Finding my Parents in Another World

The Adventurer's Guild of Temuril was in a small cozy house near a small lake. There were not too many people inside, and the staff of the Guild consisted of the single receptionist sitting behind the desk with a pleasant smile. Of course in a small town like Temuril there were not too many administrative tasks in the first place.

Raorka approached the receptionist with his best smile and said, "Hello, I would like to register as an adventurer."

The receptionist looked up and smiled. "Do you have Mayor Rokar's permission?" She asked pleasantly.

Raorka bit his lip. "No I don't. However-"

The receptionist held up her hand and cut him off. "I'm sorry but according to the rules of Temuril, you need a permission slip from the Mayor to register as an Adventurer."

"But-"

"I'm sorry but there are no exceptions. Hope you understand. Have a pleasant day!"

And there was no point in arguing further. Raorka walked back dejectedly to Lucerne who was smirking with a "I told you so" smile.

"Well any luck?" She asked in a mocking tone.

Raorka grunted and walked out of the Guild irritatedly.

"I told you Raorka, there are no exceptions."

"But the backlog for meeting the Mayor goes upto two weeks! That's way too long."

Lucerne shrugged. "Sometimes some people are fast tracked through you know. And you are a foreigner. Who knows maybe the Mayor will fast track you!"

Raorka knew that Lucerne was just trying to cheer him up, but it did work on him. He began to be more optimistic about his chances.

"Yeah, yeah you are right."

.XX.

When they returned to Fritten Inn, they found Drisnen waiting for them, casually lounging about with his back to the wall.

"Out on a date?" He asked mirthfully when he saw Lucerne and Raorka returning.

"Shut up you fool." Lucerne said, her face flushed as she went into the Inn.

"Can't take a joke that one eh?" Drisnen shrugged his shoulders.

"We went to the Adventurer's Guild."

"Ah I suppose you are on the waitlist for the Mayor's permission then?"

Raorka nodded somewhat dejectedly. "But Lucerne told me that the Mayor sometimes fast tracks applicants so I am hoping I don't have to wait for two weeks."

"As they say hope is the best remedy."

"As who says?"

Drisnen smiled. "I don't know, it's just something people say isn't it?"

Raorka sighed. "Let's go Drisnen."

.XX.

"Yesterday I taught you about the Allies and Enemies. Let's see how well you remember them Raorka." Artemis said.

Raorka gulped. He was used to the way Artemis expected him to remember previous lessons but it always made him a bit nervous.

"Ah yes of course Miss Artemis.

Each magik category is allied with the two categories adjacent to it and is enemies with the remaining two categories. What this means in actuality is that magik of allied categories enhance each other when used together while magik of enemy categories have no special effect while used togetherz and sometimes may even hinder each other, reducing the potency than if they were used separately."

"And what of against each other?"

"Allies are less effective against each other, while enemies are more effective against each other."

Artemis nodded, impressed. "Can you name the Allies and Enemies of each category then?"

"For Light:

Allies - Water and Animal

Enemies - Nature and Physical

For Water:

Allies - Light and Nature

Enemies - Animal and Physical

For Nature:

Allies - Water and Physical

Enemies - Light and Animal

For Physical:

Allies - Nature and Animal

Enemies - Light and Water

For Animal:

Allies - Physical and Light

Enemies- Nature and Water

"

"Very good. A final note here. If you are ever in a fight against a skilled magik user whose category you know, then what combination should you choose for your team?"

"A defensive ally and an offensive enemy."

"Indeed. Offset the increased damage through a defensive ally, while make sure your own damage is high because of the offensive enemy. Of course this is just an extremely idealized scenario. In real life rarely would you have the opportunity to actually make that choice."

Artemis paused here and stood up. She went to the window of her hut and looked outside. Drisnen was practicing his Inito outside near the river. After observing him for a while, Artemis came back.

"Today I will teach you about Incantations." She said then extended her finger.

"Flow of Water." She said and a stream of water burst out from the end of her finger and hit the opposite wall, almost tearing through the wood.

"Incantations are basic magik of your category that you can use to supplement your Inito. You can freely use magik while in your Inito, and sometimes even without, but Incantations allow you to perform specific actions by chanting specific words."

"But isn't your magik category Light? Yet the Incantation you just used would be in Water." Raorka asked confused.

"Allies can use each other's Incantations. You can almost never use an Incantation of an enemy category though.

However since you are just starting you shouldn't focus on Light or Nature Incantations. First you should master Water Incantations. Today's lesson will be learning the five basic Water Incantations."

.XX.

After two hours of gruelling training, Raorka finally stepped out from the hut, drenched in sweat as well as his own water magik.

Drisnen smiled as he looked at Raorka.

"Good training session then?"

Raorka grunted. He had to admit though he was making lightning fast progress. Even Artemis had been impressed by the potential of his magik.

"We can start Inito training from tomorrow itself..." She had murmured, almost disbelievingly after today's lesson.

"I can use the five basic Incantations now so progress I guess." He responded to Drisnen.

Drisnen lowered his voice, "So let's study the Die now?"

Raorka nodded, excited himself as well. For the past couple of days he and Drisnen spent some time after Artemis' lessons on studying the Die of Reknown. Initially they had tried studying it in the Fritten Inn, but the Die had gone through the floor there, leading to the first time Raorka ever saw an angry Lumina.

"Play with that blasted Die outside before it destroys my whole Inn." She had admonished them.

From then on, they studied the Die out here beside the Forest of Old Gotuj after lessons. Raorka took out the Die from his pocket, as Drisnen watched with fascination as always.

"What today?"

"Yesterday we tried gravity tricks on it. Today let's try applying force on it." Drisnen said.

"What type of force?"

"Hmm maybe keep it on the ground and let's push it."

Raorka shrugged and kept it on the floor, and Drisnen immediately kicked it as hard as he could. Instead of flying away though the Die rolled back towards Drisnen as if blown by a gentle wind.

"The opposite of being kicked is rolling down slowly?" Drisnen asked incredously.

Raorka shook his head. "That isn't it. You applied a force on it hard, therefore the opposite of that happened. A light force was applied on it in the reverse."

Drisnen nodded, understanding, then grinned, "You have a better understanding of this Die than I do Raorka. I thought of hiding it in Miss Artemis' bathroom and catch her naked. After all if I don't expect it to happen it will happen right?"

"Drisnen you know that's a crime right?"

"Hey thoughts don't count as crimes."

Raorka sighed. Over the last few days he had realized Drisnen was a bit of a pervert, but that was to be expected for people in puberty anyway. After all it's not like Raorka hadn't fantasized about Artemis or even Lucerne.

"Anyway what you are suggesting won't work anyway. Something isn't the opposite of nothing, atleast not as far as the Die is concerned. You have to perform an action on it. Otherwise as I keep it in my pocket it should explode since I am not expecting anything to happen then." Raorka said, focusing his thoughts on the Die for now.

"Hmm makes sense. Let's do a few more experiments with different kind of forces before the light goes out." Drisnen said readying for another kick on the Die.

Raorka looked at the sun dipping in the horizon, and agreed.

.XX.

It was completely dark outside by the time Raorka reached the Fritten Inn. The world of Anexia did have electricity, so the houses and roads were still well lit by the street lights. However outside the town walls was complete darkness.

On reaching the door to the Inn though, Raorka was surprised to hear a hearty guffaw coming from within.

Guests this late?

Even though it was an inn, Lumina closed up the Fritten Inn before evening. Generally the busiest time for the restaurant below the Inn was during lunch, with guests petering out as dusk fell. Even the guests who stayed at the Inn were asked to come back before nightfall, or if they came after to come in through the back gate. Raorka hadn't seen any guest till date who came in the evening.

Apparently there was one today.

Raorka carefully opened the door, and tiptoed his way towards the stairs. He assumed it was some family friend and he didn't want to impose himself on them. However as he was walking towards the stairs, Lucerne came out of the restaurant and saw him.

"Oh! There you are. We have been looking for you since evening you know."

"A family guest?" Raorka asked.

Lucerne smiled mischievously. "Why don't you come in and see?"

Intrigued, Raorka came up and went inside with Lucerne. As soon as he came in, the huge man sitting in the chair started guffawing again.

Raorka could recognize the huge, ugly yet amiable face of Mayor Rokar anywhere even though he had only seen so from a distance. But now seeing it up close shocked him into silence.

"Well well well if it isn't the young man learning from the witch himself." Mayor Rokar said, his voice booming throughout the restaurant.

Raorka didn't know how to respond so he just bowed his head respectfully. Just as he had thought the first time he had seen him, the Mayor reminded Raorka of an ugly Santa Claus. The uglyness of Mayor Rokar couldn't be understated, his face was covered with warts, and his head itself seemed too small compared to his humongous body. However even through that he seemed to exude a good-natured aura.

Like an old grandpa

"Well young man, I heard you have come here from a far away place?"

"Yes sir."

"And you are looking for your parents? You have been separated yes?"

"Yes, indeed sir." Saying this Raorka took out the picture of his mother and father that he was carrying and showed it to the Mayor.

For a moment.

Just for a moment, Raorka saw the Mayor's expression change. He couldn't grasp or even remember what it changed to, but it definitely changed when he saw the picture. Raorka felt distinctly uncomfortable but he wasn't able to put a finger on why he was feeling this way, and so he soon dismissed that feeling entirely.

"Well son, you have fine parents and I'm sure they are looking for you too. However since you are now in Temuril, leave it to me. I will take the responsibility in finding them. Lend this picture to me, I will show it to my soldiers and ask them to start a search. Don't worry, they will surely be found."

This unexpected display of kindness overwhelmed Raorka. He bowed even deeper, "I don't know how I can repay this kindness sir."

Mayor Rokar however shook his head firmly. "Don't mention it. It is the least I can do. I truly hope you find your parents."

There was a sincerity in his voice that moved Raorka. 

"Thank you again." He said from the bottom of his heart.

"Now, there is of course another matter no?" Mayor Rokar asked.

"Another matter?" Raorka was truly confused.

"Ah I was given to understand that you required my permission to register as an adventurer. Perhaps I was mistaken." The Mayor's eyes twinkled with mirth.

Raorka had completely forgotten about that and now grinned sheepishly.

"Of course that would be ideal sir."

Mayor Rokar laughed, his voice echoing across the hall. His laughter had an infectious quality, soon Lumina and Lucerne also began laughing.

"Don't worry son, I will provide the required permission tomorrow itself. A son lost from his mother and father, you definitely need all the support you can get in our small town."

Once more Raorka was thrown by the generosity of the Mayor. He began to appreciate what Lucerne had told him on his first day.

Thank God I was sent near here than some place like that Odania