Weapon selection

The Wizis then faceplammed himself as he began to smile.

"Pardon me, you must be tired. We can do this tomorrow. Try to get some sleep for now."

Our excitement and expectations had been crushed by a road roller, but sleep was something that we badly desired after an entire day of walking.

He showed us to our rooms and as soon as I fell onto the smooth, fluffy, almost cloud-like bed, I was quick asleep.

___________________________________

I found myself in a dream. In my dream, there was a forest. Trying to find an escape, I ran. Tanaka stood there, lifeless as a log. He turned his back and slowly moved away from me.

"Tanaka!" I yelled at the top of my throat.

My voice didn't seem to reach him as he kept walking away and away, not once looking towards me. My repeated yelling was of no use as he was unable to listen or maybe didn't wanna listen.

__________________________________

'Rise and shine, sleepy head.'

He seemed to be overflowing with happiness and excitement.

'Man, couldn't sleep properly thinking about this scenario. This world is just like a fantasy game. It's dreamy, it'll be fun ' Yamada muttered with a smile.

Frustrated from my dream, his smile put me off and I grunted, "We came here to find Tanaka, not to have fun."

He looked at me and replied,

'Well, Tanka wouldn't mind good ol' Yamada having some fun. Cheer up, our friend is probably alive and kicking. Torturing ourselves and constantly brooding ain't gonna help find him any quicker, so I'd rather enjoy my time. '

What he said held weight. Maybe I was being too hard on myself.

"Well, I guess it's not every day that you get isekaid." I chuckled.

' Now you get it. So get up, they might be waiting for us. '

We went downstairs and greeted the old Wizis and Demac, who were sitting in the kitchen. They greeted us.

"Got some good sleep?"

"Yeah- kind of", I smiled.

"Well, then let's go oomti-loomti, boy, shall we. "

'Oomti-loomti, indeed, ' Yamada chuckled.

All the arcane artifact arsenal that I possess is in the basement, so you will have to pick from there.

We began to follow the Wizis and Decan as they led us to the basement. It seemed out of place, as the door of the basement was a metal door. Whilst all the other doors were wooden. Guess he wanted better protection.

They opened the door and just stood there. We couldn't see what was inside because of the pitch blackness in the basement. Yamada tried to get a better view, he gently shoved them aside and went ahead.

"Oh dear", gently mumbled the Wizis

Yamada wondered what had happened. As he stepped forward and was unable to find footing, he realised that there weren't any stairs leading down to the basement. Yamada screamed, trying to grab hold of anything but he wasn't able to grip anything. Luckily, Demac grabbed him before he could fall to his death.

Yamada's eyes were twinkling as he saw his saviour but Demac was getting creeped out by his face and googly eyes, thanking him over and over.

"Watch where you step, imbecile!" he spoke in English.

Yamada, ashamed of his clutziness, rubbed his hand over his head and kept bowing.

"Wait- then how are we supposed to go down? " I asked in confusion

"Patience, boy," the Wizis chuckled.

He took his stick and swooshed it about seven times, speaking gibberish

"@#)?€¦]¶¬÷°"

Something glowing seemed to be approaching from within the pitch-dark bottom. A luminescent red plank! In quick succession, luminescent planks of various colours floated upwards, arranging themselves in a staircase-like manner.

Even though I had acknowledged the existence of magic in this world, the sheer possibilities left me bamboozled. It'd be nice if I were able to use magic, too.

We descended the steps, and the Wizis gave his stick a slight jerk. The floor began to glow white, but the walls and roof were so pitch black that one could say they weren't even there.

Pointing towards the numerous weapons sitting inside glass cases, He asked us to pick any weapon that we wanted.

"Is every othersider allowed to pick any weapon? Why would you just give these away?"

"Yes, well, these would be pretty much useless to me since people with magic can't wield these weapons."

"Aagh makes sense, but what about that othersider who possessed magic?"

"Well he can't, but even though he has magic, Christopher can still use arcane beasts that roam these lands."

'That's so not fair,' Yamada pouted, even though we didn't have the slightest idea what an arcane beast was.

We checked out many weapons to pick the ones we wanted. There were artifacts and weapons of many kinds. Medieval weaponry, mystic artifacts and many things unfamiliar to us.

Yamada, with a smirk on his face, was searching for something specific, it seemed. One cool-looking weapon caught my eye, a flaming sword in the case. I picked it up, but couldn't keep it in my hand because it generated too much heat, even though the hilt allowed me to hold it without burning my hand. The sword had me sweating like crazy. Disappointed by my failure, continued forward.

*Hey kid, pick me*, whispered a low pitched strong voice.

Trying to trace the source of the whisper, I turned my head left n right but couldn't see anything of note. Suddenly, Yamada yelled.

'Aha! Found it'

He held a bow in his hand, which looked pretty much like an ordinary bow. He turned his visage, adorned by his smug smile, towards Demac. Demac took a glance at the bow he held and smirked as well.

"The bow of snakes, huh, not a bad pick."

Suddenly, the voice again called out to me.

*I will grant you the power that you desire,* the voice came from a black box next to me.

The voice was pretty intimidating. This was like those manga where the hero gets a super OP weapon. Pondering my next step, I thought about the options that were available. Not shining in the strength department, I'd rather use artifacts than swing around heavy weaponry. I was quite sure this was my opportunity to get my hands on immense power, which would be useful in my journey.

"This box, I would like this. I'd appreciate it if you could brief me on its usage."

The Wizis stared at the box and then at me. He sighed and shook his head.

"Boy, this weapon I wouldn't recommend."

"Bu - but why?"

"You wouldn't be able to handle it, boy," he muttered in a gentle tone.

The gentleness in his tone as he looked down on me offended me. I doubled down on my decision and became adamant in reaction.

"No, I will take this! "

Knowing he couldn't change my mind, he backed down.

*Sigh*

"Fine, suit yourself, boy, but don't cry to change it afterwards", he replied as if he were tired.

'You are going to use a box, my bow is way cooler.'

I thought this marked my victory; it brought a smile to my face. Still not knowing how to wield this weapon, I further enquired.

"So, how to use it? As a lighthouse, projectile or -

"The box ain't the weapon, the weapon is inside." Demac intervened.

Yamada and I stood close to catch a glimpse of my weapon for the first time. In suspense, slowly, the box was opened by me. I could instantly open it, but wanted to tease Yamada, to show him the superiority of my weapon.

I opened the box with a smug face, didn't even look inside. I wanted Yamada to have the first glance, to cry tears of envy when he saw it. Instead, he burst out in laughter, crawling on the ground. I didn't witness tears of envy, only tears of ridicule.

"What's so funny about it? " I glanced inside the box.

My smirk vanished, and I was left blank-faced. This had to be some kind of joke. ----My weapon, my legendary weapon, turned out to be a rubber ducky. That voice tricked me!

I grabbed the rubber duck firmly and aggressively pointed it towards the Wizis.

"What is this junk?!"

*Watch your words, moron *

The sudden voice shocked me, and bamboozled by it, I dropped the ducky.

"I-It talked, the ducky talked"

" The name's Chuck, Chuck the duck".