...Situation Unknown...

Aurdel's head was spinning… What had happened? Where was he? His memory was foggy, he couldn't get a clear grip on the past he had to think. Slowly it came back to him. Moments before this he'd been on Reach, taking shelter within a subterranean bunker to avoid the Covenant's unending destruction. But he'd also done it to save the lives of two fellow Spartans, the only two surviving members of his team. During the battle they'd fled following the bombardment via MAC rounds of three Covenant CCS-class battlecruiser. Originally the plan was to leave the frontline and take a ship in orbit back to Earth, Pelican, callsign Ironfist, was sent to them for that purpose. But it was shot down mid flight and they were without any form of evac.

Given their severe injuries Aurdel had to carry the other two into the bunker, fighting waves of Covenant by himself on the way there. Once he did, he collapsed the shaft that led to the bunker and treated their wounds. He even transfused a large amount of his own blood to them to ensure that they wouldn't die. By the time he'd put both of them in cryo the only thing keeping him alive was his sheer force of will, then it gave out. He collapsed and fell unconscious on the floor,then presumably died. That, however, did not explain the situation he was in now. Because as for what now was…? He wasn't entirely sure.

He was seated in a chair, the kind of chair that you'd expect a Doctor to buy as an antique and put out in the waiting room of a clinic to show off. Opposed to him was another chair, one of mahogany with a tall back. A simple nightstand sat next to it. Then there was the room itself, if that was what it could really be called. The floor was a faded black and white checkered tile that stretched out for who knows how long into the distance. As for walls or a ceiling? There were none. Just a large stretch of empty darkness. Tiny motes of light hung in the air and drifted around softly, giving the appearance of fireflies that didn't care about their surroundings. This whole scene was rather… Serene.

"Hmm? Who might you be? You don't look like the people I usually see coming in from Japan," a voice said from behind him. He turned to face its origin. The voice had come from a beautiful blue haired woman, one with long hair, an outfit of a similar color palette and a large pink scarf draped over and around her. "Eh, I suppose it doesn't matter. If you're here then it means that you've died and that it's my responsibility to send you on your way." Perhaps he hadn't died yet, maybe his brain was just hallucinating this scenario as one last hurrah before he died. "My name is Aqua, I am the Goddess of water. But I am also responsible for taking those from Japan to the afterlife. Though, you don't exactly look Japanese. So what's your name? Because I need to know before we figure out what to do with you."

"My name is Aurdel Ganowicz."

"Kukuku, what kind of a name is that?" Was she laughing at him? Why would his mind choose to mock him in his last moments? "Well, 'Aurdel,' you have a few choices open to you, so I'll list them out. Your first choice is to be reincarnated in your world once more as a baby, starting a new life without your memories of the past." That didn't particularly interest him. There were too many memories of others that he didn't want to lose since they were still alive. He'd also seen first hand the horrors of the war and didn't want to live through them or have to fight them, so he was going to pass on that offer. "Your second choice is to go to Heaven, where you laze around in the sun all day and talk with people because it's all you can do. Personally I think it's boring since you have a body, so you can't even doing things like have sex or watch tv."

Those two things were VERY different so he didn't particularly understand why she'd chosen those things in specifically. It's not like it mattered to him anyways as they were two things he could really live without. He'd probably choose the second option, to go to heaven, since he wanted the peace and quiet he'd lacked for years now. "Sooo… There's a third option available to you! Ahem," Aqua cleared her throat, "Far away there exists another world, one of peace that finds itself threatened by the Demon King and his evil army. Innocent lives and their homes are trampled under his tyrannical rule and evil, because-"

"I refuse, I'm choosing to go to Heaven."

"Hey! At least let me finish you idiot. Look, if you really want me to cut to the chase so bad then I'll do it. We're able to send people like you-"

"NOT like me."

"-to that other world to try and defeat the Demon King. When you go there you're given a special power, weapon or piece of equipment then you're off. Once you do beat him you get one wish for anything granted to you."

"I'll pass."

"Eh?! Are you really that stupid? You could wish for something like a super sexy body, or-"

"I'll pass."

"But-"

"I said I'll pass."

"Listen here you shitty old man!" She jabbed her finger right up towards his visor. "We need someone to save that world and nobody has done it yet, so you're going to have to!"

"How about you listen?" He stood up, towering over her, and jabbed his finger in her face. "I've been fighting a war for the past twenty seven years without end. Personally I'm tired and I just want to have some peace, that's why I want to go to Heaven."

"Then I refuse! The only thing that I'm going to let you do is fight the Demon King!" Why this little…! He hated being talked down to, he couldn't let this slide!

"You know what then? Fine, I'll take your damned third option. What am I supposed to bring with me?"

"Anything here-" She began to pull out a stack of papers.

"Anything? Then I pick you!" He pointed dead on at her, glaring behind his helmet.

"Ha, me?! You can't take me! Now, go ahead and pick-" Two magic circles appeared, one underneath each of them. "Huh?!"

"Aurdel Ganowicz, your request has been heard and accepted. We shall take your job from here Aqua-Sama," an angelic figure descended from above with a curtain of light.

"W-wait a minute! You can't do this to me! This has to be against the rules, right?! He can't take a Goddess with him, RIGHT?!" She panicked, bashing her hands against the invisible barrier that surrounded them as they began to float into the air. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME, I DON'T HAVE ANY FIGHTING CAPABILITY TO SPEAK OF!" Her whining intensified.

"We pray for your safe return and good luck on your quest! Should you successfully defeat the Demon King someone will be sent to pick you up. As for you hero, should you defeat the Demon King you will be granted anyone one gift from the gods!"

"WAAAAAH! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" The both of them floated high up into the air, drifting towards a large light. Before they knew it they'd reached it and they were temporarily blinded.

...The Town of Starting Adventurers...

A carriage pulled out from in front of them, Aurdel was able to get a good view of his surroundings. The place he stood in was the side of a paved stone road in the middle of a very medieval-esque town, the people around him were all dressed in era-appropriate clothing. That was discounting the people that looked like they belonged in a brothel on Gilgamesh though. They were probably just oddballs. "WAAAAAAH!" Speaking of oddballs, he'd come here with a blue haired one. He turned around quickly and dealt Aqua a quick haymaker before she could react, shutting her up and knocking her to the ground. "What the hell was that for you shitty man?!"

"You reap what you sow. Now hurry up and leave me alone, so I might be able to live a life of peace and quiet."

"Not a chance! You brought me here so I have to stick with you!" She grappled with him. Unfortunately for her, he was a thousand pounds of titanium and muscle, she stood no chance of possibly winning against him.

"As if, you would just cause me nothing but trouble!" He shook his head, "Look, if you want to go home so bad then go on and defeat the Demon King. Leave me out of it."

"But you have to help me! You're contractually obligated to-!"

"Contractually obligated my ass! If the people you sent over were obligated to take down the Demon King then you sure did pick a great bunch to send over! BECAUSE THEY NEVER DID IT!"

"Please!" She wailed, "At least help me get started being an Adventurer! If not, I'll just follow you all the way around town like this!"

He grumbled, there was no way he could live if he had this idiot following him around all the time. "Fine, I'll help you get started, but once I do I never want to see your face again! Got it?" She bounced her head up and down in acknowledgement, "Good.." He looked around, how was he supposed to find where she was supposed to go? If there were a fantasy book or movie there would be some group of veteran or powerful heroes, once that would take them in as one of their own and allow them to rise the ranks. Did this world have one?

A woman walked by, "Excuse me, do you know if there's anything like a guild around here?" The woman stopped and looked at him.

"Oh of course there is, this is the city of Axel after all. The town of starting adventurers." Was it now? Good to know. He wasn't planning to go on any 'adventures' though.

"Thank you, might me point me in it's direction?"

"Of course sweetie, just follow the signs on the road. They'll lead you right to it." She pointed a sign sitting on a post next to the road.

"Ah, thank you. Have a good day." The woman nodded, then walked away.

"Hey, why'd you treat a random lady you just met with respect when you're already getting mad and punching me."

He sighed, "Aqua, if you can give me one reason that you think should justify me respecting you then go ahead, but I can come up with a thousand reasons why I won't be doing that."

"Of course I can, I'm a Goddess for crying out loud.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Well, you're-"

"I… I didn't actually think you'd manage to say a thousand bad things about me," Aqua said, wiping her tears from her eyes with her sleeves following her verbal demolishing.

"I'm a good judge of character, I pick up on things easily." He pushed open the door to the guild's main hall, it was bustling with activity. People were drinking, eating, talking and doing everything else in between when he first saw them. Then, because they saw him open the door, they quieted down. They stared at him, the only sounds of voices were those of whispers.

"Who is that guy?" "Is he a Crusader? A high level Knight?" "Maybe he's a Demon sent here to infiltrate the guild, then he'll destroy the city." All of it was unreasonable rumor.

He walked into the guild hall, the loudest sound was his footsteps and he put one metal boot after another on the floor. People parted their way in front of him, they were afraid of him from the moment they saw him. That wasn't entirely bad as being feared might give him some leeway around here. He found his way to a counter where a line of people were standing, the line dissipated with his presence. The woman behind the counter stood her ground though, swallowing hard with a wary expression on her face. "A-ah, good morning. How many can I help you?"

"I'm seeking to register with the guild."

"I-I see. Well, to register with the guild requires a fee-" She took a good look at him, he towered over her. "B-but I suppose we can just waive that for now."

"First is just some information we have to tell you. We have to tell this to anyone who registers to be an adventurer, so it won't take long." She coughed uncomfortably, Aurdel implored Aqua to pay attention. "First, adventurers are the ones responsible for exterminating any monsters that wander outside of the town and any other dangerous creatures that might harm citizens. They, collectively, earn their living this way. But among adventurers are various different jobs." That in itself didn't sound bad, but he by no means was seeking to do more fighting. Pay or not, he was tired of it.

"Take this and please, look here." The woman handed both of them cards, "Do you see the word 'Level?' All things in this world have souls no matter what they are. If you kill or eat a creature, you can absorb a part of the memory of a soul known as 'Experience Points.'" He wasn't considering it, but was this woman actually being serious about what she was saying? This was real life, not some video game. "Normally they are intangible, but with this Adventurers Card it will display the Experience Points you absorb along with your corresponding level. The latter shows how strong an Adventurer is, and will increase as you defeat creatures and level up. Levelling up will do things like grant you skill points to learn new skills, so please work hard to do so." It had to be some manner of sick joke, for someone to confuse real life with a game.

"F-first, you must fill out some information. That means height, weight, age and any other details left blank." Normally he wouldn't disclose information like this, but he supposed it really didn't matter at this point. To the UNSC and ONI he was a dead man. His height was 6 foot 11 inches, weight was 291.2 lbs and his age 41. He left the spots describing his physical appearance blank, it wasn't necessary. "Okay… Please, place your hand here." She motioned towards some orb-like device sitting atop a desk, not wanting to hold things up he did so. It began to glow and its parts spun around, then began to transcribe information once his card was placed beneath it.

The woman pulled out the card from the device and looked at it, then looked at him. She seemed to hold a look of complete disbelief. "How…? Who are you? All of your stats, your luck, charisma, strength, intelligence, all of it, are incredibly high. We've never seen stats like these before." This caught the attention of those around him, "Y-you're able to pick any job you want. Whether that be Adventurer, Crusader, Master Swordsman or-"

"I don't care what it is."

"O-okay then, I'll just mark you down as an Adventurer. You'll be able to change your class whenever you choose, if you do so." They were surprised at his choice, but it didn't matter to him. He didn't need their opinions because he wasn't going to be an 'adventurer.'

Next was Aqua, she underwent the same process he'd undergone and the woman looked at her card. "R-really, who are you two? This woman was incredibly high stats as well, aside from intelligence and luck. Not to mention, an extremely high amount of magic. You're easily able to pick from most of the top jobs there are."

"Well then, I suppose that I'll just have to become an Archpriest. After all, there is no job for a Goddess, so I'll take the closest thing I can get." This 'Goddess' seemed to miss the fact that the lady at the counter had essentially insulted her and called her as dumb as a brick. He supposed it was fitting though, that being so dumb she wouldn't pick up on it. Either way now that this was done, he could leave.

"Good riddance." He left the guild.