Iris looked over the inventory screen again and decided to open the letter first before she opened the crates. She knew she should read the letter first. When you get a letter from a Goddess, it is generally, a good idea to make that your priority. Especially when what you are about to open next is obviously a gift from them.  

  

Iris touched the letter icon, and it was like she could feel the paper on the tips of her fingers, a strange sensation for sure. To her eyes, it was like her fingertips were dipping into the interface of the screen. She pushed her fingers together to grip the letter she can feel and pulled her fingers back.  

  

Out of the window slid a gold embossed, paper envelope, wrapped in a white lace ribbon. Iris admired it for a few seconds before untying the ribbon and opening the envelope. Pulling out the letter that seemed to be on paper that glows ever so softly.  

  

Hello Iris~  

  

I chose that name for you! You still had not decided before we sent you down, so I picked it to surprise you! I hope you like it. It is the name of an old teacher of mine, and I thought it would suit you just as well.  

  

Now you are probably all surprised about waking up near people.  

  

Do not worry. They are not baddies, so get your anxiety in check. They work for a church, well the only recognized church. They are like your old world’s version of the Red Cross. Or one of those Disaster agencies. They do a lot of good. So, I thought you would like to at least meet them.  

  

Next!  

  

No, I am not going to be popping in on you very often, we Gods have a lot of crap to do. But I will keep an ear out. I have an auto-script that smites anyone doing bad stuff in my name. But if you need an extra lightning bolt tossed at someone deserving. I might be able to accommodate it. Just try and have fun, we will meet again sometime, I promise.  

  

NEXT!   

  

In your inventory (Congrats on opening that by the way!) You’ll see three boxes! The first one is a basic equipment box for your first class! Open that AFTER you pick a class, it’ll give you some good stuff to start with. Nothing that’ll last forever mind you. You said you wanted to have fun! The fun includes finding new stuff.  

  

The second one is a basic life kit, some cash, some gear that a mercenary would use to travel around, a map, and just general bits and bobs that should come in handy.  

  

The third one is something the Seraphim packed for you. They said it was the gear you and they were using in your training. Some weapons that they say you'll be able to use for a while.   

  

Finally. Don’t slack on your practice, being in a mortal body is a lot different than a spiritual one. Both in how it reacts, and how your magic will react.   

  

Good luck~ Take care~  

Love~ Raianya  

  

PS- Expect a fae to show up at some point, the queen of the fae is sending someone to help you out. So, don’t be too surprised ok!  

PPS- Use the ribbon for your hair, it’ll look nice, and keep it neat!  

PPPS- You should have some slight memory loss – You did ask for this – I shall quote you now -  

‘NO SPOILERS’  

  

As she finished the letter, Iris shook her head laughing at the last line, understanding why she would have asked for it. She started folding the letter back up, wanting to store it away to keep it safe. Though as she does, Iris’s view then falls across Doxan, who is looking at the letter in the same way a starving man looks at a sandwich.  

  

Iris coughed into her hand, “Sorry, this is a personal letter. I would share it if it were just her telling me to have fun, but this also has some personal stuff on it. Also, it tells me not to be worried about you. I guess that means you get Raianya’s stamp of approval. That is a good thing, right? Oh, and she says your church does good things too. Again. Something nice right?” She smiled at Doxan, trying to show her sincerity.  

  

Doxan looks stunned for a moment, before flushing with embarrassment, “Forgive me, lass. It is just rare for a priest like myself to see something touched by the gods themselves. The last known god relic was a spear that went through the leader of a short-lived crusade. The crusade lasted one day. And every priest and paladin that had sided fully with the leader, lost access to their holy magics. That spear is mounted in the great church. Right up behind the pulpit. Sort of a solid reminder of why we stick to our vows of helping others and being the followers of peace.”  

  

Iris looked at Doxan with her eyes wide open. The old priest thought at the time that it was because she was shocked about what he just told her.  

  

The truth though is infinitely stranger. It was actually because she remembered the day she had been training with the Seraphim, and she had heard a sound like a vicious thunderclap, and Raianya yelling obscenities. Raianya had then spent the rest of the day in a bad mood.  

  

Iris spoke softly, “Note to self, try not to take over the world. Luckily, that isn’t on my list of things to do.” she nodded to herself. A lopsided smirk on her face.  

  

It was then Doxan’s turn to laugh, “Please don’t try that. I would definitely recommend not to do it.”   

  

Iris blushed as she realized she had said that aloud and wondered if there was something else that had changed about herself, she wouldn’t usually just blurt out her random thoughts like that, “Yeah, I’ll put that on the not-to-do list.” her cheeks red, as she smiled and continued looking at the boxes. Before she then tapped on the second one, as Raianya had recommended in the letter.  

  

The box glowed softly, and a bunch of basic equipment appeared in her inventory, filling up a number of her inventory slots. Mostly camping gear, and some other sundries. Local styles of toiletries, and things Iris would need to keep herself healthy. As well as a good stock of camping food as well.  

  

Then without a thought, she tapped on the third box, which made a ping noise in her head. Startling Iris as she looked at the items that appeared on the inventory screen.   

  

A pair of reinforced armored gauntlets, a pair of heavily armored, knee-high boots, and last, what appeared to be a large steel mace. She had taken a liking to it when she had been trying to find something that would be a good main weapon to learn. Also with it being the classic Oni weapon, tickled her love of classic Asian folklore. A weapon that is known as a Kanabo.  

  

A full gleeful grin spread across her face as she touched the symbol for the weapon, and she felt the cold steel on the tips of her fingers. Knowing she would need more than that to pull the weapon out, she wrapped her hand around the handle and pulled out the weapon that was almost as long as she is tall.  

  

The weapon had an octagonal head on the five-foot-long mace, which was around three feet of the weapon’s length. The remaining two feet was the handle, allowing for her to get a good grip on the heavy weapon.  

  

Knobs were running along the length of each of the weapon’s eight sides that shone with a dull light. The red tassel on the ring at the end of the handle stood in stark contrast to the dark metal that made up the entirety of the rest of the weapon.   

  

Iris continued to grin as she sent a silent thank you to her friend. Hoping that she can meet them again as well.  

  

Doxan on the other hand was quite stunned as he looked at the weapon, then nodded to himself as he thought, That explains the destroyer job.   

  

He then looked to Iris, and asked, “This is your primary weapon of choice, I am guessing. It is very, imposing. To say the least.”  

  

Iris nodded as he asked his question and smiled at the weapon in her hands, “Yeah, I’ve been training with this for a while, it took a bit to get a hang of. This is a really good weapon. It’s both defensive and offensive, but it has a good heft to it, so I can let it do a lot of the work after I get it moving.” she continued to smile as she looked up at Doxan, “Though it’s not exactly a speed weapon, so I need to be careful with people that are faster than me.”   

  

Iris’s grin returned as she started remembering the training she had done. The one specifically to try and cover that gap. Though she was still trying to get that trick to work. Maybe training against someone that did not have as many arms as they wanted to have, would gain some better results.  

  

Doxan nodded as Iris explained, and tried to cover the nervous chuckle with words, “Well it’s good to know you can defend yourself, we’re not quite safe out on the road, wild monsters, and the occasional highway bandit groups can be dangerous if you aren’t prepared.”    

  

Iris nodded in return, as she tried to listen to Doxan with a serious look on her face. Yet a grin once again spread on her lips at the thought of the classic cliché bandit fights. Wanting to hear what version of the highwayman’s call would be used. ‘Your money or your life!’ or ‘Stand and deliver!’ the thoughts of it were getting her excited again.  

  

What kinds of monsters would she run into, what kinds of things would she find? Maybe she can try and tame one? Maybe there will be those round cute ball slimes! Please. Let them be cute round ball slimes. The other type of slime is absolute nightmare fuel and would absolutely require her to learn fire magic.  

  

Although the more she thought of the monsters, the more she felt something was off. Then she realized it was a similar feeling she had felt before. A memory that should be there but it wasn’t. It was a quaint feeling to her, but it was something she would get used to. Hoping that she would fill that gap herself soon enough.   

  

Doxan had been watching Iris’s facial expressions closely, as he had been worried for the reborn soul. Noticing the grin, he had seen before on a close friend of his, he knew he needed to speak up, “Iris, I would recommend trying not to rush into combat just yet.”  

  

Iris’s expression looked taken aback. “But.” the word slips out of her mouth as disappointment then is the expression that fills her face.  

  

Doxan smiled gently as he spoke placatingly to the previously excited young woman, “You may be strong, and tough, as I would say you would need to be to heft that weapon.” he motions to the massive metal mace she was holding, “But until you can get a few levels, I would not recommend fighting in the wilderness around here. Most of the big monsters require a team of fighters. Why Stavic and I are traveling only as a pair, is because we planned to run from any monsters that would appear.”  

  

He reached out and gently pat Iris’s shoulder to console her, as her face lost a lot of the excitement she had been feeling. “I promise once we are out of the forest and closer to the city, there are low plains that would be better to test yourself against. Until then, please consider yourself in a dangerous place.”  

  

Iris slumps a little as she agreed with Doxan’s words. She understood that she should listen to him. Raianya wouldn’t have put her in a place where she could get good information if she was then going to then turn around and ignore it. Why rush off and get an arm bitten off, just to learn not to fight things stronger than her.   

  

A smile returned to her face as she thought it through properly. Wanting to rush off and get her ass beaten was not what she wanted to do with the start of her new life. So, she decided to listen to Doxan’s advice, and not be an edge lord protagonist.   

  

Plus, while Iris knew that Raianya liked her, she didn’t think the Goddess would offer her a second reincarnation if Iris was an idiot about the first one. As such, she put the words of Doxen to heart and started planning out what she will start doing first.  

  

Her eyes moved to the Priest beside her, and her smile came back to her face, “Okay. How long should it take for us to get to Dungeon town?” the disappointment melted away with her decision, giving her face a more friendly expression again.  

  

It was again Doxan’s turn to contemplate, “Three days at the worst. We lost a little time picking you up. It is also supposed to rain tonight, so that is slowing us down today, because we’re going to start camp a little early, so we don’t have to try and set up while it’s pouring.”   

  

Iris gazed out the back of the wagon, looking at the sunlight-dappled track, that they had just recently traveled down. “It looks pretty sunny out there? Are you sure it is going to rain?” She looked back to Doxan, the questioning look on her face easy to see.  

  

Doxan chuckled at the view, knowing all too well the same feeling he had a couple of years ago. “Stavic has a very good weather eye. He’s never been too far wrong about a call like that. Plus, it isn’t too bad to take it slow on this road. We may be okay thanks to the ward on the wagon, but occasionally some monsters ignore the wards.”   

  

Iris’s eyes lit up with curiosity, as she heard something new, “Ward? Like a magic that acts as a barrier?” not wanting to waste a chance to increase her knowledge of this new world.  

  

Doxan realized then that he had himself a very eager student to teach. His favorite kind. “Yes. Here, let’s get some parchment and I’ll explain them in more detail.” He then retrieved parchment and some charcoal sticks he used for sketching, out of his inventory, “Now there are several kinds of wards, but most are applied to city walls for protection against monsters, and in wells to purify the water to remove any possible contamination.”   

  

Doxan quickly sketched what those wards looked like, “If you ever see such wards, try your best not to damage them. They are there for a reason. If you see one of these in a city, and it is damaged, tell the guards as soon as possible.” He then goes on to explain how the mobile wards worked on wagons, and dungeoneering gear. Making mobile defensive bubbles to ward off monsters, or to act as a barrier against attacks. The second is much more expensive than the first.  

  

By the time Stavic returned to check on Doxan, he found the pair deep in a conversation about the application of wards to items. How the style of application of wards to different items and surfaces was affected by the types of materials used or it was used on.  

  

He waited a short amount of time before interrupting their conversation and telling them that he had prepared the camp. “I have set up my tent next to the wagon, I thought our guest would like to use the wagon herself. My tent is big enough to share with Doxan, so we can let you have some space to yourself.”   

  

Iris ohs and nods to Stavic, “Thank you. My name is Iris by the way.” she moves over to the edge of the wagon, holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”   

  

Stavic takes the offered hand and shakes it, “Stavic. Come on you two, we can prep a meal faster with three of us.” he nods and turns back to the campfire that he started for just that purpose.  

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The Personal Diary of Iris – The first entry  

  

I’m laying here in the wagon, on one heck of a comfortable bedroll. Staring up at the stars I can see out of the back of the wagon. I can’t see a single constellation I remember. Not even one that’s close to what I remember from my childhood.  

  

The rain came and went. It came around the time we finished eating and went sometime about an hour ago. The squall of rain thrashed against the oiled canvas of the wagon’s cover. Maybe that would keep others awake, but I have always loved the rain. I drifted off, then awoke as the whisper of the wind without rain made my eyes open.  

  

My first night in a new world. A new life. A new chance. From the moment my eyes opened here until they closed. I was thinking it could be some sort of dream. Some sort of fantastical dream.   

  

It isn’t. I could feel. I could smell. I could see. I could hear. I even could taste this new world.   

  

Oh, Owlbear by the way. Tastes like Emu. That shocked me pretty well, here I was expecting it to taste like bear meat. Now I’m going to have a whole new list of things to try. I asked about monster meat, and they were both shocked I’d think something was inedible. Of course, some stuff is poisonous, or bad for you, but that’s pretty much par for the course. I guess one of the first books to get is a monster meat primer.  

  

Stavik is an okay guy, I think he’s still worried I’m going to stab them in the back or something. He kept at arms distance most of the time, but other than that, he looks to have traveled extensively. I hope I can get a few traveler's tips from him. Maybe some fantastical places to visit.  

  

Doxan reminds me of my grandfather. Full of arcane knowledge that you just need to ask the right questions for, and he’ll just happily talk about it until your brain can’t take it anymore.   

  

I am glad I trusted him. I’m glad I could trust him. I was so anxious. I could feel it creeping up on me, the fear that I was going to say something wrong, do something wrong, just was so hard to push away. Yet I managed to. I hope we can be friends. I hope I can learn more from him.   

  

I don’t know why, but the ward spells are so interesting. They’re like some sort of a magical equivalent of basic computer code. Structured, and simple, but complex and interesting. Understanding how their layers and structures work had me in full geek mode for hours.  

  

If this is just the beginning, I can’t even imagine what it will be like in the future.   

  

I...  

  

I hope I …  

  

No.  

  

Let’s get some more sleep, this air is so crisp, it almost hurts to breathe. Maybe I lay too close to the wagon opening, my pillow is a bit wet... but I can handle that.