Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 6: Name Plates

"So... what you're saying is that everyone's name and level should be above their heads?" Koko asked in complete confusion. "Why?"

"It's because the magic inside of us can recognize that of other people and monsters." Shell explained. "This lets us know who is friendly and trustworthy as well as who is a threat. If their names are green, then that person is genuinely friendly towards you. If it's blue, they're a stranger. If orange, then that person has a strong dislike towards you and if it's red... Well, just run and hide from those people, alright?"

"Alright, but what's this about levels?" Koko asked, obviously interested.

"'Levels' indicates a person's strength and experience." Benson explained. "If a person is much higher level than you, then they will seem incredibly powerful compared to your own abilities."

"Oh, so it's like a game..." Koko said under her breath, causing both of her parents to look at her curiously before she decided to ask the question that was bothering her. "But if that's the case, then why can't I see them?" 

"There could be several reasons." Benson sighed. "You could have  been cursed as an infant or born with a defect that affects your eyes and doesn't allow you to see Name Plates... but there is a reason that is more likely than the others..."

"And what's that?" Koko asked, not liking how the man was pausing.

"Koko, could you do me a favor and focus your magic?" Shell asked, and Koko only hesitated slightly before holding out her hands and concentrating. And, just as always, the flames only lasted for perhaps a minute before they disappeared.

"It's as we feared." Benson sighed as he moved over to help support Koko as she swayed on her feet.

"What is it?" Koko asked.

"This is of no fault of your own, Koko, but you seem to have a very low amount of magical ability." Shell sounded regretful as she explained. "Our family has never had very good ability with magic, but you... seem to have drawn the worst luck on that regard."

"Oh, that? I've already known for years." Koko waved their regret away, and both of her parents looked at her with shocked expressions. "I just didn't know that Name Plates even existed is all."

"If you know, then- Koko, didn't you say that you were dreaming to become an adventurer at one point?" Benson asked.

"Of course, and it's still my dream." Koko confirmed. "I just need to work really hard in order to catch up to everyone else!"

"Koko..." Benson started but couldn't seem to finish his sentence.

"Those without a lot of magic will never make any progress as adventurers." Shell finished for him. "If your magic is like this, then there's no way that we can possibly allow you to follow that path. You'll only be putting yourself in danger."

"I'll work hard and make it so that you have no choice to let me become an adventurer." Koko replied, absolutely determined not to be swayed from her chosen path. "That's why I've been running and training for so long, and that's why I'll keep doing those things in the future to. That's also what I needed the tree for, so that I can start practicing combat!"

"Koko..." Shell said now, though Benson looked completely confused.

"What tree?" Benson asked.

"You know the tree that you watch every morning for the woodpeckers that seem to love it?" Shell asked.

"Yeah..." Benson replied with a worried look.

"Your daughter cut it down this morning with the help of the local lumberjacks." Shell explained.

"T-the tree-" Benson swayed on his feet slightly, looking as if his entire world had come crumbling down around him before Koko ran up to him and attempted to support him.

"I'm sorry dad, I didn't know that you liked that tree!" Koko apologized, not wanting to see her father cry at all as he seemed as if he was on the verge of it. "The stump was perfect to make a training post for me to practice, so I didn't even... what I mean is-"

"It's- It's okay." Benson finally sighed, resigning himself to accepting that his bird watching hobby was over with. "If you only need the stump, then I can have the rest of the tree, right? I might just take up whittling. 

"I gave it to the lumberjacks as thanks for helping me." Koko felt absolutely terrible now, and even more-so when the man finally collapsed on the floor and she had absolutely no idea as to how to make him feel better.

"It's okay, Koko." Shell sighed as she got up from the couch and moved over so that she could kneel beside Benson. "It will take a lot more than this to truly damage your father, so just go play for a while, would you? He should be fine around supper time."

"A-are you sure?" Koko asked unsure.

"Go play." Shell smiled warmly at her now, and Koko followed instructions as she exited the house and headed for her new training post immediately, still thinking about the conversation from before. Because if she was going to have any hope of becoming an adventurer in the future, she needed to prove to her parents that she would be able to at least defend herself. And also, she was curious about he Name Plates and levels now, which she wanted to increase her magical ability for so that she could explore everything that they had to offer. However, with her chosen path, increasing that particular ability would be difficult. After all, she didn't have the magical ability to follow one of the normal professions such as a mage or cleric, and she didn't have the currency to afford weapons and armor to become either a warrior or ranger. Sure, she could ask her parents for them, but after having eavesdropped on her parent's financial discussions, she knew that such an investment would be hard for them when they were only barely keeping afloat now as they were. Wence wasn't a large town, after all, and with a recent storm having destroyed half of the fishing ships that were the settlement's primary source of income, everyone was struggling.

Without the ability to use weapons and magic, there was only one path available for Koko now, or at least that's how she saw it in her mind. After all, with countless martial arts anime and internet 'how to' videos under her belt, she at least knew the basics of learning how to defend herself with just her fists alone. Though now she just needed to put all of that information into practice while attempting not to break her hands in the meantime. After all, this was what she'd been training for all along, and now was finally time to put it into practice.

Fighting with something that didn't require any money and hopefully very little magic... this was what she had to do in order to succeed as an adventurer. Because if this didn't work, then Koko was fairly sure that she couldn't achieve her dream. And even now, after five years, Koko still remembered her conversation with the goddess.

Soon, darkness would rise in the Kingdom of Harven and would most likely claim a lot of life when it did. And despite their recent scolding and her attitude towards them, Koko couldn't be more grateful to the parents that she had, not to mention her overly-loving sister and the terrible brother that she almost never saw anymore. She cared about all of them, both because they were her family, and because that they were something that she never had in her previous life. She even loved Jazzy and all of the staff and guards as well, so she couldn't just let them face the darkness by themselves, could she? No, she needed to get strong, and quickly as well. Because from this moment onward, her story was beginning, and Koko was determined to make it a happy one.