[Transport Complete.]
[World: Danmachi]
"dan-what-now?" I couldn't help but verbally ask, receiving no response. from the system. Instead, a window popped up.
[Daily Quest]
[#1: Run 10 Miles.]
[#2: Walk 20 Miles]
[#3: Swing sword 8,000 times.]
[Reward: 200 XP. 1 Point.]
[Summoner's Leveling Quest]
[#1: Kill one hundred enemies with a familiar.]
[#2: Level one familiar to Level Ten.]
[#3: Summon 5 or more familiars. 3/5]
[Reward: Summoner Rank 2. 1 Point.]
The daily quest looked miserable. Running one mile was already horrible enough. Now I'm expected to run nearly half a marathon in one day, and walk twenty miles? The eight thousand swings could be done in a day, I wasn't debating that. At least there didn't seem to be any punishment for not completing a Quest.
I looked around my surroundings. Large walls were erected to my left, a tower within those walls reaching so high, it went past the skies. The air smelled cleaner, the environment looked healthier, and my body felt relaxed on the soft tall grass that I was sitting on. 'Danmachi, where have I heard that name from?'
It sounded familiar, but honestly, I couldn't make any real connections in my brain.
With what I presumed to be a large city behind those walls, I already had a destination in mind. The fact that it was a decent ways away was also great, considering I could workout out my body with the armor I have on via walking.
I heard a squeak within my mind, which I instinctively knew to be Aria trying to get my attention. "I guess the system makes it so that we are connected mentally. I can more or less guess your intent when you squeak."
Or maybe it was because Aria was now my familiar.
Likewise, I could feel pay pups' emotions as well, which made me happy. I did my best for them, but I feel that being able to understand your pet's intent would make life so much simpler, and vice versa. As naturally as I breathed, I brought out all three of my Familiars, both pups running around the grass, while Aria remained perched on my shoulder, not liking the sun too much, but tolerating it. "Lily, Gretta, you can play once we get past those walls, and into the city. For now, please keep your eyes out. I don't know what's out here in this world."
despite their puppy appearance, the two dogs were still in their late human teen years, which... For Gretta would be her mid eighties, and for Lily... early nineties.
"Man, you girls are old. At least you have youthful appearances now," I happily said, as we began to travel towards the walled up city.
Step by step we got closer to our destination, the heat from the sun soaking into the padded leather tabard I wore, alongside, my surcoat, making me sweat. It was good, not in the sense of me enjoying it, but with the mindset of constantly improving my overall capabilities, and endurance.
Numerous times, Aria conveyed wanting to just use her Shadow Passage skill, but I shot it down. The Spirit wanted to be useful, which I appreciated, but they also needed to know that I was prioritizing my own growth as well.
We finally reached the dirt path, carriages being pulled by horses passing by me, and my familiars, the people on them looking at Aria with interest.
I couldn't blame them. Before I was given a system, I had never seen an owl in person, let alone a great spirit taking the form of an owl. Aria had their own pride, flapping its wings in a proud manner, whenever they were glanced at.
"God, how did soldiers march in formation with this crap on?" I wondered aloud. The armor alone, while light in comparison to knight armor, or plated armor, was still heavy, the sheathed broadsword on my left side, and wooden shield slung over my back didn't help with the weight too. I was just lucky that Aria didn't seem to have any weight.
The dirt path turned to cobbled stone, as I walked on the far right side, seeing a small line of carriages. Guards stood at the front, the majority of them wearing odd clothes, and elephant-like masks on their faces, spears ready in their hands that let everyone know they meant business.
It was odd attire, but far be it from me to judge someone else's culture.
I waited patiently in line, my pups and Aria doing the same. As the Carriage in front of us went in, I moved up to the front, the guards eying me carefully. "Good Morning," I greeted the two tanned individuals, their spears looking quite high quality up close. "Good morning, Sir. What brings you to Orario?" The man on the left asked. 'Orario? That sounds so familiar. . .' I thought, before focusing back in on the present. "I'm looking for work. Truth be told, I had no where else to go, so I just walked towards these walls, figuring a city would be beyond them."
They didn't seem to take issue with my reasoning, nodding their head. "Righto. Do you have any Documentation? Perfectly fine if not, we get a lot of country folks coming here, looking to become adventurers." I shook my head, taking off my kettle helm, and mail coif to show my face. "I don't have any documentation. I apologize. These animals, my armor, and my sword and shield are the only things I have to my name," I spoke honestly, seeing no point in trying to decieve them.
"Thank you for your honesty. If you'll step to the left, my fellow familia member, Ardi will happily assist you in getting your documents."
I looked towards his fellow ally, seeing a young girl in her mid teens with blue hair, and a style that, while odd, didn't match the same odd style of the two others. "Hello! I'm Ardi Varma. My Big Sister is the Captain of the Ganesha Familia. Come right over here, I'll help you get your stuff sorted out," she happily said, giving me a kind, welcoming smile.
I was really liking this world so far.
I did as I was told, following her to a little work station she had set up on the side. "Alright, First off, Name. I hope you have one."
"Alexander Marquez. Let me spell it out for you," I told her, quickly spelling it. "Unique last name, Alex. I don't think I've met someone with your last name before," she said, her hand writing far better than mine. "It's my dad's last name. Pretty common where he's from, actually. Nice to see it's unique over here," I said, before we continued on.
She continued on asking me questions about who I was, and where I was from, to which I answered without issue. The mention of my hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan threw her off, but I guess she could tell I wasn't lying, like the guards on the right.
When we finished, all I had to do was sign my name on a copy of her paper, and my own. "Great! Welcome to Orario! I hope you find the job you're looking for! And if you don't find it, well, I'm sure there are familias that would scoop someone like you up, especially with that Beautiful Owl you have."
Aria most definitely loved the compliment, flapping her wings proudly, and giving Ardi a "Hoo," which made the young girl giggle. "I hope you have a good one, Ms. Varma. Maybe we'll meet each other again soon. Who knows," I said, waving bye to her, as I walked past the gate, and into the City Country of Orario.
The place was surprisingly gorgeous, like a mix of both modern elements, and fantasy elements, combined in a way that prioritized the fantasy over the technological aspects, while still providing the conveniences that came with modern technology, such as the street lamps.
I really dig the feel of this place. I could see myself being comfortable here, not that I would abandon the system and getting stronger. I walked through the streets, no one finding my attire, or weaponry out of the norm. Instead, they seemed to find my outfit cool, Aria once again getting bathed in attention as well.
I didn't have a clear goal in mind, to be honest. I knew I needed money if I was going to find a place to stay, but, I didn't know where I could get a job, or even where to go for a room.
So, I continued to just walk around, passing by a building that had "GUILD," Boldly inscribed on the front entrance of the building, elevated just above the doors. "sounds like some adventuring stuff. I probably have to pay a fine in order to get a rank or whatever." It was standard fantasy logic. There was always a fee in order to get an adventuring tag. Though, the mention of Adventurers, and Familias did come up a lot.
My thoughts were disrupted, as I felt someone smaller than me tug on the lower skirt of my tabard. A blonde girl, maybe nine to ten years old was tugging on my tabard, her golden, deadpan stare looking up towards me. "Spirit," she said, her lack of emotion in her tone, matching the gaze of her eyes. "Pardon?" I questioned.
Just then, a woman with long, green hair, and long elven ears appeared. "Ais, you can't go tugging on strangers' clothes," she said with a sigh, grabbing the girl's free hand. "Sorry, Sir. She's a bit curious about things. You know how children are," she said, though, her gaze looked about as curious as the girl acted. "It's no problem, Miss. She mentioned something about a spirit," I told the elf, whose eyes slightly widened. I glanced back down towards the girl, my smile soft. It clicked in my head what she was talking about, Aria was visible for all to see. "I'm surprised. I didn't think anyone would be able to recognize a Great Spirit, let alone casually bring them up."
I patted the girls head. Truly, she was gifted if she could see that this owl was far more than just a simple familiar.
This time, the elf spoke. "A Great Spirit? I apologize, but the notion... Well, it seems hard to believe. All known Spirits have humanoid appearances."
I looked towards Aria, who squeaked in protest to the Elf's words. "perhaps Aria's domain gives her a different form. they are, after all, a Great Sprit of The Hunt, not a simple concept such as the wind, or fire."
Aria hopped off my shoulder, landing on the girl, and nuzzling her beak against the girl's cheek. "They quite like you. I can feel their emotions. You must have a natural gift for spirits," I told the girl, a small smile on her face, despite her eyes still seeming dead.
Odd, but cute in a way.
I turned towards the Elf. "Apologies. My name is Alexander Marquez. I just arrived in Orario, and was wandering around a bit," I said, extending my hand forward. She seemed hesitant at first. Perhaps a cultural thing? "Apologies, do elves not like touching others?" I questioned, seeing her eyes open a bit more. "It is no problem. It is not your fault that you are not familiar with the culture of another race. Us Elves and High Elves typically live a reclusive life. We're far more... Conservative with such things."
She glanced back down at Aria, and Ais, the former lightly playing with the latter's hair. I could feel what felt like familiarity from Aria, something I didn't know she would experience. "Riveria Ljos Alf, and it is nice to meet you as well. If I may, were you looking to find a familia to join?"
There's the mention of this "Familia" thing again. I guess now was the perfect opportunity to ask about it. "To be quite honest, I do not know what a Familia is, Miss alf, or is it Ljos Alf? I'm not too good with fancy names, and how to properly address someone with those names."
She lightly giggled. "Riveria. I do not like using my Surname for many things. I am an Adventurer, not a princess." She said, before continuing. "As for what a familia is, I am truly surprised you do not know, but nonetheless, I will explain it to you. A familia is a collective of individuals who obtain a blessing from a God, or Goddess, granting them the status of an Adventurer, which allows them to grow beyond what their bodies would have been capable of without a blessing. Adventurers typically go into the dungeon, and kill monsters to slowly collect Excelia to level up to the next rank."
I nodded my head as she explained it. Honestly, it sounded exactly like my system, only a god directly blesses you, and you follow the rules of a guild that likely follows the god's will. "Are people without blessings able to enter the dungeon?" I asked her. "Well, sure, but it would be suicide to enter without Falna. Even the lowest of the lowest monsters are still about as good as an adult human male."
"Thank you for the information, Ms. Riveria. I will make good use of it. As for whether I'm looking for a familia, maybe. I think I may see how I fare without Falna first." My response caused the elf to narrow her eyes. "I do not think that is a wise choice, Mr. Marquez. Perhaps you would be interested in joining the Loki Familia? You seem to have a talent for Spirits, judging by your owl, here."
Gretta, and Lily barked at Riveria, causing her to look down. "They're spirits too. Very intelligent despite their appearances. Good girls too," I told Riveria, patting the pups' heads. "As for your offer, well, maybe. I hope it doesn't come off as rude, but I would much rather figure some things out first. I'm sure your Familia is wonderful."
I wasn't ready to make any choices like that. Especially considering I had just found out that there are gods down here, one of them being Loki. Maybe he was like the Loki from God of War, or Loki after he redeemed himself in Marvel.
Regardless, the answer would stay the same for now. I recalled my familiars, all of them transforming into light, and being sucked into me. Having them out drains mana, so, I figured I might as well pull them back in for a bit, regain my mana for the dungeon. "I should be on my way. It was nice meeting you both. I'm glad Aria could meet someone besides myself that they could get along with," I commented, Ais' smile not leaving. "She," the girl declared, making me raise a brow. "Thank you. Me and her have only met just recently, so, I was still unaware of her gender," I told the girl, who gave me a nod.
"It was a pleasure as well. I do hope you remain vigilant within the dungeon. I suggest not going beyond the first floor, Mr. Marquez. There are three monsters are the first floor, one of them not being hostile, and incredibly rare. Goblin, and Kobolds are the main threat. Goblins are the weakest. With your shield and sword, I'd suggest letting them strike first, and then stabbing them. For Kobolds, they are a bit faster than Goblins, and have razor sharp claws, and jaws that can tear flesh easily, if one is not careful. Dodge, and aim for the chest, right on the sternum. Should kill them with minimal effort."
I smiled. Truly, she seemed like a good person. Offering advice to someone she didn't know, extending a welcoming hand to join her group. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed that she was a mother keeping an eye on a child. "Thank you, Riveria. I will take into account all of that. Please have a good day, and you too, Ais," I told them, before walking off.
The next stop would be the dungeon.