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.