3: Day 2

“No wonder they call you sunshine boy. You’re really up and down with the sun, like clockwork.”

Right. I’ve got companions now. A thin priest who doesn’t really look like he should be adventuring; a mage who looks strong enough and fit enough to be an athlete, despite her specialization in magic; and a rogue who honestly looks more like a thug, being just as fit and strong as the mage is. Including me, a master swordsman and now hero with the blessing of god granting me access to holy magic, we are the new hero party of two men, two women, and way too much testosterone… the women are arm wrestling.

… oh? I think the mage is cheating. That’s a body enhancement enchantment she has active. So that’s how she stays so fit despite dedicating herself to the study of magic.

“Alright, our first assignment is to clear out the old slime dungeon.” 

“That’s a beginner dungeon, it’ll be too easy!”

“I could do that solo!”

“I could do that solo and unarmed!”

Okay… that last comment was not something I expect to hear from a mage. A mage’s staff is pretty important for spell casting. Without it, their power is greatly weakened. That danger of losing one’s staff is why demon mages implement all the functions of a staff in their horns. Though mana is the primary function. Running out of mana is the biggest problem for a mage, after-all. 

“You want to punch your way through a dungeon of slimes?”

“Calm down! This is just a basic test of our ability to work together. We start with easy things and work our way up. We’ve all proven our individual ability, but we’ve never worked together before.”

“Team building exercises huh?” 

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“How boring.” 

Thus began our journey together.

…

Side conversation:

“Why is Rogue the official class name? Isn’t that kinda rude?”

“Because Treasure Hunter is too long, and never caught on, and Thief is even more rude.”

“What about Scout?”

“Are you dense? There’s already a Scout guild, and they’d be pissed if the Rogue’s guild tried stealing that name.”

…

When it becomes time to sleep.

“You are really rich. Using a monster repelling tent, even when on a major road.”

“Well, I can’t afford to risk having a monster show up while I sleep, because I won’t wake up.”

“That just makes all the time you spend in the wilds all the more amazing. You must spend a fortune on mana stones for it.”

“Uh… yeah.”

I probably shouldn’t tell them that I can make mana stones… It doesn’t seem to be something humans know how to make, but they are common items in Demi. It’s just a transformation spell applied to a rock at the cost of a lot of mana. As a swordsman, I don’t exactly use a lot of mana usually, so I can afford the cost of making mana stones.

…

After going to bed in a monster repelling tent, I woke up in my own bed again… Jessica’s bed. Trying to properly keep track of two different lives is a little awkward.

Today was the beginning of a new journey… wait, why do both my lives follow such similar routes? A big celebration, and then travel. As the top student in the academy, I’m now supposed to go around and help with maintenance of cities. Every city and town is built with magic, and runs independently since we currently have no king. Everyone yearns for the next king to appear, because only a true king can make the city magics run at full power. 

I’m going east. David went west. It’s not the same. Good, too many coincidences would just be weird. My new lives are weird enough already.

My two closest friends are coming with me. Osia the cat lover, who’s love goes far enough that she gave herself cat ears and a tail. She said she tried out more fur, but it made clothing uncomfortable, and she didn’t want to wear the kind of super exposed armors that others chose. She also once said…

“I’m glad I don’t have more fur than just my ears and tail. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the feel of your skin so much with fur in the way.”

I didn’t really think much of it before but… she seems a little obsessed with me. I love her too much to care though. If anything, I find it comforting to know she’ll stay with me. Though my head tells me I should find her creepy, I don’t. I suppose I have been accepting of her antics for years now, if I assume those years of dreaming were real…

...

“I’m so glad I get to travel with you, Jessi! Though… are you a little different? You look… hmmm… a little more alert than before.”

“Yeah, I’m not quite sure what it is, but everything feels a little more real to me now, Sia.”

Osia always did seem to have a better read on me than most. I could never hide my feelings from her. Might be how she always managed to make me happy, even when she was doing things that didn’t quite seem right. Like: Seriously, why would you make a tuna sandwich, offer it to me, then start eating it before I can even respond? Did make me laugh. 

Honestly, I was always glad to have her around, and I’m glad she’s joining me for this journey.

…

Revenna Lu was another close friend joining me on this trip, and while she was more normal than Osia, she did choose to make her horns look like antlers, and gave herself rabbit ears and a rabbit tail. Said she wanted to look like a Jackalope. 

Speaking of horns, Osia doesn’t have horns because cats don’t have horns. Such ridiculous dedication. Instead she paid for magic earrings, but those are so much more expensive than horns are.

“Touch my tail for luck?”

For some reason, Revenna always seemed to want me to stroke her tail, and often looked for excuses to request it. Yet she got upset if anyone else did. I wonder if there’s some meaning to it, but I can’t resist when it makes her smile so.

…

In theory, we should be travelling faster than David is, due to taking advantage of our physique enhancements to run instead of walk. Except we fool around entirely too much. There’s no wild and dangerous monsters in Demi that we need to fear, but there are rest areas with food stalls and some carnival games. These roads are fairly well traveled, after all.

As for camping… I have a portable cabin. It’s a stone that can be used to make a cabin appear anywhere. It’s always the same cabin too. So, we aren’t really camping at all, and can travel light, with all the important things kept in the cabin. The magical technology of this world is great. In fact, the only reason we can’t travel faster is because the gates don’t work without a king. One of many reasons people all wish for a new king to rise up.

As usual when together, the three of us shared a bed. I’d probably find it a lot less comfortable, if not for my absurdly good sleep in this world. 

…

Side stuff:

While David sleeps:

“I think we should ask him to get a bigger tent.”

“Yeah, it’s a little cramped with all four of us in here.”

“I can’t believe how soundly he sleeps.”

“Did you just pinch his cheek?”

“Doesn’t even bat an eye.”

“He’s really trusting us, isn’t he?”

“What choice does he have? He can’t just refuse the order of the king, and there’s nowhere for him to hide while he sleeps. Trusting us not to do anything bad while he sleeps is all he can do.”

“This must be why he always worked alone in the past.”

“How lonely.”

…

While Jessica sleeps:

“Haaah, she may have changed a little, but she’s still as dense as ever.”

“It’s fine. The only thing she truly pays attention to is magic. It’s always been like this.” 

“You won’t really get what you want if you don’t tell her how you feel.”

“What about you? You haven’t told her how you feel either.”

“Ahh, I’m happy just being so close to her. She lets me hold her and hug her and embrace her whenever I want.”

“I envy how easily satisfied you are.”