As Lightcast moved closer to the Adventurers Guild, he finally had an opportunity to observe a more lively part of town up close.
What he realized quickly was that his previous expectations were met; it seemed like a lot of competent people were walking around left and right, and they mostly seemed strong as well.
"I have to keep a low profile, especially since I don't seem to have any skill that helps in combat whatsoever. At first, I assumed this was normal, but once Marc said that his teammates have a fire affinity and I saw all the weapons being carried around, I realized that offensive and actually combat-useful skills are not uncommon at all..." Thinking this, Lightcast was convinced that his circumstances were not only special but also unfavorable, at least at the moment.
As he walked past a weaponsmith and weapons store that were directly connected to each other, the variety of weapons surprised him. Because next to all kinds of common weapons he felt familiar with, there were weird-looking other kinds of weapons he had never seen or heard of before, like a blade that was extendable in an unconventional way, resembling a big folding knife, but when someone used it, it felt as smooth as a butterfly knife or nunchucks. Other odd weapons he saw included a spear with a large morning star attached to it and a shield with a big hole pretty much in the center, which seemed very counterproductive.
Also contrary to his expectations—but logical—was that longer weapons, like spears or pikes, were far more popular than normal swords or daggers. Of course they would be; who would want to use a sword without having any real training? A spear, on the other hand, is safer to use for most people.
Lightcast thought about how these situations in reality can be so much different from their fictional counterparts when he suddenly started to hear people cheering and saw most of the crowd moving towards a spot further down the street.
As he got closer to the source of the gathering, he saw a young woman with shoulder-length deep dark red hair and brown eyes, floating in mid-air with some kind of red energy revolving and swirling around her, making her look domineering. Opposite her was a brawny, muscular guy—not too big, but certainly someone a woman of her stature wouldn't normally face under ordinary circumstances. His muscles seemed to have a slight white-orange glow to them, and they looked like they were about to pop when he suddenly stormed at the woman with a grim expression. The crowd cheered again, full of excitement, when the red energy around the woman suddenly intensified and concentrated in her eyes, turning them a bright red. Just as the guy almost reached her, a red broad spike shot out of the ground—it looked like the tip of a giant glowing red sword. It pierced the muscular man's chest, who barely managed to avoid being cut clean in two. Instead, he was critically injured, with a wound running from his chest to his shoulder and upper arm.
Lightcast looked around and noticed that people didn't seem too worried. This suggested that, even though such a wound would be a death sentence in his mind, in this world, it didn't seem to be that serious.
This became evident when the muscular guy had the strength to actually admit defeat—just in time, too, because the woman in red almost cut his other shoulder as she rushed through the air. Hearing his surrender, she instead moved past him silently and sheathed her blade.
The crowd discussed the fight while some people walked up to the muscular guy and helped him up. The woman in red looked back for a solid two seconds, but she didn't look at the muscular guy; instead, she looked straight at Lightcast. He looked straight back at her, and it felt as if two kindred spirits had met. It wasn't the feeling you get when you like someone; instead, it was more of a sign of recognition.
Lightcast wasn't too sure what she had seen or sensed, but knowing himself, he was aware that she probably just had very sharp senses. Truth be told, Lightcast felt like he also had a knack for recognizing potential, danger, or certain kinds of capabilities—it's just that, usually, everywhere he went, he was the most "dangerous" in that sense, or at least that's what he believed to be the case.
"It seems like this world won't be boring," he mused to himself as he put his focus and feet back on track towards the Adventurers Guild.