A/N:

Really sorry for the long wait lads!

I was stressed for a good while waiting for my exam results but I barely managed to get into my uni of choice so that's a relief. After getting my results, you can probably imagine that I celebrated and perhaps said celebrations stretched on a lot longer than expected. Like. 3 weeks.

Nevertheless, I apologise for the long ass wait and I will strive to make the waits shorter in future.

Enjoy!

My eyes were assaulted by a divine light so vivid that it forced me to clamp my eyelids down tightly. When I opened them again, I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. After blinking a few times, confirming that what I was seeing was indeed real, I let out an astounded gasp.

The dingy room we were previously in had been replaced by quaint cobblestone streets and grassy pastures. It was like the type of idyllic countryside you would see on the front of a postcard with the tagline 'wish you were here' on it. Still only barely registering what I was seeing, I looked to my left to see that the cobblestone path led to rows of red-brick houses surrounded by a sturdy stone wall. Towards what Imagined was a town, I saw a large oak sign with the words 'Axel- A town for beginners' in ice white written upon it. It was like I had stepped into medieval Europe, it was astounding.

"No way…" I breathed with an unabashed grin. "…A new world…"

I then naturally looked to my right to see what else I could spot, only to have my view ruined. The Goddess, her head hanging dejectedly low, was snivelling far too loudly for me to enjoy the new interesting sights in peace.

"Oi, your being way too noisy" I accused, narrowing my eyes on the girls back. "First impressions are important, I don't want to be seen associating with a crazy woman on the fir-"

Before I could I finish, the Goddess earned the 'crazy woman' title by pouncing towards me with teary eyes. The psycho started grabbing at my tracksuit, trying to scratch at my face with her perfectly manicured claws.

"H-Hey! Get off me!" I snapped, putting my palm on her forehead to keep her, quite literally, at an arm's length.

"You idiot!" She shrieked, hands flailing in the air. "Now I can't get back! I don't belong here!"

"It's not like it's my fault! Perhaps you should've been less of an arrogant bitch!"

Hearing my words, the girl glared daggers before launching herself forward again with the intent of strangling me. She wasn't getting anywhere and quickly gave up, resolving herself to pathetically pawing at my chest while on her knees. Even though she had treated me poorly, seeing her weeping face look up at me with panic and confusion made me feel a little bit of pity for her. Only a little though. With a heavy sigh on my part, I removed my palm.

"Calm down Goddess, we get nowhere by trying to scream our problems away. We should look for an adventures guild and try to get some information" I suggested calmly, patting the girl's shoulder in a way that I hope came off as soothing rather than creepy.

At first, the girl looked at me with suspicion. Her set of electric blue irises darting around my face, trying to decipher if I was seriously helping her or just playing a cruel joke. I smiled awkwardly, uncomfortable with the fact that I was being scrutinised so intently by a girl who was kneeling at my feet. A problem only exacerbated by the fact, even when red-eyed and pouting, she was rather cute. It's not like I have a crying fetish or something silly like that, im not some degenerate.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Hikki-NEET? The type of person who constantly fails at life? How are you being so cool and calm?"

"Oi, less of the NEET label" I noted to her with a frown, helping her up. "Anyways, let's get going"

After helping Aqua to her feet, I started to set off down the road towards the previously mentioned town. Logically speaking, the best place to try to find an adventurers guild or an equivalent would be a town centre.

"Kazuma, though I approve of being called a Goddess, perhaps you should call me Aqua in public. I am a revered deity in this world after all" Aqua suggested as she followed behind me obediently.

"Will do" I agreed, still trying to fully absorb my surroundings. I don't know if it was my mind playing tricks on me but im pretty sure one of the people we passed by a moment ago was an Elf. He had pointed ears and exceedingly pale green skin, the signature aspect of an Elf, but it was all a bit surreal to accept seeing an Elf as fact.

Speaking of people, we were getting some very weird glances directed at us once we entered the gates of the settlement. I suppose it's understandable considering the appearance of a tracksuit must be pretty foreign to these people. Maybe I should look to change my outfit soon.

"Hey Aqua, where do we need to go to find the guild?"

"Beats me" She replied, blinking dumbly. "Like I'd know where every lowly place is in this world"

Sheesh, she really was useless.

Having no idea how to navigate the town, I decided to ask a nice looking old lady at her stall for directions.

"Ur… E-Excuse me Ms, but where would we have to go to find an adventurers guild?"

The elder smiled sweetly.

"The guild?! To not know where the guild is, could you be from out of town?"

"'You're right, me and my friend here are from a faraway land" I explained in the most confident tone I could muster. "We only just got into town"

"Oh! How exciting! You must be new adventurers then; may Eris bless your careers" The elder said happily, bowing at us.

I bowed back deeply, offering my thanks. Next to me however, I could practically hear the strident sound of Aqua grinding her teeth with a quite obviously forced smile. Seeing this, I quickly pulled her by her arm too pull her into a bow that mirrored my own. She reluctantly gave her thanks too, but not without murmuring something under her breath. Something about a 'God blow' and…breast pads?

"Simply go down the street, take the second right, then the third left and you will see it up ahead. It's a grand old building, you can't miss it"

"Thanks again! See you!" I waved as I pushed the misbehaving girl away from the stall.

Now back on the street, I turned to my companion.

"What was that about?"

"Eris. She gave us the blessing of my student Eris" She answered reluctantly, grimacing at the name.

"And whys that bad?"

"It's embarrassing!" She shouted back in a tone that made it seem like what she was saying should be common sense. Common sense being something this Goddess lacked in abundance. "It's like if a student congratulated their teacher for teaching a lesson well"

I opened my mouth to argue, but promptly closed it in resignation. Arguing with someone so thick-headed was a thankless task.

The two of us followed the old woman's directions, soon finding a building that suitably fitted the grand description given to us. A large navy crest with an ornate golden design in the centre accompanied by a round stained-glass window were the most distinguishable features on the red-bricked building.

"Looks like the place" I thought out loud, as I pushed open the bulky oak door.

Upon entering, my face was greeted by the sweaty pectorals of an absolute beast of a man.

"Well, would ya lookie here" The mans voiced boomed as he backed up to give me some space, something I greatly appreciated. "I aint seen those weird clothes before boy, I'm guessing you're not from around here are you?"

The man, probably somewhere in his thirties, wore what I assumed were the medieval equivalent of cargo jeans and a pair of faded pink suspenders connected to some steel shoulder pads. That was it, no shirt or anything. This guy was calling my clothing weird when he looked like he belonged in a male strip club, what a damn hypocrite! Clothing aside, he did give of the vibe of an adventurer what with his burly frame and prominent russet mohawk.

"Yeah, your right" I answered coolly, trying my best to give off a cool vibe.. "Only just got into town an hour or so ago, came here in the search of adventure and money"

There was a pause while the man studied me, looking me up and down much to my dismay. After a moment though, the man grinned with a hearty laugh.

"If that's the case, welcome to the gates of hell rookie!" He thundered while patting my back with the bear paw he had for a hand. "Go see Luna at the counter in the back, pay the admission fee and she'll sort your card out for you"

With that titbit of information, the man gestured his farewells and exited the building.

My blue haired companion and I paled slightly at the mention of an entry fee.

"Did he say, 'admission fee'?"

"I think so, yes" I replied, massaging the bridge of my nose.

An admission fee, a formidable task for broke adventurers such as ourselves.

"Actually, thinking about it, shouldn't you have some starter equipment and money for me" I asked the self-titled Goddess.

The girl shook her head, a blank expression plastered on her face.

Needless to say, so far she has failed to change my beginning impressions of her.

"Just how are we going to pay that fee then?" I mumbled in thought.

Then it struck me, like a bolt from the blue. I had the exact ability needed for this type of situation.

"Hey Aqua" I whispered as the two of us walked through the dimly lit guild, no doubt accruing attention from the other members, to the back where the counters were. "How do I use my ability? Do I need to chant anything or something to that affect?"

"The skill was designed to be used on-the-fly" She explained in an equally covert tone. "You should be able to use it at will with no incantation needed, just aim your eyes at the target and then think about triggering the skill and then they should be under your influence"

As we approached the desk, I made a small signal to Aqua to leave the talking to me. The girl bobbed her head, giving me an encouraging beam of a smile that was infuriatingly appealing. Acting like this, I could actually maybe believe she was in fact a Goddess.

I walked up to the desk with confident strides to be confronted by a gorgeous older woman, a partnership of wavy dirty-blonde locks and a large dose of cleavage giving her a more mature look than my companion. Definitely to my tastes.

"Good morning, how may I help you?"

"Me and this girl want to be adventurers" I replied calmly as I casted a hand to Aqua.

The woman smiled gently, grabbing two sets of cards from her desks.

"I see. There will be a registration fee, will that be okay?"

Alright, now was the make or break moment.

I breathed in deeply whilst aligning my eyes with hers, trying to concentrate and clear my mind in doing so. Once I was certain I was ready, I envisioned activating the skill. Immediately after doing so, a wave of discomfort washed over me. A dull throbbing emanated from the backs of my eyeballs, not so much soreness that it caused me to yell out in pain but enough to force my lips into an unpleasant grimace.

It was only for a couple of seconds, but the pain was very much noticeable. The Goddess wasn't joking about the potential blindness with overuse thing, not surprising that it would cause such a defect given the immediate side effect I suffered after just a singular use.

There was a long pause as I worriedly waited for some sort of confirmation of the skill working. Though not an explicit sign, the woman was staring at me blankly, almost like in a trance-esque state, and hadn't said anything since I triggered the skill. Taking that as proof, I spoke to her evenly;

"But we've already paid the registration fee"

There was another pause, this one being not nearly as long however. The blank expression dissipated as quickly as it set it, giving way to that gentle smile that she wore originally.

"Oh! Of course, silly me" The woman commented bashfully with an apologetic wave of the hand. "Im usually so on the ball with remembering stuff, my mistake"

"I-Its fine!" I muttered back, taking a second to sigh in relief.

Though I felt slightly bad about deceiving the undeniably cute assistant, I couldn't help but marvel at how well the skill worked. Though the ability came with many a deficiency, I had to admit that it certainly could have its uses. Who knows, perhaps I might get to a certain level of proficiency where the drawbacks become a moot point.

The counter-lady quickly made a gesture to the two of us to follow her, taking us to a large orb with a thin needle attached to its base. Giving us one card each, the woman cocked her head to the side in a cute manner.

"Please fill in your details such as weight, height, etc" She instructed as she turned the contraption on. "Meanwhile, I'll give you a quick explanation of the guild and adventuring in general"

The two of us stood to attention, making sure to listen carefully. I did have pretty good knowledge of games and such but that didn't necessarily mean I knew this world inside out.

"Adventurers are responsible for the extermination of the monsters from the nearby habitats, you may also be asked to participate in raids or other quests in defence of Axel. Under the adventurer title, there is plenty of different types of jobs such as Arch-Wizards or Thief's so there's no shortage of choice, but some classes do involve some stat requirements" She explained as we handed back the cards with our details.

"Speaking of stats and how to improve them, all things in this world have souls. No matter what form it takes, if you eat or kill a being, you can absorb a part of the memory of the soul. This is known as 'Experience Points', which is the way to level up in order to get skill points to get stronger. These cards will track your level and your skills as well as your basic information"

"So, it's basically a driving license?" I asked on an impulse, forgetting the medieval-esque setting I was in.

"A what now?"

Luna blinked at me confusedly, giving me an understandably weird look.

"Eh? Oh, nothing" I shrugged.

The woman looked at Aqua as if to ask if she knew, but the so-called Goddess followed my lead and gave her own bored shrug.

"Anyhow" Luna said, obviously trying to move things along. "I'll run these through the machine now and you will get your stats and information"

Luna did as she said, taking my card first and placing it below the needle. There was barely a moment of delay before beam of light shot down from the point of the needle, the laser criss-crossing across my card until coming to an abrupt stop.

"Satou Kazuma…" The clerk announced.

As she studied the card, I couldn't help but feel a strange feeling of excitement bubble up from within. This was it, my time to shine, my time to step out of my Hikikimori shadow and finally enter my popular period. Brilliant adventures and beautiful women awaited me in this new world!

"Average across the board"

"What'd you say?"

What she said can't be right, right?

Im not some fodder character am I?

Am i…? Am I a Krillin?

Seeing my hanging jaw, the clerk quickly continued.

"B-But you do have higher than average Intelligence! And you have the highest luck stat I've ever seen!" The woman blurted loudly, before continuing in a polar opposite whisper. "Of course, luck isn't very useful for an adventurer"

I stared at the large-chested woman despondently as she glanced down at my card, meanwhile I could hear Aqua trying valiantly ,but failing, to hold in her laughter.

"With these stats, I'd suggest becoming a merchant…Considering the only class available is the Adventure class…" Luna said with an awkward smile, trying her best to let me down gently.

Aqua on the other hand…I could hear giggling to herself behind my back. A sound that sincerely made me want to dole out a backhand of justice.

"I'll be an adventurer then…" I managed to say without cringing myself to an early grave.

Luna smiled sympathetically before finishing my documents, all the while explaining that the adventurer class did have its strengths. However, Aqua took it upon herself to systematically shoot every good point the class had down. I would've got mad at her, but at this point my morale had hit rock bottom so I couldn't be bothered.

"Oh my god! These stats are amazing Aqua!"

No, never mind. Now I've hit rock bottom.

Luna continued to rave on about how, apart from awful intelligence and luck, Aqua was phenomenal across the board. Of course, such a proclamation garnered the attention of the other members and soon enough waves of cheers rippled through the spacious guild like raindrops hitting a puddle.

Meanwhile, I sat in the background, feeling rather envious. Aqua smug smile didn't exactly help.

No matter, I'll find a good ditch to roll her into later.

"Though the likes of arch-mages are off the table due to your low intelligence, pretty much all the other high class specialisations are available" Luna told the infuriatingly bashful Aqua. "Crusader, Sword Master, Arch-Priest, Et cetera"

With what I could only describe as a 'shit-eating grin', Aqua waved her hand regally in a dismissive manner.

"Since Goddess isn't a class, I'll be the most divine of Arch-Priests"

This announcement caused another wave of cheers with Aqua at the epicentre.

While the room erupted and Luna went about busying herself with finalising Aqua's details, the now Arch-Priest sashayed towards me cockily.

"Soooo~, Mr. Adventurer…" Cooed Aqua before flicking her adventurer card against my nose lightly, as if waving her perceived superiority in my face. "Wanna go find a place to stay the night!?"

My eye twitched, a feeling of rage bubbling under my skin, however, I stopped myself from acting at on this urge as first impressions are important and everyone had their eyes on the two of us now. Instead, I begrudgingly nodded before leading my blue-haired companion out of the door.

A/N:

Just wanted to take this time at the end to say thank you for the honestly fantastic reviews and support I've gotten thus far, and I pray that it continues as nothing works better for motivation than seeing you enjoy this!

I know this chapter was kinda boring and exposition heavy, I just wanted to get all the bullshit outta the way. Next chapter youll see this story start to diverge more from the original story. Speaking of next chapter, I wanna update my DR fic next but you shouldn't have to wait too long for the next chapter of this (I guess ill call it MSK for short). I will be busy the next week due to freshers week and just generally settling in at my dorm, but I should be able to get a good amount of work done before I leave and during that first week.

Anyways, thanks again for all the love, have a good one lads.