A Journey That Changed The World.

Chapter 12 What If.

?''DADDY! Wake up!''

Archer was woken up by a little girl's scream.

The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in the inn.

So why was he in a house back on Earth?

He looked around the room and saw all the usual things in a British living room.

A large TV on the wall, sofas opposite it, and a coffee table in the center of the room.

There were pictures of a family of three.

As he looked closer he recognized that it was him from the Earth standing next to Alexa at a wedding.

He spotted another picture of her holding a baby with fluffy navy blue hair.

'What the fuck is going on?'

That's when he looked at the little girl standing in front of him with a beaming smile on her face.

The little girl was four years old.

With navy blue hair tied in a ponytail.

She had a beautiful heart-shaped face with bright violet eyes.

Her smile revealed two small dimples on her chubby cheeks.

A strange thing about this little girl was that she looked like a mix of him and Alexa.

Which soured his mood even more than it already was.

That's when the girl spoke again.

''Daddy, momma said we could visit the park, so please get ready!''

She looked at him with those adorable puppy dog eyes.

Archer couldn't refuse her when she looked at him like that. As he stood up the scene changed abruptly.

He was walking down the road with Alexa and the little girl.

Alexa turned to him and spoke, but no words came out, only blood.

Archer's heart dropped in his chest and he rushed towards her in a panic but as soon as he reached her everything changed again.

The scene changed again to Noah stabbing him with a wild smile while rambling on.

'Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine.''

Archer woke up covered in sweat and panicking, looking around the small room he fell asleep in.

Realizing it was just a dream he got angry.

''Fucking dreaming again, why is this happening?''

He got out of bed stretching and hearing his bones popping as he did, he cast cleanse on himself.

Feeling fresh he pulled out his clothes and began to clean them as well.

Putting his clothes back on, grabbing the dirty dishes from last night while heading downstairs.

The memories were affecting him more than he realized.

He thought about hunting as he arrived at the counter.

There was an older woman behind the counter instead of the man.

''You here for breakfast boy?''

His only response was to stare at her and nod.

That's when he heard a little girl shout.

''DADDY!''

Hearing this triggered something in him and he walked out of the inn and headed for the guild to take a quest to get out of the city.

As he walked, his thoughts plagued him.

All he could hear was the little girl from the dream calling him.

'DADDY.'

'DADDY.'

'DADDY.'

''FUCK OFF!!''

Archer screamed out ignoring all the shocked looks he was getting, he continued walking.

He reached the guild in 10 minutes. when he enters he headed straight to the counter to get his coins from last night.

Seeing a large queue at every counter, he waited behind a group of adventurers as they waited.

That's when his stomach rumbled.

'I'll just eat the hearts of the beasts I hunt.'

Half an hour later he was ready to speak to the woman.

Rather than looking at him, she looked at some paperwork in her hand.

''Hello, how can I help you?''

Archer looked at the woman.

''Vaella said I could collect my coins this morning.''

Her eyes widened as she looked up from her paperwork to look at him.

She then put the papers down and introduced herself.

''I'm Lucia. It's nice to meet you, Archer. Vaella told me about you last night after you guys left ''

He nodded along before changing the subject.

''Can I have my coins? I want to take a quest.''

She shook her head before getting up from her seat and entering a room behind her while telling him to wait a minute.

Five minutes later she returned with a coin pouch in her hands as she returned to Archer and handed him the coins.

''Here is your payment 10 gold coins. Vaella said some of the bodies were in perfect condition, so you earned extra.''

Archer nodded at the woman before asking about something that was on his mind, completely forgetting Sarah already told him.

''How can I rank up?''

She tilted her head.

''Who did you register with?''

''Sarah.''

She smiled while nodding her head.

''That explains it. She's an excellent receptionist but forgetful at times.''

Archer nodded.

She explained to him about ranking up.

''Basically from F to D you have to complete 10 quests per rank to advance to the next one. When you reach rank D you have to take a personalized test to reach C. That's about it.''

He was happy with the explanation.

''Thank you, I'm going to take a quest now.''

Archer walked up to the quest board, looking for an E-ranked quest. He found one shortly after.

[Wolf hunt]

[Cull the forest wolf population, they run amok outside our town]

[Oxfair town, three days East of Vassia city]

[2 gold]

He liked the look of this quest so he started talking to himself.

''I'll take this one. The wolves give me 150 experience per kill, so it's worth it for now.''

Taking the paper up to the same receptionist and telling her he wanted to take this test.

The woman looked at Archer concerned.

''Are you sure you want to take this quest? It's dangerous.''

Archer smiled at her warning.

''It's fine, I need to train anyway and they will be the most ideal partners. Anyway, can you tell me where I can buy spellbooks?''

Lucia shook her head not understanding this kid.

''Exit the guild, turn left, and you'll find an alchemist shop about a 10-minute walk from here. When you get there take a right and you'll see the shop.''

''Thank you, now could the guild deliver a letter for me please?''

She nodded and asked if he needed paper and a nib.

Archer took the stuff and wrote a quick letter to Ella telling her he would come to visit her in a week or 2.

He will sneak onto the balcony connected to her room, lately, he has been thinking about the loli elf maid a lot lately.

He wanted to see her.

Archer finished the letter, handing it to Lucia before walking out.

He walked down the street following Lucia's directions.

15 minutes later he found the alchemist store, and across from that was a shop called Witch Way Out spell books.

'What a funny name Hehehe.'

He approached the store and entered.

Walking in he noticed it was very clean, with bookshelves everywhere.

He started looking for a spell he liked.

Walking up to the shelf he starts reading the names of the books.

'Sunbeam, wind push, fire missile, high healing, water bullet'

After some consideration he chose fire missile, he continued looking at the other shelves.

''What is a handsome little boy like you doing in a shop like this?''

Archer jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice.

He turned around and saw an old woman standing in a doorway next to the shelf he was looking at.

''Just looking for spells.''

Turning back to look at the remaining books.

'Eldritch blast, plasma shot, water sword, and wind arrow.'

The old woman watched the boy who was browsing through her spell book collection.

He asked her a question.

''Are spell books reusable?''

The old woman looked at this boy like he was an idiot.

''Of course, they are, they are written to be passed on to the younger generation by previous mages from Vassia city and the surrounding areas, and of course, they are bought and sold across the Empire.''

She took a breath for a second before speaking again. ''I'm Gallaka, owner of Witch Way Out. How can I help you?''

Archer nodded.

''Archer, how much for these three books?''

He picked Plasma Shot, Eldritch Blast, and Fire Missile, placing them on the counter.

Gallaka walked over to the counter and looked at the books before speaking.

''Three gold for eldritch blast and plasma shot, and two for fire missile, so eight gold coins altogether.''

He took out the eight gold coins and gave them to the old woman, then picked up the books and started reading them on the spot.

One hour later, he placed the last book down and checked the notifications he had just received.

[Eldritch Blast Learned]

[Plasma Shot Learned]

[Fire Missile Learned]

He got excited seeing that he had learned all three attack spells in an hour.

Archer forgot where he was as he started laughing.

''Hahahahaha.''

The old woman watched him and then spoke up.

''Why are you laughing? You seem crazy boy.''

He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

''Don't look at me like that, you're the one laughing at nothing.''

Ignoring her previous statement, he asked if she wanted to buy the books.

''Wanna buy them back for five gold?''

She cocked her eyebrows and smiled before agreeing.

''Yes, I will young man, here take your gold back.''

Gallaka slid five gold coins back to him as she pocketed the rest.

''See you later.'' He left the store to complete his quest.

[A/N - Leave some comments, power stones, and gifts. It all helps support the book. Artwork in the comments or discord]