Welcome To The Enchanted World Of Aewonica!

Oh I’m gonna have a lot of fun with this one.

Will definitely respond tomorrow, 😴

Fun fact. This is a popular light novel within the Knights of Hinansho series 

OT: Unfortunately I won't be able to fully participate in the story. I do wish you well in wherever you take this though

From the outside it looks homely, intimate and warm. Softwood and marble pillars make up most of the building's outer structure. They can't see through the high windows but the clinking of beer glasses from within can be heard outside along with the cheering and celebrating of everyone inside. As they entered the tavern through the thick metal door they were welcomed by a sense of adulation and cheers from everyone inside and out and the clapping of hands. The bartender is working hard, but still manages to welcome them with a short wave. It's as engaging inside as it is on the outside. Squared, wooden beams support the upper floor and the torches attached to them. The walls are decorated with mounted animal heads, hides and small animals. It's clear the owner is an avid hunter and the smells coming from the kitchen indicate the animals don't go to waste. The tavern itself is packed. Passing traders seem to be the primary clientele here which makes sense. Several long tables are occupied by several smaller groups of people. The other, smaller tables are also occupied by people who clearly enjoy each other's company, though they seem to be strangers who have met here. Even most of the stools at the bar are occupied, though nobody seems to mind more company. The Heroes did hear rumors about this tavern, supposedly it's famous for something, though judging by the laughter, cheering and overall enjoyment of everybody, it's probably the people themselves who make this tavern famous.

They found an open table and walked inside to the cheers of the townspeople and the flood of information that they were getting on everyone at once as Libra analyzed the Inn automatically. Libra originates from the Latin for "book". This word root is present in multiple Romance languages, and is also found in English "library" and it was the 'Gift' Ability that The Goddess who threw them into this world gave them. Essentially it constantly provided them with a flood of information on everyone around them. Their Level, Physical Stats, Magic Level, Status, Physical Structure, Weakness, Etc in a flood of information like they had augmented reality visors implanted in their heads or DBZ Scouters on both eyes. It was a lot to take in all at once and it was one of the problems with entering into crowded rooms or public places like this. The good news though is that it was a lifesaver in combat, being able to tell how much it took to kill a monster took a lot of the stress out of the fight and they could see how much strength, magic and health they had to take care of themselves. Furthermore it let them analyze Gear in Stores to see what would best fit them and test out which food would suit them best and up their stats. 

Libra definitely had its flaws, it made crowds an information overload, but the tradeoff was a lifesaver. Even when selecting the food they needed to be careful with it as they only had so much Gold at anytime and needed to keep track of how much they had to afford Lodging, Food, Drinks Gear and Equipment. Towns might not be 100% secure but it was a hell of a lot safer sleeping at an Inn than sleeping out in the wilderness with monsters everywhere. A fact they learned the hard way very early on when, after camping out for a night in a Tent, they had to run for their lives the moment they finished packing up their gear in the morning. For an entire day until they made it to a town. 

More Towns. Less Camping. 

As the two got settled into their seats then they were approached by a tall leggy and buxom blonde tavern maid carrying a pair of Menus for the pair. "Well hello there! Thank you so much for your help out there. You two really put on quite a show out there! My name is Marcie Jolene Mckee and I'll be your waitress today!"

"Ah it was nothing. We're just happy we were in time to help before anybody got hurt." Seraph replied. 

"Slaying monsters like that is just another day in the life for a pair of aspiring adventurers like us."  Jasmine added. 

"And such humble young heroes too! Are you with any Guilds?"

"Not yet. Though we're aiming for The Chromatic Dragon Guild once we get strong enough."

The Chromatic Dragons, besides just having a cool name, were, as far as they could tell, Medieval Commando Squads that would take any job to help anybody no matter how unusual or apparently trite and treated all of them with the same amount of professionalism. An organization that enables adventurers to be hired to go on quests. As powerful as the Kingdom's Knights were they couldn't be everywhere at once so they allowed The Guilds to operate, within certain restrictions, to be able to defend the populace and keep the peace while they were busy. Reportedly if a Guild Member became strong and skilled enough they could join The Knight's Order to train and become Knights without needing to be born of royal blood.

Minimum Level To Join: LVL 15.

Seraph's Level: 5.

Jasmine's Level: 5.

They had a lot of grinding to do before they could even get strong enough to join The Guild. That was their first major hurdle. Once they joined The Guild they could become much stronger and see more of the world while they helped and aided people along the way until they were strong enough to join The Knights. As far as Seraph and Jasmine were concerned that was their best chance to find and take down The Dark Lord and go home.

They'd been working on this plan since they discovered The Guild. Phase One was to get good enough to join The Guild in the first place while helping people they met and getting experience. Phase Two was to become warriors of The Guild and make their name known throughout the land as they powered up until they could join The Knights. Phase Three was to become Knights of the Kingdom and join the army and, ideally, eventually join them in battle to eventually bring down The Dark Lord. Phases 4 through X would be developed as necessary. They just had to take it one step at a time.

"So ambitious! Well I know for certain that a pair of young Heroes like you will definitely make it in The Guild! Here, take a look at your menus and let us know if you want anything."

"Thank you Jolene."

"You're a sweetheart." Jasmine added with a smile.

"Awww you too little cherubs are just too kind!" She laughed and waved and walked away to give them a chance to look over the menus and began analyzing it for the best food for the power boosts while still being affordable.

You know it man! Helps that it's more about the journey and Shonen-style power leveling than the typical Overpowered-Isekai Story.

"Seems a bit reckless." Jasmine pointed out.

"I know but to be fair we don't exactly have a Player's Guide or the Internet to spoil things for us anymore. We're going Old School. We're walking in blind and thinking on our feet. Fortunately, we ended up in a fairly easy area so we can take our time and get situated and plan ahead."

"Maaaan...never thought I'd miss the web but here we are in a world without science. Could've at least kept our phones."

"Well yeah but they'd be kind of useless without a network or anyway to recharge them."

"Right? Might as well send us over with a PSP for how useful it'd be." Jasmine joked.

"I wouldn't have minded keeping some Manga though."

"Or books in general. I actually want to finish Ascendant Eden now."

"Is that any good?" Seraph asked.

"It's...it's one of those high-concept complex sci-fi worlds. It's a whole bunch of sci-fi story world ideas fused into one and the book covers the history and exploration of it all. It's as detailed as Lord Of The Rings with considerable detail about space engineering, planetary geology, quantum physics and stuff like that. It's got some interesting material but it is a slog to get through."

"Sounds complicated. How'd you end up reading that?"

"Mr. Cronholm assigned it to me as a book report."

Seraph held in his laughter. "Ohhhh man! Yeah that certainly sounds like something he'd do!"

"Did you have his class yet?"

"Not yet but I've heard the horror stories. The man is ruthless even if you don't do anything to get on his bad side."

"Well laugh it up while you can. You'll have to get back to homework all the same when we get back."

"Hell, if it means getting back to my family and everyone else I'll take it."

"Our Movies. Our Books. The Internet."

"Our old world."

"Yeah..." Jasmine sighed. "I miss our world."

"Me too." Seraph admitted with a tone of sadness and longing in his voice matching her own. He reached out and held her hand. "But hey! Don't worry alright? We'll get back home one day. We just have to take it one day at a time until we save the world, alright?"

"Yeah, we'll do it. We'll save the world, eventually, and take our time grinding until we're ready to do it." Jasmine agreed. "Just like The Goddess said."

"Right. We'll do it. We just have to be careful, take our time, plan as much as we can, and we'll do it. One day we'll save the world and go home."

"Kick butt, save the world and go home. We've got a long road ahead of us but we can do it Seraph."

"You know it Jasmine." Seraph raised his fist. "Team Isekai!"

"Team Isekai." They fist-bumped and laughed to each other. Not even caring about the strange looks people we're giving them before they went back to their own business.