The World of Astrial

John was still on edge but he was beginning to adjust to his new surroundings. He frowned at Kris before raising his hand to say something.

"Uh, miss? I have no idea how you expect me to do that. I'm a soldier, sure, but I'm trained in the use of firearms. Somehow, I have a feeling this demon lord isn't at all vulnerable to lead bullets or frag grenades. If this is my only ticket home, shouldn't I be training first? And I'm guessing that taking down that demon lord is a long-term project. A year at least? I'm gonna have to get the lay of the land in that time. I literally have a million questions right now but I know that I'm definitely in no way fit to 打架 with some si pak kau demon lord."

John folded his arms and gave Kris a hard stare. This lady was bloody insane if she truly believed a 21st century soldier was a match for a demon lord without proper combat training. His use of mandarin and hokkien in his speech also signified that he was acclimating to the strange new world.

Oriana shook her head. "A demon lord, huh? That sounds like something up my alley. However, he does have a point of how long taking him down will take. I too will need a lay of the land," she responded. She smiled at Kris. "Healing abilities, you say? Yeah...we could definitely use those." Oriana sighed at what she was told, trying to take the information in. "This makes me feel a little better. Thank you for the information. I just need time to adjust," she told Kris with a small smile still on her face.

"Well....the last batch of heroes were killed off or decided to live here... The ones before that managed to do so, though it was due to a larger n-number." Arisa said to them as she went into deep thought. [Analyze X] "It seems you are already level 30.....and you have magic. Quite a v-variety of them."

John sighs to himself. They aren't even close to ready...

He steps forward comming out if the corner if the room.

"State your names." He said firmly.


Everything gets more complicated by the day he thought to himself. It'd be wise if the king was to send more experienced people to help with these hero's. He started going over potential candidates that could help him in this endeavor.

James looks back as he's walking and shouts "kris you coming? You did say you wanted to do that quest!" He says as he goes over and looks for the quest.

John put on his jockey cap and gave Halthorn a half-hearted salute.

"Lieutenant John Liew of the Singapore Armed Forces, 3rd Guard's Battalion reporting for duty." He put down his right arm and went on, "so where can I learn how to fight? You guy's probably don't have a SAR21, M16, U100 or M203. Those are the only guns I'm trained to fire so unless you have those on hand I'd like to pick up some melee fighting skills. Maybe learn a bit of magic, that kind of thing."

John's inner geekness was overriding his desire to return home. Right now, he wanted to live out the life of an rpg character and by God, he was going to have the time of his life.

Oriana shook her head. She turned to the man named Halthorn and greeted him. "My name is Oriana Elizabeth Godfrey. I am a swordsmith in training to be a paladin." She breathed a sigh of relief after getting that all out of her system. She hoped he would be okay with just that amount of information. If not, luckily Oriana was prepared. She was not usually one to be nervous in these types of situations, but it was getting to her...

Kris called after James, "I didn't say I was going to fight a dragon! Maybe with a group of people . . . have fun," she said, waving after him. "I said I wanted to escort the convoy. I knew something was funny with your head, your listening skills are terrible!" she said.

The elfturned her attention back toward Oriana and John Liew. "I know that it's a tall order, but you'll have help and you'll be developing your own abilities. The laws of this world are different from your own." Regarding Oriana, "A paladin! You should be very helpful, then." Kris was totally confused and just stared as John Liew spoke of the guns he knew how to use, throwing a glance over at Arisa like 'Do we have those?' "Magic and melee fighting are what I am familiar with . . . advanced technology tends to stir hostilities . . . "

"There's no guns in this world..." Arisa said, "As so far, do not try to s-spread the future technology onto this world. There has been people incidents where people.... who knows the future technology from heroes were killed off. A much more severe incident was a d-death of a level 256 hero....which is abnormal because the death cap for the general population of the world is 150."

John shrugged his shoulders. He had expected as much and he was meaning to learn some swordsmanship anyway.

"I figured as much. Relax, I don't actually know how to make the gun. Just how to dismantle and use them so you won't be getting any flak from me on that matter." He chuckled at his pun. "So, I'm pretty fit and I have a long list of survival skills. Including how to conduct military operations." John paused for a moment to let them digest his words.

"My marksmanship might come in handy if I get a crossbow, but what I really want to do is train myself in melee combat, some magic and improve my seamanship. I know a little hand-to-hand combat, but nothing that would likely prove useful against an armed fighter. I know absolutely jack shit about magic, but I do know physics. As for seamanship, I can function as part of a landing party but I don't actually know how to sail a ship. So if you could just point me in the right direction to learn all this..."

Oriana nodded her head. "Excellent. I will do my best to be of use to the group." She then sighed. "However, if you were expecting a paladin to use magic, then I'm not the one you seek. I'm one of a few paladins who don't use magic. I can resist magic, though. I just don't use it," she explained. Oriana hoped that even though her magic ability was absent, she could still be useful with swordsmanship since she's been training with a sword. She turned to Kris and Arisa. "Is that okay with you?"

"Two new hero's that can't use magic." He thought to himself.

"This puts us far behind schedule..."
John said out loud looking at Arisa and Kris.

"Not to mention dangerous. What if that red knight and hooded one come back these hero's won't even be able to defend themeves." He said glancing at them.

James walks back growing impatient wanting to kill something. "Something's wrong with me? Lady you ran a medical check on a walking corpse. The only reason I'm standing before you is because I was brought back. Odd thing is I have a heart beat." He says as he takes falcon shield off his arm and examines it incase it needs to be cleaned.

Kris scowled at James, her dainty features contorted by the expression. "Then I guess you'll be just fine when you're eaten or set on fire!" the elf retorted. "So he's a vampire with a heart beat," she muttered to herself.

Her attention shifted to John Halthorn as he spoke of the new heroes being unable to wield magic. "John Liew could learn magic, in time. And another hero that can use magic might still be summoned." She explained to Oriana and John Liew, "My magic is meant for healing and helping others, but I do have some spells that are helpful during combat." Thinking over the matter, she said, "Perhaps another hero or two will be summoned that does have magical talents," the elf suggested. She looked over at James, "He can probably use magic . . . but he's a bit odd."

"We don't have time!" He said in sharp tone.

"Those people could be back anytime. I've had a bad feeling since we left the banquet I can't tell what will happen next."He sighed.

"Um..." Arisa then explained to the newcomers, "Sorry. Y-yesterday, we were at a banquet hosted by Alfrueta. A red knight and a girl named Red came in and murdered the... Minister of Foreign affairs before escaping. S-so...that's the reason we are cautious."

"It's understandable. I know how that feels," Oriana stated in an understanding tone. "It's good to be cautious. I'm a cautious person myself. I may not have had the same experience as you, but I understand what it is like to be cautious."

John shook his head in annoyance. Did these people not understand that he lacked the capacity to defend himself in this world? Basic taekwondo just wouldn't help him survive his time here.

"It's fine, but I really need to stress the fact that I have virtually no way to defend myself here. I am a 21st century elite infantry soldier trained in the use of firearms. Your world lacks firearms. How the hell am I supposed to help you fight against anyone when I can't even swing a sword properly? I should be able to learn how to do that somewhere, yes? Or does everyone here naturally know how to fight in melee? I'm sorry that you don't have time to spare but I ultimately won't prove useful to any of you in a fight until I actually get some proper training."

The exasperation and irritation in his voice could almost be seen. Sarcasm and stone-cold logic were John's main tools in getting his point through to unreasonable people, and he was really starting to get pissed off that no one seemed to be listening to him.

"Furthermore, remember that I know absolutely nothing of your world. For all my instruction in warfare and strategy, it comes down to absolutely jack shit if I don't know anything about our resources, the terrain or enemy intelligence. So can someone please educate me on this strange new world I need to live in? How magic works, the current political and economic climate, what challenges I can expect to face, that sort of thing? You can't seriously expect me to pick all this up without at least showing me how to find out can you?"

Kris looked over at John Halthorn, her hands set on her hips as she tapped her foot. "Well then what are your big ideas?" she asked him, her tone lofty and skeptical. She also looked at him expectantly. "I'm sure you must have all the answers."

The elf answered John Liew, "There is melee and magical training that you can undergo. The rules of this world are likely not the same as yours, and heroes have gained skills quickly to learn to deal with the challenges they faced before. My magic is divine magic, granted to me by a deity in return for doing their work. But there is arcane magic as well, and there is always melee fighting. As for enemy intelligence and strategy and the like, Arisa might better answer your questions," she said, deferring to Arisa on those subjects.

James sighs in frustration and says "So you coming or not? I don't need a healer I have my own healing source right here." He reaches to his toolbelt but can't find his estus flask. "Ummm that's not good, I may be screwed."