A limb-quaking yawn escaped my body as I stretched my arms and legs inthe comfortable bed of the inn. A night had cost forty copper crowns and asimple stew had cost ten, so I could stay for a while with the money Æmoshad given me.Driven by a gurgling and demanding stomach, I left the cosy inn that asign out front named Hallie's Hospitality. I walked down the cobbled streetsof Lundia's Commerce Ward, where shops, inns, and restaurants wereplentiful, searching for this world's equivalent to a convenience store.Unfortunately, no such thing had been brought to this world by the influx ofOtherworlders like myself, though I did manage to find a general storenamed The Choice Goods.After stepping inside the wood-and-stone building, I was greeted byneatly organised shelves and tables, upon which lay everything from bootpolish to pickled vegetables, with no clear delineation between the waresdespite the orderly fashion they'd been placed in.It took me a few minutes of perusing before I found some sort of salamiand some hardtack. Together they cost twenty coppers, but I reckoned itcould last me a few meals, so I ended up buying them.Another thing that had not been imported to this world was apparentlycustomer service, as the owner of the store kept eyeing me suspiciouslythroughout my perusal and, when I paid, he looked as if he couldn't wait forme to get out of his sight. He didn't even let out a "Safe travels!" or "Thankyou, come again!" to see me on my way…I ended up finding a bench on the way to the Guild Ward, where I took aseat and ate a bit of the food I'd bought. It then hit me that I hadn't foundanything to drink, and the dry hardtack and smoked sausage really left meparched. Although I spotted a few wells here and there, I was fairly surethat drinking well water would make me seriously ill, so I kept my eyesopen for a beverage-type shop as I walked back towards the Guild Hall.A while later, I arrived at the Adventurers' Guild, having found some kindof cold tea store with drinks that tasted faintly of the mixture of berries andfruit that'd been cooked with the water. It had cost me ten coppers per flask,so I had only gotten two. It was quickly starting to seem like the moneyfrom the Genius would not last that long.After passing through the perpetually open red doors of the building, Iwent over to the Quest Boards to see if there were any that seemedsomething I'd be capable of, but when I considered the rewards for some ofthe Gathering and Delivery quests, I realised that I'd already spent more onfood and drink this morning than I'd be paid for potentially spending hourson such menial tasks as walking to a nearby farm to deliver a few letters.My eyes kept slipping to the lone Novitiate-ranked Exorcism Quest thathung at the top of the rightmost board, but I knew it was folly to evenconsider taking it, doubly so when I had yet to even attempt to figure outmy role skills.There were some quests labelled Troublesome, which paid a few silvers,but most were Bounty or Extermination, which seemed to be focused onkilling specific targets, and, from what I remembered of my skills, thatseemed far from my forte…I let out a sigh, then decided to have a look at the Group Board, whichwas covered in handmade posters and scrolls, several of which featuredcute drawings and artistic scribbles. I noticed quickly that several of themhad written at the bottom, "No Librarians, Exorcists, and Summoners!"Although it was frustrating to see, it did make me feel a strange sort ofkinship with Æmos, since he knew what it meant to be excluded based onyour arbitrarily assigned role, and I supposed that knowing that not justExorcists were excluded also helped a bit."Hey, newbie, are you looking for a group?" someone behind mesuddenly asked.Newbie?I turned around to face the guy who'd asked, suddenly very consciousof my dumb outfit.The guy was about a head taller than me, but I hadn't really grownduring puberty, so it wasn't anything new. He had an unkempt and thickdark-brown beard and knotted overlong hair that looked like it needed atrim. His clothes were loose with some leather padding on his forearm andchest, and on his hip hung a shortsword about a metre long."You just arrived, right?" he asked, moving closer. I didn't really knowhow to interpret his interest in me, but it seemed a bit overwhelming. Froma look at the queue of people waiting for their Role Assignment, I knew thatthere was still a steady stream of new people coming in, so his interest inme seemed strange, almost desperate."What's your role? My group is looking for a spellcaster or archer, andyou don't look like the brawny type.""Erm, I'm an Exorcist."Immediately, the guy took a step back. "Ah, you were the new one. Isee… Sorry to bother you."Then he was gone.Not like I wanted to join your group anyway! I complained internally.Moments later, a tall guy came over. He was wearing engraved,expensive-looking plate armour that seemed to let off a faint goldenshimmer.If this guy is looking for group members, I'm saying yes, no matterwhat! Even if I have to lie!With a gauntleted thumb, he pushed the beak of his feathered helmet upto reveal his face. His eyes were warm, and his skin was a pale tan. Lightbrown locks of hair flowed out through the bottom of his helmet and randown his back."Was that guy bothering you?" he asked in a deep thrumming voice. Forsome reason, he reminded me a lot of Renji with his charming andcomforting aura."Erm, no. Not like anyone wants to team up with an Exorcist like meanyway," I replied with a fake laugh.The man's heavy gauntleted hand landed on my shoulder, and he lookedme directly in the eyes. "Don't put yourself down like that. Exorcists servea very important role in this world. I'm sure you were chosen for that rolefor a reason." Even though I didn't really believe his words, his kinddemeanour and aura made me want to believe that he was right."I'm pretty sure that I was chosen due to my bad luck," I replied, selfdeprecatingly.The armoured guy let out a chuckle. "I suppose that an F-tier in Luck isa bit worrying."I frowned in response, although his chuckle made me want to laugh aswell."Have you already spoken to the Genius? Roles like yours benefit themost from learning from people with a lot of experience.""I did. What role do you have, if you don't mind me asking?"In response, he used his right hand to pull his Guild Card from a smallbag attached to his left hip, then he held it up in front of me. As an act ofrespect, I also showed him mine.HARLEIGHROLE: CrusaderRANK: EminentGENDER: MaleAGE: 29ACUMEN: DDEXTERITY: CINTELLIGENCE: SLUCK: BPACT: DSOUL: ASTRENGTH: SVITALITY: ASOUL COLOUR:GoldenSKILLS:OmniglotPaladin VCrusader IIIDefender MasteryBane of EvilGuardian AngelDivine Blessing"Wow," I replied, seeing his incredible attributes. Not a single one ofthem was under D-tier… From the presence of "Paladin" and "Crusader," Irealised that he had an advanced role, similar to Æmos."Not bad, right?"I smiled weakly. "Thank you for showing me, Harleigh.""Don't worry about it, Temaru.""Please just call me Ryūta," I replied. "I feel like I might be the onlyone who gave my full name to the Guild lady." I'd been listening to thenames people gave as they registered for the Guild, and thus far, I was theonly one who had given more than just my first name."There are a few different reasons," the Crusader explained, as wemoved a bit away from the Guild Boards so that we weren't blocking themany people who looked through the postings. "Some people come fromworlds where surnames aren't very common, and some see this as a chanceto reinvent themselves, so they pick names that they aspire to match.""Which kind are you?" I asked.He grinned, showing rows of perfectly aligned white teeth—the veryimage of a picture-perfect smile. "I'm not telling.""Still. I wish I'd been as lucky as you. Crusader sounds like someonestrong and reliable and popular."Harleigh shrugged, but I noticed the slightly uncomfortable look on hisface. Perhaps it was a lot of work to maintain that an image, though hedefinitely radiated such energy to me."Can I admit something?"I blinked in surprise. "What is it?""I recognised you from hearing your Role Assignment yesterday, and Iapproached you with hidden intentions."Oh no… I replied internally, fearing the worst."What kind of intentions?""The last Exorcist Novitiate I saw before you was this really kind girlwith a warm smile, but, like everyone else, I just ignored her. A few dayslater she was killed on a quest she attempted alone, and I felt really guiltyfor not helping to guide her. Those of us who have been adventurers foryears understand how dangerous the job is and know how especially hard itis for some roles, so it ought to be our duty to educate Novitiates so theymight thrive. But instead, we just focus on ourselves first and only approachthose whose roles might benefit our groups in some way…""I-I'm not sure how to respond to that."Harleigh grinned, though there was no mirth in it. "Sorry, that wasprobably a bit weird, right?"I scratched my chin awkwardly, then replied boldly, "If you want, Icould use some help finding equipment to suit my role, as well as someguidance on how to use my skills."He nodded seriously, and I suddenly felt like I did back when I'dapproached Renji in middle school to hang out for the first time, and he'dsaid yes.Harleigh showed me the For-Rent Armoury on the first floor, where racksof every weapon imaginable lined the walls, and tables in the middle of thefloor were covered in things like shields, spell tomes, and bizarre talismans.At the back of the floor was an archway past which lay a mirrored versionof the layout but instead with every type of imaginable armour."Exorcists really only have three types of weapons they can use," heexplained. "They are staves, foci, and a unique type called PossessedWeapons. The last kind is pretty rare and quite dangerous, so the Guilddoesn't keep those around for just anyone to grab, but if you make a specialrequest, you can rent such a weapon, though you need to be of Eminentrank or higher."I nodded. I remembered as much from looking at my list of Exorcistskills. "Which one should I pick?""Actually, I think it's a good idea to get both a staff and a focus.""I don't really understand the difference," I replied, nudging a twometre-long metal staff with a ring at the top onto which were fastened to abunch of small bells."Staves are used to channel certain things like prayers, blessings,summonings, and anything you might consider ritualistic, while foci aremostly for offensive spells and things like banishments or detrimentaleffects."That didn't truly make much sense to me, but it seemed that Harleighrealised as much because he took the staff I'd been poking and shoved itinto my hands."Oh, that's a weird feeling," I replied.The moment my hands grasped the shaft of the staff, it was like afamiliarity arose in my muscles, and knowledge I'd forgotten resurfaced inmy mind after a decade. Without even moving my hands, the bells atop thestaff began to ring slowly in unison."Is that supposed to happen?" I asked, concerned."Right now, your Soul energy is unfocused and leaking from your bodyen masse, so this kind of empathic response from a magical tool that you'realigned with is quite normal. As you become better at utilising yourpotential, you can control the flow of your spirit. Picture it like holding aheavy weight in your outstretched arm—to begin with, you can't really holdit like that without shaking, but as you practice, you'll be able to keep yourarm steady.""And what about the focus? I have no idea what I'm looking for. I don'teven know what a focus is…"Harleigh chuckled. "That's normal. When I first came here, this was allvery confusing to me as well. It took me breaking my arm twice to learnhow to properly wield a shield," he said, laughing as though that was a fondmemory.He didn't notice my expression though and instead began searching fora focus I could try.A few moments later, he called me over to a table close to the archwayleading to the other part of the Armoury."There are a few here to pick between," he told me. I looked down atthe objects he indicated, frowning when I saw that one was a horned skull.Besides the skull, which possibly belonged to a ram or a goat, there wasa metal orb made of thin metallic string with a triangle within, a glass vesselthat looked like an old lantern, a simple iron bell on a half-moon handle,and a doll made from some kind of animal fur and stuffed full of beans ofsome kind."Which one should I pick?"Harleigh let out a contemplative "Hmm" before answering, "The type ofmagical effects and characteristics of your spells depend on the type offocus you're wielding. The skull and doll are made from parts of animalbodies, which makes them good for spells that affect living beings, such ascurses, afflictions, and such things, but those are more suited forSummoners and advanced roles like the Necromancer.""Necromancer?" I asked, surprised. That sounded very ominous. Fromthe little bit of fantasy I'd read in the past, Necromancer-type characters hadalways been evil…"It's one of the specialisations that Summoners and Exorcists haveaccess to. A lot of Summoners go for it because it complements their skillset, but I don't know of any Exorcists who have picked it. But then again,Exorcists are one of the few roles where most of the specialisations are stillunknown.""Because so few live long enough?" I replied.His smile faltered for a moment, but then he said cheerfully, "Don't beso gloomy! Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. The bell-type foci are optimalfor summoning spells, while the lantern-type is great for projections andillusions. But I think, for you, this steel ball is the best kind, since it isversatile and your role has a lot of different spells. You could also benefitfrom using a tome as a focus, although it would require a lot of practice toutilise as effectively."I picked up the wire orb, and it naturally came to rest in the palm of myhand. As my untrained energy surged into it, the wire triangle within liftedand began hovering perfectly in the centre, jittering slightly and letting out adeep pulsing hum. Once again, that bizarre feeling of familiarity flowedthrough me, as though I was holding a baseball and had in the past been atalented pitcher.Looking back at the bell-staff that Harleigh was holding for me, I asked,"Do staff types also have an impact on my rituals?"He nodded. "But don't worry, this one will serve you well for prettymuch any skill you have."With the bell-staff and wire orb in hand, I went up to the counter of theFor-Rent Armoury and the clerk tending it asked me, "You're renting thesetwo then?"I nodded."That'll be one silver crown per week per item."I nearly choked, not feeling like I had money to spend but also feelingpressured by the Crusader's in-depth help and expectations of me.Harleigh immediately came over and placed four silver crowns on thecounter. "He's renting them both for two weeks.""Very well," the clerk answered and took the coins before pulling out aslate similar to the one that had decided my role, but the size of a laptopinstead."Card please," he asked, and I offered him my Guild Card, which helaid atop the slate, alongside the focus and staff. Then he wrote down a noteabout the items, rent duration, my name, rank, and role, into a little book forkeeping track."Thank you," I said to the clerk before turning to the Crusader andbowing deeply, thanking him as well."Now let's find you some clothes as well," Harleigh told me, all butdragging me by the elbow into the other part of the Armoury."I can't have you pay for all of this," I complained weakly."It's not that much to rent stuff," he replied."Are you sure?"He clapped me on my back, making me stumble forward and throughthe archway. "Don't be so serious about it; just let your senior treat you!"Then he laughed heartily.I guessed that, in his own way, he was making up for the guilt he feltfrom not doing enough as an experienced adventurer to help the newmembers.In the end, Harleigh bought me a pouch-like bag that sat on my lower backand attached to a belt around my waist, as well as some sturdy grey linentrousers, a simple white shirt, brown hide boots, and a dark hooded travelcloak with pockets on the inside.The focus attached to a hook on my belt, and the Bell Staff turned out tohave a telescopic shaft that allowed it to be collapsed to a metre-long batonrather than its usual two metres. It too could be attached to my belt on asimple loop on my left hip.In the end, he had spent a total of twenty silver crowns on me, and I feltincredibly obliged to pay him back as soon as I could.After the purchases and rentals, we went out behind the Guild Hall to avast courtyard with dummy targets and enough space to practice magicwithout damaging any of the nearby buildings, should something go wrong."I'm serious, Ryūta. This is my gift to you. This kind of money isn'treally anything to me. My group takes on really dangerous quests that payat least a few gold crowns each, so I mostly just have a bunch of money thatI don't know what to spend it on.""Still," I replied, "I'm going to pay you back!"He chuckled. "I suppose it's good to have goals.""Now," he continued, "I don't know how to help with practising thePact-based skills like summonings and rituals, but a few of your other skillsare similar to ones that Paladins and Crusaders have access to, such asBarrier-type skills and offensive skills like your Repel. I think we shouldstart with your Meditation skill, though, since that's one that will benefityou the most in terms of improving your skill with manipulating your soulenergy. Once you know how to do that, all other skills will be easier tomanage."Harleigh had me join him by a tree that shaded a corner of thecourtyard, next to the wall of the Guild. We sat below its shade as a gentlebreeze occasionally washed over us and played with the leaves in itscanopy. He told me that the posture did not matter, so long as it wascomfortable, so I ended up seated with my legs folded across each other andmy right hand resting within the palm of my left, in my lap just below mystomach. The deep thrum of his voice guided me through the kind ofimagery I ought to try and invoke within my mind's eye. Though it tookquite a while, I eventually started being able to vaguely sense the energythat coursed through my body, picturing it as a continuous flow of light thatran down every limb, using the veins of my body as a highway.I couldn't really sense how my energy was supposed to be leaking frommy body, but I assumed that kind of awareness would come in time. Fornow, I was just happy to be making a tiny bit of progress."The reason we started with Meditation is because it is the easiest topractice and is a great stepping stone to learning how to utilise other skillsthat require a specific image in your mind. I think we should try Repel next,as this is really the only truly offensive spell in your arsenal right now.""It sounds quite strange that I am expected to take on very dangerousquests but have no offensive capabilities.""To my knowledge, Exorcists rely a lot on their summoned familiars orpaid bodyguards for such matters. Exorcism Quests are, from myunderstanding, quite a lot like Investigation Quests, but narrower in the sortof expertise required."I gave him a confused look in return, so he rewound a bit and explained,"Investigation Quests are a type of unique role-based quest, meaning thatnot all roles are capable of doing them. As the name suggests, there's a lotof research and in-depth analysis involved. Exorcism Quests are basicallythe same, but with many esoteric elements added on top, which is why theyare only possible for Exorcists to deal with."For example, an Investigation might deal with finding out howsomeone died through looking at evidence, witness testimony, followingclues, and such. The difference with exorcisms is that, while the elementsmight be similar, they are basically invisible to everyone but Exorcists, andthere will be obstacles that only you are capable of dealing with."I nodded diligently. Suddenly the idea of an Exorcism didn't sound soscary, after all, from how he was presenting it, it was more like detectivework that dealt with the supernatural."But let's return to the training for now. You shouldn't even considertrying an Exorcism Quest until you have familiarised yourself with yourskills.""So, what should I do for Repel?" I asked, leaving the shade of the treeand feeling warmth return to my limbs. The sun was out, and it wasprobably around twenty-five degrees, but the wind had a cold edge to it,making the shade a bit chilly after a while, and we'd been sitting there for atleast half an hour."Repel is a concentrated blast of your Soul energy, and, depending onhow much innate power you are able to put into it, it could potentially bequite dangerous. I recommend we go over to the target practice area."I nodded and followed Harleigh to the part of the courtyard whereprimitive wooden dolls were placed at the end of a boxed-in shooting rangeabout fifteen metres wide and thirty long. In the interval since we'd arrivedat the courtyard, a pair of bow-wielding adventurers had taken up the spotsfarthest down the line, using three targets for their own practice session.One of the two archers was someone I recognised from yesterday ashaving been two spots ahead of me in line for the assignment. He was a"Ranger" if I remembered correctly. From what I recalled of Æmos'sexplanation of attributes, I assumed that his main ones were Dexterity andAcumen, as those seemed most closely connected to finesse-based skills."Eyes up front," Harleigh commanded.I immediately snapped back to look at the Crusader. "Sorry.""To be able to pull off spells, it's important you don't let your mindwander. You have to shut out all other unnecessary thoughts.""I understand," I told him. I had a tendency to zone out, though, so itwas easier said than done."For offensive or target-based spells and incantations, it works best ifyou say the name of the spell out loud and tether your imagination to itsname. For this particular spell, I would recommend that you picture energybuilding in your body before flowing down your arm and shooting out yourpalm in a particular shape. The result should be something that pushestargets away by metaphysically repelling their souls. Anyone hit by it willfeel compelled to move away from you, but against inert objects it willseem as though a wind pushed them, if that makes sense.""Got it," I replied, though I didn't really get it.Harleigh looked at me for a while, and I wondered if he wanted me togo ahead and try it, but then he said, deadpan, "You'll need your focus forthis.""Of course… sorry."I pulled the wire orb from my belt and held it in my right hand. Myjingling staff was in my left hand, though he took it from me and said, "Tryto pull it off without holding the staff first, since it might make it moredifficult to accurately channel the energy for it.""So, should I give it a try?""Yes."I swallowed hard, then took a step up to the knee-high wall that peoplewere meant to stand behind while aiming for the targets ranged out in frontat varying distances. Some were as close as eight metres, while others wereall the way down by the back wall.Good thing I went through that cringe-inducing phase in middle school,where I thought I'd become an ESPer. I feel like my mind is perfectly suitedfor this sort of thing thanks to those delusions.I held out my hand with the wire orb and pointed it towards the closesttarget, which stood maybe nine metres away from my position and off tothe left slightly. Then I imagined that light I'd pictured while meditatingand felt it swirl around my chest, building up power with every rotationbefore uncoiling itself and shooting down my right arm and entering intothe wire orb, from where I released it by yelling, "REPEL!"The air itself began to sing, and dust flew to the left and right of myinvisible projectile as it flew down the range before it collided with thetarget doll and blew it off its simple wooden stand and sent it flying towardsthe back of the range. Upon impact with the stones, the dummy waspulverised into bits and came apart as a bundle of disorganised straw andbroken sticks."As expected of an S-tier in Soul, your potential is very high with anyskills based in that attribute.""Thank you," I replied, letting the praise wash over me."However. You took too long to cast the spell. This is not an incantationwith a litany that must be recited, so it ought to be instantaneous or at leastrequiring very little build-up."It felt a bit harsh, but he was the expert here, so I didn't argue back.Besides, I was really just excited that I was capable of literal magic! Isuddenly felt incredibly powerful, but then had a thought: If I'm capable ofcausing this much damage to an object, but this is my only offensive attack,then what must other adventurers be capable of?"Pick a new target and try to cast the spell as fast as possible."I took in a deep breath, mentally picked a target that stood twelvemetres away, and then lifted my arm and yelled, "REPEL!"This time, nothing happened."You forgot to picture your spell, didn't you?""I did," I replied, embarrassed."Do it again, but remember the order of things."I repeated the process, but it still took probably eight tries before I wasable to instantly shoot off a Repel, though this time the power was onlyenough to tip over the target.Harleigh nodded, satisfied with the results. "I think that's enoughpractice for today. You seem quite a natural at this. If you'd like, we couldtry some other skills tomorrow?""I'd very much like that," I replied. "Thank you so much for yourguidance!"Harleigh smiled warmly. "Don't mention it."Before I could leave, he added, "Try and make it a habit to meditateevery morning and evening. It may seem pointless, but you will notice howmuch better your spells will work after doing it for a while. Just like amuscle, it is something you need to train and keep strong.""Thank you," I said again. I couldn't wait to learn more tomorrow andprogress ever so slightly towards the distant goal of becoming a properExorcist. For the first time since arriving in this world, I was starting to feela lot better about myself.
