Chapter 7: Chapter 7: A Fellow Fighter

The first thing I wanted to do was check my experience... I mean [Attribute Points]. I wanted to know how close I was to leveling up after slaying two enemies (I guess some might consider it as one and a half seeing as how that woman had to knock the second one off). But I wasn't sure how to bring up my stats table. Next time I called Govessa, I'd be sure to ask her that. However, one thing that I knew for sure was that I only had a single point of [Mana] left. Costs two to cast [Volt Channel]. I casted it twice. That leaves me with one. If only Prob/Stat could have been that easy. I contemplated using my sole remaining [Mana] point to chat with Govessa, but a certain someone caught my attention.

"Hey you!" the woman shouted. She didn't sound angry. In fact, she almost sounded excited. I stopped staring at my Tella Stone and turned around. She was running towards me with a smile on her face and one hand waving high above her head.

"Oh, hey," I said in return. I was a bit nervous, but I'm positive that it couldn't have been detected in my tone. She stood about a foot in front of me. The woman was about maybe six inches than I was. And I'm of average height for an American. Her bobbed hair was short and a dark brown. A bit unruly, but in a charming way. Looked like she usually took care of it, but all the tussling got it out of line.

Despite her gi-like ensemble and the dark blue sandals that wrapped up to her shins, her figure and face didn't quite say "martial artist" to me. She was petite with slim arms and legs. And her face was cute... almost innocent. Her narrow and dark brown eyes. The thin lips that formed an endearing smile. I never would have thought of her as someone that would practice fighting in the middle of the woods by herself.

She extended one hand, showing off her fingerless gloves as she opened her palm. I guess handshakes are a universal gesture, no matter what realm you're in. I made a firm grasp and gave her hand a good waggle. She kept smiling, making me grin in return.

"My name's Yusha," she said confidently. "What's yours?" There was no discernable accent in her voice. Took me off guard because I wasn't expecting her to speak English, let alone sound like someone that could be my next-door neighbor.

I paused for a second. I was kind of weary of giving her my real name. But at the same time, I'm technically dead. No one here would recognize me. "Adrien," I replied.

"Nice to meet a fellow fighter!" she said enthusiastically. We both ended the handshake. She placed her hands on her hips while I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"Sounds like you don't see too many people like me around here," I said.

"You'd be right. We've got laws prohibiting people from becoming warriors."

Great. Govessa sent me to a place to train and become a fighter where it's illegal. Some great goddessing on her part.

"I take it you're from the village down over there?" I pointed towards the horizon. She glanced in the direction of the buildings and nodded.

"Yep. Born and raised in the village of Tuanha. I'll probably die there too."

Interesting way to start a conversation. I wanted to tell her that it's better than dying in a back alley at a college campus, but I didn't think that would be too good of a conversation starter. Instead, I turned towards the monsters we had defeated. Their bodies were starting to shrivel up, and as they shrunk, a purple smoke rose to the sky. It looked a lot like melting dry ice, but a lot more sinister.

"What should we do with these things?" I asked. "Do we just leave them here?"

I must have said something that showed how much of a rookie I was. Yusha gave me this confused looked as she cocked her head to the side. "You've never encountered an Aura-Entity before?"

I shook my head. With some hesitation I said "No."

"You're telling me that you're a martial artist, but you never have seen an Entity. Have you been cultivating in the mountains your entire life or something?"

Well, my cover is blown. That didn't take long. Since I know absolutely zip about Sianka, I thought it would be best to just be straight up honest with her. She seemed friendly, so she'd probably understand if I told her what I really am. Hopefully she's not one of Zahnte's underlings trying to pull a fast one on me.

"I'm... a Champion," I said with a sigh. "Summoned by Govessa."

Yusha's eyes opened wide. She tilted her head back and covered her mouth with her hand in exasperation. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yes, really."

"I never thought I'd see a Champion in real life! At least not one that's on our side!" She smiled again, this time she started bouncing up and down giddily. Looked like she had some pretty big expectations of me. Kind of like my parents. I'm just hoping I won't let her down like I did them.

"Are Champions not common? I talked with Govessa not too long ago and she made it seem like she had plenty scattered all across Sianka."

"Sianka is a big place," she replied. "Everyone has heard tales of warriors with great potential and abilities, but that's only in far-off lands where the most important battles are waged. We don't see much action here in Tuanha." She looked back at the horizon where her village stood. "That mountain range is a natural barrier between us and the rest of the world. Very few visitors come here. Finding a way to get troops over the rocky terrain isn't worth the resources to come and get what little we have."

Looks like I'm in the middle of nowhere then. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing at the moment. Hopefully the people of Tuanha village are welcoming. Otherwise, I feel like this is going to be a real rocky beginning.

"Do your people ever leave the village?" I asked as I put one hand over my eyes while I scoured the horizon.

She shook her head. "No. It's forbidden."

Looks like I've jinxed myself with a rocky beginning. Crossing my fingers and banking on my already low [Luck] stat that the villagers will let me leave since I don't actually live there.

"Why is that?" I asked. Regretfully.

Yusha tilted her head to the side, he eyes becoming filled with sadness. "Zahnte's forces. The Army of Order."

"Of course," I muttered. I clenched my fist. Haven't even met the guy or any of his troops and I already hate him. "Everything Govessa said about him must have been true."

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"He and his troops are vicious. Many of the people in my village have witnessed the cruelty of the Army of Order firsthand." Yusha stopped looking at me and instead stared into the baby blue sky. It wasn't hard to tell that she was distressed. Part of me wanted to probe her mind further. Get some more info on what exactly I was going up against. But it was clear that tough memories were coming back. I didn't to get too personal with the poor girl, seeing as how she did just save my neck from... those Entities. That's when I decided to change topics.

"Aura-Entities," I said bluntly. Transitions in conversations were never my strong suit. Yusha snapped out of her somber stupor and looked at me again. "You said you were going to tell me more about them?"

She perked up a bit. Almost like she was excited to explain whatever it was about these creatures.

"Oh! Right! I know that Champions come from another world, so I can't blame you for not knowing anything about Aura-Entities. Everyone just calls them Entities for short." I turned my head to the Entity that I roasted just a minute ago with [Volt Channel]. At this point, its entire body had gone up in a puff of mauve smoke. In its place was a glistening and jagged stone. As I reached down to pick it up, Yusha went on with her explanation. "Nobody fully knows where they come from or why they're here. A common idea is that they're created by 'run-off' magic; a side-effect of human using magic for violent purposes. Others believe that they're monsters summoned by Zahnte's forces to hassle his enemies . But wherever they're from or however they made, everyone can at the very least agree that they're annoying."

The stone was a dark purple and fit snuggly in the palm of my hand. It had jagged edges, but instead of cutting my skin, they covered my fingers in a thin film of dust when I touched them. I showed the stone to Yusha. "And what is this thing that they left behind?"

"Loot."

I brought the stone closer to me and began to finagle it with both hands. My first piece of loot! I was tempted to hold onto it like some businesses keep their first dollar bill. But for the right price, I was more than willing to let it go. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I watched it sparkle a wide of array of purple shades as its sharp angles reflected the morning light.

"But don't expect to become rich by selling that single chunk of Aurexium. It's nothing uncommon."

There goes that dream. Although it felt good to have even a small bit of capital to my name.

"Did you want it?" I offered Yusha the stone, but she shook her head.

"No. You keep it. And you can have the Aurexium left behind by the other Entities too. You can sell them to the Salesclerk down by the bank. The bit of coin you'll get from trading it should be enough to get you a couple of meals."

That was awfully nice of her. I scoured the locations where the bodies of the Entities fell and picked up a few more sizeable chunks of Aurexium. After dumping the loot in the pocket of my gi, I clapped my hands and rid them of the purple dust. "I appreciate that."

Yusha chuckled and made a shooing motion with her hand. "Ah, you'll need them more than me. Besides, one of Govessa's Champions deserves a good meal."

"You helped me back there. If I deserve some good eating, you do too," I replied. Didn't want to come off as cocky and arrogant, so I thought I'd return the compliment. She seemed to appreciate it by the way she tilted her head to the side and kept smiling.

"Sounds fair." Yusha put her hands behind her back and walked towards her village at a leisurely pace. I stood beside her and pressed my hand against the pockets of my gi to make sure my loot didn't slip out.

"Maybe you could tell me more about the world on our way to your village?" I asked with my eyes focused on the horizon.

"Sure. But on one condition."

"What is it?"

"You have to introduce me to Govessa." Yusha looked at me with pure excitement. I returned her sentiment by scratching the back of my head and turning my gaze to the side.

"I..." I was at a loss for words. My gut told me a goddess wouldn't want to be bothered by a rookie this early on in their journey. But it's not like I couldn't just call her up really quick. And Yusha is already doing a lot for me. Having her join in an inter-realm call didn't seem like a whole lot considering how she seemed willing to be serving as my de fact tour guide in Sianka.

"Sure," I said with a sigh. "I don't see why not."

Yusha jumped up and down, punching one fist in the air. "Yes! I finally get to the meet the goddess!"

"You're not going to say anything rude, are you? You didn't want to talk to her so you could give her a piece of your mind, right?"

The girl shook her head back and forth. "Oh, no. Not at all."

"Good. Govessa gave me this Tella Stone so I could talk to her when I needed to." I pulled out the blue lump at the end of the necklace and quickly flashed it towards Yusha. "She didn't say anything about letting others join our conversations, but at the same time I don't want to get on her bad side because I let a disgruntled mortal vent out their frustration to her face."

"I know Govessa is busy, all right?" Yusha's tone suddenly turned snippy. "The vast majority of mortals will never get to see her or Zahnte in their lifetime. We're willing to fight and die for the causes of these deities, but so few of us actually get to meet them. It's just a rare experience I want to say that I've gone through."

"Fair enough." She seemed pretty honest to me. The way she described it made it comparable to getting an autograph from a movie star. Not much harm there. I still had my reservations about letting Yusha talk to the big goddess herself, but at least I could play the "novice in a strange land" card. I was sure Govessa would understand. Besides, I really did need to ask her how to check my [Attribute Points]. I'm positive she'd at the very least tell me how to do that.

Or maybe she would send me straight back to the alley where I got stomped.

Either way, I'm a man of my word. I couldn't let Yusha down, especially when she was so willing to give me tutorial on living in Sianka. Against my better judgement, I held the Tella Stone in the palm of my hand and tapped it twice with my finger.

I just hoped that Govessa was fine with group calls.

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