Asher laced his boots. Cynthia let him stay at the shop instead of heading home. Asher left early to reach the transport station. Today was the day he was finally going into a dungeon. The transport station was located between the aristocratic district and the merchant district.
It had the grandeur of Grand Central Station, which Asher had the chance to visit in his old life. The station had several large arches around the main room. The names of the cities were written at the top of each Arch. Asher examined the angles. There was just a wall behind it.
Asher saw a man in a suit walk toward one of the arches with another man in a uniform. Behind the man was a carriage filled to the brim with various items. He had seen several people in the same outfit, so Asher assumed he was a worker or a clerk.
The suited man gave the clerk a ticket, and the clerk turned on his heel and did something to the arch's base. Sadly, Asher could not see what he did as he was too far to see. However, the Arch lit up. A light flow lit up on the wall, creating a complex magic circle. Asher counted 50 different individual rings before leading to a massive central process. The wall twisted, inverting on itself before becoming a spinning silver tunnel.
Asher's jaw dropped as he watched the arch become a magic doorway. The man in the suit walked toward the spinning exit. His figure was drawn into the door along with his carriage. The silvery light enveloped the man so that Asher could only make out his silhouette before it disappeared into the growing silver light.
The light disappeared, and the arch returned to normal. The worker turned and left, seeing that Arch had returned to normal. Asher's eyes glowed with excitement, seeing the teleporter stations. After looking around some more, Asher spied a man holding a sign with Asher's name.
Something about the man felt familiar. It was nagging him the closer he got to the man. He had seen him before but could not place where he had seen him last. He had a leaner build. He wore some heavy armor with a sword shield on his back. The man held a sign that read, 'Varas.'
As Asher approached, the swordsman did not even notice him. He keeps scanning the crowd of people. Asher walked directly before him and cleared his throat to get his attention. The spearman looked down to see Asher. He was relatively young. His skin still had a youthful glow. His skin would be flawless if it were not for the jagged scar.
"Scram, kid. I don't have time to babysit a brat." The man was blunt with his statement. He seemed more aggravated than he should have been.
"But I..."
"Listen, brat," the swordsman interrupted, "See this sign. I am waiting for someone. I don't have time to play with you. Now go find your mommy so she can change your diaper, short stack." Asher could not tell if it was his rudeness or the man's condescending tone, but in the next second, Asher's leg went straight up into the taller man's groan.
The man doubled over in pain as he cupped his crotch. "Sorry, I was aiming for your head, but I forgot to account for the height difference. You know, being a short stack and all." Asher snickered. 'Suffer you damn toothpick.'
"Little bastard," The swordsman gritted his teeth as he hobbled back. He grabbed his sword and swung it at Asher. Asher countered by summoning his Burning Halberd. When the two weapons clashed against each other, lightning and fire arced outward. "You little bastard." The spearman jumped back before aiming the spear at Asher's chest.
The man lunged at Asher with murderous intent. Asher raised his palm, creating the repulse circle, and the man was flung backward due to an invisible force. Asher developed that trick with Kaira. When handling a stronger opponent, avoid direct conflict. The man straightened himself before charging Asher again at blind speed. The sword embedded deep into Asher's chest.
The man's eyes went wide when the boy's body disappeared like smoke—the next moment, the halberd blade was pressed against the spearman's neck. "Drop the spear or lose the head," Asher growled. The spearman let the spear fall.
"Easy, kid." The man tried to talk Asher down.
"What is going on here?" The two were interrupted by two more people. One was a handsome man and a woman wearing what looked like priestly robes. "Don't tell me you got into a fight with a kid. If this is about your gambling habit, just pay the kid. We got better shit to do than deal with your dumb ass and your debts, Killa."
"It is this brat's fault. He just kicked me in the balls." The man, Killa, growled toward Asher. Asher removed the halberd from Killa's neck.
"You started it. Seriously, how can one person be that rude, you ass." Asher retorted.
"You.... Guys, back me up here." Killa turned to his friends.
The woman looked at Killa with the most severe expression Asher had ever seen. "I don't know what you did. But I am 100% certain you deserved it." Upon hearing that, Asher had to physically stop himself from laughing.
"Come on, Herta. That is not fair. I swear I was all waiting for that Veras kid to show up. Then this brat showed up and started picking a fight." Killa's whining made him seem much less intimidating than he was before.
Asher rolled his eyes. "I was trying to tell you I am 'that Veras kid,' dumb ass." Killa stared at Asher with his jaw slack as Asher revealed his identity.
"Ain't no way you are Veras. El would never hire a kid." Killa scoffed. "I doubt you are old enough to have your awakening."
Asher flashed his license, confirming his identity. The other man took the license and looked it over. Unlike Killa, he was very laid back and calm. His hair was tied up in brown dreads. Oddly, he wore a sleeveless shirt showing his round caramel-colored biceps. Asher could not help but think it was odd that he chose to wear that, considering they were going into a dungeon.
[Scan Complete]
Name: Kelvhan Urimenor
Species: Night Elf
Age: 27
HP:150/150
PWR: 1000/1000 (dodecamage)
STR: 54
VIT: 78
AGI: 132
PER:98
Asher looked shocked. An elf, an actual elf... This man is not just an elf but a night elf. Asher finally noticed that Kelvhan had two pointed ears on either side of his head. Night elves were from the southern continent, Urse. They were known for their unparalleled speed and grace. Asher could not help but wonder why one was north of the Jurre continent. "It checks out. Damn, El must be despite." Kelvhan tossed the license back to Asher with a cocky smile.
"As I was trying to tell you. Please don't assume that it is my fault that I hit you. I have a chronic reflex to stupid." Asher turned up his nose. Something about the way he looked down made him irrationally annoyed. He may still be new to being a mage. But the effort he put into becoming one. Besides, it is not his fault he is short. He is ten.
"You cannot be that old thou. How long ago was your awakening?" Herta smiled as she bent down to get a closer look at Asher.
"Six months ago," Asher said with no hesitation. Asher was not sure he could pass for eleven, but based on what Cynthia said, using magic within half a year was abnormal, but using it in under a month was unheard of. By all standards, Asher would be considered a genius. However, being gifted is a lot easier than being a genius. Besides, the last thing he needs is for some other genius to put two and two together and realize Asher and Vares awakened around the same time.
"Oh wow. You can use magic in less than a year. That's impressive." Herta spoke with motherly condescension. The way a mother might call her son a big, strong boy.
"Well, let's meet the others to get going." The elf announced. "I am Kel, by the way, and this Herta." Asher turned his attention to her, activating his scan.
[Scan Complete]
Name: Herta Juliano
Species: Human
Age: 24
HP:90/90
PWR: 1500/1500 (duomage)
STR: 32
VIT: 64
AGI: 67
PER:168
Herta looked much more like a sorcerer type, which made him somewhat alarmed to learn she was a duomage. Sorcerer fighters needed a lot of the kinds of magic to be effective. However, her robes did not look like they would be effective in a direct fight.
The three led Asher to a private room while two others were waiting. Seeing these finally clicked where he had seen Killa. These two and Killa were the three individuals fighting the giant slime. Asher looked in awe. The woman's armor was light and adored with flourishes similar to feathers. While the other was an older gentleman with a weathered face showing years of experience.
Kel spoke up first. "Well, here are the others. Introductions, right? I am Kel. This is Herta, and you have already met Killa. The girl is Ura. The old geezer is Melios."
Melios looked up with a glare. "I may be old, but I have more than enough to kick your ass around. Show some respect to your elder, you brat. I would like to see you be able to do half what I can at my age." Melios continued grumbling about respect and how he was an accomplished mage.
Ura looked up from her book and stood. She gave a bow and used a monotone voice. "Pleasure to be working with you." Ura showed no particular expression. Her face was expressionless. She had short hair and was conventionally beautiful.
"Nice to meet you, I am Varas Loki. I was hired to be your porter for this mission." Asher bowed slightly as he introduced himself. Asher did not think he would meet the group fighting against that giant slime so soon.
Kel spoke next. "I am the party captain. Our collective name is 'Night Omen.'" Asher heard many people talking about collective names at the mercenary guild. They were essentially a party name. They are only used by groups that regularly work together. Kel turned to the others. "Veras was hired to be the porter. Since Justin..." Kel's cheery tone disappeared and trailed off. "Anyway, these are the bags." He pointed to several bags that were stuck in the corner.
"Who is Justin?" Asher said bluntly. Asher could guess from Kel's tone, but he wanted to confirm his suspicions were correct when he asked that no one in the group would look him in the eye. Asher guessed it was some guy who died shortly before he was hired, and their unwillingness to answer was more than just a confirmation. "Never mind." Asher walked to the pile and, one by one threw each bag into his interdimensional pocket. Along each bag was a chime from his system with a detailed catalog of the contents of each bag.
"Let's get going. We have to get to the warp gate. El has already taken care of the details." Herta was the one who spoke.
"Warp gate? I thought we were using the teleportation gate." Asher question. Warp and teleport were very different functions in spatial magic. Asher only found a few mentions in the grimoires from the store, but they made that distinction very clear.
"Teleportation circles are connected to particular locations. You need a spatial anchor to be already at the place you are teleporting to. Warping is a lot more flexible. You can input any location you want; the downside is that it is not precise. You can end up several miles from the location you want to go." Melious spoke as he and Asher followed out of the room. He looked happy to inform the young boy and show off his knowledge. "There is a ratio called the Kado ratio constant of spatial warping that is related to the distance being warped to the maximum error of spatial displac...."
Asher did not mind the lecture, but it got dull. Cynthia never lectured Asher but introduced the idea and let him come to his conclusion while correcting him if he missed something. Getting lectured like this reminds him of one professor he had in college who would always talk with a monotone voice. It never failed to put him to sleep.
As they got to a private room, a man was in an employee uniform waiting for them. They directed them to a raised platform in the center of the room. The man tied a rope around their waists before hopping off the platform. The employee pressed his hand against the platform. A silver circle appeared on the ground and began to rise. As it did, Asher's feet disappeared into silver fragments. Then, his legs. Then, his stomach. His Arms. Finally, His head was gone. All six of them were nowhere to be seen. The employee began prepping for the next guest.