Chapter 2: Dawn Of The Cavalier

A cloudy blue sky and sunlight were piercing into his eyes. That's the first thing Kaze ever comprehended after being consumed by the light. After 30 seconds of this, he quickly realized that he was lying on some grass. It wasn't the same marble-like texture that he felt a few moments ago. He sits up and decides to take a look at the surroundings. At the same time, Kaze realized that he was still holding on to the very spear that he picked when he was in that previous... Place.

It was plains as far as the eye can see. Nothing unusual with the sky or the ground either. What was surprising was the road that was right next to him wasn't cemented; it was a dirt road that would follow a seemingly endless path. He wondered if he was in the countryside. Usually, there would be sophisticated and intricate roads compared to what Kaze saw at the moment. Wherever he ended up in, it was likely to be in the time of a medieval or feudal era; not the best time to live in.

Kaze stands up with a sigh of both disappointment and frustration, gripping onto the handle of his weapon and lifting it with him as he stands up. He looks down at his torso, noticing that he had the same outfit as before. In most situations, the person in question would be transformed to match the current era's fashion and effectively blend in. Guess he's going to stick out like a sore thumb, with the weird scarf and a lance that did not look normal.

As Kaze was about to head into the general direction of the road ahead of him, he notices a leather book that was below him this entire time. If he were laying down, it would have been placed on the other side of him. He was a bit too distracted with the whole ordeal that he did not notice the book there. Curious to what's the contents, he picks it up with his free hand to examine it.

The book was neat and had no damaged parts that stuck out. It was about the size of a novel, and flipping through the pages would take some time. As Kaze opens the book on the very first page expecting a preface, he was instead greeted with a completely blank page. Confused, he kept flipping through the next few pages in hopes that he could find a smidge of writing on the blank pieces of paper. But alas, nothing. He did not bother to look through the entire book and just assumed that it was a journal, at least for now.

With the current situation handled, Kaze decides to start venturing forth. The best thing to do in this current situation is to find a settlement or a town, and it will offer a lot without putting him into any real danger. He had a weapon, yes, but the only thing he knows what to do with it is the primary thrust. He needs to learn how to use it and quickly.

He starts walking to the general direction the dirt road was leading to, no specific destination in mind. Well, he didn't even know if he could also communicate with the people that would reside here. Would there even be people? Maybe it'll be some strange animal hybrid creatures. But judging from the dirt road that was laid out, it had to be at least humanoid.

Pondering to himself, Kaze would spot what looks like a small village. And from his current view, he spotted people! Actual human beings! He sighed in relief as he slowly closed in on the settlement. If the people there would see him, it would probably be odd to see a male like him dressed in that type of clothing, and what looks like an expensive spear on the one hand.

The dirt road would slowly be replaced with a paved one using stone, the closer he is to the village. Kaze tried to look composed as villagers would walk by him. The looks he would get were of confusion and curiosity. But he would only shrug and keep moving, not minding them. He just needed to reevaluate the situation and try to figure out what's going on.

As he thought, the villagers would wear very cheap looking and dirty clothing. Sewn together rags, old clothes, and even torn ones. Him being in the small crowd that was going into the village was strange. From time to time, he would spot a few men who were in groups, wearing some armor; or even entire suits, having a blade or a polearm sheathed on their side.

The village itself looked standard, a couple of groupings of houses here and there. The town square was very lively, a few shops and stalls set up that sold numerous items. And of course, at the center of it all, a tavern. Judging from the noise that came from inside, it was probably full, or the regular patrons are around during this hour.

Kaze decided to head to the town square first, wanting to find out how commerce worked. As he got closer to one of the stalls that were supposedly selling food, he was suddenly surprised.

"Look at those clothes!" The voice of a man chimed behind Kaze. He decided to turn around to entertain them with whatever they needed.

"What cloth was used to make these? Ooh, look at this coloring, it must have been costly to have this made!" The man continued to ogle at Kaze, but mostly his fashionable clothes.

"I'm an apparel trader, and an outfit like this costs a fortune! How much can I pay for me to get the scarf, tho-" The trader was abruptly interrupted by Kaze.

"I'm not interested. You won't be able to buy anything from me, no matter the price." He spoke sternly and had a cold tone to his voice.

Disheartened from Kaze's remark, the trader sighs. But he kept talking. "Why don't you tell me where you came from? Only the highest of the highest nobles of the empire have the luxury of such lavish clothing."

"Empire?" Kaze questioned, but knew he was going to get reprimanded and look suspicious. "I'm not exactly from here. Just arrived today and had no clue where I was." He quickly tried to cover up his rather obvious question.

"So, you came from Opami?" The trader questioned.

"Took a ship headed for another place, but we got hit by a nasty storm. No idea who survived, but I washed up on shore." Kaze explains, and also makes up a slightly cloudy story at the same time on the spot.

"That's quite unfortunate. I'm assuming you lost all your coin?" The trader asked. "My gold? Indeed, all gone. Was going to ask for he-"

Kaze was cut off by the trader. "Then sell me some of your clothing! Come onnn! You need the money, right?"

The guy was persistent, Kaze will admit that. But sentimental value aside, his clothing was expensive to the eyes of traders. And now, he needs money - the right amount of it for him to survive.

"I'll sell you this scarf." Kaze states as he unwraps the scarf around his neck. "I better get a huge sum out of this, or I'll take it back by force." He continued his tone commanding and attempted to threaten the trader.

"A-Ah, yes, I'll be sure to give you the due value of what it's worth." It seems to have worked on the trader and went back to his stall,

rummaging through what looks like a chest in search of a considerable amount of gold. Kaze approached the booth and placed the scarf down on the wooden platform.

After a good minute of siphoning through his belongings, the trader was able to ammas a stack of gold and put it into a pouch. It didn't look like change money, and looked heavy, considering how the trader had a bit of trouble lifting the bag to the table.

"H-Here.. 8,000 pieces of gold. I even put it into a pouch for you not to have any problem. Just be careful, bandits target people who don't hide their money correctly." The trader explains as he takes the scarf with a look of visible joy.

"Alright, then." Kaze nods as he takes the pouch and clutches it with the same hand he was using to hold the journal. "Many thanks. I won't forget this." He states to the trader before turning around and heading elsewhere for now.

"Be back soon! I'll be expecting you again!!" The man's voice boomed behind Kaze.

"Well... There goes my scarf." Kaze mumbled to himself, internally scolding himself for acting out of instinct and losing the most valuable piece of clothing he had. He could've sold it to another trader that would buy it for a higher price, or keep the scarf altogether.

But he needed the money. The 8,000 gold he has now will give him a headstart in this world, assuming that he did not get ripped off from earlier. What's done is done, and he has to be careful not to lose the gold he got from an accident or any misfortune.

But now, he wants to lay down and collapse. Not so far from the town square, an inn was closeby. Nothing too fancy, and it looked painfully necessary.

But it had to do for now, at least. Kaze started walking towards it, but something else caught his attention on the way. It was a somewhat oversized tent that took the space of an entire house. Typically, this would be an apothecary or a place that brewed potions and other things that needed a specialist. Just staring at it wouldn't make much of a difference, so he decided to investigate further. He goes to the entrance and slowly enters.

"Hello?" Kaze calls out, his head peeking into the place before he could fully enter. Inside, Kaze was right about his predictions. It was a type of shop that sold potions or even general healing items for adventures to use in their times of travel.

And also, a woman. She was dressed in what looks like what a witch would wear: The signature hat, and the whole risque outfit. She had brown hair, green eyes, tall, and had an hourglass figure to her, making her look beautiful. The woman was currently taking inventory of the shop, checking on potions, and other miscellaneous things before noticing her new customer.

"Oh, a customer?" She stops whatever she was doing and goes up to the entrance of the tent to greet Kaze.

"Welcome, to Emi's Magical Wonderland!" She proclaims as she raises her arms in the air with enthusiasm.

Kaze just stood there, dumbfounded, before he could say something to her.

"A-Aha... So you're Emi, am I correct?" He just wanted to make sure.

"That's correct! And what might you need from me today, good sir? Want your Tier checked?" The witch asked with a smile.

"Tier? How can it be checked?" Kaze asked with a genuine look of confusion, not recognizing this term ever before.

"Don't you know what that book in your hand does? It shows you how much you've progressed as an adventurer." Emi answered with a bit of a frown.

She then reached out for the book that was in Kaze's hands and took it from him. "Now, let's see what Tier you are! I bet you're pretty high, considering that weapon over there." She gestures to the spear that was being held in Kaze's other hand.

Emi opens the book on the very first page, holding the book with her right hand firmly while she uses her left index finger as a pen of sorts. She closes her eyes, and her left index finger starts glowing. She would then lower it down to the page on the book, letting her left hand move on its own, like it was being controlled by someone else. And soon enough, it was done.

With her left hand now stopped from moving, Emi opens her eyes to see the results of her magical work. But the moment she started reading out loud,

[ HP: 50

STR: 50

DEX:50

MAG:0

STAM:50

DEF:50

Level: 1

Kaze Fubuki - Adventurer Tier: E

Traits: Iron-willed, Silver tongue, Adaptable ]

"Adventurer Tier... E?!" She exclaims in shock, her jaw

dropping a few seconds later. She looked bewildered entirely from what she saw, looking back at Kaze and to his spear that he was holding.

"How can you even hold that weapon?! It should be impossible for you!" She continued to yell in surprise.

Kaze got hold of the situation and sighed. He waved his hand in front of the witch, gesturing for her to calm down for him to explain. He now understands how this Tier thing works, a witch like Emi gets the book and writes down vital information about the adventurer in question.

"Look, I'm not exactly from here. I'm a foreigner who came from a faraway land. This spear was passed down to me by my father, who was a renowned warrior over there. I have no experience in combat whatsoever, just a man lucky enough to get something like this." Kaze explains as he lifts the spear and lets it rest on both of his hands.

Emi looked like she didn't believe Kaze at first. An individual in such strange clothing and a formidable-looking spear. It just seemed to be unlikely that he was just a commoner and not a high Tier. But now, Emi shrugs and hands the book back to Kaze.

Kaze took this opportunity to look within the first page of the book, curious about what was noted down about him. There, he sees his Adventurer Tier next to his name, and a table of statistics right under. It displayed the basic stats: Hit Points, Strength, Dexterity, Magic, Stamina, Defense. And lastly, down in the traits section, it states that he is Iron-willed. He does not know how to relate how it is apparent, but for now, he brushes off the thought and plays it off that everyone has a trait like this or something similar.

All of Kaze's stats were set to '50' on the page, except for Magic, which was '0'. It wasn't surprising since he assumes that the weapons from that strange place shaped the way how the person in question would proceed in this world.

He would then look back up to Emi. "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I would have no idea what I'm doing." He bows his head slightly in respect.

"It's nothing. All I did was do my job, that's all." Emi smirked in response, feeling bashful that she made an Adventurer like Kaze be grateful for once.

"I must be going now. I'll see you again since I'll be working on this Tier of mine." Kaze states as he raises his head back up.

"W-Wait, do you even know what to do?" The witch asked.

"Of course. Do things for people, slay monsters, and all the things that would lead to me getting stronger. Then I'll just come back here to check if I went up a tier or not." Kaze responded with a nod.

"I'll be going now. Again, thank you." He states one last time as he heads out of the tent.

Now that Kaze has learned about all of these new things, he couldn't help but feel excited. Adventurer Tier, Statistics, and even the strange spear that he carries everywhere with him. There must be something wrong going on behind the scenes. He wonders how something like this could also be possible.

Yet before he thinks too hard about this topic, he was well on his way to the inn he was planning to go to earlier. It didn't seem to be too crowded since it was in the dead of day.

Opening the entrance to the inn, Kaze sees a lobby before him. It wasn't much, sets of tables and chairs to serve meals, also, for a little waiting place for guests to lounge in a while waiting for their rooms.

But now, Kaze was pretty tired of all the things that had happened to him leading up to this point - going through that strange place to get his also odd weapon. He then gets transported to this world, which works in a very peculiar way. There's magic, and it seems that there's a progression system as well.

 Kaze gets a room and promptly collapses onto the bed, passing out almost immediately.