The first to approach Toppo was a small, blonde, fair-skinned female. Despite her size, she was booming with confidence; you could that it was overflowing.

”HEY, BUFFALO HEAD!”

"Pointed ears, a petite frame, fairy-like features. Probably some sort of elf?" Toppo thought to himself before fully turning his head towards the approaching Yuudai.

”By the mountain gods you’re big… SO - YOU WORK FOR HER?! I’m gonna need you to pen her a message, courtesy of Yuudai, tell her she screwed our deal and to expect a chewing out from The Emperor when I see her again!”

Her mannerisms were excessive, but it made her expressive nature more prominent. She was straightforward and frank. Although possible, chances of her feigning such a character was slim. Despite her candidness, Toppo found her amusing and chuckled heavily in response.

"Lady Yuudai, on behalf of Goddess Alaela, my apologies-jika." He uttered smiling while kneeling on one knee before bowing.

"I shall do what I can to confer your thoughts to the Goddess-jika. But as a mere follower, the means and knowledge I've been granted are embarrassingly, limited-jika." He jokingly said to the young elvish girl.

“Oh and also thanks for not letting me die to that one prick, uh Ulro – or something – don’t really remember because he was spooky and trying to kill me and her and generally wasn’t paying attention during. SO EXPRESS TO HER, WHENEVER YOU CONTACT HER THAT THE EMPEROR IS BOTH PLEASED AND DISPLEASED!”

"I will definitely relay your words to the Goddess-jika." Behind Toppo's calm reply was genuine curiosity. Aside from the other protectors and the pantheon, the goddess did not mention anyone by the name of Ulro; someone who attempted to kill a Goddess. Apparently, they weren't immortal.

While Yuudai proclaimed her presence to the rest of those who had gathered, a burly-voiced man approached Toppo from behind, slapping him by the shoulder.

"Shut yer' trap boy. Ain't you never been in a forest before? Them trees is alive ya' know. All sorta little critters you just put out of a home. Didn't even catch none of 'em fer dinner."

Even though he cared little for the comments meant for him, Toppo wasn't the type to simply ignore others. At least that's what he was going for. "My apologies-jika. This body is just too large-ojika." Toppo chuckled as he got back on to his feet, but maintained a squat-like position to keep himself within eye level with the disapproving blue-eyed man.

“If ya' really was in kahoots with that purdy gal from before, I reckon y'all would have a bit more respect for nature. And have you got any idea how hard it’s gon’ be to find somethin’ to cook up out here now you went and scared off everythin’ within five miles?”

With his eyes squinted, Toppo simply smiled before responding. "I do not-jika."

However, before they could continue their conversation any further, the pepper-haired man's attention shifted to the elven girl.

"William Jones, huh? Authoritative, candid, and direct." Toppo continued to observe the rest of those around him as he stepped to the side waiting for whatever was suppose to happen next.

Despite the awkwardness of her body, as it was inherent to such a sudden change, Agata made quick progress through the forest. As she was about to enter the clearing she saw the shape of other humanoids, and as such, decided it was best to sneak into the area, going up a large tree and resting on its bench high above the crowd as she saw the people bellow. Many of them seemed human, while others were different, just like her, a considerable amount seemed to have had changes to their body, she could deduce that by their clothes, which were all either loose or on the verge of ripping apart, it seemed none of them had the mindset to repurpose their clothing as she had.

She continued listening to the talk below, some were amusingly silly like the woman emperor, others made her worry, such as the mention of the goddess being attacked. Finally, she had seen enough and swung down from the branch to the ground, landing among her peers.

"Why are you thinking of food and hunting? It's hardly the time for such things, mind our situation." she told the human male who had told someone else to "shut their trap"

"More importantly, which one of you sent the beacon of light? I guess we all met the goddess right? Was it you, ojika-boy?" the much smaller and way younger looking beastclan woman said, looking up at the fellow child of Earth even, talking with a mature tone in stark contrast to her physical situation.

---

He watches the beam of light dissipate into the sky after it had been casted, almost instantly his elven ears could hear the shuffling of bushes, branches breaking, and the sound of distant voices that are confused. His wooden staff disappeared into his robes as he hopped off from the log he stood on. His short stature became more apparent, his ears had bulged out of his green cloak. And so there he stood, patiently waiting as one by one the children of earth mustered into the clearing.

The children were not of what he had expected, a good majority of them where past adulthood and only a handful looked as if they were teens. The goddess had stated that he’d be leading the children of earth, though maybe she was referring to their origins, Earth. With a deep sigh the elven man lightly hit his own shoulder, he shouldn’t have had expected children, the goddess was awfully obscure.

Ignoring his error in judgment, the man threw his cloak off in a dramatic manner. His staff in hand as he stabs it into the ground. As his cloak is thrown onto the forest floor, there stood a man of short stature. He was skinny, his silver like hair flowed down onto his back. The elf had feminine features, soft looking lips, and dark blue eyes, though clearly elven his ears were longer than most elven people. The elven man then speaks, “HELLO! “ His voice echoes, “I am, Aloe. Healer of the Stixx, and zealot of the Goddess of Howling Winds or Alaela. I am your guide, children of earth. I will be helping you in your adventurers of glory and fame! “



With one swift movement, Aloe turns away from the group as his staff begins to glow once, closing his eyes for a few moments until opening them, revealing a pair of glowing blue eyes. “Rip open, a line in between space I command thee to open, revealing a place. “ His voice echoes throughout the forest. Seconds pass until a sound of a bell ringing is heard and from this noise, the area in front of Aloe begins to distort, twisting and twisting until it rips. The rip expands revealing…

---

From the rip in space, a different flow of air poured out. A new set of sounds emitted from the rip, “Now then. “ Aloe turns towards the group with a large smile on his face, “Follow me! “ He picks up his staff from the ground, his eyes returning to their normal color as he steps through the rip in space.

“My name?” Sara smiled, her teeth showing. “I’ll leave that to your imagination for now. Call how you’d like, boy.”

Before she could further engage the raven-haired kid in conversation, however, more and more people popped out of the woodwork. There was a muscled man with jeans so tight they looked like they’d rip the moment he spread his legs out. A totally adorable furry guy by the name of Toppo dynamically burst into the scene, like the crossbreed between a Disney mascot and the Kool Aid Man. He was followed by a cute girl with long ears and an attitude that definitely spoke to Sara personally. Emperor Yuudai, was it? Gah, she went through the same phase back when she was ten years old, and now it was just super duper nostalgic, seeing someone else like that. William Jones, on the other hand, was decidedly less fun, a no-nonsense older gentleman packing a revolver. American for sure. How discombobulating.

Catgirl off in the side was quiet and unassuming, blue haired androgynous dude made his name up on the fly but was otherwise reasonable, brown-skinned girl wanted in on this verbal fight with cowboy and…wow, Sara felt bad for elf man. He just had to watch them go on about this, huh? She offered a sympathetic smile towards him, and then immediately pressed her hands over her ears as it turned out that YEAH HE WOULD BE REALLY LOUD.

Really powerful as well, if he’d be magically ripping portals into space. She let out a low whistle at that. “Pretty snazzy, Aloe. That something you do every day?”

Probably not. Healer of the Sticks sounded like a strong title for a strong person.

As she strode through the warpgate, Sara casually sidled up beside the big moose man. Looking up at him, she said, expression neutral, ambivalent, “Say...Toppo, wouldn’t mind if I touched your fur, wouldja? Curious as to what it feels n all.”
@Avemelle@o3o@RoflsMazoy

”M-m-miss, L-l-lady...” Yuudai’s pupils shook intensely, hell ever her legs were shaking in horror, as a fearful realization was coming to her mind. This had to be nipped in the bud now. Taking in a few quick breaths the Emperor began to calm herself down slightly before pouting and angrily stomping her foot as she looked around the area. Everyone had to be aware of this explanation after all. ”Nononono – Emperor! That alone, no miss, or lady, or ma’am, or dame or doll or chick or babe or aaaaaaanything else you can think of! Just Emperor. Maybe, maybe you can add Yuudai, or Oshiro – or whatever combination of the three you want, but Emperor.”

Yuudai was not going to go down without a fight. He, at least in some still in spirit, was not about to let anyone get away with trying to emphasize the obviously present femininity. Placing a hand on her hip she glanced towards Toppo and gave a devious smile before wagging a finger at him. ”You, I like you. Didn’t ask for physical bowing, but I like the initiative to serve!” She then proceeded to glance aside towards the mountain hermit impersonator, who was probably trying to lay claim to being the second best draw in the west, unaware that position was always taken by that dashing scientist hermit Zubat. ”Take notes Woody on that – hat wise, eeeeeeeh...”

She reached over to prod Silvaka in their torso with a rough jab of her elbow, ”Whatcha think Paperboy? You got a hat it’s only fair for you to judge, I shall give you permission to do so.” With that done her attention was drawn to the reptilian, albeit one of a much different appearance and description to ones Yuudai was familiar with, before shrugging.

”Hell if I know.” This was followed by a deliberate pause before Yuudai began to truly observe Agata and began slow clapping, ”Stuck the landing, poor showmanship, but it is was an acceptable performance before the Emperor, toots.” Blinking she shook her head vigorously before staring all around.

”OH and that one is also verboten! Emperor only people!” And that is when an elf, one that was what Yuudai was supposed to be, elegant alongside masculine, utilizing magic to open a portal to some manner of hub.

Yuudai looked around, with her nose upwards she spoke, ”An Emperor leads while subjects follow.” It was one of the sacred duties of nobility, in exchange for total loyalty, obedience and continued services from their subjects the Emperor was to secure their safety. It was a simple exchange which bred further important traits in the subjects. However Yuudai stared with her mouth agape as she began stomping and pointing forward as Rihi snuck on through the warp.

”P-POINT IS ONLY TO BE TAKEN BY ME, SERVANTS IN THE BACK UNLESS I ORDER OTHERWISE!” With a quick twirl of her body, Yuudai practically leaped through the gate to make sure the demonstration was kept alive and to assure the subjects that the Emperor was willing to properly make sure the peasants got their part of the deal.

"My apologies-jika. This body is just too large-ojika." The bull-like individual chuckled in response to Bill’s scolding; seemed like a thick-skinned sort, that was always good. "I do not-jika."

“No worries son, just try to be a bit more mindful in future, yeah? No tellin’ when we might need to hunt us up a meal.” the dark-haired rancher offered.

"Why are you thinking of food and hunting? It's hardly the time for such things, mind our situation." a short, dark-skinned woman challenged his complaint about the local wildlife.

He raised an eyebrow, ”Well now Miss, that’s on account of I hadn’t had lunch yet when I got rammed through the chest by the bull what kilt me.” he explained casually, ”Can’t fault him none for it, just doin’ what comes natural. Bound to happen eventually if ya work around big angry critters fer long ‘nuff.”

The elven man who had presumably summoned them finally spoke up as the unsuspecting heroes finished gathering “I am, Aloe. Healer of the Stixx, and zealot of the Goddess of Howling Winds or Alaela. I am your guide, children of earth. I will be helping you in your adventurers of glory and fame! “ he declared before begining some type of incantation which Bill promptly ignored.

”Nononono – Emperor! That alone, no miss, or lady, or ma’am, or dame or doll or chick or babe or aaaaaaanything else you can think of! Just Emperor. Maybe, maybe you can add Yuudai, or Oshiro – or whatever combination of the three you want, but Emperor.” The flamboyant girl complained rather loudly about Bill’s dismissal of her claims, ”Take notes Woody on that – hat wise, eeeeeeeh...”

”Now, Lil’ Miss, I can put up with yer’ fun an’ games, but don’t y’all DARE disrespect mah’ Daddy’s hat.” the larger man declared firmly, “Sorry. Don’t disrespect the hat, Your Highness” he corrected indignantly, sweeping the hat from his head to bow abruptly; sending the mud caked onto it flying off towards the would-be princess as she bolted through the strange gateway.

”An emperor leads while subjects follow.” she declared as she passed through.

“So.” the rancher grimaced, “Is lettin’ the one who has a gun go through the mystery hole made by a suspicious stranger first not common sense elsewhere, or is that just a Texas thing?” Big Bill asked the others, replacing his hat and scratching his head.

“She didn’t seem terribly prepared for a fight no matter how I think ‘bout it.” he sighed, drawing his revolver and taking a few steps towards the portal, “Love to stay and chat with y’all but somebody should probably make sure the poor confused gal don’t get herself killed off too quick. Sounds like we need every hand we can get, even the crazy ones.” the large human explained, stepping through after the once and never queen.
@Firestorm@Avemelle@CelesteEste@o3o

Arriving at the elf on a shelf—er, on a log—Erin wasn't the first to arrive. A handful of people had already arrived. A really short woman (had she been more stout, Erin would have considered her a dwarf!), a teenager who managed to keep the bright look in his eyes, a wildfire looking fellow whose hair managed to be practically standing straight up (even without product), a boomer with a Clint Eastwood inspo, a—as the Japanese would say—nekomimi, a small womanly lookin' dude that reminded Erin of a RPG/lifesim she played, one horny girl, a very sad elf screeching about things such as bowing and emperors, and a bear.

The people who had already arrived were talking about things. Erin didn't really interject herself into the conversation, as introducing yourself to a group before everyone was there was a pretty r00d move. You'd have to introduce yourself again later, and that was dumb as heck. Plus, she wasn't really able to read the room—er, clearing—over all of the screeching. As more people arrived after Erin, she decided that she would converse with people... a bit after? Whenever the womanly man elf was finished talking.

With his quick introduction out of the way and a portal opening up to a new place, it was obvious that this wasn't Earth. Well, it had been obvious since the entire 'reincarnated as a squirrel girl' thing, but this was confirmation that it was a fantasy world. As opposed to a futuristic world in which Erin was transported into a terrarium for the enjoyment of the future overlord that went by Alaela. Well, a wormhole was hardly a fantasy marker. Maybe it was some future tech. Erin kept the thought in her mind. Even if she didn't tell anyone her crackpot one in a trillion theory, she would know deep down that she was right. If she was wrong? Well she'd forget the theory in 5 minutes so it didn't matter.

The short green-haired woman and a few others remained in a strange conversation as the sad elf girl had her bizarre spiel about being emperor and doing things first. Something about touching the bear moose's fur. Erin snubbed the idea. Her tail was at least 50 times better. It was like having Mike Tyson in his prime fight an elementary school child; her tail was Mike Tyson, of course. The sad elf girl bravely leapt first into the portal, resulting in Clint Boomwood to disapprove of her actions. He immediately implied he should have went first because he had a gun. Ignoring the fact that Aloe Vera went in first and if it was a trap, he probably wouldn't have bothered to open the portal in the first place.

He must have been from the USA, Erin thought as she ignored the entire 'is that just a Texas thing' comment. Normal people didn't enter wormholes with the plan to shoot whatever threats popped up. Normal people also didn't really enter wormholes, so there was really no standard for behaviour.

"I'm, uh, going to make sure this boomer," she worryingly assured the others with a dab to enunciate 'boomer', "doesn't shoot friendly elves." Actually kind of worried that the man would actually shoot the first thing he saw as a threat, Erin ran into the portal. The time to talk was later; she had elf children to protect.

Alhponse took a look around, a bemused smile hovering on his face. He had arrived to the clearing discreetly a little while back and it was evident that the group had some colourful characters. He of course stood in the back and did not contribute, for he had nothing to say to the ensuing clamour. Still, he felt that if it was this group, he wouldn't be bored.

His eyes narrowed when the elf (Man? Woman? He couldn't tell.) opened a portal to somewhere. It would be lying to say the boy was surprised, he'd expected something like that from a follower of the gods.
Could I do that? He thought to himself.
His ultimate aim was to go home, and the magic the elf just used seemed like it would be one step. But the goddess had said it was impossible, and he was inclined to believe she had been telling the truth - if she really wanted his cooperation she would've said they could send him back. Although, she hadn't explicitly said it was impossible, only that even the gods couldn't do it.
"It wouldn't hurt to start looking for ways now..." He muttered to himself.
The elf's spell was a good start but it was likely not strong enough. He'd have to look out for other people with similar abilities.

Alphonse waited for a moment, letting a few others in the group go through the portal before he moved himself. The elf had introduced themselves as an emissary of the goddess but he wanted to make sure the portal was safe before going through. In a world where he knew nothing it was only appropriate to be cautious and glean as much as he could before he made a decision. Nevertheless, the boy did not hesitate when passing the threshold of the rip in space. He was committed to this, and he would get everything he could from it.

Yukino sat and pondered the impossibility of the portal for a short while before her train of thought was rudely interrupted by the shrill screeching of the small effeminate elven woman. She clutched her flight helmet like a stress ball as she marched through the portal, her captain's pin glistening in the light on her flight suit and a patch of a golden eagle on her shoulder.



They're just kids so I won't be too harsh on them yet. If they start acting out of line and harming civilians though, I'll have to step in with force. Yukino thought upon reaching the other side and having a quick look around.

"I do not recognize the authority of any delusional child calling herself an 'Emperor', that title is reserved for Akihito and his lineage alone. Now if you'll excuse me, we have much more important matters to attend to than squabbling over some false title you gave yourself to feel better." Yukino declared to the elven woman before turning to Aloe.

"Aloe is your name correct? I am Captain Yukino 'Seraph' Ayame, former Squadron Leader of the 306th Tactical Fighter Squadron and recently pulled from my duties in the Test Wing to aid your world by your Goddess. I find it rather strange and disappointing that your Goddess chose so many untrained children, but perhaps that is why I was chosen alongside them. We will need equipment if we are to fight, I trust you will aid us in procurement?" Yukino said in a booming voice of authority, clearly one honed by years of speaking over jet engines and mechanics at work. Her posture seemed more confident than before, now standing fully at attention.

@Avemelle @Firestorm

Despite his feminine features and frail appearance, with the magical abilities he had shown them, Toppo now knew that Aloe was strong; he could benefit a lot from him. It was wise to remain on his good side.

While making his way through the portal, Toppo chose to stay at the back of the group since he wanted a better angle to observe the others. However, he was caught off guard and was surprised by the small green-haired female, who was almost half his height.

“Say...Toppo, wouldn’t mind if I touched your fur, wouldja? Curious as to what it feels n all.”

Looking down, Toppo laughed as he offered his right arm for the young girl to caress as while continued to walk forward.

“Of course, little miss-jika! I hope my pelt does not disappoint you-ojika.”

It was a strange request that made him wonder, but since it came from a child with curious eyes, Toppo had no reason to decline.

“By the way, may I ask for the little miss' name-ojika?”

As they continued to converse, a loud voice came booming from in front of their group causing Toppo's ears to twitch. For now, he just needed to remain perceptive; he had to watch, listen, and let the others do the work for him.

"Welp, everybody's here..." Astrum muttered

He was kinda sad that he'd kind of gotten ignored, but it was understandable given the circumstances. He felt kind of bad about the person Big Bill had ignored. He didn't know if Big Bill was his name. It was kind of hard to tell what gender the kid was. It looked safe to assume that he was male, but it was hard to tell overall. They didn't make anywhere near as big of an impression as the Emperor, (Astrum was fine with calling her that but shouldn't it be Empress?), and the big furry man.

Even squirrel girl, or the cat pilot left more of an impression but he was glad that he wasn't the only normal one at least.

Looking over their cast, those present and those who'd already stepped through the portal, it reminded him of the a certain game series.

"This is more like we're 64, though..." He said.

There weren't enough characters for the current game in the series, or probably even the second but they had enough for the first at least.

He could sort of tick one item on the agenda off his list. The green haired, old-man sounding, small girl(?) was getting named Oscar the Grouch. Small, green, talked like an old-man, what else was there to call her by? Although it was possible he was remembering Oscar the grouch incorrectly, but that's what you got if you told a rando he can call you whatever he wanted. He was going to call her what he wanted. He never remembered seeing Oscar the Grouch on screen. A lot of off-hand, but still...

"Huh? That guy..." He looked over to the portal as a black haired boy, not too much younger looking than himself slipped into the portal.

He looked suspicious. Suuuuuper suspicious. Well, his clothes weren't at all similar to the elf dude's so he was definitely from Earth. But he just slipped in without talking to anyone. Maybe he was just bad with people, who knew. It probably didn't hurt to catch up to him and check though.

The cat(?) pilot got through before he did, he managed to step through just after her and caught the tail end of her... demands? She had a really strange way of speaking. The sound of her voice was fine, sounded like military but the words she strung together were sort of not what he expected. He'd popped out directly behind her so he sort of drifted off to the side a bit for a few seconds, taking in the view.

The trees stretched out to the skies, he'd never seen trees so big. There was the smell of fresh flowers on the breeze, but he could faintly recognize the smell of the forest they'd just been in. Whether or not that really meant anything, he had no idea.

But suddenly, a concern of his bubbled to the surface. Actually he'd heard a bit of the start of cat(?) pilot's speech through the portal. Now that he thought about it, there was one thing he had to confirm.

"Wait, am I a child too?!" He suddenly asked her. @Elynwyn

@Lord of Evil (I'm after you ) (I pretty much mentioned everybody else too at some point buuuuut)

Agata stood still for a moment after hearing the answer to her remark on the fact someone had been talking about food and hunt. "Ah, I see. So you died as well..." was all she said, almost sounding calm, but in truth, she had been fully disarmed by his reasonable response. This made her do some self-reflection on the topic, this wasn't high school or college, it would be best if she didn't act so antagonistic to others unless they were being really disruptive.

Her question about who was to lead them was answered by the elven... man? Sure he was saying some important things, but Agata herself was a bit at shock at the contrast going on between speech and body. That was curious, she even wondered if the 'emperor' was after all an emperor, though as far as disparities of body and mind went, her focus moved entirely to the cat-woman, looking straight out of some Japanese cartoon, speaking in a very serious commanding tone.

"A pilot? Nice..." she echoed, smiling even, it was, after all, her dream career, before she was forced to go to business school. She thought about approaching the conversation but decided it was best not to, after all, she still felt alienated from her own body, perhaps later it would be better.

"Well then, no time to lose, let's see what comes next." she said to to no one in particular, before walking forward, into the portal.

"My apologies-jika. This body is just too large-ojika." That sentence pretty much convinced Takeshi that the reindeer-man at least was also from Earth. combined with the presence of the cowboy this had to be the right group. "Why are you thinking of food and hunting? It's hardly the time for such things, mind our situation." a new arrival who jumped out from the trees asked. He understood the American's point though they were in a strange forest with no idea of knowing when they would arrive at a settlement of any kind

Before he could say anything though a humanoid squirrel showed up and the male elf started talking. Takeshi didn't really have a context for Aloe's titles but he had no doubt they were meant to impressive given the whole dramatic flair he added to his words.

When the portal was opened the other elf was the first Earthling to go through but not before calling herself Emperor, making Takeshi wonder if either language they all seemed to speak didn't have a word for empress or if something was else going on.

The American questioned the wisdom of not letting the armed person go first. "I take it she never even considered it might be dangerous." Embarrassingly enough Bill had already gone through the portal by the time he responded with the squirrel chasing after him to prevent him from hurting anyone without reason.

Before long another another newcomer and the woman with cat ears had also gone through. Not wanting to be the last one through Takeshi made his way to the portal only to be beaten to it by the tree jumper. Shrugging it off he stepped through the portal and too the other side.

Julia Myers

---

Julia didn't really say anything at first. She (he?) followed behind the rest, admiring the unusual scenery of the new world. The others that Alaela had mentioned, no doubt about it, and they seemed to be just as dishevelled as he was. They were an odd looking bunch, all sorts, most in clothes that didn't fit their bodies or the atmosphere of the place they were in. He absent-mindedly felt at the two things on top of his head, and upon hearing the others' conversations, realised they were ears. Like a rabbit. That was pretty neat.

Then Aloe, the strange guy with pointy ears, opened a portal. So this is how magic worked, mystical powers not known to him. That was pretty neat as well. Julia wondered if the elf could magic him some new clothes, tugging at the hem of his dress, but was quickly entranced by the rip in space. Whole lot of weird stuff in this place, he concluded.

Stepping through, he realised he never actually talked to anyone, too distracted by the environment. An introduction would be a good place to start off. But was he still Julia? This wasn't her body, after all. As he considered, the brief memory of a ball of fluff from a pass life drifted through his mind.

"Oh, hey guys. My name? Zeke. Yeah, I just made that up."

---

The portal closes as soon as the last soul of earth passes through. The elven man turns towards the group, ignoring the group's remark towards him as he speaks with a loud tone.

“Welcome children of earth to the great city of, Yuul. A place where all legends start! A place in which beginning adventurers go to seek the thrill of the unknown and fight the darkness which bombards the five great nations! “

With a swoon, the elf turns away from the group and points to a large building placed along the side of a hill, “That place! The adventurers guild! That is where all hero’s start, that is the place where many of you will cultivate your skill and become powerful! “

With a far off look, the elf turns to the group eyeing each one of them, “Hmph… though not many of you look like the adventurer-legendary-her-type, as soon as you register yourselves at the Guild Hall you’ll be whipped into shape! “ The elf giggles, turning away from the group as he motions them to follow.

---

The Guild loomed beside a hill, an oval structure constructed from dark, thick wood. Off to one side, banners depicting Yuul's colors could be seen, streaming streaks of orange, yellow and green, while atop the building were green-glass panels that emanated with light, giving the impression of a canopy. Similarly, large windows could be seen from the sides, the warmth of a cheery tavern casting radiating in the form of an orange glow. A bridge extending from the ledge of the hill allowed the Goddess's chosen easy access to the second floor of the building, while beneath, a boardwalk circled around the first floor, allowing one to enter the elevated Guild from below.

---

Crossing over the bridge with a springy step, Aloe stepped right up to the towering doors of the Guild. He placed both hands on either side and pushed it open, with nary a creak from the hinges. As familiar sounds and scents flowed past, the elven man turned back to his herd and, with a flourish and a bow, said, “Welcome, Children of the Earth, to the gem of the great city of Yuul: the Wayward Steps.”

To call the Guild vast would be an understatement; it was utterly cavernous, its ceiling reaching high, high above. Many large wooden tables were placed around, men and women of all races drinking and eating the day away. Some still had blood splattered over their armor, while others looked as if they had just rolled out of bed. In the back, were two counters, placed a good distance away from each other. One looked ostensibly like the counter of a classy bar, gleaming bottles of alcohol slotted in the shelves while a dapper man cleaned a mug eloquently. Another was lit up by the blue crystals, the azure light a beacon that separated that particular area from the warm ambience of the lanterns that illuminated the rest of the space.

Marching up and fully expecting his herd to follow, Aloe smiled wide at the receptionist manning the counter. “Darling,” he waved, leaning in for a hug and a kiss on the cheeks, “I’ve brought in a buncha kiddos for you to register! They don’t look like much but trust me, they’re definitely favored by my goddess beloved, one way or the other.”



With a high pitched chuckle, she looks towards the silver-haired elf man, “Healer of the Stixx, has it already been two year’s since I’ve seen you? You look so grown. “ The woman laughs as she rests her elbows on the counter, “What brings you here? “

Aloe leans in closer, whispering into the woman’s ear.

“Ohh… “ The blonde laughs as she pushes herself off the counter and looks at the group. “You do realize how much gold this will cost right? “

“Bah! Don’t worry about that, darling. “ The elf man winks towards the receptionist as he turns to motion one of the twelve to go forward, “Here! Just go at it! “

The receptionist winks at the smaller elven man as she bends over to grab a deck of cards and singular crystal from under the counter, placing them onto the counter.

She motions to the child of earth, "Now. This process is very simple, all you have to do is place your hand on the crystal and take a card from the deck! This will determine whether you'll be one of the four main classes of adventurers, Warrior, Magician, Rogue, and Gunsman. These classes will determine what sort of abilities you can and cannot do and what weapons you will be able to wield. " With the brief explanation, she moves the crystal and deck of cards forward to the child of earth, “I’ll explain more once you all finish. “

---

As you place your hand on the crystal and card you feel a rush of two separate energies that pulsates through you, the crystal begins to glow as the card in your hand begins to shake. The crystal flickers with a blue and green light until only one color stays dominant. And as you set the crystal back down onto the counter you see that your character card has been filled with information describing your race and class.

---

The city was neat. Actually, it felt rather familiar. While she was familiar with the entire isekai craze, she thought it felt like something else. A popular MMO, perhaps? One of the three starting areas. One was a ocean-themed dock or something with marble everywhere, another was a sandy gladiator area, and the last one was... just a forest, innit? Well, that didn't really matter. What mattered was the guild! Stixxy-boi had been leading the gang to it. As according to isekai law, it was hella important for them to join the guild. The guild would be their primary source of fianances, jobs, and everything in between. Weren't those similar concepts? Whatever, capitalism was confusing.

Ignoring the flirting of Stixxy-boi and the receptionist (a thought that made Erin think 'die normies die'), the receptionist explained everything. It was hella important information. But the most important info was the cards. Just draw one, Erin thought. And that Erin did.

Being first was a talent of Erin's. That's what she thought, anyways. She really wasn't the first for anything, though. In fact, she was the third child. That kinda rendered her talent useless, as she was born to not be first. Well, she had to go first. She had to beat out the emperor. But it wasn't an act of malice or disgust in the sad elf's actions. It was, in fact, entirely because she wanted to dab on the sad elf.

Stepping up first, Erin sprung into action. She dashed forwards past everyone else. Hand on crystal and other hand yeeting a card from the deck, she took it with a display of such inane vigor that it was, in fact, rather sad. She was becoming the very menace she was meant to destroy.

"With me being first," she said, "does that make me the new emperor?" She looked directly at the sad elf. "Eat it, Elagabalus." She decided to read her card out loud, lest the MERE MORTALS (especially the ye olde emperor whomst she just assassinated) not know what was going on. "I gained... Mage! I have fire plume, inflame, lesser object control, cure wound, and... cleanse!" She paused for a moment to digest her abilities. "Oh god, I'm a healer."

Hm…sounded like there was a lot of friction and snark between everyone, huh? Felt just like work. Sara sideeyed the cute, extra-huggable elf girl who seemed weirdly incensed about not being first, as well as the cowboy gunman who took more verbal shots than actual shots, before finally shrugging.

“Thanks bud,” the green-haired girl said instead, smiling at Toppo. “And I’m…eh, I’ll figure it out later. Call me whatever you want, as long as it’s something you’d call a friend.”

She dropped a wink then, before reaching out to grab the big furry moose man by the arm, running her fingers through it. It was certainly warm, but more than that, it felt…dense and prickly. Really tough, even. Definitely not the sort of fur one would want to skin and then sleep in. But it was oddly satisfying, and the dwarf girl nodded at the end of the experience. “Thanks Toppo! I’d offer the same, but that’d be weird.”

With that, she turned her attentions to the next curiosity: the squirrel girl with the big fluffy tail. Homing in like a shadow-assassin badass, Sara was about to proposition the hyper-active beastwoman with something she couldn’t refuse, but before they could do anything wild, they were already there. A grand guild, and an Aloe who was certainly more rambunctious than she first thought. What a rascal, that elf man was!

Most of what the receptionist said went way over Sara’s head though. It sounded like they were going to be…oh, this was like Harry Potter!

Squirrel girl dove in first, snatching a card to make a claim to the emperor’s throne, and Sara moved immediately after. There was a temporary burst of static that shot up her arm as she touched the crystal, then vibrating warmth in the blank card she held, before BAM there it was! Script filled the card as if it were magic, but Sara turned to squirrel girl instead with an easy smile.

“Hey now, that’s a hasty assumption, ain’t it,” she said, shooting a wink in the direction of the elf girl, “I’m sure Yuudai’s let us go first cause she’s the boss. We’re the ones that gotta send in our resumes n all, not her, right, Yuu? ...anyways, mine says I'm a Warrior, so...oh hey, I can vault? Sounds pretty rad!”
@OwO@o3o@Firestorm

The scenery was brilliant, even more so than the forest from before. Everywhere he looked Alphonse would likely find a point of fascination, and if he chose to he could probably get lost in the sights for hours. But he had some concerns, and as soon as the elf had said "adventurer's guild", Alphonse's suspicions grew.
Oh shit, I'm in an isekai, aren't I?
And just like that, his enthusiasm was squashed.

If he thought about it then it was obvious, what with meeting a god who gives him a gift of some sort. Still, since it was sort of unreasonable, he'd been expecting something... well, he wasn't expecting an isekai. He honestly still hoped it wouldn't be, but the prospects of being in one were growing stronger by the minute.

He followed the elf man and the rest of the group into the guild hall, where his expectations sank lower. He saw a ragtag throng of adults with no uniform defining feature. They could tentatively be described as mercenaries, and he had a small hope that was all they were. That hope disappeared when the squirrel-ish girl underwent the process. As the girl read her card out Alphonse kept his expression neutral. Yet, inside he was in despair. The small woman went next as he churned internally.

He supposed he should've seen it coming; all the signs were there. But he'd been ignoring them in the hopes that it was just coincidence. Alphonse let out a small sigh.
"I suppose there's no such thing as a free lunch, after all." He muttered to himself.
He didn't mind if others heard it, that would make the next part a bit easier.

The boy made his way to the front of the group.
"Excuse me, I hope you don't mind if I go next." He said to the 2 at the forefront.
He didn't pay attention to the rest behind him. He wanted to get this over with and he was in a position to do so. Alphonse touched the crystal and felt something run through his arm. He carefully took a card and scanned it quickly.
"So I use magic, huh?" He said out loud.

He quickly moved out of the way of the others. The card had a significant amount of information he'd need to digest. But more importantly, it was confirmed - he was currently one of the protagonists of an isekai setting, and there was nothing he could do about it.
I guess it's not so bad. I can shoot spells at people and stuff... He thought to himself.
It seemed he had quickly gone through the 5 stages of grief. A good sign of a healthy mind, and he hoped that his mindset would help him through this experience.

It was progressing as expected. Astrum had read a lot of stuff with this kind of plot, he was a sort of a sucker for it after all. Visit the guild, and it'll have a whole bunch of quests for you, but first you had to register. Simple enough. Class selection though? That was interesting. Normally you'd get given one in this kind of setting.

It was one thing reading it and another living it, but he was down for that.

She motions to the child of earth, "Now. This process is very simple, all you have to do is place your hand on the crystal and take a card from the deck! This will determine whether you'll be one of the four main classes of adventurers, Warrior, Magician...

As soon as he heard those words, he started breathing faster.

I can be a Wizard?! He thought.

Of course he knew magic existed. The Goddess had told him magicians had opened the portal to the Abyss to pull souls from other worlds, but they were telling him he could be a mage now?! There was no boy who didn't dream of being a wizard at some point, Astrum included. No matter what he had to get Magician, no matter what.

He didn't even notice the suspicious guy had gone ahead of him.

Astrum performed a power slide, sliding in front of the crystal before anyone else could get to it. He drew a card from the deck with one hand, and grabbed the crystal with the other. He held the card outstretched to the side, like our Dark Lord and Saviour himself, Yami Yugi, Ra bless his soul as he is gone from this world. The orb was trending towards green, but by the Goddess, he was not going to let that happen.

Mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage, mage,

He felt the two streams of energy he'd felt in his body from the start, surging as he chanted those words over and over again in his head. Slowly the crystal turned from green to blue as his card began to vibrate. Once the orb finished turning blue, Astrum flipped over his card.

He slid to the floor, out of the way of the crystal now for any future challengers, tears streaming from his eyes. He slowly raised his card with one hand, while slowly pumping his other fist into the air in celebration.

"I'm a Wizard!" He shouted. Doubtless, he'd attracted the attention of a lot of the guild but you could almost see actual sparkles coming out of the Astrum's eyes. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask why it meant so much to him, but maybe it was also a good idea for the rest of them to ignore him for now and move on.

After they had all gone through to the portal Zeke decided to introduce himself, Takeshi wondered why he would admit to making up a name but also knew he was in no position to judge. Aloe told them they were in Yuul and took the group to the adventures guild where he flirted a little with the receptionist. Apparently them being from a different world wasn't a huge secret or anything as he just told her. Also unless he was mistaken Aloe had offered to pay for their rather expensive registration so he owed the elf one.

It turned out that they would learn their class by touching a crystal, similar to what Alaela had him do in the abyss. When the receptionist mentioned the four classes Takeshi was pretty sure what he would get. The squirrelgirl went first and teased the empress for missing her change to "lead" the group. "Healer heh, not the most glamorous job but important." The greenhaired girl went next followed by some guy who turned out to be another magician which was the same class as the excited kid who went after him.

"Mind if I go next?" Without waiting for an answer he touched the crystal which began to flicker between blue and green while the card in his hand was shaking. Before long the crystal had settled on being a single color. Takeshi checked his card. "As I thought I'm a gunslinger, no frontline combat or dependency on mana for me." He did his best to make his last comment sound the way he meant it, some minor teasing not meant to offend anyone.