91: An Astounding First Impression

For a moment, he had to keep himself steady. He kept himself composed, and tried to truly see the scene in front of him with a focused mind.

Because for an instant, he thought he saw one of his people right in front of him. Granted, nowhere near where he lived, but he watched enough anime and saw many pictures to know what a fucking samurai was.

What stood before him was a woman of such sharpness that her soul could cut him if he peered too closely. Long raven hair that reached her back and pale porcelain skin like snow. She wore a green kimono that doubled as light armor with many plates and coverings adjusted for combat, all with one singular weapon that Aidan couldn’t deny no matter how much his mind tried to find any connection to his old world.

An eastern made curved blade, or a katana, with a rather unique-looking guard that radiated power that Aidan couldn’t process yet. No matter how hard he tried to recognize it, the patterns of it made him think it had its own soul, as if it was alive. It was also, obviously, extremely dangerous to get close to.

Her red eyes seemed like blood moons that radiated simple brilliance with a hint of bloodlust that permeated the atmosphere as she walked down the stairs without much hurry. The two men stayed at their sides, watching with interest as the fallen man on the street below quickly recovered himself.

“You promised me that you would give me a good time,” The samurai lady said, getting right up to the man and tilting her head. “Is that not what you said?”

“T-That’s not what I mean…!” The man tried to answer, eventually getting back up to his feet. His hands were raised to defend himself, his eyes filled with terror. “I-I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant–”

“What do you mean then?” The lady asked, a simple question that didn’t get any follow-up.

The man easily quivered, his voice suddenly lost. From what Aidan peered, the bastard probably said something that all men usually say to pretty girls, because quite frankly, the samurai lady was definitely a beauty to behold.

Different from Yin, who had that fantastical elven beauty to it, this lady had that pristine appearance of a black-haired flower, or perhaps being the ever famous jade beauties that he often read from cultivation stories. In other words, she was fine as hell, so he wouldn’t fault the guy for trying his luck.

Apparently, this jade beauty was the sort to think that a good time meant a good battle. Her soul was practically begging, nearly grasping, for combat. Not in any malicious way, but for the pure sake of a battle to the death. Though it was clear that she wouldn’t get such a thing from the shivering man in front of her who was sweating bullets as he tried to explain himself away.

“T-That is… umm…”

As if knowing that she wouldn’t get what she wanted, she outright ignored the guy and turned around, walking back up the stairs and back into the guild.

On the way there, she did shift her gaze towards Aidan, and in return, Aidan did the same. Their eyes met, and for a short moment, everything seemed to slow.

Then time wound back up to normal speed as the lady swiftly returned inside, leaving the doors completely blasted open for all to see.

He looked back to Van who just kept staring into the entrance with a gaping expression. Shaking his head, he pulled Van in to keep him up to schedule.

“Let’s head in,” Aidan grinned.

“I-Is that a good idea?”

“As long as we don’t hit on her, probably.”

Aidan joked, which according to Van’s soul, landed well as he nodded in agreement. The two entered inside, seeing the guild seemingly acting as if nothing drastic happened. If at all.

In fact, the souls of those around him were just their usual jubilant selves, with each one having a good time and some of them commenting about the situation with barely a care in the world. There were some whispers here and there, but it was from the more lower-level adventurers around him. The guild hall was what he expected to see out of an adventurer’s guild.

A rough wooden aesthetic with several desks and receptionists on the side, and several boards with plenty of papers pinned on them that were possibly quests for the adventurers to take. Considering that many adventurers were in fact standing in front of them with their thinking caps on made that very clear.

Finally, he spotted the samurai lady in the midst of a group who were more than happy to talk about what happened, with one of them looking rather displeased as he looked like he was scolding her for her actions.

Despite her aura from their first meeting, the samurai lady deflated the longer the rose-haired man talked, becoming more meek, her soul reflecting that. While that definitely would be a shocker, he wasn’t actually all that surprised to see her getting repercussions for her earlier actions.

After all, you can just say you’re not interested. Suddenly bringing it into a fight would definitely look bad.

“What do we do?” Van asked at his side, looking ahead. “This is kinda earlier than expected.”

“No other choice,” Aidan said, letting out a deep sigh. “Come on, let’s go and meet them.”

Van nodded, though his soul was hesitant and nervous. Aidan understood his plight as the two moved forward to meet the very group making a fuss about the samurai lady. Soon enough, one of them, the rose-haired man in question, looked back at them before adjusting his glasses, a rarity in this world.

“I see some new faces here,” The man said eloquently, turning to find both Aidan and Van. “Please understand, that scene doesn’t usually happen.”

“You mean the guy getting exactly what he asked for?” Aidan asked, smiling. “You’re right–that doesn’t usually happen.”

“Haha, guess you’re more open-minded. That’s a relief, especially if you’re here in the adventurer’s guild,” The man said, chuckling.

“Name’s Aidan. He’s Van,” Aidan introduced themselves, with Van nodding in turn. “You mind if we ask who you are without getting our asses beaten?”

“Naturally,” The man smiled warmly. “My name’s Yanu. I’m somewhat well-known around here. But nobody here’s more well-known than her. Come on, introduce yourself to the newbies.”

The man said, patting the samurai lady on the back. She nodded, understanding that she sort of had to, considering she gave quite the fright at their first meeting. Despite being commanded to, her soul remained docile, as if in default mode.

“My name is Miko.”

She simply answered, leaving nothing else. Aidan took the call for socialness and nodded in return.

“Like you said, we’re new around here. We only just arrived here yesterday after dealing with some stuff, and I plan to sign myself up as an adventurer here with a friend of mine.”

“Oh?” Yanu said, quickly following the topic after Miko’s super short introduction. “According to your level, I’m surprised. Are you planning on signing up to be at a higher rank?”

“That’s the plan.”

It wasn’t surprising that Yanu would be interested and scanned him for his level, as Aidan did the same. The man himself was what he expected to be the evolved version of a mage.

Elementalist, Level 62.

Finally, there was Miko. And it was as if the heavens themselves deemed him correct in his assessment.

Samurai, Level 67.

Again, it really wasn’t surprising that she was a samurai, though he would question if anyone else knew about the origin. From what he could imagine, it was possible that samurais always had their own origin in this fantasy world, putting aside the eastern philosophies entirely.

“And that’s why you traveled all the way here, correct?” Yanu answered again, leaving Aidan to nod.

“That’s right. If possible, can I ask you for something, if you have the time?”

“Well, we normally would go on a quest right about now,” Yanu answered, rubbing his chin as he glanced over to the uninterested Miko. “But it’s not every day that someone would just walk up to us. We’re sort of popular around here, even if they keep their distance from us.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to ask,” Aidan said, following along with his plan nicely. “We’re actually sort of famous ourselves, back where we came from. Did you possibly hear about Forontia and the recent demon attack?”

“I did, and honestly, it’s kinda hard not to,” Yanu said, quickly gaining interest. “What about it?”

“Well, we were a part of that. Actually, I was the one who dealt with the attack.”

Aidan proudly exclaimed, and according to some of the eavesdroppers, it got some people around them to turn silent to listen in closely. Yanu raised a brow at that, but Miko suddenly grew interested, her sharp eyes lighting up in response.

“You dealt with the attack. So I take it that means you’re the so-called Hero of Forontia?” Yanu elaborated, getting Aidan to nod. He turned to Van, who in turn also nodded.

“I was there when it happened. I can guarantee that he is the hero.”

“And you suppose this would be a good enough claim to increase your rank in the guild?” Yanu asked. He didn’t seem to question their legitimacy, but rather prodded at them for more information.

“We were hoping. Considering you guys are pretty famous around here, I was hoping you can help out a little bit. I’m sure we can come to a very good agreement between us.”

Yanu kept staring at Aidan, this time with a more open mindset. Aidan could see in an instant that while Yanu was nice to them, his soul pretty much told him that he wasn’t interested in some randos walking up to them. But hearing about his exploits got him to re-think this matter.

But it wasn’t Yanu that he was interested in.

“Then that means you have faced the demon?”

Miko asked, entering herself into the conversation. Aidan turned to find her, surprised to see her actually a little shorter than himself, at least a forehead shorter. She was even shorter than Nina and Haley, but he could tell in an instant that her height didn’t matter at all when it came to actual power. The clear conviction hiding behind her eyes was also present, her stance rock-solid.

“I did,” Aidan answered, facing her with everything he had.

“...You don’t feel strong.”

Aidan was taken aback by that. Her expression was still as a pond, and her soul was equally so. In other words, she didn’t mean it as some slight, but an honest thought.

Is she able to pick up on my current state?

“I’m not sure how to answer that, honestly,” Aidan replied. “But I did face the demon.”

“How strong was this demon? What was it?”

Her curiosity made him aware that she was definitely interested in the demon that attacked the city. He could also tell that if she could, she would gladly have faced this demon herself if she was around. It was like talking to a fellow gamer who missed the event in a video game and was now asking how it went.

“Definitely strong. You may not believe me, but it was around Level 90. It was also apparently one of the apostles or something, but I’m not entirely sure.”

“Was this demon particularly weak?” She asked again.

“Miko, please…” Yanu winced at her answer. “Don’t say it in a way that would cause misunderstandings.”

“If you’re wondering how I managed to defeat the demon, it was because my powers countered it. Despite the level difference, I came out on top because of it.”

“I see,” Miko nodded, as if it was obvious.

“However,” Aidan added, looking up as if in realization. “If it’s someone like you, I’m afraid you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

The room turned completely still, and everyone who was listening in suddenly paled in response. Even Yanu clammed up, looking at Aidan as if thinking ‘you have a death wish?’

But the one who took in the most shock was Miko herself. Her eyes only widened a little, but her soul was definitely shaken. It rumbled like an earthquake, and a deep, strong desire welled up from within. A desire that nearly drowned Aidan entirely in its potency.

It was the desire to prove him wrong.

“...What do you mean by that?” She asked calmly, showing no signs of hostility, but her eyes stared directly into his very soul.

“Like I said,” Aidan shrugged, ignoring the worrying looks on everyone else. Van, rightfully, stepped back a few feet as if knowing what would happen next. “I can just tell with these things. Even if you were the one to face that demon right now, you wouldn’t win. It’s just not in the cards.”

“I very much disagree with that notion. You have only seen me in action for a brief moment.”

“And that brief moment is all I need,” Aidan answered, shaking his head. “If it were you, you’d be corrupted and defeated in… shit, maybe a few minutes? You’re definitely strong, but you just can’t compare to that demon.”

Yanu listened and, according to his soul, gave up on even trying to stop the conversation. Like Van, he and his own group backed away, shaking his head in defeat. Miko, however, stayed standing. She stayed staring at Aidan, her eyes never leaving him once.

“Though I could change my mind,” Aidan continued, noticing that the room felt almost empty around him except for the clearly agitated samurai in front of him. “See, I’m not just here to see if I can get a raised rank. I don’t mind proving to everyone how strong I can be, but I’m going to need some help. You may not be that strong, but I don’t mind sparring with you a little to prove my point here.”

“You clearly have a high opinion of yourself,” Miko said. This time her voice was not so evenly calm. There was a hint of agitation in her voice, something that the other adventurers easily noticed and backed further away. “You say that I’m not strong?”

“I’m saying I could be persuaded,” Aidan answered, showing no sign of giving up. Even the densest person in the world would’ve noticed the scene going on, but he kept going, staggering the others. “Though I’m not very impressed right now. So, how about it?”

Without another word, without even a moment’s hesitation, a blade swung right at his neck, only stopping a mere inch to his skin. Aidan didn’t react, noticing that her soul didn’t show any ounce of hostility behind that strike.

What did surprise him was that it felt like he only needed to blink to miss that entire exchange.

“I will happily provide a reason to prove you wrong,” Miko said, her voice still steady and stoic, but now there was that hint of pure desire to fight within.

He knew then that his plan had worked perfectly, if a little too well. Spotting the samurai ready to decapitate him if he uttered a single word, he instead grinned.

“Then prove it to me.”

Everything turned completely white in the next moment. A cold drift entered his senses before he found himself flung out of the guild hall the exact same way as the first guy did when they arrived.

However, he landed on the ground, his feet sliding across the pavement as he faced the samurai coming out. However, she didn’t come out all proper and dandy like she did before.

Before, she knew she was just facing some hack. This time, she didn’t hold back. Her katana swung, barely giving Aidan any time before he ducked aside, following only what his Vibration Sense could give him rather than anything physical. Another cold drift blew past him, making his skin shiver in response as he backed away.

Miko didn’t stop there, instead rushing forward to attack again. Her blade swung multiple times, Aidan dodging each one with his body already Infused to increase his Agility. He also had to use a bit to increase his Strength to give him the power he needed to jump away in time before a swing crashed forward, bringing what felt like the fury of a blizzard hitting him right in his face.

He felt his skin freezing, but there was something else that made him pause. He looked back at his cloak to find that the damn thing was on fire, but it was different from any fire he had ever seen.

For one thing, it was damn cold. A bluish white fire that trembled like actual flames, yet it gave off such a cold that it felt like it might as well be frozen over. When he tried to get close to the fire, it nearly froze his hand rather than burn it, making him feel numb to the point of causing pain.

Still, he patted the fire to put it away, doing it quickly enough to not feel much effect. He looked back at the standing samurai, her katana to the side and staring back at him.

“You’re faster than I thought,” Miko commented.

“Same to you,” Aidan replied. “Nice trick you got there. Cold flames?”

“It’s not a trick,” Miko frowned. “That’s just how it is.”

“What better way to explain it than it being a talent?”

Aidan said, though the look on Miko’s face proved that he might as well be exclaiming that the sun was bright. Miko swung her katana to the other side, and a burst of white blue flames exploded from the hilt, covering the blade entirely.

“Don’t get scared now.”

“Oh, I’m not,” Aidan grinned back. “Like I said–not enough for the demon even with that talent.”

Her eyes thinned, then she disappeared once again. This time Aidan panicked a little as the blade aimed for his chest, preparing to pierce right through.

Blades clashed as Aidan brought out and blocked with his own sword, this one slimmer and more used for speed as the two fighters clashed in the middle of the city.