Chapter 157: Chapter Easter Bonus: A Meeting between Protagonists (1)

Alysara appeared in a stone room, completely bewildered. One moment space itself warped around her, then the tear in the very fabric of reality opened, and the next, she was here. A magic circle is below her feet, but unlike any she had seen before, it’s clearly not an inscription or any form of magic framework.

The residual mana flowing through the magic circle is a clear indicator that this was a spell, not true magic or an inscription. Speaking of, the mana here is… weird… exotic. Unlike the elements and essences she was used to.

However, that was a mystery for later, she had just been teleported to an unknown place, and now panic started to set in at suddenly being taken from her home, forcing her to use [Acting] to calm herself by utilizing a stoic role.

Alysara observed the room with her [Sense Magic] perceptive field. It’s a mostly empty room except for two people.

The first was a horned girl with claws, wings, and a tail. Red scales partially cover her legs and arms while fully covering her tai and the back of her wings. Her hair is kept around the length of her shoulders while her red eyes glimmer like ruby gemstones, looking intimidating due to her slit irises, but her youthful and pretty face balanced it out.

She wore an open white robe with red embroideries of different designs ranging from flowers, triangles, and scales; it was elegant and gave her a pure aura. Underneath it was an outfit composed of a red jacket, a white vest, and a thigh-high, frilly skirt. No gemstones or special materials were added onto them, but even then, it was conspicuous and attracted eyes.

The second person was a middle-aged man, with a five-a-clock shadow, sporting an irate look with crossed arms. He wears a strange blue and green military academy uniform.

Being blind, Alysara can’t see the true colors of these people like the colors of their clothes, but the color of the strange mana was unlike anything she was used to.

Alysara looked at the two with [Sense Soul], which reveals that both of them have strange otherworldly souls. The winged scaly girl seems to have several holes in her soul, likely damaged, but it also seems to be healing slowly. The man’s soul is more cloudy-like. Both of their soul lacked the soul barrier, and any organoids that she can see; perhaps they have them, perhaps not.

“YOU’RE LATE!” The uniformed man shouted, which made her flinch.

What was strange was that Alysara could understand this man even though he was not speaking her language. The mouth movements do not match up with what she was hearing

With her sensitive ears ringing from the sudden shouting, Alysara fearfully overlays an illusion on herself and sneaks to one of the corners, leaving a clone piloted by one of her minds in her place.

“JUST LOOK AT YOU! ALREADY REINCARNATED! YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE THAT!” The man continued to shout.

Alysara conjured her first set of fairies poised to attack should the man make any wrong movements.

She focused beyond the room and onto the entire building; she seemed to be in some sort of victorian style school with a bunch of boys, most of which surprisingly have the same generic hairstyle, but there are a few exceptions here and there. All around the school grounds was an expansive forest and a large mountain to the north.

“I swear this happens every time!” the man muttered quietly. “Dumb gods think they can just nab a soul, or the soul gets lost in the void or whatever…”

“Umm, what’s going on? Is this a dream?” The scaly girl asked, looking around, just as bewildered as Alysara.

“Oh, right…” the man said and facepalmed a little. “Of course you don’t know what’s going on. Welcome to Isekai Academy! Where we rate you based on several aptitude tests to see which worlds you are best fit for!” The man then sighs, looking a tad defeated. “Well, since there’s been a mishap with you two, you will just be sent back to your new worlds.”

Relief fills Alysara. She was, at least, not in direct danger and the look of this place corroborates the man’s words; however, she did not dismiss her fairies but instead kept them around under the cloak of her invisibility spell.

“That still does not explain why I am here,” Alysara said. “I was doing just fine, and after fifteen years, I think I have a good grasp on things.”

However, after having just said that, her memory flashes back to the mana storms and the cursed being, two parts where she could have easily died. Could these people have taught her things specific to those situations? She doubted it; it even took three god-like dragons to slay the cursed being; literally nothing could have prepared her for that.

“Look, I don’t make the rules,” The man defended himself. “You get reincarnated, summoned, or transmigrated in any other way, then you have to go through the tests. We need to see who is capable of handling S tier difficultly worlds, and we don’t want to send hordes of people to another death just because they weren’t prepared; you’d be surprised at how many NEETs are reincarnated, and it’s not like they know what they are good at”

“Seeing as how I survived fifteen years, I think I am fit for my world. I don’t need training—” Alysara stopped herself. Her [Acting] role was forcing her to act a little argumentative; she doesn’t need it right this moment anymore now that the panic has subsided.

“Yeah, what she said applies to me, too. And, you know, shouldn’t you talk with the Gods about this? They reincarnated me into their world for a job, and I don’t see them wanting me to suddenly leave like this,” the other girl asked with a reluctant frown, causing the man to scowl at her. She then looked at Alysara with a wry smile. “Yeaaah… I don’t think we can talk our way out of this, Miss, uhm, foxian? Fox?”

“My people are called Runalymo, which means ‘people of great beauty mana’, or in short, ‘Myrou’s children – Myrou is our goddess, the Goddess of beauty and creativity,” Alysara replied with her clone. “My name is Alysara. Who are you… and if you don’t mind me asking, what are you?”

The horned girl grinned brightly, elegantly twirling her body around before stopping and posing with over-exaggerated flashiness. “Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor! First and currently the only idol of Peolynca, and technically also a dragon, but that’s whatever really.”

“And I am John,” The man said. “Now that we have been introduced, you’ll be at ease knowing that this place exists outside of time so that no time will have passed in your worlds. Now, if you’ll follow me, let me show you around” John lead the two girls out of the room to the outside.

Walking across the damp cold room, Alysara adjusted her gait and the movement of her tails as she listened to the desires of her Bond. She incorporates elegance and grace in her movements, with which the beauty of the world seems pleased.

As she stepped outside, Alysara felt the sun’s warmth, but this place was entirely too cold and dry for her. Her home is literally built on a steaming hot sea where the lowest temperature would likely give normal people heatstroke. She shivers and weaves her mana into a thick and well-decorated dress made of fire mana. As if being printed out of the air, a seamless, elegant dress with embroidery depicting flames and hearths is conjured around her.

Watching this spectacle, Hestia clapped her hands in admiration while John’s jaw dropped.

“What?” Alysara asked. “It’s cold here. By the way, what did you mean by ‘idol of Peolynca?’ and are you really a dragon? Are you perhaps in a humanoid form or something?” Alysara asked Hestia.

“Yup!” Hestia said with a confident grin. “Gimme some space.”

Hestia backed up and ran towards an empty field before closing her eyes and trying to do… something, but nothing happened.

“Huh? Why can’t I transform?” Hestia looked confused for a second, trying to look at something. “Hold on. I don’t have access to the Divine System here?!”

Hestia’s words prompted Aly to examine Hestia for any magic frameworks that indicate the existence of the system but don’t see anything; either she lost it or it’s a different system. Hestia also lacks any indications of a Bond, and a quick examination of John revealed much of the same.

“I take it you cannot transform without your system?” Alysara asked.

“Well, that’s to be expected,” John commented. “This isn’t your world, and they are usually exclusive to their worlds… usually,” John said the last part looking at Alysara.

“What?! Does that then mean… Well, fuck, there goes half of my stats just like that. Oh great, I don’t even have access to aerokinesis here! No wonder it felt so lonely in my mind…” The girl complains, letting her long tail lie limply on the ground.

“…So what are these tests that we have to take?” Alysara asked, ignoring John’s gaze and Hestia’s exasperation.

“The first is combat” John started leading again to a large open area where training dummies are. “We first test you with martial prowess, then magical aptitude.”

The training grounds were full of generic-looking boys, all with similar hairstyles, sparring with golems, each other, and dummies. Weak spells are flung against targets, and some miss, flying endlessly into the sky.

“About that,” Alysara said, “what do you mean by ‘magical aptitude?’ In my world, true magic and spells are two different things. Also, does each world have different forms of magic? The mana here is weird and unlike my own world’s mana.”

“That is a good point,” Hestia added. “How does learning magic here help us in any way?”

“Those are good questions,” John said. “We test mostly for understanding and comprehensive knowledge as well as affinity towards it. The magic here should adapt to what you are familiar with or best suited towards. We then will find a world that best matches your affinity of magic.”

“… So, let me get this straight. This place adapts to our specific magic casting method, meaning I can cast whatever spell I want if I can reproduce its magic circle and chant. The only thing missing is the easy path of letting the system handle it for me?” Hestia asked thoughtfully, before gathering this world’s mana around her hand.

“Yes… but it won’t be strengthened by that world’s system. So, while you can use your spells, anything directly tied to your system won’t be available to you, and anything empowering your spells will also be missing.” John clarified.

“I produce my own mana, so it’s not that big of a deal for me,” Alysara said as she observed how this world’s mana was shifting to Hestia’s will.

“We also test what weapons you are good at, and finally, we complete it with a spar against a golem,” John said, giving a brief overview of the combat aptitude test.

Just then, three tall and especially generic looking guys walked up, each carrying swords and wearing edgy black trench coats.

“Whew~ Who’re these beautiful ladies, John?” The… leader said? It is impossible to tell them apart.

“Newbies,” John answered, “Due to a mishap, they were reincarnated before coming here.” John then turned toward Hestia and Alysara. “Anyway, these are the top three combat specialists, destined for SS and even SSS tier worlds.”

The generic trio grinned arrogantly. “Well, perhaps I can bring you two along in my party” The one on the left stepped forward and bowed as gentlemanly as he could.

“That’s enough, you three,” John said. “They’ll be going back to their worlds after this… unless you two want to go — Ahem! Well, whatever, let’s go.” Noticing Alysara and Hestia’s displeasure at the generic trio, John wisely dropped the subject and led the way to the iron gate.

“The next test is one of wilderness survival; you must trek all the way through the forest and to the mountain and find the golden dagger hidden somewhere in or on the mountain. The fastest record was seventeen hours.” John opened the gate, which almost immediately opened up to a thick forest with tightly packed trees and thorny underbrush

“Also here, is the scout’s test,” John continued. “Where you will be tasked with scouting a goblin encampment. Don’t worry; they aren’t real goblins, just dummies that will make noise if they detect you.”

“Questions!” Hestia raised her arm like a diligent student. “Can I fly for the survival part? Can I use magic during it? Can I destroy the goblin dummies, or is this a total stealth mission like in spy games? Also, can I destroy a portion of the forest accidentally or deliberately? Lastly, can we team up with other people for the tests, or are you testing us purely on our ability to adapt to this new situation?”

“Flying and magic are permitted,” John said with a nod. “The goblin is a stealth recon test, so no destroying them needlessly, but a few “assassinations” are acceptable. The forest will regenerate quickly, but large destruction on the recon test will count against you. However, for the search test, it’s fine. As for teams, it’s your choice.”

“Cool! Alysara?”

However, instead of turning toward the clone, Alysara placed as her double; Hestia stared in the direction where the real Alysara was hiding behind her illusion. Alysara flinched as Hestia’s eyes flicked to her eyewraps, agitated that she could see her even when John couldn’t.

“Most of my skills are gone, which is a bummer, but things I could do with my body naturally I can do here. My eyes can see mana, although, it’s a bit too overloading for my brain without my system-created parallel minds.” Hestia grinned playfully while flapping her wings. “Anyways, you heard the man, right? Would you like to join me on Hestia Airlines?”

“Sure! We can team up; however, I can conjure wings for myself, so you don’t have to carry me” With a use of [Adorn Wings], mosaic-like butterfly wings sprouts from her back as if the world decided that she’d look more beautiful that way and made it happen.

“Oooh, you’re full of surprises, huh? One of my friends can do the same, albeit, with ice wings. Well, I guess the challenge is who gets there sooner, in this case.” Hestia gave Alysara a challenging wink, looking too focused on the event to notice John’s tired expression.

John cleared his throat. “Let’s move on.” John led the girls into a building with a full dance room where several students were talking with each other and taking part in other activities.

“If combat, stealth, and survival are not your strengths, then perhaps trade, diplomacy, and leadership may be what you are good at. Here you’ll be tested in making trade deals, political maneuvering, and team-leading.”

Alysara groaned and her large fox-like ears and tails droop in disappointment, but by listening to her Bond, she manages to somehow maintain elegance even with her shoulders slumping.

“What’s wrong?” Hestia asked.

“I hate politics, and I had just been through a stressful trade deal” It had taken Alysara all five of her minds, each with a different [Acting] role, to get through it.

[Acting] is a very useful and versatile Skill, and it can make her not incompetent, but that doesn’t mean it makes her good at her roles.

“For trade deals, you are free to choose any partner you wish,” John informed them. “For the political stuff, it will take place at a ball. You will be given a made-up backstory, and your goal will be to improve your faction or family you represent.”

Alysara looked like a dark cloud had manifested over her the more John went into detail.

“Finally,” John continued, “Team leading will be based on what your party is good at, or if you don’t have a team, one will be chosen for you. Any more questions?”

“I don’t have any,” Alysara said depressedly.

“Sounds easy enough, although the trade deal part will be a bit annoying.” Hestia readjusted her pose, breathing in for a moment, before opening her eyes. For whatever reason, the aura she exuded changed dramatically, drawing in everybody’s attention and leaving them speechless.

“That’s an interesting ability,” Alysara raises an inquisitive eyebrow. “It’s like my Bond presence, but you don’t have a Bond.”

Alysara is actively suppressing her Bond’s presence since it draws attention to her real body even if her Bond itself desires the attention.

“…Why are you two here?” John mumbled under his breath. “If you have no more questions, then let’s move on to the final part.” While shaking his head, John led the girls over to a new building where loud banging and music could be heard.

The building is split into several rooms, each covering an art or trade.

“This is where we test your crafting abilities and any other hobbies that may help you in your otherworldly quests.”

Alysara’s mood brightens as she confidently smiles. Her people are skilled craftsmen, and her mana manipulating abilities allow her to make all sorts of mana-based items. Outside of that, her [Musician] and [Tailoring] skills are well trained.

“Yes, yes, we’ve already seen a demonstration of your abilities,” John said in exhaustion, dampening Alysara’s mood. “In this place we test for all kinds of crafts from sculpting to carpentry and many, many, more. But if you only want to take a select few, we can do that too.”

“I guess I could make some battle items, but I'd rather just stick to what I’m good with.” Hestia eyed in the direction where the music was coming from.

“Well, that’s all the aptitude tests,” John said. “To summarize, there’s the magic tests, martial tests, and a final spar for the combat section. Survival, tracking, and stealth recon in the forest. There’s politics, trading, and leadership for the social tests, and finally, there’s crafting and other skills and hobbies not already covered. You can do them in any order you want.”

“And the moment we’re done with them, we can go back to our world, right? No tricks like sending us to another world, right?” Hestia urged for confirmation.

“Of course,” John said. “Honestly, I don’t know why we enforce these rules on people who are already reincarnated, but those crusty old men up top refuse to change it.”