"Wait… was he forcibly reincarnated?" Sel muttered as confusion and relief mixed on her face as she steadied herself.
"Well, I guess I'll have to go find him..."
She turned and stared into the empty space ahead.
"Phew... this is going to be a hassle. Still, I'll get to be with [Blur], so it's worth it." She said with a soft smile.
⸻
The scene shifts to Reiji.
"Where am I…? did I return to earth? did i just dream all that up?" Reiji whispered, surrounded by trees that seemed to stretch endlessly. The earthy scent of moss and damp soil filled his nostrils. The gentle rustle of leaves in the wind sounded almost like whispers. A sudden birdcall startled him, almost like a sharp reminder that this was no dream but a tangible world.
"…Seems like it wasn't a dream," he said while protecting his eyes from the cloud of leaves that washed over him sent by the wind.
"What happened to Sel…? Is she here?"
"Of course not," he muttered, picturing her sharp personality and charismatic attitude as he slightly chuckled
'That girl was really something else, wait i mean woman?.. why bother, she isn't even here anymore'
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the rustling leaves seemed to whisper louder and a shadow flitted across the ground, sending a shiver down Reiji's spine. He squinted, peering into the treetops as his heart kept pounding desperately looking for the voice that echoed from above. He looked left then right, there was nothing to see. Regardless, the voice grew louder still, until reiji looked upward and spotted a tiny figure descending rapidly.
"Is that… a bird?"
Reiji said, keeping his eye fixed on the distant figure.
"Who are you calling a girl, huh?!"
It was Sel, she was plummeting toward him at meteor-like speed. In that split second, the world around Reiji seemed to freeze as a jolt of sheer terror shot through him. His mind screamed, and fear gripped him as he realized the imminent collision.
"Wait, SHE'S FALLING TOWARD'S ME?!"
Reiji panicked and ran, hoping to avoid being used as a landing pad.
"HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!" Sel yelled mid-fall, adjusting her angle as if deliberately trying to land on him.
"Stop following me! Go land somewhere—"
THUD.
She crashed directly on top of him.
"Yahoo! And that's how you safely crash-land!" Sel announced triumphantly.
"Ow, ow, ow… 'How you crash-land' my ass…" Reiji groaned, clutching his skull.
"Oh, zip it. You should be grateful i chose to crash-land on you," Sel said proudly.
"HEY..." Reiji glared.
"Oh, please, it didn't hurt that much."
"Oh yeah?"
He paused as he began to try to feel the pain he was clutching his head for.
'…She fell on top of me from the sky but it actually doesn't hurt that much? Why?' Reiji thought to himself.
"Are you made of carbon fiber or something?" he asked aloud.
Her expression darkened instantly. Reiji immediately felt a burning pressure, like the heat she radiated back in the void, except now it scorched his physical body.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, YOU JERK?!"
"No,wait,I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! It didn't hurt, that's why I asked!"
"Huh? Are you stupid? It barely hurts because you're more durable in this world."
"Huh?" Reiji blinked.
"Honestly, you really need to learn how to talk to women."
"Yeah, sorry… but wait, you said I'm more durable?"
"Yup! I gave you some pretty awesome abilities before coming to get you," Sel said with a smug smile.
Reiji jumped to his feet, as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.
"What? Seriously? That's amazing, it must be nice being a goddess huh."
"It sure is."
Her smile widened as she soaked in the praise.
"I am a goddess, but when coming down here, I needed to put a limiter on myself."
"Huh? Why?"
"Well, put simply, if I descend into this lower world without limiting myself, BOOM… the world is gone. I kinda slipped up years ago and the entire world was reduced to nothing. Since then, I've learned to be careful." Sel said as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
"For real? You're that strong, Sel?"
"Of course, Sel is the strongest goddess in existence" she said, as she puffed out her chest with pride.
'Did she just refer to herself in third person?.. well whatever' Reiji thought to himself.
"Then what about me? am strong as hell too right?" he asked, wanting to know if he too was unimaginably strong.
Sel's smile faded as she sighed.
"Yes…"
A huge grin lit up Reiji's face.
"…You were."
"Huh? Were?"
Hearing this, reiji's joy-struck face darkened instantly.
"Oh right, you said I'm just a shell of what I used to be..."
Reiji said as he sniffled, trying to hold back tears from rushing out his eyes.
Still, a question lingered within him that kept bugging him.
'Who was I before reincarnating? A god? It had to be a god right? She is a goddess and she called be master, it's hard to believe a goddess would call a normal human her master. Either way, Sel doesn't seem to be lying, she literally has no reason to… i think' reiji thought to himself.
"Where exactly are we?" Reiji asked as he pushed away his thoughts about his "past" to the back his mind for now.
"In a forest, as you can clearly see, but i know what you're asking… the Kingdom of Grimholde should be that way," Sel said, pointing deeper into the endless trees.
"Wait, Grimholde? How do you know the kingdoms of this world?" Reiji asked with a surprised expression.
"Well, before I followed you here, I absorbed all the information of this world… I lost most of it after putting on the limiter on myself though. I only remember major kingdoms, some small details and a few important people like the Hero." Sel said in disappointment.
"Hero? There's already a Hero?!"
"Of course. What, you thought you were going to become the Hero? You weren't supposed to be in this world to begin with. Well… It was more like you were forcibly brought here."
Reiji's heart dropped after hearing this, maybe coming here was a mistake. He had no Heroic abilities, no unbelievable powers, nothing special at all. He was just your slightly buffed average joe.
Realizing this, a nervous laugh escaped his lips.
'What a joke… Send me back already, this was a damn waste of time.'
But then all humor faded when he remembered the freakish things that chased him.
"…Right. I can't go back."
"Sel, isn't the world in danger? Should we really just be standing here?"
Reiji's concern was justified, but Sel's hesitation was telling, as if she was hiding something.
Her eyes briefly shifted away before meeting his again.
"Let's get moving" was what she said but a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth suggested there was more she wasn't revealing.
After sel said that, they headed toward Grimholde.
"Oh, about your question earlier," Sel added.
"The world is indeed going to end but there's still time before that happens"
"Good… so we can plan on how to stop it from happening right? How much time do we have?"
"Hmm, I'll say about 30 to 50 years."
"HUH?! That long? I am pretty sure I'll be dead by then!"
"No you won't, stop whining…. you can't die of natural causes anymore, that said, I'm not sure about the other stuff so you might still be vulnerable to death through other methods." Sel said as they continued to walk.
'I really can't let anything happen to him, even I don't know what happens to him in this body.' Sel thought silently as her vow to protect him strengthend her resolve.
Reiji noticed her seriousness and didn't press further.
They walked until they reached a cliff. Below was Grimholde, a city that looked like it came from a fantasy novel.
As they watched, they noticed all sorts of unusual details. Instead of loud market shouts, soft, bell-like chimes rang out from the shops, marking the hour. The marketplace was full of bright colors, with merchants selling goods, street performers performing magical illusions, and people playing 'Elemental Chess,' a local game in which the pieces moved by magic. There were stone streets, horse-drawn carriages, kids running through the market, and the smell of bread, lilacs, and magic in the air.
'Wow' reiji squinted his eyes a little and was able to see guards in silver armor walking by a huge castle that was situated in the middle of kingdom.
'Is this one of the powers sel was talking about? It could really come in handy' Reiji thought to himself.
"This is nothing like the kingdoms I read about…" Reiji whispered out-loud.
"You're right about that," Sel said with a proud little smile.
'Huh? Why is she so happy about me saying that?'
"Anyway, we need to register at the Adventurers Guild, information is power in every isekai world in those novels of yours right?" Sel added.
'I don't know why but it feels like she's mocking me somehow' Reiji thought to himself.
⸻
The Adventurers Guild
They found it in the center of town, wooden doors stood beneath a weathered sign that read "ADVENTURERS GUILD".
"Well then, let's begin" sel said with reiji gulping at her side.
They both pushed the wooden doors and proceeded to go Inside, the place was really chaotic.
A group of dwarves argued loudly over dragon claws at one end, their voices rising above the noise within the guild. Nearby, a bard entertained a small crowd by singing and levitating mugs of ale and sending them back to their owners with magic. It was just like a scene from an isekai story.
"I don't know what exactly i was expecting but everything here just looks like watching an isekai anime on my phone." Just as reiji finished his sentence, he could immediately feel eyes on him like they were watching his every move.
'Is this also some ability from sel? or can people here sense things instinctively?' Reiji thought to himself as he walked 'wait no, it has to be an ability. I'm not even from here.'
They approached the reception desk, sitted was a young woman flipping through a large leather book, she was unusually calm compared to the chaos happening in the guild.
"We'd like to register," Sel said.
"Oh, of course. Fill this out, then proceed to the magical assessment desk over there" the receptionist said as she brought out forms from underneath her desk and laid them on the table.
Reiji eyes were glued to this receptionist like she was made of gold.
'She looks gorgeous, she's nothing compared to what sel looked in that void though' Reiji thought to himself as he kept staring.
'Oh right, i should introduce myself'
"M-M-MY NAME IS REIJI! IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU ON THIS FINE DAY!"
The words that came out of his mouth were awkward. Back on Earth, his mother once told him always to greet people with a warm demeanor, but he had never gotten the hang of it. Now, the attempt at polite formality seemed wildly out of place.
'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! Just kill me…' He thought to himself as he panicked internally.
Sel glared at him intensely as the woman smiled.
"My name is Lyra. Nice to meet you."
Was that sarcasm? Teasing? Pity? Reiji felt himself evaporate into the atmosphere just from processing the multiple possibilities the receptionist could've meant by her response.
After Sel was done filling out her form, she left for her magical assessment while Reiji filled out his papers.
⸻
Sel's Magic Assessment
"Place your hand on the cube," Lyra instructed as she pointed at a cube shaped material sitting on the desk.
"Like this?" Sel said as she pressed her hand onto it.
Lyra's eyes widened as she froze in place, completely stunned by what she was seeing.
"…Unbelievable. This is impossible." She said
"Uh… is that good?" Sel asked bluntly, seemingly uninterested in the result as it was a fact she already knew.
"'Good' isn't close enough to describe this, we need to retest this to make sure it's not a glitch."
Lyra said as she brought in another cube and placed it on the table in front of Sel. Seeing this, Sel placed her hand on it again.
After scanning for a bit, the result was revealed. It was the same result as the previous test.
"She… she has an aptitude for every element, all of them and they're all maxed out too." Lyra said, covering her mouth in awe.
The entire guild went silent for a moment before the whispers began rolling: "That's impossible!" One said,"but they tested twice" Another said "They're cheating!" Said another.
Lyra turned to Reiji with an expectant expression.
"Now it's your turn, Reiji."
'Sel is crazy strong... I have to be at least as strong as her current strength. After all, I'm her master.' He thought to himself as his lips bent into a smirk.
⸻
Reiji's Magic Assessment
Reiji placed his hand on the cube and a bright light flared from it.
"Wow. I knew I was strong, but not THIS strong," Reiji boasted.
Lyra was still looking at the cube, paying no heed to the intense light it was emitting. She was already in awe of Sel's assessment, so she couldn't wait to see what Reiji had to offer.
Suddenly, her expression went from that of expectation to disappointment.
"This is… average?"
"What, I'm i too strong for the cube to read? Yeah—" Reiji said with a broad smile on his face.
"No, you're... incredibly weak. are you sure you want to be an adventurer?" Lyra asked, looking at Reiji with her disappointed expression still glued to her face.
"…Huh?" Reiji said confused, he turned to look at Sel who stood beside him. She was trying to hold her laugh in.
"You..." Reiji said, his face turning red with embarrassment.
Just as he was about to let loose on sel, the stench of blood scattered through the air.
'W-what the hell is this?' Reiji thought to himself as time seemed to have slowed down for him alone.
The presence of someone made the entire guild fall silent, Reiji slowly turned toward the entrance of the guild to see what monstrosity was causing all this.
A massive bulky figure stood there menacingly.
Lyra whispered as she trembled,
"No… it can't be. What is he doing here? He rarely comes to the guild so why?"
"You know him?" Reiji asked as he gulped down a huge pile of saliva.
"Know him? there isn't a single person in the entire kingdom who hasn't heard about him. That's the strongest man in the entire kingdom. That's KAEL THORNE."
Hearing this, reiji felt as if his soul had just left his body.
'What the hell did I walk into?' He thought as he stared at the monstrosity standing right there.