Emilia was entranced by the lighting and abudance of healthy, happy people.
I felt the same way at first to be honest. Each second I had to look over my shoulder to make sure she was still following, otherwise she'd be staring intently at some poor passerby.
Eventually, we made it to Vanessa's home. I promptly knocked on her door.
"It looks like it's from the slums," Emilia said.
"Emilia, you can't say that kind of stuff here," I educated her.
"Oh, my bad..."
Pretty soon, I heard Vanessa coming down the stairs, making her signature strange noises.
The door flung open, and she looked slightly more crazed than before. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were wide open.
"You're back! I've waited so long," she said with labored breathing.
Mind the fact that it hasn't even been a day.
"Uh, yeah, I'm back," I said nervously.
"Come, come inside, we have a lot to talk about," she instructed.
I followed her first, then Emilia followed after.
"She's really pretty, but she seems crazy," Emilia whispered to me.
"Some people are just like that," I whispered back.
As we followed her deeper into her house, the interior started looking stranger and stranger.
Their were strange relics everywhere, vials, flasks, body parts of monsters, books piled to the cieling, etc.
Eventually she led us to what I assumed what was her living room. I honestly could only tell from the two couches set opposite from each other in front of a coffee table. Other than that, it was unrecognizable.
"Please have a seat," She said.
I felt a strange sensation in my head before the voice of Vanessa broke threw.
"Is she also from Earth?" Vanessa asked.
"No, she's froms the slums, by the way, how are you in my head?" I asked.
"It's just Telepathy. Do you think she should hear our conversation?"
I thought about it. No, she's just a kid, she doesn't need to know about the existence of another world.
"No," I responded.
Vanessa turned her name to Emilia.
"What's your name darling?" Vanessa asked.
Emilia looked at me and I nodded.
"It's Emilia," she said.
"Well then Emilia, how would you like to try and experimental magic?"
Emilia looked at me again, I nodded again.
"Sure," Emilia said.
Vanessa snapped her fingers and an MP3 player with headphones appeared in front of her.
(3 Minutes Later)
Emilia was happily listening to music.
"Now then, it's time to get to business," Vanessa said.
She seemed much cooler now than the impression she gave off earlier.
"I was a scientist who was studying interdimensional travel. Unfortunately, the project was scrapped last minute, and my crew was forced to abort. However, I completed the research on my own and ended up here," She said with her arms crossed, right leg over her left knee.
Interdimensional travel, so she ended up here via a different method.
"Luckily, I was able to take my bare essentials and ended up teleporting here is this city," Vanessa explained.
"Should we tell her everything," I asked Erythro.
"That is fine, she's told the truth thus far," Erythro approved.
"How peculiar, it seems there's someone else in there with you," Vanessa hypothesized.
"I was shot and killed in an alleyway, at the moment of my death, I was stripped of my senses and submerged in darkness. Then I began gravitating toward a light, and ended up waking up in a field.
It had the brightest, largest moon I've ever seen," I confessed.
"I see, sounds like the myth of the Moon Light Field isn't just a myth, what happened next Milo?"
"Right, so an army of monsters suddenly spawned from darkness around me. I fought a few, but then thier leader got involved an left me for dead. As I was dying for the second time, a slime possessed my body, repairing it in the process. However, it couldn't completely take me over, so now we're coexisting," I stated.
"REALLY! You've really managed to achieve homeostasis with a foreign species?!" Vanessa exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, it's name is Erythro," I informed her.
"May I speak with it?" She asked eagerly.
"New Skill Obtained: Telepathy"
"Telepathy (Lv.1)- Establish a psychic link for telepathic communication."
"Hello," Erythro said to Vanessa.
"Wow, so your the slime that possessed Milo's body," Vanessa said.
"Correct, it's nice to meet you," Erythro said.
"Well aren't you well mannered?"
"Thank you," Erythro accepted humbly.
"I've been conducting research here in this world, magic truly is facsinating, especially coming from a world without it," Vanessa said.
"Have you discovered anything interesting or useful?" Erythro asked Vanessa.
"I believe I've discovered a forbidden magic to hop dimensions, but the info I need is in the capital's heavily guarded treasury. Any attempt to get near it as a mear commoner will result in misery," Vanessa explained.
Hmm...I wonder if adventurers are seen as mere commoners. There's no way S-ranks are seen that way at least.
"Do you think that if I reach S-rank I can gain access to the treasury?" I asked Vanessa.
"Maybe, then again, there are only a few in the world. Reaching A-rank is an impossible feat on its own let alone S-rank," Vanessa explained.
I know, but the slightest chance at getting home fills me with determination.
"Spirit has increased to 75."
How should I increase my rank?
"You need to take advancement tests which can only be taken once you qualify by collecting 10 stars per rank,"
"I see, that helps clear some things up. I'm C-rank and I should have 6 stars, if I get 4 more I can advance to B-rank," I said.
"While that is true, it's rare for anyone to advance due to strict testing condutions," Vanessa said.
That just means that I need to get stronger.
"I might be able to help with that, I have numerous books of magic and tools I can let you borrow," Vanessa said.
"Vanessa has been added to Contacts."
"That would be useful, thanks Vanessa," I said.
"Have you finally come to see my greatness?" Vanessa said acting high and mighty.
"I guess so," I admitted.
"Ho~"
"Well, there's an experimental spatial magic I've been working on, want to help me test it out? It should help you grow stronger," Vanessa said.
I hope this goes well.
Reader's Bonus
S-A-B-C-D-E-F
Hellish Training