sit down against as I pulled out the ration that came with my little pack. Much like the jerky from my world, the ones in the pack were no different. And for a drink, some nice, cool water. I found it surprising that the water was cold and not warm, but I chalked it up to magic, something I’m sure will be the most common answer here. While I munched away at one of the strips of jerky, which didn’t taste half bad, I brought out my last whetstone, getting to work on sharpening my sword’s edges. The final hurdle was beyond those two massive doors. I had considered leaving since I had boosted my level a decent amount already, and with a decent haul of loot, but this wasn’t about the loot and money. This was about seeing if I have what it takes to call myself a true adventurer and to survive in this new world. With my blade being the sharpest it was gonna be and my hunger alleviated, I was as ready as I’ll ever be and pressed my hands on the door to the boss room. “Here we go.” Pushing open the door, which made an eerie creaking noise, I walked into the boss room.

It was pitch black when I walked in, and I could see that the ground was no longer made of stone, but dirt instead. I was going to cast my light spell when the door slammed shut behind me, then the whole room suddenly lit up. My eyes slowly adjusted to the sudden brightness of the room, and when I could see again, I clearly wasn’t alone in this room. Standing on the opposite end of the room was a large, humanoid creature. It stood roughly eight feet tall with greyish-green skin, had long, pointed ears, beady yellow eyes, and carried a large sword and buckler in its hands. It wore a simple leather vest and shorts with its feet exposed, showing its claw-like toenails.

I wasn’t too sure what this creature was exactly, but my best guess was that it was maybe a Hobgoblin, a subspecies of goblin. I raised my shield and mentally prepared myself for whatever this monster may do. Without warning, the Hobgoblin charged forward, letting out a roar as it raised its massive sword up and swung it down on me when it had gotten close enough. The speed in which the monster had managed to cover in less than a second left me stunned, but I was able to snap out of my daze and jumped to my right, barely dodging the massive blade. As the blade slammed into the ground, dust and dirt kicked up, and there was a sizable cut in the ground where the monster’s blade was. I watched as the Hobgoblin pulled his sword out of the dirt with ease and snarled at me as he charged me again. I ducked down as the monster’s blade tried to slice my head off, only to be met with a punch by its buckler, knocking the wind out of me and sending me flying back, tumbling in the dirt before slamming against a wall. I coughed hard as I tried to catch my breath, shaking myself back to reality as the Hobgoblin was rushing toward me again. Each stomp of its feet made the ground vibrate the closer it got to me. I jumped to my feet, nearly stumbling forward, still in a bit of a daze from the impact.

I managed to roll to my right just as the Hobgoblin stabbed its sword into the ground where I was. I then thrust my blade into its shoulder, trying to deal some damage to the fucker. The monster roared in pain as I pulled out my sword, quickly running back to get some space between us. I tried to think of a way to fight this creature, seeing as it is much larger than the other monsters in the dungeon. Not only was it bigger, but it was much stronger, too. That hit from its buckler still hurts. The Hobgoblin swung his sword again, and it was moving too fast for me to jump out of the way, so I raised my shield up and tried to block the attack. The moment the blade slammed into my shield, I could feel myself being pushed back hard; my legs were making dual trenches in the dirt as I was being pushed back. When I felt that power of its swing start to weaken, I tilted my shield and ducked down to allow the sword to slide off. Moving fast, I quickly got around behind it and started to slash relentlessly at its back, causing the Hobgoblin to roar out in pain and swung its shield around to smack me. I saw it coming in time, using Flash Step to move back. The monster snarled at me, not liking that I got some good hits on it.

I started to circle the massive goblin, trying to figure out my next attack. My advantage at the moment seems to be my speed and agility while the Hobgoblin’s was strength and size. Glancing at my HP, I saw that a quarter was gone, but was already being replenished. Seems my defense and endurance may be another factor to keep in mind. With all that taken into consideration, I decided to be the one to go on the attack and charged forward. The Hobgoblin raised its sword up, ready to slam it down on my body while its shield was held back. “Gonna use that move again?” I smirked, knowing full well what was coming next.

The Hobgoblin’s sword came swinging at a horizontal angle. Like before, I ducked down, dodging the blade and saw the buckler coming straight for me. Unlike before, I jumped into the air, dodging the second attack. I was now at eye level with the monster as I slammed my shield into its face. “Shield Bash!” The moment I used my skill, the Hobgoblin’s head was forced back, and I could see a few teeth were knocked out. My feet touched down to the ground and I took up my stance once more while the Hobgoblin staggered to regain its balance, and it wasn’t too pleased with my little comeback. It roared and charged at me, only this time, it started to swing its sword recklessly and with such speed that I wasn’t able to predict where I needed to raise my shield to. Before I could properly brace my shield, the Hobgoblin’s sword slashed with such force that my shield slid off my arm and onto the ground. Shortly after, a slash across my chest caused me to wail in pain and fall to my knees. The pain was so agonizing, as if my insides were burning, and it felt like my intestines had been sliced out, causing me to spit up bile. I wasn’t able to dwell on this pain as the Hobgoblin kicked me like a football into the middle of the room. I felt as though all the air had been knocked out of my lungs and the world spun around and fell silent. Until I heard the bloody bastard chuckling. Slowly, it began to make its way over to me while dragging its sword’s tip along the ground.

‘Is this it? Am I going to die like this?’ My eyes focused on my HP bar and I saw it was in the red. It was gradually refilling, but not fast enough to let me take any more hits from the Hobgoblin. I reached my hand into my pack and felt the teleport crystal. If I use it, then I could get out of here. It would mean I would lose all the items I received, but I will be able to live to see another day. The idea of running away with my tail tucked between my legs infuriated me. ‘No…I won’t die here. I still have to keep on fighting. I’m nowhere near being finished yet!’ I pulled out the last two vials of potions left instead and quickly drank them. Sadly, this wasn’t enough to bring my HP into the yellow. I got back up, trying my best to keep my balance, the Hobgoblin continuing its slow walk toward me with a smug grin on its face. “Ugly bastard. You think you’ve won already? Think again.” I had one last idea to bring this fucker down, and I’m hoping it will work. Slipping my hand into my pack, I pulled out my last flash bomb, pulled the pin, then tossed the cylinder into the air. I closed my eyes as the bomb went off, hearing the roar of the Hobgoblin as it blinded him. Quickly, I opened my menu and went to my item inventory. I pulled out three of the spears that I got from beating the Kobolds and looked at the Hobgoblin. It was clenching its face from the bomb and stumbled around. This was my chance. Running in front of the monster, I quickly stabbed the spears into the ground with the tips pointing upwards, then I used Flash Step to get behind the Hobgoblin and slashed at its Achilles tendons. The monster bellowed in pain and could no longer support its balance as it fell to its knees, its body now positioned just above the spears. I ran to the wall behind the Hobgoblin and jumped toward it. Before my body could slide off, I used all the strength in my legs and pushed off the wall, aiming at the monster’s back. I raised my sword and thrust it into its back, forcing its body to fall forward and impale itself onto the spears. I jumped off the monster’s back and ran for my shield, quickly slipping it back on. When I heard a grunting sound, I saw that the Hobgoblin was still alive and trying to get back up, however, due to its Achilles tendons being cut, it could only sit on its knees, the spears piercing and jutting out of its neck and upper chest. I sheathed my sword and raised my hand toward the monster. “Firebolt.” A ball of fire shot out, hitting the Hobgoblin, who bellowed in agony, but was still very much alive. “Firebolt!” !nother successful hit, yet it still breathed. “FIREBOLT!!” The last ball of flame was twice the size as the last two and shot straight into the Hobgoblin’s head, blasting it clean off. The body swayed for a few moments before falling to the ground and disappearing completely.

Steel Blade +1

Iron buckler +1

EXP +1000

Bits +1000

Leveled Up!!!

LEVEL 12

HP 900 SP 580

ATK 500 DEF 480

M.ATK 99 M.DEF 85

STR 340 AGI 360

END 270 LUC 15

I fell on my ass, having beaten the dungeon on my own. I was so tired and felt like I might just keel over from the adrenaline high that I was coming down from. As I took large gulps of air to catch my breath, I saw a glowing circle in the middle of the room. I figured it was my ticket out of the dungeon and to the outside world. I was in no rush to leave just yet since my HP is still too low, so I waited for it to refill completely, and thanks to the ring that I got here, I wouldn’t have to wait long.

And I was right, since it only took five minutes for my HP to fill back up, and all the pain in my body vanished. I gave my chest a few pats to make sure everything was in order, then stood up and made my way to the glowing circle. The moment I stepped into the center of the circle, it began to shine brighter, which made me shield my eyes. When I opened them again, I found myself back outside of the dungeon entrance. The sun was still out, but it was at its zenith, meaning that half the day had already passed. Funnily enough, it felt like I had spent months down there. Looking back at the dungeon entrance, I stared at it for a few moments. When I first came here, I was only level five; now I stand out here at level twelve. My first dungeon completed, and my first step to being a real adventurer.

A very naughty way to end day 2

Author's Note

Hey everypony, sorry this took so long. I had actually started this chapter a long while back but unfortunately got stumped, but with the help of WurkyWilk358 0W0, I was able to finish it.
Specials thanks to my editor Codex92 for helping proofread and edit this chapter.

And if you haven't guessed from the name of this title, there will be clop.
I hope you enjoy, and leave both a like and you opinion on the story.

A very naughty way to end day 2

After beating the dungeon, I made my way back to town feeling completely exhausted. With the threat of the possibility of dungeon monsters attacking me gone, my body’s fatigue managed to finally catch up to me. My muscles were so sore and I reeked from all the sweat and rolling around in the dirt during my fight with the boss monster. “I want to take a baaaath!” I whined as I reached the town’s entrance. Part of me wanted to head back to the inn to wash my face, which was the only thing I could clean off since my room didn’t have a bath or shower. But the other half of me wanted to go tell Tiff that I hadn’t kicked the bucket, and wanted to see about what I could do with some of the items I got from the monsters from the dungeon. So, taking out the last of my water from my pack, I tilted my head back, poured it on my face, and wiped away the sweat and dirt off. “Ah. Much better.” With a clean face, I made my way over to Tiff’s shop.

Along the way, I took in more of this part of the town I was staying in. There was a market down one street and a few other shops as well. I didn’t stop to go look at them, but I did see wooden signs with pictures that I guess told you what they were. Some had pictures of swords or wands while others had pictures of books and clothing on them. I made a mental note to go and check them out later, seeing as the best part about being in a new city is checking out the sites. And, as per usual, I would get the occasional odd stares from some of the creatures as I walked by. They weren’t those of grotesque horror; just curiosity. Occasionally, I would hear one of them say something about how I looked like a shaved diamond dog, whatever that was. But I paid it no mind since they weren’t trying to pick a fight with me, nor showed any intent of ill will toward me.

Eventually, I made it to the shop by sunset. I took one more look at the sky before going in. Streaks of red and orange shined through the sky and onto the clouds, giving me a breathtaking view. “I’ll say one thing about this place: it sure has its fair share of beautiful scenery.” After basking in the beauty of nature, I opened the door, happy to see that it was still unlocked. As I walked in, I saw that Tiff was sitting behind the counter reading a book, only when I closed the door behind me did he decide to look up. He smiled, set his book down, and stood up. “Well, I’ll be damned, you made it back.” He said in a not-so-surprised tone.

“Well, don’t jump over the counter with all that enthusiasm you’re showing.” He laughed as I held my fist out and he quickly bumped it with his own. “Though there were times when I thought I wasn’t gonna make it back.” I moved my hand to my back and pulled the little pack off before setting it down on the counter. “This thing sure did come in handy, but if I had one thing to change about it, it would be the potions could have had a better recovery rate in my opinion.”

Tiff scratched his chin as he had a pensive expression. “Hmm. I suppose I could use more potent potions. Question is, should I bump up the price if I do?” I suggested that if it was going to bump up the price, then it should be at least another hundred bits since it wouldn’t feel like the customer is being cheated and would insure future customers. “Heh, you know, if you ever decided to quit being an adventurer, you’d make one heck of a merchant.” I shrugged in response. “Well I’ll keep that in mind the next time I make more of these. But enough about that. How did you do in the dungeon?”

I told him in great detail about my battle and close shaves with death while inside the dungeon. I told him about how my fight with the Hobgoblin was by far the most difficult of all the monsters. I got a kick out of his reactions when I told him how I found the secret room with my spell. His jaw nearly fell off when I told him about the items I found in the chest, more so with the grimoire. “I can’t believe how lucky you were to find a grimoire. You must be the luckiest rookie I’ve ever met.” I asked why grimoires were so important. “Well, to put it in simple terms, a grimoire is basically an element shortcut.” He paused for a moment to give it some thought to better explain it. “Remember that element chart I showed you today?” I nodded for him to continue. “Well, like I said before, learning a different element that isn’t your natural affinity takes time, more so if it’s your element’s polar opposite. Take me, for example. My affinity is earth, making water my element’s polar opposite. It would take me a considerable amount of time to learn how to cast water spells, but if I were to get a grimoire that had a water spell in it, then I would already have the bases figured out, making learning that element a lot easier.” I was slightly surprised. I figured that the book had its benefits, but I never guessed that it was this amazing. Tiff sighed, seeming a little down. “A shame you already used it. An item like that would have fetched a pretty bit. Even the ones with mediocre spells can be sold for a good price. Oh well. Damage done. My advice to you now would be to make sure to use that new spell of yours as much as possible to level up its proficiency and your fire attribute.”

With that bit of advice, I went on to show him some of the other stuff I had collected, like the weapons and monster parts I collected. He told me some monster parts can be used to either forge or enhance certain equipment while others did, in fact, go into making potions. That bit of information nearly made me sick and sent a shiver down my spine. The weapons I had gotten from the Kobolds and Hobgoblin didn’t really compare to my current equipment, so I sold all but one of the shields. I felt like that may prove useful down the road. Lastly came the ruby that I obtained from beating the mimic. Tiff said that was a lucky item to get; apparently, if you take them to the right enchanter, you can place a spell on some gems. Those enchanted gems could either be used to help improve your equipment, or even yourself. However, to get a gem enchanted costs a lot of bits, and there was no guarantee that it would work. And should an enchantment fail, the gem would be destroyed in the process. And if that wasn’t enough, unless you went to a really powerful enchanter, you never knew what kind of spell would be placed on the gem. Tiff suggested that I should sell the gem instead since I needed the bits more than I needed to try my luck. But he did tell me that I could save it till I could afford to try, and maybe get lucky. It was a tough decision to make, like the ones I would have to make in rpg games when I had to either sell or throw away items I wanted to keep. Ultimately, I decided to sell Tiff the gem for two thousand bits. With that and all the items I sold, plus what I made from killing the monsters in the dungeon, I made well over three thousand bits. Tiff suggested that I should check out the markets tomorrow to see about buying some gear that he didn’t have before going to the guild to take on a quest.

Leaving Tiff’s shop, I saw that the sun had finally gone down and the stars were out, and boy did they look beautiful. There were so many stars, it felt like I was in a planetarium. And to see stars this clearly, one would have to climb a high enough mountain, yet all I had to do was just look up. After I had my fill at looking at the majesty that was nature, I decided to make my way back to the inn, but as I walked down the road that led to the inn, I quickly remembered how filthy I was and even smelled of B.O. “Ugh, man. I really need to take a bath and get these clothes clean.” I whined. I guess it’s true what they say: you never know what you’re missing till you need it.

I reached the doors to the inn and walked inside, the sound of different conversations filled the room as adventures told their peers of their exploits and their victories. Some showed off their stats with smug expressions while others had looks of envy. On the far side of the room, Mama Mia was cleaning a glass mug with a washcloth. She spotted me and waved me down to take a seat at the counter. Despite my body aches, I saw no reason to head straight to bed since I wasn’t really tired. Taking a seat at the counter, Mama set down a glass filled with a familiar amber liquid inside. “Non-alcoholic cider.” She said before walking over to another customer who flagged her down at the far end of the counter.

I took the glass in my hand and felt how cold it was. The aroma of apples wafted into my nose, making my mouth water a bit. Bringing the glass to my lips, I took a small sip of the beverage and felt a pleasant chill as the liquid traveled down my throat while also tasting the flavor of sweet, crisp apples. Another amazing thing about this world was the food. Everything tasted simply divine, even the simplest things like a glass of apple cider. I sighed in relief as the beverage made my insides nice and cool, easing some of the aches in my body. I wondered if this was another one of Mama Mia’s enchanted menu items that would cost me a ton of bits. I glanced over at the specials menu to see if it said anything about healing cider, but to my relief, there weren’t any listed under the beverages. “Huh…I guess this apple cider is just that good.” I smiled as I finished the rest of my drink and let out a content sigh.

“So I take it you had a pretty rough day?” Looking up, I saw Mama stand back in front of me with a large pitcher of what I presume to be more apple cider. She tilted it, seeing if I wanted more, and I did. Raising my glass up, she poured the amber liquid into my empty glass. I gave her a nod of thanks before taking a few sips. “So, what did good ol’ Tiff suggest you do today?” She asked, sounding rather interested.

Setting my glass down, I let out another content sigh. “He told me that I should work on leveling myself up before taking on any guild quests, so he suggested a low-level dungeon to help me gain some more battle experience.” I took another gulp of my drink, enjoying the carbonated beverage. "And let me tell ya, it was bloody hard. And it was only a one-star difficulty.” I sighed in exhaustion this time as the reality dawned on me. “If I had this much trouble with a one-star dungeon, I can’t even imagine what a two or five-star dungeon would be like.” I finished off my drink as I slumped forward a bit. “I’ve got to work hard if I want to make a living here.” Despite my excitement about living the life of an adventurer, I wasn’t blind to the reality that I would have to work myself to the bone if I wanted to survive and explore this new world.

Mama Mia hummed to herself as she stared at me, her expression was that of someone deep in thought. She reminds me of Tiff in a way when she does that. I sat there waiting for her to speak, wondering what great wisdom she was going to bestow upon me, which I was excited to hear what advice she had. “Yeah, you really do need to work hard.” She said nonchalantly as she poured me another glass of cider, causing me to abruptly slump my head down onto the table with a light thud. So much for great wisdom. She chortles as she patted my shoulder. “But in all seriousness, hon, that’s the best way to improve yourself. Hard work is the root of any great adventure. We all start at the bottom at some point. You may not be the strongest yet, but with determination and a lot of effort, you’ll be strong enough. Heck, take a look over there for a moment.” Though it was a rather odd request, I did as she asked and looked to where she was pointing. All I saw were the other adventurers at their tables chatting it up with one another. “Despite how tough most of them look, they aren’t really all that powerful if you took away all their gear and accessories. Why, I bet even you could beat them if you really tried hard.” She gave my back a playful slap, making me wince a bit from the sting. “Don’t go putting yourself down just yet.”

Her words struck a chord. That or I’m still feeling the pain from the slap on the back, but her words did hold merit in that there is a better way to get stronger is through hard work. That was something that Father Uther always told us back in my days at the orphanage. ‘Heh. I guess his words hold truth, even in a world like this. I wonder how he’s been doing this past year.’ I shook my head, knowing full well that it didn’t matter since I was no longer on earth anymore. Then I remembered something I wanted to ask Mama Mia. “Hey, how come there aren’t any showers or bath tubs in this place?”

“Hmm…Oh. Well, when creatures started coming to this world, everypony was trying to get their own plot of land inside the safe zone. See, a bunch of darn nobles saw this place as a quick cash grab and took up almost every inch that they could. If that wasn’t bad enough, those cocky bastards said they would sell their portion of land so long as we pay fees each month. So in a sense, renting out land that should belong to every creature.” She huffed in displeasure.

“Isn’t that against the rules or something? And couldn’t you have fought back?” I honestly felt no surprise by this news. Wherever you go, different planet or otherwise, there was always someone trying to line their pockets by extorting those less fortunate than themselves.

“Sad to say, but these islands don’t have rules at the time that would prevent such things. And some of the other creatures did try to fight back, except those damn nobles had their own private guards that easily warded off them. With no creature to challenge them, they were free to do what they pleased. At first, they charged ludicrous prices for a plot of land that couldn’t hold a single wagon. They were bleeding the commoners dry to the point some took their chances living out of the safe zone, some of which were never heard from again.” She had a frown on her face and even shed a tear, which she quickly wiped away. “Then, one of the only good nobles named Fancy Pants waited until he could go back to Equestria to inform the princesses of what was happening. They didn’t take too kindly to their subjects acting in such a way, especially the nobles who knew they couldn’t travel to the archipelago and took advantage of that.” She grinned a bit. “Those nobles had their muzzles so far up their flanks, they hadn’t realized that they still needed to get supplies from Equestria that they couldn’t get off the islands. And when they came back, it was a pair of, and excuse my language, peeved princesses. Unfortunately, they knew that they couldn’t imprison those damn nobles, or prevent them from trying to do the same thing once they got back to the archipelago. So they decided to hold a meeting with the rulers of the different kingdoms. I heard it got a bit heated when the dragon lord accused the ponies of monopolizing what should have been space for all the creatures, and that the ponies were being speciesist. It took awhile, but after three whole days, they finally managed to set some laws that every creature could agree on.

“These rules mostly affected the nobles and any creature who may try and pull the same stunt as them. Basically, the rule reigned in the greedy nobles from bleeding the commoners and other creatures dry for plots of land. We still had to pay for renting the land, but it was much more affordable. Now, before you go and ask why the princesses don’t outright tell them not to charge money, that would be due to one of the new rules that were added in. The incident with the nobles trying to take over the safe zone made something clear; there weren’t any laws or rules that prevented certain actions to happen within the safe zone. This made them aware that a form of law enforcement was needed. This is why it took so long to establish laws that didn’t give too much power to one race of creatures. The princesses offered to send their own guard to do so, but the other rulers didn’t agree. They believed that the pony guards might act unfairly toward any creature that wasn’t a pony, so they decided that they should form a guard that allowed members from each race to take part in, with one representative from each race to act as the commander of their race’s division. An example would be the princesses chose Lord Fancy Pants to be the representative for the ponies. I heard that the dragon lord sent his daughter to act as their representative, though I heard she wasn’t too pleased being strong-armed into such a position, and she would occasionally shirk her duties onto another dragon she thought would be more capable while she would go off adventuring.” Mama chuckled a bit at that. “Anyway, with a form of law enforcement now set, they were going to need income to keep them from slacking off on the job. The princesses made a suggestion that the other rulers agreed on without a second thought. As punishment for trying to extort their fellow ponies and the other creatures of Equestria, any profits the nobles made while on the archipelago in that safe zone had to give half to pay for the new guard.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I imagined the expressions those posh nobles had on their faces. I had seen enough anime where the spoiled or entitled character got what was coming to them, so I just pictured those same faces, but with ponies instead, and it was still funny. But that still raised one question. “Not that I don’t appreciate the history lesson, and believe me, I enjoy a good amount of world building as the next guy, but what does this have to do with there being no showers or baths in this place?”
She grimaced a bit. “I was kinda hoping you’d forget that.” When she saw that I still wanted an answer, she sighed. “When I had managed to save enough bits to both buy this plot of land and pay the builders to make this place, I failed to realize that I didn’t have enough to cover the cost of both plumbing and a bath. I had to make a choice: I could either have toilets and sinks, or bathtubs. And I’m pretty sure I made a good call with the toilets.” She looked at me with a look that dared me to disagree with her, but I had no intention of doing so.

“Great. So that means that I won’t be able to take a bath tonight.” I groaned as I came to the conclusion that I was going to stay dirty until I found some other place to wash up. If it wasn’t so cold out, I would find a lake to bathe in.

“Now I didn’t say that, hon.” She caught my attention as she raised two fingers. “There are two ways you can take a bath tonight, but they will cost ya.” I figured that money would somehow be brought back up, but I was desperate to get cleaned, so I listened. She held up one finger. “First would be the bath house over on the east side of the safe zone. It's not far away from here.” A bathhouse? My mind instantly thought of the ones used in anime. They were often seen as a scene for comedy or romance for, well…reasons. “Now, this place is special. They have water that is known to help heal and strengthen the body. They serve delicious meals, along with rooms you can rent out for the night. There’s even a special deal they have that you can get all the benefits I just listed and something a little extra. Keep in mind that it’s not cheap, but well worth the bits. I actually know the owner of that place since we tend to do business together, so I can write in a good word for you.” She smiled as he crouched down behind the counter to get something. I noticed that everyone in this town seems to know just the right people. First the receptionist from the guild who sent me to Tiff, then Tiff who sent me to Mama Mia, and now she was gonna send me to someone else. Almost like a fetch quest or something. Mama poked her head back up when she had an envelope and some paper in her hands, along with what looked like a stamp. She started writing something, and when I tried to see what she was writing, she booped my nose. “No peeking.” She said in a playful tone.

I sat back down, a little nervous at what she could be doing, but when I thought about how she and Tiff haven’t steered me wrong, that fear faded away. “And done.” She folded her letter and slipped it into the envelope, then poured some wax from a red candle onto the paper before quickly stamping it with the stamp. She passed the letter to me with a grin. “Here you go. When you get there, ask for Zeniba and give her this.”

I looked at the seal to see an image of a fancy letter M on it. “You never said how much this special deal was gonna cost me.” I said with a rather suspicious tone.

She chuckled a bit and winked. “With that letter, it should knock down the price to around one thousand five hundred.” My jaw nearly dropped. Of course it would be that high. What did I expect with these guys? “Hey, I told you it wasn’t gonna be cheap, but it will be worth the bits.” She said matter-of-factly.

I looked at the envelope in my hands for a moment. “You said there were two options. What’s the second option?” I had hoped that option two would be less pricey.

“Well, when they were building this place, I did actually manage to get one bathtub installed for the employees to use.” So there was a bath in this place, but it was reserved for her and the other maids.

“Okay, so how much do I need to pay to use it?” I’m sure she wouldn’t charge me as much as the bathhouse.

She smirked, which made me slightly nervous. “It wouldn’t cost you any bits actually.” Was she serious? She made it seem like there was some great price to pay. I was about to agree before she cut me off. “Thing is that I’m a little behind on the water bill, and in order to save money, we had to use it as little as possible, and tonight was gonna be the night I used it. Now, if you really don’t want to go to the bathhouse, I’d be happy to let you join me tonight.” She leaned over the counter with a mischievous grin and lidded eyes, speaking in a husky tone. “Though, I should warn you, it’s not that big of a bath, so you’ll have to forgive me if my hands wander a bit.” She fluttered her eyelashes a bit. “What do you say, cutie?”

Immediately, I stood straight up and turned swiftly on my heels. “To the bath house I go!” With that said, I quickly bolted out of the inn and made my way east.

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After running for what felt like a mile nonstop, I slowed my sprint into a jog, then into a slow power walk. Once my heart had finally calmed down, I took time to reflect on my actions. I felt a sort of guilt for reacting the way I did before abruptly leaving the inn. That was like some girl laughing in some guy’s face for asking her out when she thinks she’s out of his league. I felt like a total asshole now. “I’ll be sure to apologize when I see her again. Maybe I can donate some bits to help with the water bill she mentioned.” With that said and done, I continued on my way to the bathhouse, hoping that I hadn’t hurt Mama Mia’s feelings.

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(Back at the Inn just as Arthur left 3rd POV)

As Arthur bolted out the doors, leaving a trail of smoke behind, Mama Mia busted out laughing as she slammed her hand onto the counter. A few of the patrons glanced over to see what had the owner in such a fit of laughter, but shrugged it off a moment later. “You’re terrible, Mama.” Mama Mia looked up to see Gale looking at her with a smirk. "We’re behind on our water bill?” Gale leaned over to her boss. “And just how much are we behind exactly?” Mama was still giggling as she held up four fingers. Gale rolled her eyes and slipped her hand into her apron, pulling out four bits and tossed them on the table. “Honestly, you’re the worst. What would you have done had he chosen option two?” Gale asked while watching her boss place the bits away.

Mama had a devilish smile on her face as she waggled her brow. “I would have joined him and rocked his world.” She laughed again as Gale’s cheeks flushed red and her wings twitched. “I’m getting up there in years to where no stallion would try their luck with me. A mare has needs, you know. Even the old ones like me.”

Once she had managed to get her wings back under control, Gale looked at her boss with a hint of concern. “Mama, you’re only thirty-eight. You’re not old at all.” The griffon waitress said as she tried to comfort her boss.

“Yeah, I know, sweetheart, but on some days, I feel like it. Like that time when I hit on the mail stallion. You know the one. He had a chocolate brown mane and light brown fur.” Gale indeed remembered. On her first week working for the inn, she remembered there used to be a stallion who would deliver their mail, but then Mama Mia got flirty with him and even invited him to her room with a cheesy pick up line. “Care to deliver a package tomy bed, handsome?” Gale had never seen a pony run so fast in her life, and they hadn’t seen him ever since. “But you got to admit, he looks cute when he gets flustered, like that time he was caught ogling your chest.” She said with a playful smirk.

The griffon’s cheeks burned with embarrassment again as her wings nearly spread out at the memory. “He wasn’t ogling! H-He was just distracted! Yeah, that’s it.” She defended.

Mama rolled her eyes while smiling at the blushing griffon. “Sure, hon, whatever you say.” She said in her usual, playful tone. “In any case, we won’t be seeing him tonight thanks to that letter I gave him.” She picked up the glass Arthur had used and started to wash it with a wet cloth.

“What did you write in that letter anyway? Couldn’t you have just told him to let the owner know you sent him?” Gale asked as she took a seat at the counter. “It had to be very important since you sealed it with your crest.”

The mare smiled a bit. “Let’s just say when you get around my age, you can see things you couldn’t when you were young. Like when someone is still a virgin. The next time we see that colt, he will have the glow of a real stallion.” Then she quickly remembered something important. “Darn it, he forgot to pay for the two ciders.”

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(Arthur POV)

As I made my way east, I started to notice something rather odd. The more I moved to the east part of the city, the more I noticed the designs of the buildings were changing. Before, when I was in the west side of the city, the architect looked like what you would see in medieval Europe, but that wasn’t the case at the moment. These buildings looked a bit more refined and were completely different. If I had to describe it in better terms, I would say it was starting to look like feudal Japan. Compared to the west side of the city, this area was a bit more elegant, not that I’m trying to bad mouth the west side, mind you. A good example would be the streets themselves. Where the west had cobblestone, which weren’t really arranged, just rocks clumped together to make a bumpy road, here, they used perfectly cut bricks that fit together to make the streets. They even had sidewalks. The houses were mostly made of fine wood and paper windows with paper lanterns as a source of light. In all honesty, it looked almost as modern as earth without the technology and automobiles, but it made me feel more at ease and a little bit excited. Before when I was on earth, I had always wanted to go to Japan, which was mainly due to all the anime I watched back home. I just loved Japanese culture, from their buildings and traditions to their tasty looking food. But given I didn’t make much money at the time, my dreams of going to Japan felt like that’s all it will ever be, just a dream.

And yet, here I am, walking down these streets as though I had actually made it to Japan. Despite the fact it was nighttime, there were quite a few creatures out and about. I saw a griffon and a pony hobbling out of what I think is a bar, their cheeks were tinted a light shade of pink and were laughing up a storm. When they saw me, rather than give me the same looks that I got from the west side of the city, they actually waved to me with smiles on their faces, a kindness I happily returned as I waved back to them. I also noticed that it wasn’t just the designs of the buildings that looked different. The shops had different kinds of goods compared to the west side, like how the weapons sold here were the kind that Japanese warriors would use: katanas, bo staffs, sai, and more. Also, they wore clothing like kimonos and yukatas. It truly felt like I was in Japan, and I loved it.

But just as I was going to go all fanboy on this place, I realized that Mama told me that the bathhouse was in the east part of the city, but never where exactly, nor the name of the place. For all I know, there could be ten bathhouses in the city. I pulled out the letter to see if she may have written anything on the envelope that might have given me a clue where I was going. Luckily, there was a name written on the back that said “Spiritual Waters”. I guessed that this was the bathhouse that Mama’s friend owned. I walked to a nearby group of minotaurs who were passing by and asked them if they knew where the bathhouse was. They were kind enough to point me in the right direction and bid me farewell. “Man, the citizens here are much more friendly than back on the west side of town.”

After following the directions I got, I had finally arrived at the bathhouse that Mama told me about, and boy was it something! To give you a clear image of the place, I first have to describe the layout. First, it’s worth noting that the bathhouse is located near the edge of the safe zone, where it had access to a river that passed through the bottom. A smart decision since they can get their water from the land rather than pay for plumbing to bring it to them. The bathhouse was across a wide stream, where a long bridge was built to reach it. Now to the bathhouse itself. Had I not been told that it was a bathhouse, I would have thought it was a large palace for a lord or emperor. I wasn’t really sure how tall it was from where I was standing, but even from a distance, I could tell it was massive. The walls were a shade of red with green roof tops, with bits of gold here and there. I could see a few windows that looked to be made of paper, much like the buildings I had passed along the way. There was a large cherry blossom tree to the right. To my disappointment, it wasn’t in bloom yet. There was a large cylinder chimney to the left, where black smoke billowed from the top and into the sky. Something about this place seemed very familiar, and I know I’ve seen it somewhere before. I just couldn’t place my finger on it.

I shrugged it off since I knew there was no point trying to overthink it and made my way across the bridge to the bathhouse. As I passed the bridge, I saw a few ponies walking out as they chatted with one another. “Phew, did I really need that bath. I’ll tell you what, I’ve never taken such a relaxing soak before in my life.” One of the stallions said aloud as we passed each other. Soon enough, I found myself at the entrance to this bathhouse and prepared myself for what I may see.

The place didn’t have a door for me to knock on, but instead, I was able to walk straight in after passing through a small hanging curtain that I had to duck under. “Hello and welcome.” When I looked up, there was a mare standing at a podium who greeted me. She had light pink fur and a milk chocolate mane that stretched down to her hips and was nice and straight. She wore a salmon-colored jinbei uniform with a white sash tied around her waist and near her shoulder to keep the loose fabric in place. “Welcome to Spiritual Waters. My name is Lin. How may I help you today?” She gave a small bow and smiled.

Not wanting to be rude, I returned the bow. “Hi there. My name is Arthur. I’m actually here because someone I knew suggested this place to me if I wanted to take a bath.” I held up Mama’s letter. “She told me to show this to someone named Zeniba.”

Lin took a closer look at the letter and gasped a bit when she saw the seal. “Oh, you’re friends with Mama Mia?” I nodded my head, even though I barely knew her for more than two days, and on each of those days, she tried flirting with me. “Please follow me.” Lin used her hand to motion me forward as we made our way into the bathhouse. As we ventured in, I was able to get a brief glance at the inside of this massive building, and dear lord, was it amazing. Words have failed me as I looked around inside this place. Down one path, I could see what almost reminded me of cubicles with four high walls, each with a small doorway in the middle that led to a large tub. The tubs were dome shaped with the top cut off and had been hollowed out. As we walked, I saw more mares wearing the same outfits as Lin working around one of the large tubs. It looked like they were cleaning the inside of it. One of the mares saw me as we walked by, giving me a playful wink and blowing me a kiss. This playful action caused my cheeks to burn and I quickly turned to face forward. My cheeks only glowed brighter when I heard her and another mare giggling up a storm.

Eventually, we reached a counter where a stallion wearing a similar uniform to Lin stood behind. The only notable difference with his uniform was that it was a mustard yellow and his sash was an emerald green. He hadn’t noticed us as he was too busy speaking with mares who would pass by and say a few words. He would then hand them what looked like long wooden tiles that were half the size of a ruler. They were red, and whenever he would give them to the mare, I would see that some of them had different markings, and near the top, there was a rectangular hole. Once he had helped the last mare out, he took note of our presence and turned to face us. “Hello there, Lin. To what do I owe this visit?” He saw me and gave a quick bow. “And a fine evening to you, sir.” I returned the bow.

“Could you get in contact with Zeniba for me? This is an incredibly special guest we have here today.” She motioned me to show the letter, and as I do so, I got the same reaction from the stallion that I got from Lin. He pulled out a piece of paper and a quill and wrote something down. When he finished, he placed the paper into a metal cylinder and turned around. I leaned a bit to the right to see him place the metal cylinder into a clear pipe that I somehow missed. After closing the little door to the tube, he moved his hand and pulled on a lever, sending the cylinder shooting up the pipe. “We’ll be in one of the waiting rooms.” Lin said as she escorted me past the foreman.

We reached a small room with little purple cushions on the floor for us to sit on. Lucky for me, I was used to sitting in a lotus potion since, anytime I would read a manga, I always did so. I mainly did it to help keep my legs limber so they wouldn’t cramp up, and because it made me feel kinda cool to read manga while sitting like that. I didn’t have to wait long as the door to our left slid open, and where I was expecting another pony, I saw that wasn’t the case. Wearing a large blue dress that hid her legs was a yak. She had a milky white mane tied up in a large bun, which had a much smaller bun at the top, her fur was a caramel brown fur, and she had two large horns sticking out of the sides of her head. She looked somewhat older than Mama since I could see a few wrinkles on her face. “What you want? Zeniba very busy yak?” And for the second time, I was thrown for a loop as I heard her gruff way of speaking. She sounded like The Hulk whenever he spoke. I wasn’t sure how to respond in all honesty. Do I just talk normally, or do I try and imitate her speech?

Just as I was about to struggle to speak in a similar way, Zeniba started laughing loudly, making my nervous look fade away as it was replaced with that of confusion. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. I love seeing creatures’ reactions when I talk like that.” Her voice wasn’t as rough as it was before and sounded motherly instead. “Truth is that I used to talk like that back home, but when I started to do more business with ponies and other creatures, I realized that I had to broaden my vocabulary.” She said with a smile. “My name is Zeniba. It’s nice to meet you.” She lifted a small part of her dress up, revealing a bit of her hooves as she bowed. And as I’ve done before whenever I receive this gesture, I would return it in kind. “Now then, I heard that you have a letter from a friend of mine?” I nodded and held out the letter to her.

She took the letter and inspected the seal for a moment before opening the envelope. She pulled out the paper inside and slipped her hand into her breast pocket to pull out a pair of reading glasses. I watched as I saw her eyes moving from left to right while she would occasionally move her lips as she read the words to herself. For a moment, her eyes widened a bit with a faint blush on her cheeks, but that was soon replaced with a wide smirk, accompanied with a light chuckle. “It seems that old devil is still up to her mischievous ways, as per usual.” She slid the note into her pocket and put her glasses away. “Lin, I’ll be taking care of our guest from here on. Thank you for your help.” Lin smiled and bowed to Zeniba, then waved goodbye as she left me in the care of her boss. “So, do you have the payment that Mama mentioned?”

“Oh, uh, yes ma’am.” I opened my inventory and pulled out the necessary bits needed, though I was still a little upset about how a single bath was costing me. “Here you go, madam.” I held out the cloth bag filled with half my earnings from the dungeon. Funny enough, anytime I would pull bits out of my inventory, they always came in a brown cloth bag tied at the top with some string. I also learned that some of the bits weren’t just in singles; some bits had numbers written on them. There were ones, tens, fifties, and hundreds. Zeniba took the bag and smiled as she had me follow behind her as she walked in the way she came.

We walked down a small hallway until we reached a red door. Zeniba pulled on a lever that caused the door to open and we walked inside. I realized that we were standing in an elevator. She pushed the lever that was inside the elevator up, and the door closed on their own before the whole room vibrated with an electric hum. We stood in the room for a few moments in silence with only the sound of the elevator rising up until Zeniba broke the silence. “So, how long have you known Mama Mia?” I told her that I only knew her for about two days, which seemed to surprise the Yak a bit. “Hmm, you must be very special for her to pull a favor like this for you, even though you’ve only known each other for so long.” She had this smile on her face that almost reminded me of Mama’s when she’s getting a funny idea. “Normally, the treatment you’re about to receive costs two thousand five hundred bits, but she was nice enough to use a favor I owed her to bring that down.” The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened up, revealing a long hallway. Down the hall, I could see what looked like walls constructed of wood and paper. I could see the silhouette of shadows, but I wasn’t able to hear anything for some reason. “These walls are enchanted to be completely soundproof so as to not disturb the neighboring rooms.”

I swallowed a small lump in my throat. The first thought that came to mind was that I could be assassinated in one of those rooms, and no one would be able to hear my screams of pain or cries for help should that be the case. But then I thought about it, and I had a feeling that neither Zeniba nor Mama would do something like that. Besides, they’re other reasons they were soundproof, right? Zeniba led me to one room and opened the sliding door. When I looked inside, I saw the floor was covered in tatami mats. Toward the center, there was a mattress on the floor with grey sheets and a blanket with two pillows. In the corner of the room was a small rectangular table with two cushions on either side of it. There was a set of doors to the right of the room and past the bed. “This will be your room for the night. Your meal will be brought up after you have had your bath.” She pointed to the door beyond the bed. “The bathtub is beyond those doors. Inside, you should find instructions on how to draw the bath to your preference.” She then pointed to the doors on the right side of the room. “There is a washing machine and a dryer in there with some laundry detergent should you wish to wash your clothes. There are some bathrobes inside for you to wear while you wait.” I was actually grateful for that last part, since I had to wear my clothes that I came to this world under my armor. “Now then, one last thing. You should be expecting someone to come in later. The other perk with this package deal is a special service to help relieve your body of any…tension.” She put a good amount of emphasis on that last word, which made a red flag go off in the back of my head, yet I wasn’t sure why. Before I could ask what she had meant, she was already out the door.

I shrugged my shoulders and decided to unequip my armor. I had nearly forgotten that I was even wearing the thing, really. Opening the door to the room with the washing machine, I saw that it was one of those machines that came with both the washer and dryer. “So they have washing machines? Come to think of it, I never bothered to see what was the most advanced thing this world had when it came to technology.” I shrugged my shoulders since it wasn’t of any importance. I quickly removed my clothes and tossed them into the washer. Just like Zeniba mentioned, there was a bathrobe I could wear while my clothes were getting cleaned.

After adding in the laundry detergent and turning on the machine, I made my way to the room with the bath. In all honesty, I was really looking forward to it. Opening the door, I saw that the tub was in the center of the room, and boy was it huge! It was about the size of one of those large backyard pools, only it wasn’t nearly as tall, and was maybe four feet deep and six feet wide. There was practically enough room for two people in this thing. Looking at it more closely, I could see that there were metal grates along the edge of the circular tube. My guess is so that if water spills over, it would go down the drain. Past the large tub was both a toilet and a urinal, and along the wall on the right side of the room was a large rectangular counter with a mirror in the wall. Then I noticed that there was something on the counter.

Walking over to it, there was a red box with a note on top. Picking up the note, I saw that it was the instructions for the bathtub. it told me to open the red box to get started. Inside the box were a few rectangular wooden tiles about the size of a bookmark, each one was painted red with odd symbols on them. Some had either black lines, or yellow triangles and circles, and at the top of each one, there was a rectangular hole. I wasn’t sure what they were for, so I checked the instructions to see what I should do next. After reading the next step, I saw that there were pictures of the different tiles with some text underneath them. Apparently, each of the tiles were called bath tokens. Each token told you what kind of water you could select for your bath. Some water had special herbs and minerals to help the body. There wasn’t a price for any of them, so you could choose whichever you wanted. After reading each one, I decided on the one with the two yellow triangles, which was their popular herbal formula. With my token picked out, I walked over to the left wall. I failed to notice that it was painted to look like a cherry blossom tree in full bloom. It was rather beautiful.

The next set of instructions went as follows. First, after choosing the water I would use, I would walk over to the painting of the tree and carefully knock on the part that looked like the trunk. A small door opened up, and inside was a purple bungee cord with a little metal clip. Next, I attach the clip to the hole at the top of the token. When the token is secured, I tug it down a bit and release. As soon as I did, it shot up where I could no longer see it. Finally, I waited a few moments as there was a click, and one of the wooden boards slowly arched down with a rope attached. The board was actually a wooden pipe that, when I pull the rope, the water I chose would fill the tub. All that was left to do was to fill the tub.

I walked over to the rope and gave it a tug, and immediately, the hot water came pouring out and started to fill up the tub. As I waited for the tub to fill, I took off my bathrobe, tossed it onto the counter, and stood by the rope while waiting for the tub to fill up. It only took about a good five minutes before it had been completely filled. With one last tug of the rope, the water stopped, and I carefully stepped into the water. It was incredibly hot for a second, but I was able to adjust to the water and slowly sink in, letting out a sigh of relief. “Ohh yeah. This is what I’m talking about.” The water was already making all the aches and pains I was feeling from the dungeon melt away. I was almost going to say that it was almost magical with how quickly the water had made me feel almost as good as new, but given the fact I’m in a world filled with magic, that may have not been too far off.

While I was bathing in the water, my mind started to wander a bit. I realized that I had only been in this world for only two whole days, and yet in that time, so much has happened. I was suddenly in a world straight out of an rpg game, living the life like you would see in an isekai anime, and got to actually fight some monsters and nearly died a few times. Despite the joy I felt from living here, I couldn’t help but wonder what everyone I knew back home would do when they realize I’m gone? Granted, I didn’t have any family, being an orphan and all, and I didn’t have many friends outside of work…Wow, I guess the only people who would miss me would be Father Uther and my landlord, the second only because I pay my rent a month in advance. Unless someone from my work came to check on me to see if I was alright, then it would be another thirty days before anyone knew I was actually missing. Ouch. I just shrugged it off, however. The only thing I would feel guilty for is making Father Uther sad, but I’m sure he would understand my choice to live here.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I failed to notice a slight breeze, followed by a voice. “Good evening.” The voice, which sounded female, made me jump a bit as I quickly spun around to see who it was that had spoken. The moment I turned around to face the source of the voice, my body froze in place. Standing by the door was a mare, a mare who had yellow fur with a mane that went past her shoulders, which was black and wavy with some of the tips a bright white. However, that wasn’t the reason I had frozen in place. No, that would be the clothes that she was wearing. She wore a black two-piece bikini that left little to the imagination. She's got a nice, well-toned figure, a perfect body that could be the envy of every woman on earth, a pair of D-sized breasts (my best guess on her cup size since I'm a clueless yutz with breast sizes), slender legs, and a firm, round bottom that could hypnotize any guy with a sway of her enchanting hips. Despite the humidity of the room due to all the steam from the water, my throat was incredibly dry, making my voice nonexistent. She giggled a bit at both my lack of speech and the incredibly deep blush I was sporting. “My, my, Zeniba wasn’t lying when she said you were zee cute one.” She slowly made her way to the tub, and with each step, her hips would sway side to side, something I found myself unable to look away from. “Zat tub looks rather big. I think there is enough room for two, wouldn’t you agree?” She fluttered her eyelashes while leaning closer to me, giving me a rather close look at her eyes: one was a deep sapphire blue while the other was a light hazel color.

So many questions flooded my mind at the time. How did she get in here? Why was she here? Why is she wearing that outfit? I gulped in some air and finally found my voice as I asked one of the more important questions. “I-I’m sorry, but who are you?”

She gasped and covered her lips with the tip of her fingers. “Oh, my apologies. I was so excited to meet you zat I had forgotten to introduce myself first.” She gave me a playful smile, which was followed by a small bow, which she inadvertently allowed me to see down her swimsuit and the vast valley that is her cleavage. I quickly averted my eyes as she stood back up to look at me. “My name is Zedwin. Professor Zedwin. It is nice to meet you, Mr.?” She asked while extending her hand out to me.

I had finally managed to snap out of my stupefied gaze to slowly slide my hand out of the tub and move it to gently grasp her own. “I-I’m Arthur. It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.” She giggled and shook my hand, which I forgot was wet. A clumsy mistake on my part, but when you’re in the presence of such a pretty lady such as Zedwin, you tend to forget that she isn’t even human. Something I found myself not caring much about since I got here, actually. Perhaps it may be due to all the anime I watch where a human character can fall in love with a non-human creature, or perhaps has to do with the fact the mares of this world don’t seem all that different from humans. Sure, they have fur, their ears are on top of their heads, hooves for feet, and a bit of a muzzle, but overall, they aren’t that bad around the eyes…Does this make me a furry?

And as per usual of late, I was so deep in my thought that I failed to notice that the mare before me had somehow managed to close the gap between us by bringing her nose to lightly press against my own. “Boop. Hehe!” I was caught off guard that when her nose pressed against me, I fell back into the tub and went underwater. When I quickly resurfaced, sputtering out some water, I found her clutching her side and laughed a bit. “I’m sorry, but zat was too funny!” Now, any normal person would have been a bit peeved by that. However, I found my anger had quickly disappeared as I noticed that while she was laughing, her breasts would bounce a bit as her chest rose and fell. How could I stay mad at that? She wiped the tears from her eye as she regained her breathing once more. “My apologies, Arthur, but you looked so lost in thought zat I couldn’t resist teasing you. But enough playful banter. I’m sure you wish to know why I am here, no?” I nodded. “Well, as you probably heard Zeniba mention, the package deal you bought comes with some special services.” And the red flag has returned! Without wasting any time, Zedwin smoothly swung her leg over and into the tub, followed by the other, bringing her whole body into the tub with me. I gulped nervously as she moved in closer. “Now be a good colt and turn around for me.” Her words were smooth and almost seductive. My body did as she had asked without me even realizing it at first. Thankfully, my bare bottom was still in the water thanks to the murkiness of the herbs making it impossible to see it. “Now sit, please.” I sat down in the water with my legs folded in a lotus position, leaving mostly my upper body above the water. I heard the water sloshing, which meant she was moving closer to me. My body jolted as I felt her hands land on my shoulders, making me tense up a bit. “My, you sure are tense. Will this be your first time, hon?” My face turned three shades of red in the span of a second as I nodded my head in embarrassment. I felt a bit more pressure on my shoulders as she leaned into my ear and spoke in a gentle, but low tone. “Don’t worry. I promise I’ll be gentle with you, mkay?” With my heart beating a million miles per hour, I closed my eyes and nodded. “Good colt. Now sit up straight and let Professor Zedwin work her magic.” Doing my best to try and remain calm, I sat up straight and waited.

What happened next was a bit of a surprise for me, in a kind of good and disappointing way. I felt her hands begin to gently, but firmly rub my shoulders with her palms and thumbs. “My, I was just joking when I said your body was tense, but zis is ridiculous. I may have to put a bit more effort in if I wish to remove zee knots.” I was a bit disappointed that I had actually let myself believe she was here for, well…Ahem. I may have let my mind slip into the gutters just now. But I will admit that her hands were working wonders on my aching shoulders. It’s as though her hands were melting away the pain and tension I had accumulated from fighting in the dungeon today, almost like I never fought for my survival. “Isn’t that better?” I happily nodded as I felt myself slipping into her care, allowing myself to relax. “So, tell me about yourself. I’ve never seen a member of your kind before.”

I decided to give her the clip notes of my species and how I may be the only member of my kind in this world. She felt a bit of pity for me and how she thinks my family might be worried sick about me. Things got a bit awkward when I told her how that wouldn’t be an issue. I told her how I was abandoned at birth on the staircase of Father Uther’s orphanage, and how I had gone eighteen years without being adopted and had decided to go out into the world on my own. I heard some sniffling and looked over my shoulder to see she was all teary-eyed. “Zat *sniff* is zee saddest thing I’ve *sniff* heard.” Great, now I feel bad for making her sad. Way to go Arthur. I reassured her that it was okay, because my time spent at the orphanage wasn’t bad and I was living a good life before coming here. That seemed to make her feel somewhat better as she stopped crying. “Well, I’m glad zat you aren’t feeling homesick, but I can’t imagine why no one would try and adopt such a cute little thing such as yourself.”

Once again, I found myself blushing up a storm, but it couldn’t be helped since, in the year I had been on my own, no girl had ever called me cute. Then again, I wasn’t actively trying to impress anyone or made an effort to seek out a romantic partner. “Heh, well, I appreciate the kind words, but enough about me. How about we talk about you? Like what brought you here to the archipelago, because, no offense, but you don’t look like the adventuring type.”

She waved it off and laughed. “None taken. No, I’m not here as an adventurer like most creatures. I came here to open another branch of my business service. See, when I heard zat some ponies were coming here to make a fortune or open up another branch of their own businesses, I knew zat I had to branch out as well. Especially since I knew that my particular business would prove to be fruitful here.” I guess that makes sense. I mean, my body was feeling really sore from just a few hours in the dungeon, and it was a low level one at that, too. “Oh, this one may hurt a bit. Be ready.”

Before I had a chance to register her warning, I felt her push her palm hard against my back, getting a loud popping sound in response. It actually didn’t hurt, but it definitely spooked me knowing that sound came from me, but after a few seconds, that fear faded away as a wave of relief surged through my body, making me feel a lot more relaxed. By God, she was good. Then I had another question to ask. “Hey, so what exactly are you a professor of?” I had imagined that it had to do with something akin to her cutie mark, or something that would make her so good at giving messages.

For a moment, I didn’t hear anything but the water rippling in the tub. I wondered if I had said something wrong. Maybe it was a touchy subject or just tacked on for fun. While I waited for her response, I noticed something black was floating past me. I reached out to pick it up to see what it was and felt my heart skip a beat; it was the top half of her swimsuit. Without warning, she snaked her arm around my chest and pressed herself against my back. It was then I felt two incredibly soft orbs press into my back, and if I was guessing correctly, it was her breasts. My entire body stiffened up, especially a certain part of my lower body. I froze in place when I felt her warm breath against my left ear. “I’m a professor in sexual education. My teaching methods are the best around on the account that I like to be a little…” She gave my earlobe a light lick, which sent a shiver down my spine. “Physical.” She said in a lustful voice, giving my ear a gentle nibble, which made me yelp a bit.

Before I knew it, her hand started to slide down from my chest to my abdomen. She traced a little circle against my stomach as she got lower. “Just relax and let me rid you of all that stress from working so hard.” I had a hard time breathing as my heart was now working in hyperdrive. I thought it was going to burst out of my chest at any moment. Soon, her hand found it’s mark and she gently grasped my erect member, getting me to suck air in through my teeth. She gave off a fake gasp as she giggled a bit while nuzzling her muzzle into my neck. “Speaking of hard, is that a sword you’re hiding down there, or are you just happy to see me?” My entire body started to burn a deep shade of red from how casually she said that. I wasn’t one to go around and brag about my length, but I was slightly above average. And judging by the coos of delight she was making as her soft hands glided up and down my member, she seemed to approve.

Jolts of pleasure rushed up my body as her hand would rhythmically move up and down my shaft, making it hard for me not to moan out. The last thing I needed right now was to make a fool of myself in front of Zedwin, who wasn’t making this any easier for me as she casually nibbled on my earlobe, moaning every so often. I was biting my teeth to keep myself quiet. “Hehe, what’s ze matter, hon? Mare got your tongue?” Oh, she had something alright, but it wasn’t my tongue. As she would stroke my hardened member, she would gently rub her breasts into my back while her free hand gently rubbed my pecs. “I’m surprised zat you have lasted zis long. Maybe I should stop holding back.” And with that, her hand started to move faster, making me gasp and almost losing my balance as I almost fell on her. My legs were shaking from her hand sliding up and down my shaft. I was starting to pant a bit as she leaned back down to my ear and whispered. “Cum for me.” That was the straw that had broken the camel’s back as I groaned and came while in the tub. My body shook and spasmed from the pleasure that surged through my whole body. I was starting to pant a bit from how overwhelming that was.

As I slowly recovered from my climax, I felt the water shift a bit and turned in time to see Zedwin lift herself up so that she was sitting on the edge of the tub. Then my face started to burn up as I watch her hands move to the straps untying her bikini bottom, letting it drop into the water with her top, and slowly spread her legs, revealing her moistened sex. Despite the fact that I’m a virgin (for however long that might be tonight), I knew what a human vagina looked like from sex ed back in school…and from some…sites. And what I was seeing was almost identical by comparison. “Do you like what you see?” She asked in such a low, sexual tone that ran a chill down my spine, and I could feel some blood rushing back down to my lower body. I let out an audible gulp and meekly nodded my head. She giggled and raised her hand out to me, using her index finger to signal me to come to her. “Then perhaps you could come and repay the favor?”

Like before, my body was practically moving on its own as I made my way to her. I was only about a foot away from her pussy, and felt my heart racing like I had just finished a marathon. Slowly, I leaned my head down so that I was only just a few inches away. I could feel the warmth that her nether region was producing, and could smell a slight scent of vanilla, which surprised me a little. For a while, all I could do was just stare as the realization had hit me that I had no idea how to approach this. “I-I um…n-not sure...how to…you know?” I felt completely embarrassed having to come out and admit that I was completely clueless.

It didn’t help either when she started to laugh while clutching her side. She nearly fell over the side as she lost her balance for a few seconds. Her laughing made me want to dunk my head in the water and never come back up. But before I could die via embarrassment, she moved her hand to cup my chin and forced me to look up at her, planting her lips upon my own. The feeling was, well…it felt…it was amazing. I felt a surge of warmth flow throughout my body as she slowly slipped her tongue into my mouth with little resistance on my end. Her smooth, wet tongue slowly danced around my own with such ease that I couldn’t get my mind working enough to try and put some effort in myself. It was only when our lips parted that my mind decided to snap back to attention to see Zedwin smiling at me. “I’m sorry, hon. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad. I just found it funny how innocent and cute you are.” Her hand would gently stroke my cheek as she gave me a comforting smile. “Truth be told, all my clients until now have had some experiences prior. So in a way, you’re my first virgin.” Once again, she leaned down to press her lips against my own, only this time, I actually made an effort to return the act.

Our lips stayed locked for a few more seconds before we had finally felt the need to separate for air. She gave me a warm smile as she leaned in and nuzzled her nose against my own. “Just treat it like an ice cream cone. Nice and slow so you can savor the flavor.” Dear God, this mare and the way she speaks. She could read you the ingredients on a box of tea, and it would still sound like the sexiest thing you’ve ever heard in your life. Not wanting to keep her waiting, I gulped as I leaned in until my lips were just an inch away. As I breathed in through my nose, I could smell the sweet odor from her sex; it really did sort of smell like vanilla, which made me stick my tongue out. I shakily gave her pussy a small lick, which made her coo as I licked once more.

“Zat’s it…” Zedwin purred. “Nice and slow, darling.”

Following her directions, I leaned closer and began licking her sex a bit more confidently. The taste on my tongue was undeniably, and arguably, the best tasting thing I’ve ever had, apart from the fact that I was licking a mare’s pussy. My ministrations seem to have been doing something for Zedwin, because when I looked up to her, she was moaning more fervently and sucking on one of her own nipples. 'Shit, that’s kinda hot.' I thought to myself.

Zedwin used her free hand to comb my hair through her fingers and push my face more into her sex so I could lick it more. Not wanting to disappoint the good doctor, I stuck my tongue more into her hole and even snaked my hands upwards to grasp her flanks.

“Oh! Naughty colt, grabbing a mare’s flanks?” Zedwin teased. I was about to stop, but she pushed my head back into her crotch. “I didn’t say stop, sweetie. You can grab me wherever you want~.”

'God, does everything she says have to sound so damn sexy?' I kept eating her pussy for about another minute or two, and my entire mouth and lower jaw was coated with her juices. I then felt it twitch a little and I heard her moaning more, which probably meant she was close to cumming. I didn’t exactly know what to do, so I just kept eating her out as she moaned louder. As my tongue wriggled around in her crevice, I felt some kind of bump within her walls. Curious, I poked at the bump with my tongue, which made Zedwin cry out.

“OH BUCK YES!”

Her pussy clenched hard and sprayed her fluids on my face, some of it filling my mouth as Zedwin rode out her climax. I instinctively swallowed, which in turn left me in a slight daze of euphoria since I just got squirted on by a sexy ass mare. Zedwin was in a state of bliss after cumming as she lazily looked down at me.

“Dear, are you sure you are not a virgin? Because you just made me cum the hardest I ever did in a good long while~.” She sighed with a dopey grin stretched across her muzzle.

“Uh, nope. I’m still a bonafide virgin.” I shrugged as I wiped my mouth. Zedwin then smirks seductively and grabs both my cheeks. Before I could react, her lips mashed against mine and kissed me passionately. I don’t know what it is about kissing, but I swear it leaves me feeling lightheaded, and in a good way. After making sure she lapped up her own juices in my mouth with her tongue, Zedwin pulled back, leaving a few strands of saliva trailing between us and licked her lips.

“Your saliva and my own essence is a tasty combo, sweetie. And about you still being a virgin? I believe it is time we remedy zat.” She said as she pushed me to sit down on my end of the tub.

If my member wasn’t hard enough to make itself known before, it sure is now. Zedwin glanced down at my hard as steel penis and bit her lip as she straddled over my waist, then lowered herself just as it was about to enter. “Are you ready to become a stallion, baby?” Zedwin whispered in my ear before giving it another lick. I could only nod in response as slowly, but surely, my virginity was taken away by this goddess of a mare as she lowered herself upon my dick.

“Mmm~, only halfway in, and you feel so big.” I couldn’t help but take a little pride in her statement, but was still in a sort of euphoric state since her pussy felt so friggin good as she continued to lower herself. When I felt her stop, I blinked out of my trance and looked up to see Zedwin’s discolored eyes were very close to mine. When I glanced down, I saw that I was all the way inside her.

“Holy…shit.” I breathed out.

“Congrats on becoming a stallion, little colt. I am glad I was your first.” Zedwin said as she gave me a quick peck on the lips.

“What…do I do now?” I wondered.

“Don’t worry, I will still be taking the lead. You just sit zere and enjoy ze moment.” Zedwin said with a lustful wink. After nodding again, Zedwin lifted herself upwards and came back down on my dick. She repeated the process and began bouncing on my shaft, making her moan more than she did when I was eating her out. As she rode me, her beautiful boobs were bouncing in front of my face, almost like they were taunting me. Feeling adventurous, I reached up, grabbed both breasts, and started kneading them in a circular motion.

“Ah~, oh yes! Play with my breasts! It feels good when you do that~!” Zedwin said, and I obliged by continuing to grope her. Zedwin’s bouncing quickened as the sounds sloshing water echoed throughout the room and her moans along with it. I was at a loss for words since there wasn’t really anything to be said at the moment. Just a few minutes ago, I was a shy and inexperienced virgin. Now I’m having actual sex with arguably the most beutuful mare I’ve ever met, and she’s riding me like there’s no tomorrow. Zedwin looked down at me and smiled as she leaned in and kissed me again. I met her halfway as our tongues battled for supremacy. My hips seemed to be moving on their own as they met with Zedwin’s bounces each time she slammed down on my pelvis. My hands soon snaked from her breasts to her back and found themselves on her flank again. I gave them a squeeze and pushed her down so she could bounce on me with more vigor.

“OH BUCK! OH YES! BUCK ME, BUCK ME, YOU SWEET COLT! I LOVE IT!” Zedwin cried out in pure bliss.

'Jeez, I must be doing something right to get that kind of reaction.' Our session lasted for about another five minutes or so until I felt a familiar pressure building up in my loins. I was about to let it loose until I realized I was still inside her, and she was still bouncing on me. 'Shit! I need to pull out! I’m not ready to be a dad! But it feels too good!'

“Uh, Z-Zedwin? I-I’m about to…” I said as I tried to push her off, but she wrapped her arms around my head and pressed my face in her wonderfully soft boobs.

“INSIDE! RELEASE YOUR WONDERFUL SEED INSIDE ME! PAINT MY INSIDES WHITE!” Zedwin shouted as she bounced faster, making the tension too much to hold back.

'Shit…I’m…cumming!' The dam soon burst as rope after rope of my load shot into the mare, and she came along with me, her juices mixing out in the bath water. I lost count how many long this climax lasted as we both basked in the afterglow of our mating. As we both caught our breaths, Zedwin slowly raised herself off of me, freeing my dick from her fleshy prison. I looked to see that a hefty amount of my seed was leaking out of her vagina, which made me worried about what to do next.

“Zat was…quite impressive.” Zedwin breathed out as she sat next to me and nuzzled into my chest.

“I agree.” I said with a small smile while panting a bit. “Never knew sex felt that good. I guess that leaves what I should do now.”

“What do you mean?” Zedwin wondered as she looked up to me.

“Well, it’s just.” I said, scratching my cheek as I tried to look away bashfully. “I came a lot inside you. I probably know what’s gonna happen now, so...does that mean we should start dating or something?”

Zedwin tilted her head as if she didn’t know what I was talking about until her eyes widened at the sudden realization. Out of nowhere, the professor burst out laughing, which left me very confused. “Hahahahahaha! Is zat all you’re worried about? Just how much more adorable can you get?” She said through her laughter before calming down. “If you are worried about getting me pregnant, there is no need. I had a suspicion something like zis might happen, so I made sure to drink an anti-pregnancy potion before making my grand entrance. All your little swimmers won’t be able to find their way anywhere near my womb. Besides, like you, I too am not quite ready to become a parent, so there is no need for you to take any kind of responsibility or anything like that.”

“Is that right?” I asked, now sounding more relieved. “I appreciate you taking the necessary precautions.”

“But of course, sweetie. I am a professional, after all.” Zedwin boasted confidently.

“I won’t argue that. And Zedwin?” I said, making her look up to me. I smiled before giving her a light kiss on the lips. “Thank you.”

“You are most welcome, Arthur.” Zedwin said with a smile. For the rest of the time, we just enjoyed each other’s company and the rest of our soak.

ART gallery

The room

Bath Tokens

Zeniba
Now to all you Spirted Away fan out there, yes I know it was her sister who owned the bathhouse. But I choose Zeniba because of her kind nature.

Professor Zedwin

Day 3 part 1

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Prologue: Day 1

(??? Pov)

I was panting heavily, running as fast as my legs could carry my body as I bobbed and weaved my way through bushes and trees, all while trying my best to avoid the beast who was chasing me.

"Rrrreeeeeeee!!!!!"

Its terrifying scream gave my heart a fright, which made me pick up speed. "Almost there! Just a few more feet till I reach it!!" I screamed as I checked my compass to see how much further I was from my destination. Soon, I break out of the forest into an open area, where I saw my target not two feet away. "Almost...there!" I turned my head to look back, daring to see how close the beast was, only to see that it was right behind me before leaping toward me. The world slowed down as I stared at its blood red eyes and snow white fur, it's long floppy ears, and buck teeth. "Am I really gonna die to an overgrown rabbit!?"

And this is where I should stop. Hey there. I'm the guy who you just tuned in on. I'll tell you my name in a minute, so please wait. This will be the extremely rare time I will break the fourth wall to do this. Now, as you can see from the name of this chapter, this is my prologue. But don't worry, I promise you that I won't make it too long and filled with exposition; just some small cliff notes on my life, then I'll fill you in on my journey to this point. So, with all that in mind, let's rewind the clock back to where my story all began.

In a dimly lit hotel room, two drunken lovers laid together in bed as the man slowly prepared himself to insert his member into the woman's-

Whoa whoa whoa!! Not this far back! Fast-forward!! Fast-forward!!!"

In a delivery room, a doctor was preparing to deliver a newborn child. "Alright, miss, I need you to take deep breaths and prepare to push!"

Ahhhhh!!!! No no, keep going! Keep going forward!!!"

In the dead of night in a small town, a baby cries at the footsteps of an orphanage.

Keep...oh wait, this is actually the right spot. Phew. That's better. So, yeah, that baby crying on the ground alone there is me. Yeah, turns out I was an accident. The woman who gave birth to me decided to dump me at an orphanage without a name or note. I know it's a really generic beginning, but then again, what's even original in these modern times that hasn't been beaten to death?

The porch light to the orphanage turned on as the sound of locks clicking could be heard before the door opened, revealing a man with black hair and a beard, dressed in his pajamas. The man looked down in surprise as he saw the baby crying on the cold floor before rushing over to pick it up and taking it inside for warmth.

That’s the owner of the orphanage, Father Uther, he was the one who took me in, obviously.

So that's how my story begins. Now let's fast-forward five years.

(Five years later)

Ok, I'm gonna stop using these bold words. I’ll be narrating from my past perspective now since there won't be any dialogue from this point until later.

Ah. Better. Ahem, let's continue.

It was the day of my fifth birthday at the orphanage, and as a custom in said orphanage, I was going to pick my first name. When a child is brought to the orphanage without a name, they are given the choice to wait till their fifth birthday to choose their own, or they could let Father Uther choose for them, otherwise you were called “boy” or “girl”. I decided that I wanted to choose my name and went with one that was easy to remember: Arthur.

Now, I bet you're expecting me to tell you all how horrible my life was in the orphanage and how crappy a life it was to endure. Well, that's the funny thing; it wasn't. Keep in mind that the orphanage wasn't dirt poor with us barely scraping to get by, but we weren't living the high life either. It was all in the middle with food in our bellies, a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and attending school. It was all thanks to Father Uther, who actually isn't a Father of a church. We just call him that since he is like a father to us.

Okay, that's enough on that. Let's continue so we can get to the good stuff, shall we?

Life at the orphanage was pretty nice, being well known throughout England for having the most polite and well-behaved children for any parents looking to adopt. In some cases, people outside of the country have even come by to adopt a kid or two. But that wasn't the case for me. For some unknown reason, I never once caught the attention of any of the couples who come to the orphanage to adopt, not even so much as a sideways glance in my general direction. I wasn't really sure why. I was a pretty normal kid. I had golden yellow hair and bright blue eyes, was well-behaved, and very smart. I honestly thought I was an adorable-looking kid back then. But I never got adopted.

So after a while, whenever we hear that a family is looking to swing by to adopt someone, I usually walk over to the library we had there to read books. I say library, but I mean like the kinds you would see in a little preschool class that had bean bag chairs. It was in the same room where couples come in to look at the children, so I wasn't isolating myself, just staying out of the way.

Now let's cut to thirteen year later.

(Thirteen years later)

I had just turned eighteen, which means I was now considered an adult and able to go out into the world on my own. Father Uther told me that I didn't have to leave the orphanage, saying I was more than welcome to stay if I wanted, but I wished to live my life outside of the orphanage and be my own person. He was sad about it, but told me that he was proud of my decision and he had already planned something for this. First, he had given me a large sum of money. Apparently, it's been over thirty years since the last eighteen year old orphans had left like me, only then, he left with nothing because the orphanage couldn't offer much. So Father Uther prepared for this possible moment, and had been putting money away in a savings account. He didn't give me all that was in the account, given it was also used for extreme emergencies, but it was enough to help me get started. Next, he gave me a list of people in town who he knew were hiring that I could apply for. And finally, the last and most important thing before I left; the last custom of the orphanage. Because I hadn't been adopted into a family to take up their family name, I was now allowed to choose my own last name. Father Uther had told me to think long and hard about the last name I would choose, but little did he know that when I turned seventeen one year from this moment, I had already made my decision. Just like in the old fairytale of a boy who was poor, an orphan who was thought very little of, changed his destiny by drawing a sword embedded in a stone, and became king of England. I had chosen the last name Pendragon. So now, I was Arthur Pendragon.

Father Uther had found my choice rather amusing since he would always see me read the books of King Arthur and his knights of the round table, saying that it was a fitting name. He went off to make it official by getting my I.D. and other essentials before I could go out into the world.

And that was two years ago. Now it's time for the real journey to begin. So, let's go back to seven hours before you had first showed up, I'll let my past self take the wheel and wait for you to meet me back at the point I paused at. Enjoy!

(Seven hours earlier)

Taking the keys from my pocket, I unlocked the door to my tiny apartment and walked inside from the bitter cold. "Ahhh. Another day, another pound in my pocket." I yawned, finishing another hard day of work. After I locked my door and took off my work uniform to slip into my casual clothes, I made my way over to my room. It wasn’t anything special, just a bed and a dresser in the corner. But what was special was next to the side of my bed: my top of the line gaming PC. I had saved a lot of money to buy that beauty, but it was the only nonessential luxury I had. I didn't have cable TV or a smartphone, but I had the internet and my PC, which was just as good since there is practically nothing but reruns on cable, and I could use YouTube and subscriptions to streaming networks. I, much like any young adult in this modern age, had a love for anime and gaming, hence the PC.

"Alright, time to see what's new." I said whilst rubbing my hands together as I booted up my PC and opened up my Funimation app. I scrolled through the recently updated list and saw that none of the shows I was waiting for had updated. "Bugger. Oh well. I guess I can watch an old episode to tie me off." I looked through my queue and selected one of my favorite animes: “The Rising of the Shield Hero”.

As I watched the episode where the four heroes take on an island grinding experience, I often wondered what it would be like to be an adventurer, to go out into a world, fight evil monsters and save people, and wield magic and badass weapons. Unfortunately, our world isn't that cool or amazing. Sometimes, I feel like I was born into the wrong world and that I should be living an adventure of my own. Sadly, the only way to experience such wonders is through video games.

"Speaking of which." I closed the app after the episode ended and booted up my “Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization” game. It was a pretty close thing to the anime, with my only complaint being that most of the monsters look exactly the same, just with different color palettes.

As I was finishing up another boss battle, with no losses of players yet again like a pro, I got a notification on my monitor that said I had an email. I quickly saved my game since I was planning on calling it a night, but decided to look at the email.

Opening my mailbox, I saw that the letter had no name or an address from who sent it. Now this could be just some dumb spam mail or a possible virus, but since I had a pretty good firewall and malware protection, I decided to tempt fate and clicked the open icon.

Do you wish your life could be more exciting? That you were born into the wrong world, one that was filled with wonder and excitement around every corner?

What if I told you there was a world that you could go to, where you can live out your wildest fantasies, and set forth on your own adventure?

I was utterly baffled and confused. This letter had practically read my mind on what I was thinking. I noticed that my mouth became incredibly dry and my heart was racing. I was honestly scared for a moment, but a quick shake of my head cast those fears aside. I took a moment to breathe, then moved my hands to reply, grinning as I typed. "I'd say your nuts, but sounds like a place I wouldn't hesitate to go to." I clicked the send button and waited before another letter popped up, opening it immediately.

Are you sure about that? Because I can make that a reality within the blink of an eye. So, I'll ask again: would you like to go to that world?

Yes or No

I had thought this was one of those weird advertisements for a link to an app game you had to download off the internet, so I didn't give it much thought when I moved the mouse so that the cursor clicked on the "yes" box.

Without any warning, all the lights in my room and my monitor went completely dark, leaving me in pitch black darkness. "Bloody hell!!" I screamed, thinking I just had a powerful outage before I saw something pop up on my screen in red writing.

I look forward to seeing your story unfold.

The screen flashed, blinding me temporarily, and the next thing I knew, I felt my body falling with wind whipping my body. "Ahhhhhh!!!" I screamed in terror as I could see myself falling towards what looked like an island. The ground was coming in fast and I closed my eyes the second I was a mere inch from the ground.

My mind was in a complete daze, my head throbbing as I laid on my back. Most of my body was in pain, but it didn't feel like anything was broken. 'That's a relief.'

"What the heck is that thing?"

"Is it a monster?"

"Can't be. It's in the safe zone."

"So, then it's something from Equestria?"

"Never seen anything like it before. Maybe it's from somewhere we've seen before."

"Kinda looks like a hairless minotaur who lost his horns."

I heard voices all around me, but I was still in too much pain from my fall to really care what they were saying. Something I also noticed, even with my eyes closed, was that it was incredibly bright and I could feel the warmth of sunlight. Which was confusing since, last I checked, it was night time. 'Maybe I fell unconscious and now it's day time?'

Something long like a cane started to poke my shoulder, nudging me. "Hey, you dead buddy?" One of the voices asked, getting a groan out of me. "Yeah, he's alive. Hey, buddy, wake up. It's not a good idea to sleep in a busy area."

I groaned again as whoever was poking my shoulder wouldn't stop. "Ahh, fine. I'm up, I'm up." Raising both my legs up and bringing them down, I used the momentum to raise my upper body into a sitting position. I let out a loud yawn as I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes, still feeling the massive headache. "God, my head hurts like hell. I'm gonna need four hundred ibuprofen after that fall." Then I heard the sound of something twinkling, and then my body felt all fuzzy and light. The pain in my head was completely gone. "Hey, my headache is gone."

"Yeah, you're welcome kid. And since you’re a newbie, I won’t charge ya for the first aid." A different voice spoke up from behind me.

"I'm not sure what you mean, but if you're the reason my headache is gone, then tha-" As I was turning around to face whoever it was that was talking, I felt my words die in my throat at what I was seeing. I was expecting to see another human being standing behind me, but what I got instead were what looked to be multicolored equine humanoids. They stood on two feet, wore strange clothing, and had equine-like features, those being ears at the top of their heads, and a slight muzzle. And as mentioned, they were multicolor, more specifically pastel colors from their fur to their manes. After staring for another good while, I noticed that one had a horn protruding from her (if the feminine look compared to the other two was any indication that it was a she) head. One guy had some wings sprouting out of his back. The third didn't have either wings or a horn, but stood two feet taller than the other two, and had a build that a bodybuilder would envy.

I was understandably frightened as I started quickly crawling backwards away from the anthropomorphic horses, only to slam the back of my head into something hard, which was then followed by a voice.

Attention, time until use of gate remaining: 29d: 17h: 35min.

I turned around while rubbing my head to see what it was that I had slammed into, and there, at about nine feet tall, was a stone gate. "Well that answers that question." I heard footsteps and saw a looming shadow over me. I slowly looked up to see the stallion with no extra appendages standing above me. I was around 5'9, whereas he looked to be 6'8 at best, easily dwarfing me. He leaned down, grabbed both my shoulders, then lifted me up till I was standing on my feet. "So, you are the newest rookie, huh?"

"Uhhh…I guess…Where am I, exactly?" I asked while still in shock by how easily he picked me up.

The three stared at one another before the stallion before me quirked his brow. "Well, you’re on the Deadly Archipelago. An adventurer's dreams come true, where fame and riches awaits you…Any of this ringing any bells, kid?"

I was just standing there dumbfounded. Had the email I was sent really telling the truth? Am I in another world?

If I was a normal person, my first and initial reaction would be to freak out and panic while curled up in the fetal position. However, I wasn't normal. I realized that I had gotten my wish and felt my lips curl up into a wide grin, about to shout with joy. "So, this really is a place where you can become an adventurer?" I asked while holding back my excitement, to which the three nodded. "With monsters, hidden treasures, and dungeons?" My voice was slowly getting higher. When I saw the group hesitantly nod, I felt like my chest was about to burst with joy. "Where do I start!?" I asked with a bit more enthusiasm, causing the pony peoples’ ears to fold in.

"Whoa, buddy, relax. You're gonna cause us to go deaf." He pointed over to a town, which I hadn't noticed until now. "There’s a guild in town. You’ll see a sign with two swords over a piece of paper. If you go there, they can get you started with registering and the gear you’ll need." And with that, I was on my merry way as I headed off into the town to start my new adventure.

I strolled into the town and saw lots of those pony hybrids walking around, but as I traveled deeper in, I started to notice that there were not just ponies, but griffins, minotaurs, and even a zebra. The weird thing was that all of the creatures here seemed almost cartoonish. Not just them, but the world, including myself for that matter. I didn't give it much thought, seeing as I was in a world with pastel-colored creatures.

After walking for a good a minute, I spotted the sign with the two swords over a piece of paper and made my way inside. Once inside, I saw that on the far right was a large billboard with tons of pieces of paper tacked on it with plenty of creatures looking at them, no doubt the quest board. At the far left were a few tables where some of the creatures were sitting down, chatting amongst each other, some of which were polishing their weapons. I also saw some stairs that led to a second floor. At the far end of the building were a set of desks with some mares filling out some papers. 'And those must be the receptionists who can help me sign up.'

As I strolled over, one of the mares behind the desk took notice of me and gave me a curious look as she tilted her head to the side. She had a light peach coat with a blonde mane done in a ponytail, and she had golden eyes that were really alluring. Once I was close enough, I gave a small bow, to which she quickly returned after snapping out of her daze. "Hello, is this where I would register to join? I wish to become an adventurer."

"Umm, yes, this is where you register. But umm…" She leans over her desk to look me over. "May I ask what species are you? Are you some kind of subspecies of minotaur?"

'Guess they’ve never seen a human before. Hmmm...Well, no point in beating around the bush.' I cleared my throat a bit. "No, my species are known as humans."

She seemed content with my answer as she leaned back into her chair and shuffled through some papers before sliding one over to me. "Well then, if you can please fill out this form for me, we can get you registered for an adventurer tag." Said form was fairly straightforward and thankfully written in English. The basics were my name, age, race, and class of fighter. Once I had filled out everything, I slid the paper back to her and watched as she looked it over."Hmmm...Okay, everything seems to be in order." She pulled open a drawer and reached inside, pulling out what looked like a military dog tag and slid it over to me. "This will serve as your guild identification to other adventurers. The highest rank is platinum, followed by gold, however, as it stands, the highest that we have so far are silver ranked adventurers. Because you are starting out, you are porcelain rank." She then turned my attention to the board I saw earlier on. "That is the quest board, where you can take one of the many quests that are posted. Since you are a porcelain rank you will have to take quest that are equal or lower then your rank, but if you prove yourself out on the field you'll be able to raise your rank."

'Huh? Well rules are rules.' I shrugged my shoulders, took the tag, and prepared to leave.

"Wait. Before you go, I have one question for you?"

"What's that?" I asked as I turned to her.

"Well, um, I noticed that you aren't wearing any armor, nor do you have any weapons on you. By any chance, do you have some at home?"

'Well shit…I can't exactly become an adventurer without any of those, now can I?' My current attire was nothing but a red polo T-shirt, blue jean pants, and black boots.

She could probably see the look of worry that was written on my face and let out a small sigh. She opened her desk drawer and started to write something on a piece of paper, then slipped it into an envelope, and moved a candle over it to let some of the wax drip down before grabbing a stamp to push down on the wax. She then handed me the letter. "Here. Take this to the town blacksmith and he will take care of the rest. The shop isn't too far from here: when you leave the guild hall, just go left and keep going till you see a sign with an anvil."

"Oh. Um, thanks." I bowed again, took the letter, then made my way out of the guild hall and followed her directions.

As I walked down the road to where the blacksmith shop was supposed to be, I got a good look at the town as I walked. The buildings were all designed like those from medieval times, which gave the atmosphere a rather pleasant feeling.

Eventually, I managed to find the shop I was looking for and walked inside. Inside was an absolute dream for me; weapons and armor were hung along the walls, even counters lined with different kinds of sword, axes, spears, you name it. I walked over to the counter, where there was an open doorway that probably leads to the back. "Hello? Is anyone here?" I called out.

"Hang on! I'm finishing something up back here!!" A deep voice boomed from the other side of the doorway. And not soon after, I could feel something stomping its way toward me, the sound of each step echoed the closer they got. Eventually, a hulking mass of muscles squeezed it's way through the doorway. Standing at about eight feet tall, with light brown fur, a bald head, and a dark brown goatee. He looked down at me with a puzzled look and a quirked brow. "So, what's your name little guy?"

My mouth was practically open and closing like a bass out of water. "Uhh...A-Arthur. And you, sir?"

"I am known by many names: Mountain Slayer, Thunder Lion, The Chocolate Ax, but you may call me...' He paused as he leaned down. "Tiffany."

"...Tiffany, huh?...That's a pretty masculine name."

"Shouldn't be. It's a mare's name."

"Kay. I don't know how to talk to you."

"Good, then you can stop gawking and tell me why you’re here?"

I tried to pull out the letter that I had put in my pocket on the way here. When I got it out, I managed to fumble it around a bit since I was still intimated by the hulking blacksmith before me. The stallion reached over, took the letter, and proceeded to open it. I watched as he pulled out the letter inside and watched his eyes move side to side as he looked through the letter. "Hmm. So you're a new adventurer, but you don't have any gear?" He asked as he looked back at me, which kind of made me shrink under his gaze as I gave a brief nod.

For a while, he just stood there staring at me intently before I noticed the corner of lips slightly twitch, forming into a smile, and then suddenly, he was laughing. "Hahahah! Are you kidding me!?" He leaned over the counter while clenching his side as he continued to laugh heartily. "Oh my Celestia! This is just too funny! Hahahah!!!!"

'Well, it's not like I had enough money back in my world to actually buy real armor and weapons that would just lay around my apartment. Besides, I never thought I'd be sent to another world like this.' I thought bitterly as I just stood there, waiting for him to stop laughing.

That took all of three minutes before he was finally able to stand up properly. "I'm sorry, kid. It's just I never heard of someone coming to the Deadly Archipelago who didn't think to bring any weapons or armor with them." He took a minute to wipe the tears out of his eyes, then leaned on the counter with one arm. "So, before we continue, I gotta ask you one thing kid. What made you want to become an adventurer in the first place?"

I was rather confused by this question brought up out of the blue. For what reason does he want to know that? He was staring at me intently again as he waited for my answer. Of course, I didn't really need to think about it much, since it was blatantly obvious. "Well duh, to go on adventures and experience new things." There was an awkward silence as he stared at me for a few moments, before once again, he started to laugh. "Hey, what's so funny about that!?"

"N-Not damn thing." He said between breaths as he calmed himself down. "It's just been so long since I've heard any creature say something like that."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, nor did I have any clue why he found that worth laughing over, but I just shrugged it off. "So, why did the guild send me here to give you that letter?"

"Oh, they wanted me to help you get started by giving you some starter equipment." He cleared his throat and took a moment to compose himself. "Before I give you any equipment, I'll need to see what your stats are to get a good idea of what kind of gear to give you."

I couldn't help but tilt my head to that. "My stats? I'm sorry, but I don't follow?"

He seemed rather surprised by this. "Wait, are you telling me that you haven't looked at your stats since you got here?" I shook my head, considering I had no idea what he was talking about. He groaned while holding his face, mumbling something under his breath that I couldn't make out. "Okay. I guess since you're new, you wouldn't know how to do it, so I guess I can give you some advice. First, take your index and middle finger, press them together, and bring them down in a straight line in front of you." I wasn't sure why he wanted me to do that, but I did so, and almost immediately, a little screen popped up.

Name: Arthur Pendragon

Race: Human

Age:19

Gender: Male

Stats Lv 1

HP 100 STR 20
SP 50 END 60
DEF 20 LUC 5
AGI 100

Affinity: ???

"What the heck is all this?!" I shouted in utter confusion.

"Those would be your stats. When you enter the Deadly Archipelago, your physical attributes are converted into stats." He moved his hand over and turned the little screen towards him. I could see him cringe a bit as he looked it over. "Geez. This really all you've got? Either this thing is malfunctioning or your race isn't that strong of a species."

Well, he wasn't wrong about that, given that our kind uses technology to help support our weaknesses. And even the strongest humans can't match up to some animals in the animal kingdom. Something then just occurred to me. "Wait, stats? Am I in some kind of video game or something?"

"Are you saying you don't know where you are?" I shook my head, the only thing I knew was I was in some place called the Deadly Archipelago. "So not only are you unprepared with equipment, but also you have no idea where you are? What part of Equestria did you come from anyway?"

"Equestria? Where on earth is that?" I asked, getting a rather surprised reaction out of Tiff.

"Okay...Before I get an aneurysm, let’s go over something. How did you get here, and where did you come from?" He asked while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"That might be a bit of a long story." I added

"Try me." He said flatly while propping himself up on one arm.

"And that's how I got here." I had just finished giving Tiff the cliffnotes of my life story and how I ended up where I am now.

Needless to say, he was rather surprised if the hanging jaw and wide eyes were any indication. "W-well, I’ve got to say that's one heck of a story kid."

"Thanks. Now, can you tell me about where I am? You mentioned both Equestria and the Deadly Archipelago. Are they one in the same or two different places? And why do I have stats like I'm in a video game?"

He took a minute to shake out of his shocked state. "Uh, right. So, first, Equestria is the name of the country where myself, as well as all other adventurers, are from."

He gave me a quick rundown of his world’s history. He told me about the three tribes of ponies, the alicorns, cutie marks, and other nations besides the ponies. "Now, for the Deadly Archipelago. About two years ago, the whole world felt like it was shaking, and no creature knew why. We thought it was a world-wide earthquake and that it might have been the end of the world. But it lasted for only a minute before it had finally stopped. Thankfully, there weren't any casualties, or massive tears in the earth. All seemed normal until a group of sailors came to the capital reporting some strange islands had suddenly popped out of nowhere a couple hundred miles off the coast."

"Wait, these islands just appeared out of thin air?"

He nodded. "That's right, but here is where the strange stuff starts. When the princesses heard about these islands, they decided to send a team of explorers and researchers to go to the islands to investigate. However, when the ships and air fleets approached the islands at a certain distance, the winds and tides almost turned into a hurricane, forcing everypony away and preventing them from moving forward. For a while, it seemed that no creature could venture onto the islands. But then the gates started to show up."

"The gates? You mean like the one I bumped into earlier? "

"Bingo. Three days after the islands popped up, these weird gates started showing up in all the major cities and countries. At first, we had no idea where they would lead to until some writing started showing up on the gates, saying that they were portals to the islands, and that beyond them lies riches and powers that were beyond our wildest dreams. This caught the princesses off guard, but they didn't want to let something like this injure their subjects, so they themselves tried to go through the portals to make sure it was safe. But to everypony's surprise, the gates wouldn't allow them to enter."

"The princesses weren't allowed to pass through? That seems rather strange. Did anyone find out why they couldn't pass through?"

"Nope. And this raised some red flags for them, so they decided to hold a meeting with the other leaders of Equestria. The princesses wanted to convince the other races that no creature should go through those gates, having no idea what danger laid beyond them. Sadly, the other leaders didn't take too kindly to that suggestion, saying that we ponies were trying to make it so they wouldn't go through so that we could and collect all the riches for ourselves. And much to the princesses’ surprise, even their own subjects didn't agree with them. They were overruled and had to allow things to unfold."

"So, then what happened?" I asked, wanting to gather as much knowledge as I can about this new world.

“Since they had been overruled, the princesses decided it would be best to learn all they could from these mystery islands. So they sent a research team along with fifty of their best guards. In total, the group count was seventy. The plan was for them to travel through the gate and return in four days, however, things don't always go as planned. The team didn't return as scheduled, which left the princesses worried. To make matters worse, they couldn't get a hold of them, even with magic letters." Magic letters were basically the equivalent to an instant message in this world since all mail was delivered by hand. "You remember when you said you bumped into the gate earlier?" I nodded. "Did anything pop up, or heard something talk?"

"Now that you mention it, I do remember a voice that said something about days, hours, and minutes." I then thought about the time that popped up. "Are you telling me that they had to wait a whole month before they could return back home?"

He nodded grimly. "Of the seventy that had deployed, only fifteen of them had returned."

"But isn't this area a safe zone? That means that nothing could attack them, right?"

"Well, you're half right. The town is built within a safe zone, but back then, there wasn't a town here. Just empty space. And because the research team had only packed enough rations to last them five days max, they were forced to venture out of the safe zone. The other problem was that, at the time, they had no idea how these islands worked."

"Are you referring to the stats you mentioned before?" I asked as I was getting an idea of what happened.

"Right again. They had no idea that these islands worked like something out of an arcade game. Monsters give you experience points when you kill them, and they can drop items. Dungeons are filled with treasures and rare items. But what's more crazy is how these islands can even change your very nature."

I cocked my head back. "What do you mean ‘change your nature’?" I looked him over and didn't see anything out of the ordinary, at least from what I can tell of an anthropomorphic pony.

"You remember when I said that unicorns were the only ones who could cast magic spells?" I nodded and watched as he moved his hand out with his palms facing upwards. "Fireball." Was all he said before a ball of fire suddenly appeared in the palm of his hands. "Here, even an earth pony like myself can now cast magic." I was completely baffled by what I was seeing. Tiff told me that earth ponies weren't devoid of magic and that it was mostly the kind that can affect plant life or give them great strength, but this wasn't either of those two. "So the laws of nature can change here for any creature.

"But enough about that. Let's get down to business." He pulled my stats closer to him and examined it. "Unfortunately, your stats are low, even for someone at Lv 1, although your agility and endurance are the highest among them. Why is that?"

"Oh. Back in my world during my high school years, I was part of the track and field team, and whenever I had free time, I did a lot of parkour."

"Hmm, is that so? Then we need to give you armor that will boost your defense while also leaving your agility unaffected...hmm." He stroked his chin as he put a lot of thought into what I need. "Okay, I think I know what I can give you that's within reason. Wait here."

So I did. I looked around the shop and all the different weapons and platemail armor. I took a moment to look at my stats again. It was rather strange to see my physical attributes put into numbers like this. I wasn't sure if the stats besides my agility and endurance were what was considered average for a human. I did go to the gym once in a while and kept myself in good shape. 'The way this whole status and menu screen looks is like the one from SAO, though not as detailed.'

I was taking being dropped into a whole new world rather well. I'm sure any other person would be panicking and trying to find a way back home to their own world. But since I didn't really have much going for me back home, I guess I had nothing to lose and all to gain.

The sound of hoofsteps pulled me out of deep thought as Tiff came back in, carrying a large wooden box that he set down on the counter. "Alright, kiddo. I think these should be good for your first set of equipment." I watched as he pulled out the individual items out and set them out on the counter. "Since your highest stats are in agility, I decided that leather armor would be the best choice for you. It's strong enough to take some hits and it’s easy for you to move around in." On the counter, I saw a vest, some fingerless gloves that would also cover past my wrists, and armor that would cover my hips and thighs.

"Next is your weapons. I think the best choice for you would be a buckler and a short sword since they're both fairly light and can still provide you with some great offense and defense." The short sword was a double edge blade, the buckler around the size of a large frisbee. "Well? Go on and try them on, and while you do that, I'll give a crash course on what you need to know."

I started with the waist armor first since it looked like it would be the easiest to put on. "Now then, you should have an item inventory that you can store items you get from quests or monster drops. There should be an icon of a pack near your stats. Tap on that when you want to look through your items." I nodded to let him know I was listening while I moved to putting the vest on now. "Next, much like the item icon, you should have an icon that looks like a checklist. That will be your skill list, which you can acquire by leveling up or stumbling onto magic scrolls. There are few types of skills: magical, physical, and weapon, all of which cost SP to use." I moved on to the gloves next. "The further you travel from town, the stronger the monsters will get, so you should be fine if you don't venture off too far."

Finally, I slide my left arm through the straps of the buckler and tightened them to keep it from moving. I then attached the sheath of the sword to the left side of my hip. "These feel really nice. They practically don't weigh a thing, but did they really improve my defense?"

The blacksmith smiled. "Take a look at your stats now, kid."

I shrugged and opened my stats menu like before and took a look again, and to my surprise, they had increased.

Stats Lv 1

HP 180 SP 50
ATK 50 DEF 62
M.ATK 10 M.DEF 10
STR 40 AGI 100
END 60 LUC 5

"They didn't go up by much, but something is better than nothing, right?" I moved around to test the armour out, and much to my delight, it didn't seem to limit my mobility at all.

"Now for something a little extra." I turned to Tiff and watched as he grabbed six vials filled with a red liquid, setting them on the table. "These are potions that will help restore your HP when you're in a pinch." Next, he pulled out a golden compass and set it next to the potions. "And this is an atlas compass." Just as I was about to open my mouth, he held up a finger. "Before you ask, an atlas compass is basically a map that shows you where you have been, and sometimes where you need to go for quest missions."

'Something like this could make questing really easy.' However, I wasn't stupid enough not to see that something like that isn't something cheap. "So what's the catch?"

Tiffany let out a fake, exaggerated gasp as he held a hand to his chest, which looked incredibly silly coming from someone as tough-looking as him. "What? That’s kinda cold, kiddo. Here I am offering you a rare item from the bottom of my heart, and all you can say is, ‘What's the catch?’" He said, sounding like I hurt his feelings, to which I responded by raising my left eyebrow. "Okay, you got me. I'll give you the compass and potions if you help me with a request."

"A request? You mean like a quest mission?"

"That's right. You see, I need some items that a certain monster drops, and unfortunately, I have a lot of orders that still need working on, otherwise I would have gone out and done it myself." He reached his hand into his leather apron and pulled out a small brown book, which was about the size of a smartphone. "This here is an adventurer journal. It takes any information you've obtained and puts it into here. That includes the monsters you will encounter on your adventures." He motions for me to come closer as he looks through his book. "Ah, here we go. This is the monster I need you to hunt."

I leaned over and took a look at what kind of creature he was talking about. And to my slight disappointment, I saw what looked like a rabbit. "Bunnies? Are you kidding me?"

"They're not just bunnies. Those are called Almiraj, and they are what I need for you to hunt. I need two things from them: their skin to make more leather armor, and the stone hatchets they use."

I was a little surprised that those cute little bunnies could use weapons. "Wait, why would you want their stone hatchets? I wouldn't think they would be any use for an adventurer."

"Well, you're right that they wouldn't be good for a fight, but that's not what they are for. The stones they use for their weapons can be broken down to use for smithing." He then moved his finger down to tap on the words next to the image. "Now, keep in mind the fur pelts will always drop after you kill one, but the odds of getting one of their hatchets are a one-in-five chance. And I need thirty pelts and twenty hatchets."

"Hmmm. This seems like it would be a good starter quest. And since you were kind enough to give me the compass and potions, then I'd be happy to do it." He smiled, then he pulled up a screen and turned it to me.

Tiffany's request

30 Almiraj pelts
20 Almiraj stone hatchets

Do you accept

X O

I tapped on the red circle and accepted the quest. I then heard a small beeping noise come from the compass. I took it in my hand and watched as a three-dimensional map of the entire town appeared, then far off outside from the town was a red cursor pointing to a location I hadn't been to yet.

"That red cursor is where you will find the Almiraj. If you lose track of how many you collected, you can check the quest progression on your menu."

"Alright. I guess I better get going, then."I pick up the potions and watched as they disappear.

+5 Potion to inventory

'This is gonna take some getting used to.'

As I made my way through the town, I noticed that I was getting a lot of stares, probably due to the fact I'm the only human here. I saw ponies, griffins, and minotaurs, all of which were anthropomorphic.

As I walked out of town, I decided to look through my menu to get a feel for it. I looked through my skills list and saw that most of the spaces were blank. But after a few seconds of scrolling, I spotted a skill.

Flash Step
SP cost 10
Cover a small distance in the blink of an eye.

"Hmm. Flash Step...Sounds kinda cool. I wonder how I can get it to work?" I closed the menu and took a look at my surroundings. Ahead of me was a straight path with no foliage to trip me. I took my sword and drew a line in the ground, then stood behind it as I got into a runner stance. "Flash Step!!" For a split second, it felt like my skin was being pushed back and the world around me blurred before coming to a quick halt. The moment I stopped moving, I felt as though I was gonna fall over, but I quickly put my right foot forward to balance myself. I had to catch my breath as I felt my heart racing from the sudden shock. Looking back, I saw that I had moved three feet away from the line that I drew in the dirt. "Three feet. That's not bad."

I looked at the top left corner of my vision and saw that I had lost ten SP of my max fifty. I was concerned since I didn't have any potions to recover it, but to my surprise, I watched as it slowly started to refill itself. "Sweet! So SP refills over time? Hmmm. I wonder if it's the same for HP?" I had to keep this in mind should I take any damage. I pulled out my compass and saw that the red marker wasn't too far away. Luckily, my location is indicated by a blue arrow that turned as I did, so I knew which direction I was going in.

As I walked through the woods, I saw that the trees here didn't seem all that different from back home. The only difference was that the trees here seemed more vibrant. That wasn't the only thing that was different from home; the air seemed even fresher and cleaner.

SNAP!!

Almost as if it was on instinct, I quickly drew my sword and held my shield up, getting into a defensive position. My eyes focused on the bush where I heard the snapping sound came from. The bush started to rustle again and I mentally prepared myself for whatever may come out. I didn't have to wait long as a head poked out. However, instead of it being some wild monster, it turned out to be a bunny with white fur and red eyes. Its nose twitched a bit and looked at me before slowly bringing the rest of its body out, which was the size of any normal size bunny from my world. It walked on all fours and sniffed the ground as it came closer, and soon after, two more came from the same bush. They seemed to be just like any other normal bunnies. 'Are these really the monsters I'm supposed to hunt? Can you even call them monsters?' I then noticed that there was a health bar over each one of them with the name "Almiraj" above the HP bars. The rabbits stood up on their hind legs with their front paws behind their backs as they looked up at me, tilting their heads and letting out a sort of chirping noise.

'Aww. Do I really have to kill these guys? They're so cute."

But just as I was reconsidering taking this quest, the Almiraj pulled some stone hatchets from behind their backs and leapt into the air toward me with their weapons aimed at me.

'...Okay, less cute!!' Just before the evil little bunnies could get any closer, I quickly jumped back, only barely evading their little hatchets. "Okay you little buggers. I was gonna leave you alone, but now I'm gonna make you three into a mincemeat pie!!" I pushed off my back leg and lunged forward, slashing my sword at the bunny in the middle. I cut it in half, bringing its HP to zero, and watched it evaporate into thin air.

+1 Rabbit Pelt
+1 Rabbit Meat
Exp +2

As I regained my footing after cutting down the middle rabbit, the one off to my left charged forward, hatchet ready to come down. I quickly position my shield to intercept and thrust it forward, smashing into the rabbit's face and causing it to stagger. Not wanting to waste this chance, I quickly turned my body and thrust my sword into its belly, watching as it disappeared like the first.

+1 Rabbit Pelt
+1 Rabbit Meat
Exp +2

Before I could revel in my success for my combo move, I felt a stinging sensation on my right forearm. I looked over to see a cut on my arm made by the last Almiraj. I looked over to it, seeing that it was now sweating bullets and let out a loud gulp. "You done goofed, buddy." I pulled my right leg back and swung it forward as hard as I could into the little bunny, sending him flying into a nearby tree and watched it's body disappear.

+1 Rabbit Pelt
+1 Rabbit Meat
+1 Stone Hatchet
Exp +2

"So after killing three of those things, I only got one hatchet. Damn. That means I'm gonna have to kill more than twenty of these things if I want to complete the quest. No wonder Tiff had a hard time getting other adventurers to take this quest; the drop rate is low and the exp you earn from killing one is so small." I let out a long sigh and shrugged my shoulders. "Well, this is at least a good way to get used to fighting. Now all I have to do is get this cut cl-" To my surprise, the cut that I got earlier was no longer there, or any sign that I had been injured. Not even a scar. "Did it heal already?" Glancing up at my HP bar, I saw that only a small sliver of it was missing, and even that was slowly refilling. "Hmmm. So cuts heal at a fast rate, but the HP restores slowly. I wonder if there’s any items here that can help increase the speed of that?" While I was deep in thought, the sound of bushes rustling in the distance caught my attention. I turned to face the direction in which the sound came from and carefully made my way to follow it.

I stalked my way through the dense foliage as I followed the sound that was now up ahead. Poking my head out from the bushes, I saw in the distance four more Almiraj in the open. "Bingo, four more of those little buggers. Now then, how to go about killing them? Hmmm…" As I shifted my legs to get into a more comfortable position, my foot accidentally kicked a small stone against another, which got the Almirajs’ to turn in my direction, causing me to freeze in place. For a moment, I thought that they were about to charge toward me and I'd have to fight, but to my surprise, they didn't move a step.

"Wait, could it be?" I picked up one of the stones by my feet and carefully chucked it toward a bush that was closest to the bunny monsters. The response was immediate as they pulled out their weapons and turned to the bush where the stone had landed. "Looks like aggro is a thing here. Which means I could use this to my advantage." I took a long look at the surroundings and prepared my plan of action.

First, I picked up one more stone and tried to gauge the distance between me and my targets. 'Looks to be about seven feet away. I need to draw them in closer if I want this work.' I pulled my arm back and tossed the first stone at a tree that was about four feet from the demon bunnies. Just as planned, they quickly charged toward the tree, expecting an adventurer. 'And now they're within the strike zone!!" Pushing off my right leg, I lunged forward, my sword held high as I used my skill. 'Flash Step!!' In the blink of an eye, I was standing right in front of the cotton tailed vermin. They had no time to defend themselves as I swung my sword horizontally, easily cutting through all four in a single slash.

+1 Rabbit Pelt
+1 Rabbit Meat
+1 Stone Hatchet
Exp +2

+1 Rabbit Pelt
+1 Rabbit Meat
Exp +2

"Well, I got two of the hatchets this time, and out of four, that's a fairly good start." While I was happy that I had received more of the key items I needed for my quest, I couldn't help but let out a long groan. "But this is gonna take a long time to get this quest done."

For the next two hours, I searched through the forest hunting down as many Almiraj as I could find. The work was tedious and hard, but I was slowly getting the hang of it. What's more, my fighting skills were improving quite a bit. Every kill I made was done with precision and my movements were getting sharper the more I hunted. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of latent potential that I had and never knew of or that being on these islands was causing these sudden improvements. Either way, I was liking it and getting stronger with every fight.

With another slash of my blade, I had cut off the head of another Almiraj, and before I had a chance to see if I had gotten another hatchet, something popped in my field of vision.

Leveled Up!!!

Stats Lv 2

HP 210 SP 70
ATK 80 DEF 85
M.ATK 40 M.DEF 20
STR 60 AGI 125
END 90 LUC 5

"Well shit, would you look at that. I finally leveled up. And it only took me killing thirty of those long-eared devils to do it." I looked over my stats and saw that they hadn't gone up as much as I had wanted. "I guess something is better than nothing at all."

After admiring my new stats, I clenched and unclenched my hand a couple of times to see if something, anything felt different. 'Hmm. I don't feel stronger, or at least any different than normal.' I sheath my sword, moved my hands into a boxing stance, and tried to throw a few punches. And much to my surprise, the speed that my punch I threw was incredibly fast. Granted, it wasn’t enough to be considered superhuman, but maybe on par with a pro boxer. 'Maybe it's because by normal human standards, my strength was below average.'

I turn my attention over to a nearby tree and walk over to it. 'My defense and endurance got bumped up, so maybe...' Pulling my arm back, I clenched my fist and shot it forward, mentally preparing myself for the pain. When my fist collided with the tree, some of the bark scattered and left a small dent in the thick trunk. "Holy shit…I didn't feel a thing!" I took a look at my knuckles and saw there weren't any traces of bark or wood chippings. My knuckles weren't even red, like I never hit the tree at all.

"This is awesome! If I keep leveling up, I'm bound to get stronger. You know, fighting against those little demon bunnies doesn't sound too pointless now." And no sooner did I finish uttering that sentence, a group of Almiraj jumped out from some bushes nine feet to my right. This time, there were at least ten instead of three. "I guess this must be what's considered a horde. Well bring it on, ya wee little ankle biters! I'm itching to try out my new strength!"

As the Almiraj started to charge toward me, I quickly gripped my sword's handle, ready to draw it. But just as I was about to pull it out, the weirdest thing happened. The ground beneath the white-furred devils disappeared into a pit. I watched as they all fell down screaming, which were quickly silenced a few seconds afterwards.

"What in the world?" Curiosity got the better of me as I carefully and slowly made my way over to where I had seen them fall. To my surprise, I saw that they were inside a pit trap filled with spikes. "Tsh, that's bloody brutal." I almost felt guilty for the poor bastards...almost. When I leaned over to look down at them to see what would happen, their bodies disappeared.

+10 Rabbit Pelt
+10 Rabbit Meat
+4 Stone Hatchet
Exp +20

"Wait...I get the experience points AND the items they drop? Shit. Looks like I lucked out today." When I took a few steps away from the pit trap, I noticed that it was quickly covered in grass again, almost like it was never there to begin with.

"Hmm...I wonder." I pulled my sword out and ever so carefully tapped where the hole was. No sooner did the tip of my blade touch the grass, it quickly vanished and revealed the pit trap again. "A natural pit trap, huh?" Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my atlas compass and flipped it open to see if my hunch was right. Sure enough, on the map, there was a little image of a creature falling into a pit. "So it's like Monster Hunter? I guess I'd better be more careful where I step."

I opened my menu to check my quest progression. "Let's see how much of this quest is left."

Tiffany's request

30/30 Almiraj pelts
20/20 Almiraj stone hatchets

Return to Tiffany to complete quest.

"...oh. I guess I already got everything I need. Wow, today really is my lucky day." I couldn't help but let out a laugh in amusement and joy after finally completing my very first quest. Well, almost complete. "I guess I should head back to Tiff's if I want to really consider this a done deal…or I could maybe stick around and see about leveling up one more time." Though I know that I could just go back, complete the quest, and be done with it, I couldn't resist the temptation of trying out my newfound strength. "Just one more monster to see what I can do."

"Help! It's gonna kill us!!" A male voice called out from within the forest, getting my attention.

"This demon rabbit is gonna eat us!!" Another male voice called out.

"Wait, did they say rabbit? Heh, they're screaming over a little bunny? Well, seeing as I'm looking for a fight to test my strength, then I suppose I can try my luck against this so-called demon bunny." I quickly rushed over to where I heard the screams coming from.

I followed the screams to another clearing about half a mile west. I tried to pinpoint where the screams were coming from exactly, when… "Ahhhhhhh!!" Three earth ponies came running out from the bushes like they had a fire lit under their bums.

Two of the stallions were roughly about a foot taller than me, while the third was easily three feet taller. He had light tan fur, a black mane that, and a mustache that was connected to his sideburns. He was also incredibly muscular, even more so than Tiff, his outfit made him look like a barbarian since it looked like it was made out of brown fur. "Run, kid! That rabbit’s got a temper a mile wide!"

The three adventures ran so fast, they left a trail of dust behind, which unfortunately blinded me temporarily. "What's the big deal about some dumb old rabbit?" I coughed while trying to fan the dust away. Then I heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming from behind me and the sound of something snorting through its nose. Looking back, I could see that a rabbit with large fangs protruding from its mouth, snow white fur, and blood red eyes was standing behind me. Unlike the Almiraj, this rabbit stood five feet taller than me, and looked pissed as all hell.

Before I had any chance to regret my earlier comment, the beast lunged forward, swiping its paw at me and sent me flying back until I slammed into a nearby tree. The impact knocked the wind out of me and I saw that my HP had dropped down by seventy-five percent, leaving my heath bar in the red. "RRRRRREEEEEEE!!!" I heard the beast scream, which made my skin crawl. I got to my feet as fast as I could and started running as fast as I could. As I ran, I could hear the rabbit's feet thumping as it gave chase to me.

As I ran, I opened my menu, quickly took out a potion, and drank it, bringing up my health, but it wasn’t enough as it brought me back to barely half health. As I tried to drink another potion, the demon bunny popped right to my side and swung its paw at me. I was quick enough to jump to my side so I wouldn't take the full blow, but in the process, it smacked my potion out of my hands. "SHIT!"

I turned on my heels and bolted toward a group of trees, hoping to gain some distance. I bobbed and weaved my way around each tree, hearing the beast smashing its way through them as it gave chase, but my plan was sorta working as I managed to get some space between us. I took this opportunity to grab another potion and quickly drank it, bringing my HP to half. I tried to take another one, but in my haste, the bottle was knocked out of my hand by a low hanging tree branch. "Dammit, I only have one left!" I quickly downed my last potion, now putting me at seventy-five percent health. "Not that it matters, because if that over-sized rodent hits me again, I'm done for!"

I could still hear it roar and the vibrations of its paws stomping against the ground, and to make matters worse, I was starting to tire out. 'Dammit I can't keep outrunning that thing! I need a plan to either ditch it or kill it fast!' Pulling out my compass, I quickly opened it to see that I wasn't too far off from the town, but at the rate I was going, my stamina and strength would be spent before I could make it. 'Fucking damn it!! Isn't there anything I can do!?' I could hear the rabbit's steps getting louder and the sound of it grunting as it ran. My whole life flashed before my eyes. I could see my childhood spent at the orphanage, the days of hard labor I spent at work, all the way up to not just a few minutes ago when I saw that pit trap...wait! "That's it!" Glancing down at my map, I saw that the pitfall trap wasn't too far. That was it; my salvation and last chance for survival.

I looked where the trap was and quickly changed direction so that I was running toward it. When I looked back to see if the beast was still following me, I saw that it leapt up in the air and was about to come down on me with its fangs out, ready to dig into my flesh. Before it could impale me with its razor sharp fangs, I quickly sidestepped, causing it to crash into a nearby tree. "That's it, you stupid rabbit! Come and get me!!" It roared as it picked itself up and charged for me, now looking pissed beyond description. "Why do I keep taunting the creatures that want to kill me!?"

I was panting heavily, running as fast as my legs could carry my body as I bobbed and weaved my way through bushes and trees, all while trying my best to avoid the beast who was chasing me.

"Rrrreeeeeeee!!!!!"

Its terrifying scream gave my heart a fright, which made me pick up the speed. "Almost there! Just a few more feet till I reach it!" I screamed as I checked my compass to see how much further I was from my destination. Soon, I broke out of the forest and into an open area, where I saw my target not two feet away. "Almost...there!" I turned my head to look back, daring to see how close the beast was, only to see that it was right behind me before leaping toward me. The world slowed down as I stared at its blood red eyes and snow white fur, it's long floppy ears, and buck teeth. "Am I really gonna die to an overgrown rabbit!?"

Well, it looks like you're all caught up. Don't worry, I won't be doing these often like I mentioned earlier. But now let's continue, shall we? Oh, I'm so excited! I wonder what's gonna happen...I mean, I don't need to wonder since it's my story, but you guys don't know what's gonna happen next, so….yeah, I'll shut up now. Enjoy.

"Flash Step!!" Just as its fangs were about to sink into my flesh, my body quickly accelerated, moving me out of harm's way and past the pitfall trap. I turned to look back in time to see the beast trigger the trap, its body falling down into the pit where I could hear the spikes impaling its body, forcing a pain-filled screech from it before ultimately dying down.

I waited a few seconds, waiting to see if anything else might happen. When nothing happened, I slowly crept my way over to the edge of the trap and peered down to see that the beast was indeed dead. After a few seconds of waiting, the body disappeared.

Leveled Up!!!

Stats Lv 5

HP 510 SP 200
ATK 110 DEF 130
M.ATK 60 M.DEF 50
STR 90 AGI 150
END 120 LUC 5

+1 Demon rabbit pelt
+1 Lucky rabbit's foot
+1000 bits
+1000 EXP

I just stood there in shock and awe as I leveled three times, but more so that I actually survived. I was so relieved that my legs gave out from under me and fell flat on my ass. For a while, I sat there, trying to take it all in. "Well…this has been one hell of a first day in my new life." I chuckled as I felt more alive than I've ever felt.

Author's Note

Hey there guys I hope you enjoyed this chapter. First special thanks to my editor Codex92 for helping me edit this story and stay strong and to keep writing.

Now as mentioned in the long discreption this is my first time trying to write a story like this and believe me when I say it was long and hard.(Bow chicka bow wow.)

Now I mentioned some anime characters and weapons will make appearances in this story. You may know some, but there might be some you don't.

Here at the end of my author's note I'll help you better understand what some of them look like.

Tiffany is actually Agil from Sao abridged. I went with Tiffany purely for thr joke and and I'm sticking to it X3

The three characters you saw running away from the demon rabbit are Zonge.

And his two companions. Shusaku Shirakawa.

And Manabu Sakamaki
These three are from the anime Toriko.

So if you guys want to make suggestions on what I can add or improve on when it comes to the stats and rules you've seen so far please leave a comment down bellow.

Also yes I know that if an orphan doesn't have a name when they are brought to the orphanage they are given certain names, but this is a fanfiction. Please don't take it too seriously.

Well that wraps things up here. Hope to hear from your guys soon