Marble Town is a small village settled at the edge of the forest.

When Benny and Tenryu arrived in the small town, they felt a great sense of elation. After being in forest filled with dangerous plants and wildlife for two days straight, seeing any form of civilization was a sight for sore eyes.

It was a bustling little place where most of the buildings were made from the lumber harvested from forest. The wood had a distinct look that made it look as though it were made from marble. One could see where the town got its name.

It also seems that the town’s main source of livelihood were agricultural products. Everywhere they could see residents selling different kinds of herbs and produce. But that wasn’t the only thing up for sale. They passed by a shops that sold different kinds of meat that had weird color of violet.

“Rabbit-Armadillo Meat!” cried a seller, “Get your fresh Rabbit-Armadillo Meat here!”

“Rabbit-Armadillo Meat?” asks Benny with a grimace.

“Yeah, people like to eat that stuff around these parts.”

“You actually eat those animals?” Benny shuddered, remembering the animal that nearly clawed him yesterday.

“I don’t really like eating those dishes though. They take a while to cook because their meat is too hard and it cracks my teeth to chew on one.”

“So people actually go into the forest to hunt for those things?”

“That’s actually a great idea but no they don’t. The ones up for sale were raised in farms. The one we met in the forest was probably a wild one.”

Benny stared back at the meat shop. The violet-colored meat still didn’t really appeal to him.

“This place is usually a stopover.” explains Tenryu. “It’s too quiet for my taste…”

“Even so, this is nice place you live here.” says Benny as they passed by some traditional medicine shop.

Tenryu snorted in laughter. “What are you saying? I don’t live here. I just said it is a stopover and this is our first stop!”

“Huh? But I thought you said…”

Tenryu trudged on, putting his arms behind his head.

“I don’t live here! I live in a place called Amber City! It’s still far away!”

Tenryu grins at Benny’s stunned face. It was funny seeing a face so similar to his, looking like that.

“Amber City, huh?” repeats Benny, “But then how long will it take for us to get there?”

“About eight hours ride by train from here.”

Benny felt something in his stomach drop, “Eight hours?”

“Relax! We can take the train then we’ll be there by nightfall! I would’ve preferred to walk there though. Yeah, we can do that! Why don’t we go to Amber on foot?”

Benny shook his head, “That’s even more impossible! It’ll take you much longer to get there on foot!”

“Nothing’s impossible if you put your mind to it!” Tenryu placed a finger to his head.

“Points for optimism…but zero for lack of reality…”

It was finally clear to him that Tenryu didn’t have a lack of common sense…he did not have any at all!

“Huh? What was that?” Tenryu’s ear twitched.

Benny quickly changed the subject, “Let’s find the train station and see if we can book ourselves a ticket!”

But as soon as they arrived at the train station, both boys found a huge crowd of people. And not just any crowd of people, but a very, very irate group. Benny could hear people complaining about their schedules and reserved tickets.

A conductor was trying to appease the crowd but to no avail, “Please everyone, settle down! We are just going through some minor repairs!”

“You said that yesterday!” A man wearing a cloak snapped at him.

“What about my ticket? I bought this just before the railway went down! And I’ve been waiting here all this time and you’re telling me that they still haven’t gotten the railway fixed?!” demanded a surly looking lady.

“My schedule is messed up because of this!” another passenger, who looked like a businessman, had snapped loudly.

“I want a refund!” cried a harassed-looking man.

That’s when the crowd began to murmur in agreement.

Tenryu frowns at the scene. “They still haven’t fixed it?”

“Mostly likely not…” sighed Benny, shaking his head.

“Well, we’ll just have to find out when they’re going to be done! You wait here! I’ll go ask!” yells Tenryu, as he charges into the crowd.

“Ah! Tenryu wait! You can’t just barge in there!”

But Tenryu had already jumped into the crowd leaving Benny to sweatdrop in dismay again.

“It would’ve been wiser to just go to the Administration Office than in that human jungle…”

As Tenryu struggled his way through the crowd, Benny just watched him in amusement.

It was like watching a live-action show of one of his favorite anime shows. He always found the fiery and passionate type of heroes to be his favorites. The shows would almost always portray them as the source of comic relief due to their brashness, short-temperament and recklessness often leading to some awkward situations. Tenryu fit the description quite well. Especially the fiery personality coupled with short temperament.

“Let me through! Ow! What the blitz are you-Ah! Blast it! Quit it!”

Tenryu snapped as someone stepped on his foot, elbowed him in the face and thumped him in the head. Tenryu had an expression that suggested he was going to whip out his sword and slice something!

I better get him out of there before things get ugly, thought Benny to himself.

Benny started to make his way towards the crowd.

But in his haste, he was completely unaware that someone else was running in his direction! Inevitably, the both of them crashed into each other and got knocked of their feet. Benny managed to steady himself but the other person had been knocked off their feet. The other person’s bags were now sent flying!

“No! My ingredients!” the other person shouted.

Benny saw the bags hung in mid-air and he didn’t know what happened but in a flurry of movement he caught every single one of the bags just before they fell to the ground!

“Barely safe…”

Benny sighed in relief but struggled with the weight of the bags. They were quite heavy! But he was able to turn to the person he had knocked over and offered a hand.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to run into you! Are you hurt?”

“It’s alright. I’m fine…” the person spoke with a soft voice.

Benny realized the person he knocked over was a young girl.

But as soon as he looked at her he saw a strange green haze, similar to the one he saw in Tenryu. But it too disappeared as soon as it appeared. Benny blinked a couple of times until he snapped out of his reverie.

Regaining his awareness, Benny looked at her properly for the first time.

She had a heart-shaped face, soft peach-colored skin and eyes as green as emeralds. She was dressed similarly like a young country milkmaid. On her head, she wore a bonnet that held her strawberry-blonde hair cascading behind her back. She left a few strands of her hair loosely braided over her front. She wore a long dress with an apron over her waist. On her feet was a pair of red shoes with flower-shaped buckles. She wore a cloak over her shoulders, fastened by a large jewel-like button. Aside from her bags she also carried an umbrella with a curved handle that looked liked it was made of a wooden branch left in its natural state with a few leaves still on it.

He also noticed her ears were long and pointed. If Benny were to guess, she must be an elf!

But despite the astounding fact that a real elf was in front of him, there was another thing he noticed: the girl was pretty cute!

“S-sorry about t-that…” Benny stuttered, feeling a rush rising in his cheeks.

“It’s fine. It was just an accident…Huh? Aren’t you-?” The girl looked at him closer much to his discomfort. The girl’s green eyes grew wide in stunned disbelief, “Tenryu?”

“Huh?”

“Tenryu?” she repeated, “Is that you?”

“Excuse me?”

Does this girl know Tenryu? Benny thought.

“What did you do to your hair? Why are you wearing glasses?”

“I’m s-sorry…I’m not-”

Benny tried to explain but thankfully at that moment Tenryu was walking back towards him.

“Blistering Blazes…Can you believe them? Those jerks wouldn’t even let me through-”

Tenryu stopped on his tracks when he saw the girl.

“Ah! It’s Nia!”

“Tenryu?!” gasped the girl called Nia, looking from Benny to Tenryu. “Wait! There are two Tenryus!”­­

“N-no!” says Benny, shaking his hands franticly “You got it all wrong-”

“I’m the real Tenryu!” snaps Tenryu, all the while jabbing a thumb in Benny’s direction, “This guy here just looks like me!”

Benny looked a little offended. It sounded as if Tenryu was accusing Benny of deliberately copying his face.

“He’s right. He’s Tenryu.”

Nia turned to him. “Oh! Then, who are you?”

“I’m…!”

Benny groaned at the weight of Nia’s bags! Just what is in them that make them so heavy?

“Here, I’ll take them back! Thank you for saving them! The rest are in glass jars so who know what I would do if they were to break!”

Nia took some of the bags, and it was clear that she too struggled with the weight.

“Um, I can carry some of them if you want?” offered Benny.

“Oh! Um, thank you!” she smiled at him, causing Benny to blush profusely.

“N-no problem!” stammered Benny.

“Well, you still haven’t told me your name?”

Benny cleared out his throat, “Benjamin. Benjamin Estrella!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Benjamin! My name is Gardenia Rosampaguita. Everybody usually calls me Nia.”

“Nice to meet you, Nia-”

“What are you doing here?” says Tenryu, suddenly cutting in between them.

For a moment, Benny wanted to thump Tenryu hard on the head. But he held himself back because he knew that it was less dangerous to tick a lion off than Tenryu. Nia seemed to frown at Tenryu’s apparent lack of manners, but she answered him nonetheless.

“I was out shopping.”

Tenryu placed his hands on his hips, “Is that for your potions again?”

Nia held up a hand.

“Before that…I don’t think this is the place for us to chat.” She looked at the growing irate crowd. “Let’s find a more peaceful place to talk.”

At that moment Tenryu’s stomach growled, “Yeah, but can we go to a restaurant? It’s almost lunch time!”

Nia and Benny had both sweatdropped at that.

And to Benny’s own embarrassment his stomach also begins growling.

“It seems Benny’s hungry too! Well, let’s go find someplace to eat! I’m starving!”

“Typical Tenryu…fights and foods are the only thing in that boy’s mind.” sighed Nia.

“What the blitz is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, we haven’t eaten breakfast yet apart from a few berries so I think it’s a good idea to find something to eat.” Benny points out, feeling his stomach grumble.

“See? Benny agrees with me!”

“Although I doubt there’d be food left in restaurant after Tenryu’s finished with it.” Benny adds slyly.

“Yeah…wait, what?”

Nia giggled, “I guess you’ve acquainted yourself well with Tenryu to know his lack of restraint.”

“Nah, he just struck me as such…”

“Why do I feel like you two are messing with me?”

And so they walked off leaving the rowdy crowd behind. Tenryu took off ahead of them to look for a restaurant while Benny and Nia followed him.

“So you’re name is Benjamin, right?”

“Err, right…that name’s mine…I m-mean! That’s my name!”

Nia clearly found his stammers funny. Benny now felt stupid that he had just made a fool of himself. But then Nia began to look at him closely.

“W-what is it?”

She looks at him in concern, “I can see some scratches and scrapes on your arms and face.”

“What? Really?” says Benny, as he stared at his arms. To his surprise he did have some gashes and scrapes on his arms. There were even some deep wounds in his knees that had crusted over and a few bruises.

“Did Tenryu drag you around someplace dangerous or something?” she frowned in disapproval.

“Actually, um, no, I was chased around by some wild animal in Marble Forest and fell down a lot.”

“Allow me… I just have the thing for that.”

Nia took him by the hand and led him to a nearby bench. Benny had to maintain a firm grip on the paper bag he was holding with, otherwise its contents would topple over. He had to admit thought that Nia has quite the grip! She quickly began to rummage something in her purse. She pulled out a small spray bottle and a container of cream.

“Here! I’ll apply some ointment on those scratches.”

“It’s alright!” Benny said quickly, “That’s not really necessary.”

“Please, I insist! We don’t want those scratches to get infected.”

“What about Tenryu? He’s going to run off without us!” asked Benny.

He glanced at the redheaded Swordsmage still looking around for a restaurant.

“He’ll come and find us when he finds a restaurant. He’s pretty good at tracking down someone. Now sit!”

She quickly pushed him down on a bench.

As soon as they sat, Nia began spraying his scratches with liquid that smelled vaguely of alcohol. She then began applying some of the ointment on Benny’s wounds. Benny felt rather uncomfortable as she did so.

At first, Benny felt an ice-cold touch of the cream then a sudden searing heat! It felt like he had a hot iron placed on his skin! But the sensation lasted only instant. As soon as the heat subsided his scratches gone without a trace! Not even a scar!

“Whoa! What kind of ointment are you applying?”

“First I applied some disinfectant and then some restoring ointment I made from Myra blossoms and Shea herbs.”

“Made? You made this?”

“Well, of course! Potion-making and Herbal Pharmacology are the basics of my profession as a Remedician. How can they cure and heal the sick if they don’t make medicines?”

“Remedician?” says Benny in confusion, “Do you mean like a doctor or a nurse?”

“Huh? What is that?” asked Nia, who was looking equally confused.

Benny cursed his own forgetfulness. He forgot that this wasn’t the world he knew anymore.

“Sorry, I meant as a person who heals people?”

“Oh, well yes, that is what a Remedician does.” She says, adding some more ointment on Benny’s knees.

Benny stared in wonder as the medicine literally erased his wounds. A medicine like this cream is something the rich (especially those who spend their time worrying if a pimple will appear in their face) would spend millions for.

“Still I wonder. How did you two meet? I don’t believe Tenryu has ever mentioned you before.”

“We just met yesterday actually. That’s when I got lost in the forest and got attacked by all those weird stuff in there. Tenryu saved me from that.”

“Oh, he did?” said Nia with a smile. She glanced at Tenryu who was still looking around for a restaurant. “What is you impression of him, Benjamin?”

Benny was a little surprised but he thought about it a bit.

“Well, I think he’s a good person underneath that tough exterior. He probably just has self-control problems.”

Nia giggled at him, “For someone who just met him yesterday you’re quite sharp. And you’re right about the lack of self-control part. It’s the very rarely Tenryu has someone nice speak about him. And I mean someone who wasn’t Auntie Magma at least.”

“So he has control issues…”

Nia giggled again.”It’s good that he’s finally begun to get along with people.”

That took Benny by surprise, “Doesn’t he get along with others?”

“Tenryu has… uh… problems with strangers and he doesn’t get along with others much due to his explosive nature. That boy doesn’t have a clue how to do things that doesn’t involve something exploding or getting burned. People don’t like to be around someone like that. Because of it he usually sticks to himself.”

“I can see that…”

Benny had to agree to that people wouldn’t actually want to get themselves associated with such a rowdy guy.

“But once you get to know him, you’ll find he’s actually nice person.”

“He’s putting up a tough exterior. One of the typical tough guys, huh?”

“Still…it really is a surprise meeting you. For a moment, I thought you were Tenryu in disguise.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“No, Tenryu isn’t the type go undercover. And to be honest I think you’re-“

But what she was about to say about him, he never got to know about it.

“HEY!!!”

Tenryu’s loud voice caused the two of them to jump in their seats. He walked up to them, looking quite annoyed.

“Just what the blitz are you two doing? I’ve been looking for you all over!”

“Can’t you see I’m treating Benny’s scratches? Speaking of which, I should also treat those scratches of yours too.”

“Nah, I have far lesser than Benny here does.”

Nia slathered the last of the ointment on a scratch on Benny’s forehead. “Well, that’s the last one.”

“Wow! Thanks Nia!” says Benny checking his arms. “I’d sure like to get myself an ointment like that one day.”

“If that’s the case, then you can have this ointment if you want.”

“Oh, no, I can’t!”

“It’s alright! I can make more of them. In fact, you should probably take this disinfectant as well. It’ll come in handy.” She stuffs both into his hands.

“Um, thanks…”

Benny places the medicines in a pocket in his bag.

Tenryu snorts in annoyance, “If you two are all done being all lovey-dovey-”

Nia looked a little stunned to hear that. Benny had turned a deep color of red in embarrassment.

“It’s not! I mean…Tenryu…what part of us just having a conversation looks like that?!” Benny mumbles.

“Well, that’s what it looks like to me! Can we please head to that restaurant now? I’m starving!” says Tenryu as he marches off, leaving Benny still red with his mouth gaping.

Apparently apart from being explosive in nature, the boy clearly has no tact.

“That typical Tenryu…always mouthing off whatever he thinks…” says Nia, getting up from the bench, “Well, we better come along! I’m getting hungry as well.”

Benny followed the two of them, even though he was a bit flummoxed. Tenryu’s earlier comment about him and Nia acting all “lovey-dovey” was making his head feel as though it were short-circuiting. Benny never saw himself popular with the girls. It was always Ace who got the spotlight when it comes to attracting the ladies’ attention, being a MVP and all that.

Benny was the geek in the class, so that was out of the question. He never talked to any girl his age twice! In fact, apart from Anna and Terri, Benny never had any other female friends. Well, there is that quiet girl named Sophie whom he is on friendly terms but not really what he would call as a close friend. It didn’t really bother him much, though as he never found any particular girl he was attracted to.

But now, Benny kept wondering why he had reacted at Tenryu’s comment in such a way. He couldn’t help but look at Nia as she and Tenryu were in a conversation with each other. The way she walked was rather graceful in step, like she was dancing. No popular girl, not even Courtney or Anna could have maintained such grace. He adjusted his glasses to get a better look.

Only for him to find her glancing right back at him!

Benny quickly turned his gaze away, but not before seeing a look of concern in her face. This made him wonder why she had that look. Benny strained his ears to listen what they were talking about, trying to make sure he kept his distance as so they won’t realize he was listening.

To his surprise, it wasn’t all that difficult. For some reason he could hear their conversation as though they were talking right in front of him. Benny never noticed that he had sharp hearing before! As it turns out, Tenryu and Nia were in deep conversation about him. Benny pretended he didn’t hear them but he did overhear that Tenryu was relaying the info about him being some kind of travelling orphan and how he got caught in a storm at sea.

“Is that true?” Nia whispered. “I heard a lot of ships had been capsized by the sudden storm last night.”

“The fact that he smells like a fish out of the ocean, so his story makes sense.”

“I noticed. He does smell strongly like sea salt.”

Benny felt himself going red again. Was he really that smelly? He needed to go find a place to take a bath as soon as possible.

“Well, he hasn’t told me everything yet.”

“I don’t think he is a bad person. He seems rather nice and sweet. A shock considering he looks like you.”

“Hey!”

Hearing that, Benny felt his step turned to a skip.

“Just kidding…But you know what I mean. He doesn’t have that vibe you’d get from a bad guy.”

“Yeah, I’m really doubtful he’s a bandit. I mean have you ever seen a bandit so wimpy looking?”

Now Benny felt as though Tenryu’s words stabbed him right through him. He wasn’t that wimpy. He was a little lean and skinny but certainly not wimpy! Even though Tenryu was defending him, it was rather insulting! Benny wanted to shout in retort but then he remembered he was acting as though he wasn’t listening.

Tenryu continued to talk.

“If he was really a bandit, or a Dark Magician, or any bad guy for that matter, he would have robbed me of my valuables when I was asleep. Not that he could escape though if he tried.”

Tenryu sounded rather like a hunter relishing his prey. Benny was glad he wasn’t marked of as enemy by this guy.

Nia glances back at Benny, who was careful to look as though he were admiring the scenery.

“But I think there’s more to it. I couldn’t get any more info since he always had that depressed look every time I ask him.”

Nia rounded up at him, and slapped him in the top of the head, “Well, no wonder. You don’t have an ounce of tactfulness, don’t you Tenryu? You don’t ask people outright about things like that! I’m really worried if he’s really okay.”

Tenryu puffed out his chest, “That’s why we need to help in any way we can! That’s our job as Adventurers! I’ve offered to let him bunk with me for a while until he decides what to do.”

“Have you sent a letter to Aunt Magma or Flare about this?” says Nia with a quizzical look.

“Err…No, I haven’t.”

“Well, you can’t just invite someone over to stay without consulting them!”

“Don’t worry! I’ll send a letter to them at the post office later! Actually there’s something else I want to talk to you about. You see last night-” Tenryu says, he voice too was fading as though the volume had turned down.

But Benny didn’t notice that as he was busy with his own thoughts. He felt guilty though as he knew they deserved the truth. He wanted to tell them.

But how are they going to handle it? Benny thought.

“This is starting to feel like an Anime shows where a hero from another world just gets tossed into another world…”

Benny looked at the sky.

A flock of birds that looked like doves with peacock tail feathers flew across the horizon.

“But this all too real…”

“Benny! What are you doing over there?” Tenryu called out to him.

“Huh?”

They were already far off now! He was lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t realized that he stopped walking and was left behind!

“Hurry up!” shouts Tenryu.

“R-right!” says Benny as he strode over to them.

But in his haste, he bumped into someone again! Only this time…it was guy. And this one wasn’t pleased. He was huge, and looked like a rugged lumberjack! His arms were heavily tattooed and he wore a menacing glare that sent shivers down Benny’s spine.

“Don’t just stand in the middle of the road brat!” the man barked at him.

“S-sorry…” Benny apologized.

“Ha? Sorry?” the man loomed over him, “You think sorry is enough for me, huh brat?” This guy looked like he wanted slug him!

Fortunately, Tenryu and Nia saw the whole thing and Tenryu quickly came to Benny’s aide.

“Tenryu, don’t do anything unnecessary!”

“HEY!!!” Tenryu approached them, his hand on the hilt of his sword. “You pick on someone your own size!”

The man turned to him with a glare and Tenryu returned the glare with one of his own. “You got a problem, kid?”

Tenryu didn’t budge. He looked rearing to fight with his hand gripping tightly on his sword’s hilt. Benny sensed that things were going to get ugly. He immediately rushed to Tenryu’s side and stop Tenryu from pulling out his sword.

“Let go, Benny!”

“Tenryu, c’mon this isn’t the time to-UWAH?!”

Something suddenly grabbed him around the waist! When he looked down he was stunned to see it was some kind of giant wooden hand! He was not the only one as Tenryu was also caught by another wooden hand. The both of them were whisked away from the huge man!

“What the blitz?!” he yelled, struggling against his wooden restraints, “Nia, what are you doing?!”

“Nia?” says Benny as looked behind him.

Nia was standing far away, holding her umbrella in front of her, the tip of which was glowing brightly. The strange wooden hand itself came from a nearby tree! It looked as though the tree had suddenly grown wooden arms out of its branches!

Nia twirled her umbrella and the wooden hands dropped the two boys to her side.

The huge man was also stunned by this, “An Adventurer?”

“Nia’s an Adventurer too? I thought she was a Remedician?”

“Yeah, Nia’s a Remedician but she’s also a full-fledged Adventurer and a multi-class one at that. So she can fight if she wants to.” Tenryu grumbles as he rubs his backside.

“Whoa…”

Nia bowed in apology. “Pardon my friends. They didn’t mean to offend you. And he did apologize so let’s leave it at that.”

The man considered it for a moment. It seems he realized that his brute strength would be no match for an Adventurer.

“You better watch it next time!” the man snapped before turning to walk away.

“The piece of-” Tenryu grumbled.

“Tenryu, leave it!” says Nia warningly to him before turning to Benny. “Benjamin, are you alright?”

Benny was still staring after that man who already disappeared amongst the crowd. It was just for a moment but he saw dark colored haze coming from him. Benny felt it was filled hatred. Benny also had a strange premonition that this was not the last they would see of him.

“Benny? Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Maybe he’s in shock?” Nia’s voice sounded distant.

“Benny? Hey, snap out of it!” Tenryu shook him by the shoulders.

Benny blinked rapidly, “Huh! What?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Err…nothing. Just a little dizzy…”

“Are you sure?” asked Tenryu, looking at him in the eye.

Benny did not want to tell them that he was seeing things otherwise they’ll think he’s crazy.

“I’m already fine! See? I’ve never been better!” He tried act all cheerful and enthusiastic. Maybe he acted too enthusiastic because Tenryu and Nia were staring at him weirdly. “Err…never mind! C’mon! Let’s go to that restaurant you were talking about!”

Benny quickly walked away but Tenryu called out to him.

“Hey, Benny…You’re going the wrong way!”

Benny stopped and turned around. He was blushing profusely.

“Err…I knew that…”

Tenryu and Nia stared after him.

“He’s really weird and funny, huh?” says Nia.

Tenryu grins. “See, what did I told you?”

“And in some ways is very similar to you…” Nia adds.

“Yeah, wait…What?”

***

A while later they arrived at a restaurant called Ohayo’s Wok. It was a large place filled with customers who were mostly passersby on their way to other towns. They were ordering meals with weird names and combos.

They took their seats at a window that was near a buffet table. Apparently the restaurant was having an all-you-can-eat today so there was a wide selection of food. Nia offered to pay for their meals as she has just gotten a large reward from her last job. Benny and Tenryu tried to turn her offer down but they realized they don’t have any money to pay for their meals. Benny had some money in his wallet but they were obviously useless here. Tenryu failed to receive any payment from his last job and had only enough to pay for his and Benny’s train fare.

So in the end, they had to accept Nia’s offer.

Tenryu prove himself to be quite a glutton as he helped himself to one of everything on the buffet. Nia got herself mostly vegetables dishes saying she doesn’t like the taste of meat. Benny on the other hand was having trouble choosing what to eat. In the end, Benny got himself the more familiar-looking foods: one that looked like a rib-eye steak, a soup that looked like bird’s nest soup (at least he hopes it’s not worms) and a couple of dishes that Tenryu helped picked or rather forced on his plate. It was only out of politeness that Benny took them without complaining, even though they did not look appetizing. One of which had a twitching octopus tentacle topped on it!

As Tenryu and Nia ate through their meals, Benny had second thoughts with touching his.

“What are you waiting for Benny? Dig in already!” says Tenryu, taking a bit of huge chicken drumstick (or whatever kind of poultry that has a leg that huge.)

“Well, I…” Benny was eyeing the still twitching octopus tentacle.

To his surprise, Tenryu quickly grabbed his spoon and scoop the part of the meal with the tentacle in it. Benny thought he was going to throw it out but then the guy held the spoon close to his face.

“Open wide-” Tenryu had a rather malicious look on his face.

“No, wait-”

Benny made the mistake of opening his mouth because Tenryu shoved the spoon right in! Benny gagged on the food that was suddenly stuffed into his mouth, the tentacle’s tip still hanging outside his mouth. Benny quickly swallowed and grabbed a glass of water to wash it all down.

“It tastes good, right?” Tenryu grinned.

WHAM!

Nia smacked Tenryu at the back of head with her handbag. The impact force was so strong it forced Tenryu fall face-forward on his plate of food!

“Don’t you have table manners? You don’t shove food down other people’s throat!” chided Nia.

Tenryu sat up straight with food scraps splattered all over his face. He did look mad but it was hard to imagine him being angry looking so…funny. Benny stifled a laugh at the sight. He offered a handkerchief.

“Ugh!” Tenryu holds the handkerchief away from his nose. “It smells like seaweed!”

“Oh, sorry…” Benny says shamefully as he took it back.

“Aren’t you going to eat your food?”

Benny turns his attention to his own plate. Even though it still looked unappetizing (and that he nearly choked on it) it actually tasted good. So Benny spooned himself another bite. The rest of the meal turned out great and delicious. Including the ones Tenryu picked out for him.

After they were through with their meals, they decided to sit around longer. The restaurant had clear view of the railway station and they could see that there is still a huge crowd waiting at the entrance.

To pass the time and because Nia asked, Benny decided introduced himself a little bit more to her. At least that way, she won’t be so doubtful to him. He stuck with the story he gave to Tenryu. He made sure she got the general picture without letting on the specific details.

And like Tenryu, Nia had reached the same assumption.

“I’m so sorry about your family. I know it’s hard to have lost them…” says Nia gently.

Benny kept quiet. He didn’t try to correct her even though he knew that she, like Tenryu, assumed that he had lost his family.

It was true in a way…

“Well, I went travelling for a bit. Then I got on that boat. Next thing I knew that storm came and…you can guess the rest.”

From the corner of his eye, Benny saw Tenryu shivered at the thought of riding in a boat in a storm.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. You must’ve had it rough…” says Nia, giving him a sympathetic look that made his cheeks prickle.

Benny decided to wrap up his story.

“Well, when I woke up I was in a cove in the Marble Forest. I walked into the forest looking for a nearby civilization. But I sort of got lost…” Benny looked at Tenryu who nodded. “Then Tenryu showed up and saved me.”

“You forgot to mention that you nearly got eaten by a saber-toothed Tiger-Leopard, and then got attacked by that blasted Rabbit-Armadillo. Ah, what else am I missing? Oh yeah, you fainted as soon as you saw me.”

Benny had turned red with embarrassment.

“Well, after that I had to make camp there for the night and wait for him to wake up.”

“Err…yeah, that right. After which, Tenryu offered me a place to stay for a while. Thanks by the way.”

“Don’t sweat it!”

Tenryu slapped him hard on the shoulder. It made Benny’s shoulder feel like it had been struck by a mallet.

“That’s pretty nice of you, Tenryu.”

Tenryu grinned with a slight blush.

“But even though I’m sure Auntie Magma will allow it. You still need to contact your relatives beforehand that you have a guest bunking over with you.”

“Ah! Yeah, I will.”

“So you’re an Adventurer and a Remedician, Nia?” Benny asks with interest.

“Oh, yes I am. Actually, a Remedician is a combination occupation of two of the Healing Classes so technically it still being an Adventurer.”

“You don’t usually go out of Amber City. So what were you doing here in these parts Nia?” asks Tenryu, picking his teeth with toothpick.

“I heard Marble Town Herbal Stores is holding a special sale so I had to come!”

Tenryu took a peek at some of the bags, “More ingredients for your weird potions then?”

“These are not just any ingredients! These are hard to come by and they don’t sell them in Amber City. Not to mention they cost quite a bit!”

“Potions?” asks Benny with interest. “You make potions?”

“I’m also Alchemist-class and a Druid-class. You need to be certified in those classes if you want to be qualified for a Remedician License.”

“I see.”

So the field of medicine is just as complex in this world as in mine? Benny thought.

So basically you make potions to heal people? Like that ointment you gave me?”

“Yes. But I don’t just make potions for medicinal purposes.”

“There are other uses for potions?”

Nia nodded, “Potions aren’t just for healing. I also make them for offensive uses! It comes in really handy too whenever I go on jobs that require me…a little physical.”

“For offensive use?” repeats Benny with keen interest, “Like what? Do you have any samples?”

Nia takes out three round flasks that were sealed tight with wax.

“I made all of these potions myself!” She says proudly while showing him the flasks. “Each one has a different effect as there are in appearances. You have to get the right ingredients and the right process to make a specific one. That’s why potion brewing is a very complex form of Magical Science.”

Did she just say Magical Science? Benny found it odd to hear those two words put together.

Snore*

A loud snore made Benny and Nia notice that Tenryu had begun to doze off. A snot bubble had formed in his left nostril. It was clear he wasn’t interested in listening to the lecture.

“He fell asleep.”

Nia looked rather offended, “Tenryu, you should really pay attention to these things…”

“Err, never mind him. What were you saying?”

Each flask had a different content. And contrary to what Benny thought of potions, not all of them were liquid. One flask contained a potion had a reddish, powder substance. The second contained a potion with clear liquid but contained yellow and green glitter-like substance suspended in it. It almost looked like glitter glue. The last potion had a smooth almost pearl-like cream appearance.

“As you can see not all of them are liquids. Some come in the form of powders like this one!” Nia picks up the flask with red powder in it. “This is the Eczema Powder! Throw this into a group of enemies and they start itching like crazy!”

“You mean like itching powder?” Benny remembers the trick powder Ace used on him once.

“It doesn’t just cause itchiness. It also causes the victim to break out in itchy red rashes that only get worse when you scratch them!”

Benny had mixed feelings of wonder and unease knowing what this liquid could do.

“How long do the effects last?” Benny asks.

“For just this bottle, it lasts about an hour more or less. It depends on the dosage.”

“And what about this one?” says Benny pointed at the flask with glitter-glue like substance.

“That one’s called the Furuncles Oil. If splashed on the skin it causes the person to break out on pus-filled boils!”

“Boils? This thing causes boils?”

“Pus-filled ones to be exact!” winks Nia.

Benny had sweatdropped after seeing her proud and excited expression. How can a girl smile after saying something that disgusting? But then he did see this kind enthusiasm in his brother, Emmett’s face whenever he talked about strange medical disorders.

Benny examined the other flasks.

He had to admit that knowing what those potions could do was amazing! They were technically considered bio-weapons in his book. What’s even more, the girl in front of them made these potions herself.

There was still the last flask. Benny took it in his hand, “Say Nia? What’s in the last flask?”

Nia’s smile started to look more and more like the shrewd and calculating salesman, almost sinister-like. It gave Benny chills.

“Do you really want to know what it does?”

Benny gulped and nodded.

“It’s probably the most dangerous potion I have right now. You see it’s-“

Nia’s voice was suddenly cut off when suddenly-

KABOOM!!!

A loud explosion rocked the whole restaurant!

The next thing Benny knew, smoke and debris engulfed him.