Upload date: 5/15/2018 [M/D/Y]

Re: Life in a fantasy world ~ Arc 1: Fated Encounter

Chapter 1: The Crossing of Two Paths

Another day, another walk by the capital. I bit into my appa and scanned the area, nothing much, just the usually bustling city known as the "Capital". It's been three years since I've first made it to Lugnica, and I've had my handful of hardships. Right after Lyra had passed, I had gone through some minor depression, the people I was with just took advantage of that, pieces of shits are what they were.

I had kept the promise I made eight years ago, "Never give the box to anyone" was the promise, and to this day, no one has ever laid a hand on it, well, that's because I destroyed it of course. It was closed really tightly so opening it wasn't an option, I tried prying it open with a knife but that only lead to me cutting my arm really bad, so I decided to destroy it via an explosion which worked, but things went downhill fast. And just so you know, this was right after I reached Lugnica, so it was three years ago.

Once the box open, some black cloud came out of it and forced its way into my mouth, really, the worst experience I've ever had. Right after that, I felt my insides rumbling, as if trying to fight whatever went inside and the black cloud seemed to have won. I laid there unconscious for around a few hours and woke up, feeling a little light headed, but fine nonetheless, I took what remained of the box and left the area, little did I know, that very moment changed me.

Several days later, I got into some trouble, had to deal with a bunch of guards that told me what I did was an act of treason, seriously, the nerve of them, the looks on their faces, weren't even serious, just abusing the power they had. Normally I'd have escaped with magic, but something wasn't right, I had a blessing known as, "Divine Protection of Yin" which was a blessing that made me extremely skilled in Yin magic. Back when I trained with mom, I'd have already reached an Al-class after a year, but suddenly, my skill dropped so low that I could barely cast an El-class spell, that's when I realized I had lost my blessing and had gained something else.

I was beaten up pretty bad, like, really bad. I felt as if I wanted to die right there, but then, something inside me ticked, I felt the wounds disappear, the lost mana inside me replenished, I was back on my feet in an instant, this was the on of the powers I've gained through the "Sage's Box", the ability to reverse time on a body, putting in its original state, location, and condition, with that power, I was able to mess up the guards pretty well and managed to flee away, I called the power, "Timelapse".

But that was just one of the powers I had gained, there was another, one I'd like to call, "Return by Death". I had first used it when I temporarily joined a mercenary group to do a job for some money, and during the job, I had died. Right after though, I was miraculously back to before I left, my body was fine, no wounds or anything, but I vividly remembered what had happened, that is my second power, and a godforsaken one I'd like to add.

Using them, I was able to escape life or death situations with ease, but I had to keep my use of Return by Death to a minimum, it turns out a stench known as a "Witch Miasma" gets released whenever I use it, overuse of Timelapse also releases Witch Miasma but not as much as Return by Death. The problem with this was, whenever you mention "Witch Miasma" people instantly think of the Jealous witch, which kinda annoys the hell out of me, but that lead me to figure out that what I gained was most definitely the "Witch genes of Pride", something that makes one a Witch, in my case, Pride.

"I never thought I'd actually be the one to inherit the title as Pride…"

I threw away the core of my appa and turned a corner, took out a sac of coins and counted how much I had, "Five… Three… Seven… totals up to… Nine silvers and Forty-six coppers, running short, gonna have to do another job to get more…" I pass by an alleyway, one I usually walk through to get to the capital's job center.

"Hey that's the punk isn't it?"

"Yeah, let's get em while he's turned his back!"

I was a bit too busy, thinking about my current financial circumstances to notice that three thugs were coming up behind me. As I was about to make a turn, one of them grabbed me by the neck locked my hands behind my back and slammed me into the wall, pinning me there. "We'll be taking your stuff so just stay there and be a good boy," One of them said. I looked to my side and saw that he was a large man, a shorter boy behind him and a slim one crouched on the ground, taking what was inside the sac I dropped.

"You messed with the wro-"

"Quiet, we've been watching you, you get real rowdy when you're ganged up on so stay put"

"Woah, this is a real haul, guys! More than Five silvers in here!"

"Grab em all, grab em!"

As the slim man hoarded my sac of coins, I waited for my moment, I couldn't beat the big one in terms of strength, and using my authority would cause them to run off, making it a huge pain in the ass, so I'll just wait for an opening and strike then.

"Get out of the way, ya rats!"

I heard a voice say, a girl's, and a young one to be exact, this could be my chance, if I myself wasn't distracted that is. From the entrance of the hallway, a blonde haired girl ran through, completely ignoring the four of us. She jumped onto the wall, kicked off, landed on my shoulder, and hopped off onto the top of a building.

"Well, you're a rude one…" I said. The other three looked confused but went back to their pillaging right after. The slim one found the sage's box that I had kept in there and it gave me just the moment I was looking for. He didn't dare touch it, looked all gooey and messy, something reminiscent of solid waste from someone's ass. Big one looked his way, and I was just about to twist my body for a kick in the nuts, if it weren't for another goddamn distraction.

"I'm in a hurry, but this isn't something I can dismiss"

Another voice and a girl's as well, but it was different, this one sounded more mature and definitely not squeaky. I looked over and saw that it was a silver haired girl with purple eyes, I sighed in frustration and yelled, "Can't you see someone's trying to escape here! Give me a break would you!" to nobody in particular but the girl seemed to take the response as an 'I need help' which may be what it seemed but is the opposite.

"Puck"

"Here I come!"

Suddenly, a small gray cat appeared on her shoulder and shot them a paw, icicles started forming around the two and were aimed at the three thugs, "Oh shit a spirit-arts user!?" shouted the short one, "It's not worth it!". The three then started to scramble away, leaving me and my sac of coins behind.

I righted myself, dusted off my clothes, and picked up my sac of coins, looking at the sage's box, then putting it back in. I looked over to my two 'saviors' and I said, "Thanks but I didn't really need any help" The cat floated over to me and said, "Well you're a rude one…". I shot him an annoying look to which he replied with a "What"

"Nothing… just a bit of De'javu is all…"

I closed my sack of coins and rested it on my belt, and faced the silver haired girl, "Well, since you've saved me, I guess I owe you one now, need help with anything?" I said with a straight face.

"Well, I had something from me stolen and I was just chasing the thief, I was wondering if you had happened to see her pass by?"

"Short, blonde hair, really quick and likes to step on people while they're pinned to the wall?"

"Uh… all but the last one…"

"Then she jumped over there"

I said while pointing to the building which she jumped on to run away, "Okay, thank you" as she was about to leave, I asked her out of curiosity, "By the way, what did she take from you?" "What did she take? Well, it's a Royal's Insignia, shaped like an upside down triangle with a red jewel in the middle, about this big"

She used her hands to shape it and I used my imagination to fill in the gaps, seems like something really important, "A Royal's Insignia huh… Wait, hold on... A Royal's Insignia!?"

"Yes, that's what I said, a Royal's Insignia…"

"You lost something that important?! Why'd you even bring it with you in the first place!"

"It couldn't be helped, I forgot it was in my pocket when I left the mansion"

"You forgot!?"

This girl, careless is written all over her face, having a connection to this person would be one of the least helpful things I need, on the other hand, she did lose a Royal's Insignia, means she must be pretty high up there in the nobility, if I was to help her, I'd be pretty well off, "Then there's no choice, want me to help?"

"Huh? But just telling me was more than enough, you don't have to go through all that"

"No, this thing can determine the next king, there's no choice"

"Uh… okay then…"

"Hey, there's no hidden meaning in this is there?"

"Oh, there is, I'm planning on making her indebted to me, kidna in a bad spot myself"

"Hmm, no shame in saying that huh…"

As I silenced the cat with my finger, I motioned the girl to follow me, "Where are we going, that's just a dead end" Seriously, if she were to go find it alone, she'd probably never find it, "Sometimes you gotta think outside the box" I held her hand and chanted, "El-Murak" I leaped of the ground and straight onto the rooftops with her.

As we landed she looked at me shocked, "That was Yin magic, and an El-class, your pretty good at Magic… you could have fended yourself when those three attacked right?" "And someone had to in and ruin it by saving me herself, thanks for destroying my pride as a warrior…"

"Eh… your welcome?"

"I was being sarcastic!"

We looked around the rooftops, seems like she has already left and there was no way we could have tracked her so we went back down and searched through the city on ground. Searching high and low, through alleyway and alleyway, we didn't really get a lead on where to find her, so we stopped near a fountain to plan a different approach.

"Hey, we haven't introduced ourselves yet haven't we?"

"I suppose we haven't…"

"Then… Natsuki Subaru, come from Kararagi but made Lugnica my home, what about you?"

"Me… my names Satella, I was born here in Lugnica, nice to meet you"

"And I'm Puck!"

I sighed a bit as I gave her a look, "Not sure if you trust me or you actually want me to misunderstand, but I kinda feel a bit disheartened if I give you my real name and you don't return it with your own…" As I said this, Puck came in and gave me a nudge, "People would normally believe her when she says that, you're different…"

"Huh? Why though?"

The two gave me a dumbfounded look, "Well, I have silver hair and purple eyes, I'm also a half-elf…" "Oh, I see… quick question, what differentiates Elfs from Humans? Physically I mean…" "Ah, you don't know Subaru?!" Puck literally screamed at me, "It's actually common knowledge in Lugnica, but I'm not sure about Kararagi… Elf's have long ears you see, Lia also has long ears, it's from her Elven Lineage"

"I see…"

"Well… if you don't feel like helping anymore… you... Don't really have to…"

"Eh? Why would I not help?"

"But, I'm a half elf, with silver hair and all, doesn't that scare you a bit?"

"Oh… this has to do with the fact that you look like the Jealous witch right?" She just gave me a nod, "Actually, I think we'd get along quite well, and also, I judge people by how they act, not by how others describe them as, so doesn't matter if people say your a witch or if your a thief, as long as I haven't seen anything, none of it matters to me…"

"I see… ah, about getting along well?"

"Ah, yes, your a subject of prejudice I assume, with people associating you with the Witch of Envy right? Well, I'm kinda the same as well…" The two gave me a shocked expression, "Then are you a half elf too?" The girl asked, "No, my comparison to the witch isn't visual like yours but it's more like I smell like her you see…"

"Smell? Oh, you mean Witch Miasma!"

"Exactly, I've had this smell latched on me for about three years now, it's been causing me nothing but trouble, so I kinda understand what you had to go through, though not at the same extent…"

She took in the information with a determined expression and shot me a smile, "Then my names Emilia, just Emilia, nice to meet you!" she gave me her hand and a took it, we had a good handshake and then we continued onto our search for her Insignia, but we stopped when Emilia saw a girl on the side of the road, alone and scared, pale green hair.

"Hey, Subaru… that girl…"

"Eh, what… Plum-chan?! Looks like she got lost again…"

"Do you know her Subaru?"

"Oh yeah, she's the daughter of a merchant I'm friends with…"

We walked over to her and I greeted her with a smile, "Yo, Plum-chan, is Raksha-san not with you?" Once she saw me, she rushes over and clings to my legs like a scared animal. "So I'm getting that you're lost?" She nods, "You got separated from mommy?" she nods again, "The number of times you get lost… I might just have to give you a map… oh wait, do you know how to read those?" "No…" "Figures…"

"Okay then, what do you think Emilia-san, do we have time?"

"This is more important so we should look for her mother first…"

"You lost an Insignia, I think that's more important… but it doesn't matter, I know where her dad is, let's go"

I grabbed her hand and we went on our way, retracing our steps back to where we started, also known as Kadomon's store, "Yo, Kadomon!" I said while waving at the green haired merchant, he was looking around, and noticed us, "Oh Nii-chan, I'm kinda busy right now…" "I know, by the way, here's Plum-chan, she was lost again…"

"Oh right… wait, Plum! Ah, thank goodness!"

After realizing Plum was there, he rushed over to hug her, he picked her up and said a few things then faced me and Emilia, "I owe you one, again…" "No problem, maybe you could help us… we're looking for a girl, skinny, blonde hair, red eyes, got one sharp tooth, and she's a thief…"

"A thief huh… that sounds a lot like Felt, she lives over in the slums, you should ask around, you'll probably find her"

"Alright, thanks"

"Oh, what do I owe you this time?"

"Just make sure there are some appas left when if I come back, heh"

"Righ- Not funny Subaru!"

After poking fun at the fact that business isn't going well for Kadomon, we continued on with our search for the girl, now knowing that her name is Felt. "You and Kadomon-san are good friends aren't you Subaru…" "Yeah, I guess… he helped me up to my feet when I first came to Lugnica, and I've been paying visits whenever I come to the Capital"

"I see…"

We made our way through the capital and into the slums, a rundown section of the city, houses were rustic, with the poorer population living inside. No dependable water source, no steady jobs, and most definitely no happiness, "This place is depressing…" the sun was starting to set and Puck was disappearing, "Looks like my time is up Lia…" "Your times up? So you have contracted times"

"Puck can only materialize at around nine in the morning until five in the afternoon"

"Well, that kinda sucks, what happens if we run across a killer?"

"I'll leave it to you Subaru…"

"Oi! Don't just leave it to me!"

Before we could continue our banter, the gray cat dissipated into a shower of light that went inside the green crystal in Emilia's neck, "Subaru, wait a second, I'll ask my other contracted spirits, maybe they know where we should go…" "Oh, so Puck's not your only spirit?"

"No, I have contracts with many minor spirits…" As she said this, several lights appeared around her. She closed her eyes and clasped her hand, she was now speaking with them, probably part of the contract, it'd be rude to interrupt so I sat by the wooden bridge and stared into the dirt filled river, it reminded him of his the times he'd play by the river bed with his friends from the village, bittersweet memories.

"Okay, I think I know where to go…"

"Good…"

We headed over to an old wooden house that seemed to be a bar of sorts, it was already night time. "This place doesn't look like it'll hold on for very long does it… well, usually it'd be lady's first but mind if I come go ahead? And you stay out here, that is"

"Are you sure? It might be a trap…"

"I have a notorious streak for breaking out of traps so I'll be fine"

"Okay then…"

From inside my pocket, I spun out a dagger skillfully and opened the door, I closed it behind me in case it was there was indeed a trap. It was dark, I could barely see anything but one thing's for sure, I wasn't alone. "There's definitely blood in here, and it's fresh, whoever that girl was, Felt? Yeah she's probably dead in here, the killer probably stole the Insignia from her and… is right behind me!"

I swung my dagger back and it clashed with, from what I can tell, a curved knife. I heard steps on the wooden board and it seemed like the killer was flipping back, "You must be pretty acrobatic to be able to do somersaults in a closed bar in the dark…" "You must be pretty observant to be able to anticipate my attack in the dark…" A womanly voice, laced with bloodlust replied.

"You seem like a good dance… unlike the other two…"

"I dislike dancing with a person who has a disadvantage you know…"

"Whatever do you mean? Will the person waiting outside join you?"

"Of course not, I plan on taking you on my own, but just so you know, I'm pretty skilled when it comes to fighting in the dark. You could say I'm pretty experienced…"

"Ah, but I've already learned the layout of the area, so doesn't that make it even?"

"I guess so!" A rushed forward with my dagger in hand, swing low, expecting her to duck but she saw threw me and leaped up. I could hear her moving on the ceiling like a spider. I heard her fling something at me why so dodged to the side, the sound of wood cutting being stabbed at meant that she had throwing daggers.

"Well, this is going to be a little bit harder than I expected…"

"My, backing down already?"

"Not at all…"

"El-Shamak!"

I casted my favorite spell, a spell that shrouds the area in black clouds, once that happens, I get a feel for the environment and the people inside the cloud, so it's basically like night vision, to add to that, anyone inside the cloud gets their senses messed up, but something was off about the spell. I'm sure I had covered the whole room with my spell but I can't seem to locate the killer anywhere, but then I heard a window breaking and instantly dreaded.

After dispersing the black clouds I rushed over to the open door, but as I stepped out, I saw the killer, holding a kukri knife onto Emilia's throat. "Who knew my target was the one outside all along… so, what are you gonna do?" Emilia was trying to force the knife away with her slender hands, but it didn't really work.

"You play dirty don't you…" I say, while giving her a serious look, "I'd do anything to cut out bowels straight from the stomach… to feel the warmth and freshness… it's comforting don't you think?" "More like disturbing actually…" "Well, people have different opinions…"

This was a pretty bad situation, but it wasn't impossible to get out of, "Say, she's your target right? If I let you have her, would you let me go?" As I said this Emilia's eyes widened, and she immediately started struggling, perfect. "Oh… now, this is unexpected, you are a strong opponent, unlike this one here, but… I do hate an unfinished job, so then let's reschedule our dance for later?" "As long as you leave right after your done with the bowel cutting…"

Without even a second to waste, she sliced through Emilia's stomach, blood pouring out endlessly, she struggled to breathe while on the ground but she was able to raise her head and look at me with dumbfounded eyes, eyes I'm quite used to seeing, "I… trusted… you…" Were her last words, before she laid limp on the ground, dead.

"Well, well… now that that's over with, I guess I'll be reporting back to my contractor… until next time dear…"

"Until next time…"

We exchanged farwells and she left, I quickly went down to check on Emilia, no pulse, cold skin, there is no way she's still alive after that, I flipped her over and saw that the green crystal on her neck had cracked, and behind me, I felt a menacing presence, an ice-cold one to add to that.

"We trusted you… now my daughter is dead… you do know what comes next right?"

"Man, you overreact too much, well, I guess that's what dads do I guess…"

"To see you joke at a time like this, you think you can take me on?"

"Your the one joking around, no one I'm taking on a great spirit, I'll just fix her up like this…"

A grabbed onto her hand and said under my breathe, "Authority of Pride - Timelapse" suddenly, as if it happened in a split second, Emilia was on her knees, facing me, wounds gone, heart beating, but eyes closed, the crystal was also fixed, and Puck was no longer behind me.

"Yo, Emilia-san…"

"AHHH!"

After calling her out lightly, she freaked out, scrambling on the floor, clutching her non-existent wound, crying out in pain when she's not in any. "Ah- W-what? But… I just…" "Don't think too much about it, the thing is, your alive and the killer is gone, nothing to worry about…" "But.. how?"

"Trade secret… now, I gotta check something out so…"

"That power was an authority wasn't it…"

I heard Puck's menacing voice from the crystal, and sighed and replied to him, "Pretty much, a power handed down to me by my ancestors, if you have knowledge about it, then you must be pretty well informed about what happened a hundred years ago, am I right?"

"I did remember for a split second after my crystal broke, but after you've used your ability, I seem to have forgotten it again…"

"I see… well then, that's unfortunate, I was thinking I'd talk about it with someone but oh well…"

I walked over back into the house and closed the door, Emilia was still a little shocked about what happened but she'll snap out of it soon enough, not that it matters or anything. "Let another loop… begin…" I plunged the knife into my throat, and right there and then, I died. A failed attempt is a failed attempt, I'll try again, and succeed next time, I'll, Return by Death.

A/N

Congrats Cyberix96 for being the first one to follow/ favorite the fanfiction!

Let's get on to business now… Warlock chapter will be next, then another Forgive me, then I'll update this again, then Warlock then this, then Forgive me, something like that…

So we're jumping straight into a fighting scene! And another one in the next chapter as well. I got tired of the same Arc 1, so I changed stuff up in this one, and I must say I like the changes I made!

Character sheet then:

1.)Emilia - Half Elf

Age:- 22 (Alive)

Likes:- Puck, helping people

Dislikes:- Hiding her lineage

Magic: Fire and Water

Weapon of choice: Spirit arts

2.)Puck - Spirit

Age:- At least 100

Likes:- Emilia, joking around, being fluffy

Dislikes:- Anyone dissing Emilia

Magic: Fire [He can use others but he specializes in fire]

Weapon of choice: Ice bolts

3.)Kadomon

Age:- 43 (Alive)

Likes:- Doing Business, family time, keeping change

Dislikes:- Broke people

Magic: N/A

Weapon of choice: N/A