Chapter 3: Chapter 2 – The First Otherworlder, Embarking on a Journey

In a mansion, in the middle of the night, the sound of cries can be heard echoing along the hallways. A filt mother was giving birth to a baby, with the father and a midwife standing beside her bed. 

"Just a little more, dear, just a little more!"

"HAAAAAAAAAHHH"

"Ma'am, push a little more ma'am!"

"HAAAAAAHH"

"That's it, that's it dear!"

After the struggles and screams, a cry of a baby was heard.

"Good job ma'am, you have yourself a beautiful baby girl."

"Hah.. Hah... Hah... Thank... Goodness... That was... Painful..."

"Yes, dear... You did very well... What should we name our baby?"

"Yes... I think... Uhmm... How about... Julia?"

"Julia... Yes, that is a wonderful name. Our daughter is from now on Julia Afila."

And thus, the filt by the name of Julia Afila was born into the world.

 

20 years later.

"Take care, now. I wish you safe travels."

"Thanks, father."

"As much as I want you to stay, I know that with your talents, it will hinder your growth to stay cooped up here. Just, remember to come back every now and then, okay? We will miss you a lot, you know."

"Of course, mum. I will miss you too."

A 24 year old filt were saying farewells with her parents, as she was about to embark on her own travels alone. That 24 year old filt was Julia Afila, the first otherworlder. Though, she doesn't know that yet.

During her childhood, she has always been a smart girl, who easily understands anything she was taught. Although her parents were surprised, they were happy nontheless. They were even more surprised when they saw their daughter, Julia, playing around with magic at the age of 3. Although the filts do have a good connection with the archaic system, they are normally only able to make use of magic after their coming-of-age ceremony, which is done when they are 13 years old. And so, after teaching and training her with everything they know, at the age of 24, she left her home to go travelling the world, with the hope of broadening her horizons.

 

A young woman was walking down a dirt road, away from the filt village of Cilty. She was wearing a dark green blouse and brown pants that go all the way to her ankles. She was also wearing glasses and a bracelet on her right arm. Along with this, she brought a wand made of whitewood, which is a very sturdy and difficult to break material. 

"Hmmm... I guess the first step would be to get my travelling permit in the human city. That would certainly be helpful if I want to go in and out of other cities during my travels."

And so, Julia heads towards a human city, the city of Brandecc.

 

 

"Welcome to the city hall of Brandecc. How may I help you?"

A receptionist welcomes me as I approach one of the counters in the city hall.

"Yes, I would like to apply for a travel card."

"Oh my, a filt. You don't get to see them everyday. Anyways, to get a travel card, we will need to conduct some preliminary examinations, to see if you are capable of travelling safely. Would you like to take the tests immediately, or would you like to set a schedule?"

"Now is fine. I have nothing else to do, anyway."

"Very well then. Please wait a moment."

The receptionist then writes out a piece of paper, stamps it, and gives the piece of paper to Julia.

"Take this paper and give it to the examiner. You can find them in the examination halls, straight down that hallway on the left."

"Ok. Thanks for the help."

"No problem, and good luck with the examinations."

Having got what I needed, I gave my thanks to the receptionist and head to the examination halls, where I will take the test and hopefully pass to get a travel permit.

Once at the examination halls, I gave the paper to the doorkeeper and he opened the door to the halls. Inside, I saw lots of people, who I presume are also taking the examinations, doing different things while being watched by other people. Then, a middle-aged man came to me.

"Excuse me miss, you're here to take the exam, yes?" 

"Yes, I am. You are..."

"Ah, where are my manners. I am Jack Lester, examiner for the travel card exams."

"Oh, great! Yes, I am here for the exams. What do I have to do?"

"Well, first off, I'll have to ask you some questions to determine the tests you are taking."

"Sure."

"Ok then. First question, what is your name, race, age, and job?"

"I am Julia Afila, a filt, 20 years old but soon to be 25 years old, and my job... Well, I guess you can say I work as a mage at my home village?"

When I told him my age, he looked surprised for a moment. Curious, I asked him about it. 

"Was there anything surprising with what I said?"

He looked at me before shaking his head while chuckling.

"No, miss Julia. I just forgot about the fact that filts age slowly, so I was a bit surprised of your age. By human standards, you look no older than 16 years old, miss. Hahaha... Back to the questions, although I'm pretty sure I know your answer, but just in case, what is your preferred method of combat?"

I then took out my whitewood wand and held it.

"I am a mage, though I usually focus on mid-range and close-range fights."

Hearing my reply, his brow tilted in confusion. While laughing, I explained to him my combat style.

"You see, I have mastered a spell, that basically creates a blade of pure mana from the tip of my wand. So in a way, I guess I am a magic swordswoman?"

John rubs his chin, then nods.

"That would certainly be interesting to see. I've never heard of something like that before, though. Okay then, you will take the magic sword test. Follow me."

Saying that, he turned around and started walking to one of the empty platforms with what looks to be a metal doll. I followed him as he stepped on to the platform.

"The test, is a fight against this metal doll. There will be three parts to this test. First part, you have to defend against the doll using only your wand, though you can move around and dodge as you wish. Note that you cannot attack or counterattack on the doll at all. Second part, you have to fully commit to attacking the doll with your wand. The doll will only be defending at that time, so you don't have to worry about counterattacks. And for the third part, you will be having a full fight with the doll. Again, you are only allowed to use your wand for the fight, but now you can attack and counterattack as you like, though the doll will do the same. Is that clear?"

"Uhmm, I have a question. If this is supposed to be a test for magic swordsmen, why am I only allowed to use my wand?"

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He looked at me before laughing.

"Hahahahah... Miss Julia, you were the one who told me that your "sword" is a blade of magic from your wand. So for the purposes of testing your versatility with the wand, you will only use your wand. Of course, if you do prefer using both a wand and a sword at the same time, then you can go ahead and tell me."

"Ah, okay. Then, can we start now?"

"Before we start, there is a difficulty option in this test, from 1 to 5. 1 being the easiest and 5 being the hardest. For a travel permit, you only need to pass difficulty 3. Do you want to keep it at 3, or do you want to raise it higher?"

"Hmmm... Can I try again if I fail?"

"Yes, though please keep in mind the time used, so other people can use the facility as well."

"Sure thing. So, I choose level 5 difficulty. Is that fine?"

"Of course. Good luck, and remember the rules for this test."

As he said that, he got off the platform and I held my wand in a fighting position.

"Hey, hey, that girl is taking the magic swordsmen test?"

"Yeah, she is. Though I wonder, where's her sword?"

"I don't know. Perhaps... She is a space magic user? If she is, then maybe her sword is kept hidden in her spatial storage?"

"Maybe, though I don't get the point. Oi, you over there, what's the difficulty set on this?"

"Apparently, she is going for level 5 difficulty."

Hearing the words of an early onlooker, the new onlookers were shocked.

"Oi, oi, not even the high-rank knights are able to clear that difficulty. The fuck is that young lass trying to do?"

"Well, filts are usually older than they look, so maybe she is actually in her thirties or forties."

"Even if she is, isn't it still imposible?"

"Hey, I think they are about to start it."

There are a lot of onlookers watching and chatting about me for my test. I guess this is because of how young I look and the supposed "impossible difficulty" I chose. Well, even if I fail here, I can just try again with a lower difficulty.

"John you can start now!"

As I said that, I activated my magic blade, drawing gasps of surprise and confusion from the onlookers. Naturally, as my "mana blade" is pretty much just an extension of my wand, made with mana. So from an outside perspective, it would look like I am holding a long and glowing stick.

"Alraighty! Get ready, 3, 2, 1, start!"

Immediately, the doll began moving. The doll lunged forward and sent a sword strike right for my chest. Naturally, I wouldn't allow that, hence I blocked the coming blade with my own. The doll than began a barrage of sword strikes and pierces, which was either blocked by my blade or dodged. This stalemate went on for a few minutes, after which the doll jumped backwards and started casting magic towards me. Specifically, dozens of firebolts.

"That's not gonna work!"

I said that as I quickly conjured an equal amount of mana shields where the firebolts would land. Of course, I can only cast that many shields because my wand is helping me direct the mana to form a shield. As the firebolts got intercepted by the shields, the doll started to manipulate the ground of the platform and forming earth spikes to throw me out of the platform directly. As the earth spikes approach me, I conjured a small but strong river of water towards the earth spikes, turning them into mud, and therefore, useless.

After that, the doll stopped moving. No attacks at all. I took this as a que for the second phase. So, I started my attacks. I jumped towards the doll, accelerating my speed using a fire combustion magic at my feet, and I slashed my blade towards the doll as I approach it. The doll reacts by raising its sword to intercept my blade. At the last moment, I swerved my blade downwards, towards its legs. It responds by immediately conjuring a shield where I was about to hit. Fortunately, my blade of mana is much more powerful against magic. I slashed straight through the shield and slashed the dolls leg. It didn't cut it, but it left a large gash on it. 

Immediately after, I drove my blade upwards, in an attempt to hit its head. Unfortunately, it managed to react on time and properly intercepted my blade, then pushed me back. After retreating a few steps, I started attacking it with magic. I conjured bullets of earth and coated them in fire. I then launched them towards the doll, who conjured a wall of ice in response. My earth and fire bullets managed to crack the ice wall, but that was it, and my bullets were dissipated. Immediately after that, I pointed my wand at the doll, and a beam of lightning was shot towards it at breakneck speed. The doll couldn't counter fast enough, and as a result got hit. The doll was launched backwards and rolled on the ground, before getting up. And then, the doll lunged towards me with sword its raised and wind blades conjured. I recognized this as the start of the third phase.

I reactivated my mana blade and conjured a mana shield to intercept the wind blades. Our blades and magic clashed. Then, we began our final exchange. After minutes of clashing blades and conjuring spells, I finally managed to land one of my wind spells on the doll, throwing the doll back. Making use of this opening, I slashed at the head of the doll and finally disabled it. And thus, my combat examinations ended.

 

"Fyuuuh... That was fun. So, how did I do, John?"

As I turned towards John and the onlookers, all I saw was them staring at me with their mouths open. When I tilted my head in confusion, John finally spoke up.

"Y-y-yes, miss Julia... You passed the test w-with flying colors."

John was stuttering quite a bit. I wonder why? Anyways, I should probably get my travel card now.

"So, where can I get my travel card?"

John proceeds to write some things on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"G-give this piece of paper to the receptionist in one of the counters, and they will issue the card for you."

"Great. Thanks, John. See you around!"

After saying that, I left John and the still stunned audience and walked to the counters.

 

"Ah, hello again. Have you passed the examination?"

The receptionist from when I first arrived greeted me at the counters.

"Yes, I was told to pass on this piece of paper and you can sort out my travel card?"

"If that paper is from an examiner, then yes. Could you give it to me then?"

"Here you go."

I handed the paper to the receptionist. When she read it, her eyes widened in astonishment, and she visibly trembled. But I guess, being a professional receptionist, she quickly regained her composure and started writing out my travel card. She then handed the travel card to me.

"Here you go, miss Afila. I must say, a safety clearance of 5, that is an impressive number. Not many are able to achieve it, and even if they do, it would only be after decades of experience."

"Is that so? Certainly, it was a good fight. I enjoyed it a lot."

"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you, miss Afila?"

"I am currently 20 years old."

"WHAT!?"

The receptionist raised her voice and I chuckled. I guess that my age was too much of a surprise.

"W-well then, miss Afila, here is your travel card. With this, you are free to travel in and out of any city in Kanari Kingdom. Should you lose the card, you can remake it in any city hall, though you must remember all the specific data points and pay a fee of 3 silver coins."

"Yes, thank you. I'll be off now."

"Good luck and safe travels, miss Afila."

And so, having aquired my travel card, I set off on my trip, to visit and explore the entirety of Kanari Kingdom.

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