𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 [𝚐.𝚒 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚡 𝚐𝚗!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛]

IV

You raced through the walkways of the city, not having to worry about your hoodie situation any longer. You were now dressed in more appropriate clothing for a mid-day walk in the middle of the city. Your previous clothes were tucked neatly in the crook of your arm. You were stuck holding them until you got a bag, but you didn't want to get a nice, durable one from Miss Blanchard until you could properly afford it.

What you had to do now, was something you didn't realize until the money crisis, you had to get a job. There was no other way to provide for yourself! You couldn't just make time move forward, you couldn't sleep out in the woods (your survival skills were shit), you didn't have a friend you could mooch off, and you didn't have your own portable realm. You'd have to become slightly responsible and rent an apartment.

For now you'd have to settle for an inn. You didn't have anywhere near the amount of money to rent an apartment. You had to sign up for the adventurers guild pronto, it wouldn’t tie you down to Monstadt, no matter how much you loved it here, like other jobs would, and it paid pretty well given the mora you were able to stack up by just doing your daily commissions.

And there you ran into another problem, you didn't know how to fight. Honestly you should've figured life in this world would be harder but you got a little over excited. You truly did want to do that exploring you never got to do in the game, now mostly because it wasn’t boring as hell anymore, you were really here. And you wanted to meet your favorite characters, be involved in the cool story, and possibly fuck someone - you didn’t know where life would take you!

Strolling through the city taking in the sights, you turned to Ariel who was still grumbling about the heat. “Hey Ariel? Do you know how to fight?”

His face was riddled with suspicion as he looked at you. “Yes, I do. Why?”

You set your hands on your hips, puffing out your chest as you proudly proclaimed “I wanna learn how to fight and you’re gonna tea-”

“Absolutely not.”

“Wha-” You sputtered “Ariel come on! You gotta teach me how to fight!”

“No I don’t! If I teach you how to fight you’re going to think yourself as some big shot and go do something stupidly dangerous, like fight a dragon or whatever.”

You put your hand to your chest in mock hurt. “Ariel I would never! How could you think me so reckless? Besides, there are slimes on the road in this game. Hilichurls are everywhere! I need to at least know how to defend myself.”

He grumbled and crossed his arms. “Why can’t you just stay here? This place is nice, it looks calm.” He sighed at the deadpanned stare you gave him. “Okay.”

You smiled, clapping your hands together. You two had made your way over to the fountain near all the small food shops in the center of the city. Different smells wafted through the air making your stomach grumble. You guys walked over to the edge of the fountain, sitting on the stone rail. Ariel’s clothes fluttered around him and he had to gather them to make sure none of them fell into the water.

“So, what can you teach me?”

Ariel sighed again, a resigned yet disbelieving look on his face, as if he was unable to comprehend how life brought him here. You guessed he’s never gotten isekaied into a video game and then had to teach his charge how to fight to defend themselves from monstrous creatures before.

Amatuer.

“I’m skilled with a bow and hand to hand combat. If you’re looking for something else, it’s going to have to be elsewhere.”

You clicked your teeth. “A bow? Man bow users suuuuu-” You trailed off at the scathing glare Ariel was giving you. “Uuuuch delights they are!” You chuckled nervously. “They’re truly so so so great!” You punctuated your last point with a trembling thumbs up.