"Fuaa!"
A deep breath. It felt like being splashed upon by a bucket of ice during my sleep. My heart skipped a beat due to this unfamiliar sensation, but I adapted to it.
"Where… am I?"
Memories started pouring into my head. The birthday surprise. The road when I am going home. The sudden appearance of a Special-grade curse. That near-death experience that I had for the second fucking time.
The last thing that I could remember is going through a dark tunnel while being continuously squeezed.
I have also used up my last chance to heal myself from those damages, which is why I am in my pristine condition.
In my sight, all I could see was the sea of stars and the lush green leaves with a touch of moonlight. I could not tell if this is my world or not, but I feel something different.
Huff.
Huff.
Cold air entered my mouth, forming a fog whenever I exhale. I did not check everything out with my analysis spell, but it seems like I landed in a forest of sorts. After a while, I left my trance and started doing my usual caution.
'"Revelares, Veritas." (Truth be revealed)
My advanced form of correspondence. It used to rely on tracing the target's composition, but my revisions that came from decades of experience made it so that I could choose multiple targets while keeping the analysis time the same.
What I chose to analyze are the atmosphere and the soil. These two can tell if a planet is habitable, just like Earth.
"Nitrogen, oxygen, argon… Looks like I'm on Earth?"
This discovery uplifted my mood. Turns out, my worst fear of being transported into an unknown world did not come true! That had a small probability of happening, which is why that was my first and greatest fear at the moment.
"Hah… Hahaha!"
My tense nerves relaxed. The thought of escaping yet another near-death event made me nervous. At the same time, I felt a sense of accomplishment in being able to escape from two such events in my 12 years of life. But then, it hit me. I briefly disregarded a certain matter.
"The sky… is different."
As a magician who dabbled in Kaballah, I have great knowledge when it comes to constellations. It is the most used spell type that surpasses my use of lighting-type spells, simply because the legends that could be manifested with constellations are too large. They can be seen in places farther than Earth, strengthening the beliefs imposed upon them. This is my theory as to why it has such strong "legends".
"Altair, Vega, Libra… All gone."
Fortunately, the most conspicuous constellation, Orion, as well as Sirius are present in this place. Just like on Earth, their brilliance far surpassed the unknown constellations in the sky. With this, I could use the strongest ones out of the 48 specialized star-type spells that I have.
"Orion… Where the hell am I?"
Shaking my head, I began focusing on my plans. Firstly, I need to go back to my world, to where Japan is. Just the thought of making my parents worry for weeks or even months is enough to make me feel extremely bad. What's more, how would they react to my sudden disappearance?
To go back, I need to input my world's coordinates… as well as this world's. I only had the time to input my current coordinates along with my computations before. Since I left the destination blank plus the flaws in it, I did not achieve the desired result of being thrown somewhere on Earth; it landed me somewhere else.
Meaning, I need to do some deductions and computations before I could go back home. It can take weeks and even months or years if I'm unlucky. The laptop in my pocket is slower than the usual equipment that I have.
Damn it.
Rustle-!
My senses caught wind of a noise. Immediately, I tried to grab [Azure], only to remember that it was destroyed. I used it as <
"...Huh."
I noticed my shredded outfit. My clothing is barely holding onto my body, causing some discomfort whenever a cold breeze passes through me.
"Renovatio Redivivus." (Restoration and Reconstitution)
Seeing my tattered clothing go back to normal, my body rejoiced. It was not exposed to this chilly wind anymore. The rest of the magic circles engraved into it were gone, though.
It should be fine…
"Oh. Shit."
…or not.
My body became extremely cold.
"No, no, no."
I put my hands in my pockets. My right pocket does not have the enlarged space enchantment. I could no longer feel anything inside it.
My laptop was in it!
Fuck!
Fuck!
Fuck!
"Shit."
I hastily looked at my left pocket. Upon passing my hand through it, I felt the usual enlarged space that it has. My anxiety was slightly doused after knowing that I still have something left in my pocket.
The computer does not matter right now; the unknown entity closer to me is.
"Potions… and weapons."
I had a habit of storing a mix of items with each item in preparation for this… well, unexpected event. Scanning with my hand, I felt the touch of cold metal. Pulling it out, I was greeted by a pistol. It has a structure similar to an M9 and is pure silver in color. It did not have many designs on the outside, though there are seven magic circles engraved on the inside. The more spells I use at the same time, the greater the stress on this gun.
'I have to be careful.'
I placed the gun in my right hand. While feeling its sleek texture, I pointed it out to the source of the rustling sound. Slowly, I stepped away while pre-casting some offensive spells.
When "it" went out of the dark, I saw a slightly small green stature. It has a good body build and holds a wooden club.
"...A goblin?."
I only saw their illustrations as a kid, in a fairy tale book nevertheless. In our world, there are only demons and curses to worry about. There are no living goblins in it because of their weak strength. Only the dragons and beings similar to them could live up to this day.
Now aware of the source of malintent, I let go of my spell. Goblins are weak enough to not require my gun.
"Bolt."
Bzzzt-!
A purple lightning bolt headed straight to the goblin. Without any time to react, it was burned to a crisp. Smoke rose from its scorched black body. The wooden cub was also turned into charcoal due to my attack. It's dead.
Then, I discovered a strange thing when I came close. In its chest lies a purple crystal. When I dug it out, its body turned into black ashes, another phenomenon that I found strange.
"This is… magic crystal?"
Magic crystals, a solid form of mana. They are minerals that could be found in extremely mana-rich places. They serve as power sources in my experiments. With the constant mana supply, it can serve as a core point of spells, helping me cast spells easier.
Now, what in the world is it doing here? In a monster corpse?
No, I should think of this later.
"Anima Repertum." (Life Detection)
Another magic circle lit up under the starry night. It sent out a set of invisible waves. They are a variant of mana that could not be easily detected, something made by modern magicians to detect the surrounding life.
"Two… Eight… Ten… Twenty-five. Fifty-three. And–"
My mind halted on its own. I stopped thinking.
I found someone special.
A total of a hundred and twenty goblins are currently besieging a small village half a kilometer away from my place. There are fifteen villagers in total as well as twelve combatants who have a strong aura. Though they are being held up by some strong goblins, it seems.
Then…
"Who… is that?"
My detection spell passed through someone. She is just like a normal human if seen normally. However, there is something inside of her. Something that far surpasses human logic. I could not explain it properly. I am sure of one thing, though.
She is not human.
Strangely, she is just as strong as a normal human. If not, she would have destroyed those hostiles immediately.
"A fight… Should I interfere?"
In this unknown place, what I need the most is information. To better survive in this unknown place, I need to know more about it. Moreover, I am not one to leave them behind with that level of danger.
I'm no saint who could pull the world out of suffering. But, it's a different matter if it's just in front of me.
"I always stick my nose to these troublesome situations…" I said with helplessness.
In the end, I made my decision.
"Firmus." (Robustness)
With my strengthened body, I ran in that direction. The enhancement made me sprint faster. Within twenty seconds, this spell will be cast. It will be weakened due to my unfamiliarity with this world. Still, 50% to 60% of its power is enough.
"Stella Nox Caelum." (The stars under the night sky.)
A bright blue magic circle manifested within my arm. It swiftly passed through it, leaving me with a bow made up of light. Small spots of light appeared around me, making up the Orion constellation that I am very familiar with. When I looked at the bow, I saw countless stars hidden beneath its usual form. Knowing what to do, I drew its bowstring.
"Adducere Faustus Venari." (Guide me for a prosperous hunt.)
The second magic circle manifested in a form of an arrow. Immense calculations are needed to time it correctly, lest the spell will be ruined. The arrow is notched on the bow's "bowstrings".
"Olympus Quod Terra Vide Decus." (Let heaven and earth witness your glory.)
Another circle appeared, but this time in front of the bow. Seeing this, I let go of the notched arrow between my fingers.
Sou-!
As it passed through it, the arrow became extremely swift. I could barely trace it with my own eyes as it ascended toward the night sky. Concurrently, the power that it possesses became amplified.
"Dea Obsigno Fatum." (O' Goddess, Seal my Fate.)
A wide-scale magic circle appeared on my target–the village–before I could sense the arrow passing through it. As I timed it well, the power that it has went to its maximum limit. Another round of power converged into it before it showed signs of separating.
With my final chant finished, the arrow was completely split into countless stars before descending under the night sky.
*****
A small village.
It is composed of 15 members; a total of 6 families. Their location was well-thought as the capable took their time surveying the area around them. They even hired a retired "Adventurer" from the famous city of Orario. Everyone thought that they could leave in peace with minimal monster invasions, but they were mistaken.
Exactly 12 years ago, a small-sized goblin tribe left their former location due to the appearance of a strong man. He is only Level Two, but he demolished their chieftain comparable to a Level 3. He had a look of superiority and seriousness at the same time as if he is someone who used to be at the top of the world.
This caused their migration. They went from one place to another until they reached this place.
As a result, the current village faces a crisis. If not for the Artemis Familia who coincidentally passed through here, they would have been wiped out. A Level three goblin mutant chief, 3 Level two, and several Level one's backed up by unranked goblins are enough to do so.
Then again, it is the Artemis Familia. Even with those numbers, they could stably reduce their numbers one by one. Once their captain eliminates the goblin mutant, everything would be over.
"To your right."
Sou-!
The goblin that was creeping up on her was killed by a swift shot in its eye.
"I'm curious about these goblins. How did they grow up to this stage?"
They are outside of the dungeon city, Orario. It is nearly impossible to encounter a Level 3 in this place, yet they did. Not only that, but there are also their numbers.
Little did they know that the cause behind these goblin's motivation was someone they would not expect…
"Less talking. Once the captain finishes off on her side, we need to cooperate. Pay more attention to your surroundings."
Sadly, her warnings were not heard by the girl.
"Stars…"
"Hey, this isn't time for–"
Accidentally, she saw it. Out of nowhere, a meteor shower occurred. No, it is more apt to call it the descent of stars. These small bits of light soon enlarged in their visions before dropping to the ground.
Bam-!
Bam-!
Bam-!
…
Each of the stars landed perfectly on the goblins. This attack harmed nobody else. Everyone oddly felt a strange tinge of familiarity in that light.
"Goddess..?"
Meanwhile, their goddess was just as surprised as they were. When they are fighting against the mutant goblin, a star descended into its place. Upon contact, the mutant Level Three became severely injured. One blow from their captain finished it off.
"What did just..?"
Out of nowhere, a man wearing a set of black clothes appeared. He spoke in Koine, Gekai's universal language, but with a strange accent. Some words are understandable, but it felt different.
He shook his head to rid of his confusing thoughts. He lowered the silver thing after confirming that the monster's dead.
"I'm not this strong…"
Suddenly, his musings were interrupted when he met the goddess' gaze. For some reason, he felt a certain connection… rather, resonance with her. Then, everything clicked with him. Not only that, it is his first time seeing such a beauty. Nobody came close to her.
Ba-dump-!
Ba-dump-!
He hastily averted his gaze. Distracting himself, he started analyzing a bunch of random things. One of them contained useful information that might explain something.
The reason why he felt strange at the end of the chant. The reason why his stellar magic worked out too well.
"..."
"..."
In the end, it took them the courage of a goddess to break this silence.
"...Your name."
"My name?"
At first, he had the idea to give out a fake name but something dissuaded him from doing it–that he should give her his real name.
In normal cases, he would give out a fake name due to the existence of contract magic. Just by knowing someone else's name, someone could get cursed. Still… he does not feel any danger from her.
That's why–
"Akasaka Nobu."
–he trusted her.