The Advent of a Variant

That night, you could say one dreamt of many things. Many, many things.

After all, I did get Isekai'd to another world, which meant that my brain had a lot of things to process.

From what my thoughts could gather, it seems like I could only use magic associated with Light and Dark amplitudes. I still have zero clue as to how magic works, but I'd assume it's probably somewhere along the lines of "Haha, these are special magics that allow for healing and blessings, as well as curses and gravitational magic".

Well, pondering about it won't do me too much good, so I'm not gonna bother with doing that. There'd be no point if I didn't know the answer to it anyway. Besides, I'm getting my mission tomorrow, so I should just look forward to that instead. Or try to. I don't wanna die.

I guess when it comes down to combat, it's always going to involve danger in some way shape or form. Whether it'd be a special ops mission or just a simple street fight, there's always that one person who doesn't walk home unscathed. It's shown that in many instances throughout history, whenever a war or a feud between people occur, there would be some form of violence occurring, regardless of severity. In the case of combat, I'd assume it'd be leaning more towards physical trauma done between two or more individuals.

Man... It all already sounds like a pain...

Now fully awake after thinking all of that to myself, I opened my eyes, and saw an unfamiliar roof. Right, I'm in another world. so this of course isn't my apartment. I was not dreaming, and I had confirmed that the other day. This shouldn't be surprising.

I could hear the gusting wind, blowing and howling from outside the window. After all, there weren't any glass panes or anything of the sort, which is why the outside felt connected to the chambers in a petite manner. I could hear what sounded like birds chirping, and see the sun rising.

"Looks like I got up early..." I said to myself, sighing.

Just then, the front door opened.

"Mornin', Kiddo!"

An enthusiastic voice boomed from the doorway, and let themselves in my room. This individual certainly wasn't Alicia, as the voice sounded rather flamboyant and gutsy. I could immediately tell that I was in the presence of someone powerful and influential, yet at the same time, I didn't feel the need to demonstrate any means of politeness. It was a conflicting feeling, yet I could not do anything about it.

The figure then slowly revealed their identity. Even though we had never met before, there was no doubt that I knew this person. Known to carry large armor everywhere he went with a fiery attitude to boot, it was none other than...

"Metal Tarkus! What brings you here to my chambers?" I stated, in a surprised manner.

Metal Tarkus was one of the heroes within Fargo's party. He looked taller than I thought he'd be, but I knew it was partially due to his clunky, large armor that stood in the way of seeing his figure. He's known to always wear a helmet, and so only a select few of people knew what he looked like; specifically his party and his superiors, such as Excelsus, Fargo, and a few others.

"Looks like you already know about me!" Tarkus laughed to himself.

"You're the defense master, so it's only given that I'd know." I said, proudly, not telling him that it was because I read about him in a book from my world.

"I'm honored. Anyways, Metal Tarkus, Hero of defense, and formerly in Fargo's party." Tarkus said, taking his hand out.

"Pleasure to meet you." I responded, shaking his hand.

"I'm here to escort you to the armory. Big man wants you to create a party and pick your weapons today." Tarkus said, with a hearty tone.

"Big Man...?"

"I meant his majesty. I just call him big man cause y'know, he's big and has high standing. Not that he minds anyway, so why not, y'know?"

"Uh... Okay. So you want me to follow you to the armory then? Where's that?"

"That's right. Bring your bag and we'll get going. It's going to take a while to ride by carriage, and we're meeting the guild master there at the outskirts of Nardlebarg, so you need to get ready. "

"So it's stationed all the way at the outskirts?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, it won't take us too long to get there." Tarkus said, reassuringly.

Tarkus then left to wait outside, while I went back to my bedside to pack my belongings. Not wanting anyone to find out about the potato chip packet that I ate, I went to the bathroom, rinsed the packaging, and crumpled it up so that it could fit in my bag. Guess I'm not throwing this away until I can find somewhere deserted for it to be discarded. Wouldn't want the locals here finding out about oriented polypropylene.

With that, I headed out of the chambers.

"All set. I guess I can only pray that my journey will be safe now." I said, sighing to myself once more.

"You'll do just fine, kiddo." Tarkus said, patting me on the shoulder with strength. I seriously felt that.

Following Tarkus, I traversed through the castle's many different areas; its gardens, hallways and different functional rooms were all very fancily glazed and painted. It really was like a fairy tale. There were various butlers and other maids tending to the various areas, and there was pretty much carpet everywhere I went.

Eventually, we even passed through the courtroom where I was first summoned, and then we stopped at the throne room, which was also just around the corner.

"Hey Tarkus... Weren't we going to the armory?" I asked, looking around the throne room.

"Before that, big man actually called us in for an emergency. There's been another riot going on in the village nearby, but it seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Hence, your first meeting will be done in the throne room, so that we don't have to get you to the armory, since it's too far from the village." Tarkus said.

"Another riot?" I asked, in a concerned manner.

There was indeed a village outside when I looked out the window yesterday, which was located right beneath the castle, but I was not informed of the current situation there, so this piece of news took me by surprise.

"Yeah. Remember how the big guy told you that there were various threats popping up left and right of the country? This riot's one of em. People in this village have been going crazy over the announcement of us not adapting to creating chimeras, like the rest of the world. They're worried about their safety and fear that we're behind the latest trend in the weaponization of the country." Tarkus explained, with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Wait... Chimeras? Weaponization?"

That's the first I heard of this as well.

"I guess I can tell you a bit more, since the big guy's not here yet." Tarkus said, rubbing his helmet.

"Please do. I'd like to know more about the current circumstances." I said.

"Yeah. They're bioweapons made through the use of dark fusion magic, monsters and people, powerful enough to wipe out a whole city. Chimeras are essentially lower class humans or beasts in the militia fused with monsters to become a bioweapon. These people in the militia go through rough training and compatibility tests to see if they can handle the power of a monster. Creating them can result in excellent military prowess and combat ability, but..."

"I'd assume there's lots of ethical risks there." I added.

"You're right on the dot, kiddo. Our big man doesn't like the idea of the risk involved in turning a person into a chimera. In fact, our teams stationed at the Royal Research Facility originally did attempt these experiments! But..." Tarkus stated, again.

"Most of them failed, didn't they?" I said, nodding to myself.

"Hate to admit it, but you're right. According to Excelsus, who was in charge of manipulating the fusion magic, even with his prowess there were 3 out of the 5 test subjects who had failed to fuse with the monster provided and ended up dying from the overload. Said that it was a gruesome sight to bear." Tarkus sighed, sounding more depressed just bringing it up.

I should probably stop prodding for more details, but I need to know more about Chimera experimentation.

"It's probably really rude of me to ask this, but what happened to the other two?" I asked, with curiosity.

"Well, the male subject rebelled and flew away once he fused with an orc and a lesser dragon. No one had heard of him since. The girl who had fused with a minotaur and harpy is now serving the adventurer's guild. She only inherited the horns and strength of the minotaur, but she obtained both the wings and talons of a harpy; unlike the male, she also didn't show signs of rebellion or struggle, so she was deemed a success and was to serve the military, but big man decided that it was probably better to discontinue the chimera creation research due to all the safety and ethical risks surrounding it."

Orcs? Minotaurs? Harpies? Man I'm dead, I guess they exist in this world. What an Isekai moment.

"Come to think of it..." Tarkus said, with his head facing the roof.

"Remembered something?" I said, knowing that he probably forgot something. (he forgor? 💀 )

"Yeah I did. Along with picking your weapons here, you'll be working with some adventurers, kiddo." Tarkus said, with a hearty laugh.

"Huh?"

"This meeting you're attending? It's a short and quick message from the big man. Coming with him will be some adventurers that have heard of your arrival and are willing to help you in getting accustomed to this world." Tarkus explained.

"I still don't get what you mean by 'getting accustomed..."

"You'll get it soon enough. Oh, look!"

Metal Tarkus then pointed at the direction behind me. Looking towards where he had pointed, the front doors then opened, with the King of Nardlebarg being carried and guarded by several of what seems to be the king's bodyguards. They walked in quickly and hurriedly seated the king on his throne. Walking behind them was a group of people, presumably the adventurers, as each one of them had different sets of equipment and different tastes in fashion (no shit, even their armor colors were different for some of them). Immediately I noticed that there were beasts and humans, but not celestials. There were four of them.

One girl stood out to me; she had the horns of an ox and talons for feet. She was also donning a large ragged brown cloak, with a piece of metal clasped on it. Despite these features, she seemed to be younger than me, as well as shorter than me. What stands out the most however, is her unique short Auburn hair. It was somewhat scruffy, seeming like it'd seen better days. Despite her somewhat rough appearance, her face seemed kind. She had large red eyes and a great smile. She looks experienced in battle, yet emits an expression that makes people think that she's nothing but a helpless girl.

She's that chimera, isn't she? Must been some form of a coping mechanism for her to still be smiling after being turned into a monster like that. I couldn't help but look her way.

Perhaps noticing how I was staring daggers into her with my eyes squinting intensely, she stopped smiling and looked away. Natural response I guess.

"May I have all of your attention, please?"

The king suddenly talked, shifting our gaze towards his mighty figure. Just like the time he was in the courtroom, he emitted a powerful aura and it turned everyone's attention towards him.

"Due to the circumstances we are facing outside, I will jump straight to the point. Variant, please pick your weapons here. You currently still don't know how to fight, so I would like for you to be accompanied by these adventurers in resolving the riot near the village. All you have to do is guide them towards victory." Nardlebarg said.

Oh man, I have to be a tactician? And I'm still gonna be on the field, despite not being taught the basics beforehand? This reminds me of Fire Emblem.

"I still don't know how to fight, but sure, it's not like my opinion matters anyway." I shrugged, walking over to the stand that one of the guards pushed here while the king was talking. It was loaded with all sorts of medieval weapons; Swords, bows, spears, axes and gauntlets, all of which in different sizes.

As someone who was born in the 21st century, there existed no such things like war and combat; even if we did have such a thing, it would be classified as a sport, such as archery or boxing. Not to mention they were non-lethal, so this would be a first risking my life through fighting. The only thing I can see myself using here are the either the gauntlets or the bow, but knowing that I'd be horrible at aiming with one eye, I decided to grab the lightest pair of gauntlets I could find. 

Let's hope that I learnt something from playing Yakuza 0.

Behind me, I could hear some adventurers chuckling between themselves. It seems like I've lost their respect now that they know I'm a weakling.

"Now, adventurers. You may introduce yourselves." Nardlebarg said, right after seeing me equip the gauntlets. 

All lined up, the first adventurer walked towards me. Looking somewhat older and taller than me, he had a face that would remind one of an emo; messy hair covering his right eye, and a consistently stern looking expression. His posture was poor, and he wore black for everything. Along with donning seemingly light leather armor, he had a bandana that covered half of his face, and carried three different quivers of arrows; one on his right knee, one on his back, and one on his waist. What struck out the most though, was that of his bow. It seemed to serve as more than just a longbow.

"I'm Orion. Don't get in the way of my work." Orion said, as he glanced at me in a condescending manner. Typical Emo person.

With one sentence, he turned around and returned to where he was standing. I guess not everyone's thrilled to meet a Variant who didn't show potential like Fargo did.

The next person was a stark contrast compared to Orion; he was a big, buff person, seemingly somewhere in his middle ages, but he gave off a very flamboyant impression. He casually walked up to me to shake my hand, wearing nothing but pants that looked baggy. He also wore leather boots, and had bandages wrapped all over his body. Yet, he wore a lot of rings and had his left ear pierced, so he must be pretty well off.

"Hi! The name's Stark, local bouncer for the adventurer's guild. I look forward to working with you today!" Stark said, while shaking my hand intensely.

"I'm Nanami Junji. Nanami's my last name." I said, shaking his hand.

He then walked back to his spot, all cheery. I was just left there wondering what the fuck just happened.

The third person was the Chimera. She walked up to me, glanced at me with a suspicious look, closed her eyes, and crossed her arms. Seemingly thinking to herself for a bit, she then stopped, and readjusted her focus onto me.

"Hmm... Well, you don't seem like a bad person, so I guess I'll forgive you!" She said, smiling to herself.

"Huh? Did I do something wrong?" I asked, scratching my head.

Then I put two and two together, before she could give me an answer.

"Oh, you meant when I stared at you! Sorry about that. There were no such things as chimeras in my world, after all." I said, bowing to her.

"So you knew anyway! Good. That means I don't need to waste as much time talking about why I look like what I look like. I'm Kylie, and I also look forward to working with you, Variant!" Kylie said, grinning. She sure looks cheery after I apologized.

"I'm Nanami Junji, Nanami being my last name." I said, bowing again.

Before I could continue talking to her however, we were interrupted.

"Where's the fourth adventurer?" The king asked the guard next to him. He then leaned in his ear, and it seemed like information was exchanged secretively.

"Ah nevermind. Go on ahead."

Seems like it was nothing big, but I guess there were supposed to be five adventurers? Oh well. No point in dwelling too much on it.

The fifth and last adventurer walked up to me clumsily. She had blue eyes that matched the frilly dress she was wearing, which seemed to be imbued with several colored stones. Holding onto a large diamond staff and wearing what seems to be a crystal tiara, she reminds me of a magical girl from a 2000s anime. She was around the same height as the Chimera.

"I- I'm Tiara! N-Nice to meet you..." Tiara said, shy and embarrassingly. She then retreated to the other adventurers, hiding behind Kylie. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to her.

"Without further ado, I would like for you all to help resolve the incident. Each of you will be rewarded with 10 silver coins for every rioter you take down. There are currently 5 groups of 15 rioters out there, and I would like for you all to apprehend them if possible. If not, you may switch to killing them. They are violators of the law." Nardlebarg stated, in a serious tone.

"So there's 75?"

Everyone looked at me weird the moment I said that.

"You can do arithmetic, Mr. Nanami?" Kylie said, with a surprised look.

Should I say it's easy stuff...? Then again, not everyone back then received 12 years of education...

Fuck it, I'm smart, so I get to flex.

"Yes, I can!" I exclaimed, my voice echoing through the halls. 

"That was a surprise to me!" Nardlebarg said. "All the more reason for you to be the team tactician, Variant."

With that, our group of six walked out the front doors, and towards the outward front gate. Standing outside the castle, we could see rioters wrecking havoc across the town.

I just realized, I'm still wearing my t-shirt and sports pants. Will I be fine? Wouldn't be better to get some armor? But when I think about it, I'm probably not even strong enough to wear armor.

"Well then, let's get to work, shall we?"