(POV: OSCAR)

Been about a week or 2 since I've arrived in Fantasia and started living with the Hero Guild. I was skeptical at first, but I eventually started to get use to them after some experiencing quite a few enjoyable times with them.

(Flashback #1):

I was outside, practicing my Crossbow shooting with a bunch of old cans. But right when I was about to shoot the last can, an arrow flew past me and pierce through the can.

I turned around to see Anna, with her bow in hand. "Not bad, Oscar." She says as she withdraw her bow and approached me. "Uh, thanks? Any reason as to why you ruined my training?" I asked.

"Nothing much. Just thought I could interest you with a sharpshooting contest between you and me." Anna says as I shrugged at this. "Sure, why not? If you're ready to lose." I said with a smirk on my face, causing Anna to smirk as well. "Couldn't have said it better myself." She says.

She then used magic to set up multiple targets as we started shooting. The result? A tie.

(Flashback #2):

I was in the barn, grooming Zephyr's mane when I heard someone enter. Turning around, I see Rein and his group approaching. "Hey guys." I said as I turn back to Zephyr and continue grooming him.

"Hi Oscar. How're things?" Rein asks as I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, 50/50." I said as I finished grooming. "There. Finished with the easy part." I said as I sigh in slight irritation. "Now to deal with the hard part." I add.

"Hard part?" Kanade asked as I turn to them. "Yeah. Zephyr can't keep his legs steady and still when I'm scraping dirt out of his hooves & replacing his old shoes with new ones." I explained as I was about to get started when Rein stopped me.

"Maybe you should let us help. After all, my Beast Tamer skills can make this easier." Rein says. I thought about it as I came to my conclusion. "Very well. You all can help. But be careful, he can be both a bucker and a kicker." I warned.

Yet, surprisingly enough, Rein's Beast Taming skills prove extremely well developed as Zephyr didn't even buck or kick once.

(Flashback #3):

Me and Naofami were honing our skills in combat. His defenses were great, but so is my offense. With every strike of my blade, I can feel his defenses weakening.

I had to change my strategy if I was to defeat him. I couldn't attack him directly and he has an item on him that prevents me from using Axii on him. But even the most well built fortresses has to have a weak spot.

But then, it struck me: if I get in close, then I can trip him up by knocking him off balance for a short period of time. Except the window is pretty small, so I need to be quick and perfect.

I charged at Naofami and struck his shield again. "Man, you seriously need to rethink your battling strategy." Naofami says with a slight smirk. But I shot back with my own smirk. "I did." I said as I use one of my legs to trip up Naofami.

Acting quickly, I threw my sword up in the air as I grabbed Naofami's shield and threw it out of his reach. I then leg sweep him as I caught my sword and point it at his face.

We stared at each other until we started laughing. I withdraw my sword as I helped Naofami up onto his feet. "Not bad, but you need to work on your offense a bit more. Your defense is great, but someone can take advantage of it if they know how to defeat you." I explained.

"Yeah. Been thinking about enchanting my shield so it could take on other forms. But haven't had much luck, though." Naofami explains as he picks up his shield. "Well, maybe I could help? I spent quite a few time with mages and sorceresses to understand a certain of magic." I offered as Naofami, however, shook his head at this.

"Appreciate the offer, but the magic on my shield is ancient. I doubt any mages or sorceresses would know what they're doing." Naofami says as I sigh at this, knowing he's right.

(Flashback #4):

Well, that was a shit day.

Me, Sin and Ci were walking through a village when we approached by a child who handed us apples. Sin and Ci we're about to eat them, but I stopped them because of an uneasy feeling i've been  getting from these apples.

I was right when a bunch of strange men entered the village and went on a kill spree. The leader of the men revealed to have threatened the boy and his parents to poison us with contaminated apples.

Except, he neglected one thing: me. Utilizing skills I learned from Telvon, my friend from the School of the Viper, I sliced the throats of his elite warriors and decapitated him the same way I did with all false rulers & warlords.

Turned out, he had a bounty on his head. So, I handed his head over to the Council and received a hefty amount of coin for it. The boy and his parents also got punished too: 30 strikes from a whip.

But right before I was about leave, I was suddenly hugged by Sin and Ci. "Thanks for saving us. Who knows what would've became of us if you weren't there." Sin says as Ci nods in agreement.

I only smiled as I give them each head rubs, earning purrs from them.

(A/n: don't know if lizards purr or not, so I'm kinda just winging it here.)

(End Flashbacks)

Have to say: these guys might be on par with my friends. But I know they can never be replaced. But I can damn well prevent them from suffering the same fate as they did.

But I gotta wonder: are the people the same as my world or not?

(Here's chapter 6 done. The part of Sin and Ci was taken from a certain comic made a certain artist, who may or may not be mentioned. Anyways, next chapter will be the appearance of a monster from Oscar's world.)