A/N: Thank you for your patience, readers! I am not sick anymore and some of my real life stuff was dealt with lol. This arc is 11 chapters long and it’s partly inspired by guide/sentinel arcs found in some BL QTs… Just a little. Mixed with Western fantasy elements. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy~ 🤗
Special thanks to Nix for beta reading this arc! 🤗
—
Perhaps having experienced spiritual powers, which were similar to magic, or he was a genius at magic, Jun reached the level of Archmage and completed magic training in a mere 7 years. Then again, when it came to spiritual powers and magic, such abilities came so naturally he suspected his origin world held similar properties.
Whatever the case, Jun returned to Limbo to find System 00 fatter again. Now he was the size of a soccer ball attached with a newly grown little devil’s tail. What the system needed to grow was some eyes and a mouth at least. It always felt strange to have conversations with a talking furball, but it was better than talking to himself.
“Host! You’re back so early this time!”
Jun tried not to laugh at the bouncing ball. “Um, yeah, it was pretty easy.”
“As expected of my Host!” System 00 fluttered about for a while, flaunting what Jun assumed to be his ass and acting like he was waiting for something to be said. Jun stayed silent, making the system slump and shrivel up like a prune in disappointment. This play garnered a reaction from Jun—disgust—who didn’t know the system could do something like that.
“Boohoo, does the Host not notice anything different about the System?”
While cringing, Jun nodded. “I noticed.”
System 00 reinflated and floated up to Jun’s face. “And…???”
“You look… Nice.” Jun scratched his chin.
System 00 twirled around the space in happiness, before stopping in front of Jun again. “Then does the Host wish to take a 30-minute break or proceed to the next world?”
“To the next world.”
Even though he was told to wait for Azazel and Elior, he felt it was always the other way around. They were waiting for him so he’d best hurry.
“Right-o! Transferring to the world ‘Of Swords and Shields’ in 30, 29, 28…”
The System seemed to have gotten even odder after its upgrade. Other than becoming more ugly cute, Jun wondered what the upgrade even did for the system. Eh, probably nothing good.
—
When Jun opened his eyes to the new world, he was greeted with absolute darkness, almost like being in Limbo except without the “stars.” Had he been kidnapped and was in someone’s basement?
|No, Host… You’re just blind. Why do you always think you’re being kidnapped?|
|... Excuse me!?|
|Excuse you.|
|Is it fixable?|
|I’m not sure. Maybe?|
|Maybe? What exactly did you gain from your upgrades?|
|Host, the last upgrade enabled me to give you Side Missions! This latest upgrade allows me to give you a detailed map of the world so you’ll never be lost (again)!|
|Why is the ‘again’ in parentheses? When have I ever been lost?|
|Um… Nearly every world?|
|Fine, great. So now you have GPS.|
What use of a GPS if he was blind? Forget it.
|… Uwu, Host.|
|Alright, so what’s the plot for this world?|
System 00 sniffled then sucked it up and slapped Jun with the plot. The world of ‘Of Swords and Shields’ was your standard stallion-type novel with an overpowered male protagonist, Aurelius Gravadain, and many beautiful women wanting to enter his harem. Fortunately for Jun, this novel was surprisingly innocent with a recommended rating of PG-13, mainly due to heavy violence and death.
The poor male protagonist never even managed to kiss any of the beautiful women, though they did throw themselves all over him nonstop. As the title suggested, the story was about Swords and Shields. The protagonist himself was a Sword and two of the beautiful women around him were Shields. This world was riddled with Dark Flames, an existence in the form of reddish-black flames.
Dark Flames appeared and disappeared at random, but wherever they materialized there was devastation. Worst of all, Dark Flames could not be extinguished by water, natural nor magical. The only beings capable of eliminating Dark Flames are called Swords because their primary weapon was a sword. However, Swords could be corrupted by Dark Flames, making them gradually lose their sanity and humanity until they ultimately become human-shaped Dark Flames.
The more a Sword fought Dark Flames, the more corrupted they became, and it was uncertain when a Sword would become a Dark Flame as each case was different. This was where Shields came into play. Shields were those blessed with a particular ability to purify and calm the minds of Swords. As a result, it was common for a couple to form between a Sword and a Shield.
|Where’s the rest of the plot?|
Having reached what was considered the climax of the plot, when the protagonist and villain, Raven Gravadain, the protagonist’s half-brother, was about to fight to the death, Jun found nothing else.
|That’s it, Host. This is one of those worlds that’s considered “incomplete.” The creator never finished the story…|
Jun tried to shrug but found his body aching all over.
|… Er, ok. Then who am I in the plot?|
|You are Townsperson B, dearest Host!|
|… Of course, I am.|
Regarding Townsperson B, this cannon fodder served as an example for readers to appreciate how terrible the Dark Flames were. Townsperson B was a resident and sole survivor of Town X, which was destroyed by Dark Flames in the brief prologue of the story. Although he survived, his eyes had been burned by a Dark Flame, leaving him with an ugly scar and blindness.
Those that survived Dark Flame attacks were often stigmatized and ostracized because they attracted Dark Flames, but the Dark Flames wouldn’t bother to kill them. Their burn scars resulted in Dark Flames confusing them as one of their own, and such people were called Dark Omens.
As a Dark Omen, Townsperson B wandered outside his wrecked town to try and find a way to survive, just to be rejected and abused everywhere he went until he died of starvation. At present, he had been beaten and deported by a village for the nth time and was lying on some muddy ground. That explained why his body hurt and his clothes felt wet and sticky.
|So what’s the mission?|
|Type B! Survive Misfortune and Disaster for five years!|
|I figured as much.|
Jun sighed and hauled himself up from the muddy ground. It wasn’t all too bad. He might be blind but he could use magic perception to vaguely “see” his surroundings. Plus, the system’s GPS function could provide him with the location of certain places and where to go. The first act of business, though, was to get himself cleaned up a little.
|Is there a body of water nearby?|
|Yes, dearest Host!|
In Jun’s mind, a digital map appeared. There was even a little downward arrow to indicate “you are here.” Currently, he was inside Wailing Woods and to the East, about 2 kilometers away, was a small stream. Jun started to head that way, utilizing his wind magic to sense around him and to avoid walking into things, tripping over things, or plummeting into a ditch.
He even removed his footwear and tossed them, because it was easier to use earth magic to feel the ground beneath his feet and move around. Thus, despite being blind, he didn’t have a problem walking or finding his way. When he arrived at the stream, he laid himself down on top of the water and spaced out for a while.
Freyr. That was him?
Jun scrubbed himself and once done, he tore off a piece of cloth to use as a blindfold. People wouldn’t be able to discern him as a Dark Omen that way and if questioned, he would disclose the truth— he was blind and people found it creepy to look into his unseeing eyes so using a blindfold was for their sake, not his. Jun needed to do this because he didn’t plan to squat for five years.
If he was going to be in this world for that long, then he wanted to find Azazel and Elior as soon as possible. He knew they’d find him, but wouldn’t they find each other faster if he also searched? Then again, they always found him relatively fast in the last few worlds, except for that zombie one...
And that was how Jun jinxed himself.
The first month, he couldn't find the two men at all, drifting from village to village. Although he made easy money as a Mage and Healer using his magic, people still disdained him for being blind. Often, after he fulfilled his use, he was “encouraged” to leave to help other places. That wasn’t an issue, except for the fact that bandits seemed to be awfully fond of him.
With his skills and magic, they were pretty easy to handle though. Rather than suffering Misfortune or Disaster, he felt the suffering of Annoyance. You’d think the bandits would have learned their lessons and shared the news to their bandit friends not to mess with the blind, barefooted, young man wandering the roads while wearing a black blindfold, but news didn’t spread so well in this old world of fantasy.
Now, he was about to leave a town when some little girl ran into him and attempted to steal his pouch of hard-earned money. Before she could bolt, Jun grabbed hold of her hand. “Hey, little girl, stealing isn’t good—”
His lecture was cut short by the surrounding voices.
“It’s her, that Dark Omen.”
“Why hasn’t the mayor kicked her out yet?”
“It’s because that famous Sword, Aurelius Gravadain, took pity on her and gave the mayor a large mana stone to take care of her.”
Jun’s ears perked up at the mention of the protagonist and a rare mana stone, which could only be found where Dark Flames liked to gather. A mana stone was worth a fortune because a Mage could use it to form a Protection Stone, which could shield and repel an entire town from Dark Flames for years, maybe decades.
And the protagonist simply gave one to the mayor of this town to take care of this little girl? In any case, the mayor wasn’t doing a very good job if she was running around stealing. Using his magic he examined her body and found her to be skinny and malnourished, pretty small for someone about 6 years old.
Maybe it was the month of loneliness or maybe it was because he missed Azazel and Elior after 7 years in the training space. Jun was struck by a sentimental thought. If his and Niall’s daughter had survived in the last world, wouldn’t she be around this little girl’s age? He didn’t understand what he was doing, but he knelt to her height.
“Little girl, do you want to leave this town and come with me?”
The little girl, who had wavy brown hair that reached the middle of her back and honey brown eyes, didn’t trust this stranger. After she tried to steal from him he was now asking her if she wanted to go with him? Was he some kind of pervert interested in children? Not realizing that he had been labeled a “pervert” by the little girl, Jun patted and ruffled her hair to try and break the ice.
His hand felt warm and gentle, and the little girl hesitated. When was the last time someone showed her affection? No one other than that Sword over a year ago who found her and brought her to this horrible town. For as long as she could remember she had been a Dark Omen, the large black burn scar on one half of her face a clear indicator.
Even if this person was a pervert, he was blind and she could easily run away if he tried anything. Following him would still be better than remaining in this town where the mayor didn’t fulfill his promise and the people frowned at her with fear, hatred, and contempt. After a long and awkward silence, the little girl conceded. “Ok.”
The little girl returned Jun’s money pouch and he released his hold on her arm. Sensing the dissatisfied mob congregating, Jun headed for the town’s exit with the little girl following behind him.
Along the way, he asked, “What’s your name, little girl?”
“Don’t have one.”
“Don’t have one? I can’t always call you little girl…”
“You can give me one.”
Jun thought about it, remembering something. “Then Ophelia. Lia for short. How’s that?”
The little girl’s heart stuttered. Her parents died long before she could form any recollection of them, and she didn’t even know her name. The name this man gave her was the most beautiful she’d ever heard.
“I like it. What does it mean?”
“It means ‘help.’”
“What’s your name?”
“Just call me Jun.”
Ophelia skipped a little as she walked, then stopped when she noticed something. Jun moved around without using a cane or anything of the sort, undisturbed and stable. He was also barefoot…?
“For a blind person, you sure have no problems walking around.”
“Curious?” Jun asked, then formed a small red flame on the tip of his index finger. “It’s just magic.”
Stunned, Ophelia whispered. “... You’re a mage.”
—
End note:
You’re a wizard, Jun.
I, I can’t be a wizard…
Whoops sorry, Harry Potter reference 😆
