Chapter 9 – Deja Vu

June 18, 2019 8:37 AM

- The Next Day -

Following the visit to the shady crackpot of a man’s outlet, Shousuke had settled on mastering her [Spiritual Telepathy] in part of the book’s guide on communicating with spirits. Due in part because she needed to fulfill Puck’s daily condition, but also because she wanted to be able to communicate with the spirits directly and gain information out of them. So far she’s only been able to manage to talk to the spirits and supply them with mana via [Essence Discharge] and even that was a strenuous task due to her ineptitude when it came to guiding the mana throughout her attribute core or [Corpus of Sorcery] as the book refers it. She had thought that she had had complete control over her mana but the book’s guide to the [Spiritual Arts] had proved to be a whole new level of arcane prowess. Intricate runes had filled leaflets with conceptual texts to accompany it. Sighing in frustration, she had shut the book in exasperation and slumped her head over it, drained of energy. She had gotten up early to early to adapt to her newly formulated female hygiene routine and maintenance and was just wearing a camisole and pajama pants to accompany it. She also had done some of her previous workout regiment as Puck’s terms had clearly stated that she needed to do some sort of physical activity every morning and before going to bed.

“Why are these spells so hard to learn despite the fact that I could cast Puck’s improvised magic with ease? Is there something I’m missing or is it because I’m incapable of using this magic?” Shousuke has wavered, as the spirits around her had corralled her in an affectionate way. She had smiled at the display of amativity, as they dotted around her in radiant dances. ‘I kind of understand now why Emilia had cherished her contracted spirits so much. They’re both a sight to behold, and something she wanted to protect.’

Eventually, she had packed the book back into a backpack she had originally purchased for her college courses, now repurposed to use on her expedition to this World Mage’s Association hideout. In the bag was the [Astral Firmament and the Divine Plane of Midgard], the book she had spent browsing through with curious intent on her drive back to the dorms.

- Flashback to previous day -

“The [Divine Tree of Plaeveathra] is the overture of creation for all life in existence. Within its dominion, it had harnessed and channeled the divine essence of Elysium and has bestowed the benevolence of granting mana to all life forms. In time of need, the tree requires souls to guided by Qenja, the Goddess of Creation, to fervently grant protection under the auspices of its sanctum from the Gods of Destruction and their cataclysmic Age of Turmoil.” Shousuke had sounded off when she articulated some of the lore behind the tree, seated on the passenger’s seat. They had eventually made their way to their vehicle to drive back to the dorms albeit slightly burned out from totting around the backbreaking books. “Sounds like a bunch of Norse drivel if you ask me.”

“I don’t know, perhaps there might be more to the tree when we actually see it for ourselves.” Puck had affirmed, as he studied some of the runes within the texts. There had been something sacred about how the runes in the book that were plotted among the pages, yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Are they sure they didn’t mix up Yggdrasil with whatever this tree was called again?” Adam had inquired, confounded by how obvious this quasi-tree had been reminiscent of Yggdrasil.

“Yggdrasil didn’t need souls to rejuvenate itself. It was the anchor for the Nine Worlds and root of their creation. Besides, isn’t Yggdrasil one of the first to fall during Ragnorak?” Shousuke had pointed out, trying recall some of the parts of Norse Mythology her literature class back in Secondary School had read over. Puck had mused on the topic, wanting to compare it to the Flugel Tree back in Lugnica but decided to not mention it. Flugel wasn’t a god, but he still an immensely powerful mage that was capable of sealing Satella.

“Not certain, there were many things that happened throughout the entire event and the Norns are the Paul Revere of the tale.” Adam had interjected, slightly becoming immersed on the topic.

“Whatever the case may be, all we can go on right now is that the Mage’s Associate probably wants to use the tree as leverage for something. The question is what or why.” Shousuke had stated, citing how Geoffroy wanted to use her soul as a gift for the tree once she had died. Her gut instincts had told her that there was something much bigger going on than she was lead to believe.

- Back to present day -

“A Mage Guild, a Yggdrasil knockoff, Secret Organizations, and a boatload of questionable life decisions. Could my life not get any more problematic?” Shousuke’s mind had groaned at the notion that she was just a fish in the pool for what was to come. After taking a bated breath, she had decided to concoct a checklist of what she could have possibly needed for the quest. She had flicked out her pencil out of her pen holder and started jotting down essentials for the guild visit just in case things turned south.

“Hmmm, I will probably need a knife, a notebook, some snacks and water, a lighter, my phone, a can of lard, and some clothes just in case. Adam can help me get some of this stuff improvised, but its better to go prepared than to go impromptu.” She had contemplated, slightly content with her checklist despite how much of an amateur she was when it came to survival. Up until this point, she had lived a slightly spoiled life after all. After briefly sketching up a ‘master-plan’ of sorts, she had shifted over to reading through her Twitter feed on her phone. More specifically to Teppei Nagatsuki’s account.

“Oh nice, a promotional event for a Re.Zero OVA is about to take place next week. It’s kind of awkward looking through this feed as the literal embodiment of Emilia. But hey, there’s could be worse things, right?  Hmm, I wonder what his reaction would be to actually meeting his creation in real life?” Shousuke had pondered over her situation, as stray spirits had gathered around her to seek affection from her, slightly trying to ram themselves after her. Their ethereal nature had caused them to phase through her arm, nevertheless relentlessly so. ‘Looks like the spirits are starting to get hungry again. It only I could actually hear what they were saying.’

Giving in, she had started to siphon out mana via [Essence Discharge] and watched in slight amusement as the spirits had scrambled for whatever mana their little tendrils could get their hands on. ‘Just like hungry children.’ She had mused over the display of festivity and happiness present in their intricate dances of satisfaction.

She had made her way over to the living room, to where the TV was conveniently displaying the weather information about a 70% chance of thunderstorms much to her coincidence. Adam who was seated on his recliner, had shifted his gaze over to her entrance, with an amused expression plastered across his face.

“Looks like Frozen Elsa has finally decided to convene with us in the living room. Well, did you make use of that little guide book the clown had given us?” Adam had inquired, slightly taking a swipe at Shousuke’s female form. Shousuke had frowned at the jest, but decided to take it upon herself to shift focus on to the topic at hand.

“Had all day yesterday trying to wrap my head around how the magic in that manual had worked. There seems to be something convoluted going on about the runes and glyphs drawn in the pages to the point where even Puck was of no help in that regard. The mana affinity is there, but there is something that is holding me back from freely using it.” Shousuke had informed, slightly disgruntled at her failures despite having followed the instructions within the texts to the very letter.

“They’re either high leveled spells, or the clown is messing with you. Either way, at least you’re lucky when it comes down to having magic. Can’t get a beat on mine at all.” Adam had stated, slightly envious that his friend had been gifted with something he still couldn’t give out how to manipulate.

“I hate to be a buzzkill, but have you considered that you may not have an affinity to magic?” Shousuke had insinuated, noting her friend’s perseverance in getting to know whether or not he could use magic.

“Never hurts to try. That guy managed to use magic and he’s human. What’s stopping me from doing the same?” Adam had argued, it was only natural that he would succumb to the temptation of trying something he’s never done before. After-all, it was the root of human instinct.

“Well, we’ll know sooner or later whether or not you have an affinity to magic. I would have asked Puck to appraise you, but seeing how much we’ve been wrapped in the scheme of things. Let’s just say that it probably wasn’t a priority at the time.” Shousuke had stated, trying to direct efforts somewhere else for a change. Something about how Adam was persistent to channel mana through his body the very same way she had been instructed to do, yet failed had bugged her. ‘Is there more than what meets the eye? Perhaps humans who are not related to the mage’s society might not be able to tap into their essence naturally unlike elves or other fantasy races would.’

“He’ll be coming out at any moment anyways. Besides, it’s my fault for not opening up about it.” Adam had added, slightly vexed that he didn’t even think to approach the topic of capability. He had been rather Gung Ho about the prerequisites when it mana and wanting to do it independently. Right on cue, a streamline of mana particles had molded themselves into a rather familiar form for the duo. Puck had burst out in a display in bright blue sparks as he laid atop of a hammock of ice with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Well if it isn’t Mr Bigglesworth himself.”

“I would have gone back to sleep if I had to wake up to this.” Puck had uttered, his grin had turned into a frown at the sight of Adam’s company albeit oblivious to the jest. Shousuke had frowned at the misuse of the Austin Powers reference but had let it slip this time around. “Good morning Emilia, did you have any luck on mastering the [Spiritual Telepathy] I taught you the other day?” Shousuke had shook her head in doubtfulness.

“I don’t know for sure, but it looks likes you might have taught me an improvised version of the spell. Trying to channel my mana essence through my [Corpus of Sorcery] had not only drained me of my mana reservoir but it had stifled my progress as well. Whatever convoluted process Geoffrey had used to form or outsource these books were probably purposely designed to throw me off balance while being left trying to wallow in my own failures.” Shousuke had indicated, Puck had assessed the books affinity emission and couldn’t detect any anomalies since yesterday under Shousuke’s nose. “Are you sure that these things are the real deal? I know you had confirmed it yesterday that these things are the genuine artifact and even cited some of the spirit’s testimonies, but there must be something more going on here.”

“I can say for certain that they’re real. The spirits have confirmed that the runes and glyphs drawn, were tied directly to the scholars who have dedicated themselves to the [Spiritual Arts]. Look at the emblem running across the top page of the back cover.” Puck had pointed towards an intricate design running across the page that read (Solomon Haukesworth, Distinguished Spiritual Arts Practitioner and Hero who defeated Vaekras Haggard during The Judgement Era. 1857-1912) ‘Well whoever this is person was, they’re long gone now. Looks like they might have fought someone significant too as well.’ Shousuke had mulled over to herself, as she ran her fingers along the etched emblem of the book. She had delicately closed the book as she shifted topics pertaining to Adam’s situation.

“Puck, can you do me a favor? I want you to see if Adam has any affinities to any of the elements or schools of magic. It might help us in the long run if we were to have each our own set of powers and worked together.” Shousuke had suggested as she raised flared up her mana reserves she had absorbed from her surroundings. She could clearly siphon her [Water Magic] with ease as she envisioned and weaved the mana into her desired form. Yet when it came to mastering a set of contrived spells, it had drawn her out to her wit’s end. ‘Maybe it’s best to just rely on my imagination for now.’

Puck had seemed hesitant at first, but quickly gave in as he assessed Adam, due to Emilia’s puppy eyes that had compelled him. An aura had consumed him as he meditated with the surrounding spirits for an interval of time before reopening his eyes to stare straight through Adam’s being. Eventually he had recollected himself as he exhaled slightly, his face redirected towards Emilia.

“He’s capable with some of these [Transmutation Spells] the spirits had mentioned to me from what I could scope out of him, but that’s all I find from his essence. His core is still not unlocked though, as that would probably require a [Shard of Exteria] to open it up for him.” Puck had stated, much to both Shousuke and Adam’s abstract curiosity. ‘How much has this little cat learned since he’s been here? The spirits seem to be spoon-feeding him information left and right, and is leaving us to bite the dust. Wouldn’t it be easier to learn magic from him rather than having to go to the Mage’s Association?’ They had both had contemplated simultaneously, Adam was the first to conform with reality and bring up his issue at hand.

“You said that I needed to have was someone to use this [Shard of Exteria] on me to unlock my magic? Question is, where do you find it?” Adam had interjected, wanting to cut the chase. He was slightly disappointed that his only affinity he had was within the realm of Transmutation magic, but he had decided that it would be better to come to terms and be grateful for it than to not be capable with any magic at all.

“I don’t know… The spirits had said that most of the shards were artificially produced by World Mage’s Associate along with many other rogue and independent magicians. They are very rare to find in nature and are said to be even rarer than diamonds. Mining them can be especially troubling too.” Puck had disputed, much to Adam’s displeasure.

“Back to square one I guess. Looks like we have no choice but to tag along with the clown to the Mage’s Association.” Adam had stated, slightly disgruntled that he would have no means of protecting himself or Shousuke in dire straits.

“I had spend some part of my morning formulating an essential checklist of the things we’ll need to bring along with us. Just in case if things go south.” Shousuke had reaffirmed, implying that Adam wasn’t the only person who mind had proactively mulling over the uncertainty of Geoffroy’s invitation. Satisfied with the improvised checklist she had drawn up, she then handed it over to Adam who had in turn, carefully scrutinize it. He had jeered at some of the things she had concocted, as he wrote off someone of the woeful ideas that she had devised.

“This looks like a checklist that was conjured up in a Boy Scout’s Troop meet, but hey it’s a start... I think it would be better to leave the actual survival tools to me.” Adam had boasted, as Shousuke had pouted at the implication of her fallibility and naivety. Eventually standing up, Shousuke had lolloped over to the kitchen. The discussion and meditation had drained her of energy causing her newly constituted appetite to flare up. It was also her turn to make food this time around as both Shousuke and Adam had initially agreed on setting up a schedule on who gets to cook on each day.

Puck had been blown away by the sight of his Daughter cooking for herself for the first time when he had initially come to this world without any help. It was his duty after all to look after her but now he felt at a loss with how much his daughter had grown to be independent no doubt due to the soul that had merged with her. He had drifted over to Shousuke’s room to pick up something. Ultimately, Shousuke had settled on an Omurice recipe that she had learned from her stepmother back in Japan. She had gotten out all the required ingredients consisting of eggs, rice, chicken stock, onions, mushrooms, a carrot, frozen peas, salt and pepper, canola oil, and ketchup; and had assorted them of into individual subcategories for the recipe that served 2 people. With a quick pounce in her step, she had quickly diced and had finely cut up all the vegetables and had heated up a frying pan with the vegetable oil along with the rice in a separate rice cooker sequentially. She had cracked the eggs in a bowl, along with a douse of water into a small mixing bowl, and had sequentially poured the contents into the pan while swirling the eggs around the pan. She had eventually perfected the round shape of the omelet before she added the finished touches of the rice, ketchup and vegetables. Satisfied with her outcome, she had eventually served both omelets on plates and had handed one over to Adam, who had drifted over to the kitchen to watch her cook throughout the whole process.

They had sat down upon the marble counter-top that the dorm had supplied to all of their tenants. Adam’s eyes had drifted up her figure as she sat next to him rather close, Shousuke’s amethyst eyes and silver hair had beamed bright from the godrays emitting from the windows. His heart rate had slightly quickened from his lustful tendencies at the sight of the girl, but had quickly composed himself as he let his feelings reside.

“So, do the spirits know anything about the World Mage’s Association? Or rather, where they live?” Shousuke had inquired to Puck, curious about the setting in which the Mage’s Association resided.

“They don’t know where they are now, but all they know is that they seem to dwell in underground robust metropolises centered around the roots of the Divine Tree.” Puck had expressed rather tensely, unsure of how organization was structured as he brushed through Shousuke’s hair to style it for the day. He had picked up the hairbrush along with a hair tie when he had drifted over to Shousuke’s room earlier. Shousuke had drawn an abated sigh from the remark as she took a sip of her orange juice as Puck had started to braid some of her hair. Adam had raised an eyebrow at the display but said nothing of it.

“Figures that they’ll try to keep their infrastructure a secret especially considering how Geoffroy had mentioned that there were many organizations out there that want to kill mages off. So that probably also means that we’re going in there blind with no way to scout ahead.” Shousuke had concluded, as she grooved into her omelet gently with her fork and knife and ate it.

“Honestly, I think the organizations at this point should be the least of their worries. If I become an unmitigated factor in which they’ll want to have complete control of, but can’t. Then they’ll have more on their plate to contend with than a simple renegade with a magic hat, if they try anything on you.” Puck had reassured, albeit boastful about his power despite how influential the Mage’s Association seemed to be. Shousuke had drawn an abated sigh at the implication

“Puck, we’re not going there to cause trouble. What I simply want is answers and to live out my life in peace.” Shosuke had insisted, although lying about her real intentions about wanting to go to the Mage’s association.

“Awww, that’s no fun. I just want to show them that Emilia and Puck are a force to be reckoned with when we work together.” Puck had boasted, much to Shousuke’s slight annoyance. The spirits around her had danced jubliantly at the suggestion to as well. ‘Not you guys too.’ She pondered, not noticing that Puck had taken a swipe at some of Shousuke’s omelet, trying it out for himself. His eyes had lit up in bliss once his teeth had nibbled on the delicacy as he raised up a paw to his cheek.

“So good...” He had mused as he reminisced on the meals that his daughter had made for the trio. Puck did not need food in order to survive but his taste buds of when he was human had remained the same. They had especially have been amplified two fold by the another unprecedented change within the mere introduction to this world. Eventually Shousuke had caught on to the act but didn’t say anything partially because she wasn’t planning to eat that much to begin with.

They had eventually had put off the discussion on the Mage’s Association and had started discussing some of the key elements of the newest Elden Ring trailer that had recently had been presented at E3 while they had finished up their meal. Apparently, the game was going to have a much vaster open world space to explore according to a small spoonful of information posted across various Reddit posts. Both Shousuke and Adam were major fans of the Soulsborne games to the point where they nearly knew every glitch for speedrunning in each of the games. The mere introduction of a new possible Soulsborne game had drove their hype meter up by 1000% since Fromsoftware had been consistent in pumping out high quality games into the market with a ton of lore to galvanize over. Puck had listened intently to the conversation but had no idea what the story behind some of the games they were talking about where. Although some of the settings that these games took place in did not seem like friendly places to settle down in. Shousuke on the other hand, had even wanted to try re-imagine some of the sorceries the games had introduced with her [Corpus of Sorcery] but she was afraid of destroying the interior of the dorm so she had settled on the matter for later.

The trio had wrapped up their breakfast, albeit much to Puck’s trepidation as they were gearing up to go to the outpost where the eccentric man had host them in. The man was very dangerous, and deceiving but in spite of all that, they did not have a choice in the matter either. Courteous, yet slightly disgruntled, Puck had drifted over to the dresser in Shousuke’s room to pick out her outfit for the day. He had settled on a white low cut blouse and black jean set along with a new pair of white Skechers she had found the other day. Shousuke had insisted that since this metropolitan would be underground, the it would be wise to take with her a jacket. Puck had obliged to it as she settled with a black hoodie with various pink stripes streaking across the outfit. Satisfied, she had rounded up all the essentials that they were going to need and had put them in her backpack. She had to lug the books to the living room though as there wasn’t enough room for them to be stored in the bag.

“You ready to go?” Adam had inquired, as he was placing a hunter’s knife within his dufflebag. She had nodded in affirmation, as the trio had filed out through the backdoor and straight back into their truck although strained by the weight of the books. It was a somewhat peaceful, fluid ride through the heart of Stanford University and towards the location that they met the eccentric man in Redwood city. Although a crash along the way had somewhat stifled their journey up to Redwood once they had turned at the intersection between El Camilo Real and Sand Hill Road. Eventually they had made their way towards Red Wood City and to the outlet’s location that alley. They had parked their truck somewhat distant from the location though just in case someone tried to steal it, as they had found out that the location was a hotspot for car theft. Many times, they had had their parts salvaged and sold on the blackmarket but were never traced. The distances they had to tote the books though the alley had felt like an episode of Desperate Housewives. By the time they had gotten to their destination, both Adam and Shousuke had felt washed out and left gasping for air. Geoffroy had noticed the duo nearly fainting and had rushed at them in a blinded speed to stabilized them before consecutively setting them down on the chairs up by the desk.

“Ahhh, my apologies Mademoiselle… It seems that you have decided to reconvene here along Monsieur Adam but my gift to you might have been rather unsuitable for someone of your physique.” Geoffroy had stated worriedly, with a subtle implication that he had trifled with his guests.

“What… are those… books made out of?” Adam had decided to interjected, both trying to catch his breath and lamenting him. Geoffroy on the other hand had tilted his head at the notion.

“Well, since they were summoned from the ethereal plane of [Conjuration], it would only be natural that they would be made out of the finest cut of mana the Divine tree has to offer.” Geoffroy had stated, both caring and slightly condescendingly. Puck had hovered over to Shousuke to nurture her, subduely supplying with mana essence to revitalize her. Shousuke had recovered from the arduous venture. A frown had crawled on her face.

“That [Spiritual Art] book that I requested, did not work when I tried to study it. It would drain me of mana and would only result in failure.” Shousuke had stated, feeling like she was left dead in the water on her ability to master the conceptual texts. Geoffroy had squinted his eyes in dubiety

“Would Lady Emilia allow me to appraise her magical prowess if that would be alright with your spirit?” Geoffroy had inquired, his aura around him had flared up in a radiant display. Puck had furrowed his eyebrow in response but had given her a firm nod of approval.

“As long as you don’t try anything on her, then it’s all right.” Puck had asserted, somewhat cautious him since he was able to completely silence him during the meeting yesterday. Yet the sensation of hesitancy was not evident today. ‘As I thought, it might be a skill that he had used yesterday to coerce Emilia into joining his side without any external influences to mitigate her.’

“Excellent, if you could take slow and passive breathes while I do the exam. It would feed me accurate results on your attribute pool.” Geoffroy had indicated, as mana and spiritual particles had started to gather around him. He had shut his eyes and mediated in a ritualistic sense just like Puck. Only for him to abruptly open back into fruition. Suddenly, he was left gawking at the display in front of him. ‘That skill this girl has, by the gods… It’s a fate worse than death.’

“What’s the matter? Was there something abnormal about my essence?” Shousuke had inquired, albeit slightly incredulous that it was going to be anything major.

“No, nothing…” Geoffroy had coughed into the sleeve of his suit, lying under his breath as he recomposed himself. “It seems like your [Corpus of Sorcery] is capable with all the schools of magic but the reason you can’t siphon your mana essence is because your core is partially unlocked. You are just using your spirit’s magic essence to channel those attributes your spirit has. You have your own set of attributes, but they haven’t been fully realized yet.” Geoffroy had informed, once he had been cleared of these false allegation of Necromancy against him, he had to inform the Arch-Wizard of this girl’s existence. It was a priority, a world altering one.

Shousuke had been slightly startled by the realization that she had been using Puck’s magic all this time as her own. It had made sense to her as to why she could have been all this time leeching off Puck’s attributes in part due to the Spirit contract with her. That might have been also the reason why Puck might have misread her attributes but she needed to confirm those allegations first. Puck had been also slightly shocked but not surprised how this world had worked when it came to mana, it was similar to his own. The biggest problem now is that if Puck were to die, then that would leave both Shousuke/Emilia and Adam defenseless. Tension had filled the air at this revelation, as slight dread had crawled over Shousuke’s flawless face.

“Ok, it seems to me that I might have been using my spirits magic all this time. That, I can comprehend because the world this old body had inhabited had a similar system when it came to spirit contracts. The question that remains is whether or not you have the ability to unlock it for me.” Shousuke had concluded, wanting to settle the matter once and for all.

“I would, but unfortunately I do not possess the [Shard of Exteria] to seal the deal. We would have to go to the World Mage’s Association headquarters to be able to complete the process with is underground.” Geoffroy had sounded off as he analyzed the clothing his clients were donning. “Speaking of which, now would be an excellent time to forgo it, would it not?” Both Shousuke and Adam had nodded simultaneously, yet hesitantly as well.

“Excellent, now let’s pick up where we left off yesterday, shall we? You will have to hold onto me for the leap to succeed. Don’t worry, the teleportation device has been flawlessly designed to ferry beings as large as humans with peak efficiency. If the teleportation were to fail, we would simply be sent back.” Geoffroy had gestured them over to the ceramic bowl statue again, as both Adam and Shousuke had slowly plodded over to the eccentric man. A bright light had enveloped them as both Shousuke and Adam had shut their eyes from the blinding light of mana. They had felt their bodies bodies been catapulted through a vacuum of time and space. Their bodies had taken an ethereal form and their skin had felt like someone had rubbed Vaseline all over it with a cool sensation. Their bodies had felt weightless as well as they were transported through the kaleidoscope that was reality. They had eventually settled onto a solid platform which felt like a marble surface. Upon opening their eyes they were graced with what could only be described as a Victorian era Kingdom straight from out of an Isekai. An artificial Sun had illuminated the surrounding areas had livened up the atmosphere to a believable habitation. Endless fields of green had complimented the atmosphere with all sorts of what appeared to be fantasy-esque creatures. It had beguiled the trio has a feeling of nostalgia had overcome both Shousuke and Puck.

“This can’t be… Is this Lugnica?” Puck had uttered, not sure if he would have seen this Kingdom again since being transported to Earth, yet something that had caught his eye had made it vastly different. In the place of the Dragon Castle stood a wizard tower that had reached the heavens. Next to it was what appeared to be a giant stem of a plant based organism that had rooted through the ground and up through the top what appeared to be a crack in the structure of the sky. This was a completely different settlement all together. “Probably not… Yet everything seems evocative to it.”

“Completely different from what I expected as well. I was thinking more along the lines of a steampunk setting when I was thinking of an underground settlement.” Adam had mused, as he eyed some of the creatures among the plains. Something had sparked curiosity in Adam’s mind. “Wait, there’s still a chance that we might run into something like that. Remember when the spirits said that The World Mage’s Association only settled around roots of the tree?”

“Ahhh, thinking outside the box. You may be right, this is one of the few realms that the Mage’s Association has come into possession of. The others are vastly different as well, but bare in mind that some of the other settlements may be upsetting to the eye.” Geoffroy had indicated, using his hands to motion disgruntling gestures.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Shousuke had adamantly stated, focusing her vision towards the base of the settlement. Geoffroy had in turn clapped his hands together in glee.

“Well, shall we depart for the settlement?” Geoffroy had offered his hands out in chivalry but the trio had ignored his gesture as they heeded no mind to it.

“Yeah, let’s get going...”

June 18, 2019, 12:04PM

Akihabara Toyko Prefecture, Japan

It was a just a normal day for the busy suburban city of Akihabara. It was one of the capitals for electronics and otaku culture across all of Japan, as being the primary sanctuary for those who had a passion for anime all around the world. Cafe maids were busy frolicking and attending their customers needs and gamers had congregated for arcade events during this time. Yet on one of the main streets of the city, a subtle light had illuminated the ground. Throughout the ocean of people, it was barely noticeable as a man with slicked back jet black hair donning a black and white tracksuit with yellow stripes had entered the fray.

“Where the hell am I?” He had glanced around at the digital billboards around him when his eyes had settled on a Gamers advertisement. “Wait a minute, is this Akihabara? Then does that mean I’m back in Japan?” The man had scurried back onto his feet as the residents had barely heeded him any mind. He had initially been summoned on his bottom.

“Subaru-kun?” A sky blue haired girl in a maid outfit had spoke to him. Her head had then started to glance around her foreign surroundings, awed by the colossal structures and metias around her. “Where in the world are we?”

“Rem...”