Modern life.

Wednesday, May 12 6:06. Gaius woke up, thankfully he retained his sleeping habits since yesterday he was too tired to set the alarm clock. It was after this thought that he realised something. Namely that he should be more weirded by the fact that he knew how to operate basic machinery and, now that he thought about it, about the machinery in question. It was weird, to intellectually know that he should be more awed and out of depth with the current world, and yet feel as if it was just normal. A remnant of his limited omniscience he guessed. But he wouldn't complain if it allowed him to function, instead of needing months of training to learn to do it.

He also reasoned that he should stop procrastinating and get out of this luxurious, soft and firm, warm and comfortable, ambrosia in bed form. Ah, he would never be able to sleep in his old bedding, truly a devious plot to bind him in the darkness to modern luxuries. Well that was probably an exaggeration, but it truly was different knowing about the modern world’s conveniences and another experimenting them.

Thankfully he was from the Roman Empire and not the Middle Ages and as such more accustomed to luxuries. But his home in the mountains was hell compared to this apartment, which was kind of the point honestly. You can't build the patience and temperance to overcome hardships in this wonder of the world that were modern beds.

He lazed about for a few more minutes before standing up and making breakfast, vitroceramics and ovens were so much better than fire. Making some bread and eating some fruits that the house was stocked with, before realising he had already baked products in the drawers, and in great variety too. He was a bit overwhelmed, honestly. He normally ate bread he baked himself, with fruits and vegetables he grew himself, water he drew from the spring and boiled himself, and sometimes milk or honey from his cows and bees and meat from old or sick animals that he took care of. But now he had everything a short ten minute walk to the supermarket. If he had not chosen to end his hermitage of his own will, he might still have been unable to do it after experiencing such convenience, unlikely as that was.

He then thought about when he should bathe since it was different in different parts of the world, before choosing the common Japanese way, bathing in the evening. After all he could not keep bathing only on Sundays, germs were scary and he'd stink by modern standards.

The culture shock dealt with he prepared to go out, before realising that he hadn't established a way to contact Akihiko, nor a meeting point, panicking since he had no way of contacting him before resolving to ask the administration to send a messenger to him.

Crisis dealt we headed towards the internal administration building he toured yesterday. Leaving his home, he had to remember to lock the door since he was no longer in the middle of nowhere. He went down the stairs, not ready for elevators. From then on it was just seven minutes. When he arrived he went to the general help counter.

“Good morning sir. Is it possible to send a messenger to Mister Saito Akihiko to inform him that I'll be here so he may come and we may discuss today's schedule?”

"Yawn. And why don't we just call him?”

“Because… I didn't think of that. Please do it.”

Two minutes later he was on the phone a call in course.

“Who is it?”

“It's me Gaius. I wanted to discuss today's plans.”

“It's six in the morning, can't we do this later, please?”

“Hmm? When do you usually wake up then?”

“At a decent hour! Sigh. Seven, seven in the morning.”

“Very well, I shall be in the training grounds to keep my morning exercices, I will tell the receptionist to tell you where I'll be.”

“Kay, bye.” He hung up. Gaius looked at the phone for a moment, before shrugging and leaving to the training grounds.

At 7:30 Gaius was finishing his exercises, considering whether he should increase his workload since he seemed to have more stamina that before the accident, when he saw Akihiko appear.

“Gaius! Hello, listen, sorry for how grumpy I was before, you woke me up. But now I've had my coffee so I'm better! Coffee, what would I do without you.”

“Not be addicted to a legal drug?”

“Ha ha, very funny. Ok so today we… wait a moment are those 150 kg dumbbells?!”

“Yep, much better than the boulders I used back then.”

“What kind of workout do you do?!”

“600 push ups, 300 goblet squats, 600 sit ups, 400 prisoner get ups, 200 cross body hammer curls, 200 dumbbell scaptions, 10 100m sprint runs, a 30 km run. All of these to be completed in an hour, and finally a one hour endurance run.”

“What.”

“But today I've finished early so I'm thinking of increasing the workout.”

“No wonder you are so ripped. Like holy shit that's ridiculous. Not even professional athletes do that much! I hope.”

“Probably a lot more, I couldn't do a tenth of this before achieving Senjutsu.”

“Ah you use Touki! I see.”

“Not for exercise, no. This is all supernatural body strength. But I probably do not do the optimal setup. I'm looking forward to getting an actual trainer. Better exercises and actual tutoring in martial arts instead of only manuals? That'll be great.”

“Oookay, let us leave this conversation before I begin to doubt my masculinity. This morning you won't separate from me since you don't have a phone nor documentation or money for one. I will show you the basic layout on a map and then we'll tour the old town. Once school hours are done we'll go to pick Ryuunosuke and show you the old town's supernatural locations, since he has yet to see them, and that should take our day so that'll be it for today. Any questions?”

“Not about the tour but what is a green mission?”

“Missions are classified by colours. White, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet and black. White are chores to get accustomed to the system and are paid in the hundreds of yen. Red are more important chores and varied tasks that do not require combat, paid in the thousands of yen. Orange can involve combat but Rank 0s can complete them, paid in tens of thousands of yen. Yellow require a Rank 1 to complete normally and are paid in the hundreds of thousands. Greens Rank 2, millions. Blues Rank 3 to 4 tens of millions. Indigos Rank 5, hundreds of millions. Violets Ranks 6 to 7, billions. Blacks are different, they are goals of the organisation, and have bounties that accumulate with time to complete, no difficulty, the oldest one is 300 years old, hasn't been fulfilled since the Founders’ times, I don't even know how much it pays.

Despite how I've classified them, not all are for combat. For example there are investigation missions that I tend to fulfill, and I'm good enough to get yellows of those. White to green are common, but above are rare, we haven't had a violet since ten years ago, which is the takedown of the Blue Leathers boss, who's a Rank 7. Clear?”

“What are these ranks?”

“Combat classification. I'm a Rank 0, you probably a 3. Commonly Ranks 0-2 are called the superhuman Ranks, 3-5 army Ranks, 6-8 WMD Ranks, and 9 is Anything Goes, from nation conquering dude to universe destroyer. Most gods are on this Rank, some are 7s or 8s. The weaker ones such as kunitsukami can be anywhere on the spectrum."

“Ah yeah, those guys. Scary living in the same universe as those.”

“Yeah. Well let us ignore cosmic horror stories for now, we've got a city to explore!”

“Ok, let me shower and change.”

Ten minutes later Gaius and Akihiko were in the later's car examining a map.

“This city is divided in two parts by the inter-city rails. The old town and the new town that came to be after the building of the rails. The old town is the lifeblood of this city, being a thousand years old and holding many historical and religious sites, it's a tourist lure. It also holds most of the supernatural creatures dwellings, as well as many facilities. It's where we are right now. The new town holds many residential districts, as well as all the industry, it holds the Blue Leathers and a lot of small groups and independents. It's where the Locapala was. As I said we'll begin with the mundane old town. Let's go.”

He started the vehicle and began going through the streets, naming them and telling him what they held. The old city was composed mainly of old buildings and mansions, but it also had modern buildings even within the same streets, creating a nice contrast and variety. Architectural styles of many different ages where obvious, the sheer history of the city could be seen. It was also quite obvious that there was no wealth segregation, at least in this part of town, since mansions, modest individual houses, and apartments could be seen next to each other.

The streets where narrow and wide, ordered and chaotic, showing the lack of design typical of old cities, and honestly a bit confusing, Gaius realised they would be easy to get lost in, and decided to always bring a map with him.

Many hours later they had made a surface tour of the old town, avoiding certain parts, when they made a stop in a certain bar to eat.

“Blue Spirit, huh. What kind of place is this."

“Has two parts, a traditional bar, and a restaurant area. They've got good food, and good drinks. It's also well known for its information brokers, both mundane and supernatural. It's a truce area for all factions in the city, and defended by them, the worst place to cause a ruckus in. I'm a regular, come on, get in.”

They entered the restaurant area and a waiter came to take their order.

“So, you got any favourites?” Asked Akihiko, signaling the menu.

“Pickled vegetables, fried vegetables, grain foods, fried meat.”

“Something, I don't know, more concrete?”

“That's all I've eaten since I was nine sooo.”

“Ah, yeah, that, I forgot. Get him my usual and I'll take…”

They finished eating and Akihiko brought Gaius to the bar area, where he told him he had to meet someone.

Akihiko took him to a private room on the second floor, where he knocked.

“Hey, Sakae, you there? I've brought someone to you.”

“Akihiko? Sure come in.”

Gaius entered the room. In it there were two people. A big man of german ancestry, at least 2 metre tall, wide and muscular, with long and wild hair, stood between the door and a tall japanese woman, shorter than Gaius sure, but at 1.85 he was taller than many.

“Welcome Akihiko,” began the woman, “have you brought someone for information?”

“No, you are the one that'll be getting something. This man, Gaius, is like you, catholic, buut, he just got out of stasis, he's from the third century and a monk.”

“Really!” Squeeze the woman. “Cough. My apologies, I was simply excited since I've always wondered how the first christians lived. My name is Shiba Sakae. My bodyguard there is Adam Reinbach.”

“Hello Mister…”

“Ich heiße Gaius Atiius Quadratus. Ich fühle mich geehrt, Sie kennenzulernen. I hope I was not presuming when I thought you speak German.”

“No, don't worry.” Answered Sakae. “If it's possible, could you tell me about how things were back then?”

Gaius glared at Akihiko, before turning and saying:

“No problem. As you know the persecutions made it so that we had to meet in secret…”

An hour later Gaius had finished recounting all he could think of.

“Thank you for generosity, Master Gaius. If you ever need some information do come here, I'll give you special rates.”

“I actually have a question, are there catholic churches in town? I need to get to day with the current canon.”

“Yes, there is one in new town, let me tell you where.”

Gaius and Akihiko left the bar, getting back in the car.

“You are a cruel man, springing that on me without warning.” Complained Gaius

“Heh, sorry. She has just helped me a lot, so I wanted to do something for her.” Explained Akihiko smiling.

“Hmmmmmm. Alright I guess. Now what.”

“We've finished ahead of time so we have to wait till the kid comes from school. You know? I'll bring you home that way you'll know where to find me.”

“Cool.”

A while later they arrived in front of a western style gothic mansion and Akihiko brought the into the precinct, before parking.

“Home sweet home, ancestral mansion of the Saito family. Opinion?”

“Did they make this kind of houses 200 years ago?”

“Dunno, we had to renovate this one fifty years ago, it exploded, hard. Come let me present you my folks.”

“Dad, mom! I've brought a guest.””

A man came down the stairs with and elegant step.

“If that is the case don't shout like a street vendor, be elegant for once in your life. Oh kami, what have I done to raise him wrong? Sigh. You must be Master Atiius. My son told us about you yesterday. I give you my gratitude for saving his life, and ask that you forgive his rudeness. I am Saito Akihiro. Sorry if my son has insulted you.” Chided the old man, with a deep and steady voice.

“If I'm honest he would not have been in that danger if I hadn't told the Locapala about him, so I think that balances out. As for the other he is annoying at times and presumes too much others, but he is a good man and has no malice so it's not a problem.” Answered Gaius seriously.

“Hey!”

“I thank you for your kindness. Would you like to pass to the reception room? My wife and daughter-in-law would meet you there.”

“My pleasure.”

The three men relocated to a spacious room where two women and a six year old child were waiting.

The elderly one began to speak, “I am glad to meet you Master Atiius, I am Saito Chiharu, this is my son’s wife, Saito Seijun. This is my granddaughter, Saito Akane.”

“It is an honour.” Responded Gaius bowing.

“The honour is mine, Master Gaius.” Bowed back Saito Seijun.

The girl began fidgeting, and whispered something to her mother, who nodded at her. She then approached Gaius and bowed.

“Thank you for saving my daddy, Master Atiius.”

“As I said to your grandfather it's not a big deal, in fact it was my responsibility.”

After that the six sat and began talking, with the more experienced speakers advising Gaius on what to do and what to don't do in the Hidden World.

“And never, never call a kitsune a temptress. They don't like it, at all.”

At that moment the door opened and a seventeen year old, with a remarkable resemblance to Akihiko came in. There was just a weird thing, he had golden irises.

“I'm home!”

“Welcome back dear! We are in the reception room, there's a guest here.”

Akira went to the reception room where he presented himself to Gaius. After that was done Gaius commented on his eye colour.

“That is a sign of my trait.” He explained.

“Trait?”

“Yes, an innate power, only achievable through generations of mages or ki users of ancestry, experimentation or random mutation. In my case they are the eyes of analysis and recording, they allow me to see magic and ‘save’ the spells I've seen, allowing me to analyze them. I've reached the point where I can analyse low level spells in less than a second.” Answered Akira, obviously proud of his ability.

“Then it's no wonder they call you a talent.” Commented Gaius.

“We should get going,” interrupted Akihiko, “the kid should be back now.”

“Alright.”

Gaius said goodbye and left the house. They picked Ryuunosuke and began a tour of the shrines and supernaturally active places of the old town, as well as various dwellings of inhabitants and portals to pocket dimensions. After finishing their visit to the Inari market, one of the cities two great supernatural markets, Akihiko brought them to a park. On the way there Ryuunosuke began to speak.

“Gaius I've been thinking about how you told me that I was weak and lazy, and…”

“You said that? You sure don't hold back, do you?”

“I only say the truth as I see it.”

“As I was saying, I've realised you were right, I was slacking of. Do you have any recommendations.”

“Have someone who can tell you to focus on your magical studies when you begin slacking. Aside from that not much, it's quite a personal affair. Oh, and you should begin exercising, that's never bad to do, it gives discipline, and a better body.”

“He is right about that. I also exercise, even if you're a mage you shouldn't be a squishy one.”

After that the conversation died down until they reached the park.

“So why are we here? This place seems bad, I get a bad feeling.” Questioned Ryuunosuke, trembling slightly.

“Mother of God.” Muttered Gaius astounded. “I don't even need to activate my Senjutsu to feel the sheer amount of grudges, curses and negative emotions here, it's overwhelming.”

”Open the way!” Shouted Akihiko. “Newbies here!”

At these words the space divided in front of them showing a path leading to a stone building, floating in a void.

“We don't have authorisation to enter so this'll do.” Said Akihiko narrowing his eyes. “This hellhole is this city's prison for supernatural criminals. You'll probably have to visit sometime, so it's good you know where it is. Come on let's go.”

They left and the way closed. After this Akihiko said they were finished for the day and so they all returned home.