Alyanna Rohan"s POV
We ate our meal in silence. Only Vander"s noisy chomping keeps on disturbing the peace which is probably resulted by his eagerness to eat sweets! He"s really like a naughty kid.
Facing Brylle, I said, "Can I ask something?"
"You already asked one." He said to contradict my words. "What is it?"
"Master - "
"HOY!" Vander halted his eating spree just to confront me. "Only I have the right to call him Master because Master Brylle is really my Master!" After pointing that out, he resumed his messy eating.
"Brylle. You can call me Brylle."
"Brylle, who"s Master Lorcan?"
"He"s the old geezer who led you here, right?"
That"s not actually what I want to hear. "Master Lorcan.... Is he a wizard like you?"
"What"s my reason for calling him my Mentor if he"s not one?"
What a meanie! Can"t he just say "Yeah, Master Lorcan is of course a Wizard."
"Why did he leave you?"
"He"s done teaching me."
"Does it mean you"re already very strong?"
"I"m a Cla.s.s B+ Wizard. So yeah, you can say I"m already powerful." Whoah, all of a sudden, it became so windy!*
"If you"re a Wizard, then you are not a human?"
"Where do you intend to direct your questions? Do you still not believe that I am a human being?"
"Eh, you have magic powers! Naturally, you"re not ordinary!"
Brylle stopped bringing his spoon to his mouth. Before speaking to me again, he first drank a gla.s.s of water. "Fine, I am no mortal like you. We came from the Otherworld."
"Otherworld? Another world? Are you serious?"
He frowned at me. "Do I look like someone joking?"
"I still have one more question.... about the spell last night?"
"What about that?"
"Why - " Okay, Yana. You can no longer be shy to ask that." Why did you need to kiss me?"
He suddenly choked upon and coughed. His forehead creased and the way he looks at me turned odd. "It"s part of the spell."
"So, it was really necessary? That spell really needed ---- the kissing part?"
"Pfft." He laughed. What"s funny? I"m being serious here, you know! "Why was that a big deal for you?" Afterwards, he stared at me. "Don"t tell me it"s your first?"
I stood up! It"s frustrating. He"s so not a gentleman!
"Sit down." But with just a single command from him, I immediately sat down. My eyes only widened while looking at him. Did he cast another spell on me?
"Don"t give me that look, I didn"t use my powers." d.a.m.nable! And he"s actually reading my emotions! It was like he"s also reading my mind. "You"re just too good to follow my orders." Once again he chuckled.
He"s really so arrogant! So arrogant! Now I lost all appet.i.te to fill my stomach. "Do you still have any other instruction?"
"I need you to come with me to the Necro Market."
Necro Market? That sounds - magical? Well, actually, not in whatsoever way! It"s eerie!
...
When we finished our lunch, we immediately set off, only leaving Vander to look for the house. I have a basket with me and it"s like we"re really going to buy stuff at the market. However, it seems we"re not going to a simple market. "This Necro Market that you have mentioned - "
"I need you to shut your mouth." He started walking fast while I just followed behind him.
The market he wants to go to is still part of Earth, right? Please, someone confirm this to me!
"We"re here." We stopped in an alley.
"Here?" I started scanning the place. With the exception of the heap of garbages at one side, I can only see two walls around us. "This is the place?"
Brylle took out his staff. Until now, it"s still a mystery to me how that can fit inside his jacket. He toyed his staff and struck the two walls and the cement under us.
Suddenly, a peculiar symbol appeared on the cement and walls. The place shone and then we"ve been enclosed inside a magic circle. Fortunately, no one sees us.
"Since it"s your first time, I think you have to grab unto me."
"What?" I was alarmed by what he said but it"s already too late because I didn"t manage to cling on him. It was due to the sudden force which pulled us.
And the next thing I knew, I was kneeling on the ground. Nonetheless, this place is absolutely not that alley.
....
I vomited out all the delicious dishes I ate this lunch. The world was as if spinning around me and my internal organs were twisting onto each other.
"Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay?" I thought it was the end of me. Just what the heck happened?
"Here, let me help you." He offered a hand then lifted me up. "It"s always like this for first-timers. You"ll get used to it soon."
"We"ll be going through that again in the future?"
"No choice! There"s no other way to reach this place."
This place? Did that mean we"re now in ....
"Welcome to the Otherworld."
We"re not in the human world anymore. The floating islands up there can be seen from here. The sun shines brightly but the two moons are visible.
Strolling around in a carefree manner were the other various races. The sight of those other creatures flying in the sky was pleasing to the eyes.
Otherworld can essentially be cla.s.sified as paradise.
"If you feel fine now, let"s move. We"re headed to Plumdust City." He pointed his finger towards a direction and there I saw a city. "That"s where Necro Market is."
At first, I was feeling excited to go to the Plumdust City so that I can tour the Necro Market. But when we get there, my whole body started trembling because I learned what kind of place it was. It was where those kinds of living beings loiter. "M-monste - ! Hmmmm!"
I could no longer scream because Brylle covered my mouth. However, I remained lost in hysteria and now we"re being stared at by those creatures. Probably left with no choice, Brylle put my head inside of his jacket.
"Stop it, Yana! If you continue making a scene here, you"ll anger them!"
I found it difficult to breathe so I protested more. When he lost grip of me, I stumbled on the ground. I"m already on the brink of screaming, however...
"Calm down, Yana! Or else you"ll make me mad!"
Ow Em Ji! The ring"s crystal... is becoming darker in color!
Okay! I"m calm - I need to calm down. Unfortunately, it"s easier said than done. How can I be calmed when I"m being surrounded by, "Monsters - "
"Sheesh!" And he once again covered my mouth using his hand. "There are some Otherworlders who know your language. They really hate being called like that. Just shut up if you don"t want chaos here."
I can only force a nod, but I tightly clung to him. Since I reacted like that, Brylle shot me a fierce glare. I said, "A little mercy please, Brylle. I"m scared, okay!"
He only shook his head and rolled his eyes at me. "They won"t hurt you unless you do something stupid. Just don"t be so idiotic and follow me."
"What are we here for anyways?"
"Can you use your brain? This is Necro Market, right? And what do we do in a market? Of course, we shop!"
A while ago, I said Otherworld was a paradise. I"m taking back those words now.
.....
After some pa.s.sage of time, my heart started to slightly ease up. Probably it"s because Brylle was with me. Even now, I"m still glued to him.
Currently, instead of fear, I"m starting to develop curiosity. Try to think all of the monsters you know and I"ll say, they are here. Some sell and some buy. There are also several of those who only walked here and there or suddenly appeared in front of us.
I couldn"t avoid being surprised. However, not every being was actually panic-inducing. There were many who can capture attentions and amaze the eyes.
"What are they?" I pointed my finger to a creature in the store found in the middle of the water.
"Nixies." They are shaped like humans. They have green skin and silver-blonde hair. They sell several random bottled liquids.
"How about them? They looked like Shrek."
"Merchant Ogres." Shrek"s people actually love roaming around. They are carrying a few sack of weapons! However, when they pa.s.sed us by, we pinched our noses because they smelled like sewers.
I looked up to the sky. "There are shiny birds!"
"They are called Zhar-Pt.i.tsa."
The creatures called Zhar-Pt.i.tsa looked enchanting except they made me step back because one of them almost sh*t on my head.
"You know, you ask too much. Are you doing a research?"
"Well, everyone here"s amusing! I thought I would only see them in books and TV shows. By the way, don"t tell me there are dragons here too?"
"There are. How did you know?"
Was he being serious?!
We entered a fabric shop. Brylle pointed his finger towards a while cloth which seemed similar to an ordinary cloth of my mortal world. "How much for this?"
The male agent who has a carabao head with five horns answered. "15 Rugrants."
Earlier, Brylle told me that the currency used in this Otherworld was called Rugrants.
"Can I test this?"
"Sure."
They started setting the cloth in fire, but it was actually fireproof! Not only that, when they soaked it in water, it turned invisible! So cool!
"Okay. I"ll buy this."
"Brylle..." I whispered to him. "What do you call creatures like him?"
"I"m a Quinotaur!" replied by the seller. "Is this your first time in the Necro Market?"
He talked to me! "Y-yes. This is my first time here." Actually, not only in this market, but in the whole Otherworld.
"If that"s the case, you should take care. There are people who rob tongues of those who love whispering words in an audible way!"
The fear almost gave me a stroke so I once again glued myself to Brylle. This shameless and b.a.s.t.a.r.d Quinotaur! Scaring me, eh? I wish for his business to fall!
On the other hand, Brylle chuckled when he saw my face paled. "Let"s go."
This time, I didn"t separate anymore from him. I also quietened down to not get my tongue stolen by those people mentioned by the Quinotaur.
"He"s only making fun of you."
"He"s scaring me!"
"You"ll get used to this." He said.
Get used to this? I wonder when!
....
TL:
* The place became windy - meaning someone"s being boastful or full of himself