Chapter 3: CH3 Starting Town

Alex asks, "If you were in my shoes what would you do?"

Fufi responds, "I'd take my gift from the gods and make use of it. With magical powers and skills from the system people can do things that are impossible in your world. For example, Emerald Dryad could finish making a home for someone with just a cute song, a nice dance, and a bag of seeds."

This baffled Alex. How could someone make a house with just three things two of which were non-material. Alex thought to himself as he said, "How could a person even make a house with just a dance?"

Fufi responded, "Well she would plant them, then dance around them to get them to sprout to go, and the song was about how they would grow together to make a house. They would become dwellings made with live trees for walls and a roof with vines filling in the gap and cute flowers decorating everything."

Alex's face turned white as he realized what Fufi had just explained and what she was saying. It was as if he was living in another world again where everything was possible if you were a cute enough performer. Alex muttered under his breath, "Is there no justice in this world?" Fufi didn't notice because she was too busy staring at Alex's face.

Fufi says, "Of course there is. Justice and love are a magical girl's mission. Take yourself for example, when I was hit by a truck and flung to the side of the road you saved me and nursed me back to health. Your actions embody love and justice. That is how I knew you were the one I was destined to have a contract with." Fufi puts her head down in embarrassment as she says, "I suppose I was overbearing and arrogant." Fufi then looks up at Alex and says, "You're an angel sent from heaven. You even have wings so it fits."

Alex adds, "Though I wonder. Why were you in my neck of the woods? Are there not people in this world who you could contract with?"

Fufi says, "That's where it gets complicated." Fufi looks off into space as she says, "I tried this world first but the war with the demon queen is going really poorly for humanity. At this point in time it is more like they are mopping up the remainders of the old nations. Most of humanity gets transformed by the demon queen's forces and by that time it is impossible to form a contract with them even if they had potential as a magical girl. Only the children don't get corrupted but they are kept under guard in camps awaiting processing."

Alex ponders this and says, "Why do they spare the children? One would think the forces of evil would have no qualms about corrupting the innocent."

Fufi seems aghast, "They corrupt them by doing lewd things to them. Even the dark gods agree, sexual acts against children should result in divine punishment. It is also why magical girls are effective against the demon queen's minions. If they use their preferred methods . . . divine punishment."

Alex motions for Fufi to continue.

Fufi says, "After that I moved to a different continent that was being invaded by a different group of demons but ran into the same problem. Eventually Luna sent some of us that were having trouble finding someone to bond with to other worlds. I just wasn't expecting fast moving metal things rolling along the roadways. Here we have carriages. Yes some magical carriages can go fast but most are only as fast as the animals that pull them."

Alex says, "That's fine though. I can drive my jeep and ride a horse from one of the nearby ranchers. I do miss my stuff. This would have been a whole lot easier if my cabin and all my stuff got transported here. Though in hindsight that might not have been a great idea. When we were in the carriage with Luna one of the things I really wanted to ask her for was some footwear."

Fufi tilts her head and says, "I bet if you asked her with reverence she would have granted you that boon."

"Yes, I agree but while I wanted some sturdy boots I bet she would have provided me some of the most luxurious high heels." Alex said with an air of dread.

Fufi says,"She's a goddess of beauty after all. She would have provided you with something beautiful for your feet."

"True, I suppose that was my mistake but at least it would have been nice to get something that would keep my feet dry and warm while I walked. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to earn some money and get something a cobbler made."

Alex heads out back and grabs a stick and the rug he got earlier. He proceeds to beat the rug and get the dust and dirt out of it.

[New class skill acquired: Cleaning Level 1]

Grumbling to the heavens, Alex says, "Sexist much system?" He looks back at Fufi who looks as if she is trying to figure out what he was talking about and says, "I guess I now know how a women feels when she is expected to do all the cooking and cleaning in a relationship." Ugh, cooking is probably a class skill for him as well.

Fufi tilts her head and asks, "Is this not how it is in your world?"

Alex ponders, "While it is common it doesn't mean it applies to 100% of women. Just because someone is female doesn't mean that they have to enjoy cooking and cleaning. That is why it is offensive to assume such things."

Fufi tilts her head and says, "But you are a man, at least for now. Why would you not like cleaning?"

Alex says, "You're right. I am male and I should do housework just like anyone else. The system making someone good at things they don't like while denying them oppertunities to be better at things they might like seems a bit harsh."

Fufi giggles and says, "I think you would be cute in a maid outfit holding a duster. The best maid outfits even give bonuses to cleaning and cuteness when you wear them."

Alex grumbles, "Maybe you are missing the point." He continues beating on his rug; he places it on a stone table where he was planning to use that and the clothing Luna gave him for a makeshift bed. After going inside he noticed that the rug had a nice lavender smell to it. He sniffs and says, "That's weird I didn't put any perfume on this rug."

Fufi happily chimes in, "That is your skill at work! Someone without a skill would have more trouble making it smell nice." Alex tempered himself, he had to keep an open mind. He needed to keep pushing forward. Of course things would not be the same as in his old world. He decided to prepare some sashimi for the two of them. He didn't have a sharp knife so cutting the fist was going to be a problem. The next best thing he had was the rusty screwdriver. He decided to scrape off the rust with a rock to make it a little bit better to use for the purpose. This went much better than expected. It didn't take him very long and the metal was sparkling like new after a few passes with the rock.

Fufi could see the suprise on Alex's face, "That's your cleaning skill at work. Aren't skills great?" Alex couldn't complain. Yes he was just bad mouthing cleaning earlier but this skill stuff let him accomplish what should have been impossible.

Alex says, "I guess I will have to thank Luna later for that skill."

Fufi nods her beaked head and says, "We all have our talents."

Alex takes a bite of the sashimi and remarks, "Not bad. Not bad at all. The cuts are not great because I used a screwdriver but if we can find a rusty knife in one of the ruined buildings I can use the skill to clean it and make it like-new."

Fufi says, "One of my siblings went to another world and found this bunny girl who used powerful cleaning magic. When the bun used cleaning magic to purify a dungeon core of a dreadful parasite she wanted to make a contract with her. However, it turned out that the heroine was summoned from another world to save that world. Luna told us it is rude to summon someone who has already been summoned and was still in the middle of a task. Considering that her first response to adversaries was to make friends with them, I believe she would have made a great magical girl."

Fufi and Alex prepare for bed.

Alex asks, "Would you like to come sleep in my bed?"

Fufi chuckles and says, "I usually just curl up into a ball and stand on one leg when I go to sleep. I am a flamingo after all."

Alex grumbles, "Fine, my bed is really just a stone table with a rug on it anyway. It is not that much different than sleeping on the floor. Hopefully it doesn't get too cold tonight."

Alex walks over to his bed and sits down on it. Fufi regards him, "One more thing, you should check your stats."

Alex opened the app on his phone.

Name: Alex Parker

Class: Magical Girl

Sex: Male

Strength: 15

Constitution: 15

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 7

Cuteness: 0 (naturally 0, +1 from equipped items -1 from dirty clothing)

Skills:

Cleaning: 1

Alex says, "Ah, my cuteness went down."

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Fufi gives a beaked nod and says, "A magical girl must keep herself clean. When the sun comes up we should go to the stream where you can wash yourself and your clothing."

Alex sighs in relief and says, "Thank god for that. I am too used to the dirt from my old world. I could use a hot bath right now. We'll have to make one."

Fufi adds in one more thing to think about before going to bed, "Please think about receiving Luna's gift. She is a very caring goddess. She even went so far as to open portals to other worlds when it became apparent could no longer find partners in this one. When she offered to transform you her intention was only to protect you."

Fufi uses guilt.

It is super effective.

Alex opened his cell phone and goes to the call app. He presses contacts and see the first one says 'Luna <3 Call when you are ready to transform.' His finger hovered over it before he turned off the phone and shook his head. 'What was I thinking,' he mentally chided himself.

Alex closes he eyes and says slowly, "Look I know Luna cares. She cares for you and the rest of her flock of Flamingos... hmm wait is flock the right word?"

Alex opens his cell phone and tries to search for the collective pronoun of Flamingos, "No internet connection, darn."

Fufi helpfully says, "It is Flamboyance, a Flamboyance of Flamingos."

Alex says, "Thanks, I guess I'm tired let's get some sleep."

Fufi didn't seem to have much trouble getting comfortable. She simply raised one leg and rested her head on her back and closed her eyes. She was out in minutes. Alex on the other hand had a fairly restless night. It didn't get too cold but the hovel he made in a day was incredibly drafty. He used the panties and blouse as a pillow and the skirt functioned well enough as a small blanket. However the biggest problem was his feet. If he had asked Luna for some socks he would have gotten tights or panty hose. The robe was fine for keeping most of his body warm but the pants were a bit tight on the waist and oddly loose on the hips. He was also going commando so that didn't help much with comfort.

***

The sun had only just started to come up when Alex woke up. His first instinct was to look for his cell phone to see what time it was. However his head stopped spinning for a moment and he remembered that he had turned off his phone. He also noticed that Fufi was still curled up in the same position she had been before. He had a small hope that the last day was actually a dream but the meager building he fell asleep in last night confirmed that he was still in another world.

Alex carefully stood up and grabbed his clothes from the previous day. He then left the hut and went outside to take care of some business. He walked over to the stream where he washed up and dried off. Because of his cleaning skill his clothing looked as good as if they had gone through the wash and his hair was nice as if he used shampoo.

He turned his cell phone back on, noticed that the battery was at about 75% and after putting the robe and pants back on his cuteness was back to level 1. Not that he doubted Fufi, but this confirms that being clean is an important part to keeping his cuteness stat up.

He walked around and gathered some tall grass. He wasn't really a weaver but he thought he could try his hand at making some grass sandals. He also got some sticks that would be suitable for whittling into something that would work well for sandals.

He went back inside and took out the sticks and began to whittle them into what he hoped would be good footwear for him to use in this world. He had to try several times before he got it right, but he was able to finish them with only a couple of mistakes. They looked terrible and after only a few steps they started to fall apart. Alex tossed them in the fireplace. The teepee of sticks was still in there as a reminder that he still had yet to be able to create fire. If he could find a few more tools then perhaps he could create some wooden shoes like the japanese Geta. Still barefoot, he went back into the ruin to see if he could find the remains of a carpenter's shop.

After searching through many ruined streets he found what he was looking for, an empty structure that could have been a carpenter shop. He cleaned some debris and worked to try and find what would have been used work the wood. It was still early in the morning so it would take time before he could get anything out of that. He found a rusted set of woodworking tools in a leather binding that broken in half when he opened it. Using the same trick he did that took advantage of his cleaning skill he was able to scrape the rust off with a rock and get the metal tools into a workable condition. After going back to the hovel he slept in hast night he gathered a log and created some simple wooden soles. Trying to combine the strands of grass together didn't work well at first but when he tried a pattern that looked like a hair braid it came out fairly well.

Alex wore the sandals while Fufi inspected him, "I give it 2 out of 10 for cuteness. It might work if you are going for the ninja or samurai magical girl look but it doesn't match the rest of your outfit very well."

Alex rolled his eyes, "I have no intention of wearing sandals forever."

Fufi says, "Good. You need to look presentable for our adventure. I have an idea!"

Fufi stands up on both of her legs and beaks at Alex, "Get a straw that you can braid and I'll be right back." Fufi flew off and returned in about five minutes with a mouthful of small white flowers with long stems. She dropped them in front of Alex, "Stick these in your braid for the geta's straps."

Alex did as instructed and braided them into a braid that resembled the strap on the sandals. Once it was finished Fufi walked back over and placed them on Alex's feet. The sandals had a cute look to them with flowers sticking out along the strap. Oddly, the knot patterns had reformed themselves to resemble the same type of small flowers. Alex made sure to keep them hidden beneath his robe but they still stuck out a bit. The whole outfit was almost cute enough to make Alex consider becoming a magical girl.

As he was hungry, Alex had spent the rest of the morning gathering berries and fruit from the a spot Fufi had discovered by the stream the prior day. He then prepared a meal that consisted of fruit, berries and leftover fish with a little bit of water added to make it more palatable. Alex took a bite of his meal and grimaced at how bland it was, however the fruit did provide enough flavor that it was edible. He knew that food could be a challenge in this world since most of the things they could eat might not be safe or simply not palatable. Alex was grateful that he had some of his food skills that he gained in the last world.

Alex asks Fufi, "Do you know where that adventurer's guild is that Luna mentioned? Maybe we can find the rift she mentioned."

Fufi replies, "There is one here, not far from where we live. It is in a building with a sign hanging laying next to it that has a rusted picture of some adventurers."

Alex smiles at Fufi, "Well then, let's go find it."

Fufi replied, "It is only a few blocks away, just follow me." She took off to the skies, leading the way.

Alex followed her over the streets of what had once been a nice city. They went through a few ruined streets and by the time they were close to the guild Alex noticed that it was one of the more damaged areas in the town. Perhaps a battle was fought here in the past. As they got closer to the building they were able to navigate the rubble enough to find a decayed trap door that he easily lifted and set aside. Alex didn't have a light and the stairs descended into darkness. However he was able to get down by going slowly. Fufi followed him and the gem in her forehead lit up, illuminating the place. Alex looked at her and said, "Nice trick. I was worried about what we were going to do for light."

Fufi gave a beak nod and replied, "It is just one of my abilities."

Alex replies, "Well this one is certainly helpful."

Fufi said nothing else on the matter and they explored the area. Most of the furniture was completely decayed and not salvageable. There was a small room with a door that was crooked and holding on by only one bent hinge. Alex was able to yank the door off and looked inside. There he found a strange obsidian pillar that went from the floor to ceiling. The pillar had a seam in the middle that seemed to give off a slight radiance.

Alex says, "I think I found what we were looking for."

Fufi says, "What is it?"

Alex replies, "I don't know, but it looks like it is a magical device."

Fufi walks up and inspects the pillar. "Yes, this is the dungeon rift."

Alex says, "So where is this dungeon?"

Fufi replied, "Nowhere really. The magic creates something appropriate for the user and when they leave it dissipates into the ether."

Alex asked, "Well if that is true then how does it work?"

Fufi states, "It is simple, you just touch it with the intention of entering it."

Alex nods and says, "Are we ready to do this?"

Fufi nodded her head as well.

Alex places his hand on the pillar and is thought about entering it. With a sound like scraping glass the pillar expanded from the seam in the middle and became a hollow circle. A speck of light in the center expanded until it created an oval sized portal that led to places unknown.

Alex looks at Fufi, "I guess this is where we go."

Fufi tried to enter the portal but couldn't. Fufi says, "It looks like you have to face this challenge alone."

Alex takes a deep breath and enters the portal. "Here goes nothing." he says, not sounding confident at all.

Fufi was left behind.

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