Final Fantasy IV 1/2 Chapter 2

[Dumbledork]

Prologue can be found here:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4618653/1/F ... V_One_Half


This is a rough version. The chapter is finished, but I still have to reread it and correct spelling mistakes and probably rewrite some sentences. But this is basically the finished chapter.

I still have to write the bestiary and the extensive author's notes though


Everyone was frozen in place except for the giant who, with a mighty stomp, caused a heavy earthquake that threw everyone to the ground and created a large fissure starting at his foot and continuing for several kilometers. Everyone was astonished at seeing the very large fissure that now marred the landscape. Not bothering to check if the knights were incapacitated or not Ranma jumped into action and ran over to the girl, getting her away from those ruthless killers. When he got back to Kasumi he grabbed her and sprinted away at top speed, creating a dust cloud in his wake.


Only when he couldn’t see the village any longer he stopped and put the two girls down.


“Who… who are you?” Rydia asked after she had recovered from her surprise.


“A friend,” Ranma nonchalantly answered. “Don’t worry. I got you away from the evil men who have destroyed your village. You’re safe now.”


The greenette relaxed a bit but didn’t completely put her guard down until she saw Kasumi smiling at her. Some considered Kasumi’s smile as one of the most powerful weapons in the world. One of her serene smiles was generally enough in Nerima to stop any fight. And once again it had worked like a charm. But then, everything that had happened that day hit the young girl with full force and she started to cry. Kasumi took the kid in her arms and gently pat her on the back. “There, there. Just let it all out. You’ll feel much better afterwards.”


Kasumi’s calming tone didn’t miss its intended purpose and after several minutes of soothing words the tears stopped flowing until she was only sobbing. Kasumi kneeled down and looked her in the eyes. “Now, why don’t you tell us your name? I am Kasumi Tendo and my companion’s name is Ranma Saotome.”


Ranma winked at the girl and she gave him a small smile. “I… I am Rydia, and I live in Mist Village. I’m 12 years old”


“Well Rydia, that a very pretty name. Could you tell us what happened? And maybe give us more information on that giant we saw?”


Rydia hesitantly nodded her head. “His name is Titan. His kind is known under many names. Call, summon, guardian force, esper, to name but a few. They live in a different dimension, but some people called summoners have the ability summon them. All of us in the village possess that ability. Titan is my personal guardian. Every time a new summoner is born one of the summons automatically becomes its guardian. Titan is mine, like the Mist Dragon was my mother’s. I’m surprised that I was even able to summon Titan since I don’t have enough mana to summon him normally.”


Ranma and Kasumi were avidly listening to the young girl’s tail and wondering what it would be like to possess such an ability.


“We saw one of hose creatures about 2 hours ago and it’s thanks to him that we got stranded here. We got sucked in by the portal he used to disappear.”


Now it was Rydia who was surprised at that piece of information. “I’ve never heard of something like that ever happening. What was his name?”


“He called himself Ifrit,” Kasumi answered.


“I have heard of him. But I don’t have a contract with him yet, so I can’t summon him for you to get answers. I’m sorry. But don’t you think the person who summoned him will be able to get you back?”


“There are several problems with that,” Kasumi calmly explained. For one, the summoner is dead. Ifrit killed him for summoning him without a proper contract. And secondly, I don’t think we are in our world any longer. At least, I’ve never heard of a place like this one or of summons before today.”


“WOW! People from another dimension!” Rydia said in awe but then turned pensive. “But I’ve never heard of a summon killing a summoner.”


“That’s probably because Happosai wasn’t a summoner. He had a scroll in his possession which he used to summon Ifrit.”


“I’ve never seen a scroll like that. I didn’t even know it was possible. People are born with the gift of magic and I can hardly imagine another way of getting access to such an ability. Maybe magic works differently in your dimension.”


“Is magic a big part of this world?” Kasumi enquired. “Magic is very rare in our world, but it seems to be rather common here.”


“Oh yes,” the greenette confirmed. “Most people can use at least a little magic, but a lot of them either don’t have the talent to grow strong in their skills or they simply lack the drive. A fair number of them also prefer the fighting arts to magic.”


Ranma’s eyes lit up. Fighters meant new techniques to learn. He couldn’t wait to meet some of them. Maybe this fiasco had some good points after all. But still, he needed to go home. “Do you know if it is possible to send us back to our world?”


The young girl shook her head. “I don’t know. You should ask the Mysidians. They are rumored to be the best mages in the world and have a very extensive library. Unfortunately I don’t know where the town is. The only information I have is that it’s on another continent and you can only get there by ship.”


“Is there a town around here where we could ask?” Kasumi asked.


“Yes there is,” Rydia confirmed. “The desert town of Kaipo.”


“Well then, let’s go!” Ranma exclaimed in an upbeat tone, trying to cheer up their new travel companion. Kasumi and he considered giving a proper burial to the poor villagers, but in the end decided against it. It would be better to get Rydia away from this desolate place as soon as possible in case the attackers returned to finish their job. And they didn’t want to put the sweet little girl in danger.


As they were walking through the grassy plain Rydia opened up some more and told her travel companions about life in the village and about magic. Ranma and Kasumi were very attentive listeners and really fascinated by the subject. The pigtailed martial artist had been wary of magic at first, since he had had more than one bad experience with it, but he quickly realized that, unlike the cursed artifacts he had to deal with, the magic of this world was quite different. They were so engrossed by the native girl’s tales that they didn’t notice the group of goblins that were laying in ambush.


Suddenly Ranma’s danger sense kicked in and he pushed both girls to the floor. “Stay down! We’re under attack!”


When the young martial artist got a look at the attackers he was quite surprised since he had never seen creatures like those. They were surrounded by four very short, two legged things wearing brown smurf hats, brown shirts and carrying curved daggers. But rather than dismissing them as harmless, their beady eyes showed much malice and Ranma knew that they weren’t his usual enemies looking for a friendly, or not so friendly spar, and that they would kill them without remorse.


“Look at what we got here, boys,” one of the creatures said. “Easy prey. Just a bunch of kids and a harmless girl. Let’s have fun.” While the thing was gloating Ranma readied an attack and was soon joined by Rydia, much to his surprise.


Rydia couldn’t stifle a giggle. “Don’t worry. I know how to fight too. Those are goblins, bythe way. They are not very strong, but in groups they can be dangerous.”


Ranma nodded. From the greenette’s stories it was easy to deduce that this was a hostile world and that the people had to learn to defend themselves from an early age to cull the monster population. And even if the girl was young, the determined look in her eyes and the confident stance she had taken had been enough to convince the martial artist that she knew what she was doing.


Both fighters were positioned in a way to keep Kasumi out of harm’s way and Rydia launched the first attack. “ICE!” She shouted and a large icy shard left her rod and encased one of the goblins in ice before it could even blink. This enraged the three remaining opponents and they launched their attacks together. They deduced that Rydia was the most dangerous one of the lot, even if she was the youngest and concentrated their attacks on her. But Ranma wouldn’t let them. While Rydia was preparing her next spell, Ranma blocked two dagger strikes by firmly grabbing the goblins’ arms, but the third enemy succeeded to lacerate Ranma’s left arm. It was a shallow cut and didn’t hamper the teenager, but Ranma was forced to reassess the threat these creatures posed. He released one of the creatures and clutched the other one firmly by its throat and with a quick move crushed its windpipe.


The remaining goblins sprinted away to a safe distance, but before they could get away they heard a shout of “LIGHTNING!” and one of them was struck down by a lightning bolt, not to get up ever again.


The last one was now very afraid for its life and used its final attack, hoping to take at least one of them down with it. “GOBLIN PUNCH!” The travelers could hear just as Ranma was struck by hundreds of blows not unlike his Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken, but even faster. Lucky for him the goblins were rather weak and so the blows didn’t hurt too much, but they’d smart for some time. The black-haired boy retaliated immediately by bisecting his opponent with a well placed Kijin Raishuu Dan.


After the creature was down for the count Rydia moved in front of Ranma and healed him with her magic, much to Kasumi’s joy who was hoping to learn white magic too.


“Thanks, Rydia,” Ranma praised the young girl. “You are strong. And your healing spell is really neat. I wish I had had someone like you to heal me during some of my most violent fights.”


“It was nothing,” she said humbly, but her blushing face told another story. The two older teens were about to leave when they saw the young girl pilfer the goblins’ pockets and checking the bushes around them.”


“What are you doing?” Ranma asked, outraged by the girl’s actions.


“What?” She asked, not understanding why the pigtailed boy would reprimand her. “They are dead. They won’t have any use for the items while we need the money. Everyone does it.”


Ranma couldn’t deny the veracity of that statement. They had nothing but the clothes they were wearing and since Rydia wasn’t finding it the least bit disturbing, so he guessed that it was normal for this world.


“YES!” Rydia enthusiastically shouted. “Look what I’ve found?” She ran over to the pair of otherworlders and showed them the item. It didn’t look like much, but in this strange and unknown new world that might not mean anything. The object resembled an ofuda, but had the word ‘tent’ inscribed on its surface.


“What is it, Rydia?” Kasumi wanted to know.


“You don’t have things like this is your world?” She asked, and at seeing them shake their heads she explained. “This is a magical seal. Things can be magically sealed inside these sheets of paper to avoid wasting space. This particular seal contains a magical tent. These tents are very popular since they increase one’s mana recovery rate and healing speed. This means that if we sleep in these tents our magic reserves replenish faster and our wounds close up at a quickened pace. They aren’t all that, but with our meager funds we should be happy with every break we get. Oh, and take this. Since you don’t have any weapons I’ll give you one dagger each. If you prefer other weapons you’ll have to wait until we reach Kaipo and buy them at the weapons shop. You’ll need a weapon to survive since there are a lot of monsters that are protected against physical blows.”


Ranma and Kasumi nodded. Ranma had not much experience with daggers, but it was a versatile weapon and he was sure he could incorporate them into some of his katas. But he’d definitely try and find weapons he’d feel more comfortable with.


“I’ve also found some money. That will help us buy some protective equipment and better weapons for you. But we’d better hurry now. It’s still a four-hour-walk and we should try and get there before nightfall.”


Both Nerimans diligently followed the young girl, although Ranma was reluctant at first since that put her in danger, but he was impressed by the girl’s determination and adult behavior. But then, living in world where you had to live in constant fear of becoming the next snack of a gigantic monster probably explained it. Just as admirable was the fact that she hadn’t become an emotional wreck after her mother’s death, but had decided to make the murderers pay. Vengeance wasn’t a solution in Ranma’s opinion, but it might be a great way to deal with one’s grief. He pitied her, He still had his two parents, and although they’d never win the parent of the year award he loved them nonetheless. Rydia was all alone in the world now. Except for her traveling companions she had no one and it was Ranma’s firm intention to protect her to the best of his abilities.


The pigtailed boy wasn’t vengeful by nature, but he agreed with Rydia that Baron needed to be stopped. But that was not his fight. His goal was to find a way home for both Kasumi and he. He would let someone else play the hero for a change. He had already given so much and really wanted to solve all of his problems in a honorable way. He could take the easy way out and simply stay in this world, but that wouldn’t be honorable and not fair to Kasumi. The older girl had never been away from home and she was probably homesick already. But when he looked at her face he was perplexed by the happiness he could see there. She seemed to be enjoying this adventure by the way she was conversing with Rydia. She even giggled at some of the child’s stories, something he’d never seen her doing before.


Well, maybe they could explore the world for a bit. Nerima would still be standing when they returned, or at least he hoped so.


The plains were slowly giving way to the desert as the lush vegetation receded to be replaced with plants that were more better adapted to an arid climate. Just then the party stumbled upon a group of three large monsters. One of them looked somewhat like the Creature from the Black Lagoon while the other two were a gigantic centipede and a very large butterfly. The creatures hadn’t seen them arrive and so they able to get a preemptive strike. Quickly taking up their combat positions our group of adventurers attacked at once, not giving the creatures enough time to mount an offensive of their own. Ranma was the fastest and with inhuman speed drove his dagger into the centipede’s belly, leaving a deep, heavily bleeding wound. At the same time, Rydia flung a lightning bolt at the butterfly, lighting it up like a Christmas tree and killing it on the spot, leaving nothing but some charred remains behind. Kasumi clumsily attacked the remaining monster, but since she had never been trained in the use of weapons only managed a grazing blow, which didn’t have any effect at all. But before the monster could retaliate Ranma had flung the dagger at its head with pinpoint accuracy, driving it through its left eye and killing it on the spot. Unfortunately, this left the martial artist open for an attack by the wounded monster, which bit him deeply into his shoulder.


Ranma cried in pain, which intensified as he tore away from the centipede’s maw. Than God Rydia was there to finish it off with an ice attack.


When the battle had ended Rydia looked over to Ranma, ready to heal him when she saw a crying Kasumi sitting next to him.


“This is all my fault,” she cried. “If only I’d been stronger this wouldn’t have happened. I guess it’s true what some people say. I’m only good for housework.”


As Kasumi was crying her eyes out she didn’t notice her right hand, which was keeping the wound covered with a piece of cloth, glow in a soothing white light. Ranma was rapidly feeling better and gasped when he saw the older girl’s hand. “Kasumi, look at your right hand!”


The startled girl did as Ranma suggested and was quite surprised when she saw the light slowly die out. She took the piece of cloth away from the wound to see a completely healed shoulder, the torn silk shirt and some dried blood remaining the only clues that he had ever been wounded.


Slowly, a grin illuminated Kasumi’s face. Maybe she wasn’t helpless. Maybe she could be of some real help to Ranma and not being confined to the role of damsel in distress, like her younger sister regularly was. Maybe it was time for Kasumi to find her own place in the world… and she liked it. Before she could get up she was hugged by Rydia who happily shouted, “You did it! You used magic!”


The young woman’s radiant smile grew bigger as being praised for something else but her cooking was completely new to her. But then she hugged the greenette back.


“That was great,” Ranma enthusiastically congratulated her. “It doesn’t even hurt any longer.”


“This means you’re a white mage, Kasumi, just like I am. Maybe you have another affinity. We should try and find out later. For now we’d better hurry up and get into town.”


“That might be for the best.” After pondering about her newfound magical talent for a while she asked, “Do you think that Ranma may be able to use magic too?” That question immediately got the boy in question’s attention as he had wondered about that too.


“That’s quite possible,” the young girl confirmed. “We’ll just have to wait and see. Oh, before I forget, there’s one monster we should avoid at all costs, the sand worms. They are the toughest creatures in the desert and without some proper equipment it will be a very difficult fight. My advice would be to run away as soon as we see one.”


Both Nerimans nodded their heads. Running away was something Ranma abhorred, but Rydia knew these parts better than he did, and he would be a fool to disregard her point of view. And then there was Kasumi. The girl was courageous, no doubt about it, but she wasn’t a fighter. His first priority was to protect his friend, and if that included running away from a fight, so be it.


As they resumed their trip to Kaipo they were attacked encountered several more enemies, but they didn’t stand a chance since Ranma could concentrate on his fights more since there were tow white mages present to heal his wounds. They also found some more items near the groups of monsters: two potions and one hi-potion which have the same healing effects as a cure spell, an antidote, which cures most poisons, one eyedrops which cures darkness and, much to Rydia’s joy, a goblin stone which grants a summoner the ability to summon a goblin. Not the strongest summon by far, but it could probably have its uses.


She hoped that they’d find a chimera stone too, if only to have another summon to add to her growing collection.


They had also encountered one of the infamous sand worms and the monstrous sight made even Ranma shiver. The creature was more than three meters long and its maw was filled with very long and very pointy teeth dripping saliva. Rydia’s description really hadn’t done it justice. Kasumi was shaking and Ranma seeing the panic in the Tendo girl’s eyes did the sensible thing and took Rydia’s advice. He grabbed the girls, one with each arm and ran away, thankfully into the right direction. He didn’t stop until he recognized a town in the distance. He put the girls down, relieved that there had been no new monster attacks. They continued their trek and when they were but 500 meters from the town away they were stopped by a group of three men wearing suits of armor and brandishing swords. The one in front was wearing a green suit of armor while the two flanking him were wearing a red one.


“Halt! The one in front ordered. “By order of the King, hand over the summoner! Mist Village and all of their inhabitants have been declared enemies of the crown and are to be executed. Refusal to comply will be considered an act of treason and the offenders will be declared enemies of the crown too.”


This didn’t sit well with Ranma. Rydia was under his protection and he couldn’t imagine the young girl having done anything to offend the king. This smelled like genocide, pure and simple. Fighting in a war was one thing, but destroying a peaceful and harmless village was another matter altogether. The king of Baron reminded him a lot of Adolf Hitler and he would never deal with someone like that. No. Rydia was his friend and he’d do everything to prevent her from sharing her friends’ and family’s fate. “Forget it. You won’t get her. Haven’t you done enough already? Her whole village was destroyed. A village populated by simple and harmless people.”


“We do as we are told,” the general answered. “The king’s orders are clear and it’s not up to us to question them. If you won’t hand the girl over willingly we’ll have to use force. You are hereby declared enemies of the state and the sentence is death. MEN! ATTACK!”


The two soldiers complied, and in perfect synchronization they attacked the most dangerous opponent. Ranma evaded one of the sword strikes, but had to block the arm of the other soldier. This was a really dangerous battle since Ranma did not have much experience with being attacked by several sword users simultaneously… and the men knew how to use them. He turned around and kicked the soldier who missed hard in the back, sending him flying away at great velocity, while he used a judo throw on the other one, smashing him into the floor. The soldier was stunned and closed his eyes when he saw Ranma’s fast punch approach. But the strike did never land. Ranma stopped his punch right before it would have smashed the frightened soldier’s skull like a ripe tomato. Ranma was appalled at what he had almost done and retracted his fist, and instead of finishing the man off he let him go. The soldiers immediately sprinted back to the general to regroup, and were much more cautious now of their pigtailed enemy who obviously knew how to fight.


“What do we do now?” One of the grunts asked. “The boy is skilled and doesn’t even look winded.


The Baron general had watched the attack and noticed right away and had concluded from Kasumi’s inactivity that she was probably a noncombatant and therefore the weakest link. “Attack the brown-haired girl first. She’s harmless. And it will be a heavy blow to the fighter’s morale if they lose one of their companions.”


The soldiers launched their next attack, but the young summoner was faster. Before they reached Kasumi, Rydia’s lightning bolt had electrified one, but the bolt was unfortunately not strong enough to knock the other one over and even if the sword blow was not 100 per cent on target he still managed to ram the blade through Kasumi’s chest. As he pulled the sword out, blood erupted from the wound like a geyser, much to Ranma’s shock, and Kasumi fell down. Rydia immediately sprinted over to her to stop the bleeding and heal the wound, but Ranma didn’t even notice. His eyes were fixed on the bastards who dared do that to his friend. He had never been so angry in his whole life; it was more than anger, it was hate. He hated the man for what he did, and not even Saffron managed to enrage him to such an extent. The man would pay dearly for what he’d done. And it wouldn’t have happened if he had just had the courage to finish the downed soldier off. But no, he had to let him get away. He had always believed in second chances, well many chances in case of the Nerima regulars, but not anymore.


He had finally realized that this world was governed by other rules and that killing was a normal thing. Well, so be it. The lives of his friends were too important and precious to endanger them by being soft.


Having decided not to hold back any longer and too consumed by rage to hold back he launched the strongest ki blast he could produce at the two grunts and the general who had regrouped, turning them into an unrecognizable smoldering heap, leaving charred remains and molten metal behind. Not caring that he had just killed three people he jumped to Kasumi’s and Rydia’s side and was relieved to see the eldest Tendo daughter getting up; a bloodstain on her clothes was the only indication that she’d been injured at all.


Relieved, Ranma was crying tears of joy and hugging Kasumi in a way that would make shampoo jealous. “You’re all right! Thank God, you’re all right. I---I was afraid I’d lost you. I’ll never let anything happen to you ever again. I promise. It was my fault. If I hadn’t hesitated none of this would have happened. I…”


“It’s alright,” she said, hugging the martial artist back. “You couldn’t have known. And I’m completely healed. See?” She asked and made a pirouette to show Ranma that she was telling the truth. “Magic is really a wonderful thing.”


“You were lucky this time. And all thanks to Rydia’s quick intervention. But what if she weren’t here next time? What if you’d really die? What would I tell your family once I got back home? No, I’ll make sure you get home in perfect health. I promise.”


He then looked at Rydia. “That goes for you too. I promise to take care of you. You won’t have to suffer again. Not if I can help it.”


Rydia couldn’t hide a blush. Ranma really sounded confident, and she believed him. She joined the two Nerimans into a group hug that lasted for a few minutes. She almost felt like she was back home with her family.



Ranma looked at the remains of the soldiers, but much to his surprise didn’t feel any regrets at what he had done. He had taken lives but it didn’t bother him all that much, and he couldn’t understand why. He had never killed a human being before and it should affect him more, but nothing.


“What’s bothering you?” Kasumi asked.


“Nothing. And I don’t understand why. I’ve killed 3 people and I don’t even feel sorry for it. The only time I’ve killed before, Saffron came back to live… and he isn’t human to start with. But these were human beings, probably with a family that will grieve for them. I should be shocked, but I am not.”


The brunette thought about it for a while and came up with a theory. “I might have an idea. Maybe you don’t feel any remorse because when you showed mercy and spared the downed soldier, he repaid your kindness by trying to kill me. Maybe you’ve realized, at least subconsciously, that the usual rules don’t apply to this world and that these soldiers are merciless killers. True, they might have families, but it was their decision to attack me, although I hadn’t done anything to them. There’ nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve done what you had to do to protect us. They would never have backed down. You did the right thing and I won’t hold it against you. It’s thanks to you and Rydia that I’m still alive. Let’s just forget about it. This was pure self defense.”


Ranma nodded. Kasumi’s explanation made sense. These men were scum. They got their just deserts. He wouldn’t become a merciless killer, but he was going to do anything to protect his friends, even if he had to kill again.


Rydia was checking for salvageable stuff the soldiers had been carrying, but apart from some gil and two swords the rest of their equipment had been too damaged by the explosion to be useful.


“Take this!” Rydia ordered, and gave one of the swords to Ranma. It’s probably better than the knife, and one we’re in Kaipo we’ll go to a weapons shop and see if we can find something that suits. And we also need to buy some protective gear for protection. Your clothes offer none. The armor shops generally have a large selection of enchanted armor and clothing boosting one’s defenses by a large margin. Well, you’ll see what I’m talking about once we’re there. So, let’s go.”


They marched on and fortunately didn’t run into any more monsters or soldiers. And barely an hour later had they arrived in Kaipo.


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Meanwhile, Cecil was in trouble. Kain had somehow disappeared after the earthquake and he couldn’t find the dragoon everywhere. Hoping that his friend was safe he was ready to go back to Baron through the Mist Cave when he discovered to his shock that the earthquake had triggered an avalanche of rocks and dirt, and that the entrance had been completely obstructed. Seeing no other alternative but to take a very large detour since the mountains were much to steep to safely climb without any special equipment he marched towards Kaipo too in hope that he might find someone who could help him get back to Baron. He had a report to deliver after all. Unfortunately, the previous fights had been very taxing and crossing the desert all alone was very dangerous. He tried to avoid groups of monsters as much as possible, which slowed him considerably down, but he had been lucky so far and only encountered a pair of Hundlegs. But he had to use a potion, of the he had left. If he didn’t get any supplies soon things could get really tricky.


“Damn monsters!” Cecil ranted as he cleaned his sword of the Hundleg’s blood. “Lately, their numbers have been increasing and no one knows why. I hope that the problem will be dealt with soon. Ah well, there’s not much I can do but grin and bare. Complaining doesn’t help. I should stay focused on my mission and deliver this report as fast as possible.”


When he saw the group of Baron soldiers approach he relaxed. Finally some help. But he was disappointed very quickly since the four men immediately draw their weapons as soon as they were at a good striking distance..


“Cecil! Finally I’ve found you,” exclaimed the general.


“Wait! The king…” the dark knight tried to explain, but the general didn’t give him the chance.


“I am here on the king's orders. All summoners of Mist must be annihilated, yet you let the girl get away. That’s insubordination and treason.”


“What?” Cecil incredulously shouted. “You’ve been spying on us?”


“Of course. Suspected traitors can’t be trusted. And this was all the confirmation Her Majesty needed to be convinced. Our orders are to kill you if you should betray the kingdom. MEN! KILL HIM!”


Luckily for him, Cecil had had some of the best instructors teach him all the ins and outs of the soldier business and since he was also taught tactics he knew how the soldiers would attack. That’s what saved his life as he knew when and where they would strike. Still, one man against three was unfair, but he was relieved that the general apparently was too frightened to join the attack but only barked orders. Cecil had dispatched the men rather easily, but just as he was about to take care of the general the coward had run away.


Cecil was rather depressed now. He still hoped to somehow get back into the king’s good graces, but first he needed to get back to Baron. But that had to wait. He was exhausted and really needed some rest before get could go on. He searched for a secluded area and took a magical tent seal out of his backpack and activated it. Not five minutes later he was fast asleep.
.

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Kaipo was unlike any towns that Kasumi and Ranma had seen before. Well Ranma had seen some over the years, but none like this one. The houses looked European and were spread around the very large pool of water in the center. Several narrow canals distributed the water to the different areas. Palm trees were spread throughout the town and the shade they offered was extensive enough to protect them effectively from the scorching sunrays. Rydia had been in the village a few times and showed her new friends around. The village was much like most of the others in this world and had the obligatory weapons and armor shops, an item shop, an inn and the local branch of the Hunters Guild, which was also the building the greenette was leading her traveling companions to.


“Here’s the Hunters Guild I told you about,” the young girl explained. “It’s the best way to earn money. You become a member and they’ll pay you for every monster you kill. The stronger the monster the more money you get. I’m not a member yet since my mother thought I was too young, but I’ve dreamed about it for a few years. So what do you say? The annual membership fee is very low and the guild only takes 5% of the money we earn. We need the money if we want to buy weapons and other gear, and this is the fastest way.”


Not having any better ideas Kasumi and Ranma agreed to at least get more information before agreeing, and so they entered the house together.”


“Welcome to the Hunter’s Guild,” a middle-aged man greeted them. “How can I help you?”


“Hello,” Rydia answered, having been appointed the official spokesman for the group, “we’d like to apply for a membership, but my friends still need to make up their minds and want to have more information.”


“That’s not a problem. I’d be glad to answer every question you might have. My name’s Garan by the way.”


Ranma and Kasumi were asking the questions as Rydia knew most of the information but not everything and it was probably better to have a pro explain everything. And indeed, Garan knew a lot, and even the greenette learnt a lot. The question and answer session lasted for about half an hour and it was quite enlightening. Monster hunting paid a lot better than manual labor and there were not many people doing it. The main reason was the death rate, but Garan reassured them that it generally only happened to overconfident hunters who were either not prepared or loners. Complete parties were rarely lost.


Kasumi was especially interested in the magical book the hunters got once they were registered because they reminded her eerily of the pokédex the tamers use in Pokémon, a videogame she liked to play at when she was younger. Every hunter gets a magical, self updating book that contains useful information on all known monsters, and whenever a new one is discovered or new facts become known, the entries are automatically edited and completed. The book lists the average stats of the monsters, names and effects of their attacks and keeps count of the number of monsters killed. The book is keyed into its owner’s magical signature so that no one can steal or temper it, and the owner is also the only person who can open it. Whenever a hunter ultimately dies, without an chance for resurrection, his book is automatically teleported back to the guild.


Whenever a hunter turns his book in at a guild house, the guild will tally the kills and calculate the amount of money earned. It’s an ingenuous and foolproof system.


Not seeing any disadvantages in becoming members the trio immediately signed up and paid for the membership; the money they took from the goblins was more than sufficient to cover the costs and they had still some to spare. Garan handed each of them the basic hunter kit consisting of the magical book, a sturdy backpack and some simple wilderness survival tools.


Having stored their belongings in the backpacks, Rydia led them to the weapons shop where they sold the loot from their battles. They didn’t get very much for the crap, but it was enough to buy some weapons. Kasumi bought a staff, and Ranma promised to teach her how to use it, Rydia got a new, sharper knife and Ranma, who was at first reluctant to buy any since they really didn’t fit his fighting styles changed his opinion when he saw the claws. He had had rudimentary training in lots of weapons, some of them made for hand to hand combat like knuckles or katars, but claws were new for him. He recognized their usefulness, however, and bought a pair.


They had just enough money left for a hotel room and some cheap protective gear. Each of them bought an enchanted tunic that gave at least some protection and after quick snack turned in for the night. The following day, ass soon as they got up and had breakfast they made some enquiries, but no one could really tell them how to get to Mysidia. The best advice they got was to travel to Damcyan Castle and ask the king since Damcyan was built near the sea and they might have boats.


They left the town in direction of the Underground Waterway, a tunnel that led straight to Damcyan they were attacked by another sand worm. Having had a full night’s sleep, a very filling breakfast and better equipment, the group was much more confident and this time didn’t run away. Ranma tried out his claws and was surprised at how much of a difference it made to the lethality of his attacks. Rydia attacked with an ice blast from afar and Ranma jumped out of the way as the monster tried to swallow him whole. As the martial artist continued his deadly dance he instinctively used a new attack. “GOBLIN PUNCH!” He shouted and, at a speed that eclipsed the Kachu Tenchu Amaguriken turned the monster into swiss cheese.


“Woah!” That had really surprised him. “How did I do that?”


Rydia gave him a winning smile. “See? You can use magic too. Congratulations. I’m not sure what magic it is, but don’t you remember? One of the goblins used that attack on you.”


“Ah, right.” Having had much on his mind since their arrival the fight had completely slipped his mind. “I wonder if I can use other spells.”


“Probably.” The greenette reassured him. As far as I know everyone who can use magic learns more than one spell.”


“But how do we get new spells?” Kasumi was curious too. So far she was only able to use that cure spell, but she hoped that she could learn more. Rydia had told her about the white spells she knew and the ponytailed girl had been fascinated. All the good she could do with those spells. It was mind boggling. She giggled. She couldn’t wait to show it to Dr. Tofu. Boy, would he be surprised.


“I’m not really sure myself. I know that there are two ways to learn new spells. The safest, but also more tedious one is through studying. It’s a very long process and it might take years to learn a single new spell. Most mages prefer this method since it’s safe and they don’t have to put themselves in danger. The second one is through fighting and an intense use of the spells you already know. Not only do you get stronger, but your mana reserves grow as well. No one knows why, but it seems that every mage subconsciously knows all of the spells of the school he practices and new spells get unlocked once they are strong enough or have enough mana to use them. Typically this happens in stressful and life threatening situations, where you need more powerful spells to survive.


Kasumi and Ranma were speechless. Did that mean that even the people of their own world could learn to use magic? After all, they hadn’t been born here and yet they could use magic. They really needed to learn more about this world. “Can we learn more about this in Misydia?” Kasumi asked.


“Probably. The magical academy and library is located there. If they don’t have the information it doesn’t exist.”


They arrived at a large hole in the mountain and Rydia stopped them. “Here’s the entrance to the Underground Waterway.”


“Stop!” Ranma ordered as they were about to go in. “Let’s check our equipment one last time. We don’t know what to expect.”


The two girls couldn’t fault his logic and they made a quick inventory of everything they had in their backpacks. Seeing that nothing was missing they entered the cave. Not a hundred meters further they saw an old man standing there, muttering to himself. The elder looked to be in his 70s, but Ranma could easily recognize the tightly controlled and powerful magical aura he was emitting. This man might look old, but he knew centuries old martial arts masters and knew not to judge a book by its cover. The mage would be a formidable opponent if he attacked them.


The elder turned around an immediately his gaze concentrated on Ranma. “You… I can feel that you’re very strong. I need your assistance.”


“Erm, if we can help, sure. What do you need?”


“I must get to Damcyan to reclaim my daughter, who was deceived by a WICKED BARD!! We must hurry, for I sense an ill omen!”


“That’s fine,” Kasumi answered. “We’re headed that way too. But, could you give us your name first?”


“Oh, I’m sorry. Where are my manners? It’s just that I’m so angry at the moment… Ah well. I am the sage Tellah.”

[TerraEpon]

Wow,
There's a few issues where you, I guess summerize a bit much - the whole question and answer thing....it's a common problem with authors that tend to exaggerate a bit on what actually happens...

But otherwise, I really like how you fleshed things out. Looks like Ranma's going to learn Blue Magic? Not a feature of FFIV of course...and you added some other stuff from FF games. The hunters' guild was an interesting addition too. I assume you'll be skipping the whole sandruby thing (which is good because if Kasumi is a White Mage who needs Rosa too).

Plus, I can't ever fault an author who likes to use the word 'greenette' ^_^

[Dumbledork]

The summarizing is necessary in this and the next chapter. I've made a lot of changes and the reader will be lost if I don't explain it. You've probably noticed a lot of the changes like the introduction of jobs that don't exist in FF IV, the guild,...

Yes, Ranma's a blue mage and next chapter you'll learn what other job he has gained (it's one that only exists in FF V).

Now, why did I add the hunters' guild and change the functionality of the game? That's simple. In this story, the FF world is a real world and not a game, so thins like getting xp, going level up or animals dropping money and items they don't have any use for would be nonense.

As for Rosa, she's still agonizing in that house, but don't worry. Cecil will save her. It's just that Ranma and Kasumi will go their own way and won't join Cecil's parrty until after he's become a paladin. Cecil won't meet Tellah and he'll have to go through the the Antlion's cave without the help of Rydia.

[Reimu]

I thought that Rydia was seven in the game.
That would make your story harder to write with a younger Rydia, considering how helpful she is in this fanfic though.

[Dumbledork]

Rydia is 8 in the game, but quite frankly, look at how badass she is in the game. I know it's fantasy, but honestly, killing monsters at that age? I don't think so.

[Dumbledork]

This is a complete rewrite of the chapter. It’s about 3k words longer and you can see the most notable changes in the fights. I took some of the advice I got to heart and hope that the chapter now reads better.

Prologue can be found here

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4618653/1/F ... V_One_Half

Disclaimer:

None of the characters belong to me. I’m writing this purely for pleasure and I make no money with it.

CHAPTER 1

Everyone was frozen in place except for the giant who, with a mighty stomp, caused a heavy earthquake that threw everyone to the ground and created a large fissure starting at his foot and continuing for several kilometers. Everyone was astonished at seeing the very large fissure that now marred the landscape. Not bothering to check if the knights were incapacitated or not Ranma jumped into action and ran over to the girl, getting her away from those ruthless killers. When he got back to Kasumi he grabbed her too and sprinted away at top speed, leaving a dust cloud in his wake.


Only when he couldn’t see the village any longer he stopped and put the two girls down.


Taking a closer look at the grime covered, shivering girl, Ranma’s heart went out to her. She had just seen her world crumble and was in dire need of comforting. He vowed then and there that he’d do everything in his power to make her feel better. He didn’t know what losing one’s family felt like, but he knew about loneliness, having grown up with only his father as a constant presence, being tortured in the name of martial arts training, and feeling miserable quite often. No way would he let this sweet little girl experience something similar.


“Who… who are you?” Rydia asked after she had recovered from her surprise.


“A friend,” Ranma smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I got you away from the evil men who have destroyed your village. You’re safe now.”


The greenette relaxed a bit but didn’t put her guard down until she saw Kasumi smiling at her. Some considered Kasumi’s smile to be one of the most powerful weapons in the world. One of her serene smiles directed at anyone in Nerima was generally enough to stop any fight. And once again it had worked like a charm. Her frowns, however, were even more dangerous, but they were so rare that most consider them a myth. But that’s mostly because everyone who has ever been on the receiving end of one of her disapproving frowns was too afraid to talk about it.


Having had time to collect herself, everything that had happened that day hit the young girl with full force and she started to cry. Kasumi took the kid in her arms and gently pat her on the back. “There, there. Just let it all out. You’ll feel much better afterwards.”


Kasumi’s calming tone didn’t miss its intended purpose and after several minutes of soothing words the tears stopped flowing until she was only sobbing. Kasumi kneeled down and looked her in the eyes. “Now, why don’t you tell us your name? I am Kasumi Tendo and this is Ranma Saotome.”


Ranma winked at the girl and she gave him a small smile. “I… I am Rydia, and I live in Mist Village. I’m 12 years old.”


‘Cute’ was the first thought that came to Ranma’s mind. She’d surely grow up to be a heartbreaker. Bastards. How could they do that to this poor child?


“Well, Rydia, that’s a very pretty name,” Kasumi smiled at her. “Why don’t you tell us what happened? And maybe you could give us more information on that giant we saw?”


Rydia hesitantly nodded her head, still a little bit intimidated by the strangers who had saved her. “His name is Titan. His kind is known under many different names: ‘call’, ‘summon’, ‘guardian force’, ‘esper’, and some more I can’t remember. They live in a different dimension, but the people from my village can summon them when we need their help. Almost everyone in the village possesses that ability. Titan is my personal guardian. Every time a new summoner is born one of the summons automatically becomes its guardian. Titan is mine, like the Mist Dragon was my mother’s.” She had to pause in her explanations after she’d mentioned her mother. It still hurt so much to think about her, and probably would for a long time. She decided not to think about it for the moment and tell her saviors more about her magic. “It’s a miracle I was even able to summon him. I shouldn’t have enough mana to do that.”


Ranma and Kasumi were avidly listening to the young girl’s tail and the pigtailed boy was imagining his rival’s reaction if he used Titan in a fight against them. Boy, would they crap their pants. But he had to wonder what mana was. He’d never heard of it.


“What is mana?” The pigtailed boy wanted to know.


“Mana allows us to use magic. People with a large mana reserves can use more spells or a higher level of spells than people with small mana reserves.”


To Ranma that sounded a lot like ki. He guessed that it probably worked the same way, just that is was a different kind of energy.


“We saw one of those ‘summons’ about 2 hours ago and it’s because of that thing that we got stranded here. We got sucked in by the portal it disappeared through.”


Now it was Rydia’s turn to be surprised at what the boy had told her. “I’ve never heard of something like that ever happening. What was his name?”


“He called himself Ifrit,” Kasumi answered.


“I know him. Some of the villagers were able to summon him, but I’ve only seen him a few times. I don’t have a contract with him, so I can’t summon him for you to get answers. I’m really sorry that I can’t help you. Maybe you should just wait for the person who summoned him to bring you back.”


“That’s impossible, unfortunately,” Kasumi calmly explained. “First, the summoner is dead. Ifrit killed him for summoning him without a proper contract; second, this doesn’t look like our world at all. At least, I’ve never heard of a place like this one or of summons before today.”


“WOW! People from another dimension!” Rydia’s eyes were shining. She didn’t even consider the fact that her saviors might be delusional or telling tall tales, all too used to seeing things that most people from Ranma’s and Kasumi’s world would call impossible. But she calmed down very quickly and thought back to what they’ve said. “I’ve never heard of a summon killing a summoner.”


“That’s probably because Happosai wasn’t a real summoner,” Ranma guessed. “He had a scroll in his possession which he used to summon Ifrit.”


“I’ve never seen a scroll like that. I didn’t even know it was possible. People are born with the gift of magic. I can’t imagine any other way to use it. Maybe magic doesn’t work the same way in your dimension.”


“Does magic have a lot of importance in this world?” Kasumi enquired. “Magic is very rare in ours, but from what I’ve seen so far it seems to be rather common here.”


“Oh yes,” the greenette nodded. “Magic is used all the time and almost everyone can use at least a little bit of it. But most people aren’t either very talented or they don’t have the patience to put some effort into improving. Many also aren’t motivated at all. You see, learning and mastering magic takes a lot of time, and only a few mages learn more than a few low level spells. There are also the people who prefer fighting to magical study.”


Ranma’s eyes lit up at once after hearing that. Fighters meant new techniques to learn. He couldn’t wait to meet some of them. Maybe this fiasco had some good points after all. But still, he had to find a way to get back home. All of his acquaintances were probably already worrying and tearing down the neighborhood in search of Kasumi and him. “Do you know if there’s a way for us to go home?”


The young girl shook her head. “I don’t know. You should ask the Mysidians. They are rumored to be the best mages in the world and have a very large library. Unfortunately I don’t know where Mysidia is. The only thing I’m certain about is that it’s on another continent and you can only get there by boat.”


“Is there a town around here where we could ask?” Kasumi enquired.


“Yes there is,” Rydia confirmed. “The desert town of Kaipo.”


“Well then, let’s go!” Ranma vigorously raised his fist as he tried to lighten the mood and keep his companions from worrying too much.


“Me… me too?” Rydia asked.


“Well, of course,” Kasumi indignantly answered. “We can’t leave you here all alone. What if the evil men come back? And what would you do all alone here. No, you’re coming with us. We’ll take you to your nearest relatives. Don’t worry. Ranma is very strong. He’ll make sure nothing happens to you. “


“But... But I don’t have any family left that could take me in. Everyone I knew lived here. I’m sorry to be a burden.”


Kasumi kneeled and hugged the girl. “That’s so sad. You know what? Why don’t you simply travel with us? Anywhere is better than here and it’s always more pleasant and safe to travel in a group. You agree, Ranma, don’t you?”


“Of course you’ll come with us. We won’t abandon you.”


Rydia was relieved and with a last look over to the village she made a short prayer and followed the two dimensional travelers.


Ranma had considered giving the poor villagers a proper burial, but in the end he decided to listen to Kasumi’s advice and leave as soon as possible and get Rydia to safety in case the assassins returned to finish the job. And they didn’t want to put the innocent little girl in danger.


As they were walking through the grassy plain Rydia opened up some more and told her travel companions about life in the village and about magic. Ranma and Kasumi were very attentive listeners and really fascinated by the subject. The pigtailed martial artist had been wary of magic at first, since he had more than once had bad run-ins with it, but he quickly realized that, unlike the cursed artifacts he had had to deal with in Nerima the magic of this world was quite different. They were so engrossed by the native girl’s tales that they didn’t notice the trap they were walking into until it was sprung. A large group of strange little demons jumped out of concealment and surrounded the trio.


Just before the creatures sprung the trap Ranma’s danger sense had kicked in and he had pushed both girls to the floor. “Stay down! We’re under attack!”


When the young martial artist got a look at the attackers he was quite surprised since he had never seen creatures like those. They were surrounded by about 14-15 very short, two legged humanoid things wearing what looked like green smurf hats, green shirts, and brown trousers. All of them were wielding curved daggers. However, the two things that stood out most about them were their very long noses and elfin ears that poked through holes in their hats. He had never seen anything like them and unfortunately for the poor Goblins mistook them for demons. They didn’t look like much, but the martial artist knew from experience not to judge a book by its cover as Happosai and Cologne had the habit of proving on a regular basis; and this was especially true with demons. He didn’t know all that much about demons, but he’d met some of the fiends over the years. And most of those he had seen had been rather harmless and had only been out to cause chaos and have some fun, but he’d heard from the really evil ones in stories that were more than just legend, and these were rather of that sort if the malice that showed in the beady eyes of the creatures in front of him were any indication. These weren’t his rivals looking for a friendly, or not so friendly, spar, but instead they were out for the kill and wouldn’t stop until their bloodlust had been satiated. His only chance was to destroy them as fast as possible before they could become a threat to him and his friends.


“Looka here, boys,” one of the creatures said. “Dinner is served. And they look really tasty…. Especially the girls. Probably very tender too. It’s been what? Two weeks since we last had some nice human flesh. And the meat was rather stringy too. Now these on the other hand… delicious.”


While the demons were openly drooling and preparing their attack Ranma had not been idle and attacked one of the demons with a full out attack to the face, tearing the head off the shoulder and killing it on the spot. This surprised the pigtailed hero since he had thought demons should be much more durable. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth he jumped with a flying kick at another one of the creatures, favoring speed over power since the demons didn’t seem very tough. The creature had been just as surprised as the rest of them and didn’t even have the time to protect itself, not expecting such a quick reaction from their prey. The kick wouldn’t even have fazed Ryoga, but these little critters definitely didn’t have the Lost Boy’s toughness and was sent flying into a tree at full velocity and wouldn’t be getting up ever again.


Rydia had also attacked in the meantime, proving that she knew a thing or two about fighting and if the three frozen creatures were an indication that she was rather good with magic.


Ranma and Rydia managed to down two more demons each, Ranma with his fists and Rydia with her lightning bolts before they were able to mount a defense. Only 8 of the creatures were remaining and very angry if their snarls were any indication.


“They are weak for demons, don’t you think?” Ranma stated.


“Those aren’t demons,” the greenette explained, “They are Goblins. Very nasty creatures that love to kill, but are only dangerous in groups.”


“I see. Well, let’s finish them off. I have no plans to finish in anyone’s cooking pot today.”


And before Rydia had time to answer he was off again and kicked one of the now named Goblins sideways on the head and, if the cracking noise was any indication, broke its neck. But the other Goblins had recovered enough to launch an attack of their own. Two of them went for Rydia who was protecting Kasumi while three others attacked Ranma simultaneously.


Rydia just had time enough for one more spell before the two remaining Goblins were on her and Kasumi. She blasted the one in front of her with a lightning bolt, but couldn’t prevent the other one from attacking Kasumi. The frightened ponytailed girl look at the ugly creature in shock and just before the blade could strike her, she unconsciously reacted and in her panic materialized a mallet out of nowhere and brained the Goblin, leaving only a smear on the floor. She let the weapon fall and it disappeared once again to wherever it had come from. “Oh My!”


Ranma flinched after having seen sweet Kasumi use Akane’s vicious trademark attack. He knew exactly how much it hurt and pitied the poor creature that had been subjected to it. No one deserved that… or Akane’s cooking for that matter, but inwardly he was proud of Kasumi. There was obviously more to the older girl than meets the eye.


But he had his own attackers to take care of and didn’t have time to think about Kasumi. But it was obvious that the gentle girl knew at least how to protect herself. Ranma wasn’t really in trouble since the Goblins were pathetically weak, but they attacked from all sides and he had his hands full with blocking the simultaneous attacks of the three Goblins. He grabbed one of them by its neck and crushed its windpipe before throwing it to the floor. This moment of inattention was what the Goblin that had stayed out of the attack had been waiting for. “GOBLIN PUNCH!” Was the only thing the pigtailed boy heard before his body was assaulted by several hundred punches. The blows barely stung since he was used to much more powerful attacks, but the surprise attack distracted him enough for a knife strike to penetrate his defense and hit him in his leg.


Ranma cried in pain, but was fast enough to crush the Goblin with a retaliatory punch. That only left one, since the one who had attacked from afar just got killed by a lightning bolt. The martial artist saw the fear in the creature’s eyes but didn’t show any mercy. Barely slowed by the knife wound he grabbed it with both hands and broke its spine with a backbreaker.


Now that they had dealt with the threat Ranma had the time to think about what he’d just done. He’d just killed. They may not have been human, but then they had not been demons either. It had only been self defense, but fact was that he had killed. He thought back to the stories Rydia had told him, and it didn’t take much brainpower to understand that this was a hostile world and that the people learnt to defend themselves from an early age to cull the monster population. And seeing the girl fight he understood that she’d seen battles and obviously killed before if the lack of remorse was any indication. He didn’t have much choice. It was ‘kill or be killed’.


Meanwhile, Rydia had joined him and cast a cure spell to heal the wound much to Ranma’s and Kasumi’s surprise. Especially Kasumi was entranced by the white spell and hoped that she could learn it too. That could really come in handy and would be much cheaper than all the bandages and band aids she needed to buy regularly to treat all of the martial artists that visited the dojo. The pigtailed boy on the other hand was more surprised by the versatility of magic; it could be used to attack, heal, and even summon monsters.


“I’m really impressed, Rydia,” Ranma praised the young girl. “You are strong. And your healing spell is really neat. I wish you’d been present to heal me after some of my more brutal fights.”


“It was nothing,” she said humbly, but her blushing face told another story.


He then turned to Kasumi. “A mallet? When did you learn Akane’s technique?”


Kasumi was embarrassed for losing her calm like that, but knew that Ranma deserved an explanation. “I’ve known it for years, ever since I was trained by my father. But I’ve stopped training after my mother’s death to take care of the family and never really needed to use it. It’s one of the main techniques of the Tendo branch of Anything Goes. The problem is that you can only manifest it if you’re feeling a strong negative emotion like hate or fear.”


“Oh, that’s neat. As long as you don’t use it on me,” he teased the embarrassed girl.


Kasumi looked actually shocked that Ranma even suggested that. “Of course not! I’m not Akane. I know not to let negative emotions cloud my mind.”


While they were talking Rydia had sneaked away to go through the Goblins’ pockets and to check the bushes around them.”


In the meantime both Nerimans had noticed Rydias absence. “What are you doing?” Ranma asked, outraged by the girl’s actions.


“What?” She asked, not understanding why the pigtailed boy would reprimand her. “They are dead. They don’t need the money, but we do. We need to buy a lot of things in town. Everyone does it.”


Ranma couldn’t deny the veracity of that statement. They had nothing but the clothes they were wearing, and since Rydia didn’t find it the least bit disturbing he guessed that it was normal for this world.


“YES!” Rydia enthusiastically shouted. “Look what I’ve found?” She ran over to the pair of otherworlders and showed them the item. It didn’t look like much, but in this strange and unpredictable new world that might not mean anything. The object resembled an ofuda, but had the word ‘tent’ inscribed on its surface.


“What is it, Rydia?” Kasumi wanted to know.


“You don’t have things like this is your world?” She asked, and seeing the both of them shake their heads she explained. “This is a magical seal. These seals are used to magically store large objects that take a lot of space or are too bulky to transport. This particular seal contains a magical tent. These tents are very useful since they increase the mana recovery rate and healing speed of the people sleeping inside. If we use one of these our magic reserves replenish and our wounds heal at much faster pace than if we simply slept outside on the ground. They aren’t very expensive, but we need all the money we can get if we want to survive. Oh, and take this.” She handed both Kasumi and Ranma a dagger “These are the only weapons the Goblins had on them. I know they are low quality and rusty, but the Goblins didn’t have any other weapons. If you’re not comfortable with these you can buy other weapons in the weapons shop in Kaipo.”


“I don’t need one. I defeated the Goblins without. My fists are my weapons.”


“The Goblins are the weakest monsters that exist. They are only dangerous in groups. But what if we meet monsters with diamond hard skin, magical armor or that are poisonous to the touch. They can only be killed with magic or magical weapons. Everyone has always a weapon on them.”


Ranma and Kasumi nodded.


Ranma once again saw the wisdom in the young girl’s words. This was not Nerima. Hell, this wasn’t even his world and the rules were different. And in this hostile environment ht would be prudent to use every tool at his disposal to survive and bring them safely home. Ranma had not much experience with daggers, but it was a versatile weapon and he was sure he could incorporate them into some of his katas. But as soon as he’d find weapons he was more comfortable with he would get rid of it.


“I’ve also found money. It’s not a fortune but we can probably afford some protective equipment and better weapons for you. There were also some various potions in their backpacks that might come in handy. But we should hurry up. It still is a four-hour-walk and I want to be in safety before it gets too dark and the more dangerous monsters come out.”


Both Nerimans diligently followed the young girl, although Ranma was reluctant at first; he was the better fighter and so it should be up to him to lead the group, but he was impressed by the girl’s determination and adult behavior. But then, living in world where you had to live in constant fear of becoming the next snack of a gigantic monster probably explained that. Just as admirable was the fact that she hadn’t become an emotional wreck after her mother’s death, but had decided to make the murderers pay. Vengeance wasn’t a solution in Ranma’s opinion, but it was probably a whole lot better than than to sit around and become an emotional wreck like Mr. Tendo. He pitied the young girl; he still had his two parents, and although they’d never win the parent of the year award he loved them nonetheless. Rydia was all alone in the world now. Except for Kasumi and him she had no one and it was Ranma’s firm intention to protect her to the best of his abilities.


The pigtailed boy wasn’t vengeful by nature, but he completely agreed with Rydia; Baron needed to be stopped. But that was not his fight. His goal was to find a way home for both Kasumi’s and his sake. He would let someone else play the hero for a change. He had already given so much and how could he solve other people’s problems if he wasn’t even able to solve his own. He could take the easy way out and simply stay in this world, but that wouldn’t be honorable and not fair to Kasumi. The older girl had never been away from home and she was probably already homesick. He looked over to the girl, who was having a lively conversation with Rydia, and was perplexed to see the happiness she was radiating. He had never seen her so ‘alive’ as she was now. It was easy to see that she obviously enjoyed the adventure. She even giggled from time to time from some of child’s tales, something he’d never seen her do before.


Well, maybe they could explore the world for a bit. It’s not like they were in a hurry. The others back in Nerima probably thought they were dead anyways. And with no means to return home they could enjoy the freedom for a bit. Nerima would still be standing when they returned, or so he hoped.


The plains were slowly giving way to the desert as the lush vegetation receded to be replaced with plants that were better adapted to an arid climate. Just then the party stumbled upon a group of seven large monsters; two Desert Sahagin, three Flying Eyes and two Hundlegs. The Desert Sahagin is a red skinned, over two meter tall Creature from the Black Lagoon lookalike. The Flying Eyes are one meter fifty large butterflies with a wingspan of about two meters and have a very long proboscis. The particularity that immediately catches the eye however are the large spots on the top part of each of its wings. The Hundlegs are basically three meter long, brown-green centipedes. The creatures hadn’t seen them arrive, and so the trio tried to sneak past them to avoid an unnecessary fight. Unfortunately, Rydia stumbled over a stone and fell down. The monsters immediately turned around to check out the disturbance and attacked at once. Rydia had just enough time to get up and ready a spell. Ranma had his dagger in his hand and stood protectively in front of Kasumi. The monsters had no tactic at all and launched a straight forward attack.


Rydia’s lightning bolt downed one of the butterflies and Ranma eviscerated one of the centipedes with his dagger. Before the remaining monsters had reached them, Ranma had grabbed both girls and jumped over the incoming stampede. While still in the air he kicked one of the humanoid monsters with enough power to strike it down. After he had landed again he put both girls behind him and immediately attacked, not giving the monsters enough time to turn around, and killed the second centipede with a well placed dagger strike in its belly. Unfortunately the monsters were faster than he had expected and while he was pulling his weapon out of the centipede the remaining three monsters were running towards Kasumi and Rydia who they obviously saw as the weaker targets.


Ranma pursued the monsters, but they’d reach the girls before him. Rydia killed the remaining butterfly with an ice blast, while the other two creatures attacked Kasumi. The brunette successfully blocked the butterfly’s bite with her weapon, but the Desert Sahagin had a free shot. Whne Ranma saw this he accelerated and jumped in front of the Sahagin, taking the blow that would otherwise have hit Kasumi. The creature’s claws were strong enough to leave some very deep gashes in his back that were bleeding profusely. Knowing that he would probably lose consciousness soon, the martial artist pulled all stops and bisected his attacker with a Kijin Raishi Dan. Just before his eyes closed he saw the last butterfly falling down.


As Rydia was about to run over to Ranma and Kasumi to heal the pigtailed boy, she saw a crying Kasumi cradling the teenager in her arms. “This is all my fault,” she cried. “If only I’d been stronger this wouldn’t have happened. I guess some people are right when they say I’m only good for housework.”


As Kasumi was crying her eyes out she didn’t notice that the hand she used to stem the blood flow with was glowing in a soothing white light and that Ranma’s wound was rapidly closing up.


“Look at your right hand!” The younger girl excitedly shouted.


The startled girl did as suggested and was quite surprised when she saw the light slowly die out. When she removed her hand she only saw pristine skin where the wound used to be, mucht to her surprise. “What? How? I don’t understand,” she stammered.


“You just used magic, silly.” The summoner enthusiastically shook Kasumi’s hand. “Congratulations. You are a white mage.”


Kasumi’s tears dried up and were replaced by a grin that illuminated Kasumi’s face. Maybe she wasn’t helpless after all. Maybe she could finally be of some help to Ranma and mot just a useless accessory. Her sister already filled that role, she bitterly reflected. She really loved her sisters, but was exasperated by Nabiki’s mercenary tendencies and Akane’s temper tantrums. Maybe now was her time to shine and find her own place in the world… and she liked that thought. No longer would she accept the role she had been cast into at home. When she etunred she would do something worthwhile with her new talent. As she got up she was hugged by Ranma who congratulated her too.


“You did it, Kasumi. You used magic.” Doing some katas he was surprised by the lack of pain. “It doesn’t even hurt any longer. Thank you.”


This meant a lot to the ponytailed girl as Ranma rarely praised anyone.


“Rydia, do you think I might learn more spells. Maybe even some of the attack spells you used? And what about Ranma? Can he learn magic too? Oooh, I’m so excited. I want to learn more.”


Kasumi was acting like a kid on a sugar high much to Ranma’s surprise. This was a side of Kasumi he had never seen before, and he wondered if this was in fact the real Kasumi, this carefree version, and not the ‘yamato nadeshiko’ version he had come to know in Nerima. He had to admit that he preferred the new one. He also realized that they were much alike. Both of them were expected to act in a certain way back home and here they were free of those expectations.


Rydia had to laugh at the older girl’s enthusiasm. “Calm down; calm down. Cure is the first spell a whit mage learns, so you’ll probably learn some more very soon. I’m more surprised that you managed to cast a spell without any previous instruction. But I don’t know if you’ll be able to use black magic. Everyone is different. White magic is probably your primary magical specialization. And I don’t see why Ranma shouldn’t be able to learn magic. But we should continue on our way. I’ll tell you more while we’re walking. Oh, and before I forget, there’s one monster we should avoid at all costs; the sand worms. They are the toughest creatures in the desert and without some proper equipment they will be very difficult to kill. My advice is to run away as soon as we see one.”


Both Nerimans nodded their heads. Running away was something Ranma abhorred, but Rydia knew the region better than he did, and he would be a fool to disregard her point of view. And then there was Kasumi. The girl was courageous, no doubt about it, and even if she now knew some magic she wasn’t a fighter. His first priority was to protect the girls, and if that included running away from a fight, so be it.


As they resumed their trip to Kaipo they were attacked by a few more groups of monsters, but the poor creatures didn’t stand a chance against the trio who’d learnt to work together as a team and were protecting each other’s backs. Ranma and Kasumi had also seen Chocobo, the only summon Rydia could control, in action. Chocobos are big birds and the primary mounts in Rydia’s world. And their claws pack quite a wallop if the shredded monsters were any indication.


They also found some more items in the vicinity of the monsters; objects that had probably belonged to some unfortunate travelers that had either been killed or had run away in a panic. Their stash of useful items had now grown to a decent size with a nice assortment of various potions, two tent seals, a few rusty daggers and, much to Rydia’s joy, a Goblin stone which grants her the ability to summon a Goblin. Not the strongest summon by far, but strong enough to kill the weak monsters. And the second one the young summoner could easily summon.


They had also encountered one of the infamous sand worms and the monstrous sight made even Ranma shiver. The sand worm is a more than four meter long, green worm with ugly purple protrusions growing everywhere from its body. The most frightening feature of the monster however is the large, intimidating maw filled with very long, very pointy teeth dripping saliva. Rydia’s description really hadn’t done it justice. Ranma attacked it with a swift attack, but the dagger’s blade broke on contact and. Ranma tried to punch it, but the rubbery skin easily absorbed all of the punches. Seeing Kasumi’s panicked look the pigtailed boy decided to swallow his pride and did the sensible thing. He took Rydia’s advice, grabbed both girls and ran away. But he vowed that next time the monster would bite the dust. And only when he was sure that he’d shaken the monster off did he put them down. When he was sure that they were at a safe distance he put the girls down and they continued their trek.


“That was a close one. I wonder what that thing is made of. I had the impression I was punching a rubber tire. You were right, Rydia. I need a weapon. We all do. And once in town I’ll try and find something more durable than that crappy dagger.”


The rest of the journey was rather uneventful if one does not take the few monster attacks into account. Thankfully, they hadn’t encountered another sand worm. When they saw the town in the distance they were relieved; Ranma, because he was hungry and wanted to fill his stomach, and Rydia and Kasumi because they were spent and out of mana.


Ranma had been very surprised that the two girls had managed to hold up as well as they did. He was used to hard training harsh weather conditions, but the scorching desert heat must have been very trying to the two girls. Rydia was still very young after all and Kasumi had probably never been in a desert. Thank God they had found some watering holes or the trek would have been even worse.


When the group was but 500 meters away from Kaipo they were stopped by a group of six armor wearing men armed with sword. The man in front, obviously the leader, was wearing ornate green armor while the five flanking him were wearing plain red.


“Halt! The leader ordered. “By order of the King, hand over the summoner! Mist Village and all of their inhabitants have been declared enemies of the crown and are to be executed. Refusal to comply will be considered an act of treason and the offenders will suffer the same fate.”


This didn’t sit well with Ranma. Rydia was under his protection and he couldn’t imagine the young girl having done anything to offend the king. Something smelled fishy, and Ranma was determined to find out the reason behind this manhunt genocide. Fighting in a war was one thing, but destroying a peaceful and harmless village was another matter altogether. The king of Baron reminded him a lot of some of the worst dictators in his world, and especially Adolf Hitler, and he would never deal with someone like that. No! Rydia was his friend and he’d do everything in his power to spare her from the fate that befell her fellow villagers.


“Forget it. I’ll never hand her over. Haven’t you done enough already? You destroyed her whole village and I can’t see a single reason as to why the villagers deserved such a fate.”


“The king has his reasons and we do as we are told,” the general answered. “The king’s orders are clear and it’s not up to us to question them. If you won’t hand her over willingly we’ll have to take her by force. You brought this upon yourselves and now you have to suffer the consequences. You are hereby declared enemies of the state and the sentence is death. MEN! ATTACK!”


The five soldiers complied, and in perfect military synchronization they attacked the most dangerous opponent. Ranma easily evaded all of their sword strikes and retaliated with punches and kicks that were hard enough to send them sprawling to the floor, but not hard enough to deal any permanent damage. They were humans after all, and he was reluctant to do any permanent damage. He had to admit that they’d been well trained and knew how to work well in a unit and how to use a sword, but they weren’t fast enough to hit him. Even Kuno would probably manage to defeat one or two of them in a duel.


Too tired to fight, Rydia and Kasumi were watching the one-sided battle and cheering for the martial artist.


The men were rapidly losing their cool. Their elusive, smirking target was playing with them. The taunts and scathing comments didn’t help either. One of Ranma’s main strategies to win a fight was to make his opponents loose their cool. And once again it seemed to work like a charm. Angry opponents were generally sloppy and easier to deal with. However, Ranma was used to the morons in Nerima and thus had miscalculated the soldiers’ reaction.


The general ordered his battered and heavily bruised men back and they discussed a new strategy. Ranma was arrogantly waiting on his spot, confident that they didn’t stand a chance against him. And as the six men attacked once again he was simply waiting with his arms crossed. But much to his shock the men didn’t react as he had predicted. At first they all ran in his direction, but shortly before they had reached his position they split up. Four were attacking him, but the other two were running over to Kasumi and Rydia with their sword drawn and obviously with the intention to kill the exhausted girls. The young summoner was able to block the weakened soldier’s strike with her rod and she retaliated immediately by jamming her weapon into his right eye and killing him on the spot. The brown haired girl on the other hand was not so lucky since the soldier was able to block the girl’s clumsy dagger strike and drove his sword to the hilt through the unfortunate girl’s belly. She went down like a sack of potatoes.


“NOOOOO!!!” Ranma’s anguished scream could be heard kilometers away. “You! You had no right to attack a non combatant. What kinds of people are you?”


The attackers didn’t show any remorse at all and one of the told Ranma in a cold tone, “we are soldiers of Baron. We destroy anything that’s an obstacle.”


That cold and inhuman statement was enough to drive the pigtailed boy into a berserker rage. Without thinking twice about it he destroyed the four soldiers next to him in less than 5 seconds, leaving but shattered and bloody remains behind. But most of his ire was directed towards Kasumi’s assassin. So lost was he in his anger and grief that he hadn’t even noticed Rydia’s fast response to the attack. Barely two seconds after the attack she had pushed the soldier away, removed the sword from the wound and poured a hi-potion into Kasumi’s wound, saving the fading girl’s life.


Ranma’s gaze however, was solely directed towards the doomed soldier who was shaking in his pants after witnessing the killer intent the berserker in front of him had let loose. But it was too late for him to repent for his sins. ‘Moko Takabisha’ was the last sound he heard in his life before being consumed by the attack. Meanwhile, the general had run away, leaving his men to their fate.


As the danger had passed he calmed down and sprinted over to the two girls, tears flowing out of his eyes. When he saw the brunette slowly get up his heart almost stood still. There was so much blood on the floor, and logically, the girl should have died.


“I managed to save her,” Rydia reassured the boy and Ranma sagged to the floor in relief. “Thank God.” But the tears continued to flow, but tears of joy this time.


He robbed over to the young girl and hugged her. “Thank you for saving her. I don’t know what I’d have done if she had died.”


The greenette blushed fiercely, but hugged the pigtailed boy back and laid her head on his shoulders. She had never felt so safe and protected in her whole life. This feeling increased when Kasumi embraced the two of them and it ended in a group hug. And all of them had one thought going through their minds, ‘I could get used to this’.


But all too soon they separated again and Ranma reflected back on his actions. He had killed… in cold blood. He could have simply rendered them unconscious, but he deliberately took their lives. He had wanted to hurt them for killing one of his most precious friends in the world. But much to his surprise it wasn’t the taking of human lives that had shocked him, but the complete lack of remorse. He had killed and didn’t fell sorry for even a bit. They deserved it. They were inhuman and cold killing machines who didn’t give a second thought about the lives they were destroying. But they probably had families too. Their kids would grow up without a father. They were probably following orders. But then, that was the argument that most of the Nazi criminals used during the Nuremberg Trials after World War Two.


No, these men hadn’t been innocent. He had seen it in their eyes. They were emotionless killers who enjoyed their job. He had seen the grin on the face of Kasumi’s attacker. They enjoyed their job. He had done the right thing. These men would never kill innocents ever again. He also thought back to Rydia’s actions. Her attacker had suffered a gruesome fate and the young girl didn’t seem concerned by it at all, like killing didn’t matter. He wondered if the girl wouldn’t show any remorse either if she were attacked by someone not from Baron. Fact is that Rydia seemed to have supported the shock quite well. Then he thought back to Rydia’s earlier words when she said that killing was normal in this harsh world and that it was either kill or be killed.


Was he still a martial artist? A martial artist protects but never kills. Could he still call himself a martial artist? Probably not. But then what? He did what he had to do to save his most precious people. Did he use excessive violence? Probably, yes. Would they have given up if he hadn’t killed them? Certainly not. They had been soldiers and wouldn’t have disobeyed their orders. Did this make him a monster? That’s was more difficult to answer, but he didn’t think so. A monster would kill anyone indiscriminately. Could he kill anyone who didn’t deserve it in cold blood? Would he go and kill a young child just because he had the power to? No, he wouldn’t. He would never attack anyone who didn’t deserve it. He was certain about that. He did what he had to do. Nothing more, nothing less. And he would do it again if he had to. Anything to protect his friends.


He nodded. His path was clear now. He knew what he had to do, even if he disliked it. If he hadn’t played with his enemies Kasumi wouldn’t have been hurt. He vowed to finish his fights as fast as possible from now on.


Rydia was once again busy with looting the bodies. She really seemed to enjoy that. She had told Kasumi and Ranma that she felt like she was looking for presents whenever she did it. And well, they needed the items.


The soldiers hadn’t been rich, but they had quite a tidy sum on them and the good quality armor and swords would fetch quite a price at the weapon and armor shops. Enough money to get some decent equipment.


After she’d finished with her business Ranma called both girls over to him. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t been cocky and arrogant and played with the soldiers all of this could have been avoided. It’s entirely my fault and I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to prevent something like that from ever happening again. I give you my word that I’ll protect you to the best of my abilities and I won’t be showing mercy to inhuman scum like that. Your safety comes first. And if I have to kill to ensure that nothing happens to you, so be it. I care for the both of you and I don’t think I could handle to lose even one of you. I don’t know why, but it’s the first time since I had to leave Ukyo when I was little that I’ve felt so comfortable in the presence of other people. I know it sounds corny and mushy, but that’s how I feel.”


The girls grinned at him. “We’re feeling the same,” they answered in almost complete unison.


Almost drowning under the loot he was carrying Ranma was glad that not three minutes later they had arrived in Kaipo.


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Meanwhile, Cecil was in trouble. When Cecil had come to after the earthquake Kain was gone and he couldn’t find the dragoon everywhere. Hoping that his friend was safe he tried to go back to Baron, but to his dismay he had to discover that the entrance to the cave was completely blocked by rocks and dirt. He gathered that the earthquake must have caused a landslide. Seeing no other alternative but to take a very large detour since the mountains were much to steep to safely climb without any special equipment he marched towards Kaipo and hoped that he could find someone who could take him back to Baron. He had a report to deliver after all. Unfortunately, the previous fights had already been taxing and crossing the desert alone was not without its dangers. He tried to avoid groups of monsters as much as possible by sneaking past every group he saw. He was mostly successful, but it slowed his traveling speed considerably. He still had to fight a few groups of monsters here and here, but he hadn’t too much trouble killing them. He was getting very tired, however. All that fighting cost him a lot of stamina and he had trouble keeping his eyes open.


“Damn monsters!” Cecil ranted as he cleaned his sword of the Hundleg’s blood. “Lately, their numbers have been increasing and no one knows why. I hope that the problem will be dealt with soon. Ah well, there’s not much I can do but grin and bare. Complaining doesn’t help. I should stay focused on my mission and deliver this report as fast as possible.”


When he saw the group of Baron soldiers approach he relaxed. Finally some help. He was about to call for them when he saw them draw their weapons.”


Raising an eyebrow at this hostile action he waited for an explanation, which was to come very soon.


“Cecil! Finally we’ve found you,” the general said.


“Wait! The king…” the dark knight tried to explain, but the general didn’t give him the chance.


“I am here on the king's orders. You were to destroy each and every summoner in the village, yet you let a little girl get away. That’s insubordination and treason.”


“What?” Cecil incredulously shouted. “You’ve been spying on us?”


“Of course. Suspected traitors can’t be trusted. And this was the confirmation Seneschal Baigan and Her Majesty had been waiting for. Our orders are to kill you if you should betray the kingdom. MEN! KILL HIM!”


Luckily for him, Cecil had had some of the best instructors teach him all the ins and outs of the soldier business and since he was also taught tactics he knew how the soldiers would attack. He may have been exhausted but he was an elite soldier and skilled with the sword. Still, three against one was unfair, but when the general saw that his men were unable to defeat the dark knight he entered the fray. Too bad for him, his soldiers had already been killed by the time he reached Cecil. But the dark knight had clearly reached his limits and was already panting. The general however, thinking that it would be an easy kill, had miscalculated and not taken Cecil’s determination into account. He couldn’t lose here. He had to get back to his love whatever may come. In a risky maneuver he waited until the last moment, sidestepped the blow and decapitated his opponent with a swift strike. The dark knight fell to his knees as he tried to recover his breath. This last action had taken the rest out of him and he barely had the energy to crawl over to his backpack and take out a tent seal. With his last ounce of energy he activated the seal and climbed into the tent, falling asleep a few instants later.


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Kaipo was unlike any towns that Kasumi and Ranma had seen before. For a desert town it didn’t really resemble the oasis’s they knew from the TV, but looked more like a European town of old you could see in historic movies or RPGs; with one notable addition: irrigation canals that were spread throughout the town and distributed the water to the houses. Palm trees could be seen here and there throughout the town and offered some very welcome shade to the exhausted travelers who were happy to get out of the hot sunrays. Rydia had been here a few times before and showed her new friends around. The town was much like most of the others in this world and had the obligatory weapons and armor shops, an item shop, an inn and the local branch of the Hunters Guild.


But first of all they went to the armor and weapons shop to get rid of their loot and earn some money. They got a tidy sum for all of the goods, even if the shopkeepers were a little reluctant at first to accept obviously stolen property, and from Baron to boot. But after they managed to haggle the price down to an amount that was less than the stuff was worth they finally accepted the items.


Next, Rydia led them to the Hunters Guild. After registering and paying the fee they’d return to the weapon shop to look for new weapons.


“Here’s the Hunters Guild I told you about,” the young girl explained. “It’s the best way for us to earn money. You become a member and they’ll pay you for every monster you kill. The stronger and more difficult to kill the monster is, the more money we get. I’m not a member yet since my mother thought I was too young, but I’ve always wanted to become one. So what do you say? The annual membership fee is very low and the guild only takes 5% of the money we earn. We need the money if we want to buy weapons and other gear, and this is the fastest way.”


Not having any better ideas Kasumi and Ranma agreed to at least get more information before deciding, and so they entered the house together.”


“Welcome to the Hunter’s Guild,” a middle-aged man greeted them. “I am Garan and inc harge of this branch of the Guild. How can I help you?”


“Hello,” Rydia answered, having been appointed the official spokesperson for the group, “we’d like to apply for a membership, but my friends still need to make up their minds and want to have more information.”


“That’s not a problem. I’d be glad to answer every question you might have. Fire away.”


Ranma and Kasumi were asking the questions as Rydia already knew most of it, but she thought it would be better for a member to explain since she might forget to tell them some important information. And indeed, Garan knew a lot, even things the summoner didn’t know… and she had read books about the guild.. The question and answer session lasted for about half an hour and it was quite enlightening. Monster hunting paid a lot better than manual labor and there were not many people doing it. The main reason was the death rate, but Garan reassured them that generally only overconfident and badly prepared hunters as well as loners were the ones usually killed. Well prepared hunters and those who traveled in groups had a very good chance of survival.


Kasumi was especially interested in the magical book the hunters got once they were registered because they reminded her eerily of the pokédex the tamers use in Pokémon, a videogame she used to play when she was younger. Every hunter gets a magical, self updating book that contains useful information on all known monsters, and whenever a new one is discovered or new facts become known, the entries are automatically edited and completed. The book lists the average stats of the monsters, names and effects of their attacks and keeps count of the number of monsters killed. The book is keyed into its owner’s magical signature so that no one can steal it or temper with it, and the owner is also the only person who can open it. Whenever a hunter ultimately dies, without any chance for resurrection, his book is automatically teleported back to the guild.


Whenever a hunter turns his book in at a guild house, the guild will tally the kills and calculate the amount of money earned. It’s an ingenuous and foolproof system.


Not seeing any disadvantages in becoming members the trio immediately signed up and paid for the membership; they had more than enough money now to cover the costs and still buy some decent gear. Garan handed each of them the basic hunter kit consisting of the magical book, a sturdy backpack and some simple wilderness survival tools.


Having stored their belongings in their backpacks, they returned to the weapons shop. Kasumi bought a staff since that would boost the efficiency of her white spells, much like the rod did to Rydia’s black magic spells, and Ranma promised to teach her how some katas for it; Rydia got a knife in addition to her rod; Ranma, went through the collection, but there wasn’t much he felt comfortable with until his eyes fell onto a pair of claws. He had had rudimentary training in lots of weapons, some of them made for hand to hand combat like knuckles or katars, but claws were new to him. He immediately recognized their usefulness however and bought a pair.


That still left some money for a hotel room and some enchanted protective armor. It didn’t look like much, but Rydia and the vendor assured the two dimension travelers that they were enchanted to offer some additional protection and that every adventurer needed some. There were different styles for men and women. Rydia was already equipped, but Ranma bought a leather cap, leather clothes and an iron ring while Kasumi got an iron ring tooand some simple clothes. Afterwards they bought provisions for two weeks and had enough money for an hotel room and a decent meal.


The following day, ass soon as they got up and had breakfast they made some enquiries, but no one could really tell them how to get to Mysidia. The best advice they got was to travel to Damcyan Castle and ask Prince Edward. Since Damcyan was built near the sea they had a small port and ships landed there periodically.


They left the town in direction of the Underground Waterway, a tunnel that led straight to Damcyan. On their way they were attacked by another sand worm, and having had a full night’s sleep, a very filling breakfast and better equipment, the group was much more confident and this time and didn’t run away. Ranma tried out his claws and was surprised at the efficiency with which he was able to dismantle the creature. As he wanted to find out if the claws interfered with his usual ki attacks in any way he launched a Kachu Tenchu Amaguriken. The attack had the desired effect and all that was left behind was swiss cheese. Kasumi and Rydia didn’t even have to lift a finger, but were enjoying the show anyhow.


“Woah! Did you see that?” He was surprised that it had worked so well. While de hadn’t done any damage to the monster at all with his bare hands, the claws added an all new lethality to his attacks.


“How did you do that?” The young girl was surprised. That didn’t look like a magic attack to her.


“That’s a ki attack I learnt a few months ago. It’s very effective.”


“I’d say,” she answered in awe. “I’ve never heard of ki before. Do you think I could learn that?”


“Erh, probably.” He answered. “But it will take a long time before you reach that level. But I don’t see why we couldn’t start small and slowly work our way up and make a decent hand-to-hand fighter out of you.”


“WOW! I could really learn how to fight like you. Teach me, please.”


Kasumi and Ranma had to laugh at Rydia’s enthusiasm. She was really much like Ranma. Always trying to learn new techniques.


“And I hope that I’ll learn other spells.” Kasumi wished. The cure spell alone was a godsend and she could do a lot of good back home. She already imagined the look on Dr. Tofu’s face once he saw her use magic. Boy, would he be surprised. Rydia might be able to teach her new spells. She was a white mage too after all. “Could you teach me other spells, please?”


“I’m sorry, but I can’t,” she answered, sounding remorseful. “I learnt my spells without studying. There are two ways to learn magic. The safest, but also the slowest, most boring and most time intensive one is through studying. It’s a very long process and it might take months, sometimes even years to learn a single new spell. Most mages prefer this method since it’s safe and they don’t have to put themselves in danger. The second one is through fighting and casting spells. Not only do the spells get more powerful, but the mana reserves of the caster grow as well. No one knows why, but it seems that every mage subconsciously knows all of the spells of the school he practices. Typically new spells get unlocked either when the mage is strong enough and has enough mana to safely use them or when he’s in a dangerous or stressful situation and absolutely needs a new spell to survive. That is what probably happened to Kasumi. She was desperate and her magic probably answered her distress call and granted her the use of the cure spell.”


Kasumi and Ranma were speechless. Since Kasumi could now use magic, did that mean that everyone in their own world could learn magic? Or was Kasumi an exception? After all, she wasn’t born here and yet she could use magic. They really needed to learn more about this world. “Do you think we could get more information in Mysidia?” Kasumi sounded desperate. Ranma had never seen her like that. She must have really wanted to learn magic.


“Probably. The magical academy and library is located there. If THEY don’t have the information in their archives then it probably doesn’t exist.”


They stopped in front of a large cave that led into the mountain. “This is the entrance to the Underground Waterway. Castle Damcyan is on the other side.”


As the girls were about to enter Ranma stopped them. “We should check our equipment before we enter. Who knows what lies inside. We don’t know what to expect and it never hurts to be cautious.”


The two girls couldn’t fault his logic and they agreed. They made a quick inventory of all the stuff they had in their backpacks. Satisfied that they had everything they needed they entered the cave. Not more than a few meters further ahead stood an old man who was muttering to himself. The man had his back turned to them and so they weren’t able to guess his age.


The man turned around and the pigtailed boy noticed that he had been right. The man WAS old. He looked to be in his late sixties, early seventies, had a long and shaggy white beard, wild white hair and, strangely enough, wore pink tinted glasses and pink robes. He looked harmless, but he exuded a strange aura that was alien to Ranma. Since he knew what ki felt like he guessed that it had to be the elder’s magical aura. It felt really powerful, at least as powerful as Happosai’s and Cologne’s ki auras and Ranma doubted that he’d win a fight against such a formidable opponent, especially since he didn’t know what kind of magic he used and probably wouldn’t know how to defend against it.


The elder seemed to analyze the trio of teens in front of him until his gaze stopped on Ranma. “You… I can feel that you’re very strong. I need your assistance.”


Shocked at being singled out, Ranma was unsure how to answer. “Erm, if we can help, sure. What’s wrong?”


“I must get to Damcyan to reclaim my daughter. She was deceived by a wicked bard! We must hurry, for I sense an ill omen! And that girl… is she a summoner? Perfect! She can help too.





“That’s fine,” Kasumi answered. “We’re headed that way too. But could you give us your name first?”


“Oh, I’m sorry. Where are my manners? It’s just that I’m so angry at the moment… I am the sage Tellah.”



***BESTIARY***

GOBLIN: the Goblin is probably the weakest monster that exists, but should never be underestimated since it’s very rare to see one of them alone, and if you do you shouldn’t approach it for any reason; chances are it’s merely a bait to lure careless travellers into a trap. The Goblins are very vicious and never show mercy to their victims. They kill indiscriminately men, women and children, since they are anthropophagous monsters that especially love the tender meat of women and children. But they shouldn’t pose any threat to seasoned adventurers.


DESERT SAHAGIN: the Desert Sahagin is an over two meter tall and carnivorous monster. It eats any meat it finds, and even carrion. Sahagin are normally aquatic creatures, but the Desert Sahagin is a distant cousin that at one point of their evolution adapted to the arid desert climate. Strangely enough it still resembles its aquatic cousin, but its skin doesn’t dry out when it not in constant contact with water. Solitary Desert Sahagins are easy to kill, even for a beginning adventurer, but beware of groups.


HUNDLEGS: the Hundleg is a three meter large and one meter wide centipede. It’s a predator, but mostly eats insects. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not dangerous. Hundlegs are territorial creatures and attack at once if they feel they are in danger. If you encounter Hundlegs and don’t want to fight them, you should calmly walk away and avoid any threatening gestures. In most cases they won’t attack. In a fight they are fearless and fight to death. The exoskeleton is tough and it takes some work to crack it.


SAND WORM: the Sand Worm is the most dangerous predator of the desert. This monster generally is a solitary creature and you should avoid them at all costs if you’re not confident in your fighting skills. The rubbery skin of this critter is very tough and it can only be hurt with magical attacks or sharp weapons. Blunt weapons and barehanded blows don’t even faze it. You can always try, but don’t expect the Hunters Guild to pay for your funeral. We sponsor adventurers, not suicidal morons.

[Dumbledork]

I'm a little stuck at the moment with the next. Ranma's curse is about to be revealed and I'd like to have your opinion on how he'll react. After I've resolved this problem I should be able to finish the chapter very quickly.

First I'll post the premise and next the different possible reactions I could think of. Keep in mind that Ranma hasn't told them about the curse. In canon he never does voluntarily.

Ranma lands in the underground river through a stupid accident (like so often) and jumps out of it. To the astonishment of Rydia and Tellah an unknown girl has replaced the martial artist.

Before they could attack Kasumi jumps in front of Ranma and tells them that they are about to attack Ranma.

Now here's where' I'm not sure about Ranma's reaction. In the anime (I can't remember how it was in the manga) he doesn't always react in the same way (he reacted differently when the Tendos and Ryoga found out). Here are the possibiltities I've come up with:

- embarrassment :

"Hehe! I'm Ranma. Sorry about this." He scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. "You know, there's a perfectly logical explanation for this..."

- shame and self-pity:

"I... didn't want you to find out. You can't imagine how difficult it is to live with a curse like this. All the pitying or hateful looks; being treated like a freakshow. I wanted to avoid that this time. Well, I shouldn't have got my hopes up. This always happens... "

- indifference:

"Yeah, well, it's a curse. Cold water = girl, warm water =
boy. Nothing I can do about it. I've had the curse for more than a year now. No known cure.Heh, I had hoped I could hide this. Ah, well,...

- anger leading to annoyance:

"Dammit! I should have known. Damn curse never gives me a break and always activates at the wrong time."

Then he saw the strange looks Tellah and Rydia were giving him.

"WHAT?" He snarled at them before claming down. "Yeah, it's me, Ranma. It's a curse. Not like I can do anything about it..."

So, what do you think is the most likely reaction? Maybe some of you have your own idea as to how he'd react.

[Dumbledork]

Thx for the input, but I think I'll go with anger first (cursing for a bit after getting out of the water) and embarrassment (after noticing he has an audience) next.