After a good thirty minutes or so, Adam and Felix filled Tiffany in on what was going on.
"Let me process this. Right now, we are in a different world?" [Tiffany]
"Yes." [Felix]
"Our task is to defeat a Supreme Demon Lord?" [Tiffany]
"Also yes." [Felix]
"...Why?" [Tiffany]
"As I stated earlier. It's training to make ourselves stronger to go home. Well, you too now I guess." [Felix]
Tiffany was speechless.
"And this… Va'al person. Who is he?" [Tiffany]
"Their guardian and teacher at the moment." [Va'al]
His voice echoed within Tiffany's head, throwing her off a bit.
"Hey! You're not allowed in here!" [Monalia]
Tiffany's soul weapon tried to kick out Va'al, but could not find the means to do so.
"Moving forward, we should make up an alias. I don't think it's a good idea going around this world without caution." [Felix]
"Sounds good." [Adam]
"I'll be Fable." [Felix]
"Like, as in the story kind?" [Adam]
"Yeah? You've got a problem with it?" [Felix]
"Not really. It's just a bit funny." [Adam]
"Okay, what do you want to call yourself? Make up something better." [Felix]
Adam brought a hand to his chin.
"Hero number 1?" [Adam]
"That's worse than mine!" [Felix]
"It was a joke. Chill." [Adam]
"Take this seriously. Tiffany, have you thought of one for yourself?" [Felix]
Tiffany shook her head.
"Should it be some kind of nickname?" [Tiffany]
It was then that Tiffany's soul weapon made its appearance. The large spectra living golden armor materialized next to Tiffany to add its input.
"I think Tiffany doesn't need to change her name. It's beautiful as is." [Monalia]
"Okay? But that's not the point of us having an alias. We're keeping our identities secret for our protection." [Felix]
"Ah…" [Monalia]
"Oh, I've got one! How about Adamas the Great?" [Adam]
"You literally just added an A to the end of your name." [Felix]
"Don't forget "the Great" too." [Adam]
Felix didn't even retort. All he did was give Adam an unhappy look.
"Uh… Yeah, I'll change it." [Adam]
"What do you think of Til?" [Monalia]
"Til works." [Felix]
"Wait, so it's fine for her to keep some of her name, but not me?" [Adam]
"Adam. Literally like 60 percent of her name was deleted in that. There's a huge difference." [Felix]
Adam let out a sigh.
"Fine." [Adam]
"Need some help?" [Krino]
("Not yet. I want something cool.") [Adam]
"Why?" [Krino]
("Our mission is to kill the strongest demon lord in this world. I'm DEFINITELY going down in history.") [Adam]
"I'm genuinely surprised you realized that." [Krino]
Even so, the problem of choosing an alias was still at hand.
"Just go with something simple." [Astos]
("What, like your name?") [Adam]
"Are you daft? Why would you use the chaos god's name for good deeds? You're supposed to be a hero, no?" [Astos]
("It would be kinda funny.") [Adam]
"Don't you do it." [Astos]
("I kinda wanna do it~.") [Adam]
"You dare?!" [Astos]
In the end, Adam chose to use it.
"Felix, how is Astos?" [Adam]
"...Have I heard that name before?" [Felix]
"Don't worry about it. Is it a yes, or no?" [Adam]
"It's miles better than your previous names, so yes." [Felix]
And so it was.
"So the lineup here is Astos, Fable, and Til. Got that?" [Felix]
"Got it." [Adam]
"Understood." [Tiffany]
"What about me?" [Monalia]
"You're a soul weapon. Go back to Tiffany's mind or something." [Felix]
"Oh…" [Monalia]
Though a bit hesitant, the living armor vanished.
"Okay. For starters, let's check out that place over there." [Felix]
He pointed at a few structures in the distance.
"Sounds like a plan." [Adam]
All three approached the structures, which quickly turned into a small village. There was a shoddy wooden fence encircling it, and had what seemed to be only around fifty or so people.
"Halt!" [???]
There was a man wearing a leather tunic, some pants looked a bit cheap, and held a spear that didn't look professionally made.
("Is this guy supposed to be a guard?") [Adam]
"Uh… Hi." [Adam]
"Wait, let me do the talking." [Felix]
Stepping forward, Felix found himself on the other end of the misshapen spear.
"Name yourself." [Cheap Guard]
"I'm Fable, and these are my companions. May I ask where this is?" [Felix]
"Show me your identification." [Cheap Guard]
Felix glanced at Adam and Tiffany.
"Um… We come from a land afar. We don't have your identification." [Felix]
"Then I can't let you in. Please leave." [Cheap Guard]
"What? Why?" [Adam]
"The risk of you three being criminals is too high. Leave." [Cheap Guard]
"Wait. Is there anything we can do to prove we are innocent people?" [Felix]
The Cheap Guard thought about it for a moment.
"Allow me to look at your status." [Cheap Guard]
"My… what?" [Felix]
"Your status. If it's too much for you, leave." [Cheap Guard]
Not sure what this is about, Felix agreed.
"Sure. Have a look at our status." [Felix]
"|Appraisal|." [Cheap Guard]
Felix felt some sort of discomfort, but not entirely so.
"Agree to it." [Cheap Guard]
"Agree to what?" [Felix]
"Just say "I agree" so I can look at your status!" [Cheap Guard]
"...I agree." [Felix]
Just like that, Felix felt great discomfort. It was similar to walking outside nude with everyone watching.
"You pass. Next." [Cheap Guard]
He turned to Tiffany.
"|Appraisal|." [Cheap Guard]
"I agree." [Tiffany]
Tiffany also felt the same discomfort. Her face went red and she had to stop Monalia from coming out to kill the Cheap Guard.
"Okay, next." [Cheap Guard]
Facing Adam, he repeated the same word.
"|Appraisal|." [Cheap Guard]
"I agree." [Adam]
After a few seconds of silence, the Cheap Guard burst out laughing.
"L-Level one?! Hahaha! This is a first!" [Cheap Guard]
That is, until his eyes moved into a file line as if he was reading something.
"S-Strength six thousand…?!" [Cheap Guard]
He gulped audibly.
"Y-You all are fine to pass. I apologize." [Cheap Guard]
Like that, they were allowed into the village.
"What was that?" [Adam]
The feeling of discomfort was gone. However, Adam's curiosity remained. Staring at his hand, Adam repeated the guard's words.
"|Appraisal|." [Adam]