VOLUME 7: THREE BROTHERS

Three people stared at each other for a while, trying to understand what's going on. Arthur recognized them both with a single glance but the pain that suddenly struck him snapped him out of his daze. He fell from the sky but it shouldn't be nearly enough to cause him to feel like this.

Furthermore, this shouldn't have happened, he should be in another place and not here. It wasn't only Arthur that recognized the two, the pale-skinned youth also looked at those two familiar faces while frowning.

Only the Joker seemed oblivious, he scratched his head and got up, dusting his clothes and looking around.

"Fucking hell! I nearly died!"

He inspected the two of them and rubbed his chin while talking:

"Strange… I feel different."

Leiu and Arthur also got up but didn't start roaming this unfamiliar forest. They started another staring contest before Arthur said:

"Let's try to understand our current situation first."

"Yes yes! I agree!"

The Nameless Knight remained silent but he softly nodded his head.

"Your face is kind of familiar… I have a good memory but I can't seem to remember you."

The Joker leaned closer to Arthur and inspected his face but he still couldn't recognize him.

"Let's introduce ourselves first."

After saying that, the Joker took a comical pose with his back leaning backward, a hand on his chest and his left leg raised then started talking:

"I am the Magician 'Extraordinaire', the Playful Trickster, The Joker!"

Both Arthur and the youth beside him listened to his cheesy introduction while furrowing their brows, not knowing whether to take him seriously or not.

The person in question 'beautifully' ended his introduction and glanced at the other two, waiting for them to do their part. Arthur coughed and cleared his throat before saying

"I'm Arthur MoonStar."

He didn't know why those two didn't recognize him but it was not the appropriate time to ask to he refrained from saying anything unnecessary.

The only one left was the silent youth, who took quite a bit of time to talk.

"I'm 'Nameless'."

"Nameless? You don't have a name? Come on, man. We're in this together, we should get along!"

The Joker walked to the youth and patted his back while heartily laughed. He received a glare from Leiu, who shoved away the other's hand, not bothering to explain himself.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

The Joker's question was directed at Arthur, who seemed more rational than this youth in black armor. As if he remembered something, the Joker retrieved a deck of card from his back pocket and looked at one particular black card only to find it completely blank. He flipped it upside down several times but the results didn't change.

"Hm? The System is gone?"

His words were heard by the two others, who tried to view their window status only to fail. Not only that, their powers seemed to disappear as if they became mortals. The Nameless Knight tried to reach to the sword on his back only to find nothing but air.

Zodiak's ring also disappeared, leaving Arthur confused about what happened. No matter where he went, the system always accompanied him. From the surprised looks the other two were showing, they were also experiencing the same thing.

"Oh well! At least I still have my cards."

The Joker didn't seem to be that bothered but the frown on the youth's face was unsettling. His mood seemed to have worsened.

"We should look for a settlement or a city and investigate."

Arthur voiced his thoughts while reading their expressions. Neither of the two objected so, the three chose a direction and started walking.

The forest was peaceful, they met no monsters whatsoever, only the occasional wild boars or deers. A bout of silence flowed between the three of them which made the atmosphere quite awkward, fortunately, that didn't last long as the Joker was quite the talkative person.

"Aww man, this sucks! I was enjoying my hunt yet I somehow land in this boring place."

His endless whining was rather annoying but Leiu didn't seem bothered by it. He kept following the other two while thinking about something. He definitely saw them back then so they must have a relation with what happened to him in the past.

Only the Joker remained oblivious, nonchalantly playing with his cards while whistling.

"Hey, Arthur."

He nudged Arthur's back while grinning. At first, he was ignored but after he repeated that a few times, Arthur had to reply

"What?"

"Pick a card."

He stretched his hand and showed him a deck of cards. Arthur hesitated for a second before randomly picking a card and looking at it.

"Memorize it well then put it back."

Arthur did as told, expecting to see the oldest magic trick in the book. He stared back at the Joker, who smirked and pointed upwards.

When he raised his head, Arthur saw a ginormous 6 of hearts floating in the sky. It remained as so for a few seconds before exploding into countless red specks of light that dispersed right after.

"That's your card, right? Hahahahaha"

The Joker loudly laughed as he saw Arthur's shocked expression.

"I thought you aren't able to use your System, much less your skills."

Even the silent and grumpy Leiu was equally surprised by what just happened. As he, too, was interested in hearing the Joker's answer, he walked closer to the two.

"I did lose my skills and stats but that's part of the system. As for this…"

He threw the cards in his hand in the air, which didn't fall on the ground but floated in front of him before they started rotating around him, obeying his will.

"This is real magic."

Arthur almost face-palmed himself when he heard that answer. He expected to hear an interesting answer but he only got such a childish reply. Nonetheless, it was an intriguing thing, after all, the three of them are unable to use any of their skills and they practically become mortals so how is it possible to do that?

Even his Enigma skills were gone so it shouldn't be some inborn skill like Telekinesis.

As he saw both Arthur and Leiu's expressions, which clearly indicated that they didn't believe him, the Joker said:

"I'm telling you, this is real magic… honest to god!"

***

Thirty minutes later, the three arrived at what seemed to be a town. Unfortunately, they were blocked by the guards at the front gate. Apart from Arthur, who was wearing 'normal' clothes, both Leiu and the Joker were strange. One was clad in jet black armor from head to toe while the other was wearing a strange white costume.

Honestly, it was their mistake since they let the Joker do the talking. He almost got into a fight with the guards were it not for Arthur's intervention. They had to go through the trouble of registering themselves since they didn't have IDs.

"The guards talked about an Adventurer's Guild, wanna check it?"

The Joker asked the two of them but the sad thing was that he was heading toward the tall building, which could be seen from afar. Both Arthur and Leiu let out a sigh at the same time but still chose to follow that lunatic as it's better to stick together in this unknown place.

Apparently, this town was called 'White Raven' and is the biggest settlement around here. Arthur didn't ask for this world's name as it's better to check the library if there's one, that is.

There must be a reason they were sent here and it's definitely not to sightsee. They to adapt and learn everything about this world to be able to get out. Lucy is waiting for him and the more time he's here, the worse it is for her.

The Joker brazenly entered the Adventurer's Guild only attract the attention of everyone inside. His weird walk and overly energetic actions, coupled with his costume, made him a laughing-stock. Especially when two others followed right after him, clearly his companions.

"Hey there, beauty! Mind helping me out?"

He winked at the receptionist lady, who frowned, uncomfortable due to his tone and actions.

"Do you want to do it or should I?"

For the first time since his introduction, Leiu spoke. He glanced at Arthur and asked that, not wanting to let Joker handle this matter.

Already having a headache due to this lunatic, Arthur massaged his temple, sighed and replied

"I'll handle it."

He walked forward and grabbed the Joker's shoulder, pushing him away from the woman.

"Stay back, I'll talk to her."

"Hey he-"

Before he could talk back, Leiu covered his mouth and dragged him away. It wouldn't be surprising to see him pick a fight with everyone here. Many of the adventurers here were already giving them unwelcoming glares after what he just said to that lady.

"Please forgive him."

Arthur apologized and added:

"Can you help us register?"

The lady's mood shifted after the Joker's face was replaced with Arthur's, who not only handsome but manly-looking with his blood-red pupil.

'Back then, the three didn't know that the shadow of doom draws near…'