A young man could be seen walking on the road, his long black hair swaying softly about, a little girl held his hand as they walked side by side, she possessed short silky blue hair matching her light blue eyes, in all she looked very cute.
Her steps were mixed with skips almost like it was the happiest day in her life and she had been handed a lifetime supply of candies.
Kishio had been talking with Yue all morning, the more he spoke with her, the more he realized that the world he was in was exactly similar with where he was from, the concepts of parasites and dungeons were all the same.
When parasites began to appear, with them structures called dungeons spawned, beasts were what dwelled in them varying with different appearance and powers.
Guilds were set up so adventurers that went into the dungeons could exchange their loots and spoils for resources, all the while dungeons were dangerous as life and death could not be assured, if a dungeon remained uncleared for a long period, the population of beasts within would increase until the dungeon could not contain it again and the dungeon exploded.
Of course the term dungeon exploding didn't actually mean it would blow up or the beasts in them would die, it simply meant the beasts within them would overpopulate it and they would hack a way out of the dungeon posing a major threat to towns or cities nearby.
Kishio could already guess that Yue was greatly interested in dungeons, it was like she couldn't wait to go to one, he did wonder why she wasn't in school, but she said Yanran told her school was on a break.
Although he didn't see anyone her age around, he didn't think much of it as he had no idea what the schedule or how things went about here, the worlds were similar but they could be a few differences.
'According to Yue the fastest way to make money was through dungeons, but I have to take a test and then register under a guild first' Kishio thought to himself.
"Big brother, I want this" Yue suddenly called out to Kishio as she pointed at a shop, it sold bracelets, there were of different kinds made with rare materials it seemed, from jade looking to fiery, mystical, they all appeared unique, as if crafted with enchantments, an old man sat on a stool in the shop with his eyes seemingly closed.
"Enhancement locks" Kishio read out the name of the shop, he for one was curious as to what they were, but he had only just gotten to the world, he had absolutely nothing on him, and he obviously wouldn't dare to sell his kogami in exchange for anything, he looked at the price of one enhancement lock, six thousand gold, he almost coughed up blood on seeing the price, it felt a little absurd.
"Come young man, why don't you get an enhancement lock for your daughter" the old man seemed to have noticed the duo and he called them over, he has mistaken Yue to be Kishio's daughter, Kishio wanted to decline but Yue was already pulling him to the shop, a few eyes were already on them so he didn't want make a scene.
Kishio decided to just follow Yue, he could just say he forgot his money at home and would be back another time.
"What element is your daughter, mister?" The old man asked Kishio.
"He's my big brother and he's going to get one of your bracelets for me," Yue said, correcting the old man but still respectfully.
Kishio glanced at her…her tone and excitement almost like he could feel the brother-sister bond between them, he smiled softly he seemed to be finally making up for not spending time with his sister, at least that's how it felt to him.
"Is that so? Then there's no problem, enhancement locks can help you improving your efficiency and use of your element" on hearing the old man's explanation Kishio suddenly lost interest in getting one for himself, there was no way it would help him in his usage of the death element, he was already skilled in combat and battle tactics as his father was the head of a clan and as his successor and son, he had trained his hardest so as not slack and be a strong leader, such items had better use for new awakeners, maybe someone like Yue, he remembered she stated she had just gotten a parasite.
"I'm sorry sir, but it appears I forgot my wallet at home, I don't have the means to cover the cost. I'll be back another time" Kishio said bluntly, he had better go straight to the point.
"It's fine sir, there's another way you can skip the cost and acquire an enhancement lock" the old man said with a friendly smile
"All you have to do is play a game," he added.
Kishio frowned at the man's words, strange but he saw no fault in playing a game, he didn't see any fault in playing a game to acquire an enhancement lock, but he just felt a bit uncomfortable about it.
"He'll play, he'll play" before Kishio could have his answer Yue shouted excitedly, he simply gave a wry smile, by now a few people had gathered, they seemed interested in what was about to happen l.
"Do you think he can win"
"It isn't hard to buy an enhancement lock, but winning the old man's game? It's a completely different question"
"No one has won the game in over a month now"
Kishio could hear all the comments as people spoke about him as if contemplating or trying to determine his chances, but he couldn't care less, it did make him wonder how difficult the game was.
"Come with me then" the old man spoke to the duo seeing as Kishio didn't refute or disagree against playing, they followed him inside the shop, it was quite spacious as there was no equipment lying around, there was just a large glass container.
"The rules are simple. There are three levels, avoid being hit by the projectiles in all the levels and you win" the old man said.
Kishio found the rules of the game strange, it was so strange he had to pose a question "No restrictions?"
"None at all," the old man replied, Kishio contemplated, but still agreed.
If there were no restrictions the use of kogami was still allowed, he wondered how people lost the game, all one needed as a shield kogami to win, since he wanted to take a test at a guild, he saw no issue in testing himself earlier.
"Fear not young man, they adjust to the level of the participant" the old man said assuring Kishio that the game wasn't going to be one far above his capabilities, but Kishio felt no difference, he walked into the glass container.
It was quite spacious, he wondered where the projectiles would appear from or when the game would start, but then a countdown appeared displaying from three, as soon as it hit zero, on the four walls of the container, multiple circular holes appeared, some were sealed while some were open.
Kishio cracked his knuckles as he got prepared, the first projectile fired out from his back, it was around the size of a ball.
Kishio spun around quickly, he had a very quick sense of awareness, he was about to dodge when he looked at the item clearly.
It had two small black wings behind it that made a low, almost unnoticeable buzzing sound. Kishio's eyes looked shocked, it was a bug.