The hot-blooded cowboy holstered his revolver when he laid eyes on the city before him; the sheer scale (and cleanliness) of the place assuring him that this was a safe place. "So, Captain Ayame. That's a Jap suit, right?" The cowboy inquired as they approached the guild hall. The short woman seemed relatively sane compared to the others in the group; and had sided with him on the situation of the obnoxious girl calling herself emperor. "My uncle flew against y'all back in dubya dubya two. Respected the hell out of your pilots.”

“Big Bill right? Yes, it is my flight suit. I was supposed to take an experimental jet out, but ended up here instead.” She paused for a moment, taking in the scenery and glaring slightly at Aloe out of the corner of her eyes. “I’d prefer not to speak of World War two, nothing good to say there. What do you think about that Elf, Aloe?”

“Yup.” he nodded slowly, staring up at the guild hall, “I was fixin’ to wrangle a bull that got a bit worked up.” the large man explained, scratching the back of his neck, “I understand, Captain. I ain’t quite sure what to think. There’s somethin’ off about him for sure but I don’t reckon he’s dangerous.” the cowboy concluded, “Truth be told y’all are the only one here I can get any kinda fix on; figured I’d chat with ya while the others is occupied.” he shook his head disapprovingly at the squirrel girl’s overblown display.

“He seems in quite a hurry to get us out of his hair, rudely ignored my questions earlier. If I was back on base I’d have him disciplined, but I don’t have any real power here yet.” She put a hand to her head in exasperation as she watched the rest of the group. “I’m going to be honest with you Bill, I have no idea how this rag tag group is going to save the world. Sending civilians when they need soldiers.”

“Not an enemy at the least, just a bit of an ass. Albeit, I’d prolly do the same out on the farm.” Bill shrugged followed immediately by facepalming when one of the others attempted to slide under the counter, “Yeah, I figured the same. If they were at least a couple years older… maybe we’d have a chance. Lot of our boys in uniform way back when were drafted, that’s none too different from the current sitchiation; and they did fine but.” he shook his head once more, “Just ain’t right.”

“They’ll have to toughen up, otherwise they might end up dead on a roadside. Just like many of those soldiers in the draft.” Yukino said coldly before turning the conversation to lighter tones, She pointed at Bill’s revolver before asking. “Is that a Single Action Army?”

“Best we can do is push them in the right direction.” he gave a sad nod, this was not an easy situation to work with. “That’s right. My grandaddy’s service revolver, been in the family three generations. Lucky I had it with me when I got kilt.”

“Guess that makes your ‘class’ an easy tell. How many years has it been in your family if you don’t mind me asking? It’s a beautiful work of art.” Yukino said with a smile.

“If they don’t make me a Gunsman I’ll eat my hat.” he chuckled, “Grandaddy carried it into the first world war, but it’s been in the family since the damned thing was invented. 1873.” he lovingly patted his holster, “Learned myself some gunsmithing to take proper care of the old girl.”

“Good man, proper care of one’s equipment is the first step to winning a battle.” Yukino said as she reached up and patted Bill’s shoulder. “Anyone stand out to you as potential trouble? Back in basic, those are the people we straighten up first.”

The dark haired man squinted at the other would-be heroes, stroking his beard in contemplation, “Well, Little Miss Majesty obviously, that one just reeks of trouble. The one with the squirrel bits makes me nervous, not sure why.” his eyes locked onto the one who had attempted to bypass the table, “That one especially though. Looks strong though, like he actually gets some exercise.”

Yukino’s expression turned sour as Bill mentioned ‘Little Miss Majesty’. “Delusions of grandeur are very dangerous indeed, both to themselves and those around them. I remember the many times my friends got themselves hurt thinking they had some sort of superpowers back when we were kids. The squirrel definitely seems to be trouble, have to keep an eye on her. That guy just seems excitable to me, should be tempered off after first combat.” Her tone then shifted to one of pondering, crossing her arms and placing her weight on her left foot. “I do wonder what class I’ll end up with, none of those really seem to fit a pilot.”

“Yup. Sounds about right. Least this time ‘round they actual do have them, I suppose. Or at least will.” The rancher offered, clearly not entirely convinced himself, “Now that mountain right there I think we can work with.” he pointed subtly at Toppo, “Not sure how sharp he is, but he’s got the horsepower.” Bill took a minute to consider what class Yukino might become, shaking his head, “Well I don’t know much about these sorts of things, so guess that’s for the cards to tell. I’m more curious what sorta who-do that goddess lady hitched us up with.”

“He’s a big one all right, we’ll see how he fares. What do you mean by ‘who-do’?” Yukino asked, raising an eyebrow at bill.

“Whatever Wizard of Oz no place like home BS that lady did with the crystals?” he offered quizzically.

“Are you talking about when that Goddess had us touch that crystal?” Yukino asked, growing even more confused by the Texan.

“Ain’t that what I said?” he asked, scratching his head in apparent confusion, “Guess whatever’s lettin’ us chat is missin’ somethin’.”

“Your dialect is coming through very strongly, and I do know how to speak english by the way. We needed to learn it to communicate with your pilots effectively. I’ll puzzle out your southern dialect eventually, every one of you seems unique with what words you use.” Yukino said with a small chuckle.

“Prolly be easier on ya if my baby girl had gotten pulled in instead of me. She uh… spoke the local language, if ya catch mah meanin’” he returned proudly, “Really into all o’ this fantasy n’ such. ‘Specially the stories like all this.” he gestured at the guild and adventurers around them.

“No offense to your daughter, but I’m glad it was you and not her. Otherwise I’d have to try and take care of all of them by myself.” She said, nodding towards the group. “Anyways, I am curious as well what that crystal was for, other than the obvious.” She said, rubbing one of her cat ears idly.

“Oh no, she’s strong too; like her momma. Maybe not as worldy as I but plenty smart too.” he said with a fatherly grin, “But naw, I wouldn’t want nothin’ to happen to her anyhow. She just left college, got her whole life ahead.” he nodded in agreement, “From the sound of it she was givin’ us some sorta boon or gift but I didn’t quite get it.”

“I assume we’ll understand in due time, I just hope it’s before we have to fight anything. I’d like to know what assets we have available to us before we have to face whatever might be lurking in this world.” Yukino said, uncrossing her arms and extending her right hand to Bill. “I look forward to working with you, always feel better knowing someone’s got their head screwed on straight.”

“Yup.” he agreed, returning his full attention to the short pilot; he extended his own hand, gripping Yukino’s firmly, “Pleasure ta meet ya, nice to know I ain’t the only competent one on hand.” he glanced over at the counter, “Well we should probably get that outta the way, huh?”

“Probably should, after you.” Yukino said, motioning for Bill to go first.

“One small step for man.” Bill stepped away from the captain, strutting confidently towards the registration counter. He drew a deep breath as he reached for a card, holding it between his thumb and pointer finger as he placed his other hand atop the crystal. The card began to vibrate in the rancher’s hand and he twitched slightly, feeling the energies of the crystal flow through him. It suddenly flashed green and he stepped aside to read his newly printed card.

“Yup, Gunsman. Can’t git much more predictable than that.” he mused, “Skills huh? Snapshot, Fan-fire, Deadeye, Pistol Whip, and Quick Draw.” he nodded approvingly, “Plain and simple. Just my style.”

“Easiest to call out of all of us.” Yukino said as she strolled over to the counter. She grabbed a card nonchalantly, looking it over as she placed her flight helmet briefly on the counter to free her hands up. She then touched the crystal, her eyes still focused on the card to determine the exact moment the text appeared. She watched as the writing appeared slowly on the card, and once it was full she took her hand off the crystal. Grabbing her flight helmet, she stepped over to where Bill was standing.

“Warrior huh? Let’s see what we have here. Threatening Blow, Berserk, Defiance, Maim, Fell Cleave… Is it just me or do around half of those sound evil to you Bill?” Yukino asked with concern in her voice.

“Little bit, but I wouldn’t worry about it.”

There were many things to be concerned about, to have your attention drawn to, or to focus on among in this strange place. And it just so happened that Yuudai was afflicted with her attention being deep in focus with something. Was it the disobedient dog, cat-thing, who doubted the legacy of Yuudai’s empire? No. Was it the ramifications of the portal? Of course not; for this did not phase the Emperor in the slightest. Then perhaps it was surely the destination, Yuul City. Ha! This was but another familiar, well not this one in particular but she was well aware of fantastical landscapes, land for which Yuudai’s Empire would extend. No, the matter was a much more nefarious and horrid manner.

That mountain hermit slung mud into her hair. Actual mud no less.

The expression on Yuudai’s face, as she relegated herself to the side desperately wringing her hands through the substance, was clear. It was a cocktail of emotions, from sniffling of depression, to closed nostrils of disgust, to an intense hateful glare twinkling in her eyes. Managing to remove traces of it, Yuudai flapped at her hands to fling the rest of it off as she angrily eyed around for the two heretical elements of the Empire.

Alack and despair for they were not to be found! More misfortune was clear as the Rodent-kin believing in fully in a ‘frontocracy’, as opposed to the complicated structure of law and order of Yuudai, began to make claim to Yuudai’s throne. With a distinctive pout, Yuudai began pointing dramatically towards the bipedal vermin creature, as she stomped her foot.

“Disobedient and foul whelp! I am much more of a Valentinian!” Her ears flickered as she heard the words of a far more loyal servant, one that struck her more like the nobler beast, the sprite of green hair. Yuudai looked towards Rihi with a satisfied smirk and a twinkle in her eyes, before placing a hand on her hip and using her other hand to perform a quick flourish.

“It is as she says.” Yuudai slowly raised her hand towards her mouth as she let out a confident laugh, well it was less a laugh and more a giggle, before continuing on and wagging her finger at Erin in a dismissive manner. “This is not a situation of danger. A situation where I need not take point as to protect my subjects, after all that is one of the foremost duties of the Emperor. With these actions I have allowed you to submit to me what your ‘skills’ and ‘classification’ of subject you are to me. By providing these roles, I can govern you far more effectively.”

Would that be enough to escape a bit of unwanted explanation at not nobly charging into the fray first? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Only time would tell for this matter.

Swaggering to the area, glancing towards Rihi, Yuudai made it a point to address her. “...I will forgive the use of diminutive without asking for the Emperor’s permission.” With many of her subjects having submitting to the crystal test, Yuudai had a fair assessment on where they would serve in her court. But now it was time for the Emperor to engage in the customs of these locals in order to best learn how to rule them.

Snagging the crystal and card, it took but a moment before the dazzling light display and the information to imprint itself on the card. Yuudai seemed content with the results as a smile was etched across her face.

“The Emperor is a patron of war, of triumph, of dominance. Of course such divination would declare to the very heavens that Emperor Yuudai would reign above all manner of man as the conqueror.”

@ERode @OwO

Agata had taken her distance, she was in a new world and wanted to enjoy the sights, taking her time to marvel at the wonders of fantasy-like architecture... though in here, it was probably mundane architecture. At least to the locals. She wondered what other cities there were in this world, she wondered what other races, what other details, so far their hands were being held somewhat forcefully, they had to go somewhere first and foremost, though Agata used to be a great student in her school and college, she had a natural instinct to collect information.

Soon her mind went away from those questions to the silliness she was witnessing, all sorts of talking behind backs, first-grade tier races to see who was the first on the line... "And the goddess told me she was selecting exceptional people" she whispered, were they all going to die? Likely so. Was it worth running away? She didn't feel like it anymore, she was already dead anyway, the best she could do was to enjoy this silliness.

The line started to move, and the emperor went on another tirade. "I guess this is why everyone has felt such republican spirit for the last two hundred years, huh?" she said in a soft voice, easy to miss, but not whispered in fear of being heard. "Well, let's see what I get. Net quizzes always went 50/50 on Gryffindor and Slytherin." she told in jest, touching the crystal.

"Rogue...?" she tilted her head in confusion. "Moon Leap, Snake's Flexibility, Snake Fang Barrage... seems like a bunch of kung-fu moves... I guess it's all relying on the speed of my feet... Yeah. That makes sense."

She moved away and walked towards the elf "Yo. Will we have access to some sort of library or at least a pamphlet telling the basics? It would be nice to know where I am and what I am... you know?"

Despite being lost in self pity, Alphonse still paid attention to the rest of the group as they got their own card. In particular he paid attention to the classes - there was warrior, gunner, rogue, and his own; magician.
No archers? He thought to himself.
Perhaps they would fall under the rogue category, or maybe gunners made them obsolete. Nevertheless it was a strange absence to the boy, as he believed bows could do things guns could not. Then again, not everyone had gone yet, so maybe there were still rangers in their midst. Though, speaking of which, he was unsure of what class one those who had gone was.

The boy quietly moved behind the loud elf girl and tapped her shoulder. Despite their speech he was mostly clueless as to what their class really was.
"So uh, nice speech I guess, but what class did you actually get?" Alphonse asked.
@Firestorm

---

The city was nice. Zeke was a little conflicted at the idea of an adventure, but he had signed up for it, so there wasn't really any backing out. Being 'whipped into shape' wasn't really a pleasant image either. At least he wasn't alone, though he was as close to that as you could get. Travelling to save the world with a bunch of eccentric strangers. Excitable too - upon entering the guild, the squirrel girl had ran to be first. Too much energy for someone in her situation. That was the case for pretty much everyone here, in fact.

"You all... need to calm down," Zeke sighed. He was pretty chill with it all, if not because the dread hadn't quite set in yet. He also didn't care nearly enough to be annoyed.

He avoided looking at the receptionist and Aloe, waiting for his turn. Now, even he hadn't been that bad while he was- nope. Not thinking about that. At any rate, he was only half paying attention. God, this dress was uncomfortable. He watched as some others got their classes (What did that even mean? Was this a game?), some with a dramatic flourish. But not him. He just touched the damn things and took what he got.

"Rouge... and knives. They really went hard with the rabbit theme," he mused. "But I guess this is alright." He didn't actually have any knives yet, did he?

He turned and stepped back, taking another look at his allies, if that was what you could call them. Most noticeably, the very unthreatening elf girl who was currently threatening anyone within a two foot radius of her. She was cute though, and being very intelligent, Zeke reached out to give her a small pat on the head. It was a good experience.

"Short." Oh god, did he say that out loud?

"Uh, whoops. I mean, we're all in this together. So try to get along or whatever, and tone down the superiority complex, like jeez," Zeke said, trailing off. "And yeah, what did you get?"

Truly this was a burden, an unwelcomed one, Yuudai had to bear. People thought she was cute! They wanted to prod and poke at her, as if she were some manner of pet! This had to be stopped, Yuudai could not allow such gestures to gain a foothold. Sneering, Yuudai quickly smacked at Alphonse and Zeke’s hands to bat them away. This was followed by a repetitious stomping of her right foot, followed by crossing her arms.

“Do you think I am a lowly dog!? A creature meant to be pulled out for your amusement, which you can prod to your hearts content asking foolish questions of!?” Gritting her teeth Yuudai quickly stomped her foot yet again, “I am not a display item like Tamora! I am The Emperor, the greatest son of all of Nagano! YOU INSOLENT WHELPS WILL NOT TOUCH ME, OR I WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS!” This was followed by a pointed finger waggling at the pair.

There was a distinctive beat, a pause, before Yuudai crossed her arms again and grumbled. “And I’m NOT short!” Surely, Yuudai didn’t lose that many inches from her height. They had a short person! The short person had manners unlike them!

@Aviaire @Lord of Evil

Alphonse put his hand to his chin as if to think. The boy wasn't phased by the having his head part, not because he was used to it but because the elf in front of him was simply not very threatening. But that was why he had to think.
She isn't that short, surely...
Well, he and the elf girl were about the same height, though he was only of average stature. It was certainly true that the animal-eared man was taller then them, however. And now that he thought about it, weren't elves supposed to be a bit taller than usual.
"Well yes, now that I think about it, you are a bit short. Comparatively, at least." He said aloud.
There were plenty taller people in the group, after all, though there were certainly shorter people.

At any rate, if she didn't answer the question herself, the boy would just have to speculate. Warrior was entirely possible due to the short girl that had gone before Alphonse, but he still wouldn't believe it until he saw their card. Neither gunner nor rogue fit the speech, unless they were an evasion rogue who stood in the front lines because they would never get hit. That was rather unlikely, though. And a magician... well, eventually wizards did whatever they wanted, but he supposed that wouldn't fly in these early stages.
Well I guess I can't assume without them telling me.
One thing loose end that bothered him though, was the fact that the elf girl kept calling themselves emperor, even though they were clearly female. Although, she was wearing men's clothes...
"By the way, shouldn't you be calling yourself empress rather than emperor?" Alphonse asked quizically.
He was honestly not entirely sure so he felt that he should ask.
@Firestorm

Samuel was a bit in awe when he stepped through the portal. He wasn't really familiar with fantasy-games, but it was probably something he could adapt to. When he stepped into 'Yuul', he tried mentally mapping his surroundings in case he needed to go to a specific place later on. He also noticed no one was giving particular attention to him, so he took that to his advantage and tried to stay low profile.

When the Elf man and the receptionist started talking to each other, he started zoning out a bit. Ugh, I hate tutorials... he thought to himself. When she finally started talking about the interesting stuff, he noticed that one of the classes was 'Gunsman'. Remembering Alaela's gift, he figured that would probably be his class.

After everyone else went and started discussing with themselves about 'The Emperor', he took his turn and went for the crystal. He took a card and felt the energy course through as his card started to fill itself out. As he expected, his class was a Gunner, but what he immediately noticed was that where he overheard at least one of the other gunners to have some effective damaging moves, his own skills felt more like support ones. Sure, they were good for overall use like relocating, general accuracy and keeping track of targets, but there was almost no skill that gave him a personal edge in a firefight.

Wondering why he got these skills, he joined the others again without saying a word. Even though him having allies would be great, especially with his 'supportive' skills, he would like to know who would be a good match for him beforehand anyway.

---

The receptionist smiles as she watches each of the twelve gain their respective classes. The pure white colors of their auras shift to a specific selection of colors. Red for the warriors, blue for the magicians, green for the rogues, and purple for the gunsmen.

These earthly souls weren't just regular adventurers, not only did their auras give off a clear color but there was some sort of glint. Another layer of aura that distorts the image of their auras, it was a blessing. With a sudden realization, The Receptionist suddenly knew what Aloe had meant by 'special'. Adventurers usually had soft tones of color, untouched and pure but these souls were much more-- as if they were handmade.

With a stifled laugh, she jumps over the counter with no effort, lightly landing against the wooden floorboards as she walks towards the group with a much more emphasized stride. She dons her eyes upon the group, a collection of souls with curiosity and confusion blanketing their thoughts so once again she spoke,

“Another is your title, in honor of the otherworldly aura you twelve give off and the foreign souls you present to Akohana. “ She winks, walking over towards Aloe as she wraps her arms around the man, “If you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to give them a tour. “

With a sly wink, she pushes herself off the small man, “Follow me please~! “ She motions towards the group as she heads for the stairs of the second floor.

The Receptionist leads the twelve down a set of stairs that lead to the first floor. They entered a large circular room sporting windows of great size, they were translucent and held a green and yellow color that let light dance through onto the dusty wooden floors of the room. From above was a singular crystal chandelier that hung from the middle of the ceiling, the crystals lucent, reflecting light across the floor.

“Hmph, the training area hasn’t been much of use lately. Adventurers are always off, fending against the darkness that almost none of them have time to be here. It’s sad really, sometimes the greatest of warriors I meet are in here… it’s been ages since I’ve seen a new group. “

She walks towards the middle of the room, standing under the chandelier as she turns with a sweet smile tinged with sorrow. Her eyes focus onto the twelve, looking at the blessing that wrapped around their auras, she hoped that it would allow them to succeed and survive where others had failed.

Giving herself a push of encouragement her eyes close and then open again, this time with a determined look.

“Adventurers from another world. Interesting. “ She chuckles, “Knowing that you all have almost zero knowledge of the world you reside in, this will be tough. So I suggest that you all occasionally visit me and I will personally teach you the ins and outs of this ‘unknown’ world. But first Guild regulation demands me to teach you the very basics of adventuring. So after this, you may choose to leave with Aloe or stay for an extra-long history lesson. “ She laughs, winking towards the group.

“First there are the four classes. Warrior of who dominates the frontlines, magicians who offer utility and explosive firepower from the backline. Rogue who weaves in and out of the conflict to take out key targets, and finally the gunsmen who can offer additional support and damage from the distance. These four classes are dictated upon the usage of stamina and mana, the two energies that are the most prevalent in Akohana. Stamina is aligned with strength, vigor, and endurance which relate to the three classes, warrior, rogue, and gunsmen. While mana only aligns to the magicians. “

“These classes wield the power of two crystals, Mana and Stamina, to perform skills which are attacks embedded with one of the two energies. The more powerful a skill, the more energy it consumes, and the more exhausting it will be to use consecutively. But if you exhaust all your energy your body simply stops and becomes paralyzed you’d then have to wait for an hour for your energy to regen. Beginning adventurers always make this mistake and are the cause of their fatalities, I urge you to be careful for what skills you use and how you use them as they may be the cause of your death. “

“Hmph-- aside from that grim note you can learn skills from others if they are the same class as you or if the skill is simply a utility skill. By simply watching the casting process you are able to learn the ability and use what is known as skill points, which you earn by leveling up and killing monsters to learn the skill. “

“Skills are activated in many different ways. For stamina and mana based classes, skills can be casted be verbally casted or focused. Verbal casting is simply speaking the skills name to activate it, while focus casting requires you to imagine the skill, drawing on more energy in exchange for allowing you to use skills silently and at greater potency. For example. “

“ [Enflame] “ A ball of fire would form in the middle of her palm and just as quickly as it was casted it disappears. “And then, “ She closed her eyes, “I think of a torch. Remove the handle, and then I think of its flame finally you have… “ [Enflame] From her palm once again was another ball of fire, though this time it was noticeably larger than the previous one, burning brightly until it disappeared after a few seconds of it being casted.

“Be wise enough to know when to use these types of castings. Verbal casting is light and easy to use but reveals what action you are going to perform while focus casting is a smidgen longer and is potent but takes more energy. Balancing these two types of castings will allow you to become a better adventurer. “

“Now that you know the very basics I expect you all to remember them and use this knowledge to your full advantage. Stay safe, stay smart, and make sure Aloe didn’t choose incorrectly, alright?“ The receptionist winked at them one more time, regaining her more friendly, relaxed demeanor, before bringing them over to one side of the training hall, where a wide variety of weapons were stored. None of them looked new, of course, but the blades looked sharp, the armors looked polished, and above all…

“We don’t do this for most new adventurers, but seeing how Aloe’s investing, feel free to grab whatever you’d like from here for your equipment. They’re nothing special, but they’re sturdy enough to last you through your starting career as adventurers, so long as you take good care of them. And, hey, may as well take this chance to test out your skills as well.”

She gestured vaguely towards the many straw dummies that littered the area.

“Just don’t exhaust yourself or cause any accidents, y’hear?”

---

Your character card flashes and within the list of skills on your character card a skill named, Enflame is written in gray text.

• |Utility| [Enflame], The caster summons a flame a miniscule flame that lasts for a short few seconds.
• Requires 1 SP. (Skill Point )

Big Bill elected to follow quietly at the back of the group through the tour and lecture, taking the time to familiarize himself with his stat card while listening carefully to the instructions and explanations being given.

He wore a curious expression as they entered the training room. The place had a strange, familiar weight to it; clearly a room which deserved some form of veneration, but had been forgotten in recent times. The rancher slipped the card into his pocket and focused his full attention on the receptionist as she began to explain the "classes" and "skills" they had all been assigned.

At last, he made his way over to the available weapons and armor. Bill found a long jacket made from heavy, quilted fabric amidst the available armors and was quick to shrug it over his shoulders, being pleased to found it fit him. Skimming through the weapons, the cowboy found a plain but sturdy hunting knife and sheath which he added to his gun belt. He also snagged a handful of random bullets in hopes of finding one which would work in his single action army. "Really hope I ain't gotta make mah own shells. I can do it, but it is such a pain in the rear." he mused, stepping away from the gear and wandering towards the center of the room.

"Y'all, listen up. If yer a Gunsman and you ain't never fired a gun before gitcher ass over here once you find somethin' to shoot. I'll be teachin' y'all the basics." he belted, drawing the old revolver and flipping it in his hand a few times. "We can't just rely on them skill thingies in a firefight, and shootin' properly takes practice. No magic card in the world is gon' teach ya' proper marksmanship."

@NightmareInd@Duthguy

With the boomer whom Erin was thinking of calling gramps conversing with the nekomimi, their little emperor throwing a massive hissyfit after the green shorty set her up to massively save face, a pair of equally excited mages, some people whose abilities basically were five instances of 'gun', a woman who DARED TO MENTION HARRY POTTER IN THE PRESENCE OF ERIN, the twunk rabbit-man being a stereotypical rabbit (and subsequently bad-touching the emperor alongside another), she watched the receptionist leap over the desk. Really, she could have literally taken those ten steps to go around the desk. She was r00d to the carpenter who made that desk! Desks didn't grow on trees! Wait a moment...

As much as Erin wanted to goad the emperor a bit more, she ran out of emperor names already. She literally only knew the one. She couldn't call him Copernicus, after all. Was Copernicus even an emperor? Erin didn't actually know who Copernicus was. Better not to say, lest she be called out as dumb. Well, dumber than she already was.

The receptionist was an absolute legend and gave them all the quick and dirty run down. The world was oddly familiar to Erin. Actually, it was very familiar. The classes were straight out of an MMO, with Warriors as Tank/DPS, Mages as Healer/DPS, and Rogues and Gunners as Straight DPS (TALK ABOUT USELESS). Physical actions took stamina (made sense) while spells took mana (straight outta MMOs). The guild system was similar to... 90% of isekai adventures? The skill learning system was pretty new. See a skill and use a skill point. Unless a blue mage blessed this world, it kinda just made sense that way. A lot more sorcery than wizardry, though. Thank god. Erin didn't want to study. Apparently, there was mana sickness and exhaustion too. Don't do too much or you'll be paralyzed. Solid advice.

The receptionist showed off their first spell.「Enflame」created a ball of fire, which didn't really make much sense. Didn't enflame mean for something to catch fire? Wouldn't this be more like...「Baby's First Fireball」? But what was MUCH more important was the fact that Erin had an ability called Inflame. Inflammation. One letter off, but what did it do? Would it cause swelling or fire? Who knew. That single letter change was powerful, though.

But what was absolutely the pinnacle of importance was the equipment offered. Free stuff? Erin would take as much as she could! She was first like before. Actually she wasn't. The boomer got to the equipment before her. BUT SHE WAS AHEAD OF THE EMPEROR AND THAT WAS IMPORTANT!

"I'll uh," she said under a thinly veiled guise of getting the best stuff before the emperor, "test to make sure that this equipment is all usable for... uh... your emperorship!" As the first person up, she geared herself as best as she could! The high-collared and open-yet-closed shirt on her body was plain, but it concealed what was important. It was incredibly bland, though... So first, she took a vest-type garment and wore it over it. With a thin leather corset acting as a belt, it instantly turned her fashion from a 3 to a 7. If course, that wasn't all. What was clothing without efficiency? Her puppies were already breathing (as her feet seemed to not like any shoes), so she took a nice pair of leather shin guards and stuck them on. The same thing was with her hands. Regular gloves didn't seem to work, so she grabbed basic brown gloves and leather armlets. They would surely protect her from something! Additionally, she needed not just efficient clothing, but clothing that could be utilized for other purposes than protection and fashion! A bag! She grabbed a nice leather bag and hooked it around her waist alongside a utility belt that went around her shoulder. It was super duper cool! It made her look like an actual mage! But not mage was complete without... a cape! She grabbed one and slung it around her back. Only then did she realize of a critical flaw; the tail prevented the cape from properly unfurling. She really wanted that cape... There was a second just like it... If there was a split down the middle for her tail... It was as simple as wearing two capes! Her fashion was launched from a solid 7 to a STRONG 11.

Now for her equipment, she needed both utility and defense. Offense? Something like that. A knife was her side-arm. It was a decent knife, but seemed poor for combat. Much more of a cookware or survival-type item. A knife would allow her to do pretty much anything while they adventured! She easily slapped it onto the bag, its sheathe fitting perfectly onto the outside. For her primary arm, she needed something that could keep enemies off of her. If she was low on mana, she didn't want to zonk out and die there. She wanted to protect herself using her stamina reserves! A staff! One that was hard and could slap someone silly! She equipped herself nicely.

"Equipment seems good, chief!" She told the emperor.

While Boomer McOldcountryroad went on a tirade about learning to shoot, Erin went to test out her magic! After all, waltzing into combat without knowing a single spell was dumb as heck! With the straw dummy some distance off, Erin lifted her hand. Simple enough. Just think of what you want to happen, say the name, and do it...

"Inflame!" she yelled out with hand outstretched, thinking of both fire enveloping the target and the target requiring an NSAID. She felt a bit of herself leaving the palm of her hand as a spark was formed on the outside of the dummy. First, a smolder. But it quickly erupted into a thin wall of flame surrounding it. Surprisingly, there was zero smoke. In fact, ignoring the flame particles stuck on the straw dummy model, there was not a hint of burning. It was just... on fire.

"Cool... er... hot! That's hot stuff!"

@Firestorm

"Huh, you don't need a staff for this so that's pretty good..." Astrum said as he looked over his card.

If he didn't need equipment to cast magic that was good. He paced over to the equipment rack and looked it over. It didn't feel right to be gripping a staff. He didn't really know how to use it as a weapon, although he probably could if he tried. Still, the system of magic seemed like it'd fit just fine with Astrum.

There were a lot of styles you could use in boxing. It wasn't just about punching the other person as hard as possible, you had to open them up first. There were those who played defensively and waited for their opponents to tire out, and those who tried to overwhelm the opponent to get through their guard. Astrum was somewhere in between, he liked to be cautious and probe the opponent with small jabs, hoping to find a weakness to go in on.

Being able to go for smaller hits as well as the big shot with only one spell was definitely nice.

"Well, I don't got any big spender's though..." He said.

Fire bolt, Shock bolt, Velocity, and Speed, meant he was sort of a thousand cuts type of guy. Yeah, he wasn't doing much damage but there wasn't anything the enemy would be able to do with him in the back-line and a front-liner in their face to take care of shields. He'd have to figure how strong the bolts were.

He looked back to see some of their group talking with each other, some going for equipment, squirrel girl was the only one on dummies so far. He turned to face a different one and put his hand out in front of him.

"<Firebolt>!" He shouted.

A bolt of fire burst from his palm and impacted the head of the dummy, bursting open into magic fire which washed over the dummy head. Kind of like a water balloon, but you know... fire. It didn't seem to actually do much damage though. The dummy head was singed, and the impact site was a bit blackened, but that was about it. It was indeed fast though, real fast. That was Velocity at work then, it'd be hard for him to dodge it even at long range.

Now to try Focus, then. For [Enflame], it would seem like it was the quintessential fire spell. His card listed it as support instead of offensive. It stood to reason then that the focus for <Firebolt> would be to imagine the flame as a weapon. He tried to think of a dart, or maybe a flaming arrow, but now that he thought about it, the Firebolt was more like a bullet, or maybe even a micro-missile.

He was sure a micro-missile could be just as fast, if not faster than a bullet, but if he was just imagining it then it didn't matter whether it was realistic or not, he just had to imagine it. He got a real good image of the speed but he wasn't shooting a missile, he was shooting fire. He was shooting a missile that was completely made of fire, and when it impacted, it impacted with a...

Bang!

He looked up to see a smoking hole in the dummy head. It wasn't deep, but still. The sound had been about as loud as someone smacking the table really hard in an echo-y room, so decently impactful. He had not been expecting to fire off a spell like that spontaneously.

Maybe he should put down the magic for a little bit. He looked over to see the squirrel girl practicing her own magic, with... similarly devastating results. He noticed she'd gotten equipped first and practiced after.

She had a dagger on her belt which she hadn't had before. Something to defend herself with if someone got close, perhaps.

Despite having been boxing for years, he seldom did use his bare-hands to fight with. Reason being it kind of hurt to use bare hands, although he knew it'd hurt less the more he did it. Still, it was likely his only close range protection would be himself, and in that case his fists would be a better option for him at least.

He walked over to the equipment rack and searched for some gauntlets to wear. He was looking for a good fit since it was unlikely he'd be wearing any heavier armor. If he wore some leather gloves underneath it made for a more smug fit, and also another layer of protection. While he was at it, he picked up a leather vest, a pair of good pants, and some greaves for his shins. He swapped out his shoes for some steel-tipped boots.

Some metal shoulder pads wouldn't hurt, is there a coat around here? He felt a little exposed so he thought a coat might do some good. Although, it'd be more of a fashion item.

He looked over at the Squirrel girl again. Her cape was kind of cool. He hoped she didn't notice him looking over at her so many times though, or maybe he was. He didn't know her name yet but he wasn't the type of person that asked... Well, except for that one time, but still.

He put his gaze back to his own business, and sure enough, they had more capes in different colors. He picked a brown one with a similar pattern to the squirrel girl's. Half-cape instead of full.

He was strapped up and ready to go, but it'd probably take a while to get out of it. He folded up his old clothes and set them aside. He probably wanted to keep those around.

"Hey wait, I'm supposed to be a mage right now." He said.

He automatically geared up for what melee. Well, he couldn't really help it, he'd been boxing for most of his life so he automatically suited up to take advantage of it.

But still, he knew in some systems metal usually clashed with magic but it always struck him as a way to nerf mages so they couldn't just wear heavy armour and be invincible meteor slinging juggernauts. Akohana might not have those restrictions, they'd said classes restrict weapons but maybe not armor.

One way to find out. He put his hand up and conjured the flame.

"<Firebolt>." He called. A small ball of fire appeared in his hand.

Looks like it'd be alright.

@OwO

"Follow me, plese~!"
The boy looked over as the receptionist began directing the group elsewhere.
"Hm, it looks like we'll have to continue our conversation later." He remarked to his conversation mates.
Not waiting for a response, Alphonse followed the receptionist down.
@Firestorm@Aviaire

---

The brief lesson had finished and some of the others had gone to practise their skills. Meanwhile, Alphonse stood in a corner, staring at his card. When he had first looked at the card there were 5 skills, and now there were 6. It told him he needed a skill point to have it, but it was certainly there. That more or less verified the receptionist's words, although he had no reason to believe she was lying anyway. It was much like a game's system, what with the levels and the skill points. That should've been a point of comfort for the boy but he felt like there was something nagging him at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite put his finger on. But he payed it no heed, he had more important things to try.

Alphonse rose to his feet. He was a spell caster, which meant he'd need to check how spells worked. He knew which spell he wanted to test, and he knew he wanted to try verbal casting first.
"[Ball of quiet]." The boy said quietly.
He felt a light surge in his body, as if something was escaping, but nothing else seemed to happen. He looked around, unsure of what was supposed to happen. According to the description is was supposed to make sounds in the radius quieter, so he supposed it wouldn't have any immediate visual effect. Thus, he opened his mouth to speak.
"Uh..."
It seemed that the spell had worked. He'd said it out loud but it sounded significantly quieter to his ears.
Intriguing. The boy thought.
Experimentally he withdrew his phone from his pocket. It had been there for some time but he'd forgotten all about it. Sadly it couldn't be used, as there was now a large hole through the middle of it, which was presumably the courtesy of his murderer. Perhaps the boy had tried using it as a shield. At any rate it was mostly useless, but he could use it for testing purposes.

Alphonse held the phone at arm's length and dropped it onto the floor. The screen shattered with a loud crack. The boy frowned, stooping down to pick it up. It had already been rendered unusable but it was definitely more broken now.
The radius isn't as large as I thought.
It seemed that the sphere was centered around his body, and thus the floor did not receive any such protection. He prepared to cast the spell again, but decided to try it a different way. The receptionist had used her imagination to conjure fire, so did that mean that, if he imagined a space without sound he could do the same?

The boy began to think it over. A sphere of silence was rather difficult to imagine. In his head he remembered a party he'd gone to in his teenage years. Everyone had been chatting with each other and then there had been him, eating crisps. The deafening atmosphere of the celebration had ground to a halt near him, and the area around him was quiet, comparatively at least. Alphonse closed his eyes and imagined a sphere around himself at that party, blocking out sound like a rock blocked the wind. And then... and then what?

The boy frowned. The receptionist had said it just happened, but that didn't help much.
Imagine my energy going out...
He remembered what had happened when he'd said the spell so he tried to work off that feeling. He restructured the image in his head. He formed the ball around himself, imagined it blocking out the sound wind. Then, he gathered it up, and... expanded it. He felt the rush of energy, stronger this time, and then...

The boy opened his eyes and looked around. He may have been imagining it but it seemed a little quieter now. To test this theory he took out 3 coins from his pocket. He let them drop onto the floor, each one further than the last. The first at his feet, where he believe his first ball ended, one a little further out and one he believed to be well outside the radius. The first 2 coin falls landed quietly, the 3rd made an obvious ring. The boy scooped up the coins smiled.
Very good. He thought to himself.
He was mostly pleased with the results. Still, while he knew he could make the ball larger, what if he wanted it to be smaller?

Alphonse stood and thought for a moment. Perhaps he could combine the methods, somehow. He had time so he decided to try it. He pointed his finger to the floor and imagined a sphere, half in and half out of the floor.
"[Ball of quiet]." He said out loud.
His energy left him once more, though he seemed to lose much less than the last 2 times. Once more he dropped the three coins, one in the center of the sphere he imagined, one at the edge of its radius and one outside of its radius. The boy smiled as they landed. The results were just what he had expected.

Still smiling, Alphonse picked up the coins. He put them back in his pocket and dusted himself off. Maybe some of the group were looking at him funny but he'd made some good discoveries. Now it was time to equip himself for the journey ahead.

The receptionist jumping over the counter caused her attempt to extra information about the world to fail, it was something so simple, yet it seemed quite so complicated in a body that didn't grab anyone's attention and had little to no presence. No wonder she had fallen into the rogue class, Agata thought, which meant her issues were actually positive points, but it was honestly just not her style.

Following the group down into the training area, she stayed quiet and paid attention to the explanations, she didn't want to die again, after all, she also flickered through her card to know more about her limits and capabilities.

“ So after this, you may choose to leave with Aloe or stay for an extra-long history lesson. “

Hearing that made Agata sigh with relief, she couldn't possibly be comfortable unless she had an above average knowledge about her surroundings. With that, she moved onto the equipment, first things first, she sought clothes that felt more comfortable on her body, finding a light cloth outfit that seemed custom made for someone who needed to be flexible in combat, perfect for her. She wore it over her tattered cloth wrap outfit and then removed said wrap once doing so wouldn't expose her body in the front of others. Another sigh of relief followed this, she felt less miserable now. For weapon, she took an iron claw and a short broadsword as a secondary weapon.

Suddenly she felt the smell of burnt straw and wood, turning around to find the mages practicing their spell, it was still a sight to see in person, though she had to admit it was easier to watch them in moves than to have to deal with the smell and the heat spreading through the training area. Now, the mages could have the shinniest toys, but she wondered what her skills would feel like.

Only whispering her ability name, she used Diving Dragon, and immediately crossed the whole room at a great speed to pounce the practice dummy, her feet raising to perform the final part of the skill but her mind being too distract by the sudden speed to finish the job. "Whoa... Nice." she said, smiling. Next, she would try Snake Fang Barrage, this time announcing the skill name before starting to strike the dummy at a great speed, the act was alien to her... yet it felt quite natural, her arms became flexible yet hard, and she could fully process what she was doing despite she uncanny speed of the movements. When she stopped, the dummy had been worn down considerably.

After everyone had gotten their skill the receptionist showed the group a training room downstairs and explained how skills worked, before mentioning that those who would stay behind would get an extended history lesson. As hr took the info in the female elf showed the group a bunch of weapons and gave them permission to use whatever they wanted. Before focusing on that he decided to try and get answers to something that bothered him.
"Excuse me but what would happen if you activate a skill verbally while also focusing on it? Or if you state the name of one skill but focus on another?"

After getting his answers he turned to the weapons, the first thing he picked was a simple looking Revolver. He had hoped to find a rifle but didn't see anything, though of course someone could have take one while he was talking. Next he grabbed a hand full of bullets and realizing he would need need something to carry them also grabbed a Bullet Pouch and a Holster he thought looked cool. Remembering his gunsafety he checked that the gun was unloaded before putting the bullet pouch and holster on.

Suddenly he noticed a bunch of knifes, figuring it wouldn't hurt to get a melee weapon he grabbed a simple Hunting Knife. Meanwhile some of the others had already started on their training. Two wizards were slinging fire at some dummies while the tailed woman leaped across the room before starting to beat her dummy up with enough speed to impress Sonic.

@Phantomlink959@NightmareInd @Avemelle

Sara couldn’t help but chuckle at the sheer amount of shenanigans that gravitated around the Emperor, her teeth flashing as everyone took their turns at unsubtly harassing Yuudai. It was getting to the point of being a bit rude though, and she was seeing now how the group was fragmenting, all centered around the long-eared self-proclaimed ruler. Off on one side, those who were totally done with the rest of the group formed their miniature adult-circle. Other quasi-bullies no doubt derived enjoyment from bullying Yuudai and would probably be bundled up together pretty well. And then there were those who decided the best method of moving forward was to just ignore everything except for Aloe and the Receptionist lady.

“Eyup,” Sara chirped, smacking the elf on the back as rabbit-man and Astrum dispersed to follow after the receptionist, “You’re definitely not short, Yuu. Unlike those two, you got a good couple years more to grow bigger, right? Just eat well, exercise well, and soon enough, you’ll be the one patting them on the head.”

Though considering how blush-y Astrum was, he’d probably enjoy it regardless, hm?

A secretive smile surfaced, before the green-haired dwarf headed on over, listening to the whole explanation on a whole buncha things. It felt a bit long-winded, but she did gasp appreciatively at the ball of fire that popped out of nowhere when the receptionist spoke up. That was pretty cool, and in a way, more reasonably impressive than Aloe’s space-portal-warp thingy. Enflame, hm? Sara nodded along, mulling that nugget of information over. Verbal and Focus Casting, Skill Acquisition, and Stamina. Nice and simple.

Less simple was the task presented before them: equipping themselves with whatever was appropriate. While some people had it easy (gunners just take guns, while mages and rogues didn’t seem to want for anything at all), Sara spent a good long while by the racks of second-hand equipment, trying everything out carefully. Her clothes no longer fit, after all, so she needed something practical for everyday wear as well. And if she was expected to be on the front, then it only made sense that she also take all the armor she could, right? Sara wasn’t greedy, but if she was expected to save the world from the darkness, well…

Gotta get freebies while she could.

Boots came first, and thank god they were the hardy type, like construction boots. Greaves were next, and after some fumbling around, she found a pair that used laces rather than belts and buckles to tie things together. It was definitely a weird feel, but Sara had banged her shins against tables before, and that was NEVER a good feel. The metal knee guards she found were a bit banged up and definitely her fit though, and with disappointment lingering in her expression, she let it go free, back into the bin.

As she did though, the rustling of chain caught her attention, and Sara immediately zoomed forth to pull a hidden treasure out. A chainmail shirt that largely fit around her! The bottom was a bit loose, but she could tie it down with rope or something. And it was flexible too! What more could one ask for, really? Worming her way into it, Sara was just about to equip it on completely when a stinging pain burst out on her scalp. Wait, no, not just one sting, but several, the agony of hair getting caught in links of metal. She winced, she bit her lips, she did a weird dance, she regretted every life decision that brought her here, and after ‘augmenting’ the dull gray armor piece with some strands of green, the dwarf girl managed to get it off. A toque, that’s what she needed.

Cloth headguards were easy to come by, thankfully, and round two worked fairly well, her hair spared further distress. But now, it was her bare skin that was chaffing against chain, and with a bit-back curse (who knew which of these adult-looking people were children on the inside, right?), Sara struggled out again, massaging places on her body that had been scratched by the gritty metal. Armor wasn’t comfortable, yes, but that didn’t mean it had to be painful, right?

Good news came in the form of padded linen jackets though, long, hefty coats that split at the bottom so one could stretch their legs out and all. It was a bit distressing that there were so many child-sized armor pieces lying around the training ground’s freebie bin, but…dwarves existed. Surely there weren’t ACTUAL 4’9 kids running into the wilderness to kill monsters? Or maybe a monster-infested world just meant that everyone wore armor, just to stay safe, regardless of whether or not they were the fight-y types. Like how helmets were worn when biking, and seatbelts were worn when driving.

Once the padded jacket was slipped into, the rest came easily. Chainmail went over the gambeson, leather gloves and armbraces served to provide greater protection for her hands, the cloth headguard filled in the gaps within the barbute, and then…

Sara definitely got a shield. What was the point of walking into the frontlines of a fight without a shield? And with her small size, even small shields were sorta big. She opted for a wooden one, circular and reinforced with steel. The weapon was a bigger thing to consider though. While the dwarf girl was definitely stronger than she looked, her armor weirdly not weighing her down at all, it was still a pain in the ass to find the right sort of weapon for herself. Sara was confident that she COULD do stupid things like using a two-handed sword like a one-handed one, but at the same time, she had no idea how to use a sword to begin with. Heck, she didn’t really know how to effectively use most of these swing-y weapons.

So she went for the spear instead. No edge alignment, no particular technique. Just point and stab.

Easy. Cool. Now all that remained was to test everything else out.

“Heyo,” Sara called out, waving her spear in the air, "Anyone wanna fight?"

“H-hey!” Yuudai declared, inadvertently springing forward as Rihi violated the petting principal. “Did I not just say I would claim heads for touching me!? ...Even if you made a salient point regarding height. ALSO EMPEROR YUUDAI! No cutesy insistence on the diminutive Yuu unless I approve!” With a distinctive pout on her face the elf girl began stomping on the ground before flailing her finger at the green-haired dwarf. This alongside having to explain the insistence on Emperor, instead of Empress. Perhaps adopting that creed instead would influence the masses more? No, such thoughts were unacceptable. Yuudai was The Emperor. Not the Empress.

However as these thoughts flew around in her mind, Yuudai realized that the rodent had made their mark and insisted that they were doing the bidding of the Emperor instead of trying to steal the best things. Yuudai smirked as she dramatically placed one hand on her hip and cupped the other around her mouth, “Good! You are improving, I thank you for the service!”

Of course eventually the Emperor Yuudai followed to the training room to obtain gear. To train and to practice and establish dominance was the order of the day, Yuudai was to lead on the front lines and establish why they were the Emperor. However, there was a distinctive thing that had to be taken into consideration before getting gear.

Finding things that fit this body.

She looked annoyingly down at herself as she began to dig through the selection of armor and weaponry. So this, this is the body, I have to work with.

Obviously the first thing to be claimed was a great sword, none of the plate breast-plates seemed quite right, so she settled with a brigandine – a canvas torso piece with rivets of metal and added it to a pile. This was followed by metal boots, and pauldrons, some canvas gloves, a tabard and well this was a surprise…

...Someone had left, a circlet. Well it was more of a head-band, but nevertheless it made Yuudai smile. Yuudai took the head-piece, and carefully eyed the rose on it for a moment before judging it. The rose was the thorny and one of the deadliest and elegant plants of nature so its presence was acceptable.

Dressing as a standard knight did not suit the Emperor, but this was surely enough to be distinctive. Scooping up the pile, Yuudai switched out of her attire from the old world – placing the remnants in her small bags and switched into the gear of the adventurer.

Hauling the sword over her shoulder, Yuudai strode back into the room proper with a smug grin upon her face. Spinning on her heels she turned to face one of the straw dummies as she burst into theatrics as she swung her great-sword up and held it aloft.

“In the ages past”
“Many things could not last”
“Now here this you souls amassed!”
“Witness and bow before the Emperor’s Creed!”
“To honor and serve none above me!”
“If you fail this duty...”

Yuudai could feel the blow growing in strength as the monologue was being delivered; with a diagonal slash downwards, the straw dummy could feel the hate present as after all this was the <Vengeful Slash of the Forgotten Squire> coming down against its non-sentient flesh of straw, cleaving it entwain. Pressing her heels together she spun around, the head-band keeping the hair from entering her face for once, Yuudai peered around.

”Any questions?”