Chapter 7- My First Adventure: Slave Traders and a god-forged Katana

“Big Brother?”

“Big Brother Shinta?”

I open my eyes to see two girls with black hair and matching eyes; one has short, spiky hair, while the other has silky hair tied into two buns, one on each side. Both of them appeared to be just ten years old.

“You got missed calls and messages, one of them is from Sharon, and another is from Kotoha, with many others.” Said the one with average length spiky

“Big Brother Shinta, I know you can hear us. By the way, aren’t these girls from your class? Why are they calling you? Should I block them for you?” said the other.

“My my, Little Shinta hasn’t woken up yet.”

A woman who looked like she was in her early twenties, walking into the room, said she had the same colour of hair as me, but not as red. I noticed that it was my mum, Irashime Hibana; she looks way younger than she is. She is actually 33 years old, and the girls are my little sisters, who are both K-pop obsessed, and for some reason, they have the entire history of K-pop groups stored on their phones, but they said it was for fun, and they have other stuff they do with their lives, unlike me.

“Shinta, three girls are outside saying they are your valentine… or something like that.” Continued my mom. “What should I tell them?”

My mom is the kind of person who is chill when I have female friends, unlike my dad and my sisters. My dad, Irashime Jo, tends to think that if I have female friends, I will deviate from my studies, even if the girl is one I don’t talk to and we are paired for a school project or something.

“Poke… Poke, big brother Shinta, should I send away those girls?” asked the girl with her hair packed as buns, Irashime Amaru.

“Should I block their numbers?” asked the other one, Irashime Misao.

Both of them are the K-pop-obsessed sisters, and are striving to be K-pop idols. They are three years younger than me and more protective of me when it comes to girls than our parents are. Amaru is the older one and Misao is the younger. As I just lay there, I wondered why my life was like this.

“Gre… Shin… Great Shinta. Great Shinta. Great Shinta.”

What is that voice? sounds familiar, just too familiar. As thoughts of what to do raced across my mind, I was just hearing voices, some were my siblings and mom, others I didn’t recognize, but I had heard.

“Great Shinta.”

“Let us send them home.” said Amaru

“Yes, Sister. Mum, can we go?” said Misao

“Lord Irashime?”

“Well, let me see…” said Hibana

“Great Shinta.”

“Lord Irashime.”

*****

“Wha… looks like I had a memory from my past.”

I said as I opened my eyes and looked towards the calendar, it was that unfaithful day, February 14th, the worst day of my life.

“Great Shinta.”

“Lord Irashime.”

In front of and beside me are two girls, a cat therianthrope with black hair and green eyes and a greater ogre with ginger hair and brown eyes. The ogre girl, Glass, is at the feet of my bed and at my side is the cat girl, Nu. Both of them are my members from Typhoon, the team I joined after getting summoned, for some reason, both of them are holding gifts and are beet red on their faces and ears.

“Um… Lord Irashime, we got you this.” Said Glass, bowing and handing me her gift.

“Y-y-yes… Great Shinta, Happy Valentine’s Day.” Continued Nu bowing down and giving me hers.

No, no… What… Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. It is Valentine’s Day, no wonder I was having that dream.

Ever since my first Valentine in middle school, I have always had that dream before I wake up each Valentine. I have always had a harem, even before I got summoned here.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said with a smile while receiving their gifts, even though inside I was a mess.

Girls always seemed to flock around me, here it is because I am the “Hero” and back there it was because of what I dabbled in, my looks, personality and grades. Just then, a blonde elf with blue eyes walks in and throws a box of chocolate on my legs.

“Happy Valentine, Little Shinta.” She said while smiling with her eyes closed.

“Oh, you got chocorate.” Said Nu. “I got chocorate too.”

“I got a new recipe for a certain dish.” Commented Glass.

“Does Elsa always do this?”

“Yes, she said she does her best to connect with her teammates, elves live up to 1000 to 2000 years old, so encountering people who live just as long is rare on this continent, but she does not build that deep a connection with you though.” Glass replied to my question.

Turns out elves are a mix of fairies and humans; they keep the attributes of fairies, with their connection to spiritual and natural forces. The only attribute they gain from humans is the ability to exist in the physical dimension, and with full strength, fairies can live in the physical dimension, but only have half their full strength and can only stay in the physical realm for about a month at a stretch.

Fairies, sprites and some other similar races like them exist on the Magic Dimension. That dimension can exist in multiple places on the physical realm, but only in labyrinths, dungeons, and places with high-density magic pools. On this planet, such a place is found on the Valhalla continent, Herar continent and Doeval continent, such places being the continents with the most magic. They also exist in dungeons, but only on the lower floors. Summoning is another way, but they only have a limited time unless given physical bodies.

“So she tries to keep a fresh memory of those she has travelled with. Reminds me of Frieren in a sense, but a whole lot more mature.”

“Who?” Both Nu and Glass asked.

“Just an elf from a manga. By the way, we were going somewhere today, right?”

“Yes, Great Shinta, get ready, everyone is already done.”

*****

“My new adventure clothes.” I said, standing in front of my mirror, smiling.

I got it to be similar to something Rimuru, my favourite MC,  wore against the Gazel, technically, because that shirt and pants just hit well, to me at least. The only difference is that my sleeveless shirt is black and the pants are darker, and the blue design on the legs is lighter and a bit different.

I head downstairs, yesterday Alex received a personal request from a duke, Duke Henry Aston, it was to locate a slave trade market that used a black market as its front, talk about using an illegal business as a front for a less illegal business, cause in my perspective a slave trade market can have a black market form where slaves are sold for a higher price, and so has been the case in this world.

Apparently, this market is sponsored by some merchants from the Northern and Southern Empires, Narto and Sempi. The slave trade was banned in the central part of the Grandeur Continent and also worldwide, that is between Fewes to Forth, a few centuries ago, during my Earth’s timeline. That was when the slave trade first started on my Earth, but in the hero’s Earth slave trade had ended. It helped me know that there are multiple versions of Earth in this multiverse.

In the Far northern and southern parts of the continent slave trade is still in practice, and some people still try to practice it.

“You ready kid?” asked Alex, when I came out the door of the house. He and the other six were there with Britney, Alex and Chelsea’s Samoyed dog.

It has been around four or five months since I was summoned, and my level has increased to Level 15; my power level is 15,336. My HP, Soul HP and other stats increased too. My attack level is 35, my defence level is 10, my strength level is 6, my speed level is 15, my IQ level is 10, and my MP is level 0, but I have 20,000MP. Talk about a glitch.

“Are you a girl? How long does it take to get ready?” asked a grinning ogre, Choji. He is our druid, and he is also Glass’s elder brother.

“Na, I didn’t realize I took long,” I said, putting my hand behind my head, smiling.

“Let’s head out.” Commanded as the seven of us left Britney in the yard and headed towards the Tragos, the Commercial capital.

*****

When we got to the deeper parts of Tragos, it looked like the most packed market district, and it also reminded me of a picture my dad showed me. It was when he travelled to South-west Asia and East Africa, some market districts were like this, some cleaner than others.

“I am guessing this is where some of the poor masses stay?” I asked as we walked deeper into the district towards ten large circus-like tents in the middle of the district.

“Yeah, that’s why crime in these kinds of areas is very high.” Replied Chelsea.

The tents we were walking to had a colour unique from the other with white vertical stripes, and they were arranged in a circle. The one to the north was red, to its east was one with orange, then yellow, green, blue, south was violet, then indigo, cyan, brown, pink. We ended up entering the tent of blue and white stripes, where we were immediately greeted by a dwarf who wore a blue tuxedo.

*****

“Good morning. And who might you lot be, visiting our beautiful…” he paused, moments after his jaw dropped open.

“Well, we-” Alex tried to speak before he was interrupted.

“Sir Hero, Our Lord, Master Shinta Irashime. We never knew you would be interested in slaves already.”

Me. Interested. Slaves. Already. I said in my mind, when was I interested in slaves? They know me? I always hated slaves and stuff like that, so slaves are indeed being sold here.

“What do you mean, Great Shinta? Are you interested in slaves?” Asked a troubled Nu.

“Na, I even wonder how they know me. By the way, I should also ask how you guys get your slaves.”

I could notice that the expression of the others had turned dark at the mention of my question. Maybe they thought I was into it, or they are angry at the guy, I mean, he thinks it is the norm or something.

“From the Northern Empire, Sir Shinta, I guarantee you that if you buy one of our best slaves, we can get you a free ship to the north, slaves there are extremely high and valuable.” He continued yapping. “There are those you can use for maids, combat and even your personal ser-”

“Hey, old man.” I cut him short while bringing out a kodachi I had on me; it was made a few weeks ago. “I am not into your perverted ideas. Besides, my team is also not buying. So what do you say, guys, we invest in this?”

“YEA, Great Shinta wil’ n’ver buy into your idea!” projected an irritated Nu.

“I thought for a second Little Shinta was going to switch on us.” Continued Elsa, as she was charging up a fire spell. “Guess it was all in my head.”

“I guess Shinta really is reliable.” Choji said.

“Lord Irashime, I always knew you would never betray us.” Replied Glass.

“What the hell, I thought your guards had more power.” Commented Chelsea, using a water spell to hold off three assassins.

“I love the determination in this team, and as promised, we shall be bringing an end to this establishment.” Finished Alex as he drew out his blade.

Afterwards, a lot of men dressed in black appeared, they looked like assassins and wore clothes resembling those three in Chelsea’s water ball. The beginning of the fight was signaled with a Level 2, Rank C Spell 157 Blazing Fear, which pierced four on the enemy side before they launched their attack.

“Capture them, make sure none escapes.” Commanded the dwarf.

“Little Shinta head deeper into the middle of the tent.” Elsa conveyed to me. “There is a box there that should enable us to win.”

“Fine, got it!” But I seriously wished she would stop calling me that.

With that, I sped off deeper. Most of the assassins were level 11 or lower, so defeating them was a breeze, or so I thought, until I let my guard down and got stabbed by my side, between my lungs and diaphragm. I had to lie low, but I had at least gotten deeper into the tent. My breath was becoming heavier, and I was losing a lot of blood at that moment. My consciousness started to fade a bit until I heard a voice.

“Hey there! Fancy seeing you around.”

I looked around, but the only thing around me where boxes and empty cages, before I caught sight of a katana strapped to a box. The sheath was white with black and gold designs, and the handle was golden samegawa with a white tsuka-ito. It also had a golden kashira and fuchi, the fuchi had a crimson dragon on the top and a white tiger on the other side. It gave off a high level of energy, and I decided to check the stats of the weapon.

The numbers I saw looked fake, but they weren’t. Its level was 1,665, and its power level was 1,498,509. Its attack, defence and IQ were all 300,000, adding them would make that already maxed out to individuals of this world, its strength was 208,000; speed was 100,500 and its MP was 290,009. The HP was the craziest part of it, with a Max HP of 1,391,045.

“You are the hero, right? I sensed your energy when you entered here.” Said the sword, but it sounded lazier this time.

“Yeah. How did you know, though?” I asked in response.

“I have worked with many heroes before, so I could tell. The name’s Aisu, the Second god-forged Behemoth, brought to life by the god of creation, Donovan. I have worked with past heroes.”

“I got that already. Either way, how did you end up here?”

“Not much, the last hero left me in the hands of these fools. He loved the idea of slaves and was a physically substantial guy; he loved nothing more than using his holy magic on the undead.” Finished Aisu.

The next moment, a light appeared from it, and after it dissipated in its place was a 17-year-old girl, with long golden hair becoming lighter at the tips, she had brown eyes and wore a white turtle neck shirt, and a gold and black joggers under it, the most casual clothing I have seen so far.

“You are gi-.” But before I could

“No, I am not. That was the exact reason the previous hero abandoned me here.” Said alto voice coming from the girl, “I am a guy, but for some reason, Lord Donovan made my human form that of a girl, and I sound a whole lot similar to one too.”

“I understand, so you are a femboy.” I said, closing my eyes with a straight face.

“You want me to help you or not. I have no time to waste. I could just return to where I was and let you die.”

“No, no,” I said, moving my hand in a gesture to indicate surrender. “I didn’t mean it rudely,” I said, lying with a straight face.

Aisu lifted me from the place I was and transformed back into a katana, and I drew the blade out of the sheath. According to Aisu, the blade is his main body, and the sheath is his clothing. Not long after wielding Aisu, I saw a notice in front of me.

Action: Will you take Aisu to be your sole weapon and god-forged Behemoth companion?

Yes…

No…

Well, yes, obviously, I have to pick it. Aisu is going to help me. The next thing I felt was my gut being healed. Aisu said it was his influence; as long as he had 1000 MP, he could heal me. That was when I realized that I had gotten a whole lot stronger compared to this morning, and Aisu happened to be the cause. Guess I will rely on my limbs, unless I am in a tough battle.

(Are you concerned about your journey as a progression?)

(Is this telepathy?)

(Na, it is Weapon Communication, a skill shared by intelligent weapons and their masters. By the way, are you concerned about your journey?)

(Yeah. Maybe since you are my only weapon, I have to use my hands only, unless in serious situations.) I communicated back while looking at the blade.

(How about I use a technique of mine? It is called Adaptation.)

(Adaptation. What is it?)

(It is a technique that allows me to change my stats to my Master’s will; I can also change your stats.)

(So basically Reduction.)

(No! It also enables you to make your abilities adapt based on enemies, at times you can change your affinity.)

Action: Use Technique, Adaptation in Battle.

Yes…

No…

Yes, please, and reduce Aisu to level 20, so that he will always be five levels ahead of me.

When that happened, next was Aisu’s stats dropped; his level was 20, his power level was 18, 888. His attack was 3,800, defence was 3,080, MP was 3,008, and the remaining three were 3,000 each. His Max HP also dropped to 351. I guess Adaptation is really good for me.

(Let’s go.)

(Yes, Master.)