Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Journey's Tail

Finishing a fight with only one chance and a limited amount of time was something slightly new to me. I jumped to my left and ducked behind a shard of rock that jutted from the floor just as a bolt of lightning blasted past the area I once was. The conjuror of this lightning was the boss monster known as [Odin: The Allfather]. A human-like being with a white beard, an eyepatch over a scarred eye, and a large staff that absolutely crackled with power. Time was not on my side as I looked at a timer on the side of my HUD.

23:56:04

I only had about four minutes to beat this boss before the game known as YGGDRASIL was finally shut down. When I first found out, I had been a little depressed at the implication that all my adventures on this game would finally come to a close. There had been no true reason as to why this game was getting shut down which had surprised the entire player base of this DMMO-RPG, and it made me believe that the developers might be making a sequel. I hoped so since none of the games in the US could match up to the hyper-realistic design of YGGDRASIL.

The other aspect that no other game on the market was even close to reaching was the freedom of player choice. This game has over 700 races to choose from as well as 600 classes to augment your character with. Rule of thumb was that no two characters would be the same in this game unless you used some guide to prebuild your character. Other than that, the sky's the limit and players took to it like bees to honey. It helps that the entire world the game takes place in was so large that much of it still hasn't been explored yet. Too bad none of it ever will after the next eight minutes.

When I had first started this game, I bought it out of bored curiosity and had no idea of the scope it would cover. Sadly, I decided to make the mistake of not reading the rules for this game, specifically about how you could only ever make one avatar. Yeah, being the dumb jackass that I am at times, I chose in my character creation the option of making my character a female thinking that it would be a funny joke to mess with people online about what my actual gender was. Bad decision on my end since I the race I chose, which was the Kitsune, had a severe penalty at the start of the game which made people avoid picking them like the plague.

After level ten, every ten levels all the way up to 100 you had to beat nine consecutive bosses without dying once, otherwise leveling up past 19 would be impossible. That was something that turned off most players from taking this race, and made me originally regret ever picking it since every time that you died in this game, you would be set back up to five levels which you would then need to level up once more to try the consecutive boss run again. Thankfully, it was balanced with the [Kitsune Ascension] racial skill which granted a single tail to your character after every ten levels, along with a ten percent increase in my Mana Points, Magic Attack, and Magic Defense which were permanent and couldn't be lost even with level loss.

This made playing the Kitsune race at high levels an amazing reward for the ridiculous requirements. The buffs that you got because of the race did make one a target by other players in this game, sadly enough. People would either want you to join their guilds or they would kill you to set you back a few levels. Sometimes both were an option. It didn't help that I was singled out at times since I was an American playing a Japanese game and a lot of PKers (player-killers) saw that as a red flag to chop you up into tiny bits. But hey, that's just the way MMO's work.

There was one problem when playing a game that doesn't allow you to change your character's appearance when combined with being a perverted jackass, and that was when making a character like I did, I found out early on the issue that I can't see anything around my feet. Upside, no back pain at least!

It is an embarrassing weakness that has gotten me killed in the past before.

Originally, with Kitsune in mind, I designed the character to be distracting to other players, that way I could have a small edge for whenever I would enter PvP. Pretty face, long golden blonde hair, orange slitted fox eyes, and a very voluptuous body all capitalized on being a distracting tease. Add a pair of golden furred fox ears and nine tails and it completed the look. I originally regretted the decision, but over time I learned that my character has her perks and I've made very good use of them.

Regardless, all of my decisions that I've made in this game have led to this one moment. Soloing a boss with only a small amount of time left.

I tapped my finger on thin air, and a menu filled my view. Tapping the button for spells, I was greeted to a list of names that started from 0th Tier, all the way to 11th Tier. I tapped quickly and pulled up a spell list and with practiced ease, I activated my first spell.

"[Replicant]" I announced and watched as a flame split off of me and floated away. A moment later and a body burst into being from that flame, the same as mine. "Distract." I commanded, and my temporary clone rushed from cover and ran around the arena, taking the attention of Odin away from my hiding spot.

[Replicant] is a spell that allows the caster to create a magical copy of themselves. They could do everything the caster could, from casting spells and such. The only downside was that the AI controlling the copy was shit at times, and the spell could burn through your mana if you weren't careful about it.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my mana meter barely dropping from using that spell. At low levels, a spell-caster using that spell would burn up through their mana in less than 30 seconds. For me, that wasn't an issue anymore since I had more mana than I knew what to do with at times. My style of play involved making any fight I took part in unfair and terrible for my opponents. Everything I did was meant to be a mind game that made people play by my rules, not by theirs. The best part was fighting any players that I had enraged, it's what I lived for. And, being honest, I'm way too much of a troll in this game for my own good.

Too bad the AI of this game is too simple for that. Instead, I just needed to use simpler spells to distract them for my grand finishers.

Then, I quickly tapped a few more buttons on my menu until I got to what I wanted. I quickly stood up from my cover and moved enough from my cover to spot Odin. This fight needed to be ended now, and I had one spell which I was saving for moments when I needed to bring some real damage to a fight. I looked at the time once more.

23:57:06

Three minutes. I can do this.

I made one final tap on my menu and selected one of the strongest spells I owned. "[Grand Catastrophe]" I shouted with a dramatic flourish of my hands and tails. The charge up of the spell took two seconds, but due to an item I had which shortened cast times and with my [Replicant] taking care of Odin, I didn't need to worry about being attacked. A small beep alerted me that the charge up time was done, and from my hand, a white beam filled the area of the entire room with both Odin and my [Replicant] clone becoming engulfed in the light. There were only two downsides to this spell. One involved the damage a user's allies could take from the Area of Effect of the spell. Thankfully for me, I rarely went into battles with allies which mitigated the first risk. The other downside was the amount of mana the spell, and others part of the same class as it, used was absurd. Most players who used spells like it would be completely out of mana at this point, me, I had a half left.

Eventually the spell's light faded and revealed a charred landscape with only Odin still remaining. My clone had been annihilated by the blast while Odin himself wasn't doing any better with only a little bit of ten health remaining. That boss was one tough cookie.

He then raised his staff above his head and screamed to the heavens. This meant that he was on his final boss phase. With a slam of his staff to the ground, bolts of lightning burst from the tip of his staff and started hitting the entire area around him. His AoE was absolute murder if you didn't have enough Magic Defense.

Even with my ability to resist magical attacks, I didn't want to give him a chance to kill me with a good hit. I brought up my menu once more and prepared my next spell. "[Inari's Immolation]" I said as a raging inferno burst beneath Odin's feet and swallowed the boss in his entirety. I put all of my remaining mana into the attack just to make sure that Odin didn't have any health remaining.

The inferno spun itself out after a few more seconds and revealed Odin lying defeated on the ground. My eyes widened as Odin seemed to almost push himself back up, but then he collapsed to the ground and burst into dust which made me sigh in relief. I saw a staff remaining where Odin once was, then I glanced at the timer and jumped for joy.

23:59:19

Killed him with a minute to spare.

With a quick jog over to Odin's former resting place, I picked up the item. It was a tri-pronged staff with a crystal at the top that seemed to barely contain the energy within it. I felt completely satisfied now. It had taken almost twenty minutes and a shit ton of prep-time, but the battle was over and I had won. I opened up my storage space and put the staff inside before letting it close again. Not much I could do now with only a few seconds left on the clock, so I just walked to the only exit of the dungeon with my head held high, and my tails wagging behind me. The heels of my shoes clicked against the stone floor, as if ticking down each second I had left in this game that I'd spent much of my time on.

23:59:54

Six seconds left as I was almost to the exit.

"Goodbye, YGGDRASIL. I'm glad I had the pleasure of playing you." I announced with some sadness as I stepped through the exit and into the bright light beyond.

24:00:00

I was completely floored when I stepped onto a dirt road heading into some random direction. "Okay, what? The game should be shut down now." I muttered to myself before pressed my finger in the air to open up my console. And nothing is happening. Okay, odd. I quickly tapped my finger in the air repeatedly.

Still nothing. Okay, maybe it's just lag and the server is just processing the shutdown. I took a breath and calm waiting for my console to open up.

I waited an entire minute...then I started panicking.

"What the fuck, what the fucking fuck!?" I shouted as I kept pressing the air, waiting for my console to open up. Then, I stopped and my hand went to my mouth. My mouth could move, something that shouldn't be possible when you talk in YGGDRASIL. "My voice. What the hell happened to my voice?!" Yeah, panic is the perfect emotion to have right now. Instead of a normal male voice like I expected, I could only hear that of a sultry female.

My hands held my head as I thought about what was going to happen to me if I was trapped in this game. My body was going to waste away if I was trapped in here and then I'd die. At that moment, my hands brushed against the ears on top of my head. I could feel it.

Oh shit, how can I feel? I put my gloved hand, with a ring on each finger, in front of my face and made a grip. That registered very quickly in my mind. In YGGDRASIL, while there was some small sense of feeling, just enough to let you know that you were holding an item, it wasn't like what I was feeling now. This felt the same as real life, and that was terrifying. None of this should be real! I should be back in my room right now, not stuck in this game!

I fell to my knees in despair and felt my overly large chest jiggle. I glanced down and sighed. You've got to be kidding me, even the breasts are animated?

That made me stop for a second. If the devs were still somehow running this game, then any lewd action I take would get me banned, and therefore, get me out of this game. I grinned, then I felt terrified knowing that I could feel my face grinning, another thing that should work in YGGDRASIL. Attempting to ignore that thought, I was surprise as I was able to quickly squeeze one of the breasts before shouting out, "Hey! You seeing this? Get me banned!" Then I stopped feeling myself up because of the new and strange pleasure I was getting from it as well as the fact that I was able to perform that action.

That shouldn't have been possible to begin with. Something was wrong. Very wrong!

"Ban me you fuckwits! I want out!" I shouted to the night sky, and yet nothing responded. No chat, no console menu, and no ban.

I was well and truly fucked.

My face felt flush with anger while my eyes burned from withholding tears. "I just want to go home." I whispered before letting myself lay on my back. I looked up at the sky and prayed to any person or deity to free me from this place. I closed my eyes and felt tears stream down my face as the feeling of sleep overtook my mind.

I woke up after feeling the bright light of the sun shining in my face. I groaned as I didn't want to wake up, I was very comfortable in this nice cozy blanket of mine. I attempted to pull the blanket's covers above my head to block out the light but stopped when my hands felt the blanket. First; my hand was covered in a glove. Second; even with my hand covered in a glove, I could somehow still feel the fluffy fur of the blanket.

My eyes shot open and I looked down to see that there were nine golden furry tails wrapped around me, keeping my body nice and warm, with one tail acting as a pillow. I quickly panicked and attempted to jump out of the tails that were snaked around me, and instead crashed back in the ground with both me and all the tails ending up in a tangled heap. This felt suffocating, I didn't like this tight space, and I wanted out. NOW!

And, as if obeying an unseen command, the tails sprung apart and freed my body. When I got a good look at my now female body, my head slammed back into the ground and I sighed. "It wasn't a dream. Why am I stuck here, and why does this body feel like it belongs to me?" I asked no one in particular. Maybe, this might all be real, and I could just be trapped inside this realm. The thought crossed my mind, after all, how could I even feel things like I do right now? I even managed to break rules of the game by performing R-18 actions which should've been either impossible and/or gotten me banned.

For what felt like an hour, I just laid there, wondering about what I should do as my mind processed everything that was happening to me. I was trapped in this place and ended up becoming a character of my own design, but that should be insane. I should be able to get free from here and return back home. But, what if I was trapped forever here in this world, unable to get back into my original body? Should I feel upset or elated that I didn't have to deal with any of my responsibilities in the real world?

I was upset about this whole situation, I mean, I am upset. None of this was my choice, I just got forced here against my will to do God knows what.

But, is it truly all that bad? I mean sure, I'm not in my original body, and I've ended up with the wrong reproductive organs as well. And yet, I have some cool tails and ears, and for some reason even though my HUD is gone, I know the exact amount of mana I have which makes me think I can still use magic.

Yet, I still need to get home.

And what would that bring me? Boring work, high taxes, a lack of any real social life outside of a video game? My parents aren't around, and the only person who cares about me is my boss, and he would only wonder why I'm losing him money not working. These are the reasons you even started playing this game in the first place. To escape.

That is true. A huge reason I enjoyed YGGDRASIL was because even if I could be a troll to others, I could also be a hero. At times when I helped people in the game, I felt like I had accomplished more than what I did at work. More than what I did stuck in a office cubical, looking at a slowly ticking clock and hoping that I could just keel over and spare myself the misery of coming back to that place.

Perhaps this is what I needed. And always wanted.

None of what I'm thinking will happen, from either getting back to my real body or enjoying my time here, unless I make it happen. I couldn't waste anymore time thinking, I needed to be active or else life would tick on by with every second wasted. With my mind firm on doing something, I looked around my body to see the golden tails splayed out. My golden tails splayed out. I quickly wondered how one would even go about controlling multiple tails. Do you just think, and the tails do, or is there something more than that? One way to find out.

With surprisingly little mental effort, I had one of my tails raise itself in the air and wiggle a little bit. Keeping it raised in the air, I looked at the other tails and willed them to do the same. With a sense of accomplishment, I watched as all the tails moved about in the air. Guess that answers my question.

I didn't know what I was going to do, but moving, doing something other than lying down on the ground was much better than remaining here and wasting away. I needed to move, movement is survival. So, I pushed myself into a standing position and began walking...

Only to immediately lose my balance on the high-heeled boots that I was wearing and fall face-first towards the ground. I braced myself for some pain but was pleasantly surprised when I saw two of my tails had cushioned my fall. Thank God for that. Getting back onto my feet, I felt myself wobble in my shoes slightly before finding my balance.

Apparently wearing heels in the game does not translate to wearing them here. At least I now know this. I bent over to try and look at my feet and had to keep an arm on my new...extremities to prevent them from getting in the way. The black boots were trimmed in gold with heels that were intimidatingly high and went up to my body's thighs.

I know that I want to be wearing anything other than these boots, but if I'm going to be honest, I doubt that I'll find any divine class items that could ever possibly replace them anytime soon. Guess I'll just have to learn how to walk in heels from now on. Couldn't be that hard, after all, my character had made it seem so easy to do so over the years.

It also felt strange to be wearing this dress that I was in. It had the design of one of those Chinese dresses but was missing sleeves and had a collar that covered my neck with a color design the same as my boots. The cuts up the side of the dress went to my hips which made me a little uncomfortable since I wasn't used to seeing what is now my body being exposed. I didn't exactly enjoy the draft on my legs or between the cleavage my dress revealed.

If I had been told that something like this would happen to me when I had made my character female, I probably would've not played a character with a female gender. Still, I needed to get used to walking, and by God, I would figure this out!

…Regret is something that became my friend this day as I wobbled down the dirt road mastering the art of walking like I wasn't drunk out of my mind. Thankfully, my tails came in handy whenever I was about to have an accident and would try to cushion all of my falls.

As I continued my clumsy journey, I began exploring other parts of my new anatomy. For instance, my sense of smell was ridiculous. And for some reason, my mind was able to register whatever I was smelling into context for me. Like, the animals wandering the forest, the plants, everything. It was weird at first, but I eventually got used to it. What I didn't get used to was my new empowered hearing.

The new ears sticking out from on my heard were more than just about looks. Everything was amplified for me and, swiveling my ears one way or another allowed me to pinpoint where certain sounds were. I doubted that I was going to get used to not feeling ears attached to the side of my head anytime soon. But, compared to the really big changes that happened to my body, having ears on top of my head instead of on the side were pretty small complaints.

From what I could see, this body seemed to act just like of a normal human, with some minor alterations. But, considering that this body was from the game of YGGDRASIL, I thought back on if and or how magic worked. I only took a moment to concentrate, but I could instantly recall my list of spells. From the effects, the ranges of their attacks, and how long it would take before I could use them again. It was weird.

Not a bad weird, but weird nonetheless.

Normally, spells used a cursor and motion to activate, I usually said my spells aloud because it sounded cool, and it let me remember what I had just cast. But, considering that I didn't have any display of a HUD anymore, it probably changed slightly. Sticking a hand forward, I concentrated on one of the spells locked in my mind.

"[Fireball]!" I shouted, and much to my amazement, a massive flame that towered over me was blasted from my hand, the heat swam of the spell warmed my body as it flew forwards until sputtering out a few hundred feet down the road. It was one thing to play a game and make a character cast a spell as you watched, it was another entirely to actually cast a spell and feel the power surging within you before releasing your will upon reality.

"Okay, awesome!" I said with a massive grin on my face. "Let's see what else I can do!" As I prepared another spell in my mind.

I'll be honest and admit that I spent the next ten minutes having a literal blast with casting random spells in my arsenal. I could feel the mana that each spell used, and how much I had left after my casting spree. It was an amazing and unique experience. If all my spells worked like they should, then I could probably be one of the strongest beings on the planet! That also made me wonder if all my abilities from the game were still with me. Concentrating, I reached a hand forward and a dark portal surrounded the limb. When I grabbed what I was after, I yanked quickly and pulled out the Staff of Odin. Grinning, I could just imagine all the trollish activities that I could perform to my leisure if I wanted with my storage space. Pushing the staff back into the portal, I felt completely at ease. I could do anything I set my mind to at this point.

Wait...

I concentrated and activated my spell [Message]. I couldn't have been the only person to have been brought here from YGGDRASIL. It was an impossibility that only one player would've waited the timer for the game to end. So, there was a chance that I wasn't alone here, and I wanted to take that chance. Hopefully a GM had stayed online for the end of the game and was in the same position I was. "Hello!? Calling all YGGDRASIL GMs trapped here! If anyone is around, please answer me." My message received no answer and I only felt a sense of the spell reaching forward and trying to grasp something, anything, and yet there was nothing. All that I got in return was silence.

Maybe I was in a location that was too far to hear the message, or I might be in a place that prevents messages for being heard? I'll just have to try in different locations to see if anyone would answer, then I'd admit that I might be truly alone in this world.

With a huff, I began marching forward once again, stumbling every once in a while, but slowly getting the hang of walking in these shoes.

What felt like an hour later, I had gained a sense of balance after trial and error, and felt that I could walk with complete confidence and not seem like a shambling wreck. Too bad that while learning how to walk normally, I found that my back felt a little sore. How do women get used to these things? It astounds me.

Luckily for me, my journey had taken me before a sign with directions. Unfortunately, the writing on this sign wasn't in a readable language and would've been a problem for me, if I didn't have the item known as the [Lenses of Tongues], a rare item that used a special translation software in YGGDRASIL to translate encoded languages into a readable language for the user. It was originally looked at as a terrible, rare, low-tier item that barely had any use outside of a few quests. But then, people started to realize that coded languages other guilds used could possibly be translated with the item. It quickly became a go-to item by the player base due to its use in espionage against other player guilds. I luckily got mine before it became a wanted commodity.

Reaching into my storage space, I pulled out a pair of spectacles and put them on. I wasn't sure how the spectacles would work without a console menu relaying the information to me, but the first thing I noticed was a slight pressure behind my eyes that disappeared quickly after. When I looked at the signs, the letters slowly rearranged themselves from whatever gibberish I was looking at, to a fully readable translation in English. This would certainly help me in the long run as I doubted I could learn this world's languages in any quick amount of time.

Reading the sign, I read that in the direction that I was already traveling in, the city of E-Rantel was over three miles away from where I was standing. In the opposite direction, the city called E-Pepel was 35 miles away. Why were these names so unoriginal? Did whatever city-planner who was designing these cities just give up on the naming scheme? It's a letdown, but at least I knew that I was near a city. I could probably reach the city at a much faster rate if I wanted to, but I also wanted to get acclimated to walking in this body, so I was taking the long way.

Another thought that hit me quickly was that I didn't know how this place reacted to non-humans. In YGGDRASIL, there were towns that had biases to players that were demi-human, like upping the prices on items, or being unable to accept certain quests. Though, it wasn't as bad as players who chose heteromorph races which were completely denied access to certain cities.

The race I chose was considered a demi-human while in its humanoid form and a heteromorph when in its beastial form, but due to a racial class that I had taken later on in the game, I was considered a heteromorph in either form. Luckily, Kitsune had a special racial ability called [Kitsune Illusion] which could temporarily make your form look human and change your racial type to a humanoid one depending on the amount of mana you were willing to waste on it.

Getting closer to civilization made me wary of this risk, so without hesitation, I cast [Kitsune Illusion] and noticed the effect immediately. Before my eyes, reality seemed to devour my tails until nothing remained. I reached a hand out to where one of the tails used to be, and could only grab air, though I did notice a feeling almost like when a part of your body touched spiderwebs. That was a bit interesting, even if the whole experience was strange.

Feeling on top of my head, I noticed that my furred ears were now missing had had been replaced with a normal human set on the sides of my head. I didn't understand why, but the feeling of ears on the sides of my head was weirder than when they were on top. It felt wrong for some reason, even though I should've been feeling the opposite right now. It was almost like when one lost a limb.

I tried to shake this feeling out of my mind and ushered my legs forward on my journey. Thankfully, the journey only took me less than what I guessed was an hour. During that time, I took the chance to practice some of the random spells I knew, taking care to avoid using any of my more ridiculous spells, after all, I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention or use up more mana than what was already being used for my [Kitsune Illusion]. Didn't want it to short out on me by overdoing random spells

The barrage of new sounds against my ears; people talking, the wheels of wagons rolling, and the sounds of domesticated animals let me know I was close to civilization. I found it strange that even though I couldn't feel my ears, I could still hear quite clearly from them. Sadly, I couldn't enjoy the sounds since my enhanced sense of smell let me know of the other announcement of society. The waste!

I rubbed my nose as the stench of the city wafted into it. If this is what dogs and cats had to deal with on a daily basis in the city, then I felt complete pity for them. This stench was beyond horrid, and only the more delicious aromas of food and the nature around me seemed to balance it out. There had to be some way that domesticated animals could stand living with this terrible smell.

Attempting to breathe through my mouth was a start, but not a final solution for my problem. Maybe it was all just mental and I needed to block it out? I'd have to work on that while in this settlement.

Passing over a small hill, I could easily spot the settlement, which was a large city, in the distance and felt relief at finally reaching my destination. If I was going to be stuck in this world, then I needed to know more about it, and this city would probably provide many answers that I needed. So, without further hesitation, I walked down towards the entrance of this city which had multiple people bringing goods in and out of the city. Hopefully they wouldn't care about one more person entering.

The outer walls of the city stretched around it and were massive. A city with walls like that meant either one of two things, it was an old fortress that belonged to an evil overlord and was recommissioned as a city, or it was a defensive spot to ward off against large, nearby threats. I'm thinking that it's option two, but I'm not entirely certain.

When I had made my way to the line of wagons and people that stood before the gate, my plan of entering the city unnoticed hit a few snags, and then was promptly thrown in my face. Mainly, it was because of how I noticed all the attention that I was receiving, mainly from the males near me. Way to go with my first plan going up in smoke.

The other issue was that up ahead past all the wagons and people trying to enter the city, I saw the guards of the town having the visitors pay a toll for entrance, and considering that I had no idea what the currency of this world is, and my only gold was from YGGDRASIL with its own unique design on their coins, I'd be considered an outsider and possibly thrown into a jail cell to be interrogated.

Not good.

This meant I had plan B, plan C, and plan D to rely on.

Plan B was to simply [Teleport] into the city. I could easily use my [Scry] spells or one of my items to discern a good spot to [Teleport] into the city and be done with it. Plan C was to use [Invisibility] to sneak my way into the city without issue. I doubt there was a high enough level character in E-Rantel that could spot me. Plan D was to simply [Charm Species] the entire area and talk my way into being let into the city.

The downsides of each plan involved plan B being nullified through anti-search or anti-teleportation magic. Plan C was done the moment someone spotted me. And Plan D was screwed if the people here could resist my magic.

I believed that plan B would work out the best right now since I was already near the gate. I just needed some cover, and looking around, I spotted bushes and trees lining the dirt road that provided a bit of cover.

Now I just needed to get the attention of these ogling perverts off my fine ass. I quickly whispered "[Silent Magic]." Knowing that my spells couldn't be heard, I cast [Fear] on one of the nearby horses.

Quickly reacting, the horse began neighing loudly and jumped about in terror. This grabbed the attention of the people around me, and I quickly moved into the bushes and cast [Invisibility] upon myself and watched as my body disappeared before my very eyes.

I loved this spell and it had been a mainstay of mine since it worked extremely well with hit-and-run tactics that I employed. I especially enjoyed how it made me seem like the old comic-book character Batman with the whole becoming one with the shadows schtick of his. I couldn't tell you how useful this spell was in my early PvP days.

Become invisible, move around, and drop a load of damage spells in quick succession. I had to change my plan when I leveled up and fought stronger players, but it always was a good backup tactic for my fights.

I rushed my way through the gates as more people tried calming the fear-addled horse down. Suckers.

Upon entering the city, I saw that this area seemed overly-populated with guards and military equipment. In retrospect, should I have expected anything different considering how defended these walls looked?

Still, I needed to get information in this town, and playing many games over the years had taught one thing about big cities like these. There were probably some guilds in this city that could use an adventurer like myself to aid them. And, in any other RPG, the first thing that I would need to do to receive information is begin a quest and then receive an exposition dump from whatever character I was interacting with. If it was like multiple other games that I'd played, it might even end up with me becoming the guild leader due to some unforeseen circumstance.

Then, after that, I had to keep moving forward to my next goal. And to be honest, I wasn't sure what my end goal was. Walking in a random direction for many unknown miles gave me much time to think, and I've been thinking about what I really wanted. Did I want to leave this game, and all this power, to go back to my boring life at home. I still wasn't sure if all of this was real or just an advanced artificial reality. If it was real, then it didn't seem that bad of a life. I needed more information before I could truly come up with a decision.

Now, I just needed to get information about where some guilds were. The best people that could probably answer my questions were the city guards. I needed to find a job and get information, and who better to get information about the city than from those that guard it? Perfect plan, if I do say so myself.

After stepping into an alley and cancelling out my [Invisibility] spell, I made my way over to one of the guards who was standing by a building watching for any signs of trouble. I mulled over the idea of what would happen if I used [Charm] on this guy, but that brought up a whole slew of issues about whether or not he could resist it, if there was some type of magic detection for mental magic, even how the guard might act while under the spell's effect.

Too risky.

Besides, considering that I managed to turn a few heads before entering this city, I could probably use sex appeal to convince this guard to do what I want, and it would likely prevent him from asking me questions that I didn't want to answer. The only downside would be the loss of dignity as I tried to seduce answers out of the guard...

Do it.

Maybe I should try to do that. It would be amusing to see how the guy would act, and I needed answers to move on. With my mind made up, I strode up to the guard and smiled. He was a blond man who seemed to be in his early twenties if I had to guess. The way the blond seemed to glance my way and stare at me before looking away with some shame that seemed cute. Wait, why did I just think that?

Pushing that thought out of my mind for later, I knew that there was one thing this guy seemed to radiate off his body. Desire, I could smell it rolling off the guy, and I could use it to my advantage.

"Hello, could you possibly help me for a moment?" I asked in a warm tone. His eyes immediately dashed to my eyes as his face began turning red.

"Uh, yes, my Lady? H-How can I possibly help you today?" He nervously replied. This was going to be way too easy, especially with how he called me his Lady. Maybe he assumed I was royalty because of my clothing? Didn't sound that bad now that I think about it.

"I'm a little lost, and I was thinking that a smart man like yourself could tell me where the nearest guild is." I answered with as much flattery as I could muster. He quickly nodded, with his eyes flickering below my face every once in a while.

Is that really what girls dealt with all the time? That must get annoying after a while. But, it also made me take note that if this was a video game, then the devs would've had to put some serious thought into the actions of all the NPCs. Seemed way too detailed for some game developers to want to program into some NPCs. This was only one observation, didn't make the inference that this reality is real a truth. I needed more evidence before I came to a complete conclusion.

"Certainly, my Lady. Y-You just need to travel down this road until you reach the middle layer of the city. After that, ask around and you'll be pointed to either the Adventurer's, Alchemist's, or Magician's guild." That wasn't exactly specific, and I needed specifics. So, I sidled up a little closer to him, and crossed my arms under my chest to push it up.

"Do you have a map that I could use to find my way? I'm afraid that even with your great directions, I'd still possibly end up quite lost. If you need payment, I'd be quite willing to reward you for your help..." As my body sidled right against the guard's. Wait, why did I just say and do all of that?! I just needed directions and no questions, why was I going so overboard with this?

"I don't require a reward, my Lady. I-I'm happy to help out someone in need any way I can." He reached into a pouch strapped to his hip and pulled out a small map which showed me that the city was made of three concentric circles of walls. He pointed to one section of the map and said, "We are here. If you move up this road, it'll bring you to the second wall that'll take you to the residential district where the guilds are." He finished before tucking the map back away into his pouch.

"That was helpful. You really know your way around this city." I complimented. The guard had the decency to look bashful as looked away from me.

"It's no problem, my Lady. I'm just here to help those that need it. If a woman like yourself is searching for the guilds, you must need some help." He replied.

"Actually, I was planning on joining a guild. Though, I don't know which one to start with." I replied. Having three guilds to choose from gave me options, but knowing games, I'd make the most money and fame if I joined the Adventurer's guild. The Magician's guild probably involved honing magic skills which I had an overabundance of.

The guard seemed surprised at my statement. "Really? I never would've-well I can't-you just don't come off like much of…" The man fumbled with his words which made me grow an amused smile.

"I don't seem the fighting type." I finished for him.

"I-I wouldn't say that, my Lady. Y-You are probably very c-capable. Please excuse my rudeness." He apologized with a bow.

"You don't need to apologize. It's fine. I may not look it physically, but I'm actually a very strong magic user."

The man stopped bowing and looked up at me, "No doubt that you are capable. But, if you're a magic user, then the guild you would want to enter first is the Magician's guild." The guard told me.

"What about the Adventurer's guild? Wouldn't they also be fine to join?" I stood by my decision to not enter the Magician's guild. I didn't need them, but they would probably need me.

"I'm sure you could. I'm not exactly versed in guild politics, but most magic users go to the Magician's to start with."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir?" I left my answer with an invitation for him to give me his name. With all the help this guy gave me, I wanted to know who he was.

He grinned, "I'm Durrin, my Lady. If it's not too forward, could you tell me your name?" He asked with a hopeful expression on his face. I didn't want to use my real name since Aaron would sound weird as both a female name, and as a name to take in this new world with my new body. My character's name wasn't any better. Fox13itch wasn't exactly a name that inspired confidence, especially now. No, I needed something good, strong, and exotic...

"Kashia Blanc." I answered. Reading enough fantasy novels allowed me to quickly make up a name on the spot. Still haven't figured out how characters in fantasy novels have some of the strangest names. Not like I'm any better with my made-up one. At least the guard seemed quite pleased with hearing my name. That's all that really mattered.

"Kashia Blanc is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." He stated. I did not expect him to start flirting with me. Then again, I initiated the conversation by practically throwing myself onto him. I found it strange that I wasn't blushing right now, normally getting told something like that in YGGDRASIL made me extremely embarrassed. The only advantage of the game was that the facial animations weren't advanced enough to show expression like that.

Here was a completely different story, and I was thankful for it.

"You can certainly flatter a woman, Durrin. I'll remember you." I said before walking away with a wave.

"H-Hopefully I'll see you again!" He replied. At least I made a friend here. Talking with Durrin did enlighten me in two different ways. For one, I now knew that E-Rantel had three guilds housed here. The other is that I doubt that I'm in a game anymore. The actions and reactions of Durrin were too…human to be frank. A program would have some moment of delay before being able to respond like he did. He also had a regular voice that could actually pronounce my name perfectly, unlike how a machine would stutter at certain vowels and or syllables.

I didn't know whether to be scared or happy about making this discovery of my fate. Besides learning about this world being real, I was also scared at how I was acting. I didn't understand why I could just seduce a guy and not feel embarrassed. There were also my thoughts earlier on Durrin. Why did I think he was cute? He was a guy, and before now I hadn't ever shown attraction to the male gender. Was this body messing with my mind?

I'd have to think more on this after I finished my business with the Adventurer's guild.

It didn't take long for me to arrive at the Adventurer's guild. Durrin's instructions had told me the area, but I needed to question the people around me for the specific location. Luckily for me, I wasn't wanting for help when asking some men for directions.

This all ended with me standing before a white building with the name 'Adventurer's Guild' emblazoned upon the top. The translation glasses I was wearing helped me in that department. Since entering this city, I hadn't taken them off once due to them being too useful. If needed, I could just claim that they helped me see.

When I stepped inside the guild, I noticed that it was quite busy with a large number of patrons. The guild hall was an open space with a flight of stairs about two meters away from the door that led to a second floor with wooden guardrails that people were leaning on. Next to the stairs was a bulletin board which was covered in sheets of paper that described different jobs which I saw a few adventurers indecisively hover in front of. Beyond that, I saw benches that had groups of people wearing armor and weapons talking to one another.

Stepping inside, I found multiple sets of eyes glancing at me. Some seemed to scan me before flicking away unimpressed. Others were out of curiosity, and more were from lust. I had to start somewhere, so I walked past the stairs and board and saw out of the corner of my eye a wooden counter with a few women standing behind. All of them wore matching red uniforms with a white bonnet covering their hair.

I walked up to the counter with one of the women behind it. "Hello there, you look new here. Is there anything that I can help you with?" She asked with a kind smile.

"Certainly. I was wondering how I would go about joining the Adventurer's guild? I wanted to do something that could pay well, and this place seemed to be the best bet." I answered.

"If you are planning to join the guild, then first you'll need to pay the entry fee of five silver coins. After that, you'll have to pay five copper coins to take the literacy exam before we mark you as a registered adventurer." She answered honestly.

Though, it did make me wonder on one thing, "So, if one pays the entry fee, then fails the literacy exam, what happens with their money for the entry fee? Seems a little step to pay one fee to enter and then pay another to take a test."

She nodded and continued, "If one were to fail the test, the entry fee wouldn't need to be paid again. You'd only have to pay for the literacy exam. It's the guild's way of weeding out those who try to waste our time if they can't read." The woman explained. That was a decent reason, it just made me wonder how many people in this city could read.

This also made me thankful that my glasses were still on. With them staying on, I'd have a decent excuse that I needed them to see. I only wondered what this exam was going to be like, also, if they would be kind enough to take my currency.

"I can accept your terms, but, would gold be a suitable replacement for silver and copper?" I asked as I reached into a pouch on my waist and pulled out a gold coin of YGGDRASIL and placed it onto the table. The coin had the design of a woman's face on one side, and a stylized version of the world tree on the other. Hopefully this would be considered acceptable currency.

The woman picked up my coin with a shocked expression as she flipped it over in her hand. "Ma'am, this is a bit unorthodox, but if this truly is gold then it would be acceptable as a payment. I've never seen coins of this design before, are you from another country?"

"Yes. I've been traveling for a while and wanted to settle down in a country somewhere. A month ago, I found an old cave that had a bag full of these coins which was guarded by these giant spiders. The spiders surprised me, but at least I got their gold." I answered with a half-truth. In YGGDRASIL I did indeed find a cave filled with spiders that had a treasure bag of goodies which included gold.

"I'll just need to check the authenticity of the gold, but afterwards you'll be cleared for the test." The woman said as she reached underneath the counter and pulled out a sheet of paper with numerous runes on it. That looked exactly like a spell scroll from YGGDRASIL.

Placing the coin onto the circle in the center of the scroll caused the seals on the paper to glow gold before creating a number at the bottom. The woman's eyes widened as she looked from the coin to me in rapid succession. After getting over her shock, the woman took the coin off the scroll, and I got to see the scroll ignite in a blue blaze and leave no trace of itself behind.

Finally, the woman tore her eyes away from the coin and looked up to me. "Ma'am, this more than pays for your fees. I can exchange some currency that we have for this coin, but there isn't enough right now to pay for it."

"Sure. I don't have any currency of this land right now, and I believe that it would be unwise to pay for everything with the gold I got." This was a convenient solution. With the way that the woman reacted, the gold of YGGDRASIL was apparently worth a lot.

"Wise choice. Wait right there and I'll be back with some silver." She told me before leaving me and entering a room behind the counter. It took a few moments, but she came back with a small canvas bag that jingled in her hands.

She set it on the table and I reached over and picked it up before inspecting the contents of the bag. Inside were silver coins with a cruder design than my gold coin. They were imperfect circles that I might reasonably guess were hammered out from a small block of metal.

I tied the bag to my belt and looked up to the woman who was setting a book onto the counter. "This is what you'll need to read aloud to me. I'll pick a random passage of the book, and you'll tell me what it says."

"Do you switch up books when you administer this test? I'd assume that there might be some examinees who try to memorize what a book says instead of learning to read." I wondered aloud.

"We do. Everyday we use a different book to prevent that type of cheating." I nodded in acceptance and she opened the book at a random page before pointing to one of the paragraphs.

"As Selena walked to the bedroom of her lover, she believed that Lord Bosco would be ashamed to know that she was secretly carrying the child of her paramour, Tristan. If the Lord were to ever find out he would surely have Selena executed on the spot for adultery, and Tristan would soon follow by being drawn and quartered. If she hadn't been so unfaithful to her Bosco, then none of this would be a matter to be worried about. She strip-" The book was quickly closed by my examiner who was looking a bit hot under the collar. That slightly shocked me since the book seemed interesting.

"Sorry for that book, I think that one of the workers here accidently mixed up their private collection with ours." She glared at a woman working on another section of the counter who had was trying to innocently look away.

"I didn't mind that book. It actually seemed like an interesting read." I stated. I was surprised that I wanted to read more of that book. Maybe it was due to me not knowing what had happened before, or what was going to happen after in that book.

"R-Really? You can keep it if you really want to read the rest," She said in surprise, then she added, "and you also passed the test with flying colors."

I grinned hearing this. "That's great. Anything else I need to know about the guild before I'm completely registered?"

"Yes, but first I'm going to need your name."

"Kashia Blanc." I answered. At this rate, I was going to be in charge of this guild in no time at all. Though, this did make me wonder how powerful the people in this world were. Could they use magic up to the 11th Tier, otherwise known as Super-Tier? I'd have to find out later once more information was available.

"Miss Blanc, hello?" I was shaken out of my thoughts by the worker calling my name. I noticed that the worker had brought out a book which she had written my name in, next to that of what I assumed were other guild members.

I focused my eyes back on her face and answered, "Sorry, was just thinking. What did you want to tell me?"

"I was just going to say that I registered your name in our member-registry. It'll take some time before you get logged into the registries of other guild halls across the country. Still, as a starting member, you'll be ranked as a copper-plate adventurer until you are judged worthy for a higher rank." As she said this, she pushed a small rounded metal plate of copper with a leather cord connected on each end towards me.

It reminded me of a dog tag used in the military.

Picking up the metal plate, I rolled it over through my fingers and then placed it around my neck. I noticed how the cord put pressure on my long hair, I'd need to get used to this long hair, or else cut it to a more manageable length. I pulled my hair out of the leather cord and let it fall once more against my back.

"Does rank mean anything, and if so, what are the ranks?" I pondered aloud.

"Rank is meant to show what level of jobs you are allowed to take. There are eight ranks altogether starting from copper-plate and ending with adamantite-plate. As a copper-plate, you'll only be able to choose jobs of that level of difficulty until you earn a higher rank." The worker explained.

I could understand the reasoning; the rank system was meant to protect the underqualified from marching to their deaths. I just hated that I was probably overqualified compared to all the people in this building and yet I still needed to do grunt work. This just reminded me of all the RPGs I played in which I could have saved the world, killed gods, and even been a king, but the NPCs would still mock me and asked me to kill some rabbits in their garden.

This was no fair.

"What would your hardest job in the copper-plate rank be?" I asked, hoping that I wouldn't have to go out and kill some bears for their pelts.

"Right now, we have two jobs that many copper-plates are unable to perform. One would be to clear some of the undead that have been gathering up in E-Rantel's graveyards, the other would be to get rid of a small band of goblins nearby the woods of E-Rantel." She answered as she placed two sheets of paper onto the counter with full descriptions of the jobs.

"Great, I'll take them both." I replied. Using [Fly] and [Teleportation], I'd probably be able to finish these jobs in within the day. The worker had an expression of surprise at my announcement.

"Are you certain about this? Either one of these jobs is quite difficult for copper-plates to accomplish, let alone both!" I took both job sheet off the counter and gave the woman a toothy grin.

"Then it's a good thing that I know I can do this. I'll be back by the end of the day." I replied before walking away with as much confidence as I could muster. When I had finally left the guild hall, I took a glance at the sheets to check out the rewards that I would be receiving.

18 copper for the undead, 24 for the goblins…18 measly copper and 24 for these supposedly difficult jobs. What the hell? YGGDRASIL paid more for jobs like this. This amount of payment was an outrage!

Sighing aloud, I realized that I would be doing grunt work until I ranked up. Better get it done now instead of later. Thankfully I remembered the places on the map that Durrin showed me, and the graveyard took up a large portion of the map in the outer ring of the city. Really made me wonder why that was? How many people died here a year to justify a graveyard of that size?

Who cares, I needed to get these jobs done.

It took me about thirty minutes of walking until I reached the gate overlooking the cemetery. Multiple guards manned the walls, while some walked about trying to act busy. The large wooden gate was closed shut, while two guards were posted in front of it.

"Hey, mind letting me through?" I asked the two guards.

"Miss, the cemetery is closed for now until the adventurers we hired come to clear it out." He answered in a gruff tone. I rolled my eyes at the reply.

"Yeah, I know. You guys hired me to do your job for you." I replied. Both guards took a good look at me, before giving each other a glance. Then they broke out into laughter. I could feel my eyebrow twitch in irritation at their blatant disrespect.

"Right, could you tell me where the real adventurers are, because we need actual adventurers to take care of this job, not a girl pretending to be one. This job is a bit dangerous for adventurers that can't handle it." The guard on the right, a man with more beard than face, replied. My right eye was twitching now. I don't know if that is healthy, but I was getting too pissed off to care.

"Oh, really? I didn't realize that I, a lone female adventurer, couldn't handle a job that a couple of guards were too scared to do themselves." The two guards stopped laughing when I said this. "Great, now that you are starting to take me seriously, I need you two to open the gate so that I can do my job." These males are pissing me off.

"Lady, it's amusing that you think you can handle the undead out there, but you can't. You don't have a single weapon on you, and your outfit couldn't stop a breeze, much less a sword strike. Either go home and get actual gear or get some real adventurers." The beard man answered. Then he gave a quick glance at my body and grinned, "Else, you could also stay by and help me in other ways. I'm certain that a reward could be offered."

Okay, now he's done it. I was planning to originally just use a few lower tier spells to handle the undead here. Fuck subtlety! Now, I'm going to show him how strong this 'weak girl' really was. I'm a fucking woman, not a damn girl!

"How many undead would you say that you wanted cleared for this request?" I asked calmly. I could feel my tails writhing with my rage.

"Can you not take the hint, we aren't letting you into the cemetery!" Beard guard said with an annoyed tone.

"All of them it is. One moment. [Fly]." I said as my feet left the ground. I slowly floated in the air and above the wall, below me the guards seemed quite shocked. Good, their jaws would hit the floor after my next trick.

Looking over the wall, I spotted a large congregation of skeletons gathered together. Each wielded a weapon, and all of them were patrolling the area, probably in search of living victims.

This was what everyone was worried about? I killed single groups that size when grinding, how was this even difficult? Raising my hand in the air, I decided that a 6th-Tier spell would shut those two guards up. "[Incineration Bomb]!" I shouted as an orb of super-condensed flame that was reminiscent of a sun grew to life within my hand.

Then, I tossed the spell down at the skeletal congregation. It took a second to impact the middle of the group, but when it did, the ball rapidly swelled to devour the skeletons around it, then the orb exploded and sent a small wave of fire that turned the surrounding area into ash. The only things still standing after that attack were the tombstones that had been turned into magma that pooled onto the charred earth.

Floating back down to the two guards, I glanced at both with a bored look. "Job's done. Where do I get paid?" I asked as nonchalantly as possible. The guards in the area all had dropped jaws at what just occurred.

Finally, one of the guards on top of the wall spoke up. "P-Payment i-is waiting a-at the g-guild." He answered. I smiled at the man with sincerity.

"Thanks." Then I looked back at the two guards that hassled me. Both had jaws open wide enough to catch flies. "Next time don't assume that appearances are everything." With that, I turned away and used my [Teleport] spell to arrive in front of the Adventurer's Guild.

One job down. Another to go. After that, I needed a place to stay, probably at an inn somewhere. Hopefully the goblin job wouldn't take that long to finish.