A Reliable Friend

After letting his tears flow and his mind release all the things he’s been holding in, Ace calmed down.

Him and Isa sat back down at the table, not speaking for a few minutes. Isa wanted to make sure his friend could calm down fully and not force him into anything, and Ace was doing exactly that for the few minutes of silence.

Since his friend was in a situation that wouldn’t allow him to speak, Ace was the first one to open his mouth.

“I’m good now, thanks for waiting.”

“You sure? We can wait a little longer if you need to.”

“Haha... No, I’m fine, let’s keep going from where we were earlier.”

Ace didn’t like the mood that was currently filling the room, so he slipped in a nervous laugh to show that he was better than before, when he was shedding tears and recalling his memories from the other side.

Isa nodded back, not wanting to speak a lot as Ace started to continue his story.

“The last thing I said was about me being in a forest, I think?”

He didn’t remember exactly where they left off after everything that happened. The few minutes that they’ve been together have felt like an eternity so, he couldn’t recall everything that had happened.

“Yeah, that was about where you left off.”

“Ok, I’ll keep going from there...”

“When I was sent to that other world, I sat in the middle of the forest for a little, not fully knowing what happened. Once I understood that I wasn’t on Earth anymore, I started to panic and cry really hard.”

“Haha... It embarrasses me now, looking back on it...”

“While I was crying, I closed my eyes, wanting to curl up into a ball, but when I closed them... I could see words in my head.”

Ace was still hesitating when speaking but this wasn’t because of his previous fear that Isa wouldn’t believe him, this was because he just didn’t like the memories that he was recalling.

He was now confident that Isa would believe him, but that doesn’t change the fact that he has to tell the story that he so much so, despises.

“The different words I could see were a time limit, the word “map”, and the word “support”.

“The first two are self-explanatory but, the last one is a little confusing.”

“Let me go a little deeper into the words.”

“This doesn’t work for the time limit one but, if I focus on one of the words in my head, something happens.”

“For example, if I focus on the map one, a map appears in my head, and it shows up super clear in my head.”

“Now, about the support one.”

“When I focused on the word support...”

“A voice started talking to me in my head.”

Ace looked up at Isa, who was sitting there in silence... wanting to confirm something.

“Do you remember when I said I was surrounded in white, and someone apologized?”

Isa nodded back. He hasn’t forgotten a single thing Ace has said since he came inside the house.

“This was the same voice. It was the voice of the “god” of our world.”

Ace made two quotation marks with his fingers as he said the word god.

After confirming that Isa remembered his words, Ace dropped his head again and continued to tell his story.

“He sounded like a little kid and his attitude was exactly like one.”

“I talked to him inside of my head. He told me about the world I was in and my reason for being there.”

“He told me I had to defeat the enemy of the kingdom and I only had 1 year to do it or... I would die along with everyone else in that world.”

Isa’s eyes widened and his mouth opened. He has been listening quietly throughout the story because he already accepted the insane situation but... What Ace just said, he couldn’t accept...

“You’re going to die?!”

He got up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table, leaning his body towards Ace’s in an act of shock to Ace’s words.

Ace realized that he shouldn’t have said that part so fast. His mind was completely focused on the events that went down in that fantasy world so he couldn’t stop himself to consider his friend’s feelings.

“Sorry, I should’ve given you a heads up before saying that part.”

Isa stared at Ace in shock, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, he sat back down in his seat and started to speak.

“Sorry, that’s my fault, I should’ve expected you to say something like that.”

Once he actually thought about everything that Ace had said, dying was most definitely realistic.

“Thanks for not being so shocked right now, I want to keep going with the story.”

“Yeah, I do too... That was just a little too shocking.”

“Yeah, haha... I would be shocked too, if I was in your situation...”

“I’ll keep going.”

“He said I would die if I didn’t defeat the enemy within a year.”

“Once he told me about my reason for being there, I asked him how I could get back here.”

“He said that there were two options.”

“One was to defeat the enemy and the other was a one-day trip back, which is happening right now.”

Isa was expecting Ace to say something like that, so it didn’t shock him as much as it should have, but... It still hurt to hear.

His best friend would be gone for a whole year.

The person he’s spent all his time with for the past 10 years would be leaving him to live in a fantasy world for a year.

A fantasy world.

He’s not moving schools, he’s not moving houses, he’s not travelling overseas...

He's going to live in a fantasy world.

He’s going to be fighting monsters, travelling around, talking to gods, and doing a bunch of other stuff that Isa couldn’t even believe was possible.

His best friend.

It hurt Isa an insane amount, but he had to suppress his emotions because he couldn’t even imagine what his friend was feeling right now.

“I know you already know what this means, but I’ll explain.”

“I was allowed to come here for exactly one day. I came at 12 in the morning and will be leaving at midnight.”

Ace could see the frustration on Isa’s face, but he knew it was unavoidable. He continued to tell his story, knowing that’s what both him and Isa wanted.

“I asked a few other questions, but I won’t go into much detail about them.”

“Other than that, that’s pretty much all I asked the god.”

“I would’ve asked more, but he said I could only talk to him for 2 minutes a day so I couldn’t.”

“Then his voice disappeared from my head and I was just left with my thoughts and a backpack on my back.”

“I checked the map in my head and what was in the backpack, then started to head towards the nearest village.”

“Once I started moving towards the village...”

Ace hesitated, recalling one of his least favorite memories from his time in the other world.

“A monster attacked me.”

“---!”

“It was near midnight at the time so I couldn’t see what it looked like, but it had horns and was about the size of a kid in elementary school.”

“I didn’t even get the chance to get prepared... it rushed at me and bit my waist.”

“I couldn’t get it off until I grabbed my status plate from my bag and hit it with it.”

“I knocked it unconscious with the plate then... finished it off with a dagger I had in my bag.”

“Once I finished it off... I realized I lost a lot of blood, so I went to the village and found a bar that was open.”

“And that’s where I met my friend, Aliza.”

Isa stopped Ace from continuing, wanting to pitch in after he said so much.

“Damn... I can’t understand what you went through at all, but I’m sorry I couldn’t have been there to help you.”

He truly was sorry, he wanted to be there for Ace, especially when he needed the help.

“This friend of yours, is this the cousin you were talking about?”

“Yeah, when I first met her, she was pretty rude, but once we talked a bit more, she was really helpful and offered to come along with me for the 1 year. She’s upstairs by the way.”

“---! I didn’t take in what you said earlier, but she’s really upstairs?”

“Yeah, I told her to come down when I needed her. Do you want to meet her?”

Isa looked back at his friend and nodded, gulping at the same time. He was nervous to meet a person from the other world.

“Ok, I’ll tell her to come down.”

As Ace got up from his seat and started to leave the kitchen...

“It’s fine, I’m here already...”

Walking in with a hand on her head and a nervous smile on her face, Aliza entered the kitchen from where she was hiding.

She looked over at Ace, who was surprised to see her entering the kitchen.

“Sorry, I was listening in.”

“It’s fine... I was just about to call you anyway.”

Once receiving confirmation that it was okay for her to be there, Aliza looked over at Isa who was sat at the table, also shocked from Aliza’s sudden appearance.

She made her way over to Isa and stuck out her hand.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Aliza Runer. I’m Ace’s friend from the other world.”

It took Isa a few seconds to free himself from the shock he was feeling.

“Oh! I’m sorry!”

He stood up from his seat and shook Aliza’s stretched out hand.

“I’m Isa’s friend from this world, Isa Porter.”

“Nice to meet you, Isa.”

“Nice to meet you too, Aliza.”

They released each other’s grips and Aliza took a seat at the table.

Ace also sat back down, wanting to continue the conversation.

Once he sat back down, he looked at Isa and continue his story.

“This is Aliza, the one who saved me from death.”

“---!”

Isa knew they were friends but didn’t know that she saved Ace from death.

“I was bleeding out and was about to pass out, but Aliza healed me.”

Isa got up from his seat and looked over at Aliza.

“I didn’t know you did that.”

He looked directly into her eyes.

“Thank you. Thank you for saving my best friend.”

He was truly grateful because she did what he couldn’t.

Aliza knew that this thank you was coming straight from the heart and it was 100% genuine.

She wouldn’t brush it off.

She wouldn’t use more words than necessary, and she wouldn’t try to use a line that makes her look good.

She would use the only two words that should be given when receiving thanks.

“You’re welcome.”

Isa gave a thanks that he thought was mandatory and sat back down at his seat so Ace could continue with his story.

“I want to ask Aliza more about herself and the other world, but that can be saved for another time.”

Ace gave a nod to Isa’s words and continued his story.

“After she saw me bleeding out, she brought me to a nearby inn and healed me with magic.”

Isa’s eyes widened at what Ace said.

“Magic?! I knew I should’ve seen it coming but it’s still crazy to hear it’s real.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s crazy to think about. Here, Aliza can show you.”

Ace looked over at Aliza to confirm if it was alright with her and he received a nod back.

Once Aliza gave her response, she started to put her hands together with her palms facing away from her.

After about 2 seconds, a blue light was emitted from where her palms were facing.

Isa sat there in silence, his face in shock as he saw his fantasies come to life.

“Wait, if she can use magic here then, does that mean... I can also use magic?”

Aliza was the one to respond to Isa’s question as she put out the light coming from her palms.

“No, sorry, I don’t think you can use magic. My mana usually refills itself and I can feel it happening but ever since I came to this world, I haven’t felt my mana raising at all. I’m guessing this world doesn’t have any natural mana so your body can’t absorb any.”

Ace tilted his head in response to Aliza’s explanation.

“What’s natural mana?”

Once Ace asked that question, he started shaking his head, not wanting to change the course of the conversation.

“Never mind, you can explain that to me when we get back.”

Before the conversation could shift into another direction, Isa chipped in.

“Ace, can you use magic?”

“I haven’t learned how to, but I’ve spent a whole day in the other world so I’m guessing I absorbed enough mana to be able to. But Aliza told me that magic isn’t that strong unless you focus on training only one element.”

“Yeah, it isn’t too strong. I’ve focused only on healing magic so I can heal life threatening injuries, but it'll burn through all my mana.”

“I can also use a little fire magic, but only the basic stuff. I can heat up pots enough to cook food and I’m able to start a fire, but I can’t shoot fire at people or stuff like that, the spell will just disappear midair.”

“I see. So, you can pick your own affinity, but you’ll only be able to use the affinity you chose efficiently.”

“Pretty much, but even the affinity you choose will be moderate at best. The most a fire magic user can do is shoot medium sized fire bullets that can be evaded if quick enough. I believe healing magic to be pretty efficient which is why I chose it.”

“Hmm... I see. So, Ace...”

Isa, with a curious look on his face, looked over at Ace.

“Which affinity did you choose?”

Isa stared down his friend with one eye open more than the other, hoping for a certain response.

“I didn’t cho--”

“LET’S GO! I can help with something!”

Isa jumped out of his seat to celebrate his discovery.

Surprised by the sudden celebration, Ace wondered what Isa was so happy about.

“Help? Help with what?”

“What else?! Choosing your affinity!”

Isa was jumping with joy, having the opportunity to learn about the different affinities and the chance to help his friend with choosing one.

“Aliza! What’s the different affinities?”

Aliza’s body jumped a little at the sudden inquiry.

“Oh! There are a few different ones. There is the main 4 elements, water, fire, earth, and wind. There are a few more in addition to that. There is healing, dark, light, time, space, and taming magic. Each one has different abilities that are unique to them.”

“Could you go into a little more detail about that? For example, what can you do with dark magic or space magic?”

“Dark magic can be used for things such as necromancy and it is also related to shadows. I believe you can command up to 5 dead soldiers at a time when mastered and store them in your shadow so they’re available at your command. There’s more to it, but I don’t know all the details.”

“Space magic is also quite unique. You can teleport objects that are within a certain radius to or from yourself.”

“What about a human body? Can you teleport yourself?”

“I believe you can, but not as far a distance and it will take a few more seconds than an object.”

“When using space magic, a portal of some sort is generated that envelops the thing you’re teleporting. To make this portal human sized would require more effort and more mana so it would be more difficult.”

“Ok, so I’m guessing that most of the fighting in the other world is physical?”

“Yes, most people fight with swords or bows.”

“I understand, so, I shouldn’t focus on attack power for magic, but the magic’s ability to be useful.”

“If you can hit your opponent with your magic, it’ll be effective, but yes, it shouldn’t be focused on as much as your physical abilities.”

“Ok, so, space magic is a possibility so far. Can you talk about the other ones a little more?”

“Sure. I’ll start with the elements.”

Before Aliza started her explanation, she lifted her hand so her palm would face the ceiling.

She then brought forth a small flame from the palm of her hand and started to explain.

“Fire magic is pretty basic. It can shoot fireballs which have a decent speed to them, but on the battlefield, they most likely won’t connect with your opponent. Fire magic can also be used as lava magic but, the lava is chunkier than fire so you can’t shoot it too far nor will it reach high speeds.”

She put out the fire sitting in her hand and proceeded to talk about the other elements.

“Water magic is one of the weaker elements. It can be used to shoot water at your opponent, but it won’t be as effective as fire. Water magic can be used as ice magic though. The main use of ice magic is being able to make armor on the spot for a small degree of coverage. Other than that, you can freeze the ground around you a little bit, but nothing too extreme.”

“Earth magic is quite effective. I forgot to say, but with the elements, when you’re nearby a natural source of that element, it is more efficient. For example, with earth magic, since earth is everywhere, it is boosted. You can do things such as building walls to shield yourself or even use plant magic. Plant magic can be used to make plants grow faster and be more efficient with what they’re producing.”

“Wind magic is also quite good since air is everywhere. Wind magic is the fastest out of the 4 main elements and is the magic that will connect the most. You can send wind strikes at your opponent which will slash them for some damage. The wind will also cause its target to be knocked back unless resisted against. Another thing you can do is levitate, but you won’t be able to move around too fast when levitating.”

“Those are the 4 main elements. I already told you about healing, dark, and space magic, so I’ll skip those.”

“Next is light magic. Light magic is another one of the weaker elements, only being able to produce lights, but it can be used in unique ways. Light magic can be used to blind opponents, send signals to comrades, and be used in various other ways relating to light.”

“After that is time magic. I haven’t spent too much time studying time magic as it is very rarely seen, but I’ve heard of the abilities it possesses. Time magic has the ability to stop time and go back in time. These both seem very powerful, but they can both only be used for a very minimal amount of time, and this is only when the user has practiced a lot. I believe time can be stopped for a second and time can be reverted by half a second. When time is stopped, I believe the magic user cannot move but they are conscious of the situation and able to think. That’s why time magic is not used too often, the duration of the spells is very short.”

“Wait... you also use minutes and seconds in your world?”

“Yes, minutes, hours, and seconds are used in my world. Is that strange?”

“We’re in different worlds, I was expecting a different form of time measurement.”

“Ok, well, moving on, the last affinity is taming magic. Taming magic can be used to befriend monsters and also gives you the ability to talk to animals or monsters for a certain amount of time each day. I believe the amount of time is 20 minutes and the timer is activated when you talk to a monster. The timer then deactivates once again once you finish talking to the monster.”

“Those are all the different forms of magic.”

“Wow, that’s a lot to take in, but! I will help Ace with picking the right type.”

He said, with a confident look on his face.

Ace, who was practically silent throughout the whole interaction, spoke up to respond to Isa.

“You better choose a good one, I don’t want to get pranked by you like I did by that shitty god in the other world.”

“Pranked? How?”

“He left a clown costume in my backpack when I was first sent to that other world.”

“That’s pretty funny, but that wasn’t a good time, was it?”

“Obviously not! You ask someone for a huge favor then mess with them! He’s an idiot!”

--Haha...

“---!”

Ace jumped out of his seat when he heard that childish voice laughing at him from a place he couldn’t see.

"He’s laughing at me!”

“Who is?”

“The god! He’s laughing in my head. Hey! You better give me something in return for that prank!”

--Fine. I’ll give you some nice information. I decided to give you 2 affinities instead of 1. That’s good enough, right?”

“Woah! If you’re being serious, then that’s actually sort of nice!”

“What’d he say?”

“He’s giving me 2 affinities instead of just the one.”

“---!”

Both Isa and Aliza jumped when Ace said what the god had told him.

Isa was the one to continue, reacting to the good news.

“That’s really good! I was actually having trouble deciding between 2!”

“You’ve already decided?”

Ace said as he sat back down in his seat.

“Yeah, these 2 will probably be the most helpful.”

“What are they? I’m leaving this completely in your hands, so they better be good.”

“Again, they should be helpful. I don’t have actual experience with them so I’m not 100% sure, but you should go with these.”

“I’ll trust what you say.”

“The 2 affinities you should go with are...”

Ace leaned his body forward before Isa spoke the next few words.

“Space magic and light magic!”

“---! I understand space, but why light magic?”

“It’s perfect for blinding opponents on the battlefield and can give an advantage during fights when the opponent doesn’t see it coming. Aliza, how long does it take to cast a light spell?”

“About a second for the close-range ones where the light is produced in your hand.”

“Yes! This is perfect.”

--By the way...

Ace gave a small jump as words were said in his head again.

“---! Deepa’s talking again.”

“Who’s Deepa?”

“The god.”

“Oh, ok.”

--Your growth and abilities are doubled so the normal baseline stats for magic are doubled for you.

Ace copied what Deepa said as he was speaking.

Isa, who was still planning the affinities, jumped up and seemed extremely excited.

“Wow! This could be a game changer! I may have to change light magic with time magic! A second of reverted time can change the course of a fight! You know the opponent’s next move and if you can react fast enough, you can change the pace of a fight! Aliza, how long does a time magic spell take to cast?”

“I believe they are instantaneous.”

“Yes! This is perfect! What about space magic? How long is the cast time?”

“I believe that is also instantaneous to cast but the portal takes about half a second to generate to the size of an object. A human sized portal takes about 2 and a half seconds to generate so it isn’t as useful in a sword fight. It would also be very hard to focus on the portal in the middle of an exchange of sword swings.”

“That’s fine! Ace’s powers are doubled so a human portal will only take about a second and an object will also be extremely fast to teleport. Not only that, but his radius is also doubled! It’s decided! Ace, you will be going with space magic and time magic!”

“Haha... stop being so fired up, they’re my powers.”

Ace said, seeing Isa enjoy himself as he chose Ace’s magical attributes for him.

Isa gave a huge smile in response, loving the freedom he was given to choose for his friend.

“I really am gonna miss you...”

Ace whispered, too quiet for Isa and Aliza to hear.

Ace didn’t want to feel depressed right now though, so he jumped out of his seat to return the energy Isa was sharing with him.

“Okay! I’m going with space and time magic!”

He said, throwing his arms into the air, wanting to enjoy the current moments with Isa.

After being excited about the magical attributes that were chosen, Ace finished the rest of his story with Isa listening.

The minutes continued to fly by on Ace’s last day...