After that, Dad turn backs and cast a spell.

“I, the one who tamed you, commands! Show yourself and follow my will! [Summon]!”

A 2 meter diameter magic circle appeared two meters away from dad and from there two creatures appeared slowly from their feet. The first one is a black horse appeared with wing attached on its body, a Pegasus. Pegasus is mythical creatures that appeared on Greek mythology and I always wanted to see one.

““OOOHHH!””

Gino and I can’t suppress our excitement when we saw the Pegasus. Actually, it’s not just us, even Kaezar and Jeziel let out a voice of admiration when Pegasus appeared.

The other one is a big monitor lizard. It is color red and it let out a fire every time it opens its mouth. I don’t know what kind of monster is this but it looks cool! The Pegasus and the monitor lizard snuggles its head on dad and dad pats its head.

The beast let out a voice of satisfaction while being patted by dad.

Dad let the Pegasus pull the carriage while he and his party get on the monitor lizard.

“Okay, let’s go!”

At Dad’s command, the beast started to run. The Pegasus run fast ignoring the weight of the carriage and its passenger while the monitor lizard run as fast as the Pegasus.

I have a mix emotion regarding what is happening right now. Today, I saw a Pegasus but it ended up as a carriage horse. I don’t know if I will be happy or not.

We are traveling in approximately 130KM/H and dad’s isn’t lying when he said that there is a suspension spring on this carriage. Even though we are running a rough road, I hardly feel the shaking of the carriage. Normally, jeepney vibrates when the engine is running but this carriage didn’t since it has no engine.

It’s quite inside the carriage since no one is talking. Kaezar is sleeping while sitting. Her mouth is open so I slowly closed it. Seriously, this girl is always sleeping whenever we ride a vehicle (as long as the destination is far). Skyla is chatting with Jeziel and I think they get along well, I don’t know what is their topic though. Gino is thinking about something. I hear some murmuring a name like “Bebz” or “Biboy”. Wait… Aren’t those the nickname of Marc?

I suddenly remembered the names of Gino’s pet in games, most of them are named after the nicknames of Marc. Don’t tell me he’s going to name the very first monster that he tames with that!

Time passes by but the Pegasus doesn’t seem to be tired at all same goes with the monitor lizard. I don’t know how far the royal capital is but I think it’s okay to let the beast take a break.

I tried to open the carriage door but I see something like a wall peeking out of the trees.

“Are we there already?”

Gino asked Skyla who’s chatting with Jeziel and she looks outside and said.

“Yes, Pegasus can really run fast aren’t they? Normal horse would take one day before reaching the royal capital from Pinar but Pegasus can do it by an hour or so.” (Skyla)

“I thought that Pinar was far from the royal capital but I didn’t know that it’s this close. Considering that Pinar is a frontier village, I assumed that it is near the border of this kingdom. I wonder why it remains like that even though it’s near.” (Gino)

“You know that monster exist in this world right? Even though it’s near it doesn’t mean that the route is safe. Normally you’ll need to hire adventurer as escorts but we have dad and his team so we are safe. Oh, not only monsters there are bandits too.” (Skyla)

So that’s why. I am amazed by the fact that Skyla travelled alone even though there are too many dangers when you travel.

“So you went to Pinar alone and didn’t encounter any bandits or monsters on the way? You’re pretty lucky!”

Gino exclaimed as he nod. Skyla scratched her cheeks and said…

“Yeah I think I am really lucky since I didn’t meet anything on the way here. But I encounter some corpses of monsters when I am travelling and its wound was still fresh. Maybe there is a merchant with escorts ahead.”

Skyla said while laughing a little.

By her remarks, I don’t know if she’s lucky or not. Maybe one of dad’s teammate was secretly following her and killed all the monsters that she might encounter since there’s no merchant who came before her. And also, if there are adventurers ahead of her then there will be no corpse around since they will properly handle the corpses so that the other monster won’t come due to the smell of blood.

As we approach the gate, I saw something flashing outside the window. I look at it closer but the carriage is travelling very fast I didn’t see it clearly. The only thing I saw was a man holding a dagger and a woman who’s casting magic at the back. They are fighting 5 goblins leisurely. The thing that flashes before was the glasses of the man.

I thought that the only thing I can find here is a monocle since I assumed that the residents of this world have good eyesight but I guess I am wrong. There are other transported people here so maybe one of them has bad eyesight.

- - -

We finally reach the gate and there is a long line of carriage. Some of them didn’t have roofs and some are like a mobile store and they are selling their goods while queuing. We waited for about 30 minutes before we managed to enter the city.

The first thing we saw when we entered was the bustling streets of Linabanan. There are some selling fruits, while others are grilling meat and fish. There are also some people walking fully armored and their weapons can be seen dangling on their waist. There are also wearing black cloaks and in their hand are staves or wands. I wonder if they didn’t feel hot inside those since it’s already noon. And also, they are some idiot couple flirting in the broad daylight and knights who patrol the streets to ensure the security.

Dad comes near while riding his big monitor lizard.

“I’ll be going to the knight’s quarter to report about the attack so Skyla guide them to our house.”

“Yes dad!”

Skyla answer cheerfully and dad go to the Pegasus and said something. The Pegasus neighed and we separate from dad.

We are now in the plaza of Linabanan. There is a fountain in the middle of it and peddlers are doing business around it. There are some armed men and women wondering around and blacksmith store can be seen almost everywhere. There is also some bookshop but the only one who enters are the ones who wear black cloak. Maybe they are magicians. More stupid couples can be seen flirting while listening to the song of the bards. The instruments that the bard uses are harps and guitars. Seeing guitars in this world makes me feel excited. I like to play guitars back in Earth. Maybe it’s on the blood of the Filipino since we have this act of courtship where you serenade at the house of your loved ones. Well, there are only few men who did this but I think it’s pretty romantic. As I look around, I saw a dancer wearing a revealing clothes dancing on the tune of the bard behind her. All of her watchers are men and some are slouching hiding their flag poles. Well, the dance is pretty erotic so I can only sympathize to them.

The carriage continued to run towards a 3 story building with a giant signboard of sword, shield, daggers, and staff on top of each other. There is also a text that could be read as “Adventurer’s Guild”.

“The adventurer’s guild in Pinar isn’t this big. You can really tell that you are at the royal capital because of this.”

Gino muttered as I look around.

Of course I am surprised by the building but what surprises me is the building made of marbles besides it. It also has a signboard with two staves crossing each other and something akin to a neon light signboard with the text of “Magician’s guild” written below.

“How should I put this… The Magician’s Guild looks like bar… With that neon light I really can’t see it as the magician’s guild..”

As I said what I am thinking, Skyla suddenly shouted at me..

“IT’S NOT A BAR! AND THAT GLOWING TEXT IS MADE OF MAGIC AND IT CONSUMES A LARGE AMOUNT OF MANA! ONLY THE MAGICIAN’S GUILD CAN CONTINOUSLY USE IT! IT REPRESENTS THE CAPABILITY OF OUR MAGICIANS!”

“I-is that so?”

Feeling startled at Skyla who suddenly shouts, I look once again at the magician’s guild but no matter how hard I tried to imagine it as something majestic, I can only see a bar.

We run past both of the adventurer’s and magician’s guild and stopped at a place that is close to the guilds.

There stood a 2 story mansion made of wood with a garden surrounding it. The fence stood across the 85m2 lot and a stable could be seen near the gate. Perhaps this is a noble house but the carriage stops in front of its gate… Maybe the Pegasus is just resting since its running at full speed before.

Denying my denial, Skyla get off of the carriage and opened the gate. The Pegasus slowly enters allowing us to see the garden up close. There are many kind of flowers on it but I recognize some of them. There’s an orchid, roses, and many more across the flower field. A little ahead of it, you can see a basketball court. Of course there is also a ball of it but I don’t think it’s made up of the same material as the basketball’s ball back at earth. In the middle of the court and flower field stood a hut with a table and chairs surrounding the table that was placed in the middle of the hut. Maybe after playing a game they rest in there.

Skyla, who closed the gate she opened, knock on the wooden door.

*Knock knock*

“Coming!”

A woman’s voice came inside the house and you can hear footsteps getting near.

The door opened and I saw something that made my jaw drop.

A woman who looks on her 20’s but the actual age is on her late 30’s. She has a shoulder length silky black hair with a face that looks like Skyla. Her stomach is big and I think that she’s ready to give birth any moment now. Oh right, how do I know her actual age? It’s just a guess since she really looks like someone I know pretty well back in earth. Not only her face, even her gestures and voice the same with that woman. The woman with a name of Mara Perez, my mother.

She hugs Skyla tightly and Skyla hugs her back.

“Mom…?”

I called her. I know that she’s not my mother since this is a different world. It is just the same case with Kaezar but I call her ‘mom’ due to shock. It’s the same when I call this world Kaezar as ‘sis’.

The mom-look-alike look at me puzzled by the way I called her. She scratches her cheeks, just like what my mother do when she’s lost, and said.

“Who are you?” (mom-look-alike)

“Ah! Mom! That is Kuya Jasper! Dad’s son in his previous world!” (Skyla)

“Is that so?”

The mom-look-alike faces me with a complicated expression. She seems to be happy to meet me but at the same time pitying me. I don’t know why she’s pitying me but if I were to guess the reason most probably it’s because I got transported at a young age. After all, it seems that once you got transported, there is no turning back.

“Nice to meet you madam…? I am Jasper Perez.”

I introduce myself to change the topic since I don’t want to see her making that face since she really looks like my mother. Speaking of which, I wonder if my mother is okay. She must be really worried right now. I hope she don’t do anything reckless.

“Ah yes… I am Mara Perez, your father’s second wife I think? And it’s also okay to call me mom.”

I knew it, even their names are the same. I don’t know if this is another world or a parallel world where science didn’t develop and magic exist. I wonder what happened to the original Jasper in this world…

“and these are my friends. The one who’s holding a shield is Gino Cruz, on his left is Kaezar Padilla and on his right is Jeziel Abella.”

After introducing all of them, we finally entered the house. By the way, Pegasus parked the carriage near the stable and the Pegasus scattered into yellow orbs.

The furniture inside are all made up of wood even the floors and walls are made up of wood. There are some flower bases with flowers on it. The first thing you will see when you enter the house is the living room. There is a small wooden table with a flowers in the middle of it. It is surrounded by chairs, also made up of wood. When you look at your right you’ll see the kitchen and on your left are the stairs leading to the second floor. There is also brown carpet bellow the table.

“Now now, sit there and make yourselves comfortable. I will prepare some snacks so I’ll be going to the kitchen.”

Mom—err Mara said while she guide us to the chairs. I sit in the middle while Kaezar sat on my right and Skyla on my left. The chair in front of us is occupied by Jeziel and Gino occupied the seat facing the door. I let my gaze wonder inside the house and found some paintings and a stuffed head of monsters hanging in the wall. The monster are as follow, wolf with a white fur, red goblin, red orc with too many piercing, Lupos’ head, a horse head, and a dragon’s head.

“Ah, those are part of dad’s collection. He just displayed some of it but in the basement you will see every bosses he fought. The wolf with a white fur is the Alpha wolf, next to it is the Goblin Leader, Orc General, Lupos, Tikbalang, and an infant dragon.”

Skyla named every head while pointing at them.

“There’s a tikbalang in this world?”

I muttered to myself but Skyla heard it and said…

“There is. It has a face of the horse, body of a man and has two powerful legs of the horse. Are you familiar with it?”

Skyla kindly explained to me but I am sure that every Filipino know this creature since it’s relatively popular at the Philippines, there was also a show that had a protagonist of Tikbalang.

In the Philippines, tikbalang are some sort of guardian of the forest. They are creatures who like to play tricks on humans. Although generally they are harmless (depends on their tricks), when you anger one then you will surely die since they have a monstrous strength. The usual tricks they do is making someone lost their way and the old folks said that for you to counter tricks of tikbalang, you must wear your clothes inside out and they will laugh at you and let you go.

“Yes, I am pretty familiar with it.”

I answered Skyla while thinking about the tikbalangs. Wait… If tikbalang exist then the others must also exist right? I think we should be careful at night since these creatures are nocturnal.

Gino chatted with Skyla asking various questions like what kind of monster can be found outside.

I look at the kitchen and saw mom preparing some sandwiches. On her back is the sink and beside it is a refrigerator.

…

Refrigerator? What is that thing doing here!