《My Isekai》 Chapter 1 - Below wings of contention I wake up on soft green grass. A gentle breeze brings a slight chill to my face. It looks like noon time. The sun is up. It isn''t cold, but it feels like late spring in Northern Europe. Where am I? I sit up a see a large boulder next to me and beyond it a can hear the trickle of a small stream. I walk towards it. It looks no wider than I can jump. Well, maybe could jump in my younger days. Since I passed 30, anything more than a slight walk seems to come with an undue amount of pain and tiredness. I don''t feel tired, nor do I feel any aches or pains. When did I last feel this full of energy and awake? My body feels as young as I have always felt mentally. I walk towards the stream to see if I can catch a glint of my reflection. The water is mostly moving too fast to see, but in a small quite pool I see something that looks like a younger version of myself. I recognize him from old pictures. I pull my fingers through my hair and find too much of it. My thinning hair and receding hairline is gone! My constant reminder that I am a lot older than I feel is gone. My short cropped beard seems to have been replaced by the stubble of a young man just being able to grow a bit of manliness. I notice that my physique is slender bordering on skinny. Gone is the barrel chest that I gained in my 30''s. I guess all things come at a cost, even regained youth. I remember how hard I tried to gain muscle and weight in my teenage years. My internal monologue is interrupted by a roar. No, two roars. In the corner of my right eye I sense movement. I quickly turn around, realizing how little of my surroundings I have taken in. Beyond the boulder I see a grass clearing going on for a couple of stone throws. It ends at the edge of a forest. The forest stretches all the way around the clearing. The stream looks to be at the edge of the clear. Where did the roar come from? I am tempted to turn around, but remind myself that with my back to the stream the roar and movement seems to have come from the left. Above the trees I can see mountains in the distance. I hear the roar again, it is a lot closer! I look up and see two massive shadows circling above me. I instantly feel dread creeping through my body threatening to paralyze me. I feel the need to resist this instinct reminding myself that I am a rational human, and not a prey frozen in fear by its predator. What am I looking at? Am I it''s prey? What about the second shadow. As I regain my senses time seem to go quicker, as I look up and shadow my eyes from the noon sun. What I see looks like two flying lizards circling each other grunting and roaring at each other. They do not look friendly. I relax as I realize I am not the target of their roars. Fire bursts across my vision. Where did that come from? I feel the heat from a second much larger burst. It is coming from the lizards. Dragons?! I suddenly realize how large these creatures are as they descend covering each other with fire. My forehead feels like it is going to catch fire and I and instinctively dive for cover behind the boulder. I feel the flame lick around the boulder. The dragons must be on the other side near or on the ground. I look around when the flames die down for a bit. My idyllic clearing has been turned into a flaming hell. Strangely only the closest trees have caught fire. I duck for cover as I sense incoming flames. These are bigger than the last ones, and I feel soaring pain from my right shoulder. I am getting burnt. My boulder is no longer safe. I suddenly realize that safety has been right in front of me the whole time. The stream! It might only reach me to my waist at the deepest part, but I dive in grabbing for anything at the bottom to hold on to. The cold water splash against my cloths and I feel searing pain from my right shoulder and back as my fresh burns come into contact with the water. I look up and see the shimmer of flames above the water. I feel the current gently pulling at me, but it releases its grip as I drift to the edge of the stream. With the tingling fear of getting my lips burnt I slowly ease my lips to the surface for an urgently needed gasp of air. The water is warming up, but the fire seems to have shifted further up the stream. Finally it goes quiet. As I drag myself out of the stream, I feel the full strain on my body. My right shoulder and back hurts badly. I definitely got some first degree burns if not more. Despite my burns, I doubt I was any more than an ant to those flying lizards. They were dragons right? Fire breathing lizards. Well I am likely not on earth. What if this is a dream? Ouch, no that pain would have woken me up. Ok, lets do one thing at a time. How bad are my injuries and what can I do about it? I little window pops up in front of me. Is it really there? my hand goes through it. I blink, and it is still there. I turn and it follows my vision. "Stay!" Not sure why I said that, but the window seems to have stopped moving. It looks like a PC screen, just more see-through. Aaaah, I am dreaming that I am in a game! Ouch, almost forgot about the pain. "Am I in a game like world?". No response. So no AI then. Well, what does the screen say. Charts and pictures show me what I already know, I got first degree burns on my shoulder and part of my back. What about a cure? The screen focuses in on a small note lower on the page. Plants with high resistance to flames my assist in treating burns. It gave me a tip, so this is more than just data that is already in my head. Or did I just deduce that? What is this ability? A new screen pops up. Skills list, original skill, Analyze Level 1. Description; Ability to analyze ones surroundings. Not the most extensive description I have seen, but it explains a bit. Guess I should treat this whole experience as a game. And this skill might actually save my life. Knowledge is power as they say. Ouch, better look for something too sooth my burns. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I look around the clearing. It looks scorched. The trees haven''t caught fire though. Maybe I can use something from the trees, but which one? Better look for something that stands out. Further down the clearing I see a green patch amid brown and blackened scrubs. This looks more like it. Time to use my Analyze skill. Dragon Leaf; Limited nutritional value. Highly resistant to fire due to gel contained in the leaves. Not toxic. The last bit is reassuring. If I put some on this gel on my burns it might just help. I break some leaves in two and squeeze the gel out. I can feel the soothing effect of the gel as I spread it over my burns. I look at the charts and pictures from my analyze skill. There is more information now. Why is that? Remedy applied. Time to heal without remedy; 6 days. Time to heal with remedy, 48 hours. Likelihood of scaring; limited with remedy. Looking up the skills screen my suspicions are confirmed. My analyze skill has gone up to level 2. That was quick, but when did it happen? As I analyzed the plant or as I analyzed the remedy on the burns? An alarm would have been nice. Could I have gotten more skills? Opening the full skills screen I see a lot more skills, most noted as new. At the very top of the screen I see a clear heading of Level 1. This really is a game! My race is clearly noted as human and my level, whatever that is in this very real world, is marked as 1. I really shouldn''t be running into dragons at this level. Below there are some attribute numbers, which mean absolutely nothing to me. The numbers disappear and change into short comments. Average normal human, below average normal human. Wonder what a non-normal human is?! At least my analyze skill adapts to make it understandable. Instead of having a fixed menu, I seem to have an ever evolving and improving record of everything I need to know. Well, one day maybe. Looks like my one attribute above normal is intelligence, but otherwise I look pretty weak. This is definitely hard mode. Where is my nice beginner¡¯s village?! Better find civilization as soon as I can. Under the attribute section there is a small section called Unique Traits. Only two are listed; Fast Learner and Master Boost. Each have a description: - Fast Learner; Learn skills faster and accumulates lifeforce quicker. - Master Boost; Skills that reach level 8 are automatically boosted to level 10. 10 seems to be the highest level of a skill, which means that the Master Boost skill is a late game cheat skill. Assuming I am still alive it might be useful. Useless now. Fast learner is probably why my analyze skill went up so quick. What is lifeforce? A new description pops up. Lifeforce; an ethereal essence accumulated by all living things with a soul throughout their life. Enables the accumulation of skills which boosts abilities. Looks like XP in games. How do I get more? The description expands. Life force is naturally absorbed and is spread thinly across the normal plane. There are limited fluctuations. To absorb more, it is possible to increase the local concentration of life force by killing living creatures, thereby releasing their stored life force. Definitely experience points! These traits don''t seem to have a level, so they are clearly different from skills. Provided I survive I might actually build a good character.... I mean have a good life. Need to get used to this being real, no save and load in the real world. Wonder if I got storage or item box like in the games. "Open storage", no response. "Item box", no response. Need to think differently, don''t think about it as a game. Analyze, possessions, inventory, items, equipment, what do I have? As soon as my jumbled thoughts stop, the screen pops up. Guess there isn''t a magic word to use this skill then. The screen shows what I am wearing; t-shirt, jeans, boxers. Not even socks since I fell asleep on my sofa at home before coming here. Well, there shouldn''t be any broken glass for me to step on here. Next on the screen there is a reference to soul space storage. Nothing in there at all, maybe if I hold the remaining dragon leaves up to the screen and drop them in. The leaves drop through the screen and land on the ground. Okay, lets just think outside the box. I imagine putting the leaves in my soul space storage. The leaves disappeared. No fancy spectacle, just gone. On the screen the soul space storage has an icon. "9 Dragon Leaves, fresh, dry, normal temperature". Strange details to record for an item. What is my storage capacity? No response from the screen, but next to the storage space heading I see a dash and the infinity symbol. That can''t mean what I think it means. Will need to test that out later when I start hording stuff. Next, where am I? The analyze screen gives me a map page, but with the exception of a dot in the middle it is blank. Guess I will have to explore. Where to go? If there are any settlements, they should be near fresh water. I should follow the stream downwards. My bare feet cross crunching burnt grass to fresh soft grass, as I walk along the stream looking for anything interesting to analyze. Hours later as dusk starts to set I climb the biggest tree I can find. Using rope like vines I tie myself to the tree, hoping I found myself the safest resting place. I encountered no animals on my walk, but it would make sense that they keep a low profile when dragons argue. I might face more dangerous days to come. Luckily food is everywhere. Fruits, berries and edible plants are abundant. My storage is full of stuff I found on my walk. The analyze skill gives me the assurance that I can find edible non-toxic food, provided I remember to analyze. I tried some nice looking berries, only to chock on them. turns out they were slightly poisonous. I seem to have been rescued by my fast learning skill. When I started feeling better I was reminded of a ping I heard when I was choking. Turns out I got Poison resistance level 1. At the time I noticed all the other skills I had yet to read through and resolved to go through these in the evening. With ropes around my waist and arms, I open the screen to review the other skills I learned this day and try to figure out how I got them. The only original skill I had when I arrived seems to be Analyze Level 1, now upgraded to level 2, which seems to give me more information when I analyze. A the rate I am going this one should go up soon. I also got Fear resistance Level 2. Dragons can be scary, guess I jumped straight to level 2 on this one. This one might be dangerous at level 10, fear can after all be a life saver. Well for now nothing to worry about. Not surprising with my still tender shoulder as a reminder I got Fire resistance Level 2. Seemingly to counter the fire, I got Water resistance Level 1. Not sure I get this one. What does it actually do? Well it can''t hurt. Tonight I will definitely appreciate my Cold resistance Level 1, though it doesn''t seem to get very cold, even as the sun is setting. As for the more practical skills I have picked up, Forager Level 1 makes sense consider all the plants and fruits I found. Not entirely sure what an increased skill does. My best guess is that it helps me find food better. Finally there is my Alert Level 1. This is by far the best skill. If danger approaches this should warn me and hopefully wake me up if I am asleep. I would rather not some animal starts chomping on me, while I am still asleep. I fall asleep with some assurance that I can survive in this strange world. Chapter 2 - Survival week and then some It has been a week since I got to this world. I am worn out by the constant trials of survival. I might be surviving, but I am certainly not thriving. What I miss the most is a knife, and just about every other survival tool. Most survivalist tend to at least get a knife to start off with. My best tool at the moment is a sharp rock. Due to the signs of oxidization it looks ferrous. Analyze confirms it, it is an iron mineral. Unfortunately I don''t have a furnace to melt this into something useful like a knife. I tried tying it to a stick to make a primitive axe, but it kept falling off. Need to work on my crafting. At the moment I am no better off than a caveman, worse actually, at least they had flint weapons and fire. Pathetic! I tried making fire by rubbing a couple of sticks together but it is surprisingly difficult to get a fire that way. If I could make small bow I could speed up the spinning, but I don''t have a string fine enough. I tried using tears from my t-shirt, but the strings kept breaking. Cheap material. I survive on berries and fruit for the most part. My foraging is regularly interrupted by the alert skill, followed by a scramble for the nearest tree. I need better weapons than sticks and stones. So far the animals I am coming across are only small and medium sized. Medium sized being the size of a small dog or big cat. The most common one is the forest rat, a huge aggressive rodent that charges at me. I managed to knock one to the ground once with a stick and pummeled it to death, but it took so much out of me that I was gasping afterwards. As I am walking along the river reviewing my week long struggle, the alert kicks off. Somehow I know it is more serious this time. I climb the nearest tree in record time. The level 3 tree climbing skill seems to be a life saver. Looking down I see three forest rats. Apparently these guys sometimes hunt in packs. No way I can fight them all. I can wait them out in the tree, but I getting pretty fed up with the constant running and hiding. What if I drop some rocks on them. Summoning a rock from my storage I throw it at one of the rats, it dodges. None of the rats seem deterred by the projectile. Then how about every rock in my storage. Not bothering to throw them one at a time, I instantly summon all the rocks I got in my storage. A barrage of rocks cover the rats and form a small rock mound under the tree. I guess I am a bit of a hoarder. Three more huge rat bodies added to my storage. I don''t have a fire to roast them, and I have no desire to eat them raw, so for now they stay in storage. After my success with the rock barrage I proceed down the river looking for bigger rocks. Finding a big rock stuck in some dirt I try to store it. Nothing happens! Maybe it is part of the bedrock. Well at least I didn''t store the planet. That infinity sign must be lying to me. I don''t really have a problem with that. I give the rock a hard nudge with my foot, it moves and gets stored. I guess to store items they need to be loose. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Besides learning the limitations of my storage, of which there aren''t that many, I spend most of my time learning to use my Analysis skill. It gives me some details, but most of the time, I have to do a bit of experimentation, observation and contemplation before it is useful. For example, when I first analyzed my iron mineral rock, it just said "Rock", but after I studied it and speculated that it might be iron ore, the description changed to "Rock with iron minerals". As I thought about how it could be melted to produce iron, it provided me with a short description of smelting to create iron. There is nothing in the description that I did not know already but it does seem to organize my prior knowledge. Using my analyze skill I kept looking for useful rocks along the banks of my small river. I could still wade across it, but the water would now be up to my neck at the deepest parts. It has been getting deeper and wider. The terrain is getting more open and rocky as well. I would rather not run out of trees to climb, as they are still my main sense of security. Just as I contemplate my reduced escape options the forest opens up with a rocky decline stretching on for a few hundred meters and a big expanse of water beyond. Rushing down the sloop I reach into the water and taste it. Salty! I have found the end of the river and the ocean. Still, this is not my primary goal. Looking up and down the coast, I can see no traces of civilization. There is only a rocky landscape separating the sea from the forest wilderness. What now? My best hope for finding a settlement had been to follow the river to its end. Should I go right or should I go left. The last few days after figuring out my stone barrage from a tree top technique, I had also been seeing more of the sky due to the opening up of the terrain. Considering the movement of the sun, with a lot of assumptions, I had figured out that the river was heading southwest. If I changed direction to the right of where I had exited the forest, I would be going roughly north. Left was a bit different as the coastline was clearly curved, and I would be going about southeast. With nothing else to go on I decided on southeast. Zigzagging didn''t seem like a bad idea. Staying near the tree line I continue my walk for the next few days, my direction steadily going more and more east until I finally see an inlet and the coast line curving back out southwest. Rushing forward to the inlet hoping for a sign of civilization, I eventually find something in the forest just beyond the inlet. Chapter 3 - The cliff of despair I wide path cut across the forest going directly north-south. Wide enough for a cart and more to spare. The ground is soft and covered in grass, but large vegetation has stayed clear. It looks more like an animal trail than a road, but it is just too big. Whatever created this path must have been as big as the dragons I saw at the start of my journey, but considering the way the vegetation has naturally shaped into a path, it will have to be a heavily frequented route. While thinking, my alert kicks off so hard it skips with a level increasing ping. From the top of the nearest tree I watch a large not so friendly looking bi-pedal creature walk down the patch. As I am about to use analyze to figure out what the creature is a couple of forest rats suicidally charge the large creature. A couple of slaps knocked them out and each one bone crunchingly devoured raw by the creature. Definitely not the cultured bi-pedal I was looking for. The daft forest rats must be the bread and butter for these larger monsters. Too soon he is out of sight to utilize analyze to give a name to the creature. I assume it was a he, no woman of any race could be that ugly. Peaceful bi-pedal are unlikely to be neighbors with such a creature. The path I had first thought to be a road is in fact a monster trail. As I am about to get down from the tree and far off from the path, my alert goes off again. Another creature is coming down the path. This one looks like a huge bear, just more mean looking. A bit like Winnie the Poo''s evil uncle. I end up staying in the tree for most of the day holding my breath not to be spotted by the many large beasts walking past. Eventually I get down and run for the coast. I continue southwest along the coast for another day to get far away from the monster trail. It has been more than half a month and I am no closer to finding a friendly harbour. I still rank below the caveman and his advanced stone tools. I still haven''t managed to create fire despite my modern knowledge, and I am getting really fed up with my vegan diet. I crave something more filling like meat or even an omelette. Without fire, omelettes are a no go. Without tools, preparing meat will be difficult at best. Close to impossible for me. I continue my pity party sitting amongst some rocks by the coast. As I look at the ground, I notice a wax like appearance on some of the rocks. Isn''t that flint? Analyze confirms it. In an instant my mood changes 180 degrees. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. With flint I can solve both my problems. I strike a flint stone against my iron ore. Sparks fly and fire has been made. I bring out some of my oddly shaped stones and part of an antler I picked up on my walk, and start experimenting on the flint. Sure enough, the flint breaks and chips into smaller pieces. I continue until nighttime. The next morning I start gathering as many flint rocks as I can find and quickly double my stored stones. While continuing to work on my flint knapping skills, I charcoal the end of on of my stronger sticks and scrape charcoal down to form the tip of the most primitive of spears. My first weapon! The following morning I find some eggs and cook them on a hot stone, and I have my first omelette. Life has become a lot more bearable, though I am still a level 1 nobody lost in the wilderness all alone. Realizing the need for a goal, I decide to follow the next stream inland. Though I am still looking for a friendly civilization, I am now also resolved to find a place to call home, even if it is just for me. As I approach the forest, I leave the coast behind me for the last time. Just as I enter the forest, a forest rat is waiting for me. Did it see me earlier among the rocks? Did all the forest animals stay away from the rocky coastline? I never got attacked by animals while gathering stones. Did I make the right decision going into the forest? Why is my alert only now going off? The rat charges at me like all its predecessors. I bring out my crude spear just in time to skewer it. It dies instantly. That was easy. Looks like I got some new skills as well. Maybe alert adjust based on the risk I am being exposed to. Looking at my menu, I notice that all my stats have gone up a bit. It doesn''t really show in the descriptions, but the numbers are all up. Some more than others. It also says I am a now Level 2! Considering the hard life I have been living for the last couple of weeks, I had completely forgotten this game like aspect of my new life. With my spear I have also gained my first combat skill. Need to work on this one. I continue my walk up the stream. A bit of risk might be worth it if I can level up and improve myself. Chapter 4 - One mans progress towards civilization The following weeks I take a more leisurely approach to advancing up the stream, as I am now busy improving my skills and making flint tools. I also start gutting the big rats. Best to learn how to dissect, dismantle and disassemble from such a disposable animal. I try cooking the meat. It seems to work okay, but I could definitely improve my cooking skills. As I am trying all these things, new skills are appearing in my menu. With a bit of effort they go up to level 2. Level three requires more of a challenge. Considering how my alert skill level went up quickly when exposed to new dangers, new challenges seems to help raise the levels of my skills. Instead of running from forest rats, I am now regularly killing them. Using sinew from the rat carcasses I also make traps for the smaller animals. I remember seeing how to make them and how to use them from my previous life, but only in theory. Theory with practice quickly bears fruit. These smaller less savage animals certainly seem a lot more appetizing than rat steak. While knapping at the flint I found, I quickly managed to create a series of knives. Each an improvement on the other. My crafting and tool making skills are increasing. The knives proved very handy with the disassembly of the dead rats, but it also allowed me to try making other tools. I had a go at making leather from the skin, but not much of a success. I think I may have rushed the brain tanning process. However, using some of my less successful pieces I made a somewhat functioning sling. Never having used a sling, I realize how hard it is to use, but as this is my first attempt at making a ranged weapon I persevere. I am a bit put off with how difficult I am finding the sling, so I try making a bow. This also proves difficult, but as a crafting challenge I find it more enjoyable. My initial success is no more than a toy, but it is merely a stepping stone. One day I will be making longbows, composite bows and even compound bows. I did have a fascination with archery in my past life. To my flint knives I add flint axes and flint spears. My stone carving skill has already reached level 5, but I am running out of ideas on what to make out of flint. I already got a large stock of flint arrowheads, though I have yet to make a useful bow. I focus on the bow making. I try to look for different materials strong and sturdy. I try combining the different materials using bindings and even my own attempts at making glue using anything from tree sap to forest rat brains. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Armed with flint weapons I start to hunt more actively. Plenty of aggressive omnivores attack me, but I would very much like to try catching a plant eater. So far they have all been very shy, but I have occasionally caught a glimpse of them as they run away. Animals who can''t fight run. I stop my hunt after killing two rats and a dog like creature. I never even came close to a plant eater. Still I am pleased as I have gained a hunter skill. One day while testing out my latest attempt at a composite bow, the most practical one so far, the stream comes to an end. It appears the stream is just one of many trickles from a large lake. The lake is surrounded by forests and teaming with life. Though surprisingly few medium sized carnivores. Standing at the edge of the lake I can see lots of fish in the water. The water is calm and transparent. There is a small waterfall further up. The ground is soft and squishy. I dig my hands into it, and pull out handfuls of clay. This would be good materials for making a home. I start fishing in the shallow water with my spear. I expect it to be difficult, but soon catch a couple of fish. Maybe my level 3 spear skill aided by my level 1 accurate trust skill is helping me. Life is definitely more easy with skills. With one of the fish skewered on a stick I start roasting it whole on a fire. Just as I am enjoying the smell and anticipating my first fish in ages, my alert skill goes off as strongly as it did at the monster trail. I scramble up a tree seeing a large figure in the corner of my eye bursting out of the bushes. Far up in the tree I see a familiar looking bear figure down below. Analyze tells me it is a horned beast bear. It looks as big as a polar bear, probably bigger. It is looking straight at me. I hear a ping inside my head, and I am pretty sure my fear resistance went up. No carnivore this big has ever targeted me directly. It stands on two feet leaning up against the tree I am sat in. Surely it can''t climb? It might knock down the tree considering its size. I turns towards my fire and knocks the fish off the fire. It starts eating it. A few minutes later it has finished and move on. So much for my peaceful idyllic home. It was already his home. How can a level 2 newbie hunter with stone weapons stand a chance against that thing. Chapter 5 - Bear eviction For the first time in a long while I look at the map in my menu. Since I was always moving forward into the unknown, it never did me any good, but if I am going to survive the bear I need to know the lay of the land. The bear seems to have its nest up near the small waterfall along the same rocky cliff side. The lake is large, so I could always settle further away, but all the surrounding area is likely its hunting ground. The lack of any decent sized animal around here is probably due to the bear. The area is heaven for small animals that don''t interest the bear but hell for any larger animal. My level would likely also go up if I managed to kill it. I could dig a pit, which would be the surest way to kill it, but the idea of being surprised by it while effectively digging my own grave does not tempt me. To pierce its hide you would probably need its own weight or at least the force of a small car hitting it with a sharp object. My first concern is keeping tabs on the bear. Looking at my skills menu the only thing that can help me seems to be the alert skill which is already at level 6. Not surprising consider how dependent I am on it. My analyze skill, which is my most actively used skill is at level 5. Analyze the alert skill, can it be more proactively used in combination with the map? The answer comes up immediately; "Alert can be designated to an explored area on the map cloning your presence at the area, providing both an alert at approaching hostiles and limited hostile designation to be shown on the map." Well that was a mouthful. I look up map on the menu, and select the area explored closest to where I think the bear is located. A red point with a radar circle appears on the map. I can see a designated hostile with description horned beast bear outside my explored area at the edge of the radar area. With my early alert set up, I start contemplating traps. Now I can safely dig a pit at my current location, but it would still be dangerous any closer to the bear. Earlier I found an animal trail close to the lake, I decide to start my pit a bit further into the forest on the trail. I spend the better part of two days digging the pit and erecting spears at the bottom. After covering it over, I am pleased that I at least got a backup plan. Can''t hurt to have a pit trap. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. If I get chased by the bear I might be able to lure it into the pit, but I would rather not be running ahead of that thing. It looks surprisingly fast. Despite my fears I scout the area nearer to the bear, and end up being chased out by the bear a couple of time, but it never follows me all the way to the pit. I have to think of another trap. A few days later I sit in a tree near the bears nest looking down at my fish being cooked on a fire. This should be a workable bait. In front of the fire I have softened the ground with water stored in my soul storage from the lake and laid down some of my vine rope as part of a trap. I have no illusions about the rope being able to hold the bear. I just need it to get entangled. The hungry bear goes straight for the fish. At least it is not smart. As it steps onto my vines I set off the trap. The vines tighten using counter levers lifted up into nearby trees. The bear immediately pull at them, but the slack is too great for it to tear it clean off. Too bad, they were only the distraction! Seconds after the trap is set off two massive spear tipped logs ram into either side of the bear piercing both its sides. All the work of creating those two rams and lifting them up into the trees with vines and counter weights using rocks from my storage pays off. The bear looks severely injured. Analyze tells me it is mortally wounded, but it is not dead yet. Climbing out on the limb of the branch I summon my largest rocks from storage. Each precisely hitting the bear on hit head until it lays still. It is still not dead. Dying, unconscious, but I need to deliver the final blow. Even I feel guilty for letter it suffer this long. Climbing down from my tree I summon my longest strongest flint tipped spear. Moving closer to its head for a killing stroke I am not even sure I can deliver, I get a nasty surprise when the bear stands up roaring only feet away from me. Instinctively I jam the spear into its open mouth and summon the rest of my large stones in my storage. Jumping back I dodge my own barrage of rocks. The spear is lodged in the upper half of the bears throat and jammed into the ground. Each rock hitting its head drives the spear tip deeper into its head. It dies within seconds. Looking at the conclusion of what was almost a disaster, I feel really lucky. Chapter 6 - A new home With the bear''s death I feel the surge of leveling up. I must have been close to leveling up to level 3 already, but the surge feels like more than one level. Opening up menu, I immediately notice a substantial increase in all my stats. The level is now showing as 5. The bear raised my level three times. The number stats still don''t tell me much, but when I switch over to the descriptive option, it says that my stats are all equal to a promising young hunter. The question is; how strong is a promising young hunter. I must assume this is a human hunter, but does this confirm that there are other humans in this world? I get no further answers. I guess one person taking out this bear was unreasonable by normal standards. On the other hand this does prove the value of hunting in ensuring my long term survivability. If I can improve my strength this quickly through hunting I will soon become the alpha predator! The current alpha is probably the dragons, at least that makes sense if I put my fantasy head on. Maybe there is an even stronger creature out there. Analyze is staying annoyingly quiet. When did I start thinking of my favorite skill as an entity? Well Mr. Analyze, maybe you need to grow a bit to help me on this issue. As I go looking for the nest of the bear I notice some remarkable features in its vicinity. It appears to be a shallow cave in the cliff side of an elevation that feeds the lake with water from higher ground. The cliff side starts next to the waterfall and curves halfway back onto the main body of the lake. This creates a somewhat sheltered location with the only entry being to the south with water to the east and cliffs to the north and west. A perfect place to make a home. Even the waterfall seems easily accessible. I should finally be able to take a shower. Near the lakeside and the waterfall I find the most remarkable feature. A massive unfamiliar looking tree with a stone altar underneath it. I study the alter. It is sloped towards the tree, there are no symbols, but there are signs that someone has been cutting into the stone. The signs are very faded. Without Mr. Analyze it would just have been guesswork. The positioning of the altar is not directly facing the tree, but it is sloped directly towards it. Could it be for blood sacrifices? The blood would pour away from the cutter and the directly to the roots of the tree. Because of the angle of the altar, a tripod made from logs could be erected over the alter to hang up larger animals. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Mr. Analyze confirms it all. It is an altar to the forest spirit set up by unknown hunters to both dismantle their prey and offer fresh sacrifices. The sacrifices are meant to be left at the roots of the tree. It must be a special tree. I study the tree. All I get is the name "Dryad tree". But there is more to it than that. It almost feels more alive than the rest of the forest. Since this tree spirit is going to be my new neighbor, I better start using the altar. I consider erecting a tripod, but since my only prey due to be dismantled is the bear I need to think bigger. Since a tripod would be too small for the bear I will have to use a couple of nearby trees to raise it off the ground over the altar. As I raise the bear off the ground and take a step back I see how big the bear is. Its legs are hanging off the altar, its back is rubbing against the bark of the tree. Hope it doesn''t mind. With front paws stretched out wide it looks far wider than I am tall. I need three ropes for each front paw to avoid it from breaking. But before I can pull out my tools my Alert kicks off. I turn around and see the movements of four big rats. I should have known that those suicidal rats wouldn''t stay out of the bear''s territory. Other animals might be smart enough. There are probably lots of rat bones in the cave. These rats really are the staple food of most big monsters. Strangely they have stopped approaching. Nothing scares these rats, why are they waiting? I leave the side of the tree and move closer to the cliff side. With the waterfall behind me, cliffs to my right and water to my left I should be able to take them out one by one. As I start moving, the rats move closer to me, but strangely maintain the same distance from the tree. Come to think of it, I never saw the bear anywhere near the tree, even though the quickest route from the nest to the lake was directly past the tree. The tree repels them. I move towards the tree again and the rats stop closing in. Time for some live target practice. I pull out my bow and start firing arrows at the rats. Since they are seemingly locked in place, the arrows start hitting their marks. In a few minutes all the rats are down, but my arms are killing me. I really need to strengthen my arms to use the bow. My aim could do with some improving as well. I start disemboweling the bear. I made a special hooked knife for this job. By standing on the altar, I manage to ram the knife into a soft spot on its upper chest. Next I grip the knife tight and jump off the altar using my weight to cut open its lower chest and belly. Blood pours out making a mess of everything. Some of the intestines lands on the altar and settle there. Spending most of the day disassembling the bear I leave the blood drained meat to cool in the shallows of the lake. I tidy up and start thinking about what to do the following day. Chapter 7 - Building a house Near the cave I find a useful item. Bear poop! Spreading this along the south perimeter might help deter animal from crossing into the bear territory. Still I need something to hold off those pesky rats. Considering how tightly the trees are growing here it should be possible to use the trees as the posts for a fence. Further down the lake I find some tall, slim and bendy looking trees. They are growing in the shallows like reeds. Mr. Analyze tells me that they are called reed trees. How predictable! They seem to be good building materials for both my fence end eventually my house. With the length of the reed trees I am able to weave them into the forest using three close growing trees as posts. They form a basic barrier. A beast bear would likely tear through it if motivated, but all I want is to deter animals from approaching my future house from all but one direction. My gate and true defense the dryad tree. Since animals won''t come close to the tree, it will guard my front door. As a final layer of defense I add an outer layer of carefully cut dried torn bushes along the fence. These should deter the rats, but I will have to monitor their effect. For the location of my house I could use the cave as a starting point, but there is something I want to try. I once watched a video of a man building a clay tiled house with under floor heating. He used no tools and his only building materials were clay, wood and stones. Picking a spot half way between the cave and the tree, I start preparing the ground. All my fancy stone tools are now coming into full play. I make some temporary wooden shelters using branches and logs, nothing I haven''t done before in boy scouts. Next I start working on a kiln made of clay. The kiln is for baking clay tiles for the roof. I figured it would be a time consuming process so I started it first. It proved a lot harder than expected. While baking batches of tiles I start working on the wooden frame making the pillars and roof of the house. It takes longer than expected, but with continuous amendments I end up with a framework suitable for tiles. Next I start working on the outdoor fireplace attached to the wall of the house. This is another hard part. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The idea is that the smoke from the fireplace will feed into tunnels under the floor of the house and come out on the other side. Digging into the ground I create two parallel tunnels covering the whole middle floor of the house. Stones and clay are used to fortify the tunnels and eventual flat stones are added to create the roof. I test that no smoke comes through the floor, and add more clay for safety. Currently the fireplace is just a hole in the side of the foundations of my soon to be house. Using more stones and clay I make it into a more useful fireplace. It is situated slightly lower than the house. The front of the house will likely turn into a moat if it rains a lot. Hopefully it won''t. I needed the top of the fireplace to be almost level with the tunnel to funnel the draft and the heat. Instead of a wide fireplace, it is deep. I finish tiling the roof and only the easy part is left. The walls are made of large rocks encased by clay, gradually built up to let the lower clay dry. My new home is dark and dusty. As soon as the sun sets I go for a walk around my safe zone. It is my first wander in the dark. I guess I got used to hiding in treetops in the dark for fear of what might be lurking out at night. At night the forest looks and sounds eerily different. Not as scare as I might have thought, but that might just be my fear resistance. With the thick layers of leaves above one would expect the forest to be very dark at night, but the plant life is teeming with different volumes of light. Luminescent flora appears to be common in this world. My house feels a lot more like a home with my new plant based light sources and a great bear fur carpet. Could do with a blanket and pillows though. Lots of pillows. The lighting is only dim, so detail work is still impossible at night. Daylight is precious. There is no room for sleeping in till noon. Chapter 8 - Becoming a competent hunter As I work on my archery and hunting skills, it occurs to me that I never bothered to make a quiver. I took it for granted that I can just store my arrows in my soul storage. Summoning arrows is both a quick and easy process. I wonder if I can incorporate this into the arrow shooting process. With practice I am able to summon the arrows directly onto my bowstring. With further practice I am able to time the summoning to a fraction of a second before I grab, pull and release the bowstring while maintaining accuracy. The machine bow has been born! As long as I have strength in my arms I can now release an endless stream of arrows as quick as I can pull and release the string. With strength training in mind I review my skills menu. I am sure I had a new skill that would become useful for this. The skill physical conditioning appear to directly help growth of my physical abilities, but it is only level 1. I got running level 1 as well but that one appear to be more about running techniques. If I can level up my physical conditioning skill I should be able to get super fit in no time. Time to apply what I know about sports science, though most originate from high school PE and workout videos. I plan my workout sessions as thoroughly as I can. I was never really motivated to exercise before, but that isn''t a problem at the moment. I start with light exercise and gradually increase the intensity. I seem to be recovering far too quickly after each session. I push the limits of what I can do, and expect to need a few days to recover, but just a few hours later I am a not acing from strained muscles and ligament, but rather feel the need to push my growing muscles. This is abnormal, after all I know how my body should work from exercising back in my old life. What is different? I consult Mr. Analyze and the skills menu and come the following conclusion; the level 3 regeneration skill is making my body recover abnormally fast. I thought this was a less significant skill, as it just enhances my natural recover, but still require me to treat an injury. I did notice my multitude of cuts and bruises since coming here healing a lot faster, and the burn from my first day didn''t leave any scar. Usually it takes a long time to re-grow skin. This might just be my most OP skill. I can intensify training as much as I want and not worry about overstraining my body. If I push too hard the regeneration skill should level up and counter the physical damage. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A couple of weeks have passed. My life consists of only three things; workouts, eating and hunting. The workouts are increasing my appetite which is making me hunt more. As I hunt more my skill has increased substantially, and I am now regularly eating medium sized plant eaters. They are fast, but with my new accurate shot skill, my arrows are becoming deadly. I am learning stealth and camouflage skills as well. I seem to have become more than a competent hunter. However, my biggest progress is in my physical development. The main condition for leveling up the physical conditioning skill appears to be using many different forms of exercise. It is the first skill I have managed to push into level 8, and since it hit level 8 my second unique skill boosts it to level 10 max. Each increase in level caused my physical stats to increase. It is the first skill to directly affect my permanent base states. I got two other physical skills, enhanced strength and enhanced endurance, but these seem to only provide a percentage bonus increase. Great for high levels, but not great for an overall level 5 like me. My gaming mind is working overtime. Admiring the chunkiness of my muscles I hear the ping notification of a new skill. I set this notification up early on to remind me to check the menu, but a lot of the time it can be really annoying. This time it is happening at an unexpected time. The name of my new skill is muscle toning. Not sure how I feel about that. I always found body building a bit vain. The muscles might look good, but most of the time they lack the stamina to do anything productive. Hope I am not turning into one. My regeneration skill has also been increased to level 5, but as soon as it hit this level it has refused to move at all. I might need to get properly injury for this to go up any further. Not something I am planning while living on my own. A serious injury could be the end of a lone survivalist. Wonder how strong the skill is at level 10? Will I grow new limbs if I lose them? Again, not something I am planning to test. Mr. Analyze isn''t shedding any light either. I shouldn''t complain about my analyze skill, it is probably the reason I managed to survive this long. My alert skill as well. I never did personalize it. Maybe I should call it Miss Alert, since it is always nagging at me, but also preserves my life. Chapter 9 - Surprises of living alone One night I woke up suddenly. Something had triggered me to wake up. Miss Alert isn''t being noisy, but in the distance I can hear the sound of a wounded animal. I rush out and track it to its source. Just south of my home I find a doe of a deer like animal. It has fallen into my pit. The pit I had almost forgotten about. I never did prepare a bait for the pit, so the doe stumbled into it by accident. It has been partially impaled on two of the spears in the pit. I climb down and put it out of its misery. After storing the body I reset the pit trap. While working a hear a rustle in the bushes near me. It is a small baby deer. It probably smells its mother''s smell on me. It looks straight at me. Ah so cute! I grab it and take a close look. A bit small and scrawny. Won''t make much of a meal. It tries to get loose, but it is helpless in my hands. I tie a rope around its legs and hoist it up over the pit using a tree branch just above. It is just out of reach for most animals. Little Bambie is noisily making its complaints heard. Sorry, I need to eat meat to grow stronger, and you are bait. Before I fall asleep, Miss Alert goes off notifying me that another animal has fallen in my pit. Rushing out the alert is still ringing. There is still danger about. As I approach the pit I see wolves circling the pit. They definitely look like wolves, not the lone doglike creatures I have seen before. Mr Analyze confirms it. I surprise them with a rain of arrows. Only a couple escape in time. I took out three wolves with arrows and a fourth one is in the pit. Looks like I will be able to make some wolf skin clothes soon. After resetting the trap and giving a bit of water to Bambie I go back to sleep. The next morning I check that my bait is still alive and start dismantling the wolves. I do the same thing the next day, but the following night I wake up to a much greater alert going off. A big horned beast bear has fallen into the pit. I have seen a couple of these since the first one while out hunting, but always kept my distance consider how hard they are to kill with flint weapons. The bear is clearly still alive despite being partially impaled on all the spears at the bottom of the pit. I pour a shower of big rocks on top of the bear until the pit has been completely filled up. I feel the surge of level increase and I know it is dead. Resisting the urge to check my new stats I recover the dead bear and reset the trap. I am starting to feel a bit sorry for Bambi now. He done me good, and I can''t really handle more dismantling work at the moment, so I take him down and release him inside my garden. If need be I might use Bambi Bait again, but if he grows up he can still be Mr Reserve Food. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Back at home I check my menu. I am now level 7. I went up two levels from killing the bear. Still not three like last time, and with all the hunting I have being doing since my last level up, including the four wolves I should have been close to level 6. I guess leveling up becomes harder they higher I go. Very much like a game, but I guess it make sense in a real world setting as well. It creates balance. With the level increases comes a substantial increase in my physical stats as well. Looks like my physical conditioning level 10 is still doing me well. With my physical stamina and strength far above a normal person, I focus on improving my archery and hunting skills. I also work on improving my spearmanship, as I want to be able to deliver a killing blow to any animal arrows won''t take down. I keep working on making tools and new bows. Everything seems a lot easier these days. Looking at my menu I notice that my generic sounding crafting skill has reached level 7. It seem to make me good with my hands, but since it is such a generic skill it must stack with my other crafting skills like bowmaking, fletching, tool making, stone carver and wood worker. Lets see if I can move it up to the magical level 8. On one of my hunting trips to the east I spotted a mountain range in the distance. Confident I can survive the night away from home I spend the rest of the day running towards the mountains. I seem to be able to run non-stop for hours. I am officially an ultra runner. I might be able to beat a horse long distance as well. I reach the mountains later afternoon. While it is still light I start searching for trails or paths. The mountainside provides precarious foothold. Gravel on top of hard surfaces and loose rocks makes for a dangerous climb. I am finally appreciating my homemade leather shoes. They are a tight fit, providing me with grip as good as if I were bare feet, but also protect me from sharp surfaces. Alert goes off. Looking around I see no movement from animals, map shows nothing as well, but then I hear a loud rattling noise coming closer. Avalanche! I look for cover, but can only see a small overhang, just about large enough to protect my head and shoulders. I dig my hands into whatever grip I can get behind the small cover. All I can do is pray and hope for the best. My head seem to be safe, but my body is being bombarded with rock. Now I know what the victims of my rock barrage felt like before they died. I feel a sharp pain in my leg as a much larger rock hits me. Chapter 10 - In a world with no A&E I have survived the avalanche, but my body is in a bad state. I am covered in bruises, and Mr Analyze tells me that I have multiple fractures and a broken leg. The leg is my biggest concern. I have plenty of food and water in my storage, but I am a full days run from the safety of my home. Getting home will take a long time, and involve immense risk. One thing at a time. I make a splint for my leg and summon a stick to use as a crutch. I quickly reconsider walking down the gravel covered sloop. It isn''t too steep but it is not the sort of surface you can limp down. Instead I bring out a large sheet of bark and turn it into my personal sled. Using the stick as a break I carefully slide down the mountainside. It is a nerve-wrecking journey, as too much speed could easily make things a lot worse. It is getting dark by the time I reach the tree line. I need to get to safety. Since animals here aren''t particularly afraid of fire, tree climbing is my only option. Limping to the nearest good tree I try to work out the best way of getting up. First I tie a rope to a spear and throw it over a sturdy branch. I consider just tying the end around my waist, but considering my bruised and fractured body I create a harness with my rope, before I start pulling myself up the tree. When up I revisit the days where I slept tied to a tree until morning. I wake up even more stiff and sore the next morning. I bring out the new crutches I made last night while up in the tree. With two underarm auxiliary crutches I should be able to make better speed. I check my splint and broken leg. Still no major complications. The bone is still in place and the splint should keep it that way regardless of a long limping journey. Days later I am still not back, but I am getting pretty skilled at taking down forest rats and other aggressive animals with one bowshot while standing on one leg. Should have made this part of my training regime a long time ago. I am much more optimistic now than when I was at the bottom of the mountain. Guess you can get used to just about anything. I continue my monotonous trek home. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. By the time I arrive, I have lost track of the number of days. Bambi greets me as I get to my front door. "Don''t get too friendly, I might eat you one day". My comment lacks malice, as I have already gotten used to talking to the baby deer. Inside my tired body welcomes the bear pelt carpet and my rat skin pillows. I settle into a deep sleep. The following morning I take stock of how my skill have been affected by the long journey. Regeneration has finally broken through to level 6 even though the leg has yet to fully heal. Normally a broken leg would take months to heal, but the progress so far seems to indicate that I might be fully healed in a couple of weeks. Looks like my archery skill broke through to level 8 while I was standing on one leg at some point in the last few days. With my unique skill I am now a level 10 grandmaster of archery. I just made up the title, but I am looking forward to seeing what level 10 looks like in a hunt. Other archery related shots have also gone up by a lot; accurate shot and critical shot in particular. Looks like skills go up faster then you are forced to learn to survive. Since I won''t be able to train my physical skills while I am healing, I work on improving my crafting. My bow making skill hits the magic level 8 and maxes out, but despite all efforts, my crafting skill is stuck at level 7. Guess I need a new challenge to raise it further. The effort needed seems to increase exponentially as the level goes up. Wonder how hard it would be to reach level 9 and 10 without my cheat skill? Just over a week after getting back from my long trek my regeneration skill hits level 7 and I am fully healed. Again I dread to think what I would need to go through to get to level 8. However, it looks like level 7 heals broken bones rather quickly. Since my level increased throughout my recover I don''t know exactly how long, but it is still abnormally quick. Also, my leg feel as good as new. The skill might help avoid complications as well. Time to get back to hunting. Chapter 11 - Unwanted guests Early afternoon I am busy dismantling my latest game. I am a bit backlogged due to high success rate of my hunts in recent days. While working the alert point positioned down by the pit picks up two unknown entities wandering north towards my home. It does not look like it is targeted, just happens to be the general direction they are heading. I stop what I am doing and head out to see what is heading my way. Because of the altar I know that there are intelligent beings around, but I don''t know if these are hostile or not, though something tells me that they might be intelligent. Blending in with the forest I am somewhat disappointed by the creatures I have found. Mr Analyze calls them Goblins, and warns me that they are pretty much hostile to everyone. They are green skinned, short and skinny and slightly hunched forward. Not to mention they are really ugly. I would hate to meet their women. Since they are deemed hostile and will likely spot my home soon, I decide to take them out. By that I mean kill them. For some reason, I feel zero hesitation with killing a semi-intelligent being. The goblins went down fast. Two quick shots, each finding a throat each. With my current skill it seems too easy. If I had met these guys early in my time here I might not have survived. Being small and bipedal, with hands as my own, they would have no problem climbing trees. Before I killed them, analyze told me that they were quite young, only a couple of years each. They hardly looked like two year olds to me. Guess they grow faster than humans. Back at camp I start examining their bodies. They are naked, and only armed with a sharp stone and a club. I start an autopsy. The skin looks sturdy, but I am reluctant to use it. They look too human to me. I am certainly not going to eat them. My analyze skill leads me to a small rock near their heart. It is called a mana stone. Mana!? As in magic? Mr Analyze explain mana? "Mana is a creation force that exists in a sub dimension of the physical world. It''s distribution is uneven as it is accessed and released creating mana winds in the sub dimension. It is the key ingredient for creating magic phenomena." Magic! I have to learn it, but it looks like my analyze skill won''t help me any more. I keep the stones and the heads of the goblins. The rest of the body is fed to the dryad tree. As soon as their bodies hit the root covered ground next to the tree their bodies are dragged and swallowed by the ground. First time I saw it, it really freaked me out. At the time it was just some leftovers from dismantling, but it still birthed a renewed reverence for the dryad tree. Really don''t want to make her angry. It feels right to call it her, not sure why. Come to think of it, I found similar mana stones in the bears, just bigger. How odd that analyze didn''t explain what they were back when I dismantled the bears. Better hang on to them. Might be useful for crafting one day. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Next I need to know where these goblins came from, and if I am likely to get any further unwanted guests. Heading south I pick up their trail which leads me south east to one of several streams that take water from the lake to lower lying areas. Keeping a low profile I arrive near a cave at dusk. From the tracks I can tell that there are numerous goblins inside. My archery skills would be worthless in there. All I can rely on if I decide to head in is my spear skills, but not knowing how many I might face I reconsider. For the next few days I scout the goblins. My stealth and camouflage skills are improving. Considering how weak they are individually, I am not afraid of being spotted by a small group of them in the open, but I would rather not be hunted by the whole group. Goblins that stray too far from the nest are a different matter. These I make disappear. After watching them for a few days I still haven''t seen any women. Because they are mostly naked it is easy to tell. There are a handful of older goblins with a few pieces of clothing on them. They look to be in charge, but the one in charge of them all is what appears to be a fully grown goblin. As big as any normal human healthier looking but no less ugly, Mr Analyze tells me he is 17 years old and called a hobgoblin. Hobgoblins appear to be a grown up version of a goblin. The younger goblins have limited intelligence, and mostly act by instinct, but the hob is different. He is clearly intelligent. He carries himself with purpose and an arrogance born from the knowledge that he is the highest ranking member of the nest. I am glad I reconsidered attacking the nest. This guy could turn the rabble of goblins into a dangerous force. I consider taking him out with an arrow, but there are too many goblins around, and he never ventures far from the nest. I shouldn''t underestimate his lieutenants either. They were the older looking goblins I spotted earlier. Age is a deciding factor in they hierarchy, probably due to high death rates. But how are their numbers replenished. The women must be inside the cave, but to never come out seems a bit extreme. If I want to deal with this nest, I will need to increase their death rate further. Chapter 12 - The response The following days I hunt stray goblins and the occasional pair. In response to this the goblins stay in groups of three or more. They have to leave the safety of the cave to forage. They seem to be particularly fond of a plump pumpkin like vegetable that grows hidden in the shadow of trees. Mr Analyze calls it a goblin fruit. Still looks like a vegetable to me. Most of the goblins I kill are better armed than the first two. Some have sharp sticks like my first spear, while others have stone tipped spears and axes. If only I could take out one of the lieutenants. They are armed with metal weapons. I can''t help feel a bit inferior since I haven''t advanced to the metal age yet. I shouldn''t feel down. They probably stole the weapons from more cultured races. I up my game and start hunting groups of three goblins. The morning after taking down three groups of three there is a significant shift in the goblins behavior. It looks like all the goblins have gathered outside the cave. No women among them. They divide into 4 groups of roughly ten each. Each group is lead by one of the lieutenants. One lieutenant is missing. He must be in the cave assigned guard duty. The hobgoblin is staying in the cave as well. What a lazy guy. He has clearly formed 4 hunting parties to find and kill me, but refuses to take part. For the next few days I stay well out of sight. No reason to motivate their hunt. Sure enough, on the fourth day the hunt stops, and everyone returns to the nest. I reckon there are about 50 fighters left in that nest. Too many to take on in a defensive position. Unsure what to do next I just observe the nest. They are still gathered outside the cave. This time the hobgoblin joins them. It looks like they are preparing for a longer journey. They are bringing luggage. As the full force of about 40 goblins head out I trail them. Two days march later they arrive at a the same mountain range I am painfully familiar with. The difference is that they have found the mountain pass that I was previously looking for. They look to be settling in for the night in a nearby clearing at the edge of the mountain. It looks like they are leaving behind some supplies as they are busy building a small crude stone structure. Makes sense. The clearing is close enough to keep an eye on the pass. They appear to be getting ready for a raid beyond the mountains. They can escape through the pass and a guard can keep an eye out for pursuers while the rest are resting. The following day after tracking them through the pass I leave an alert marker at the entrance to the pass. This should give me about a day''s warning before they get to the clearing. I have already scouted the spot as the perfect place for any ambush. Hopefully their numbers will be reduced by their raid. While they are away I should be able to clear the nest. They have wrongly assumed that their nest was safe, assuming my assessments of the remaining fighters is correct. There is a risk with everything. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Hopefully the remaining goblins are holed up in the nest and not wandering about. As I am not able to produce more than one alert marker, I am gambling that the remaining goblins are all in the cave. Worst case scenario would be if other goblins come back to the cave while I am heading in. It sucks being on your own with no one to watch your back. Back at the nest I spot two goblin sentries with spears at the entrance. They are conveniently exposed in the open. There is no sneaking in, a frontal assault is the only option. I step out in the open and take down both sentries. I can vaguely see movment just inside the cave. I send another couple of arrows into the cave while approaching. Will it provoke them or scare them. As expected the two goblins inside are provoked and charge out. Not too smart are they. No, I need to keep in mind that there is at least one smart older goblin in there. One of the lieutenants stayed being. There could be others as well. No more goblins come charging out, as if to prove my point. Stuffing the four arrow-pierced goblins in my soul storage I proceed inside. The cave is dimly lit by the same gloving moss I have seen in other caves. Still, I am making good use of the night vision skill I gained from hunting at night. A more recent skill that should give me at least the same vision as the goblins who are used to dark caves. I hope! I switch to a spear as the visibility is too short for a bow. Almost immediately a goblin charges out of the dark. My spear skewers him, but before I can slide him off another goblins come charging at me. I let go of the spear summon a stone axe and elegantly dodge the clumsy goblin, crushing his skull in the process. Six down, I only estimated there to be ten fighters left in the nest, but then I never saw any women. Who knows I might need to retreat with fifty angry goblin wives at my back. The tunnel splits. My second biggest fear. None of my skills are alerting me to any danger. Which branch do I take. As stealthily as possible I sneak down one randomly picked tunnel. My neck is itching from the heightened sense of having my back exposed. I pick out two sleeping bodies deep in the cave. Summoning two spears I point one at each and thrust simultaneously. Both die, but not as quiet as I had hoped. Maybe a flint knife would have been better. I wait and listen for any signs that I have been spotted. Nothing happens. Proceeding a bit further in, I notice that the tunnel ends. I need to backtrack and take the other tunnel. Back at the junction I head down the other tunnel. I still feel nervous that I might get surrounded, since I don''t know if any goblins went towards the exit while I was in the other tunnel. At least they won''t find any bodies, since I stuffed them in my storage. Chapter 13 - The main hall and the origin of goblins The tunnel opens up, and as I round a corner, I come into a much better lit main chamber. I only see three more goblins as I enter. The goblin lieutenant has already spotted me and warns one of the other goblins. Together they charge me. The third is down on all fours in a dark corner facing away, and still not aware of me. I launch my spear at the lieutenant. He sees it coming, but does not manage to fully dodge it. It pierces his shoulder. He stops, but he is still alive. The other goblin reaches me. I dodge his crude club, and slam a stone axe into the side of his skull. It literally cracks on impact. I am still not used to how much stronger I am. A lot less strength would have been needed. I notice that the lieutenant is advancing towards me again. Not good, distracted by the previous goblin''s popping head I have lost momentum. Expecting other goblins to come any time, I charge the lieutenant determined to take him down quickly. I dodge and sidestep two thrusts from his metal knife. That is going to be mine! Using less force than previously I take down the heavily injured goblin and turn to the last one in the corner. He still hasn''t looked up! What is he distracted by? Grabbing my new metal knife I quietly and quickly come up behind him. With one hand grabbing most of his face and the other slitting his throat I make quick work of him. Looking down I now see what distracted him. It is a young woman, a human woman. She is clearly a prisoner. Her eyes are glazed over. She is clearly alive, very messed up but alive. She is not showing much of a response though. She might only be semi-conscious due to her shocking experience. Coming to my senses I check my surroundings looking for another tunnel. All I find is a number of baby goblins in the corner of the cave. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I say baby, but there is nothing cute about them. All are naked mini version of the goblins I have seen. No women though. could it be that the human girl gave birth to these. could it be that there are no goblin women. Mr Analyze suddenly starts giving me some answers. Turn out that all goblins are male, or to say it another way, there is no male or female goblin, just goblin. Each goblin carries with him all the genetic material to reproduce. He just needs a womb to sow his complete seed in. I suddenly realize why I detested the goblins from the start. They are parasites, unable to multiply without exploiting other races. No wonder they are enemies to all, as my analyze skill implied at my first assessment. They are more like a pest to be exterminated. With this in mind I start dashing the mini-goblins to pieces. I refuse to think of them as babies. It would make them too human. Having determined that the goblin extermination of this nest is complete I store all their loot. To be fair, most of the loot was probably the hobgoblin''s as I find a lot more than I would have expected. The hobgoblin seems to have his own wardrobe. No wonder he was the only one to wear proper clothes. When done I grab a blanket from the loot and cover the young woman. She hasn''t moved at all, but when I guide her she stands up and follows me. She acts like a robot, her real mind and soul seems buried deep below. The walk back to my home is slow. In the light I can see the woman better. She isn''t much more than a girl. Analyze bring up a menu for her like my own. It has a lot of blanks, but it tells me that she is 18 years old. Judging from her list of skills, she has been through a lot. They are pretty much all related to enduring the harsh life of a goblin brood mother. I now notice that she has a small bump. She looks to be pregnant with a goblin child. Wonder how she feel about that, if she is still able to feel. My first encounter with a human wasn''t as sweet as I had hoped, but all I can do is take care of her and maybe she will recover. I don''t know much about how the mind works, or how it deal with great trauma. If her mind recovers, there is still hope for her to have a normal life, but if it doesn''t... Chapter 14 - Nursing Back at the house I face a dilemma. She needs a wash, but she is not doing anything herself, and if I leave her in shallows, she might just wander off into the deep. In her current state I can''t leave her alone. Hoping I won''t make matters worse I take off my clothes and bring her to the waterfall near my house. I have been using this spot as my personal shower since I got here. If anything can wake her up from her drowsy withdrawal this should. Standing under the waterfall, all the dirt start coming off. I bring out some moss I regularly use as a sponge. It has natural oils that seem to act as a soap. I hand her one and show her how to scrub the skin clean. She still isn''t responding much. I start cleaning her back carefully. As the dirt comes off, I notice all the scraps and bruises. She must be covered in them, but she does not flinch. Her pain tolerance is really high. As she becomes cleaner I am suddenly painfully aware that I am showering with a naked young woman. My mind was aware on an intellectual level, but my body is now becoming aware. I can''t allow myself to be exited now, it might just make her trauma worse. Down boy! Think of ugly old grandmas. Deciding that we are both clean enough I take her out of the waterfall, and get her dressed in some of the clothes from the goblin loot. She looks a lot better. Her eyes seem to register me now. Cupping her cheeks in my hands I look her straight into her eyes. "Don''t be afraid, I will protect and take care of you." I think I can see some emotion, but she remains still. I take her to my mud hut and inspect her injuries. I do my best with the healing salves I have made from plants I have foraged. She doesn''t seem to show any fear of men. That makes it easier. The only thing I can think of is to try and make her feel accepted and cared for. It helps that I can give her a hug without scaring her. Over the next dozen days her drowsiness and sluggishness starts to disappear. She is more responsive, but she still hasn''t said a thing. Nights are regularly interrupted by nightmares, but it seems to help hugging her while she falls asleep. I talk to her regularly to see if she responds. She reacts, but I am not sure if she understands. Why did I think that she would speak a language even close to my own? I start voicing my thoughts in her presence. "Could you give me a hint if you understand what I am saying? I don''t know if you understand my language, or if all I say is gobbledygook to you. I am not from around here, and you hare the first person I have met. In fact I have been on my own for a long time know so I have a tendency to speak to myself, though I would love to hear a response for once." I stop as I realize my monologue has been going on for a bit. The girl just looks at me curiously. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Okay, so you don''t understand me." My comment is mostly to myself as I ponder my next move. "I do". The response takes me completely by surprise. "You speak my language?" My excitement must be very visible to her, she actually looks amused. Is that a smile. So cute. "Yes". Again she respond. "Why do we speak the same language?" The question is actually directed at me, but I say it out loud. I get a response; "You speak the common tongue like most humans." "Amazing! I got so many questions!" As I start to formulate my questions I notice that I have probably put too much strain on her too soon, as she looks reluctant. "Sorry, I got a bit excited meeting someone I can talk to after so long. I don''t expect you to answer. Just let me know when you like to talk. We have plenty of time." She nodes and it goes quiet again. "Just one question; what is your name?" "Mari." Her response is short and simple. Up until now I had just thought of her as the blond farm girl due to her farming skill and her hair. Mari the blond farm girl it is. The unpleasant day finally comes when Mari need to give birth to the mini goblin. Baby is still not a word I wish to use for goblins. The pregnancy seems to last for only a few weeks based on what little I can glean from Mari. We step into the shallows of the lake to assist with the birth. "Don''t worry about the goblin, I will get rid of it." It might seem heartless to say, but it has a clear positive effect on Mari. As soon as the little critter is out, I carry it to shore, kill it and feed it to the dryad tree. Mari is markedly calmer the following night. After a few more days, I have learned a few more things from her. She isn''t the talkative type, and she seem very insecure and shy. She also seem to have a very low self esteem. I can''t blame her considering what she has been through. Two to three years ago she was with her family near a farming community east of the mountains when the goblins came and killed her whole family except Mari and her mother. Her mother soon died from the treatment of the goblins, but she survived. She didn''t know how long it had been, but asking what her age was when she get taken, I worked out how long she had been a captive. There is a human settlement to the east. That is about as much as I know for now, but that is enough. As I ponder my future my alert marker goes off. Checking the map I see the goblin raiding party at the edge of the radar like a circle surrounding the marker. I step towards the house. Outside Mari is sitting on the ground making some kind of craft from small branches. "Mari, I need to go and take care of the remaining goblins. I will be back as soon as I can, but it could take a few days." Mari looks at me clearly worried about me leaving. I have gotten used to reading her expression, since she doesn''t say much. As I am about to leave she stops me. Standing right next to me looking up into my eyes she starts to talk. Excited I anticipate an expression of affection or love, but all I get is a worried look and the statement: "Please make me your slave." Chapter 15 - Rushing to battle Slave, not at all what I was expecting. She notices my confused look. I am a bit stuck for words. What do I say now? What do I ask first? I need to resolve this, but I don''t have time. I feel like I take the cowards way out by asking for use to talk about it when I get back. She silently accepts. Hope I didn''t just raise a death flag. I am about to attack 30 something goblins on my own. Nothing is certain about my return. I start running. There are only a few hours until it gets dark. If I run all night I should arrive at the clearing by early morning. If I am early I can plan my ambush. Shortly after dusk I check the progress of the goblins. They have not stopped, but are pressing through the pass. Are they being pursued? No signs of it, but I am not sure about what will and what will not show under the alert marker on my map. I gives me a live read on the location of the goblins, but nothing else. As I rush towards the clearing, it becomes apparent that the goblins are keeping a steady quick march. They might just be rushing to their assumed safety beyond the pass. Since they can see any pursuers from a long way off at the top of the pass, they can rest easy as soon as they get to the clearing. The perfect time for me to attack. Exhausted by a forced march through the night, in daylight, in a place assumed to be safe. This should make up for the fact that we will be arriving at the clearing about the same time. As I run through the night I take care to avoid any unnecessary encounters with wild beasts. They would only slow me down. Dawn has just arrived by the time I reach the clearing. Barely in time, I see the hobgoblin delegate some of the stronger goblins to take up guard duty. Two are sent up the cliff side to watch the pass. They are still in sight, but I will only be able to reach them with a bow from the middle of the clearing. Three more goblins are sent north, south and west. The west heading one walks straight into my ambush. He dies quickly and silently. Next I head for the southward guard, as my main ambush point of the clearing is a small height in the south-west of the clearing. I spot him standing next to a tree. Rushed for time I send an arrow at his skull, which pierces both the skull and the tree bark, keeping the goblin in a standing position while still dead. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. As I approach my ambush point I notice some commotion in the centre of the clearing. Until now I haven''t had a chance to study the main body of the raiding party. There looks to be several prisoners, all human females. One is no more than a little girl. She is embraced by a more mature woman, clearly her mother. There are three other women. One, a red haired one, is being pushed down by the hobgoblin and two lieutenants. This looks to be the first time they have stopped in their retreat. None of the girls look as traumatized as Mari. Though I would prefer to wait with the ambush a bit longer, I can''t justify it in my mind. I need to act now, even though it could be less risky later. I draw an arrow at the hobgoblin, who is standing over the redhead. As soon as the arrow flies I knock another and aim for one of the lieutenants, and then a third for the last lieutenant. The first arrow pierces the chest of the hobgoblin as the third arrow is loosed. Expecting the other two arrows to hit their mark I start aiming and shooting at any goblin still on their feet. Most have fallen asleep next to the heavy loot they have been carrying. With their leadership dropping first the camp quickly falls into chaos. I keep shooting, first at any strong looking goblins, then at goblins closer to my spot, then at goblins looking to seek cover in the trees around the clearing. Soon the raiding party of just over thirty has been whittled down to 15 goblins in the middle of the clear. They have spotted my hiding spot and charge towards me. I keep picking them off while heading along the south end of the clearing. By the time they reach me I bring out a spear to take out the last 5 exhausted goblins. Using the full length of my spear and space to swing it, I dance out of reach taking one down after another. When did I get this good with a spear? It feels like a natural part of my body. Jogging towards the centre of the clearing, I spot the two goblins on the cliff side and the northern guard heading towards me. None seem at all worried that I am standing among 30 of the dead brethren. All three drop to arrows from my bow. Was I lucky, or was it supposed to be this easy? Checking that all the goblins are dead I start storing them. When it is clear that none of the goblins are alive, I head towards the prisoners. When I get to the hobgoblin, I find his head has been smashed in by a rock wielding redhead. Looks like he survived my arrow long enough for the girl to get some payback. Chapter 16 - New friends None of the other girls look as eager to fight as the redhead. They are all looking at me with mixed expressions. Should I just say that I am a good guy? Too cheesy, and why would they believe me. Still, a bit of gratitude would be nice. Do I really look that dodgy? Try smiling. "Hi, are any of you hurt?" Most of their faces seem relieved. Guess I said the right thing. "I think everyone is okay, your timely arrival stopped any of us from being those monsters playthings." I expected the redhead to speak up for the group, but instead it is this talkative and confident girl. She introduces herself as Lawra, the redhead is Kira, and the third member of their group is a petite brunette named Lynne. The mother and daughter seem to be unrelated to the other three. Lawra continues to do the talking, adding quite a bit of flattery to the introduction. I am not sure if she is trying to make me more positively disposed towards her, or if she is trying to influence me for another agenda. I feel like I am getting worked over by a sales woman. When Kira interrupts the flow with her own more direct and honest enquires about me, I am actually relieved. Initially I was worried Kira would be the type to stab me in my sleep, but maybe I should be more worried about Lawra? Lynne on the other hand is a perfectly pleasant and calm young woman. The fourth daughter of a butcher, she tried to gain independence by getting work through the guild. Not sure what the guild is yet, but I am getting too many questions to ask my own at the moment. I simplify my back story a bit. I have been living in the wilderness on my own for a while, but I originate far from here, so I am not familiar with the local customs. I make it seem like I spent most of my life in the wilderness, to avoid too many questions about my past. They seem to be more interested in how I survived out here on my own. Having had some basic introductions with the trio, I approach the mother and daughter. Neither seem as optimistic as the three. They must have suffered more before coming here. I suspect it involves the father of the young girl. The mother introduces herself as Mara, and immediately follows with a question. "What are your plans for us?" I am a bit surprised by the question. It sounds as if she thinks I am going to take advantage of them. "I just wanted to kill some goblins, but you are welcome to come back to my home." They all seem to be ready to head back with me, but none of them are ready for a long walk. They have been marching for days since their capture, including all night last night. I find a small plateau on side the mountain to set up camp. I check for risks of any falling rocks in particular. From the higher vantage point keeping watch will be a lot easier. I can''t expect them all to climb trees with me. I explain that we will rest until the next morning before setting out. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Looking through the goblins loot, personal objects are returned to the girls, including a substantial set of knives for Kira. She looks to be the only one with any combat knowledge. I still got a lot of questions. I sit alone in the first watch, but before noon I am joined by Kira, who has recovered her strength quickest. Good, I was hoping to have a chat with her without being interrupted by Lawra. "Could you tell me a bit about how you and the others ended up captured?" Kira doesn''t seem at all bothered talking about something that can''t have been a nice experience. The three girls were part of a foraging party. They are all members of the guild. "So it is a hunters guild?" I ask to clarify what this guild is. Kira seem a bit confused that I don''t know about the guild but does ask any questions. "The guild is the biggest guild in the continent, which is why everyone just call it The Guild." "It was originally just a hunters guild, but it has expanded to include members from all walks of life with useful skills." I express an interest in knowing more about The Guild, as I have not come across it before. Kira continues her factual explanation: "The Guild acts as a mediator between businesses in need of certain skills for a short period of time, or any party with a particular task that needs doing. The core of The Guild is still the hunters who are some of the strongest individual who can be found. Some eventually seek service with a lord, but most love their independence too much to serve anyone." The Guild seems a bit like a job centre to me. Independent contractors with valuable skill who seek short term employment for maximum gain. I will have to see this for myself. It could be a good fit for my skills. Though she hasn''t even gotten to the part where they get attacked by goblins, Kira suddenly offers to stay guard on her own to let me have some sleep. I guess I could do with some sleep. Though I can keep going for quite a bit longer, I need to see this girls safely escorted back to my little hut in the next coming days. I sleep until I am woken up by the trio of girls trying to make dinner. Looks like late afternoon. I have had more than enough sleep for now. I help the girls make dinner, with great assistance from my extensive storage of food. They all seem shocked for some reason. Is a man cooking that big a deal? "How much do you have in your soul storage?" The question is from Lawra, the least quiet of them. "A lot." I am not sure how to answer her question. Kira interrupts by explaining that most people''s soul storage is only big enough to fit money and personal valuables. I guess none of them saw me stuffing 33 goblin corpses into my storage. Should I tell them? I summon and un-summon a large boulder right in front of them. "I can store just about anything I need in my storage." The girls seem stunned. Lawra bursts out; "Do you know magic?". What has that got to do with it? Seeing my surprised look, Lawra tries to show off her knowledge before Kira can interrupt. "It is commonly believed that anyone with a large soul storage has a greater potential for magic." Well that is interesting. I explain that as of yet I don''t know any magic, but I would love to learn. Chapter 17 - Magic Early evening almost everyone fall asleep with a full stomach. The mother and daughter only woke up to eat and went back to sleep. Again I am left standing guard with Kira. She offers to continue her story. She explains how the three of them teamed up with two higher ranked hunters to take on a foraging task. Though Kira has some combat ability, it is the minimum of what is required to go into the wilderness forest. The other girls would not be able to take tasks in the forest without stronger party members to guard them. The party of five ventured deep into the forest to forage valuable herbs, berries and fruits. All are hard to grow on a farm, so foraging is the most effective way to get them. While gathering they were surrounded by goblins. She seemed disappointed that she only managed to stab one before being taken down and captured. The two guys in the team were quickly surrounded stabbed to death by multiple spear, despite this they killed five goblins between them. Kira seems to respect them for that. I respect them more for not running away. The girls were clearly the targets. The mother and daughter looks to already have been prisoners at this point. There is also one more goblin that lost its life on the raid. I counted 40 leaving the pass and only 33 returning. Following the ambush the raiding party marched for many days before getting to the pass. Looks like civilization is pretty far away. Even past the mountains it would be about two weeks march to the nearest town. I explain that I took care of the goblin nest while the raiding party was away, and planned to ambush them on their way back while they were weakened. I still feel a bit guilty that I didn''t take out the raiding party before they could do any damage beyond the mountains. Kira assures me that only an experienced party would take on this many goblins. For me to do it alone was quite an achievement. She seems to think that I will be a highly valued hunter at The Guild. "I would love to come to the Guild with you girls." The last comment gave me a smile in return. I guess Kira is warming to me. "There is actually something I wanted to show you." The sudden comment by the otherwise factual Kira intrigues me. She holds her palm out and a small yellow flame appears about an inch above her skin. I can feel the heat from it. It is clearly not a trick. "Magic?" I ask, but I already know the answer. Kira seems happy to show what she can do. "I can do a bit of fire magic and healing magic." "Not much, just enough to start a fire and heal minor injuries." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Kira tries to explain how magic works, while practically illustrating the process. Mana, I already know it exist all around us in a sort of sub space. Magic is created by this, so the first thing I need to achieve is mana control. I must control the little mana that is already inside me, push it out to create magic phenomena and I draw in more mana from around me. I hear the ping notification from the menu. A new skill! Level 1 Mana Control. Well that was easy. I try to follow Kira''s explanation on how to create a flame, but it is kind of vague and hard to understand. I guess people don''t have a full grasp of what fire is in this world. Applying basic knowledge from my old life I try to complete the triangle of fire. First move mana and give it a purpose. Collect flammable gasses at a point above my hand, lets keep it hydrogen only. Add oxygen, but keep amounts small with steady contribution, then add heat. A blue flame shoots up from my hand and almost singe my hair. "How did you do that?" Kira seem surprised by my blue flame. "Only an experienced mage can create a blue flame." Ops, did I do something that I shouldn''t. I change the gasses going into the little furnace above my hand. Strangely, my hand is not that warm. The blue flame changes to orange as the combustion becomes less pure. "Guess it was just beginners luck." The lie stings my conscience, but I would rather not stand out too much at this point. Kira accepts the excuse for the blue flame, but she is clearly excited about the talent I seem to have. I suggest we try healing magic first chance we get. "By the way, how do you know magic Kira?" Kira explains that she actually grew up in a lesser noble family where she got some education, including basic magic training. Because she was a noble from a very small and weak family, she was arranged to become one of many mistresses to a more powerful noble, so she ran away from home and joined the guild. Well I guess that is understandable, but she seems to think I will judge her for her action. I am not really able to offer any comment, as I don''t know what is normal in this world. I just smile and continue as if nothing is off. Kira doesn''t brings it up again. Chapter 18 - First day on the way back Early the following morning we set off, Kira looks a bit drowsy. She did me the favor of taking the last guard shift. She insisted I be well rested before we head back. I have already come to rely on her. I try to pick the safest route back, but we will have to somehow make camp in the forest for at least two night. Lawra is chatty as always and it does seem to ease the nervousness of the group. Kira takes the rear guard of the group without being asked. I lead the front with Lynne behind me, and behind her Lawra is chatting with the mother and daughter. I try to chat with Lynne, though she is nervously watching the surrounding too much to give me her full attention. She doesn''t know I got my alert skill to warn me. Should I say something about that? "Don''t worry, I will know if dangerous animal approach us. Just hide behind me." I try to be reassuring. Lynne responds: "I am not worried". Her comment is something I would have expected from Lawra, but I guess even Lynne wants to give the impression she is okay. She said she was a butcher''s daughter, I wonder what skills she made use of at the guild. "What was your usual work at The Guild?" "I would usually take on dismantling jobs for hunters. I would mostly accompany hunter parties to do the dismantling in the field, but I also supported in whatever way I could during the trips. With my last party, I was mostly foraging with the other girls." I thought as much, but it is good to get her talking. We continue talking about more mundane things. She really is a pleasant girl to be around. Up until now I have been reluctant to use analyze on the girls as I feel it would be a bit of a violation of privacy, but my increasing curiosity wins out. Lawra is surprisingly the oldest of the trio at 20, with Kira at 19 and Lynne at 17. Their differing personalities seem at odds with their actual age. Lawra might actually consider me her junior based on my current young appearance. I am mentally closer to the age of the mother. The daughter is confirmed to be 10 years old. Very close to my estimate, but I am really surprised by the mother. I expected her to be in her early 30''s at most considering the age of the daughter, but she is actually 39. She looks really young for her age. Only her mannerism betrays that she is older than the others. Looking at Kira''s skills list, I find the expected knife and magic skills including my new fire magic and mana control, both level 1. Recovery magic is the same. I am surprised to find that the menu generated by my analyze skill does not show all details for Kira. I quickly check the others, and confirm that the usual rules apply for analyze. It provides a bit of information I did not have, but the rest is added via observation and conjecture. A skill level increase would likely help too. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As dusk arrives we set up camp in a hollow next to a massive tree. The tree shields our back from danger. Just to be sure I set up some barriers to either side of the tree and start building two fires. "Why are you setting up two fires?" Kira seems curious, but she isn''t against my plan. "Normally I would have us all climb and tie ourselves to a tree at night. Due to the risk of falling down, I wanted to make sure we discourage animal from attacking us at night. Animals aren''t particularly afraid of fire, but they shouldn''t go too close to it. With two fires forming two corners in a triangle with the tree it should force any animal who want to attack down between the fires straight at me. I built barriers to either side of the tree to assist with this strategy." Kira seems to approve. To be honest, I just made it up on a whim. I don''t actually have much experience doing this. This last bit I keep to myself. Kira assigns guard shifts to the whole group. She seems to want me to sleep the whole night. I don''t need as much sleep as I used to, so I sit up with Mara the mother who is on the first shift. "Do you know what to do?" I ask Mara. She shrugs her head. "Just hold this spear and if any animals approach point it down between the two fires. That is where they should attack." Since we are now the only ones awake, I ask her to tell me about herself. Mara was apparently very beautiful as a young girl. I can believe that. She still is. She was born into a poor commoner family, but due to her looks the local lord requested her as a mistress for his son. Her parents approved as this would greatly benefit the rest of her family, though she was naturally not too happy. Nobles never marry common girls, but they do take them as mistresses. A mistress is normally discarded by the noble when they loose interest. She was expecting the same treatment. The young noble son was his father''s only son, but being spoiled by an overbearing father he was not happy, and to her surprise he sympathized with her situation as well. They grew close, despite Mara expecting him to discard her for a noble born wife in the future. He didn''t discard her. Instead he rejected all marriage proposals for noble born women. The father was worried his line would die with his son, as he refused to get married. About 5 years after their daughter was born, her lover surprised her by marrying her despite what his father wanted. For the next few years his father pressured him to take another wife, a noble wife. In the end the argument grew so strong that the noble son packed a wagon with everything needed to start a new commoner life with his wife and daughter at the western frontier. At this point Mara is clearly getting emotional. Understandable. Her husband was probably killed by the raiding goblins, while she and her daughter were taken captive. Consider I found a lot of tools and supplies for starting a new life in the loot, they probably never got to their new frontier settlement home. I am not sure what to do with the crying woman next to me. I feel like giving her a hug, but I am not sure if would be considered appropriate. Carefully I approach her and gently tuck her head toward my shoulder. I am relieved to find that it works. Chapter 19 - An interesting journey At dawn we sett off with the same formation, with one small change. Lynne and Lawra have swapped places. Something tells me that this was Lawra''s idea. Unlike Lynne she is not at all bothered about her surroundings and fully focused on communicating with me. When I say, communicating, it is a bit like a monologue from her side. I don''t get the time to respond to one question, before she asks another. I am not sure if she is just giddy or if she is clumsily trying to interrogate me. I am saved by Miss Alert going off. I shout a warning and Lawra jumps back knocking Lynne to the ground, very nearly starting a panic. Thankfully Kira is at the back calming the rest. I wonder why Lawra became a hunter, she clearly isn''t cut out for it. Two forest rats come into view and drop dead almost as quickly to my arrows. Looking back at Lawra helping Lynne up I ask her teasingly: "you weren''t worried were you?" Lawra is finally lost for words. Using the sudden lull I start speaking directly to Lawra as I indicate for the group to keep following me. "I would actually like to know a bit more about yourself. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Taking the initiative, I try to control the conversation and with it Lawra''s energy. She tells me she is the daughter of a merchant. That explains a lot. A couple of years back she ran away from home with her boyfriend to become hunters. He got killed a few months ago, and since she has no useful hunter skills, the only job she could do was help with foraging. She has been thinking of going back to her father the merchant, but she is a bit nervous about it. Lawra seems to be a nice girl as well, if a bit impulsive and far too energetic at times. She is much calmer now after our chat. Maybe she just needed some attention. "Lawra, don''t panic." She looks at me slightly worried. "There is dog like beast 100 paces south east of us." "I am going to kill it before it notices us. Stay here." I swiftly step away and spot the dog eating something long dead on the ground. One arrow is all it takes." "It is a scavenger dog." Lawra has caught up with me and is busy giving her commentary. Despite the first day of the journey being so uneventful, the second day is regularly interrupted by me having to kill some kind of aggressive creature. We still make good progress. We should be back some time after noon tomorrow. At dusk we settle down with a camp similar to the previous night. The guard shift stay the same. I stay up talking a bit with Mara before going to bed. The next morning before we set off, I tell the group about Mari. I ask them to be considerate of her, explaining how I found her. Best to tell them now before we arrive. I wanted to tell them sooner, but waited until I got to know them better. They should all be sympathetic to her situation. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. As we walk along the south side of the lake, all the girls are impressed with the scenery. Lynne and Lawra have swapped places again, so I have the calm and pleasant company of a lovely smiling brunette. I mention to Lynne that I got a large stock of animals that need dismantling. Lynne''s professional interest springs to life. "You can leave it all to me if you like." To show my appreciation of the offer, I let her know that I would love to learn more about dismantling from her, as I am self taught. As we approach the enclosed area, everyone notices the large dryad tree and altar. I tell everyone to be respectful as it is guarding the entrance to my home. I explain to Lynne that the altar is where I dismantle my prey, and that the blood and leftovers are offered to the tree. I am not sure how to explain the ground opening up and swallowing the flesh offerings, so I let it be a surprise. At the entrance we meet Mari and Bambi. Mara''s daughter is immediately smitten by the friendly baby deer. The deer seems used to its surroundings and people. Initially it was trapped in my enclosed area as it like all other animals would not approach the dryad tree. Mari smiles and hugs me. She looks like a different person. I wonder if the others will believe the story I told about her earlier this morning. I introduce everyone, and tell everyone to do what they feel like for the afternoon. Mara wants to cook for everyone. I help provide ingredients. Mari is watching Bambi being played with by the young girl. That reminds me I never got her name from Mara. I check her menu with analyze, Naomi. I approach Mari. "Don''t tell her my other name for our pet deer, Spare Meat." Mari chokes a little giggle. I introduce Mari to Kira, they seem to get along. Lawra has started helping Mara with her cooking, but she is mostly just talking. Lynne approaches me and asks if we can do some dismantling. "I got a lot of goblin corpses, can you tell me what is useful with them." She responds that the only valuable part of the goblin is the mana stone. "You could make leather out of its hide, but no one wants to buy it." "Also, cut off the right ear of the goblins, you can use them as evidence of extermination for a reward." Good thing I saved the heads of the early goblins as proof of kill. I bring out a head and cut off its right ear. I chuck the rest of the head at the foot of the dryad tree, and watch Lynne''s reaction. Her reaction is a mix of surprise and fascination, not the massive shock I was expecting. "I have heard stories of trees that eat the dead by making the earth swallow them up. You thought I would be shocked." With the last comment I get a grin from Lynne. It is both fascinating and somewhat terrifying to watch a sweet smiling girl covered in blood dig into one corpse after another extracting mana stones and chopping off ears. I can tell she is experienced, and analyze confirms her dismantling skill to be at level 3. Not extremely high compared to how quickly I am growing my skills, but I have already accepted that there is no way I am normal in this world. As I wander over to Mara to help her cooking, I hear a massive shriek. Lynne has pulled the same prank on Lawra. Chapter 20 - Arguments into the night After finishing the meal everyone crams into my little hut. I have added extra florescent plants to increase the lighting in the small room. It is a tight fit, but with me sitting up against the door, a hide covered wooden frame, everyone is able to able to sit and talk in a tight squashed circle. Everyone wants to know what my next plans are. Makes sense what happens to them is closely related to what plans I have. "I want to try and get you guys safely back home, but it will require a bit of planning to make it safer. We will have to travel for two weeks through dangerous wilderness to get to the first signs of civilization." This is the full extent of my knowledge on the matter, as I have only their account to rely on. I have never been beyond the mountains, and I explain this to them. "What about you?" The question come from more than one person. "I would like to come with you to the guild, as it seem a good place for me to find work with my skills." The trio of girls seem quite happy with this, even Lawra, though she recently revealed that she had been thinking of quitting the hunter''s guild. Mari is sitting quiet in the corner, it never ones crossed my mind to leave her, but she got to be wondering what is in store for her. That might explain why she wanted to become my slave. "So you will be coming with us to the guild, will you still want to associate with us?" It is a somewhat giddy question from Lawra. "Of course, you are my only friends. I hope to rely on your knowledge to help me become part of civilian life." I am genuinely hoping they will help me as I expect it all to be a bit of a cultural shock. "I know, why don''t you marry me?" Lawra''s question just confirmed that risk of cultural shock. For a moment, everyone is stunned. I guess this isn''t normal after all. The room erupts in arguments. Mostly between Kira and Lawra, but even Lynne is wading into the hot topic. Mari is cowering in the back, clearly unhappy. The little girl Naomi, being used arguments, just looks confused. Mara look like she understands what is going on. She probably does, she is twice their age, and a fellow woman. As for me, I am confused. Kira seems to think that Lawra did something very wrong. Lynne agrees but tries to be more understanding. However, no one is shrugging it off as a silly comment, like I would. Letting my voice cut across the noise I address Mara. "Please come with me outside, I need your advice." I address the trio, asking them to not argue so loudly. Even the confident Kira look guilty as she calms down. With Mara walking behind I walk beyond the dryad tree and the safe area of the camp to get some privacy. We are sitting by the lakeside. Though dusk as set in, the moon and stars reflect plenty of light onto the lake. Normally you can''t see this light in the forest, but near the lake it is a lot brighter because of it. "I have a lot of questions, and you seem to have a lot of the answers. Would you mind helping me out here." As I address Mara, she nods before I have finished speaking. "I get the feeling that marriage is different here than it is were I come from. Can you explain what it involves?" Instead of prodding into where I come from, Mara addresses my question. "The core of a marriage is an oath ceremony bound by magic. Every daughter learns from her mother how to give the magic oath to her future husband. Normally the ceremony involves one or more witnesses, but all that is needed is for the woman to swear loyalty and obedience within the magic, and for the man to accept, which can be done anywhere and anytime." Sounds very one sided to me. "Why would any woman swear loyalty and obedience if there is nothing in return?" "While the man only accepts the woman''s lifelong loyalty and obedience, she does get something in return. Due to the magic the man will feel compelled to look after her for as long as she is alive. Also, the obedience aspect is nowhere near the strict obedience that can be compelled through a slave bond." I learned about something new. A magic slave bond that compels obedience. Scary thought not to have free will. And Mari wanted this. Why would Mari ask to become my slave when she could have asked me to marry her. She would be freer and I would be compelled to take care of her. Even knowing that I would be compelled for life to take care of her, I would accept her oath. It feels weird that I have accepted this seemingly one-sided marriage oath. Where is the mutual love and affecting. This seems like a cold world. "Why would Lawra propose this after only knowing me for such a short time." Mara smiles a bit. "You might not know how this having lived alone, but women only look for two things in a man. Kindness and his ability to provide. You have plenty of both, which makes you very attractive to women." Women sure are practical in this world. Maybe I will have a chance at understanding them here. In my old life, I was always baffled by the seemingly irrational whims of women. Quite often I was the one suffering as a result of it. Being kind was never enough. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "So you are saying that most men are not behaving as I do?" "That is correct, there are a few exceptions like my late husband who loved me enough to throw everything away, but our love was forged over many years. Part of why Kira is furious with Lawra is because she could be seen to take advantage of your lack of knowledge on the implications of the marriage ritual." Kira''s anger suddenly makes a lot of sense. If I accepted the oath I would feel compelled to take care of her. Mara explains that it is considered a crime to get a young boy to accept an oath. The woman would most likely be put to death. Also it appear that accepting the oath takes little effort, but giving it requires genuine sincerity, as the woman will be giving away part of her free will. That last bit gives me some assurance that being put under a slave seal is not an easy thing, if the same principals apply. Mara''s answers have been quite helpful, but I still got questions. "You said part of the reason why Kira was angry was the compulsion from the oath, what is the other part?" "That is quite obvious, Kira wants you as well. She is not as reckless as Lawra, but I suspect she want to propose to you as well some time in the future." That does not make any sense, Kira ran away from home to not become the mistress of some noble, why would she swear lifelong obedience to me, if her independence cost her so much. I tell Mara my thoughts, and get an instant answer. "A mistress is not a wife. A mistress will likely be discarded. For Kira to be made a mistress instead of a wife says a lot of how low her standing was in the noble community. She probably wants nothing more than to feel valued and accepted." If Mara is right about Kira, I can see us becoming close in time regardless of the status of our relationship. "What about Lynne''s reaction?" I am coming close to getting the key questions answered, but I still don''t know what to do. "Though Lynne keeps her feelings more guarded than the rest she probably thinking the same as Kira, but she is more understanding of Lawra." "What do you mean by more understanding?" "Lawra has clearly had a crush on you from first time you met. Even though I have only known her for days, I could tell that she was completely smitten from the first day she met you. Her behavior reflects it." Another light bulb moment for me, I should have realized that her overly energetic chattiness around me was a bit too much to just be her personality. Mentally and emotionally I am not exactly a young guy. Initially I was warming more towards Kira, and finding Lawra a bit annoying, but this changes everything. What do I do? Not realizing that I said the last question out loud, Mara asks me. "What do you want?" "I want to take care of all of them, and that seems to be enough for marriage in this world." Darn, I slipped up used the term this world. I don''t want to complicate things. Mara seems not to notice, but responds with: "I get the impression that polygamy is not common where you come from?" Well, of course we usually make more out of a marriage than the contracts of convenience of this world. "If you want to you should be able to marry all of them, and most likely they will accept." All of them, that feels a bit greedy. As far as I am concern, marriage is a promise to stick together in thick and thin and creating a safe and stable environment to raise up children. I don''t even know if sex is part of the marriage of this world. Not that I am going to ask Mara about it. "One more thing. Before I set off to take out the goblin raiding party, Mari asked me to make her my slave. I understand that she does not want me to leave her, but why did she not ask me to marry her instead?" Mara looks at me with a serious expression. "There is severe stigma attached to women who have gone through what Mari has gone through. She is unlikely to ever marry, and unless she can take care of herself she might be destitute. Even if she sold herself into slavery. She would be considered of low value and treated accordingly. This is the future you saved the rest of us from. I hope you understand how grateful we all are." Completely shocked by how cruel this world is, I am more resolved than ever to take care of Mari. She only has me, which explain how desperate she is to stay with me. Turning towards Mara I ask her: "What about you and your daughter?" Mara shakes her head: "You don''t have to marry me, I will take my daughter back to her grandfather. Since she is the last of his blood, he will take good care of her. And for her sake he might accept me as well." Bit worried for Mara I ask if there is anything I can do for her. "There is one thing. Make me pregnant. The old man will take good care of me if he thinks that I carry his grandchild." That is one heck of a request to make, but I did say I would do anything to help her. I am not sure how I feel about deceiving the old nobleman, but I am more worried about Mara being found out. While I am thinking Mara has stripped off and stand completely naked in the moonlight. "Do you find my old body attractive?" Chapter 21 - Conspiracies Heading back to the hut I am not sure how to describe my emotions. Still excited from what I just experienced, bit guilty, but mostly worried what the others might think. Most of it seems rather unreal to me. I agreed with Mara to keep our enjoyable deception from her daughter. It is not a secret a little girl should have to keep. I convinced Mara it would be best to tell the other girls, but I am kind of regretting it now. Especially considering the conversation I am about to have with them. I could just blurt out what Mara discussed with me, but I suspect it would be better for them to open up themselves. Everyone looks up at me the moment I stick my head in the door. As I slide in, Mara sticks her head in and asks her daughter Naomi to come out. "To give you all some privacy." She explains her action and leaves us. My map tells me that they are heading over to the shallow cave that has become Bambi''s home. Turning towards the girls, I notice a suspicious look in their eyes. Don''t tell me they all figured out what happened outside. To stop any awkward questions I start the conversation I need to have with them. "I am glad you all seem to have calmed down. Thanks to Mara I have a much better grasp of what is going on, and why you all reacted the way you did earlier, but I want to hear it from you all directly. Lawra, please start by explaining yourself." Lawra hesitates before talking, probably the first time I have seen her do that. "I meant what I said about marrying you. I know I am very impulsive, and that has gotten me in trouble before. Despite knowing that, I feel certain about it this time. I liked you from the first moment I met you. I don''t know how you feel about it, but I can make you happy, and do all sorts of things for you." the last part is accompanied with what I can only describe as seductive eyes and body movements. Checking my skill menu, I notice that I have just learned a new skill from observation, seduction. "Stop it Lawra, give the rest of us a chance." It is Lynne interrupting Lawra''s attempt at seducing me. Part of her comment sticks out; the rest of us. I look to Kira, she seems to be controlling herself, but I suspect Lynne''s comment came just in time. "Kira, could you explain the reason for your anger earlier?" Unsurprisingly Kira explains that she felt that Lawra was trying to trap me in a marriage oath before I knew the consequences. I assure her that I know of the oath works, but also ask her: "Is that the only reason you were angry with Lawra''s proposal?" "I didn''t want Lawra to be the first one to marry you. You seem nice enough that you would accept her regardless of how impulsive it is, but I don''t want her to marry you before me. I mean I am not emotionally ready, but I want to be. Am I being selfish?" There seems to be importance attached to who is the first wife. "Do you want to be the first wife yourself?" Kira looks a bit troubled. "Not necessarily, but it shouldn''t just be the first person to throw herself at you. The first one should be special." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Polygamy can be a real pain. "My understanding of marriage is that it is a bond to ensure the lifelong security of the woman, so for someone to be special she would both need to be someone who needs my support and who I want to support. Is that an acceptable definition Kira?" She seems to agree. Turning towards Mari, who has been sitting next to me the whole time, I address her while looking directly into her eyes. "Mari, before I left to take care of the rest of the goblins, you asked me to make you my slave. I understand that you are worried that I will discard you or leave you behind. Since you have nowhere to go and limited skills, you feel totally dependent on me. I also now know the stigma attached to someone who has been through what you have been through, and I think it is wrong and cruel. It was always my intention to take care of you, and to give you that assurance, I want you to marry me." Mari is not the only one smiling. I think she nodded a yes. The other girls all seem very accepting and emotional. Before they can start to think about themselves, I continue. "I will marry Mari immediately, but I am open to marry all of you in the near future. Raise you hand if you are interested." I am not sure if raising your hand is a thing her, but they all comply. Lawra with both her hands. "I don''t want any of you to rush it. You all have achieved a level of independence on your own. I don''t want you to tie yourself to me without first considering the options. When all three of you know for sure what you want, I will marry you all at the same time. If there has to be an order, Kira will go first of the three of you." Everyone seems happy with the solution. I feel relieved until Lawra drops a bomb. "So give us some details, what is going on between you and the old lady?" Darn, I was thinking of not telling them what happened earlier. After checking that Mara and Naomi are still in the cave I have a shot at explaining. "Firstly, Mara is not an old lady. I can assure you that she is every bit as stunning as you girls." That drew some smiles. "So what happened? You were out there for a long time." Lawra is relentless. The other girls are grinning at my uncomfortable body language. After admitting to the quickie that took place outside not too long ago and explaining why, they all seem to accept it. No one judges me at all. It all feel unnatural to me, so I ask them directly how they feel about it. "Mara has told me her background, so I think the old father in-law deserves it." Kira is misunderstanding my question for meaning that I want to know how they feel about deceiving the old nobleman. "I never liked nobles in the first place." Lawra''s outburst is quickly followed by a correction. "Except for one person I know." The last comment was clearly a peace offering to Kira. Lynne adds to the conversation by suggesting I save my seed for Mara for the next few days, subject to Mari''s approval. She also offers to distract Naomi while I sneak off with Mara. The girls all chip in with their thoughts and comments approving of the plan. The scene looks surreal to me. I don''t seem to have any say in the plans, but they are all made to help me get Mara pregnant in the short window we have. I got my soon to be wife delaying the wedding night so I can impregnate another woman, and three more wife candidates conspiring to keep it a secret. This world is crazy. Chapter 22 - Wedding Since it was getting late, we all agreed to go to bed and do the wedding tomorrow. I went out to get Mara and Naomi before settling in for the night as well. Due to the small size of the hut, I found myself squashed in the middle with Mari on top of me, Kira and Lawra on either side and the rest against the walls on either side. It started getting hot quite quickly due to the close proximity of so many bodies. I had offered to sleep outside, but I was quickly outvoted. I need to find a solution to this tomorrow. At dawn I got up. I shifted over to slide down between Lawra and Lynne, and slipped out without waking the rest. I guess the sense of safety added to everyone''s sleepiness. Outside I found myself walking towards the small cave. Bambi comes towards me to greet me. How is this animal not afraid of me after I used it as bait I will never fully understand. I start making some improvements to the cave, to make it livable. I make a shelter just outside the cave out of wood to help shelter the inside of the cave from nature. A gap in the side of the shelter works as a makeshift door. I tidy the inside of the cave and add lighting. The cave actually got more space than my house, and it quickly became livable. Be the time I finish everyone is up and about. Mara has already started making breakfast. Naomi is off to look for Bambi. Since Bambi will stay within the enclosure, I don''t feel too nervous about not keeping an eye on her. I approach the other girls who have gathered outside. As soon as I arrive, I get asked when I am doing the life oath with Mari. Apparently no preparation is needed. "After breakfast?" My vague suggesting is accepted. If I was expecting something grand for the ceremony, I would have been disappointed. While everyone else was watching Mari cut her thumb and indicated that I should do it as well. What followed was more like an oath of blood brothers as we pressed our bleeding thumbs against each other. Mari says her oath and I accept. As soon as I accept a mark appear on the back of my hand. The same mark appears on Mari''s hand. Mari shows her mark to me. "This is your personal mark, it marks me as yours." The ceremony finished just as quickly. At least weddings are cheap in this world. I show my new secondary shelter to all of them, and Naomi quickly decides that she wants to live in the cave with Bambi. That means that Mara will be joining her, and it doesn''t feel right to leave the two of them in lesser accommodation. I state that I will be joining them and prepare to refute any further arguments to have more join us. Instead the girls seem to have decided that Mari goes with me to keep Naomi occupied, if me and Mara need a private excursion. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I leave the group of girls at the camp to go hunting. I leave my alert market just south of the camp to give me warning if any danger comes near the camp. I keep to the west side of the lake to be as close as I can to the camp. Instead of choosing my prey carefully I hunt everything I find. Best to stock up for later. I also got help with the dismantling. Late afternoon I have cleared all the surroundings west of the lake of any living creatures. Either they have run away or they are hiding. Since I am unable to find prey near the camp I start foraging. An hour before dusk I arrive at the camp. I find Lynne, Lawra and Kira about to finish off the dismantling work I left for Lynne in the morning. Mari and Mara are making baskets. Mari explained to me the day before that she was making the baskets to sell at the market when we get back to civilization. Mari is wanting to feel useful, and with her limited skill set she is doing whatever she can. I need to find ways to make sure Mari feels useful. I don''t need her to do anything, but if I leave it like that she might get depressed. As we eat, I ask what everyone think we should be doing in the next few days. If I go hunting I will have to travel much further from camp than I am comfortable. Lawra suggest that they all help forage for anything valuable. Lynne agrees, and suggest we use the baskets made by Mara and Mari. It all seems like a good idea to me. I might not need a basket due to my soul storage, but the others will need a basket. Lawra also seems to be quite knowledgeable about plants and fruit that can be sold at a good price. Shortly after, still early in the evening Naomi falls asleep next to Bambi. Mari signals for me and Mara to sneak off. We go to the same spot by the lake which is both out of sight and hearing from the camp. Without much further ado we get one with it. Surprising how it already feel like a chore, despite being enjoyable. Maybe it is just my perception of things. There is nothing wrong with Mara, she is stunning, but she is only doing this to get pregnant. As if reading my mind Mara says: "Don''t think too much. I am happy to have met you." It makes me feel a bit better, but I can''t shake the fact that I got married today, and now I am having sex with a different woman. Chapter 23 - Need for healing The following day we left Lynne with to watch Naomi and continue with dismantling my prey. The rest of us equipped with newly made baskets headed out foraging. Armed with Lawra''s knowledge on valuable plants, I directed the group to suitable spots. By now the surrounding forest was like my backyard. I might have scared off the prey, but there were still plenty of good foraging spots. By noon I was looking at an injured leg. Lawra managed to fall out of a tree while picking fruits. Opposite me is Kira, who is about to show me how her healing magic works. I had almost forgotten about the healing magic. My wounds heal so quickly due to my high regeneration level that all I have to do is stop the bleeding and it will heal with minimum scaring. Not so with the girls. Mari''s wounds healed many days ago, but clear scars were still left. If only I could learn how to fix them. As Kira starts moving mana to the palm of her hands hovering over the injured leg, I sense rather than see the mana going into the leg and the wound. The bleeding stops, broken cells are removed and new cells stimulated to grow. Kira''s explanation was vague and lacking of fundamental medical knowledge that I take for granted, but seeing the process for myself I know exactly how it works. Healers of this world might not fully understand what they are doing or how they are doing it, but it works. As the wound close I am pretty sure I can replicate the action and do even more. I ask Mari, if I can have a look at a scar on her arm. The scar tissue sharply deviate from what should be a smooth surface. The wound has healed, but the healing process has left a wreckage of her skin. Mari''s face is showing just how much she hate the ugly scar. I use mana to soften the scar tissue, I stimulate skin growth under the tissue as I gradually remove the dead scar tissue. Very smooth pink skin see the light of day. Tempering the skin tone, the color difference gradually fade until no sign of a previous injury can be seen. Kira, who walked over in the middle of the process looks shocked. I guess healing old scars is not common in this world either. I am a bit amazed it worked. I am after all no scar tissue expert. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I wait for Kira''s shock to settle before trying to explain what I did. Her shock is replaced by repressed anger. Why would she be angry? "How could you experiment on Mari for your first time healing. Everyone who learns healing starts with injured animals, and only competent healers are allowed to heal humans." Kira''s tirade makes a lot of sense. Though I have the advantage of basic medical knowledge from my world. I still took an unacceptable risk. I spend rest of the walk back assuring Kira and Mari, I just wasn''t thinking. Mostly Kira, I get the feeling Mari wouldn''t even blame me if I caused complications. Kira''s frustration with me eventually relent. "I guess you can already be classed as competent." Despite having Kira annoyed at me for the whole journey back I am still happy because it looks like the girls have become very protective of Mari, even against me. There is still quite a bit of the day left, so I ask the trio to demonstrate any combat abilities they have. When we head out of the forest I need to know the full abilities of everyone in the group. I am not expecting anything from Mara and Mari, and I will happily leave them to take care of Naomi, but the trio are all technically hunters. Kira shows off some very accurate knife throwing skills, but that appears to be it. She still hasn''t been able to incorporate her fire magic into her attacks. She might be able to light an enemy on fire if she touched them, but she would likely be burnt in the process. Next up is Lynne and Lawra. Lynne, has no combat skills, but is at least able to hold and point a spear. Lawra less so. I set aside the next coming afternoons to drill some basics into them. I might be self taught, but with my high spear skill I should be able to impart something of value. I encourage Kira to help out, to get her used to being my second in command in security. Kira also decides that I need to continue my training using healing magic. Catching fish in the shallows of the lake, she observes me repeatedly healing the fish. Poor fish must have felt like it was on death''s door a dozen times before it eventually became dinner. Sleeping arrangement remained the same as last night, as well as the nightly activity. I am still wondering how Mari feels about this. She doesn''t show any signs of disliking it. She might be more emotionally scared than I thought. If so, I should not expect any nightly activities from her even in the future. With the exception of the injury, the next few days were mostly the same. As my storage is filled up with foraged plants, I start to make plans for the journey out of the forest. Chapter 24 - The journey to civilization As we get ready to set out for our long journey back to civilization, I take a round through my camp looking for anything that I might have forgotten. This reminds me of my old life, checking that I have not forgotten to pack anything in my luggage. The main difference is the huge storage space I got, which means that nothing that can be picked up is left behind. Even the shelter I used for the front of the cave has been repurposed and stored in my soul space. Three days later we set up camp on the same clearing once steeped in goblin blood. There are no longer any signs of the fight that took place. Setting up a fireplace in the middle of the clearing, I ask if everyone has been to take a leak. Not sure how to ask that in a nice way, but no one seems bothered. As everyone gather around the fireplace I deploy our mobile camp fortification. I summon a large wooden structure from my storage. The largest by far I have been able to store. Around the group is fence of solid vertical timbers with enough gap in between the timber for a spear to stab out but no room large enough for anything to get in. The fence is kept together in a perfect circle by the multiple crossbeams above our heads A rudimentary roof is attached to the top. Outside sharp stakes are pointed outward in every direction making an approach to the centre almost impossible for large animals. The stakes are tied to the bottom of the circular fence and a series of diagonal downward sloping stabilizing beams going from the top of the fence. I call it my porcupine. Inside the structure we cover the walls with pelts and cloth from the loot to keep the wind out. It was built for safety, not comfort. The few times we have been attacked at night, we stay inside stabbing any animals that come too close. Larger animals stay clear of the awkward looking structure. Combined with the basic training the girls had back at the hut, it has helped keep us safe during our journey. Most of the fighting is done by me, but a small contribution from Kira. Lawra and Lynne guard the none combatants in the middle of our group, staying to either side of Mari, Mara and Naomi which forms the soft core of our formation. It has proved successful as Lynne and Lawra are able to keep animals that approach us from the side at bay until either my arrows or Kira''s knifes take them down. With my skills we are avoiding larger animals. We should in theory experience less dangerous animals east of the pass as the area is frequented by hunters. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Just east of the pass I was proven wrong. My alert picked up unknown danger just north of us heading in our direction at too high speed to avoid for our group. Turning south west we started to look for a suitable place to meet the half a dozen unknown opponents that had caught our scent. As they clearly know where we are going I find us a small plateau on the mountainside. The higher ground will give me the high ground advantage. I deploy the camp with me on the roof looking for enemies. This was always my plan if we encountered intelligent opponents. Kira wanted to join me on the roof, but we would only make twice the target. I am planning to take down the opponents at a distance anyway. As our pursuers come into view Kira shouts up to me, "Kobolts". "Anything you can tell me about them?", I ask back. Her response does not give me a lot more information than I have already gleaned. More intelligent and stronger than goblins, but fight is smaller groups. Prefer to hunt weaker opponents than to engage in a suicidal attack. Their furry animal appearance is often mistaken for beast-kin, but while beastmen are classed as demi-humans, Kobolts are classed as magical monsters or beasts just like goblins. Beast-kin, demi-humans, magical monsters; not sure what it all means. They are probably categories used by humans to class the different races. What I can tell is that this group of Kobolts are not friendly. As they advance up the sloop, I consider loosing an arrow, but reconsider. I might scare them from advancing up the hillside, but it might just mean they try to ambush us when we head down. I need to wipe them out completely to avoid any further encounter with their kind. As they come closer I estimate my success rate of taking out all six before they run for cover. I wait until the closest one looses an arrow of his own. His shot is off mark and immediately followed by my own arrows. Their attack immediately turns into a route, but before any of them reach the bottom of the hill, they are all dead or dying on the hillside. When finished they all end up in my storage. Apparently their fur is highly sought after. They also have bigger mana stones than the goblins. We proceed directly east without any further encounters. It seems the Kobolts chose the danger of hunters over the danger of the more fierce animals west of the mountain. At the moment it is all speculations as I don''t actually know how many or how strong these hunters are. Chapter 25 - The first village After more than two weeks of travelling, we entered the first human village. Kira introduces herself and the group in front of the heavily fortified village gate. As soon as she manages to convince them that she was an active hunter with the guild we have no problem entering. They must be afraid of more than monsters at this village if they are this careful who enters. The village is spread out around a wooden holdfast at the centre and a solid wooden palisade around the whole village. One of the villagers at the gate introduce himself as the captain of the village militia. Based on what analyze is telling me, he is a former hunter married and retired in the village. His level is higher than mine, but his skills are inferior. I haven''t actually checked my skills and levels for awhile. I know I leveled up a couple of times due to all the goblins I killed, but having people to interact with, pretty girls in particular, has kept me occupied. Lawra leads us to the market square. We don''t have much currency, but we have a lot to trade. Lawra soon shows how she can contribute to the group. As the daughter of a merchant I should have known she had a few trading skills. I spend the whole time following her around, picking up her skills as I am observing her. With coin in our pocket we head for the only inn in the village. It is a fairly large and busy village. If the village continues to grow it could soon class as a small town with an increase in facilities not usually found in villages. The wooden holdfast could do with an upgrade though. It has clearly stood there for a long time. It was probably the first building in the village. As we come closer I ask a couple of villager if I can have a look inside. They don''t seem bothered. They point out that it is pretty derelict, and no one actually lives there anymore. Inside I see that it is in fact several buildings built together to form an even square with an open area in the middle. The outer walls are all solid wooden timbers stacked high enough to deter any attackers. All windows are on the first floor. To avoid the ground floor being too dark there is plenty of open space up to the first floor. The windows are more like narrow arrow slits for arrows to be fired at enemies outside. Despite all the fortification elements around the holdfast, it is clear that it once housed a small farming community with all essentials, like a well, a small smith, a grindstone and other basic farming necessities. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Back at the inn, Lawra discuss our housing options with the innkeeper, as there is no room big enough to house us all. The largest room fits a bed large enough for all but two of us. Lawra negotiates a second room with one smaller bed. I ask her who she had in mind for the extra room. "You and Mari of course. It is about time you to have some time to yourselves." I get her point. My nightly tryst with Mara ended when we set off on our journey to avoid a late pregnancy being suspicious. Since then I have not had a single moment alone with Mari. As I prepare to sleep in the first comfortable bed since my last life, I notice Mari taking off all her clothes before slipping into the covers. As she looks up at me still standing beside the bed her looks seems to say; "what is taking so long?" As I slip under the covers I whisper to her that we don''t have to do anything if she does not feel like it. She smiles back and says: "Lawra prepared me for this, and told me to tell you to do your husbandly duty. You don''t need to worry about me anymore." I wake up the next morning feeling more refreshed than I have ever felt. I head down for breakfast with the girls. The common room is full with people, mostly farmers. It seems they come from nearby farm holds to trade in the village. The farm holds probably all have a structure like the wooden holdfast in this village. This is clearly the frontier. There is plenty of land, but due to the dangers of the forest near by, all farms and villages need to be fortified. This in turn puts a dampener on development, though this village seems to be doing well. As we set off from the village, I notice that we are now walking on a proper road rather than a track. A good sign of civilization. After a few more uneventful days we finally arrive at the nearest town. I ask the girls what classifies a town from a village, and get the response that a town has usually both a lesser lord to oversee it and a guild branch. The guild branch in this town is particularly large due to the close proximity to the frontier. Entry to the town is a lot less strict than at the village. Chapter 26 - The Guild The guild buildings are not far from the western entrance as if to state that it is the most visited location for travelers coming from the west. It probably is. All hunters in the area will regularly gravitate towards this branch. It is actually a series of buildings. Kira takes over explaining as this is her arena. Coming down the western road, there is a huge set of buildings to the north that make up the main guild buildings. This included a large common area, an indoor arena, the task distribution offices, the dismantling team''s workshop and even larger storage areas. Beyond these buildings, out of site, are outdoor training grounds used by hunters. On the south side of the town are the hunter dormitories and private inns heavily used by better off hunters. The rest of the town stretches out beyond. It is a decent sized town. Sounds from markets and workshops can be heard in the distance. As we entered the main guild building, a large room opened up in every direction. The notice boards to my right only partially succeed in hiding the large common area to my right, but straight ahead is the main interest of hunters. Behind several counters several guild workers diligently addressed queries, provided consultations or provided remuneration for completed tasks. One counter is specifically designated for sale of materials. As most of our work here will involve selling the large stores of materials I have in my storage, we approach this counter first. There is only one person ahead of us in the queue. I have previously consulted Lawra on the best way of raising funds using the content of my storage. Though we might get a bit more if we sold direct to traders for some materials, the profit was barely worth it when handling larger amounts. The guild works as a middleman, and due to being the largest recipient of many key materials, they maintained a monopoly of sorts. However, if they excessively boosted their profits, hunters might start selling direct to traders, rather than via the guild. Though they have a monopoly as middle man, they do not have excessive monopolistic power. Lawra explained that the power of the guild did not rest on their monetary power, but rather on the strength of their members, the hunters. Thinking about all the facilities they have built in the town, it make sense that they value their members. They spend a lot of efforts investing in them, this in turn breeds loyalty to the guild. Using my analyze skill I notice the large number of high level people in the hall. Interspersed in between these level hunters are a lot of low level female hunters. There is also a long queue of low level people going to one of the counters. Lawra explains that the that counter is for commercial jobs, which mostly low level members take, as they are unfit for combat. She is probably also referring to herself and Lynne. Before I get a chance to ask more it is our turn at the counter. "Good afternoon, how can I help you?" I explain that I want to register as a hunter with the guild. Remembering that this is the material sales queue, I hurriedly explain that I chose this queue because I got a lot of stuff to sell as well. The friendly receptionist explains; "Don''t worry too much about the sign." She is pointing to a board above the reception. Crap, that is supposed to be writing! I thought it was supposed to be decoration. I need to ask the girls to teach me to read and write. The girl a the counter continue her explanation. "The signs are more of a guideline. All counters can deal with all requests, but since sales of materials tend to take longer, we ask people who have a lot to sell to use this counter." "If I may say so myself, you already look like a hunter to me, but you are saying that you have not become a member yet?" The receptionist is clearly prodding for my origins. What do I say? Will they be suspicious of me, since I don''t have a background. Lawra comes to the rescue. She explains how I grew up in the wilderness, but originate for from elsewhere. She also adds on plenty of juicy details about how I saved them all from a goblin horde all by myself. Before she starts to make up too much I interject; "There were only about 60 goblins and 1 hobgoblin, and as I remember, the killing blow to the hobgoblin was delivered by Kira." I pull out the goblin ears from my storage. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The look on the face of the receptionist goes from amused by Lawra''s lively story to amazed when she sees the stacks of ears spilling out on her counter. "And here I thought your girlfriend was bragging about you." "The bounty on goblins is 1 large copper per kill and 1 small silver for every hobgoblin. We only use royal minted coins at this branch." Looks like they will pay you for goblin kills even if you aren''t a member, but most people would probably struggle making a living out of killing goblins. From what Lawra has explained to me previously, the currency used is either copper, silver or gold. Each comes at a small size and a large size. The large is equal to the weight of 10 small coins. The exchange between the three metal currencies fluctuate, but a general measure is that 100 small copper coins should equal 1 small silver coin, and 100 small silver coins should equal 1 small gold coin. Most people seem to live off copper and silver. Copper gets you food, and some cheap shelter. Most other things in life seems to cost more. I am still not sure what the implications of royal minted coins means, but Lawra seems happy with the declaration by the receptionist. The receptionist measures out the 60 large copper coins and the small silver. "Are there bounties on any other creatures?" "There is a bounty on kobolts as well, as they have been causing some deaths among hunters and civilians at the frontier." "I killed 6 of them on my way here. We ran into them just as we passed through a mountain pass from the west side of the mountain range. What do you want as proof for their death." "We usually ask for their head, as it is the easiest way to identify, but we are willing to look at what evidence you bring." She clearly does not think I will bring out all 6 bodies from my storage. Bringing out one from my storage with my right hand clasping its neck I reply: "It is just that I got all six in my soul storage, and I didn''t want to cause a mess on your desk." I seem to have drawn some stares with my latest attempt at humor, but at least I can hear a bit of laughter. The receptionist looks at me asking very seriously; "Do you really have six bodies in your soul storage? Are you a mage?" As she says it I remember the girls reaction when I showed them how much I can store. Is this going to be a problem? Probably not, but I would rather not attract more attention. "Is there a place I can offload?" I ask the girl at the counter. She points to my left and tells me to meet her in the adjacent room. As soon as we come through the door the wafts the familiar odors of dismantling hits us. Odd how it does not leak into the main guild building. The receptionist emerges from another door. "This is our dismantling shop. We can provide you with affordable dismantling if you should so wish." "No thanks, there is a skilled dismantler in my group." "Oh, Lynne, I didn''t notice you at the back." The receptionist seems to survey my team for the first time. Looks like she knows Lynne. After noticing Lynne, she seems to remember that Lynne was in another party not so long ago. She asks her about it. Lynne explains what happened to the girls last party and how I come into the picture. She adds all the useful details that Lawra left out. "Oh dear, when we are done I will need to write a report on the event. Will you be able to assist me with the details?" Her question is directed at Lynne who agree. I guess I will be mentioned in that report as well. "So let us proceed with the verification." The professional receptionist is back and fully focused on me. I dump the six kobolt bodies on the floor. "That will be another 6 small silvers for the kobolt subjugation." "We would very much like to acquire the pelts of these kobolts and any mana stones. Is there anything else you would like to sell?" I wonder where to offload the rest of the stuff in my storage. "Do you have a large table and some storage containers?" She directs me further into the workshop to a large empty table with boxes stacked against the wall. I start bringing out stuff from my storage that I don''t have any use for that is likely to be of value. My stone collection stays in my storage. So does all the raw materials I want to use for further crafting. When I am done offloading, I know I will get a question about my soul storage capacity from the receptionist, so I head it off with a simple answer. "I got room for an awful lot in my soul storage, but I only know a little bit of magic." It seems to satisfy her. "It will take me some time to get this all priced up for you. Since it is your first time working with us, I will offer free dismantling of the kobolts. If you could settle in the common area or come back later I will have a price for you before the end of the day. We can proceed with your registration then. As we head back to the main guild building she quickly offers me the 6 silvers for the kobolts and see us off. Chapter 27 - Saying goodbye As we leave the guild, Mara approached me with Naomi. "It is about time we go our separate ways. There is caravan office on the other side of town were we can get lift to my father-in-laws estate." I was expecting this, but it is still a bit of a surprise. Looking at the other girls, I can tell they want a bit more time to say goodbye. "Let us escort you to the office. Personally I want to make sure you guys get off safely." Mara nodes and leads the way to the caravan office. At the caravan office I ask Mara if she needs any money for the journey, but it looks like she got some emergency coins in her soul space. Very sensible. Mara negotiates a lift all the way to the estates town. They will need to change caravans twice, but the caravan officer assures me that they will arrive there safely. He must have seen my worried look. Looking like a strong hunter seems to have some advantages as well, as he seems a bit nervous addressing me. If it keeps people honest I don''t mind using fear. I still don''t know what it actually means being a hunter, but it looks like they are treated quite favorable by commoners. Lawra whispers to me; "Just don''t let him know that you haven''t registered with the guild yet. He assumes you are much higher ranked than the rest of us." She seems to have guess my thoughts. So there is a difference between being a member and not being a member, and the rank you are. I need to learn more about this. As the negotiation finishes, Mara approaches me and informs me that they will be leaving very early in the morning before dawn. She has secured sleeping quarters for her and Naomi at the office. I guess this is it. Turning towards Mara I try to assure her; "If things do not work out with your father-in-law, come back to us." She gives me a hug and a thanks. Naomi says a polite goodbye. I am a bit torn up by how easy it is for her to say goodbye to me, considering how hard it was for her to separate from Bambi when we left my old home. After the girls finish their goodbyes we head back towards the guild. I would have liked to check out the town, but we need to find lodging for the night before heading back to the guild for registration. "Where did you girls stay when you were in town?" "We all stayed at the guild dorm. But since men and women are kept separate in the dorms we should try to get a bedroom at an inn with a large bed." All in the same room again. I guess we should be used to it by now, but I did appreciate my alone time with Mari at the village. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. At the inn district south of the guild office we find a suitable inn, but we struggle to find any bedrooms large enough. The best offer we get is a room just big enough for three to sleep in and a room with a double bed. The room is next door so I don''t really mind, but Lawra makes good use of the situation and negotiates a good deal for use including dinner and breakfast. As we get to the rooms, I ask the girls about the sleeping arrangements. I am assuming it will be me and Mari in the smaller room. "Nope, tonight we will rotate who stays with you as we will all be marrying you tonight." Lawra seems excited, but both Lynne and Kira nodes. I guess I won''t get much sleep. As I head off to the guild office to get my registration done, Kira and Lawra stay behind at the inn. I suspect they will be planning something, but I am just glad that they are staying behind. Lynne accompany me, but I suspect she will need to stay a bit later than me to help the receptionist with the report on her former party. It is a short walk to the neighbor district to the north. At the guild we are met by the same receptionist. She provides me with a total sum for the materials I am selling and a breakdown. Most of the payment is in silver, but there is also a couple of gold coins. We got the two rooms at the inn for 1 silver and 5 large copper coins for a night. With this money, we could stay there for the better part of a year assuming Lawra could extend her deal that long. Though I really want something better. After paying me, the receptionist introduces me to her senior who will deal with my registration. She goes off with Lynne and leaves me with an older lady. I say older, but I can''t really tell her age. She still looks as young as I found Mara to be, but she has the same knowing eyes and maturity that does not come often with youth. I haven''t actually seen any truly old people so far. Good genes I guess, but I suspect more. Chapter 28 - Registration and a lot of questions The head receptionist introduces herself as Marka. She has been a guild worker for more than 20 years and she assures me that she should be able to assist me with any queries I have with the registration. "Just assume I know nothing. What little I know I got from my companions." Marka accepts my explanation without asking about my past. She hands me a form and asks if I can read and write. "Not yet, but I am planning to learn." Marka assures me that it isn''t uncommon, but she does recommend I learn. Sitting side by side, she goes through the form and asks me for details to fill it out. There are the basic details like age, name, known associates, current address, but there is also a section on background prior to registering. I explain that I have spent most of my life living on my own in the wilderness. She seems fascinated by my story, it does not seem to be a common one. Next we need to do a few tests. She explains the concept of levels. "As humans absorb lifeforce we become stronger, and even gain longer life. Most humans will never go beyond level 5. To exceed this you need to be exposed to higher concentration levels of life force. As we absorb a certain quantity we may reach a saturation point, which is what a level is. Since this level is a good indicator of your overall strength we need to measure this. At the guild we have a tool that can do this." She finishes her explanation. I guess this life force is what keeps people young looking as well, though it is just a guess. After putting my hand on a flat stone, she confirms what I already know. My level is 9. She doesn''t seem surprised. "Your level is decent, but not as high as I expected considering how long you lived in the wilderness." That makes sense. If I had actually lived for many years in the wilderness rather than just the few months that I have, I might have a much higher level. "I tried to keep my distance from larger dangerous animal if I could. I have only ever killed two beast bears, and both took a lot of efforts." I use enough truth in my explanation that the deception seems almost believable to myself. Marka seems to fully believe me. Next we head out back into the dismantling hall. She has been told about my abnormal storage space, and as part of the registration she wants to test it. "Soul storage space is not limited by weight, form or density, but purely by volume. These closed empty boxes will take up the same space if they were filled up. Please store as many as possible in your storage." I put all of them in my storage before taking them out again. "Very good, a lot of parties want at least one member who can store luggage and prey in their soul storage, but as most people with large storage are mages, it is a highly sought after ability. Of course the fact that you have such a large soul space is a good indicator that you have a talent for magic." So I am a valuable porter, not sure how I feel about that. "Next we need to assess your skills. Skills are more easily acquired by people with higher lifeforce level, as lifeforce is what allows their acquisition." Wondering how much of the guilds understanding is similar to my own analyze skill, I ask her if there are levels associated with individual skills. "It is well documented that skill operate similar to the lifeforce level, but with notable the exception that level 10 is the max level. However, the tools and techniques for measuring individual skills by levels is only available at the guild branch at the Magic city and in some other northern branches. We use self assessment according to a rough 5 level system. Magic city, that is new, wonder what that city is like. Marka regains my attention. She is really good at spotting when I get distracted. It feels like I am about to get told off by a school teacher, but she just continues her explanation. "The 5 levels are as follows: - Beginner, - Intermediate, - Advanced, - Expert, - Master." "Don''t exaggerate your skill, you will only get caught out, and it will reflect badly on you. Don''t put master on a skill, no newbie is a master of anything." It seems like level 1 and 2 is beginner, 3 and 4 is intermediate and so on. I better understate my skills, especially since I could put master on 3 of my skills. The skills seem to be grouped much more roughly as well. Since ordinary people don''t have the benefit of my skills menu, most would not know what level they are, or exactly what skills they have. Observation and testing would be the only way to know. Can''t be too detailed in my skills explanation. I really don''t want to stand out too much. I know too little about this world. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "First lets look at combat skills, you will have to have acquired some skill to survive in the wilderness. What weapons are you good at?" Marka probes me with a question. "I am decent with a spear, and very good with a bow." "Very well, what do you think your mastery level is for each of those?" "I would say intermediate on spear, but archery being my main combat skill is either advanced or expert." Considering my unique master boost skill, these estimates seem realistic to me. However, Marka looks dubious. "As combat skills are essential for the ranking of hunters, we will need to test both those estimates. Are you still comfortable with those levels?" "I think so." I am not so sure if I should be translating the skills like for like anymore. I might be digging myself a hole. Best to keep all estimates on the low side. "Since it is late in the day we will do the testing of skills tomorrow, but we will complete you paper registration today." Marka seems to take for granted that I will be staying in town longer. Guild registration is a lot more thorough than I expected for a medieval fantasy world. "Let us review other survival skills. These can be a bit harder to estimate, but are still important to form a full picture of your ability. Please give me some examples of what you can do." Rather than suggest a level I might get away with giving examples of what I can do. "The only means of transportation for me in the forest are my feet, so I can run a lot." Marka doesn''t seem impressed. "We all use our feet. You got to give me some more details for me to put it down as a skill." Well, I once ran from late afternoon and all night covering a distance of forest equal to two and a half days march. I was still in good enough shape when I arrived to kill 33 goblins when I arrived." My latest story seems to be a bit too incredible to Marka, maybe I should have left out the goblins. "Well running all night is not something people your level should be able to do, I am putting down a beginner level running and enhanced stamina. If you hadn''t handed in all those goblin ears earlier, I would never have believed the last part though." "What else? Being a good runner isn''t going to impress other hunters, if you wish to form a party." That kind of makes sense. The one most likely with a running skill would be the coward, who abandoned his party. "I heal quickly, I once broke my leg in an accident, but I was up and running only weeks later." Surprisingly Marka believes this one. "A regeneration skill, not too uncommon, but yours seem particularly high. This skill is usually acquired through a lot of hardship." That reminds me, Mari got this skill too. "Surely you must have some hunting skills having lived in the wilderness?" Marka probes me more. Why didn''t I start with this one? Silly me. "Yes, I am decent at tracking down prey, but what I excel at is sensing nearby danger in time for me to act accordingly. It saved my life many times." How do I explain my alert skill? Marka seems to assume it is all part of my hunting skill, and gives me intermediate, with a comment about good at sensing danger, with scout in brackets. "Finally, can you do any magic?" "I can do a bit of fire and healing magic. I am a complete novice, but as you have already pointed out I do have decent aptitude." Instead of doubting me Marka just asks me to demonstrate. I bring out a clear orange flame on my fingertip. When I am about to point out that I need something to heal, Marka un-ceremonially cuts herself on a sheet of paper and presents her bleeding finger. Funny how that action makes me cringe after all I have been through. "Are we done?" I am keen to get back to the girls. The old receptionist responds with a curt "No". "We have just finished your hunter skills details, we still need to consider any commercial skills. I lot of hunters take side jobs in town between hunting trips. All our low ranking hunters do this as a full time job. It is more like short term employment arranged through the guild for local business, but if the skill is particular valuable we will source much further afield. Some hunters start their own businesses or get taken on as permanent employees of the local businesses, but most are either not skilled enough for either or skilled enough to only work when it suites them." Marka stops for a second to let her explanation sink in, but continues with a tirade of questions. "Do you have any crafting skills? Are you good with any particular materials? How good are you at dismantling your prey? Can you make potions or herbal medicines? Do you have any experience working with metal?" First I am a bit flustered by the number of questions, but I guess she is just trying to stimulate me to think about it for myself. "I can dismantle like any hunter. Until I met Lynne, I did it all myself. I am self taught, as I am with all my crafting skills. I entered the wilderness with no tools. Not even a knife." Pulling out my best flint knife from storage, I continue my explanation. "I made due with flint tools until I got some metal knives from killing goblins. I made flint spears to fight with and all the tools I needed for living. I built a mud hut with tiled roof and under floor heating. I am good with natural materials like wood, stone and clay. Even though I have no experience with smithing, I believe I would easily pick it up, as I have always been good with my hands. My best crafting skill by far is my bowmaking skill." I hold up my best bow. Marka looks interested. " I am putting you down as beginner on most related topics for now. If you leave a bow of you making for our assessors to review, we should be able to determine you bow making skill. I am also putting a note on file that you may have the generic crafting skill. People who are naturally good with their hands usually have it, but it is very hard to determine. Please note that all skills are up for review. If any of our business partners vouches for your skill, we will update it, so do your best when you represent the guild in a workplace." Leaving my second best bow with the guild staff, I head back to the inn. Chapter 29 - Three weddings and a sleepless night When I get back to the inn, all the girls have gathered in the bigger bedroom. Lynne got back before me from the inn, and everyone except Mari have dressed up. I guess the other girls had clothes in storage at the guild dorm. I need to get Mari some fine clothes. Lawra greets me; "Come on, don''t just stand there. Join us. We can''t get started without you." Wait! We are doing the oath ceremony now. I was thinking of getting dinner first. "Dinner will be delivered to the room as soon as we are done with the ceremony." Lynne seems to have read my mind. Kira, is surprisingly quiet. Next Lynne is speaking. It looks like she was appointed the spokesperson as a compromise between Lawra and Kira. As per Lynne''s directions, Kira steps forward, mixes her blood with mine and says the oath. She looks happy. Good, I would hate for her to feel pressured by the others. Next Lynne steps forward. We mix blood and I hear the oath again. Lastly Lawra repeats the process. Half way through the oath she is crying, but she struggles on. I am guessing those were happy tear of sorts, so as I accept the oath I give her a hug. Lawra response; "Don''t you dare die on me." I am reminded of what happened to her last boyfriend. He may have been her first husband. As we finish the ceremony Mari disappears out to get our dinner sent to our room. Not the most romantic setting, but soon we are all sitting on the three small beds eating dinner from a small table in the middle of the room. The meal looks abnormally grand for a standard dinner provided by the inn. The girls probably made sure it was better than normal. I am glad they did, after all to me weddings should be grand and spectacular. I ask the girls about weddings and marriage situation. The girls explain that it is common for hunters to have many wives, if they chose to marry. Many don''t as they don''t want to be tied down by the commitment. Lynne reminds me about the high ratio of females in the guild common area. "A lot of female hunters are low rank hunters looking for a high rank hunter to marry." I guess this world has gold diggers as well. Trying not to think on the topic of gold diggers, I ask why there are so many female hunters, especially since so many don''t have combat skills. Lawra gives me a lengthy reasonable explanation: "Many women try to escape whatever their families have in store for them, and run to the guild for shelter and a form of independence. Other women might have lost their male guardian and seek protection with the guild. Being part of the guild, civil status or gender does not matter. The only thing that matters is your ability. There are plenty of strong female hunters, but they are outnumbered by the number of girls becoming members of the guild for protection." The explanation helps, but I still feel like I am missing a lot to understand this society. I will have to learn as I go along. "Thanks, I will have to rely on you girls to explain thinks to me as I learn what it is to live in a society." As we finish our meal, Kira tells me to wait a bit, and slips out into the corridor. Thinking she has had enough preparation I head to the second bedroom. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. As I open the door, I see a naked Kira hurriedly sliding under the duvet. Is my fierce redhead shy? Standing at the end of the bed looking at her peaking out from under the cover, I start tugging at the end of the duvet. Kira pulls at her end. "Stop it!" She is only half serious, but she is definitely shy. Come to think of it I can''t remember her ever bathing in the lake like the other girls, but she was never any more dirty than they. She must have made an effort to bath when I was not around. How refreshing. None of the other girls show have showed any shyness. They would happily change clothes in front of me. I would be the one to insist giving them some privacy. Jumping on top of the duvet I pin her under the duvet. "Are you shy? Why is my fierce warrior princess shy?" Kira''s cheeks are turning as red as her hair. "You might not like my body." She looks insecure. The reliable, fierce and confident girl I know is actually a very pure and innocent young maiden. I really hope my staring at Mari''s growing chest has not made her more insecure. How do I deal with this. Telling her sweet little lies is not something I am comfortable with, nor do I think Kira will appreciate it. Best to try to disarm this with humor. "Is your body horribly scared? That might actually fascinate me. Actually, unless you are hiding a male body under that duvet, I am pretty sure I will be ok with it." The teasing gives her the spark she needs. Kira kicks me off her and removes the duvet to reveal her naked body. "Happy now!" I just hug her and tell her I want her. Later Kira slips out and Lynne comes to the small bedroom. I really wish we could do this over the course of a few nights. My last good nights sleep was at the village days ago. Lynne is far more confident in her feminine charm than Kira without being brash. Ever playing the considerate older sister she tell me to save some energy for Lawra after her. I wish she didn''t bring the other girls up. I want to give her my full attention. Lynne slips out later in the night. Since she didn''t stay too long, I might actually get some sleep. However, next is Lawra. She proves a lot more proactive and passionate. I am reminded she has some experience. "So how did Kira do?" Lawra''s question takes me by surprise. "She was really nervous since it was her first time. It was Lynne''s first time as well, but I think Kira''s upbringing has shielded her and kept her more innocent than the rest of us." Now it makes sense. Kira and Lawra was talking about tonight when I was at the guild. Kira is different because she was raised as a noble. Still I am surprised by how comfortable Lawra is talking about other girls when she is in bed with me. I would prefer not to hear about her relationship with her last boyfriend. I tell Lawra my thoughts. She just laughs and responds; "Of course I would never tell you about any former lover of mine. Boys get jealous and greedy. They want to own, we girls are the ones to be owned so we don''t have those feelings." It sounds like a horribly unbalanced statement to me, but however inaccurate it might be, it still reveals how different this world is to my old world. I might have hoped for some sleep, but I am kept awake by Lawra''s chatting all night. Chapter 30 - Guild tests I am shocked awake by the sudden knocking on the door. Apparently we did fall asleep eventually. It is long past dawn. My first sleep-in. The knocking intensifies. I slip out of my covers to get the door. "Wait!" Lawra is awake throwing me a piece of cloth. I realize I am completely naked, and I was about to open to door to the serving maid on the other side of the door. I can hear her asking if it is ok to come in. Though I am curious as to how inappropriate it is to open the door naked, I relent and wrap the cloth around my waist. I guess some common sense is applicable in this world as well. I ask the maid for a bit more time to get ready. Shortly after we join the others for a very late breakfast in the common area of the inn. "What do you all want to do today?" I get the same response from everyone. They want to come with me for my tests at the guild. Afterwards Lawra has somewhere she wants to take me. She doesn''t want to say where, but the other girls seem to know. I guess the danger of becoming a doormat increases with the number of wives. At the guild I am met by Marka''s cold professional smile. She introduces me to an aging old hunter named Karil. He is the first genuinely old looking person I have met. Using analyze I get his age. 102 years old! He looks old, but not that old. Analyze also tells me something I had not expected. He is releasing lifeforce. It would probably be more accurate to say he is leaking lifeforce. I need to ask the girls about this. It might be something perfectly natural, and I might end up looking like an idiot if I comment on it. Not the best start on a test. Karil takes me out back onto the guild training grounds. He brings me to an armory of training weapons, dulled and none lethal. "Arm yourself with spear and bow, as these are the skill we want to test." I grab a few training spears, a bow and a number of arrows. All but one spear is stored in my soul space. "You do know you have to return them after we are done right?" Karil seems surprised by my actions. "Because I can summon weapons and arrows from my soul storage, I tend to use a lot during a fight." Karil just waves me on. At the archery field I am given three normal arrows and asked to try to hit the bull''s-eye in the middle target. I put two arrows in my storage and get ready. Hitting the target in front of me would be too easy. I need to impress. I also want to show off my quick shooting. In less than a second I put three arrows in three different bull''s-eyes. Karil looks unimpressed. "Not what I asked you to do, but I guess we will increase the difficulty." He gives me three more arrows and show me a wooden target the size of a small potato. "When I tell you to, I want you to hit it with an arrow." Karil throws the two targets in the air, and tell me to hit them. I hit both long before they reach the ground. Next he goes to one of the targets and attaches a blade to it, sharp end facing the archer. "Take out one of your blunt arrows and split it on this knife." Karil stays next to the target and watches my arrow split on the blade. These tests are getting really hard, but the next request takes me completely by surprise. Summoning his own bow from storage along with a sharp looking arrow. "Take your last sharp arrow and shoot down the arrow I am going to shoot at you." Giving me no time to object, he releases his arrow at me. In a split second I anticipate its trajectory, summon the last sharp arrow and fire to intercept. For good measure, I prepare to dodge. My arrow splits Karil''s arrow and both goes spinning out of control. Relaxing my nerves from the last test, I await the next ridiculous request from Karil. What on earth is considered normal archery in this world. Karil faces me holding his bow in his left hand and a stick in his right hand. "Use as many dull arrows as you like, and try to hit me." Finally something I anticipated. Arrows are not bullets, they can be dodged or deflected. Hitting a fast and perceptive opponent in a one on one fight is not as easy as it might seem. I fire off a volley of 7 arrows in quick succession. The first aimed at his crotch. That should get his attention, the second his forehead, the third his right ankle and the remaining four straight at his chest. He deflects the first one with a yelp, dodges the second, but the third hits his ankle, breaks his concentration and let the remaining arrows knock him to the ground. Now, give me your approval old man. After getting up Karil gives me not the slightest bit of comment, but leads me over to another training field where a party of 6 young hunters are waiting. Three boys and three girls. The boys carry various close quarter weapons, all guild training weapons. The girls, look like long distance support. One carry a bow, and the other two carry staves. Unless they plan to fight with those sticks, they are likely mages. "Next I want you to fight all six. You will keep hitting them until I say they are dead." This is just unfair. He probably wants to get back at me for hitting him in the last test. This is like telling me to beat them all up until they don''t dare to stand up again. A tough task against a bunch of energetic teenagers. As we face each other on the field, they form two lines, the three boys at the front and the three girls at the back. If I take too long fighting the three boys, I will have to deal with the magic and arrows from the girls. Two of the boys carry shields, making it even harder to take them out with arrows. I would have to land a lot of arrows to actually knock them down, unless I get a lucky shot. I guess Karil also wants to see me use a spear. I single opponent would have done the trick though. Charging towards the boys I decide on a very unorthodox strategy. Using the strength and agility only possible in this world I summon a long spear with the but end facing forward. Ramming it into the ground a few meters ahead of the boys, I use it as a vaulting pole, but instead of going straight up I aim for an angle to get the range. As I sail over the boys, well out of their reach I summon my bow and send three dull arrows straight at their head. I both feel and hear the satisfying chuck, as they hit their mark. That should keep them distracted while I deal with the girls. As I land an arrow comes at me. The female archer had the wits to fire at the spot I would land and timing it to make a dodge almost impossible. I don''t need to dodge though. Grapping the arrow in the air I string it to my bow and fire it back at her. I fire at the other girls too, but they manage to use some kind of mana shield to block the arrows. The archer is on the ground and I charge the remaining girls with a second spear. The blunt spear takes one of the girls in the stomach practically folding her over the spear. My consciousness stings badly, no one should hit a girl that hard, even in a fight. I swing the end of the spear around and hit the next girl far more lightly with the end of the spear. She also buckles over holding her stomach. I still feel rotten. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I turn to the archer girl that is about to get back on her feet, but seeing me she holds her hands up "I give! I give!" I can''t bring myself to knock her out, so I take the risk and turn my back on her to confront the three boys, who should be fully recovered by now. To my surprise I find Karil standing over the boys hitting them with a stick telling them to stay down, since they are dead. Maybe Karil isn''t so bad. I realize the fight is over and turn to the first girl I practically skewered. Bending down, I ask if the girl is ok, and offer to heal her. While healing her, I am joined by the other mage girl. She seems to know healing as well. "Sorry, I hit you so hard. I wasn''t sure what to expect." When I walk over to the guys, Karil turns to me. "I still haven''t seen much of your spear skill. Wait here I will be right back." While I wait my girls join us. Everyone seem to be up and about, no serious injuries. One of the boy break the silence; "That attack really surprised me." The others agree. The female healer makes her own comment. "You were so scary when you charged us that I almost peed my panties." "Don''t remind me." The other female mage seem embarrassed. "You can''t pee your panties, because you''re not wearing any." The female archer breaks the serious mood completely. They seem like good kids. Speaking to the guys I ask; "Why do you think he pitted me against you guys? I thought he was trying to punish me for knocking him over with my arrows earlier." "Punish you! I was sure he wanted to punish us for being cocky." The response comes from the strongest looking guy. The way the others defer to him, indicates that he leads the group. Karil appears interrupting our chat. With him is a big rough looking guy with a practice spear. Unlike Karil, this guy looks like he is in his prime, and every instinct is telling me that he will be a dangerous opponent. "Your next opponent. You kids can take a break." Karil is short and to the point as always. His face betrays no emotions. Looking at the teenagers, I get a look back saying; he is punishing you not us. The new guy introduces himself as Brute. What an apt name. Using my skills to the best of my ability I analyze the new opponent. His level is more than twice mine. He has body skills similar to mine, and spear skill level 7. I guess this is why Karil picked him as my opponent. I am still not sure if he is testing my skills or if he is trying to give me a hard time. As the fight starts, Brute stands very loosely, not taking any particular stance. It leaves him very open to attack. It almost looks fake. Could be a trap or he could be taking me too lightly. Simulating a faint, I immediately follow with an accurate thrust for his solar plexus. With impressive accuracy Brute deflects the thrust last second and ripostes. Though this isn''t fencing the word riposte seems the most accurate way to describe his attack. I am only saved by the fact that I only committed 50% in my initial attack, giving me just enough time to deflect and retreat. The fight has just started and I already feel pressured. Brute continues with some elegant swinging motions as if he is goading me into attacking again. He deftly flows into a flurry of sharp thrusts. I would be impressed if I wasn''t on the receiving end. Since I have never had to duel with a spear before these moves are all new to me, but with my skill level, I should be able to copy them. It feels like I should hide this trump card. I continue using normal thrusts and moves, picking up all the elegant moves that Brute throws at me. I seem to learn how to deflect the moves just in to time avoid the fight ending. I might be only one skill level below this guy, but he has a lot more experience than I do. I pick up a couple of spear related skills while fighting him, but nothing I can use to get the upper hand. He seems to intensify his attacks and I sense the moment has come to use all the new attacks he has taught me. The first attack seems to surprise him, but not enough. As he is increasingly being put on the back foot by his own moves, I sense that I am loosing the momentum by his accurate deflections. Just as I am about to run out of momentum my skill level increases to 7. The edge that he always seemed to have over me technically, narrows. The fight continues to intensify. Brute makes a mistake. I hope it is a genuine mistake as I commit 100% to the attack and break through his technical defense. Just as I am about to land my hit I feel a strong force hit my spear and it almost goes flying. Both me and Brute step back. I am confused as to what hit my spear. The only thing I can think of is Brute''s spear but it was just suddenly too fast and too strong. Then it hits me. Brute has been going easy on me the whole time. Brute has stopped fighting, and is now addressing me. "I am impressed, you seem to lack some experience, but you skill is really high. In fact, I think it broke through a level when we fought. At the very end I had stop holding back as your technique seemed to equal mine." Brute was on purpose slowing down and holding back his higher strength throughout the fight to test my skill. In a real fight I would never have stood a chance. The difference between a level 9 and a level 21 is massive. Heading back inside, Marka brings me a badge. "Your test and registration is over. Here is your guild badge. I need you to smear your blood on the inside of the badge to activate it." I do as I am told and the badge light up. It must be magic. "As you can see now that the badge is linked to you all you need to do it hold it up, and the light will prove to anyone that you are an active member. You will need to report at the guild at least every three months to charge the badge. If you don''t, you could be accused of faking guild membership." "What does the sign on the badge mean?" Marka looks at me. "Fair point. When you learn to read and write, and I strongly recommend that, you will learn the alphabet. That sign is the letter E. It is fifth in the alphabet and is followed by F." I think I get what she is saying. "So, it is the rank?" Marka almost looks impressed. "We use 6 power rankings in this guild. There are other ranks used by dragon slayers in the northern guilds. Everyone either starts on an E or an F. F rank designates you as a non-combatant. On your own you will not be able to take requests that include danger. E is the next step. To be honest your combat skill is much higher than E, but it is not good to have high power ranking without an adequate trust ranking." Well this is new to me. In fact there is a lot more for me to think about, but first I need to know what trust ranking is. As a senior guild member, Marka know what I need and promptly explain about trust ranking. There are 5 rankings, going from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest. Each have a designation name. These are from 1 to 5: Untrustworthy, Unknown, Reliable, Trustworthy, Veteran. Only hunters in trouble with the guild are classed as Untrustworthy. If not rectified, it could merit an expulsion or more. Everyone starts at Unknown, as you are an unknown factor to us. Based on your reliability, success rating, and most importantly feedback, your trust ranking will go up. With higher trust ranking I can recommend a higher power ranking." "There seems to be no sign on the badge for the trust ranking?" It is the only related question I can think of. Marka''s response is a well rehearsed and informative as always. "The trust ranking is for internal use only. It gives the guild the confidence that it can recommend its members for the tasks given. We do not consider it appropriate to share this with outsiders unless the hunter has been expelled. Expelled hunters are considered pariah and often default to lawlessness." Ouch, going against the guild seems like a bad thing. "What about rankings for dragon slayer?" "Don''t ask, it is pointless for you to know at this point." Chapter 31 - Visit with a bootlicker As we head south east from the guild district we head through the commercial district. The streets are packed with shops, workshops and stalls. This is quite a busy town, and a lot bigger than I first imagined. The town has a lesser lord to oversee it. He along with all other noble authority figures in the region answers to the western duke. Lawra taught me during our late night chat. She didn''t say where we are headed though, just that she wanted to handle it. As we head out of the central commercial district we cross into a somewhat wealthier district in the south. Looks like mostly residential to me, but there are also some more affluent shops. Lawra is still leading the way, but she stops outside one of the residential buildings. After a few knocks with the doorknocker, the door opens. Judging by how quickly Lawra was embraced by the maid who opened the door, this must be her fathers house. So she, didn''t run very far from her father, just across town to the guild. As we are all directed to the lounge, I find myself weary of sitting down on the fine seating. With my rough and somewhat dirty looking clothes I might not make the best impression. Lawra stretches up to whisper in my ear; "Just stand there and look intimidating, and let me do the talking." Shortly after a small portly man dressed in fine clothes enter. He looks unsure as who to address first, looking at his daughter and at me. Probably the effect Lawra was looking for as she starts formal greetings and introduction of the group. When she gets to me she elaborates on my exploits as a hunter. She is making me seem like a fierce strong barbarian that she managed to tame. She emphasis the last bit by stroking my hairy arms seductively. I am feeling a bit embarrassed by the introduction to my now father-in-law. What on earth, or this other world, is she thinking? How is this going to help me get along with her father? Is she just trying to antagonize him? She never spoke particularly badly about her father. If anything, she seemed more worried that she would disappoint her father by coming home. Just as my last thought hits, the father responds with the same elaborate bootlicking I would expect from a crooked trader. Apparently he is pleased that she has married such a strong promising hunter. Not exactly what I had expected. Standing directly opposite me, he addresses me directly. "So tell me how many goblins did you save my daughter from? I know she has a tendency to exaggerate, but with your physique I suspect there is a strong element of truth to what she is saying." He doesn''t seem to be testing me, but I still feel like I need to back up Lawra. "At the time there were 33 goblins left, but I had previously whittled them down from about twice that number. You can check with the guild if you like." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The look in his eye tells me he believes every word I told him. It is the truth after all, but that is no guarantee that it will be believed. Before either of us say anything further, Mari breaks into the conversation. "He is telling the truth. He rescued me from their nest before attacking their raiding party and saving your daughter." I am quite touched by her attempt to defend my credibility, even though it wasn''t necessary. I need to thank her later in private. "Of course I believe him. I was just fishing for some more details. Please excuse my curiosity. Please do join me for noon refreshments while we discuss your future." "Of course we will, father." Lawra has regained her position as the main spokesperson for the group. As we sit down, Lawra wastes no time addressing the main point why she wanted to see her father. "Father, do you still have that old derelict farm house just outside of town?" "Ah, is my daughter showing interest in my business so soon after returning?" "Father, don''t tease." "If you most know, I sold off all the attached land, but the last plot that the farm house sits on don''t seem to sell. The land is not much and the buildings are old. I have been thinking of fixing it up to increase its value." "Well, it so happens that we are looking for a place to settle down, and my hubby has all sorts of handy skill. I have seen him build all kinds of things. If you let us live there, we can fix the place up." I get what she is doing now. I did mention to her last night that I wanted to establish a base here near the guild, and I didn''t want us all to live cramped. I expected that we would need to live outside the town walls. We should be far enough away from any danger, but I can always fortify it. An old farm house would be perfect actually. "What a great idea my dear daughter. I would love to have you stay there, but why not take this further. It would seem that I never got a chance to offer your husband a dowry for marrying my precious daughter. Why don''t we make the farmhouse the dowry. I know the place is not in a good state at the moment, but let me also lend you the necessary tools." I am quite amazed at how well this is going. Best to leave it to Lawra I guess. I need to ask her later, why he is being so generous. I don''t actually believe he loves his daughter this much, he seems too much like a greedy business man. As we leave, a servant boy from the house leads us out of town to the derelict farm house. It isn''t so much a farmhouse as a series of connected wooden buildings forming a horseshoe, with a fence at the end. The main building has two floors, but the stairs and floor look so worn out that I don''t dare going upstairs at this point. "So what do you girls think?" For once Lawra stays quiet. I guess she wants to know as much as me. After all it was her effort that got us this place. "It is so big!" Lynne is clearly impressed by the size of the buildings. "Needs a bit of work, but this can become a great base." Kira seems to approve. Everyone turn to Mari, who just stutters out that she thinks it is great. She clearly would have been happy with a lot less. Chapter 32 - Our new home It rained that night as if nature was testing our happiness of finding a new home. After not the best nights sleep we all crawl out from the dry corners we scurried to the night before. Even if we have to sleep cramped for a bit, I need to get one part of the roof fixed at least. As we wake up we notice yesterdays servant boy standing outside with a big box. As I head over, the boy explains that within the box are the tools that Lawra''s father promised to lend us. With the message delivered, the boy runs back to town. Inside the box we find all the tools we could want for building and repairing a house. This will help us a lot, but we don''t have any raw materials to fix the house with. I start by surveying the house. The opening of the horseshoe points east, roughly towards town. The northern building looks like an old workshop. It even has an old furnace attached at the end. The fence is barely standing, but the main outer wall looks to all be made of solid timber logs like the holdfast I saw in the village. The farmhouse looks like a smaller version of the holdfast with one side missing. It is unclear what the southern building was for, but the main building has multiple rooms that can be made livable. Starting with the northern most corner of the main house I check all the beams and the overall carrying structure. I don''t find any major flaws. The main issue is the roof and the leaks that have rooted away the floor boards. The roof is covered with tiles, but a number of these tiles are missing and broken. I decide to collect unbroken tiles from the northern and southern buildings, but as I start looking at the wooden roof framework, it seems I need to replace some sections of it. Though collecting tiles was relatively quick with my storage, it is already noon. After eating I head into town with Lawra to buy some supplies for the carpentry work needed on the roof. On the journey I ask Lawra about her fathers motives. "You might not know but most businesses try to cultivate good relationships with the guild. Association with the guild provides a level of protection as it is well known that the guild takes care of their own. Technically the only ones who are their own are their members, but business partners are also shown a level of preference. No criminal elements would dare to mess with them. There is also a matter of prestige, as working with the guild is seen as a sign that your business has a higher standing in society. My father has always coveted better relations with the guild, but his style of business is generally not liked by the guild." "What do you mean by style of business?" I think I know the answer, but it would be better for Lawra to explain. "He both lends and invests, but never without having a level of collateral or insurance to ensure his own profit, while his business partners or borrowers carry all the risk. He got rich taking advantage of people who did not understand the risks they were taking." "And what do you think of this?" "I hate it, I want to prove to my father that it is possible to get rich without stepping on people." Lawra seems genuinely upset. "Do you know what happens to merchant daughters when their fathers go bankrupt?" This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Lawra''s last question leaves me a bit stumped. I don''t know, and I am not sure I want to know. "The fathers sell their daughters into slavery as their last asset to save themselves. It happened several times with father''s business partners. Some of those girls were my friends!" Sounds like she is against slavery, but I know too little about how it works to comment on it. I put an understanding hand on her shoulder and stay quiet. We pick up the supplies and head back a different route. This route takes us to the eastern most part of the commercial district. These stalls sell different wares. One in particular, slaves. They all look to be young women, not all are human, roughly half are different races, and by races I mean elves and animal people. I suddenly realize that I am staring. Sure enough a number of guys I know would call this a feast for the eyes as all the slaves are naked, but I just feel guilty. I hope Lawra didn''t see me staring. If she asks I will just say that I stared because it is the first time I have seen none humans, even though I know that there is another reason I stared as well. "If you want to buy a slave girl, we should probably finish the house first." Lawra''s comment cuts through my thoughts and catches me by surprise. "Aren''t you against slavery?" The response is out before I can think. Lawra looks at me funnily; "You mean because of my friends. I am not against slavery, just fathers who force their daughters into slavery. There are some women who sell themselves into slavery to save their family from ruin, but they choose it. Also, while male criminals are all executed, female ones are just enslaved. However, my favorite reason for maintaining slavery is for the demi-humans not to go extinct." Her explanation takes me by surprise. "What do you mean by the last one?" Lawra continues to explain. Humans and demi-humans have never been able to live side by side peacefully, but have you seen how cute demi-human kids are? As slaves they are allowed to live, and a good master will treat them better than any life they could have had in the wild. Also, most demi-humans were born into slavery. Though losing your freedom can be hard, if you never had freedom in the first place there is nothing stopping you from being happy as a slave." So demi-humans are races that need to be protected from extinction by slavery? My cynical thoughts are clearly marked by the values of my past life. Do I let it, or do I go with the flow. "Does that mean that you want me to buy a demi-human slave girl, so you can adore the kids I have with her?" Unashamedly, Lawra smiles and says yes. "I won''t allow you to sell them until they are all grown up." The last comment from Lawra shocks me even more. "I might buy a slave one day, but I intend to give her a good life along with my wives, and I will certainly not sell her or her children to anyone ever." Chapter 33 - Contracting work After spending a couple of days fixing the main house, making it liveable, I figured it was time to get to the guild for work. We still have some savings from my first interaction with the guild. Come to think of it, my second bow is still at the guild. I never heard the outcome of that assessment. Early the following morning me, Lynne and Kira head to the guild to look for work. Lawra and Mari stay at the house to make it a bit more liveable. Neither are suited for hunter work. I better find some projects for them. We arrive early enough that there are hardly any queues. The girls explained that there are many different jobs you can get through the guild. The board I spotted at the entrance the first time I was here look to be for open requests. Since I can now read, what only days ago looked like random scribbling make sense to me. I am still amazed it only took me two days to learn to read. As soon as I learned the alphabet, it all fell into place. Kira''s tutoring was pretty good as well. There are details for certain herbs and plants that are in short supply, bounties for criminals and other jobs that are always in need of doing. We have a look at the board, but nothing sticks out as a suitable job for either of us at the moment. I did notice one note though, a number of young girls have been missing in town recently. No sign of bodies. Kidnapping assumed to be the cause. Likely to be a rogue slave handler. Assistance leading to resolution will be rewarded by town nobility. I guess hunters, deal with all sorts. Lynne sees me reading the note. "It happens, people looking for a quick profit target the poor, and only when the parents of the poor girls join together to appeal to the lord does this happen." There doesn''t seem to be any police in this world. "Will you and Kira be in any danger." Lynne smiles at me. "There is little chance that a criminal will target hunters. They are afraid of how the guild members will react. However, ever since me and Kira became your wives it became impossible for us to be targeted by a rogue slave trader." How does me marrying the girls make them immune to slave traders? Lynne knows I am struggling to figure it out, and she seems to enjoy having the knowledge that I need. Cheeky girl. She relents and tells me the reason. "All slaves are bound by a magic slave contract. It is a far more binding contract than a marriage oath. However, the slave contract and the marriage oath can''t co-exist. A married woman can''t be made a slave, since the oath is in effect until she or her husband dies. As long as you are alive I am safe." I assume this is something that everyone knows as common sense here. There are still too many gaps in my knowledge. I guess I know too little about this world to go about solving crimes. We head for the counter looking for advice on a suitable job. Looks like most job requests go through the receptionists. Makes sense. The guild wants to allocate someone they have confidence can do the job. The same applies for any tasks like dealing with beasts etc. I guess their file on me is their greatest tool. At the counter Lynne heads up first and is quickly assigned a suitable dismantling job. Looks like a steady occupation, but I guess it depends on how much is brought in, so contracting work is required to deal with the ups and downs in demand. Me and Kira approach separate receptionists. My receptionist is someone I haven''t met before. I tell her about the bow I left for appraisal, and she quickly disappears out the back. A few moments later she comes back with my file and bow. "There were a few updates to your file since last you were in. Let me go through them. Karil with Brute''s support recommend that you are given a level 3 Advanced mark on your spearmanship, with a note that you are close to level 4 Expert. Karil was very impressed with your archery skill. He can only confirm level 4 Expert for archery, but he thinks you are higher. For now we will put you as level 4 with a note that level 5 Master to be assessed at earliest opportunity." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The receptionist takes a break from my file and offers her own congratulations on the improved rating. She insists that these are exceptionally high for a new hunter. I just node and she moves on to the appraisers comments. "The appraiser was extremely impressed by the quality of the bow, especially considering the relatively common materials used. For someone to be self taught this level of skill is likely a level 4 Expert, but after consultation with Marka, it is also likely that you have a general crafting skill." Well that was a bit more vague. I am fully aware I got the crafting skill, but I can''t just tell them as that would mean explaining my analysis skill, which I suspect is even more rare. The receptionist tries to explain the decision by the guild. "We are happy to confirm a level 3 Advanced bowmaking skill, but would like further evidence to prove it to be higher. The same applies to the crafting skill, if you have one. Since we only have a little information to go on, we need to reserve judgment, but I assure you this is all very positive." Not quite what I was expecting, but I guess she is right. In time I will be able to convince them of the level of my skills. "I was also looking for work in town based on my skill set. I am planning to stay around for a bit longer, while I get settled into my new home." The receptionist goes to one of the boards behind the counter, and comes back. "There aren''t any bow related craftsmen in need of support at the moment. However, I do have a blacksmith who is so desperate for support he is willing to take any promising candidate on short term. He is trying to fill a significant order within the next few days. It could be just the test the guild needs to prove your craftsmanship skill. Even if you are a complete novice to blacksmithing, if you pick it up quick, it is a good indicator." The smithing job seems perfect. I know how quickly I pick up skills already, and I always wanted to learn smithing. The workshop in the farmhouse can be set up for smithing in the future as well. Accepting the job, I turn to Kira, who shakes her head indicating that she couldn''t find anything suitable today. Surely someone would appreciate a level 1 healer, but I guess people ignore scrapes and bruises in this world. Disease seems rare, which I find very strange. We say goodbye to Lynne. Kira is showing me the way to the blacksmith which is on the other side of town. Looking around as we are walking I decide to try using the analyze skill to explore this new world. Analyze usually just tell me what I already know, but some times it reveals thing I only suspect. It is these little nuggets I am looking for. The ones I find are surprising. Several of the young raggedly dressed boys I see around town are in fact girls dressed as boys. I ask Kira about it. "I am surprised you noticed. It is common for poor families to dress their young girls like boys. Young girls can be kidnapped and made into slaves, and since poor families can''t always keep an eye on them, they hide them." "What if their disguise is poor enough for most to see through it?" "Then there is a good chance that someone will take advantage of that fact." It is quite a disturbing fact, but it also gives me an idea. "Tell me Kira, of all the girls dressed as boys around us now, which one is the worst?" Kira looks around and nodes her head towards a petite figure tip toeing through some mud. It is clearly a girl dressed as a boy. A cute feminine face, none boyish mannerisms. A likely next target for the rogue slave trader. Using my alert skill marker I mentally place it on the girl. I want to see if I can attach it to a person. For a long moment I stand still waiting to see if the marker moves on my menu map. It does! If that girl is kidnapped I should get an alert and I can track her down. Turning towards Kira, she looks curious. I could send her to track the girl, but there would be no point. If she starts looking for clues to the slave trader, she might put herself in danger while I am not around. I will just ask her to look after the others at the house. We arrive outside a busy looking workshop. Several young boys are running around doing errands and working the bellows. A couple of young men are readying equipment, while the blacksmith himself is standing in the middle shouting orders. I say goodbye to Kira and go to introduce myself. Chapter 34 - Blacksmithing "The guild sent me over as a candidate to assist you with some smithing work. I must admit that I have never done smithing, but I am skilled working with other materials and generally good with my hands." Considering my complete lack of smithing skill I am expecting some resistance, but he just nodes his head. "Let''s see how you do then." "Rade, come over her." One of the two apprentices come over at the command. "Rade here will show you how we do the shaping work for the weapons we are making. If you can master the shaping work, you have earned your wage." Rade takes me further to the back of the workshop. Several bars of steel are laid out a sample sword is on display. I assume that this is what we are making. "First we heat up one of the bars, then we hammer it out into the shape needed. Make sure to heat it regularly. When you are done Master will check the overall shape before you start making the blood grooves. Master will inspect again before taking over for the heat treatment." Makes sense that the blacksmith will do the heat treatment and check the work of the apprentices throughout. Still most of the smithing process is seemingly within my remit. As soon as Rade shows me the first one, I start hammering away. I get the notification that I got the smithing skill quite quickly. Still, nothing replaces experience. With the strength and stamina acquired in the wilderness I keep going far beyond the intensity that Rade can manage. I seem to be passing the quality checks. I keep going until the blacksmith comes and tells me to stop. Looking around, I realize it is already evening. "I greatly appreciate your efforts, but smithing work is banned from this points onwards to give the gentile town folk a good night sleep." The apprentices disappear home shortly after. I am left with the smith and joined by his wife who offers us some food. "Please have some, after all you worked all day without a break. Not seen many do that." Looks like my hard work has impressed the boss. "Now that Rade is gone, I guess I can tell you that you overtook his level of quality late in the afternoon. Tomorrow I would like you to work the same job on your own. I will set Rade to assist myself, as I am struggling to keep up with the work you two were doing today." Looks like I got an ongoing job here. I get back to the farmhouse late in the evening. Though the girls are keen to know how it went today, I am ready for bed after a quick meal. The following morning as I am leaving the house I notice a tilled field outside the house, looks like the girls have started a project on their own. Though it is early the workshop is preparing to start production. I take my post as if I am an old cog in the machine. By the time the blacksmith is up and running with his tempering I have a small stack of work for him. It is still morning when my alert goes off. Looking at the map for my alert marker I can see that the girl I placed the marker on is outside the town walls and currently in close proximity to one individual and moving quickly towards the north side of the town walls. I need to get out there quickly. Turning to the blacksmith I dread to ask my boss for some time off this early in our work relationship. I explain that I have to deal with an emergency and I will be back as soon as possible. The blacksmith grumpily accepts telling me to be back before he clears my stack. That should give me an hour at most. I head off at a sprint towards the eastern exit of the town. As I head out the gates I turn north. There seems to be no exit from the town on the north side. Because of this, there are hardly any people in this area. As I approach the marker I notice a big man carrying a sack on his shoulder. The marker indicate the girl is inside. As an experienced hunter, I stalk my prey. As I follow the man into a small forest, a small camp comes into sight. There is a horse and a wooden carriage. Not a fancy carriage, it looks like a shack on wheels, just more sturdy. The door is bolted. The kidnapper is met by a couple of other guys. One of them looks like the boss. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. After inspecting the unconscious girl, the rogue slave trader has her locked in the wagon shack. I can see a number of girls on the inside. They are suspiciously quiet. Confident that I have found the culprits, I confront them. As they see me approaching, the two big assistants head towards me, looking intimidating. I summon my bow and pin their feet to the ground with an arrow per foot. The previously confident slave trader pales and turns to run. I consider putting an arrow up his behind, but pierces his leg instead. With all culprits crippled I open the wagon and see seven young girls. Six of them stare at me in silence. The seventh is still unconscious. I ask them to leave the wagon, assuring them that I will be taking them home. None respond. Must be the slave seal. Not sure what to do, I tie the injured men to the side and the roof of the wagon and roll back to the east entrance. At the east entrance I confirm my identity as a hunter with the guild and explain that these are the kidnappers the lord is looking for. The guards let me through and instruct me to head to the guild. I stop outside the guild and go straight to the reception. The receptionist wonders why I seem to be in such a hurry. I explain that I need to get back to my day job. She understands, but asks me to be back around noon. "I will try." Back at the workshop the blacksmith approaches me, as he is now out of swords to temper. "So what was this emergency." He does not look pleased. I explain the situation with the kidnapped girls, and that I set a trap for the kidnappers the previous day and had them tailed to their hideout. I am mostly concerned about how to explain away my alert skill. The blacksmith seems less interested in the latter part of the explanation. "You should have told me. One of my friends is missing a daughter." The blacksmith is actually smiling. "So you managed to do all that in the short time you were away?" "Yes, I rushed it all so I could get back though the guild would like for me to come back at noon. "No problem, I am coming with you." I am well pleased with the reaction, and get working with renewed vigor. So far my impression of people is that they look out for themselves and no one else, but there looks to be exceptions. Around noon, the blacksmith and I head to the guild. Outside a number a parents are reunited with their daughters. The blacksmith go and speak to his friend, while I head to the reception. The receptionist debriefs me fully and explain the things I did not understand. The six girls that did not speak or move had all been given the slave mark, and told to sit still in the wagon. The mark forced them to obey. The slave trader had the ownership, and though ownership can be changed, he had been summarily executed at the first opportunity, removing the restrictions put on the girls. "Can the slave mark be removed?" "Unfortunately not. A slave mark lasts until the death of the slave. I take it you have never been exposed to slavery since you grew up in the wilderness." The wilderness story saves me again. "I met no people until recently so slavery is an unknown to me." The receptionist seems more than willing to explain. "Only women are enslaved." She hesitates, as if debating with herself whether or not to voice her personal view on this point, then continues. "Slaves form three categories, criminals made into slaves, slaves born into slavery and women sold into slavery by their guardians for monetary reasons. A father own his daughter for as long as they live. The marriage oath breaks this and makes her the property of the husband. The oath guards her from slavery, as the oath and the slave contract can not co-exist." The last bit is a confirmation of what Lawra told me. The receptionist continues, "Good parents will never wish to sell their daughters into slavery." She nods her head towards the girl I watched getting kidnapped. The cute girl is clearly adored by her parents, who can''t stop hugging her. "However, in desperate times the daughter might actually offer to sell herself to save the family. The more common story is that of the bad fathers who sees their daughters as their emergency savings. If a man wish to marry them, he might still demand a dowry equal to the cost of a slave." Looking at the parents, one man and his daughter sticks out. He does not look relieved to have his daughter back, just annoyed that she got taken in the first place. He catches my stare and approaches me. "Would you like to buy my little girl, she already has the slave mark, she is a bit skinny, but I am sure she will grow into the curvy woman that her mom is." His misunderstanding of my stare and sales pitch takes my by surprise. This is the sad future for some of the girls that I just saved. Maybe I just saved their parents their life savings. A depressing thought. Chapter 35 - A new personal project Back at the workshop I continue hammering my thoughts away until silent hour. As the workshop goes quiet, the apprentices disappear home. The blacksmith is finishing off the last few tempering jobs. He calls me over. "Let me show you how to temper a steel sword to make it more than a toy." He shows me the finer details on how to temper the steel to make it tough rather than brittle. I notice he is using some oily looking substance for the quenching. Knowing a bit about alloys from my old life, I ask the blacksmith about it. He responds with a surprising amount of knowledge about different rocks that can be added to get a good alloy. Turns out the steel bars I have been working with were all made by him when business was slow. He stocks them up between orders. He might not have the tools or understanding to measure the carbon content of the steel, but he seems to have the experience to get good result regardless. After the evening chat with the blacksmith I head home to the girls. At home I tell them all about my little adventure catching kidnappers. Their very positive response washes away any negative thoughts that are left. My desire to become a good father turns into a long night of baby making. I guess I am a bit selfish for wanting my own kids, rather than buying someone else''s. The next several days I continue to work for the blacksmith. The large sword order comes to completion, and I am shown some new jobs, that have stacked up during the large order. After hammering the same shape for days, I am loving the variation. I am picking up a number of related skills from my co-workers, the blacksmith in particular. The second day doing odd jobs, the blacksmith calls me over in the morning. He brings me to a table with what looks like the framework of a crossbow. "A friend of mine asked me to build him a crossbow. I figured I had the technical skills to do it, but I am not sure I have the woodworking skills. Do you know anything about crossbows?" I explain my related experience, and happily agree to work with him on this project. Half way through the process I acquire an interesting skill, mechanic. With the backlog of work done, the blacksmith sends his apprentices home early on a late afternoon. People work long hours in this world, the blacksmith''s generosity is greatly appreciated by his staff. The apprentices earn a steady pay with bonuses for big jobs. The blacksmith indicates for me to sit down with him and offers me a drink. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "I am very happy with your work. For someone who has never worked with metal, you are a natural. Though I am currently not in need of an apprentice, I would gladly take you on at the first opportunity." I decline his offer, I am predominantly a hunter. "I figured you would say that." The smith is clearly not surprised. "If you are in need of help, and I am free, I will happily come and work for you again." My offer is accepted, though I know with me being a contractor my wages will be higher and he will only request my help through the guild when the work allows him to. "I could pay you the previously agreed wage here, but considering your skill I would rather consult with the guild about your actual worth and pay you a wage that reflects your work." So I am getting paid more, if I let him go to the guild. I see no problem with that and agree. Back at the farmhouse I finally see the small fields around the house in daylight. The girls are busy working the fields. Only Lynne is missing. She is probably still doing dismantling work. Mari seems to be the one in charge. Why did I ever worry about finding jobs for her to make her feel useful. She is already the perfect proverb 31 wife. I am pretty sure she wants kids as well. I ask if I can help, and get directed back to working on the house. With the main building roof and ground floor in good shape I turn my attention to the roof of the northern building. If I am going to get started with my new project, I will need to get my workshop up and running. To get the roof done I need more tiles. Good thing I got experience making tiles. I still got good quality clay from my forest home in my storage. It is really useful to have a seemingly unlimited storage that freeze time for the items stored. No need for a fridge or anything, though my storage level seems quite uncommon. After I finish making the kiln, Lawra joins me looking for something to do. I show her how to make clay tiles. With two the job goes quicker, and I soon leave Lawra to oversee the making and baking of the clay tiles, while I start working on the wooden framework of the workshop roof. By the time I finish there are a number of tiles for me to lay out, and by dusk the roof is finished. I am reluctant to finish because of the dark, now that I got a plan in mind. Using a combination of oil lamps and luminescent flora I light up my workshop. The combination of the two provide a well light working environment. Using the borrowed tools I put together some working tables. Next I start working on a simple crossbow. Chapter 36 - A little party "Kira, would you follow me out back." Early the next morning I lead Kira to the back of the house. There are no exits to the west side of the main farm house, which means that it is the least traversed part of the building. Summoning the crude but functional crossbow I built last night, I hand it to Kira. "This is just an early model, but I figured a crossbow would be a good weapon for you to learn to help increase your firepower. You are already very accurate with knives, which is a solid close quarter backup weapon, but you need a new main weapon." Kira seems to understand where I am getting at. She doesn''t seem to take offence at my qualified critique. That was my biggest fear. "In time I want to build a quick draw crossbow to speed up your firing rate, but for now you can practice accuracy. Also, see if you can learn how to reload by summoning the bolts from soul storage the way I do." Kira points the crossbow at a tree in the distance and fires. It hits it. "Great shot for a first attempt." I am eager to encourage Kira''s use of the new weapon. Kira grudgingly admits; "I was aiming for the tree next to it." As I teach Kira how to summon bolt straight onto the crossbow, a boy comes running up to us at full speed. When he catches his breath he tells me that the guild would like to see me as soon as possible for a potential job. The boy looks ready to run back to the guild, before he does I stop him. "I will race you." A typical boyish grin crosses his face. He obviously thinks that he can beat me. At the guild I arrive slightly ahead of the exhausted messenger boy. I feel nicely warmed up. Marka sees what we have been doing. "Silly boys! Now you have worn out my messenger". The last bit was clearly directed at me. "Makes me wonder if you really deserve your new trust ranking." Seems after my latest activities I have been deemed reliable. My guild ranking should hopefully go up soon. Marka indicates for me to follow her. As we walk she tells me that Alain was very happy with my work, and upped my pay grade. Who was Alain again? She continues by telling me that my file has been updated with beginner level 1 smithing and crafting skills. Oh, Alain is the blacksmith. Never was very good with names. Only beginner level 1. I picked up close to a dozen related smithing skills while working there, and my blacksmith skill is actually into intermediate level 2 according to the guild chart, level 3 according to the real level as shown by my menu. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Where are we heading?" I finally ask as we go up the stair to the upper floor. "I am taking you to the guild library to introduce you to some people." "There is a library here?" "Yes, knowledge is important, though most young hunters seem to ignore it. Have you learned to read yet?" "I have." She actually seems a bit impressed, but I could be wrong. Inside the library I meet three guys, Dain, Lak and Teckar. Teckar is the leader. He carries two short swords and a shield. He seems friendly enough. Lak on the other hand is very friendly and chatty. Seems like the two of them have been hunting together for a long time. Lak has a massive two-handed axe strapped to his back and a couple of short ones on his waist. Dain does not appear to carry any weapons. He looks up from his book. Not the friendliest guy. With first impressions out of the way, I look forward to finally making some male hunter friends. As there are no one else in the little library, we sit down around the table in the middle of the room. The room is clearly meant for reading, as is the table, but it seems to work for this meeting. Marka starts off indicating to the three guys: "This party lead by Teckar has been looking for a fourth member for an urgent task in the wilderness south-west of here. While they were discussing what kind of fourth member they needed, I suggested I introduce yourself. As you have now earned a decent reputation, it is about time you take on work with other hunters." It would have been nice if she could have prepped me before the meeting, but I guess this is a test in itself. Teckar addresses me: "We have been informed that you are more than competent with a spear and quite exceptional with a bow. Is it true that you learned all this by living in the wilderness alone?" Nice of him to phrase the question like that. I can wholeheartedly confirm that I did learn the skills on my own in the wilderness. Addressing the guys I ask them: "What were the needs you guys wanted to cover with a fourth party member?" Lak interrupts; "We could do with a healing mage, since Dain here is an offensive mage, but our leader is keen on having someone who can scout for us, and be handy in a fight." Dain also speaks up; "Someone with a decent soul storage would be nice to help ferry the loot and prey. It is not like I can cram a dozen dead orcs into my storage." Looks like the task is hunting orcs. I start with the needs I can cover only partially. "Though I do know some healing magic, it is only a little, and I am still learning. Marka can attest to my soul storage being abnormally big. However, my strongest contribution to your party would be as someone who has lived and survived in the wilderness. I have knack for spotting danger and dealing with it." "Do you cook too?" The final question from Lak is clearly meant as a joke. Teckar seems pleased; "We take a carriage south-west at noon. Please meet us at the east gate outside the transport house." Chapter 37 - A new journey Before going back to the farm to inform the girls, I do some shopping. I get some steel tipped arrows at a fletcher stall. I spend time testing the elasticity of each arrow shaft and put them in my storage. I could make them myself, but I don''t have the time at the moment, and I need something better than my flint arrows if I am to impress my new party members. As I pay the fletcher assistant, the young man speaks up. "Looks like you know your arrows. Only rarely do I see archers spend as much time as you selecting arrows." Strange, I would have expected even an amateur archer to know about archer''s dilemma. Back at the farm I tell the girls about my meeting and the arrangements. "Teckar and Lak are both C rank hunters. For them to accept an E rank as an equal party member they must see potential in you." Kira''s comment interests me. I can see the logic in pairing me up with experienced and high ranking hunters to help me advance in the ranks quickly. I guess Marka is really looking out for me. "Yes, as soon as I said what I can do for them, they told me about the job as if my acceptance was assumed." Kira grins. "Get used to it. There is an unspoken rule in the guild that high ranking members can boss around the junior members as long as it is on the guild''s terms." At the east gate I meet up with the others. They indicate for me to follow them. As we approach a large wagon with four attached horses, I see a number of people getting into the wagon. It seems to be like a bus. It looks like a slightly longer version of the old western settler wagons. Inside people are packed in like sardines. No room to stretch your legs. "Get in, with no delays this will get us to the frontier village south-west of here by early morning." Teckar instructs us to get on. Looks like fees have already been paid. Party expenses I guess. The wagon sets off at a trot. It is a good pace, though I would be able to keep up if I ran. It isn''t a particularly comfortable ride. It must have shown on my face, as Lak grins at me. "Your first time on one of these?" I nod. "Quite handy these. They provide cheap and quick transportation between villages and towns. I think the company that runs it has a monopoly. Rumor has it that the company owner got the monopoly by offering to ferry troops for the crown for free." Interesting bit of knowledge that. I have noticed that the trot the horses are keeping is relentless. Lak explains that these horses have been bred specifically to be able to maintain a trot for more than a day. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it After a rough night''s sleep in the wagon, we arrive very early in the morning at the frontier village. It looks as heavily fortified as the other village I saw further up north. The wagon stops outside the gates and the people get off. While all the other passengers are queuing to get into the village we set off along the outside of the stockade to get to the western side of the village and head off into the wilderness. Teckar sets a brisk pace. As the terrain gets more rough, I ask Teckar if he wants me to scout ahead. We should be running into beasts any time soon. Teckar gives me a direction and I head off. With the exception of a few minor beasts I take care of while scouting we arrive at a farmhold deep in the wilderness by evening. We must have walked at least 50 kilometers that day. In this world people seem to measure things by different measurements. Paces and foot are also used. There is a clear lack of uniformity. At the farmhold I notice that the main gate has recently been repaired. Inside we meet the few families that live there. An old man, presumably their leader addresses us. They thank us for coming so quickly. It has been less than a week since the orcs raided the farmhold. For a raided settlement I don''t see a lot of signs of death or fighting. The elder''s explanation fills me in. The orc group broke in, killed anyone who resisted and took whatever supplies they wanted. Teckar tell us to settle in, as we have been given quarters to stay in. The people at the farmhold seems relived that we are here and are in no hurry to send us after the orcs. Teckar accepts their hospitality and starts gathering information to plan our hunt for the orcs. While he is busy, Lak shows me how to fight with axes. Dain sits in a corner reading a book. This is my first chance to really talk with Lak, since I was scouting the whole walk here. "Why are we in no hurry to chase after the orcs?" I ask Lak. "Orcs are known to be a warrior race, they go raiding not for loot, but to find worthy opponents to fight. The raiding is just part of it. They see no reason to kill weak civilians unless they get in their way or annoy them." That explain why the rest of the people in the farmhold were spared. In the evening Teckar explains his finding to us. "No girls were taken so, they most likely do not have contact with any goblins. Still they are quite far from the mountain wall to be acting so brazenly. They must know that hunters will come for them." "You know what they are like, they raid a farm, wait for hunters to come and have a nice fight." Lak''s explanation is a lot more easy going. I am starting to appreciate Teckar''s thoughtfulness. He is clearly weighing up all the risks. Teckar still looks a bit uncomfortable with the situation as he turns towards me. "We will be needing your tracking skills tomorrow as we go looking for them." Chapter 38 - Orc hunting The next morning we head out to track down the orcs. This time our pace is much slower. Since it has already been a week since the raid, we only have a few clues as to where they are. Lak seems to think it would be a good idea to stand on the highest hill and shout out a challenge to the orcs. That might actually work. Teckar prefers to have the element of surprise. A band of a dozen or so orcs should make decent tracks, so it shouldn''t be that hard. Days pass. At regular intervals, Lak decides to have a sparing match with me. I don''t get much say in the matter. Teckar and Dain always seem to disappear when we do, so I suspect me and Lak is bait for any watching orcs. I am getting proficient in both the use of Lak''s great axe and the smaller tomahawk sized axes he carry at his waist. As we traverse the wilderness we look for clues. Tracking is kind of hard if you got nothing to work with. We find a small cave. Too small for orcs Teckar informs me. My map and alert is not picking up anything, but I have always been a bit unsure of how much the map can tell me about what is under ground. Dain approaches the cave and send out a mana wave. It bounces off the cave walls and continues down the cave. Shortly afterwards Dain informs us that there are no significant creatures in the cave. That really looked like some form of radar or echo magic to me. One morning Teckar leads us up to a small plateau on a hill. A perfect place to be spotted. It seems Teckar is fed up of hunting for orcs, and taking Lak''s advice. The hill looks defensible, with good visibility in all directions. I observe Dain doing magic, when he lays down some magic traps around the hill. He leaves a small opening on one side. "What can we expect from these traps?" My question seem reasonable to me, but Dain just answers, that they will save my life. Instead Teckar explains the plan. Him and Lak will be facing the opening, while me and Dain use ranged attacks. The traps will make it almost impossible for orcs to approach us from any different direction. Lak, Teckar and me start sparring. We keep it light, but noisy. Dain is keeping lookout. I get a chance to see how Teckar fights with sword and shield. He is using the round metal rimmed shield more as and offensive weapon than the sword at times. You would never think of him as a defensive fighter with his particular style. When not borrowing a weapon from either Lak or Teckar I use one of my spears. They seem to find it hilarious that I am using flint tipped spears. At about noon my alert picks up a lone unknown figure observing us in the distance. I have never met an orc, so my analyze skill isn''t able to determine what the creature is. I signal to Teckar what I am sensing someone watching. Teckar stops the sparing and we all sit down with Dain. To anyone looking it seems like we are taking a break, but what we are really doing is sharing intelligence on our observer. I report that I can sense him sneaking away. Teckar sends me and Lak to look at the tracks. We make sure to head down the hill between the marked rocks so as not to run into Dain''s traps. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I quickly get to the spot where our observer previously stood. Lak confirms that the tracks are from an orc. "What now? Do we track them down, or do with wait at the hill?" Lak responds; "I say we wait at the hill, but it is Teckar''s decision." Back at the camp Teckar confirms that we will hold our ground. With Dain''s traps we are well prepared for a frontal assault. Less than an hour later, my alert picks up many figures heading in our direction. "The orcs are here." I notify the rest of the team, and we take up position. I have positioned a large boulder near the front for me stand atop of. Dain seems to think it is a bad idea. "You make a nice target up there." I counter; "Don''t worry, I will join you on the ground if it gets to hot up here." I am not sure how my friendly remark to his snide remark is taken, but he goes quiet. The orcs appear at the bottom of the hill. Sure enough there are 12 of them. Most are equipped with simple weapons, but some seem to have looted better weapons. One carries a massive two-handed great axe like Lak. He is going on the top of my target priority list. The orcs themselves look a bit like a Schwarzenegger inspired version of the goblins. Taller, bigger and stronger. They look healthier as well. They seem to have about the same level of intelligence as a hobgoblin. Instead of charging up the hill as they arrive, they form a battle line and charge up as one. Only two in the middle of the line avoid the traps, the rest find their feet sinking into the ground of the hill, and those who push forward get an electric shock. It will take a very determined orc to outflank us. Lak and Teckar engages the two approaching orcs, while I take down one orc after another stuck in the mud like substance Dain made. Their surprise at the trap makes them easy targets. Shots to the head and neck kill them instantly. I hear Dain shouting fireball below. I see a glowing orb shooting out into the mass of orcs trying to enter the narrow corridor to face Lak and Teckar. It hits one of them in the chest, and an ear piercing squeal stings in my ears. It didn''t explode like I thought it would, nor did it look like a fireball. I need to ask Dain afterwards. The last orc drops to one of my arrows. Considering we went up against 12 orcs, the fight seemed quite easy. Both Lak and Teckar were more than a match for any of the orcs one on one, and thanks to Dain''s magic, they never had to face more than one each at a time. "That went a lot quicker than expected." Lak''s comment is followed by Teckar giving me credit for killing 7 of the 12 orcs. Dain killed one with his fireball, and Lak and Teckar took out 2 each. Teckar picks up the great axe from the dead orc. My first kill. "I am glad I didn''t have to face this guy. Here, this is yours." Teckar hands me the great axe. Lak approves. Turning to Dain I try to engage him in conversation about his magic. "That was a terrifying piece of projectile you hit that orc with." My complement seem to work. "It was just a mana orb of heated air charged with lightning." His explanation is meant to confuse and make himself sound intelligent, but I instantly recognize some of the ingredients for making plasma. He fired a plasma bolt at the orc, not a fireball. Though I know how a plasma cutter works from my old life, I am not sure how this was replicated into a projectile. My alert goes off. A straggler? The menu map shows unknown creature, not orc. Chapter 39 - A tough fight "There is another creature heading in our direction." Everyone gets ready at my warning. "Dain, are the magic traps still functional?" Teckar is taking charge of the situation. "No, as soon as the attack was over I cancelled it, as it was becoming too draining to maintain." We wait at the top of the flat hill. Steadily plodding out of the forest and up the hill is a creature that looks vaguely familiar. It looks like a chubby shorter version of the rat eating monster I saw on the monster trail. It seems like that happened eons ago. It''s lower part is almost as wide as it is tall, and it is far taller than me. It looks almost conically shaped. "Looks like the orc''s teamed up with a young troll. It will have been left behind by the orcs when they rushed over. Dain, do you have any magic that can punch through that thing?" Dain looks disheveled and uncertain. "No, best I can do is cause it some severe burns." Teckar seems to swear quietly. "This thing is tough, and don''t underestimate the speed of its arms." Looking at the arms, I realize that they are much longer than you would expect and the hands are oversized even for this beast. With its attention focused on Lak and Teckar, I loose three steel tipped arrows at its head. That must be the main weakness as it is with most beasts. It dodges the first arrow and deflects the others with the back of its left hand. In its right it holds a massive club focused on Lak and Teckar. When his left hand comes away from its head I realize that his head didn''t just duck, it went into his neck. Does he have a flexible spine? With only the top of his head showing, everything beneath its nose is buried in its thick skin. Watching his nose and eyes peek out from the fleshy neck looks kind of funny, but I realize hitting this thing has turned very difficult. Lak and Teckar tries to get close, but the club sends them in retreat. The troll steadily plod towards them until Dain uses a more active version of his trap spell to stall it. "Good work Dain, now we just need more reach." Teckar asks how many flint tipped spears I got, and I respond, as many as you need. Me, Lak and Teckar spread out around the troll. Armed with spears our reach has increased but we still need to time our attack to avoid the club. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. In short succession we all dive in with our spears. All spears sink into it''s wide belly, but it seems to have no effect. It is almost as the tips of the spears are swallowed. Unable to withdraw the spears we all dive for cover as the club spins over our heads. "Any ideas? I am open to suggestions." Teckar is clearly struggling to find a way to deal the finishing blow. "If I get right next to it, I should be able to drop a boulder on it from my soul storage." "That might work." Lak seems to think it will be enough. However, Teckar is wondering if the troll won''t just shift the rock''s trajectory. It is clearly using it''s left hand to defend its head. "Do what you can, me and Lak will keep it''s attention." Slipping behind the troll at a safe distance, I watch as Lak and Teckar try to provoke the troll. Looking at its back, it just seems too tall. Even if I get right next to it, I would need to jump to summon a boulder above its head. Summoning my bow I start firing a large number of flint arrows into its lower back. Densely packed, the arrows stick out like a stiff tail from the troll. It hasn''t even bothered to look back. It just keeps its head low and left hand ready. As stealthily as possible I run up to the troll. The head ducks lower. This thing has excellent perceptions. Before I reach its back I jump up and dig the tip of my right foot into the fold in the flesh just above its new tail and springboard high above the troll. As I get in reach I summon my new great axe and swing it down with all my might. The great axe cuts through the left hand of the troll and sinks into the top of its skull. Instantly the arms fall to its sides and the body dives forward. Landing on top of the troll I realize that the axe is a good two inches into the skull. "I thought you were going to use a big rock." Teckar''s comment is just a throwaway remark, but I still feel like responding. "Rocks do more damage when they land on a wedge. Looks like the wedge did enough damage." "I hope you have room for the troll in your storage. The baby fat on a young troll is a valuable ingredient used for healing salves. This guy will double our profits alone." I assure Teckar that I got more than enough space, as I start recovering arrows and stuff dead orcs into my storage. Eventually all the bodies are in my storage and we set off back to the farmhold. Chapter 40 - Journey home "What parts of the orc bodies do we use?" The journey back is a lot more relaxed, and conversation flows freely. Teckar responds to my question. "The meat and the mana stone. There might be some demand for other body parts as well." "The meat! Are orcs tasty?" "Of course, did you smell the orc that Dain burnt?" "He smelled like burnt bacon." "What is bacon?" Teckar sounds curious. Seems like I accidentally said something that would not make sense in this world. I haven''t seen any pigs, so there is a good chance they don''t exist in this world. I pretend I didn''t hear Teckar''s question. The orcs flat nose does remind me of a pig snout. Wonder if orcs eat humans? At the evening camp I worry he might bring it up again, but instead he asks something different. "There is a rumor at the guild. Is it true that you married the first four girls you met coming out of the wilderness." "Yes...that is true." I must seem like complete idiot to these guys when it is put like that. Sure enough, they all burst out laughing. "Dude why would you do that. There are so many women out there and you tied yourself to the first four." "Did they trick you? How did it happen?" "You do know that you will spend most of your life providing for them now." Lak and Teckar seem to feel sorry for me. They clearly see me as a young man who has been taken advantage of by four unscrupulous women. I might look younger than them, but by my mental age I am far older. That being said, my values and theirs are clearly different. "Actually, they take care of me. Without them I would have been quite lost coming out of the wilderness." Lak and Teckar seems to listen. Lak still wants to know how it happened. "Well one jumped straight to confession, while another told her off. She was just as interested in me, so I asked all the girls who wanted to marry me. It sort of just happened after that." All the guys are rolling in laugher. To them I am clearly naive. Dain continues to question me. "I heard that you rescued them from goblins. It is understandable that they were desperate to marry you if they had all spent some time as goblin wives." Both Lak and Teckar stop laughing. The sting of that last comment can clearly be felt. "You know you are fully within your rights to knock his lights out if he insults your women." Lak''s comment kills the awkward silence. I make a move to get off the ground and Dain scrambles into the bushes. As I sit down again, the mood has been fully restored, with Dain still sitting in the bushes. I am still curious on how guys in this world views girls. This would be my first chance to get a guys perspective. It wasn''t a topic I talk to the blacksmith about. "I have noticed that there are a lot of girls in the guild." Lak picks up the topic. "Sure, they are attracted to all the awesome guys like us. Of course we rarely marry them. Far too binding. But they are a lot of fun." So hunters are like the rock stars of this world. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Teckar gives his view as well. "There are three types of girls at the guild. Firstly there are the girls who take hunting seriously and constantly try to improve themselves. The two other types seems to be mostly fishing for guys. One type happily sleeps around while the other girls stay chaste hoping to rope in some guy to take care of her. Only the first group is worthy of respect." It might just be two guys views, but I am disappointed by how degrading my new friends are to women. It could be a matter of maturity, but they clearly think of girls as something that can be used and discarded when it is boring. They are completely ignoring the fact that many of the girls who are not suited as hunters are actually very active in the other much larger part of the guild, leasing out their skills to the commercial market. Lynne is a good example of that. She is the most steady earner in my home. At least Teckar sounds like he would respect Kira. After we report back at the farmhold we continue back to the village to get a wagon back to our home town. I learn more about guys and their background. Mostly ordinary stuff. Dain learned magic from an old man he knew as a kid. Lak and Teckar seems to have known each other since childhood. Teckar is 25 years old and Lak close at 24. They are veteran hunters. Dain is actually older at 28, but clearly less mature despite his age. He has been stuck on D rank for a long time. He clearly has a higher opinion of himself than a D rank. Our wagon journey back to the town starts very early in the morning rather than afternoon. The whole journey I get a good view of the countryside. This far from the core wilderness the rural countryside is decently developed, and the further east we go, the better it gets. Proximity to the wilderness is a clear risk to development. The farmholds close to the wilderness are risky undertakings done by people with little to loose. From what I have been told. The farmholds are made up of poor families sponsored and organized by the regional duke to expand the development westward. At the town we report our success to the guild, deliver the dead orcs and troll to the dismantling department and share our reward. The guild still need to appraise the value of the orcs and the troll, but they will arrange the splitting of the reward and give it to us separately. The guild''s heavy involvement seem to help ensure fights don''t break out between hunters over money. When I bring it up with Teckar, he confirms that the guild is keen on avoiding disputes between hunters. "You are probably wonder what they do when hunter just need to punch each other. Come with me." Teckar leads me through the common area and into another large room. It is an indoor arena. "So if I want to beat up Dain, I should just bring him here?" My question is only half a joke. "I doubt he will come with you. The arena is an outlet for excess energy and aggression. A lot of locals actually come to see hunters fight in the evening. The common room and the arena get quite lively in the evening. You should come. You can bring your wives as well." Chapter 41 - Home with the girls Back at the farm I am welcomed back by my girls, though Mari seems too busy cooking to greet me. I feel the need to tease her. Standing behind her, she asks me how it went. "Oh, I got one of these." As she turns around to look I summon out the great axe and put on a grin. Mari looks more shocked than surprised by the proximity of an axe twice the size of her head. "She isn''t going to be impressed by the size of your axe." Kira is teasing me. Lawra takes it further, "I hope you aren''t making up for something else. Surely you missed your girls while you were away." She always manages to sound saucy. I check up on Kira''s progress with the crossbow. She has already mastered the reload from soul storage technique. All she need is a quicker way to pull back the string. That will be my next project. I have also decided what to do with the southern farm building. I want to build a water tower behind it and incorporate it into the building, which will be our new bath, shower and wash room. I really want to install a WC as well. I am tired of smelly outhouses and doing the thing behind the bushes. Lynne is keeping busy with dismantling work, Mari seems happy with taking care of the house and the small fields outside. Lawra however, seems bored. She usually just helps out were she can, but what she really needs is to use her natural merchant skills. We don''t have anything valuable to sell at the moment, so it will have to wait. To cheer her up I suggest we all head to the guild common room this evening for dinner and drinks. We can certainly afford it. Later in the evening we enter the guild to get seats in the common area. Each round table takes 4 people. There are 5 of us. I see a bearded fellow waiving at me in the distance. It is Lak. He has one girl on his lap and one sitting squeezed next to him on a second chair. There a two spare chairs, and there is a free table next to him. Perfect. Me and Kira joins Lak. Kira seems to know a lot of people at the guild, so I am not surprised that she knows Lak. Looking at the two girls with Lak I am reminded of the conversations we had about women. I wonder if these two have any long term plans. Lak is not exactly hiding that he wants to stay a bachelor. Lak interrupts my thoughts. "So Kira is one of your four wives. I didn''t know. I feel a bit sorry for you though, she can be very feisty." Kira doesn''t look bothered by the comment despite me giving her a look as to ask if I should have a round in the arena with Lak. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "I got to ask, how do you manage to keep four wives happy at night." Lak is as direct as usual. Kira beats me to the question. "He manages barely." "Really, he has a lot more stamina than me." Now Lak seems to defend me. If all he is looking for is a rude conversation with the rest of my wives listening and giggling on the next table, he might as well get it. "Well you know, stamina and virility isn''t the same thing." Lak just laughs it off. "Let me introduce you to my girls here. This is Tira" Lak indicates at the dark haired beauty on his lap. Tira introduces herself as a seamstress skilled guild member. I guess F ranked hunters who are only here for the commercial side think of themselves not as hunters, but as skilled workers. Makes sense. Despite the fact that she is sitting on Lak''s lap, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. The second girl introduces herself as Lena, rather than say more about herself, she gets up from her seat and circles me as if she is looking at a prey. Oh no, does she not know that all of my four wives are currently looking at me. She slips onto my lap as gently and seductively as if she belonged there. She does have all the right curves. I am not used to this sort of attention. Remember, don''t enjoy it, your wives are looking. Why don''t you push her off? "Hey, that is my spot." Mari is confronting Lena showing off the oath crest on her right hand. She is being unusually direct. Mari, never used a harsh word against anyone, but she looks pretty determined now. Lena slides off me and offer her seat to its rightful owner. Mari dumps herself on my lap and tries to look her tallest and most magnificent sitting there. She is only a short lass. Normally she only reaches to my chin. She smells of alcohol. Looking at the other girls, they are all giggling and laughing. Seems like the whole affair was mostly planned by them. Both Lynne and Lawra have drinks, and there is a third cup for Mari. "How much did she have?" Lawra indices half a cup. Mari seems to be a light weight, but then she has never had the chance to drink alcohol. Resting my chin on her ample bosom I hug her tight. Tira starts talking to Lak. "Look at how adorable those two are, you are never going have that unless you start being a bit more serious." Lak looks tongue-tied. Women of this world seem to be more mature. Hardship will do that to anyone. Chapter 42 - Medieval shotgun action and sewage With access to tools and materials from town, I am finding better use for my crafting. I frequently drift through the commercial district studying goods for sale. The commercial side of this world seems quite developed. There is no patent system here, so everyone copies everyone. What really distinguishes wares is the skill level of the craftsman. As I study the top end bows on sale, I realize I can easy match the quality. As I start mass producing bows for sale, I also start working on a new crossbow for Kira. I am also laying out plans for a buried septic tank and a water tower, both at the south end of the farm house. As I finish my first batch of bows I ask Lawra to join me on a trip to town. I need her purchase and sales skills. With Lawra''s skill I get a good price for an anvil. It is the one important think missing in my forge. The eastern most part of the workshop was originally set up for forging, but no one would leave the anvil laying about, as it can be an expensive piece of equipment. I also get some lime to make concrete. As we finish our purchases, I hand Lawra five unstrung bows and their strings. "These should be of equal if not better standard than any you find in the market. I want you to try and sell them for the best possible price." Lawra looks thrilled by the assignment. "Don''t stay out too late." My last comment is meant to be a bit cheeky, but Lawra barely notices. Later in the afternoon I approach Kira with my half finished crossbow. "Please hold this. Put the stock against your shoulder and your left hand on this sliding lever." As she takes a typical rifle stance, from my perspective anyway, I give her a final instruction. "Now push the lever as far forward as you can. When you hit the end slowly return it to its original position." She seems to struggle with the spring I have added to oppose the sliding lever. Shortly afterwards I have replace the spring with a lighter pressured spring. She seems to be able to handle this one fine. The idea of the spring is to add the force of the outward push to the inward pull by using the spring. This should help spread out the force needed to reload the crossbow with the pump action. The spring is my own invention, but the concept is the same as any pump action shotgun. As I lay the finishing touches to the crossbow, I hand it to Kira for testing. She will likely need to train the muscles needed for the pump action, but even now, she can easily reload almost as swiftly as I can draw my bow. The crossbow won''t have the range of my bow, but it will be a lot easier to use. For short to medium action it should be deadly. Before dusk Kira is able to put multiple arrows in the targeted tree within a few seconds. All she needs to train is her strength endurance. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Before dusk Lawra also comes back from the market. She managed to sell all five bows. Most went for more or less the same as the best bows in the market, but a couple were actually sold at a premium, as the new owners recognized their worth. I was wondering how she would do. It is not like we have any previous market exposure, but Lawra seems to have leveraged both her own and my hunter guild membership to raise her credibility. She suggests setting up a stall next, now that the first sales have been done. My next project is not so glamorous. The next day I keep busy digging a deep hole for the septic tank. Using the lime I bought I make concrete using the instructions given by the seller, the tank starts taking shape in the hole I have dug. To do so I have built wooden molds, while most parts are made in the hole, the lid is made above ground pulled onto place. The lid is sealed to only allow one entrance to the tank. At this point I don''t know what to do, as I don''t know how to make the ceramic used for toilets. Should I use clay, metal, concrete, wood? Undecided I start looking at the foundation for the water tower. Since I already have a hole with a tank it in, I set up the foundation for the water tower around the tank in the hole, and fill up the hole with gravel and dirt. I spent the next couple of days experimenting with solutions for the toilet, until I learned the secret of the glazing from a market stall in town. It should have been so obvious. I want a toilet that is hard and smooth. With the right glazing I can just make it out of clay. I get some tips on how to strengthen the clay as well. For the tips I buy all the ingredients I needs from the stall. With the clay toilet installed, I make the required clay pipes and water lock. All I need is the tank to create the water flushing. For piping, I try to avoid metal pipes as these are expensive and may be hard to fit. Instead I find something resembling a rubber hose at the market. I asked the stall vendor what it was made of. "It is a large worm that is used to disposed of garbage and farmed for its skin. The skin is treated to make it shrink until it you get the texture you are holding. It is very solid, waterproof and easy to clean." Equipped with worm skins I start working on the water tower. Worm skins will help distribute the water to my new flushing toilet and the future bathroom. With the water tower complete I fill it up with water from my storage. I use worm skins to connect water to the kitchen and the unfinished bathroom. The taps still need some work. Finally, I introduce the girls to this worlds first flushing toilet. "Have you really moved the latrine into the house rather than keep it in the outhouse?" Lynne asks the obvious question for someone who has never seen the effect of a water lock. "If this stinks as much as the outhouse, let me know, because it will need fixing." Over the next few days the girls seemed to appreciate the water flushing toilet as much as I do, but I was surprised they didn''t like it more. My modern rear-end must be spoiled. Chapter 43 - Using my forge As I am undedicated on how to do the rest of the bathroom, and I got my high priority WC, I return to smithing. With Kira''s new weapon done I better upgrade my own. I got a nice great axe for large opponents, but the only other metal weapon I got is a few knives. I lost half of my steel tipped arrows on the last trip. Making lead arrowheads is a lot more time efficient, but with my smithing skills I should be able to produce a number or steel arrowheads as well. Gone will be the days I use stone tipped arrows. To use the forge I need metal. Heading to a vendor specializing in both ore and metal bars, I make good use of my analyze skills. I can look at each bar of metal individually and get a reading on the mixture. Some times I don''t know to trust the skill, as the information provided by analyze is not infallible, but other times it is really handy. I look for steel bars with just less than 1% carbon. I also buy some lead bars, and a mold for arrowheads. I could have made it myself, but it came at a good price. Looks like it is common for experienced archers to make their own arrow heads with lead. Back at the house I enter the workshop. The design of the workshop structure is a bit strange. Half the house is built with timber walls and the other half is made by stone walls. The half with the stone walls is for the forge and the furnace. The high roof and stone walls minimizes fire hazards. After producing a number of lead and steel arrows, I move onto my next project. I could make a sword, got a lot of experience doing that, but I have very limited experience using one. Axes on the other hand, I got plenty of training with Lak. It is a simple high damage weapon that is easy to use and can double as a throwing weapon. I have picked up some throwing skills while practicing knife throwing with Kira. Axe throwing should be easier. I also need some steel tipped spears. All I got are flint tipped. For the next couple of days I produce a series of metal weapons. I keep the best ones for myself and decide to have Lawra sell the rest along with the next batch of bows. She could sell the now obsolete crossbow as well. I pack up all the weapons for sale and bring Kira and Lawra to town. Kira wants to look for some work if possible. With her new skills we could take on a job together. I also need to find out what the final conclusion following the report on the orc mission with Lak, Teckar and Dain. The leader is debriefed as soon as possible, but the analysis of the mission along with any monetary calculations for the loot usually take a couple of days. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Lawra sets up her little table on a small plot of land rented by the owner of the house it is in front of. Me and Kira head to the guild. I start reading the boards, as much to practice my reading skill as seeing what open ended jobs are going. As I am reading Kira rushes over with another girl I have never met. This one is dressed in tight brown leather clothes and carry two short axes like the ones I have just made for myself. She has more of a seasoned heavier built look than Kira, clearly one who isn''t afraid of a physical fight. "This is Carna." Kira does the talking. "She just informed me that a mutual friend of ours is in need of our help. Her party was investigating goblin sightings near a farmhold west of here. They are long overdue. Carna is looking for people to help her, but hardly anyone is available." So much for the solidarity of hunters. I guess no one is going to risk their lives for people they already expect to be dead. However, Kira knows that I know that any females caught can live for a long time in captivity with the goblins, so there is still hope. I am assuming that their mutual friend is female. "Ok, is it just the three of us." Carna nods her head. "If so I will need to fight on the frontline. For that I need some armor. Carna, please get all the information we need to get to the location. Me and Kira will get armor and inform our family that we will be off on a last minute rescue mission." We split up. Kira directs me to an armor vendor and runs to tell Lawra that we will be off for some time. I am still not sure how long of a trip this is. I guess I should have asked Carna. Even though I will be fighting on the front line, I am not planning to wear any form of heavy armor, I have no experience fighting with armor. I settle for some reinforced leather armor. It should be not much different to move in than what I am used to and it shouldn''t make excessive noise if I need to be stealthy. There is a thick underlay for the body part only. Could get a bit warm if I run with that. Both arms and legs are well covered by the armor. I am keen on not loosing any limbs. Kira arrives and slams something on my head. "You forgot the most important part." She is right. I might not like the idea of wearing a helmet, but it is the most important part of the armor. Kira insists that she does not need any more armor, as she will be fighting from behind me. True, me and Cara will form the front line while Kira picks them off from behind us. We head to meet Carna at the Guild. Chapter 44 - Rescue mission An hour later the three of us are sitting on the first wagon out of town. Luckily we managed to catch one just before it head off. One mention of an urgent mission, and the driver accommodates us as much as possible. However, due to lack of space, Kira needs to sit on my lap the whole way. Normally I would like this, but the wagon ride isn''t comfortable even without someone sitting on you. My legs might get tenderized. Several hours later we arrive at another frontier village and set off on foot. There must be a string of them along the frontier, with several times as many farmhold settlements further into the wilderness. There is no clear line of where the wilderness starts or ends, but beyond the frontier villages it is clearly less safe. Both the village and the subsequent farmhold is not as far away as my last mission. We arrive late at night. The farmhold invites us in and tell us about the last group of hunters that passed by. As I suspected, Kira and Carna''s friend is the only female in the group. By her equipment, it sounds like she is an archer. The settlers reported sightings of goblins nearby, and the hunters came to inspect. They were never required to exterminate a large group of them, but should have requested reinforcements if needed. If the party fell afoul of goblins, there must be a decent amount of them. From what Carna tells us all the members of the party were D rank. Two frontline fighters and one archer. One on one, goblins or hobgoblins would not stand a chance. A dark cave might give the goblins a home advantage, but in the open, there would have to be many of them. In contrast to them we are three E ranks. I sit down with the girls to talk it through. I know Kira has full confidence in me, so I ask Carna how she feels about our odds. "You fought Brute right." "Yes." Not sure what that has to do with it. "He is a B rank. If you can give him a good match it means you are far stronger than E." Great, they are fully relying on me in the up and coming fight. At dawn we set out to the last location of the missing party. I keep close watch on my menu map and regularly plant the alert marker ahead of us as I suspect an ambush is likely. Probably by luck I find one lone goblin scout. Keeping the girls well behind me I stalk him back to the nest. The nest is like a lot of goblin caves. It is a sharp dip into the ground followed by a cave into the bedrock. It is at least partially man or beast made. From a distance it can''t be seen as the whole cave is under ground even the entrance. Looking at the steep dirt path up from the cave, I am already calculating how much water is needed to make it a major obstacle for the goblins attacking from the cave. "Should we sneak in while we have the surprise?" Carna seems eager to get started. "The cave is their home ground. If we attack, we will eventually be spotted and we will be at a disadvantage. I would be more comfortable with luring out as many as possible into a killing ground outside the cave." Kira nodes. Continuing with my plan I explain. "We can empty water onto the sloop up from the cave and make it almost impossible to climb. Only when their bodies are piled up will they get good footing." Carna seems on board. "Where do we get enough water?" Fair question. "I got plenty in my soul storage." Anticipating the next question I continue. "As for luring them out, I have a few options, but I want to start be using a type of magic I saw on my last mission. It is a form of echo magic that will allow me to determine how many opponents we have and how many prisoners they have." "Why not just use the echo magic and head in. It sounds really useful, and would give us an edge." Carna jumps into my explanation before I finish. "The problem with echo magic is that any mana sensitive beast can sense it, and a magic user will immediately know what it is. I know goblin mages are rare, but this should help us determine if there are any in this nest." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Everyone agrees with the first stage of the plan. I empty a couple of barrels of water down the slope, it turns nice and muddy. As I position myself direct above the entrance I send a mana wave into the cave. Even though I only saw it once, the principal is so simple that I get it right on the first attempt. The waves spread deeper into the cave bouncing off the walls and creatures within. The full cave is quickly marked out, and I can read two human prisoners at the deepest level. I also sense something I have never sensed before, a goblin with magical powers. My alert goes off as goblins in the area around the goblin mage starts rushing towards the entrance. "They are coming!" My warning is noted by the girls standing at the top of the muddy climb facing the entrance. The plan is to let the goblins spot the girls as goblins seem to loose all their rational thinking when distracted by a female. Kira will start picking them off as they rush up the slope, and Carna will take care of any who come too close. I will be in reserve. If the pressure of goblins becomes too much I will add my firepower from the opposite side of the slope. The goblins storm out of the cave. Kira uses her fast shooting crossbow with great effect. She will definitely level up after this mission is over. Carna has nothing to do for the first few minutes. Then she gets to deal with one, and then two. As she is starting to struggle I add my arrows to the bolts Kira are loosing. The ranks of goblins stepping on the corpses of their brothers starts to dwindle. There are now two or three layers of goblins covering the slope. The flood stops, and the last goblin shot by Kira is standing inside the entrance. "Was that it?" Kira is asking the question. "Nope, the goblin mage and about a third of their original number are waiting for us within the cave." The mage must have pulled them back. Goblins aren''t known for making tactical retreats. We are now faced with one of the most difficult scenarios, a large number of goblins waiting for us and lead by an intelligent hobgoblin. Next we go to meet them. They should be too few to overrun us now, but it is a huge gamble. Using the map to the best of my ability I make a note of all the goblins inside. Because of the echo magic I have a full overview of all the goblins and the cave as a whole. There should be no room for them to surprise us. We advance inside. Kira and me go first as long as we have good clearing in front of us. As we approach a corner around which I know there are goblins waiting I push Kira back and indicate for Carna to move forward. Armed with short axes we round the corner and take out the goblins who were planning to ambush us. It is the only ambush set. Probably not planned by the goblin mage as he would probably know that I can use echo magic. I am unclear as to how knowledgeable he is. Before we reach the main gathering of goblins, I stop the girls to explain. "Almost all the remaining goblins will be around that corner. The goblin mage is at the back. Kira, try to get him first. Me and Carna will engage in close quarter combat." As we round the corner we are faced with a wide long corridor sloping upwards. Good defensive position. Me and Carna focus on killing goblins, wave after wave throw themselves forward. We are pressed so hard that Kira needs to help us by thinning down their numbers. That might have been a mistake. In the distance I spot the mage conjuring up a ball of lightning as he throws it directly at me, I instinctively throw my right axe in return while shouting for the girls to take cover. The axe slices through the ball of lighting, and it explodes in sparks and light. It explodes too close. As my sense start coming back to me, I realize that I am still standing. With arms in front of me, but with so many convulsions surging through my body that I can''t move anything. I can sense the girls close by fighting a new wave of none stunned goblins. They are being pushed back. Carna looks slightly affected by the stun as well. Kira has dropped the crossbow and is throwing all her knives at the incoming goblins. I see one axe, two spear points and a couple of clubs heading in my direction. Non-rationally I expect pain, but all I can sense is the impact of five goblins attacking me. The clubs glance off my arms and body armor, the axe cuts into the main body of the armor around the belly. The spears are the worst. Both penetrate my armor and cut deep into my body. I can hear Kira scream. Unless I gain control of my body now we are as good as dead. In the distance I see the goblin mage treating his wounds. My axe injured him but he is far from out of the fight. Chapter 45 - The aftermath It feels as if the compounded effect of my multiple injuries pushes my body out of the shock. I am free to move again. With my free right hand I summon my blacksmiths sledgehammer and send the row of goblins hacking at me crashing into the wall. Most are probably still alive, but I got no time to finish them. Unsummoning my hammer I summon one of my spears and launch it at the goblin mage, who is clearly about to launch another spell. With the goblin mage pinned to the wall we turn the fight into a slaughter of the remaining goblins. When the last goblin drops, Kira rushes to my side. I have never seen her so panicky. Then I remember all my injuries. I start inspecting myself. Using the healing magic I do know I inspect my wounds with mana. I stem the internal bleeding. Remove blood from my ruptured lungs. Looks like the under cloth of the armor kept me from bleeding out. It is wet with blood and stuck to my body. Most of my ribs seems to be broken, and both my arms have fractures. As I stabilize my body''s condition, I see a sudden jump in the natural healing speed. Bones mending, injuries healing. A few minutes later, all my injuries are gone. I check my menu. Regeneration has leveled up and with the booster is now at level 10. I might not be immortal, but at least I heal fast. Both the girls looks stunned when I get up and walk around as if I never had an injury. "Don''t worry I am fully healed." "That is some amazing healing magic." Carna''s comment is followed by Kira''s comment. "That was mostly not magic." Kira knows just enough healing magic to tell that I did not complete the healing magic process. "Kira is right. Healing such injuries is still a bit outside my abilities, but I have a very high natural healing ability." Carna looks surprised. "If I hadn''t seen it, I wouldn''t have believed it, but looks like you have a very high level regeneration skill. I have heard of hunters with those. They are hard to spot unless the skill is really high leveled." We proceed to hunt down the few remaining goblins in the cave and at last we enter the deepest room to find the female hunter we have come to rescue. She looks to be in a similar state to Mari, when I first found her. She is laying on her back with roots tying her hands above her head to the ground. Must have been made with magic. The second prisoner lays next to her. As Carna and Kira sees to their friend I approach the second prisoner. She is a tall woman, quite lanky now, but her build implies that she used to have a lot more muscles. She seems to come to her senses when she spots me. Based on her attempts to talk, she clearly hasn''t been using her voice a lot lately. Her legs are kicking about. I cover her naked body with a piece of cloth and cut the roots binding her. As she rubs her wrists, I stand up to give her a helping hand. She takes more than a helping hand. With surprising speed and agility she jumps up wrapping both her arms and legs around my body. "Human...male...better" What on earth is she doing. "No need to be afraid, we will take you back to the guild." My analyze skill tells me that she is a former hunter. She isn''t making a lot of sense at the moment. With the woman wrapped around me like the body suit I turn to the other girls. They seem just as surprised as me. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I try to remove her, but give up. She is really strong. Not surprising since she is level 17 overall. With the kills I raked up today I just ranked up to level 12. I try using analyze on her to find out more about her. Her name is Nadi, Rank C hunter, level 17, specialize in sword skills, but she also has more skills with close quarter weapons than I do. A very strong hunter. The only way she got caught must have been because of the goblin mage. I need to improve my defense against magic, as I was also almost taken out by that same mage. I am getting a bit tired of standing with a tall woman wrapped around me. Who wouldn''t after a long enough time. As I sit down, Nadi''s right hand goes straight for my crotch. Can''t say I have ever been sexually assaulted, but think I get it now. Before she can do any more I stand up and go to the other girls. "I think I know why this one is stuck to me. She seems to obsessively want to have sex with me." It sound really ridiculous saying it out loud. Carna responds before Kira. "So give her what she wants. It is not like you have any problem with having sex with a goblin wife." What shocks me most about the statement is that word seems to have spread about Mari''s experience. Kira responds next, "If she will calm down, why don''t you just do her." Now that is just plain hurtful. I would never ask Kira to sleep with horny lunatic to calm him down, so why is it different with me. The girls leave me alone with my captor in the cave. About an hour late Nadi seems satisfied. She is even talking to me. "Sorry about that, the goblins started ignoring me some time back when they realized I couldn''t have their offspring. It has been building up since then. When the new girl got caught it got even worse as they were obsessed with her." Nadi is definitely your atypical victim of goblin abuse. She seems fine now. "Why do you get so obsessive about having sex?" It seemed like a severe addiction to me. "I don''t know, but it started about half way through my captivity." With all the new information I have from Nadi herself, I have another look with analyze to see if it can tell me more. Looking at her skills, she has a couple that make more sense now. One makes her immune to goblin procreation. It is not like she is sterile, her body just rejects goblin seeds. The other one is a bit more disturbing. Analyze calls it Lust, it is at level 4, and the description reads: Significantly increased libido that needs an outlet. Since skills of this world don''t seem to have an off button, this one seems potentially dangerous, as it can turn a perfectly normal person into a sexual predator. At least she is a reasonably attractive woman. She shouldn''t have any issues finding people to sleep with, and if anyone calls her a goblin wife, she could easily clobber him. We start clearing the cave and the entrance of goblin corpses. Too much hassle to cut out the mana stone here when I can just bring the whole body back to the farm for dismantling. We also find a surprising amount of loot in the cave. Some are the personal effect of Rin''s two companions. Rin is the name of the archer girl. We agree to pass these to Rin, as the two men weren''t married. It seems that equipment found will normally go the finders, but a good gesture is to bring it back to any widows of the dead hunter. Rin being their long time companion is the next best thing. We get back to the farmhold by evening. Nadi slips away, no doubt to find some guy she can vent her lust on. As we settle down for the night I find myself surprisingly in need of Kira''s company. Kira is more than happy to accept my lust, but it goes on for quite some time. As she passes out from exhaustion, I realize I still got a lot of energy left. Slightly worried I look at the menu and find the culprit. Of course, my aptitude for picking up skills has always been abnormal. Normally I just need to be exposed to the skill once or twice to learn it. I have acquired Lust level 1. Chapter 46 - Last time you were in a hurry The following day we head back to the village and take a late afternoon wagon ride to our home town. What was the name of that town? Analyze doesn''t give me the names of towns and villages. Strange, it gave me Naomi''s name before I got introduced, but not the name of settlements I have been to. I should check out the guild library when we get back. Even if I can''t remember everything I read, it should be added to the knowledge bank that make up my analyze skill. My mental contemplation successfully distracts me from thinking about my new skill. The more I look at it, it is a curse rather than a skill. By the time we arrive at the town, Nadi disappears off again. She is a high ranking hunter, so I am not worried about her. I am more concerned about Rin. Kira and Carna are keeping her company. Kira asked me the previous night if Rin can come back with us to the farmhouse. She wants to introduce Rin to Mari. It is probably a good idea, since Mari has adjusted amazingly well following her trauma. She might have a positive impact on Rin. As we make our way to the guild to report I start feeling an urge to get back to the girls at the farm. This does not feel normal. It feels more like a drunk craving a bottle, than a gentle longing. I steel myself and hope that I won''t jump one of the guild girls as we enter the guild. The staff seem genuinely relieved to see us all safe and sound. Hidden behind the friendly greeting is the knowledge that Rin''s companions did not make it. Sensitively it is not brought up in from of Rin. One of the reception girls, not one I have met before, take me to the side to debrief me. "Last time you were in here, we didn''t get a chance to update you as you were in a hurry. The guild was comfortable sending the three of you to look for the lost party because of your performance in the orc hunting quest. Teckar is adamant that you are easily worthy of a rank C license, and though the guild don''t disagree with the statement, we like to rank up hunters gradually. Following the orc mission your rank was increased to D, and with the latest success it is only a matter of time before both your trust and power rank goes up together." During the debrief we come to the injuries I sustained. I show the damages to the armor. "These a lethal injuries. Who healed you?" "I healed myself partially, but my regeneration skill did the rest." The reception girl looks like she does not believe. I am getting used to this. Must be a lot of hunters bragging about their amazing skills to beef up their guild file. To prove it I cut a deep gash along my underarm. Almost instantly, it closes and heals itself. "I guess you do have a regeneration skill. Luckily I have affinity for magic, otherwise that display would have been written off as healing magic." I hadn''t thought about that. Well, no harm done. Advanced level 3 regeneration added to my skill list in my guild file. As we head to the farm, I feel my itch getting worse. This could seriously mess up my concentration in a fight. While Rin meets Mari, I sweep the ever playful Lawra up in my arms and carry her to my bedroom. I need to tell the girls about this otherwise they will think my personality has changed. At least I now have the energy to keep them all satisfied if required. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The next morning Rin and Carna goes to town to get her and her companions belongings from storage. Rin is moving in permanently. Carna prefers to not live with us for some reason. Might actually be me. Carna hasn''t shown any friendliness towards me or any man for as long as I have known her, which admittedly isn''t very long. I take their trip as the perfect opportunity to talk to the girls. I gather Mari, Lawra, Kira and Lynne in front of the farmhouse on makeshift chairs. They all look expectantly at me. I already told them I needed a serious chat with them. "It seems I have picked up a unexpected skill that is already causing me some trouble." I explain how I picked up the lust skill from Nadi, and how it has affected me so far. "That explains why you completely exhausted me last night." Lawra''s point hits dead centre. Kira adds her own experience to it, with her own agreement. Lynne is the one to point out the positive, in that I will now have enough energy for all of them. Mari also adds her comment to the mix; "Good thing you got four wives." True. "If I was penniless and wifeless, this skill would probably turn me into a sexual predator." The girls seem to think I am too good looking for that to happen. I am not sure if they are teasing me or comforting me. From the start this conversation has been far more lighthearted than I intended for it to be. "How sure are you that this is a skill, and not just a temporary thing?" Kira''s question catches me off guard. I could tell them about my analyze skill. Why haven''t I? I trust them. "Actually I have a rather unique skill. I realized how unique it was when I my guild file was being put together. Though it is common knowledge that each skill has ten levels, the ways to accurately measure this seems limited." "Yes, I have heard that you need to pay a guild employed specialist to get an accurate measure. There are only a handful of those, and they are all up along the northern frontier." Lawra''s added knowledge is in line with what little I already know, though it differs slightly from what Marka told me. I continue my explanation. "The skill I have is called Analyze. It allows me to analyze all my surroundings and glean information otherwise hidden. The higher the level of the skill and the more I already know the more information I get. I have always had an analytical mind, which is why I think this was my first skill." Kira continues as I stop; "That explains how you knew Naomi''s name before being introduced." I am surprised Kira noticed that. I am not even sure when I let that one slip. "Just to let you know, I have a lot of secrets. Most of which I would rather not be widely spread. I do trust you girls, but I don''t want to unnecessarily burden you with secrets to keep for my sake." I hope that will satisfy them. "Does this have to do with your origins?" Lawra looks intrigued. "Of course, you are far too kind to have been raised in the wild." Mari''s comment sound like a complement, but it has probably something to do with my different values. The girls descend into a speculative discussion on my origins. The question directed at me seems to have been forgotten. I slip away to my workshop. Chapter 47 - The library The next morning I check out the guild library. Last time I was here was when I first met Lak and Teckar. There is a small desk in the corner with a guild worker busily working away with some paperwork. When I step in she looks up and asks if I am planning to use the library. "Please do all your reading in this room and don''t bring books outside the room. If you damage the books you will have to pay a fee." She shows no signs of indicating that she can help me find books. Probably more of a guard dog than a librarian. Marka previously told me that all guild branches have a small library to encourage members to learn. The access is free for all members. No wonder Marka told me to learn my letters. Too many dumb hunters not seeing this room for the goldmine that it is. The books look to be organized by profession, and sub categories. Hunting is the primary category with multiple sub categories. The first book I read has to be from one of these sub categories. Lifting a massive old book onto the nearest reading desk, I read the cover. "The great book of beasts". Page one is an introduction. There is a short definition of beasts; beasts also called monsters by some, all have a mana crystal. Some theorize that the beasts have a mana crystal instead of a soul storage, which in turn has lead to theories on differing soul types; Humanoid souls, animal souls and beast souls. Unlike animals, beasts should all have the possibility of developing magic skills. The mana in the mana crystal is what charges these magic skills. The main theory on why there aren''t more beast with magic skills is that most beasts don''t live long enough to develop these skills. Most of the theory is based on speculation, due to the lack of empirical data. Seem like the writer of this book takes facts serious. There are few absolutes and more about different theories. I note some useful definitions and distinctions. Humanoid is the general term for all humans and demi-humans. Demi-humans is a term including various elven races, beast kin and other human like races without a mana crystal. Looks like they got a category for all others. This book is clearly written from a human perspective, with humans at the top of the ladder. The only demi-humans I have seen were at the slave market, and considering the chat I had with Lawra, this must be the case for all human lands. I better find some maps to get an idea of the layout of the world. Leaving the book on the desk I look for a section on maps. At the top of one of the shelves I find a small section. As soon as I open them I am reminded of archaic maps from back home. The best I can get is general direction of nations, forests and mountains. I can see the mountain range I needed to get through to get to civilization. The maps are mostly blank beyond them I couple of the maps note passes through the mountains. Both show the one I used. I guess I should be able to trust the location of the other passes as well. It seems hunters rarely go beyond the mountains. There is a string of frontier villages from north to south on one of the more recent maps. On the old most are missing. With regards to human settlements, I need to trust the newer maps. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I check my menu map to see if I can duplicate the map. The menu map has already been updated with what I consider trustworthy. It is still a rough map, but as I travel to these locations I should be able to improve the map. The largest map indicate that I am in a kingdom called Lythia in the western part of the continent. The map also covers fragments of a large empire to the south and another kingdom to the north. A large north-south river, splits the Lythia kingdom in two, with a second large river forming the eastern boarder. I can''t find any world maps or even a map of the continent. I look to be in the north-western corner of the kingdom in a town called Lago. South east is a larger city, and south west is a fortification noted as the Duke''s residence. Far to the south right before another mountain range that goes east west from the first large river into the wilderness is a large swampy area, just noted as the large southern swamp. The north-south river is aptly named the great northern river, and the second river the north-east river. It must turn east at some point outside the map, as all I can see is the north pointing part. After looking through the maps, I return to the book. I skip to the first beast I know, the goblin. They really defy what is normal by not even being a natural hermaphrodite, but more of a parasite. They all have male reproduction organs, and all they need to reproduce is a suitable environment to lay their seed. Can''t really call it fertilized sperm, as fertilized egg is more correct. Looks like the goblins attack females of other races to fill them up with their own embryo seeds. No genetic material seems to be taken from the female. I guess genetic diversity is not an issue for goblins. They must all carry the full genetic spectrum of the goblin race with them. I continue reading about goblins to compare with my own experiences. There is even a list of preferred targets by the goblins with regards to reproduction. Surprisingly, humans are only second. Female orcs are at the top of the list. The reason listed to justify this is that orc female can easily carry large litters of goblin offspring. I guess they are not looking for beauty when they reproduce, but rather probability of increasing their numbers. I continue reading about other beasts in the book for the rest of the day. As daylight fades I head downstairs to the common room of the guild. It is already getting rowdy. Too rowdy for Marka. "Brute, I need a guild approved beat down done." Brute stands up and head towards the guy Marka is indicating towards. The poor soul about to face Brute is a novice hunter being nasty towards a group of females in the common room. As Brute drags the guy by his collar to the indoor arena, I find myself next to Marka. "So what is this guild sanctioned beat down." Marka, as professional as always gives me a by the book answer. "When hunters misbehave the easiest way to get them to respect the guild rule is to commission a stronger hunter for a beat down. There is always someone stronger that the guild can call on to keep other hunters in line. It is often used by the guild prior to affecting the trust rating, or in some cases to emphasis the trust ratings importance." I nod with approval, it is an effective way of policing a bunch of independent rouges. I hurry to the arena to see what happens next. Chapter 48 - Beat down in the arena As I enter the arena hall, I see Brute and the unfortunate guy down in the centre of the arena. The hall is sloped downward towards the sand covered arena. The arena is round and slightly smaller than a boxing ring. The edges are covered with haystacks. Simple seats are carved into the slope around the centre stage. A few guys are already seated. More are coming through the doors as I look for a seat for myself. It starts to dawn on the other guy that he is getting this beat down regardless of how much he pleads. His expression changes to fear. After standing still for a few minutes, he charges at Brute, determined to get the beating out of the way. I am expecting Brute to send him flying with one punch, but instead Brute adjusts his strength enough to just knock the air out of him. After one stomach punch he is ready to keel over, but Brute picks him up by his shirt, and starts slapping him around with the flat of his hand. By the time Brute is done and drops the other guy, I realize that Brute held him off the ground the entire time. Painful and humiliating, I can think of no reason why this guy will not amend his ways. Because Brute slapped him around more than beat him senseless, the guy looks to have no serious injuries, only bruises. As if to confirm my thoughts a mage walks over to have a look at the guy, but promptly walks away without healing his aching body. The guy sitting next to me starts talking to me. "Not much entertainment, but it is kind of a given with a beat down. Let''s hope someone feels like having a rough sparing match, they are much more fun." A sparing match, that sounds a lot more interesting. Though I have combat skills I lack the actual experience to use them. Getting up I start looking for someone I know to spare with. A few minutes later I am in the ring with Lak wrapping my fists in linen. I look at Lak as one of the mages comes up and gives him a magic barrier covering his head. Lak was always a bit vain about his looks, but if feels a bit like cheating. The mage comes up to me next and explains. "I am going to put a basic magic barrier around your head, it will stop impacts the way a helmet with a mask would but it will still send your head spinning. It is not an excuse to get hit in the head. The fights can get pretty fierce since healing can be applied afterwards." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Seconds later Lak charges at me with the full intent to causing me pain. He is surprisingly fast and good with his hands. I barely manage to hold my ground by applying the little I know of martial arts from my previous life. Thanks only to my regeneration skill I stay on my feet the whole match, as bruises and injuries are quickly healed throughout the match. Though I feel it is a bit like cheating, Lak does not seem to mind. As far as he is concerned he has a self-repairing punching bag. The match only stops when we are both exhausted. Lak from punching, and me from being punched. The crowd of spectators have grown. Mixed in with the hunters are townsfolk come for a bit of evening entertainment. Many seem appreciative of the fight. Next match looks to be more serious, as bets are taken on who the winner is going to be. Thinking I might gain an advantage, I use analyze on both contestants. As far as my analysis skill is concerned there is nothing separating them. I have no intention to gamble so I leave for home. At home I get interrogated as to why my clothes are covered in blood, my blood. "If you are going to fight in the arena, at least let us know, so we can come and watch you." Lawra seem interested in seeing me fight. Mari is more worried about me getting injured. I try to assure her. "Don''t worry, I got lots of injuries tonight, but they all healed almost immediately." A satisfying day, I filled my head with knowledge, and trained my body. Determined get through the most relevant sections in the library before I go on any more long missions, I decide to repeat today''s routine for the foreseeable future. Chapter 49 - Learning from experience It is noon, and like every day, I am in the library. After spending several days reading various books on hunting, and even one book on the kingdoms history, I moved on to the magic book section of the library not long ago. So far I haven''t learned anything. All the books are written by different mages, and none of them seem to know how to write a book on magic. There is no consistent system that I can find. The worst ones make no sense, while the best ones I can make out as being a combination of instructions on how to use mana in certain environments, but the mana instructions seem incomplete and the environment is described using some form of pseudoscience. It baffles me how people manage to learn magic with such lack of scientific knowledge. Even this statement seemed strange to me at first, but after learning some basic magic I quickly learned that magic is just control of a substance called mana that can influence the natural to create abnormal effects. Even this basic concept seems buried deep in the books. Surely someone must have written a better book on magic somewhere in this world. Even if they don''t have the scientific understanding of my home world it should be possible to get some basic concepts right. It seems my high school chemistry and physics will do me a lot of good in learning magic, but I still need to work out how to use mana to influence nature. I have learned a few things, but mana is an alien concept to me and my academic mind. The books have so far not helped me understand how to use mana. The only option is to learn by observation, but all the mages I have met so far are reluctant to teach magic to fellow hunters. As I look out the window, I see some mages in the training yard out back. Maybe I can find an excuse to train with them. I leave the library behind, and head to the yard. The mages seem to wonder why I am approaching them. I wonder if they know that I can do a bit of magic as well. If they knew I was here to learn they might not like it. "Hi guys, what are you up to?" No answer they just look at me. Do all mages in the world behave like moody gothic teenagers? I keep talking hoping to spark their interest. "Just got to say I got the greatest respect for magic. In my last mission I almost got stabbed to death by a swarm of goblins after a goblin mage paralyzed me with his magic. I managed to break free eventually. Do anyone of you know how to do this kind of magic?" Let us see if anyone bites. The all look indignant, one of them speaks up. "Of course we can do magic far better than some smelly goblin mage." Line and sinker. "Really! Why not let me feel it." One of them cocks his head. "Are you saying you want to be our practice dummy?" "Sure, I got nothing to fear from fellow hunters, I would rather get used to it now than face another magic wielding beast. I promise I won''t hold it against you." One of them smiles. "I remember you. You are frequently in the arena in the evening. You must be a sucker for punishment. Most guys would be bedridden for a week after the beatings you get, but you always seem to shake off the injury." The guys seem well into the idea of using me as a test dummy. "I''ll go first. I will hit you with a stun bolt." The first mage gets ready. As I brace myself for the hit I carefully study the mage. As normal I can feel the forms of the mana more than see them. I guess it is why the writers relied a lot on describing feelings. They can''t see the mana, but they know the feeling when it is done right based on past experience. What I can see is the abnormal appearance of a bolt of electricity. Not sure how to explain it. I saw a picture of ball lightning once, and this is not it. The ball shoots towards me. It is going nowhere near as fast as the goblins. I take the shot on my chest. It stuns me for a few seconds, but that is about it. "You seem to have some resistance to stun magic." As soon as I can get a clear voice out I retort. "I think I developed some as a result of the magic from the goblin, though he must have hit me with something stronger than this, as I was stunned for much longer." The mages take the challenge. Another steps up an conjure up something a lot more impressive. I am too fixated at the intensity of the bolt to brace for it. It hits me as hard, if not harder than the goblin''s blast. Come to think of it, I never took his full blast. The next tens of seconds I am in a daze, but again I eventually break through. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I continue being their test dummy until dusk sets. They try various stun, lightning and paralysis spells, and I seem to grow accustomed to the effect. When I check the menu my stun and paralysis resistance has shot up. Still a bit dazed by the whole experience I head home for an early night. The next morning I head to the guild, and I run into the same guys. "Want to continue our training from yesterday." At least one of the guys seem to warm towards me. I think. Hard to say if he is being friendly or if he just likes to hurt me. By evening both my stun and paralysis resistance hits level 7. At this point I am shaking off the spells like a chilly wind. "You know, most warrior rely on equipment to protect them from magic, but I have heard of a some who train their bodies natural resistance to the point were most magic don''t affect them. As you can imagine, those guys are particularly strong. Are you planning to be that strong?" One of the mages directs the question at me. "Not that ambitious, I just didn''t like the feeling of not being able to move or defend myself when my enemies charge at me." "With your resistance as it is now, we could put on a show in the arena this evening." I like the idea and sign up for it. Following the first fight, we enter the stage with me on one end and one of the mages on the other. He is probably the most competent out of the lot. Raising his voice he starts to speak. "We are hear to show you something amazing. Many of you might know the terror of being paralyzed by magic on the battlefield. We have a hunter here who can shake off the strongest stun and paralysis magic." The last bit got the crows interested. They have been seeing me on a regular basis in the arena. At this rate I will soon be a local celebrity. The mage summons up the strongest blast he can muster and sends it straight at me. I take it and start walking towards him. The shock blast only slowed me for a moment. A lot of people seem surprised or excited by the show. A couple of guys shout that they can do it too. My mage associate addresses the men to come down and try. Unsurprisingly they do not repeat my feat. One falls face first in the sand and stays there for a few minutes. The other stays standing, but is unable to move for a couple of minutes. Just as we are about to leave the arena a female voice can be heard. It is surprisingly clear without being raised. The only answer I can think of is magic. "I can understand him being able to resist your weak spell my dear Fells, but do you think he can resist mine?" It is clearly a challenge, but I am not sure who it is directed at. The new lady clearly got beef with my mage friend Fells. Once again, his name had slipped my mind until she reminded me. I raise my voice. "I am more than ready to take your strongest shock spell." All I can think of is breaking through to level 8 and hitting my over-boost criteria. I might find myself humiliated in front of the crowd instead. The new lady steps into the arena, and Fells leaves. She asks some other mages to erect a magic barrier around the arena. She turns to address me. "You win if you can get to me. I win if you can''t get to me within a reasonable time. Any don''t worry about what I consider reasonable. The crowds will get bored and call me the winner before long." She really is cocky, I feel the need to up the game and motivate me to win. "I meet your challenge, and I add to my own. I will only win if I get up to you and smack a kiss on your lips. You can only resist with stun and paralysis magic, but you can try as many times as you like." The crowd seems to like it, and the confident lady looks ready to humiliate me. I soon realize why she wanted a barrier raised around the arena. As we get ready she summons up enough crackling thunder to knock out everyone in the arena. Confined to the small space of the arena I starts have doubts. As massive amounts of voltage sweep over me I wonder if she remembered to down the amp. High voltage and low amp should be the basic requirement for stunning an opponent, but if the amp is high, this storm of lightning could fry me. As I feel the shock tear through my body, not only do I realize that I am still alive, but I am still conscious. As I force my body to respond to my command to move, it feels like I suddenly break through ice. Instead of just moving my body, I find myself running strait at a pretty face utterly shocked. I manage to slow my speed just in time as I sweep my arms around her and bend her backward giving her a smooth kiss on the lips. "You taste sweet." If I was hoping for an affectionate return to my kiss, I was hoping in vain. "Get off me, you better not think you are getting any further with me." Feeling the need to defend myself while still maintaining a good atmosphere for the crowds I retort. "Don''t worry. You might be beautiful, but my four beautiful wives are more than enough." I turn around to a familiar voice. Far back on the stage I see all four of my wives. They don''t seem at all fussed that I just kissed a complete stranger, just proud to be my wives. Chapter 50 - Self taught The day after being hit by lightning I felt the need to replicate that lightning. Sitting on the ground at the edge of the little plot surrounding the farmhouse I study a small metal rod I have shoved in the ground. No need to worry about making mistakes this far from others. I should be able to survive the worst of lightning accidents after the recent resistance training as well. Holding a finger near the rod and try to replicate the electric charge at the tip of my finger. A small lightning jumps from my finger to my baby lightning rod. Success already! Guess I am finding it easy since I have seen in and I understand the concept from my past life. If I hadn''t seen it done, I still would not have figured out how to do it with just my past knowledge. After practicing a bit more with the baby lightning rod I am able to create ten sustained little lightnings coming from each of my fingers. It reminds me of a plasma ball toy. I stand up and look at the border stone about 10 meters away. How much power do I need to put into the lightning to reach it and leave a mark on it? As I focus on creating the same conditions in front of my outstretched hand I feel the mana well up. I am using a lot on this one. I release the lightning and an explosion blows me backwards. I am definitely not immune to explosions, but what exploded? Sitting up the border stone looks untouched. However, the ground in front of me has a crater the size of well a half a foot deep. What exactly happened? I run through the actions in my head. The lightning formed and released, but never reached the stone. Instead it went down and blew up the ground in front of me. Makes sense, lightning does not go horizontally. Looks like there is more to casting lightning that I don''t know. How the heck did that goblin learn magic? Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. I remember reading about ball lightning. A rare natural phenomena not even understood by science in my past life. If I could figure out a way to replicate that I might be able to make a viable version of the lightning balls that have been thrown at me. There was also Dain''s fireball. To me it looked more like plasma. That should be easier to make. Compression gasses into focal point I use the mana to shake up the gas molecules, creating heat. Rather than the short burst I use for igniting something flammable, I keep increasing the heat until the gas changes state into something jelly like. I am not quite sure how I am keeping this thing afloat and maintained, but it is sort of working. My focus is disrupted by the second degree burns forming on my hands. Losing focus the jelly blob fall to the ground scorching the grass and dissipate. Looks like I need to increase my natural fire and heat resistance. Scabs of dead skin fall off my hands as my extreme regeneration has already formed new unblemished skin where I previously had burnt skin. My menu tells me that both my heat and fire resistance has gone up. Seeing how easy my resistance increased I create a flame above my palm and start burning my other palm. "What the are you doing?" Lawra''s sharp and panicked tone pulls me out of my intense concentration. The flame goes out and I turn towards her. I guess I need to explain to her why I was trying to put myself on fire. "Don''t worry, I am perfectly fine." I hold up my now healed hand. Lawra is usually carefree and easygoing, but she seems genuinely upset at seeing me hurting myself. After spending some time explaining that I am practicing magic, and to avoid getting hurt while practicing magic I am slowly building up my resistance to fire Lawra eventually relents. I guess the smell of burnt skin didn''t do me any favors. "What are you doing here? I moved far away from the house to avoid getting you guys hurt while practicing." It is Lawra''s turn to try to explain, she clearly got curious after the explosion earlier. Chapter 51 - Evening meal "I was born Nadi. I think my mum wanted a cute little girl, but instead she got the spitting image of her brutish husband. You are not the first to comment on my name. One of my old hunting buddies, used to call me Eve." I react to the last statement. Why Eve of all names? Surely her friend wasn''t thinking the same as me. For him to be familiar with Master of the Universe he would have to be from Earth. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Chapter 52 - Journey to the Tournament Lawra grabs my hand and leads me into one of the bedrooms. To my disappointment she tells me to store a number of bags in my soul storage. At least I got a peck on the cheek for it. I do my own preparations for the trip, which consist of a look around my room to make sure anything I might need is in my soul storage, and I am done. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. As I get into bed, Lynne comes in. "Hi, I am on bed warmer duty tonight." I get that bed warming usually involves working up a sweat, but did she have to call it a duty. "You don''t have to if you don''t want to." My comment lacks conviction. Lynne ignores me strips and jumps on top of me. "Come on, we might both be tired, but we can''t have you jumping one of the female passengers on the carriage." True, the journey is going to take a couple of days in a carriage. Lack of sleep and the Lust skill might just make me do something stupid. These girls really do look out for me in every way. Not long after Lynne is lying on top of me, asleep and dead to the world. It didn''t take long to fully exhaust her. Still I think I can manage to keep my pants on for a couple of days. It is the least I can do. She really doesn''t weigh much. I can easily breath with her fully weight on my chest and stomach. Wonder what the next couple of weeks will bring. Chapter 53 - My first city Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The spear tournament is quite different. Probably because of the impact of life force levels on melee fights, the preliminaries are dived by the life force level of the contestants. Even a novice spearman with high enough life force level can compete against a skilled opponent with a lower life force level. The starting group is the copper league, which includes anyone with a level lower than 10. The silver league is anyone with a level lower than 20. The gold league is the highest in this tournament, which include anyone above, but not many hunters beyond 30 bother to take part in tournaments this far south. Chapter 54 - The City Guild You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Chapter 55 - Potion making We go to a table that seems to be at the first step of making a healing potion. A number of dried herbs are mixed and ground into powder by one assistant. Another potion maker empties some small pebbles into another mortar and start crushing and grinding them into powder as well. I am sure the ingredients should be secret, but Mr analyze tells me not only that the pebbles are low grade mana stones, but also the name of all the dried herbs. Most of which I recognize from my reading at the guild library. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Several hours later I still haven''t learned the skill, but I got a good grasp of the magic used to make the potion. Guess I need to try doing it to learn. I walk up to one of the leading potion makers. "Do you mind if I have a go at doing your job?" "Sure why not, just mix the powders and stir until the color changes." He clearly thinks I don''t know he has been using magic. "You clearly have a talent for potion making." There is a slight stutter to his voice. Seems like I will be held up as someone with a talent if I keep quiet about the magic to all the commoners. "I am complete newbie, but I am a quick learner." All true, even got a unique skill too prove it. "I am sure there is plenty I can learn from someone as experienced as you." The flatter seems to soften the mood a bit. Chapter 56 - Silver tournament With a silver spear tournament looming the following morning, I spend the rest of the day near the training grounds to see if I can catch a glimpse of any of my potential opponents. I won''t know who I face until the morning, but I should at least try to prepare. Looks like most contestants are just going through repetitive exercises. No one wants to show off their real skill this close to the tournament. I say no one, but the four guys who ranked up from the bronze tournament don''t seem too bothered. They know that they will struggle in the tournament, as they go up against higher level opponents. I look at the Silver Spear Tournament boards to see who I am up against. Looks like I will be facing the winner of the bronze tournament. Since neither the life force level nor the technique level is on the board I have no way of knowing if I am in a difficult group. At least I should be able to win against one guy. I head towards the designated area to see if I can spot my other opponents. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. With the advantage against me looming I continue hoping to wear him out before I remember that he is higher leveled than me and even with my stamina skill we are probably even on stamina. As when I was fighting Brute I try to learn his skill and turn it against him. It doesn''t work, he seems unfazed by my attack. He is not an aggressive attacker, which is also what makes him so dangerous. Every movement has purpose. With my maxed spear skill the level 18 might as well have been an ogre for his comparatively clumsy movements. It is a clean quick win. I continue taking out all my remaining opponents without too much difficulty and take first place in the group. Skill trumps strength it seems. Can anyone beat me now at all? Chapter 57 - The finals and the aftermath The girls seem ecstatic that I won my group. "Now you get to compete in the gold tournament as well." Kira seem genuinely excited. Qualifying for the gold tournament was the goal all along. Winning the group puts me in the semi finals. "Let''s see if I can win this tournament first before we talk about the next one." I am feeling reasonably confident after my skill maxed out. His life force level is 16 and his spear skill is 8, similar to his cousin. My skill is 10 now. I should still have a good chance at beating him. I find the other two opponents are equally skilled. All look beatable on paper. While we wait the audience are gathering to see the finals. There will be two semi finals and two further finals to settle the order of the last four. Looks like I will be facing the cousin in my semi final. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. As I step into the large ring designating the fighting area, I notice that the audience numbers have more than tripled. As the fight starts I realize that the challenge wasn''t bravado. He is probably a bit better than his cousin. I try to leverage my skill, but I keep faltering. Didn''t skill trump strength. I got two levels more than him. "You don''t seem as confident as earlier." My opponent is goading me or just commenting on my visible surprise. As the fight drags on I realize that I am totally outmatched. My overboost skill which raises my skill to max when I hit level 8 has a major flaw. It is a hollow boost without the experience to back it up. I am not able to fully leverage the higher skill level, and my lack of experience is starting to show. In time I am sure I would be able to beat him, but today I am totally outmatched. I was probably outmatched by his cousin as well. I just got lucky. Chapter 58 - Archery preliminaries It is the morning of the archery preliminaries. I have been placed in one of several large groups. To qualify I need to be one of only a few standing in the group. An outright winner is not required. This preliminary, unlike the silver spear tournament is not a tournament itself, just a way to reduce the number of contestants to manageable numbers at the main tournament. Looks like they have turned one of the largest training grounds into a massive archery field. At one end archers are lining up side by side in small numbered squares. Each square has a young boy standing next to it, and further out on the field is a small mobile target with the same number. There is no bull''s-eye, I guess I just have to hit it. Having read the rules, I know that the boy is supposed to fetch my arrows for me while I stay in my square. He can also fetch new arrows if I need any replacing. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Surprisingly me and Kira are not the only ones using soul storage to quickly summoning arrows. It is actually quite common. And here I thought this was my original invention. As my arrow boy hands me my arrows I inspect them. I notice Kira doing the same. There is no damage to any of them. As I prepare for the second round, the rules change. The targets are moved further away and we now have four seconds to put all arrows in the target. Chapter 59 - Gold tournament If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Chapter 60 - The magic tournament "Looks like you know her?" His tone tells me he is curious to know. "I stole a kiss from her once." The old mage bursts out laughing. "That must have stung." "You have no idea, even increased my resistance skills when she hit me with her magic." The old man clearly wants to hear what happened next. "You old pervert. If you must know she has been avoiding me ever since that kiss." Can''t blame her, she knows I am resistant to her magic. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Chapter 61 - The archery tournament The archer stops as the machine stops. As if to demonstrate that there is no pattern a second series of random target shooting carries on. The targets appear to be randomly popping up with seemingly no pattern. What a brilliant archery test. The archers, speed, accuracy and nerve is tested to the limit. Though the female archer made it all seem doable, many will find it challenging to hit the random targets in the very short space of time they appear. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The announcer is clearly excited by the performance he has just seen. It seems she was the clear favorite and I am the dark horse. Looks like we will have a one on one competition using the same contraption. The engineers are visibly running around making adjustments to the contraption. Guess it will get harder from now on. The huntress goes first this time. She starts firing off arrows at targets popping up. The difficulty has clearly gone up, but she only misses one. Chapter 62 - Back home and visiting the guild The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Chapter 63 - Hunting trip preparations Back at the farm I find Kira and Nadi in the kitchen. Seems like we got at least one more hunter in our party. Kira informs me that she couldn''t find anyone else. "Did you ask Carna?" "Yes, but she did not want to come." "Why? I am getting the feeling she doesn''t like me." The comment was meant as a throwaway comment, and I did not expect Kira to answer. "Don''t take it personal, she hates all men." Well that makes a lot more sense now. Nadi has a grin on her face, she clearly found our conversation amusing. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "I guess we will have to go with the team as it is." Both Nadi and Kira agrees. Kira asks me a favor on Nadi''s behalf. Looks like Nadi is a bit low on cash and needs some of her old amour fixing. Nadi doesn''t seem to mind that I have limited experience, but appreciates any repairs I can do. We head to the workshop to make preparations. Using the leather armor as a base I first remove the old metal plates and using the forge quickly hammer out a large quantity of scale plates. Nadi leaves me to it and joins Kira and Rin in their preparations. Due to the limited time, I spend no time making the armor look pretty, but focus on functionality. The old metal plates were just stitched on for added protection, and left significant gaps that any stabbing weapon could penetrate. Making the metal plates smaller and rounder I hope to make a fully overlapping coat of scale armor. Wonder if better metals can be used? High quality steel seems to be in heavy use already, and Alain revealed a surprising amount of knowledge on steel alloys. Cost of materials are probably the main reason most stick to carbon steel even if the knowledge of other alloys are around. I still want to try to make something better. If only I could use magic in the smiting process, I might be able to make something scientists in my old world could only dream of. Chapter 64 - Dangerous bees Our first job from the guild takes us to another frontier village. This one seems to be pretty far from the wilderness to be considered a frontier village. I guess it is just a matter of time before it becomes a town with a minor lord to oversee it. There are a few hundred people living in the town, but no guild branch yet. As we approach the centre of the village the usual small hill of the original settlement appears. The old farmhold buildings have been cleared away and replaced by a new town hall. As the swarm gets within striking distance I switch from my bow to a polearm I cobbled together last minute before we left. Hardly my best work but after hearing about the bee mission I wanted to try to get longer reach than a longword. The polearm is no more than a spear with a blade attached to the end, a glaive. Crippling bees with a glaive prove far easier than hitting them with arrows. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. As we enter Kira is holding my glaive. Having seen me use it, she wanted to give it a try, but she is clearly finding the head of the glaive to be a bit too heavy to wield. Still she manages to cripple a couple of bees at the nest while Nadi and me take care of the rest with swords. Using fire magic inside the nest is clearly not a good idea as the canopy is very flammable. Chapter 65 - Goblins again! The old man continues to explain that the only ones who used to leave the confined village and go into the wilderness outside used to be groups of villagers capable of hunting beasts and protecting themselves, but as they have now started to cultivate land on the outside a lot more people are having to venture outside the wooden walls. "Not long ago we noticed signs of goblins in the area. They don''t seem to be many, but it was enough for the villagers to stop letting women and girls help outside the walls." Having seen what happens to women taken by goblins that is an understandable reaction. It is also quite logical, since it would only increase their numbers. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. After taking down some details on the surroundings and where the goblins were spotted from the old man, we start strategizing on what to do in the morning. As we get ready to go to bed I notice that Nadi has disappeared off as she usually does in the evening. As Kira leads me to our room I notice that Rin is tagging along. Turnout out Kira only asked for one room at the inn. Well this could get a be awkward. I was planning on some physical activities before bedtime. Chapter 66 - Taking down a big one The next couple of days and nights is a repeat of the first without much interruption. This shallow into the wilderness most beasts are kept in check by regular hunting either by villagers or guild hunters. It will be a different matter when we turn west deeper into the wilderness. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. With Nadi''s spear buried in its chest it drops its club to grab the spear. Having switched from my glaive to my battle axe I deliver the finishing blow to its head from behind. His head comes clean off. Easy fight, but could have been very different if we did not have the momentum of surprise. Kira and Rin look disappointed that they didn''t get to do anything, but their role was more of a safeguard. If something went wrong they were supposed to fire arrows at its head to distract it. Ogre skulls are too hard to penetrate with an arrow and the beast as a whole is agile enough to doge arrows. The killing blow would have to be delivered by either me or Nadi. "Do you know why this orc has stopped fighting me and is showing off his erection?" Looking towards Nadi, I see the strangest sight. I am reminded of a chapter in the book a read, but I never expected to see it in person. The last orc standing is no longer holding a combat stance against Nadi, but is instead flexing muscles and parading his erect penis in front of Nadi. If it didn''t look so comical I guess I would be disgusted. To my surprise, Nadi looks more fascinated. Is the orcs courting ritual working on her? Chapter 67 - Beyond the mountain range Kobold look a bit like a cross between a hyena and a human. I like dogs too much to want to compare them to kobolds, and kobolds are definitely not attractive. They seem to be classed as bipedal beasts, unlike beastmen, and from what I have read the beastmen races absolutely hates them. With all beastmen enslaved to humans there is no natural check against the population growth of kobolds which occasionally leads to large hunting missions to thin their numbers. As we head for the pass a kobold hunting party catch our scent. Using my alert and menu map skills we set a trap for them and annihilate the small party before they can call for help. With no kobolds stalking us we rush to the pass. Ironically beyond the pass life will get a lot harder from past experience. A lot of this area has already been mapped out in my menu map from my long stay just west of here. With the detailed map filled out and my current alert skill level I find it easier to warn our party of danger and prepare a counter. Mostly we just deal with suicidal forest rats who have grown numerous this side of the mountain wall. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The male elf is the one to respond. "You seem sincere and I can teach you a lot about elves, but the one thing I will not tell you is where to find more of my brethren." That last condition is very understandable, and I assure him that I don''t want to know in case I accidentally let it slip to humans who would take advantage of that knowledge. Chapter 68 - Bambi missed me The offspring of a human and an elf is always a female elf. It is one of the reasons, many humans consider elves impure demi-humans, as their own blood is contaminated by the elvish blood. The same applies for all the different beast races. Though humans and demi-humans can interbreed the offspring is always a female of the mother''s race. This must be the origin of the demi-human category. It is effectively a racist category used by humans to designate all elves and beast races. The old elf also informs me that referring to all the different animal races as beast races is equally a racist terminology as it refers to humans comparing them to the beasts of the wilderness. Animal races hates to be compared to beasts, as this is to make them equal to kobolds and goblins who technically are beasts. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "I have heard that dragons can do magic, so how are they able if they don''t have a soul storage?" "All beasts store their mana in a physical location in this physical world, their mana stone. The more mana is stored, the larger the mana stone becomes, and the capacity for magic grows." This makes a lot of sense as the mana stones are often used as mana batteries or to contain mana for a specific purpose like in potions. The old elf admits to having scouted human lands on several occasions in the past. As he says so, I hear the alien language of the elves next to me. Turns out the young female elf as been sitting and listening to our entire conversation. "Don''t be rude speak the human''s language." The old elf''s reprimand reveals that even the young elf can speak the common human language. She is clearly still suspicious of us. "Did you ever consider freeing elven slaves while you were travelling in human lands? I know I would if I was in your shoes." "Firstly elves don''t wear shoes, but something we call mochies." Another elven trivia that I would otherwise find interesting, but I really want to know what the elf thinks of humans keeping elves as slaves. The old elf explains that it was for a time common for male elves to have one wife born in the wilderness and multiple former slave concubines to ensure many offspring, but the concubines were considered unsuited for motherhood and their children were taken from them and raised by the wife of another male elf. Though elven society is also a patriarchal society, it looks like the women hold a lot more sway in decision making than I have seen in human society. In this case it does not seem to be for the better. The elves set up a shelter in the shallow cave not far from my mud hut, which is surprisingly unscathed. I am reminded that it hasn''t actually been that long since I left. Months not years. I still haven''t been in this world a full year yet. It is hard to tell as there seem to be little difference between the seasons. "I take it Nadi showed up at your shelter." The young elf nods. Kira starts to explain the condition that both Nadi and I have and somehow makes it sound like Elianiar should be ashamed for giving me and Nadi a hard time. I am not sure what to make of any of it. I kind of get where the young elf maiden is coming from. However, Kira''s rough handling of her seems to have left an impression. She is intently listening to Kira''s words. Don''t corrupt the pure girl. Chapter 69 - Winged lizard Well this part of the wilderness should be a perfect fit. For some reason there are no dragons this far south, and dragon slayers go where there are dragons. High ranked hunters tend to move to the northern guilds as the next challenge for them is to become a dragon slayer and join the elite class of the guild''s hunters. If there are more elven warriors as strong as this elf in the clan, they should be able to deal with any aggression from southern hunters. "No dragons this far south, not sure why though." I am trying to fish out of the old elf the reason why dragons don''t go further south. No one at the guild seems to know. "I suspect human knowledge of this is a bit scares since it was so long ago. The reason there are no dragons this far south, is because of the southern dragon king." I remember hearing a rumor at the guild that dragon kings are considered the apex of the apex predator. No human in history has ever killed a dragon king. Not sure what makes a dragon a king though. Does it have subjects? With the skill I spot the wyvern almost immediately. The elf seems impressed by how quickly I spotted it. "That is a very large wyvern." I am not reassured by the elf''s comment. "Can it be killed?" "Sure, just need to ground it first. Aim for the arm joints near the body." Makes sense the huge wingspan of the wyvern is guided by its long slim arms. Hard to say, but it doesn''t look a lot smaller than the two dragons I saw fighting when I first arrived. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Looks like we are getting to the core of the matter. I can guess what comes next, but I should probably let the elf continue his story. "The spell worked incredibly well. The lands of the elves were cleared of dragons, and made the way for the elves to build their first elven cities as the centers for their kingdoms. This is when the elven kingdoms reached their peak, but within two centuries the free elves were almost extinct." Considering the outcome for the elves, I am expecting the old elf to be emotional, but he seems fully distanced from the past and in full control of his emotions. I guess even to him it is the distant past. After a pause he turns towards me. "I know little of how the human kingdoms fared in the aftermath of the destruction of the dragons and the elves. What does your human history books say?" "So what are you going to do with this big dead wyvern? It will be a pain to move." The elf remind me of the dead beast in front of us. I can''t believe we just had such a deep discussion standing over a dead beast. It is a miracle we didn''t get interrupted by a scavenger of two. "I will just put it in my soul storage." Turning towards the body, it all disappear into my soul storage like all things do. Looking up I see the elf dumbfounded expression and realize that a big soul storage is just as rare among elves as it is among humans. "I guess I should explain this on our way back to camp." Chapter 70 - Filling up my soul storage and learning a new trick Back at the mud hut the girls seem impressed that I managed to kill a fully grown wyvern. I mention that it was kind of easy, it wasn''t very tough. Nothing like other fights I have had. The old elf quickly corrects me. "If you had not hit the nerves near the shoulder it would have continued on its way ignoring you looking for a weaker target. The same would have happened if you had not attacked it soon enough when it hit the ground. It would have gotten up and taken to the air in moments if you delayed." "Well, don''t let Nadi delay your recovery." The old elf looks lost for words for once, and I leave with the girls before he can recover. From her last stay here Kira knows all the best foraging places near my hut. While Nadi, Rin and Kira forage I go hunting. I hunt much more efficiently alone, as I can move quicker and I worry less about the safety of the girls. I guess I always worry a bit, but I trust Nadi to tank any opponent until I can get back to help. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Eventually the branch has formed into a bow. It has stopped visibly moving, but inside the branch I can sense more changes taking place. Not just the outer appearance is being molded into a bow, but the inner structure is changing to optimize the effect of the bow. As an expert bow maker myself I can tell that this will be a true amazing bow. If only I could learn this magic. No doubt the song is instrumental. "Would you like to learn?" The old elf has clearly seen my interest. "Can I?" I genuine doubt I will be able to pick up the complex song he has just finished. "Who knows, I have never heard of a human mastering elven magic songs." Sounds like a challenge worth trying. I have studied every bow made by the elf. All excellent quality. Just the right level of resistance and toughness. Their draw strength is nothing to scoff at. Every time I can sense the elf''s mana shaping the living wood, but the song is still a mystery. "It is not surprising that you struggle with the song, the song is old elvish and can be difficult for even elves to learn." Now you tell me. Chapter 71 - Returning home I suspect the old elf will miss Nadi. Unlike Eli, he did not mind her nightly visits, though it meant Eli stayed in the hut with me and the girls. More for him, less for me. At least I slept well. Nadi, seems ok with an even four way split of any beast taken down as a group, even the ogre and orcs, despite most of the work being done by me and her, rather than our two support companions. All the girls insisted I take the wyvern corpse. Rin seems to think I should get at least a gold coin for it from the guild. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. As for our levels, though we will get these confirmed at the guild, I already know thanks to my analyze skill. Both me and Kira leveled up during the raid of the giant bees nest. The last time Kira leveled up was in our goblin raid to save Rin and Nadi. She got to level 7 then and now she has reached level 8. I leveled up again after the ogre fight, and my lone fight with the wyvern. In the subsequent days hunting everything around near the mud hut I leveled up a fourth time. Probably when I took down a large pack of wolves. Chapter 72 - How to not get scammed Flushed with cash from the proceeds of the hunting trip and reward money, I head to the shopping district of Lago. Due to the amount of hunter activity in the town, there is a disproportionate amount of shops in a town this size. I am looking for anything that can help me get started on potion making. I plan to make ample use of my analyze skill. I need to see this as an investment. If I can reverse engineer the potion I can make a business out of it. Heading for the counter the girl pulls a vial from behind the counter and puts it in a small brown paper bag. The vial looks identical to the one in the display. I even get a nice paper bag, a sign of an expensive purchase. As I make ready to hand over the money I check the vial with analyze just to be certain. Even through the paper bag I get all the readings I got from the other vial, but they are much lower. The vial I am being handed is low quality knockoff made to look like the real thing. I stop in my tracks and the girl at the counter looks confused. She is trying to scam me. How should I handle this? I really want to give her a piece of my mind, but then I notice the slave markings under her scarf. She is not to blame, she is just the pawn. "Please bring the shop owner here." The girl looks confused. "Surely you have been given orders by your master to bring him to the shop if need be. I can assure you that this is that time." I put just a bit of my intimidation skill into the tone to send her running into the back of the shop. "Can you tell me why your slave has been ordered to sell cheap knockoffs as if they are high quality potions?" I am making sure he knows that I will not accept him passing the blame of the scam onto his slave. From what I know of slaves, they can''t go against their master, and they are highly unlikely to do something proactive that could cause trouble for their master if not specifically ordered to do so. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Chapter 73 - Experimenting with potions and learning secrets My old world knowledge on chemistry and atomic structure might help to some extent, but the world is made up of a lot more complexity than the basic building blocks themselves. Even if I knew the periodic table by heart I would still struggle to apply it using magic. I know parts of it and I am sure it will do me some good when designing basic magic, but magic potions are a completely different kettle of fish. For the magic content I am relying on my limited experience and knowledge, from observing other potion makers and the basic structures taught to be by the old mage in the city. Neither are likely to give me a breakthrough. My best chance for a breakthrough is the herb content. The right combination and the optimal quantity. The expensive magic potion I acquired should prove its worth. In the evening I go to bed with my first wife Mari. The ranking order of my wives seems to have become more important to them as Pia joined us. I am happy to let them set the rankings so long as they don''t mistreat anyone. As Mari sit naked on top of me I notice that she has gotten a bit rounder. Not the kind of rounding out that a healthy diet did her in the beginning. She was sickly skinny when I first met her, but fleshed out with a nice big bosom quickly. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Do you know how long a human pregnancy lasts?" Strange question to ask. "Sure, about 9 months." The girls seem surprised by my answer. "Well, most guys don''t, and girls don''t tell them to protect themselves." Now it suddenly starts to make sense. If guys in this world do not know how long a pregnancy lasts, or that it has a fixed term, then girls who have had another guys baby can easily pass it off as their current boyfriend or husbands. I am reminded of Mara. Maybe her situation was not that uncommon. Chapter 74 - How to buy a shop "I have heard from my recently acquired slave that you are thinking of selling the shop." The old man looks weary, but offers to take us to a backroom to discuss. An old lady appears to look after the shop. She must have overheard the conversation. In a small backroom that clearly should double as an office and a storage if he had stock, we are offered some uncomfortable seats. The negotiation starts. "I got into debt after having my business ruined by the shop owner down the road. You should be familiar with him as you have acquired his slave." He looks at Pia, but he harbors no malice towards her. In his eyes she was clearly just a pawn in her previous owners hands. "Yeah, I met him. He is currently being investigated by the guild for scamming hunters." The old man looks up surprised. "That is good news, but too late for me. My debts are with an even more shady character in town." "Could you tell me more about the terms of the debt?" I am surprised by the willingness of this man to tell me the details of his personal tragedy. Based on the interest terms, I can tell that his lender is clearly taking advantage of the old man. The rates are worse than payday loans, and the terms seems to have changed without warning at least at one point. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "If you can put me in contact with the loan shark, I will try to take over your debt and give you some good terms from its release. My main purpose is to have a shop selling various things I make like potions, weapons and armor." The old man looks genuinely interested and give me directions to his lender. After leaving Pia with the shop owner I find myself in a richer part of time outside the crook''s house. When I say I am here regarding the old man''s debt I am let in. Mindful of the type of character I am dealing with, I make a mental note of every person I pass, using analyze to assess their danger. I am left in a waiting room by the old servant who answered the door. After waiting long enough to make me impatient I am joined by another slimy character and his two very large bodyguards. Neither would offer much of a challenge in a fight, and seem to be mostly for show. Besides his money dealings this guy seems to be all bark no bite. If he was a genuine shady character he would have hired some better goons. "I understand you are here about the debt of one of my clients. How can I help you?" I decide to air my grievance of how the old man has been treated without clarifying my connection to the old man. Let him guess and think he has mistreated someone with a connection to the guild. I also highlight how the old man has already paid back his debt in the interest he has paid. "I am surprised that a strong hunter like yourself is able to understand such complex calculations." Am I supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult. The lender is clearly becoming more defensive. No reason to point out that the math he is referring to as complex is basic high school math as far as I am concerned. Instead I apply every intimidation skill I have and make it clear that I am walking out with the old man''s debt papers and that he will not have any further dealings with the old man again as he is under my protection. Back at the shop I show the papers to the old man. He offers me the shop, but politely asks for some concessions. I explain that so far this hasn''t cost me anything, and it feels wrong to just take the shop as payment. "As you told me yourself, with the way this debt was set up, I would have not just lost my shop but spent the rest of my life a debtor to that man if you had not taken care of this. I only ask that my wife can keep living in the small living space in the loft and work in the shop for basic subsistence. I will go back to being a travelling peddler. I have no sons to pass a shop to and as you can see I don''t have many years left." With that I have acquired a shop and still have enough savings to make sure it is fully stocked and possibly extend my potion research. I still feel like I need to provide an explanation of the events to the guild. Should probably drop by on my way back to the farm. Chapter 75 - Starting a business All parts of the process influences the quality of the potion, and I think I have manage to find the optimal combination of herbs and plants to stimulate the healing effect. The regeneration effect of the potion which is similar to my skill seems to mostly depend on the magic side of the process, but I don''t know enough about healing magic or magic in general to get any further in my research. With the medium strength potions I can now make I should be able to make a tidy profit, but if I improve my magic, I should be able to reach the strength of the high level potion I bought. One morning I find myself alone with Kira walking from the farm to the shop in town. She is the de facto leader of my wives, though she always shows consideration to Mari before herself. They really did take the order I married them serious. "Kira, do you ever wonder about my past and why I am a bit different?" Seems like a fair question. It should be obvious to her by now that my values are different than what is common. "The place I originally come from is actually quite peaceful." Well I guess that is relative depending on where in my old world you go. "My upbringing was peaceful at least. I did not have to fear hunger or danger to life and limb. It was a much kinder world than this. One thing in particular is very different and that is how people view slavery. In my world slavery itself is considered evil." Kira looks at me with interest, but she does not seem to understand. "How do you feel about the fact that only women are slave, and no men are?" There is no way she can defend that. It is clearly a result of men with power not wanting to see other men enslaved. "If men do anything wrong that is serious enough, they are executed, women on the other hand are enslaved. If they are lucky they get a good master and can still have a good life. Many women sell themselves into slavery rather than starve to death. To me the men got the worse deal." Well I sort of get where she is coming from, but it is more complicated than that. Stolen story; please report. "Is there anything about slavery that you don''t like?" There must be some common ground. "Similar to Lawra I do not like that a father can sell his daughter into slavery if he pleases. However, any daughter old enough to make the decision to sell herself into slavery to save her family is doing a noble thing." Finally something we can agree on. How did this almost turn into an argument? I wanted to probe her about how Pia is treated. "Why did you start this conversation?" Kira reads my mind again. "The reason I brought this up is because of Pia. She seems unhappy, and I know you have different views about slavery than me, so I just wanted to find out what is making her unhappy." At this Kira bursts out laughing. "You think she is unhappy because of how me and the others are treating her? You should ask her yourself, with the slave mark she will tell you the undiluted truth." Why didn''t I think of that? Even if she feared repercussions for saying the truth, the slave mark would force her to tell the truth regardless, but why is Kira finding this so funny? As we approach the shop I ask Kira one more related question. "You mentioned that women who starve sell themselves into slavery, what do men do when they are desperate?" Kira looks at me like I am asking a dumb question, but instead of giving me a hard time, she tells me the answer. "If they are starving and they don''t resort to crime, they join some lords army to become meat for the next meaningless battle fought at the lords whim." The shop has been renamed The Hunters Emporium. Under the bow and arrow sign is association mark of The Guild. Having the mark is a status sign for any shop, and provides protection from criminals, as no one wants to mess with The Guild''s own. It took a few days to get the authorization for the mark from the Guild even with the owner being an active hunter. As long as I have the favor of The Guild the shop can keep the sign. I should have realized that a slave will not take imitative, and my passive approach is what led her to be troubled. It still is a bit eerie for me as I am very much in a position of authority and control over her. It would be scarily easy to order her to do anything I feel like. Not sure if I trust myself with that power. Chapter 76 - A hunting mission all on my own Since I am back to having limited savings, I decide it is time to check out the wyvern culling mission that I have been recommended. As usual, Kira joins me in the walk to the guild. She is always on the look out for jobs that suit her skill set. "Do you want to come along for the wyvern culling mission?" Kira doesn''t seem surprised that I ask, though she has never suggest she would join me if I went. "I would rather not. It is too dangerous. When you start killing their babies, the adult wyverns show up, and I got no chance against them. I am not worried about you though." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Looks like I am really amusing this girl with my questions. "True, but the guild is more interested in general principals than rules. The overarching principal is; will your actions hurt the standing of the guild with good folk. Be a bit more careful with nobles, but if you come across some low-lives you can pretty much do whatever you feel like. Also, if you kill anyone in self-defense, you will never face consequences provided you cooperate with the investigation." This place really is the wild west. Seems like there is a rule for the people of the guild and another much harsher rule for those outside the guild. The guild really acts like a family. Rotten eggs are dealt with to not spoil the omelette. Kira seems to finally have lost the persistent admirer. She wanders over to me. "You never told me you had so many admirers." Kira looks more annoyed than amused by my comment. "Would you like me to give him a beating?" She finally smiles but shakes her head. Chapter 77 - Giving my first beatdown As I run through open fields it starts to rain so I store my cloths in my soul storage and continue the run naked like a Greek athlete. The monotonous pace with no obstacles leaves me with a lot of time to think, so I start experimenting with magic. My first attempt at making a mana shape fails as I fail to take into account that I am running. In my next attempt I anchor the mana structure to the palm of my hand before experimenting. It proves challenging to concentrate on creating the structures while running. I try to imagine mana as atoms and the structures as molecules. It somehow always works better when I do it like this. I am still getting used to the different rules I can give the mana within the structure. What the old mage showed me was invaluable, but I have since only been able to steal moments to practice. There are too many things that need my attention. I can''t really do any fancy experiments while running but the practicing while running gives me experience I am sorely lacking. I need to get used to handling mana before actually doing it. A week of running while practicing might help. At the desk I see a worn out receptionist. She notices me immediately. "Are you here for the beatdown request?" Straight to the point. I confirm I am the hunter sent by the guild in Lago. "Good, she has been causing more trouble lately." She? My beatdown victim is to be a woman. Well I was raised with the concept of equal rights and all, but it didn''t include beating up women. That was always frowned upon. In this world, I doubt anyone cares. It is a far more cruel and harsh world than I am used to. Daga heads towards the outdoor guild arena expecting me to follow. I turn to the receptionist and it hit me that I don''t actually know how to explain how I know her real level. Better be a bit vague. "You know it is quite clear that she is not a level 12 anymore. Her level is likely a lot higher." The receptionist seems worried, she clearly believes me. "Do you want to withdraw from the request?" Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I am tempted to withdraw as I am clearly not the best guy for the job, and I am not keen on hitting a woman. It just doesn''t sit right with me. However, it would likely affect my standing with the guild if I refused. Even if I lose, the guild has no reason to blame me. Not that I want to. In this town no one would step in to save my hide if I take a beating. Wonder if they want me to win or not. I can''t imagine she made many friends if she was bullying, but I guess it depends on who she was bullying. As the fight is about to start I clear my mind, and resolve to fight without holding back and without being constrained by my past values. The move clearly took her by surprise, but I know I have no room to hesitate. Pinned against the wall I start pounding her with various punches. Being a level 18 hunter, her endurance will be abnormally high. Some of her skills make her a lot more sturdy, similar to my own regeneration skill that Lak loves so much. Chapter 78 - A more deadly fight As I exit the small town my alert skill warns me. I quickly spot four figures trying to encircle me. Realizing they have been spotted they stop trying to hide and come out of the foliage near the main road to town. Three guys I have never seen, all heavily armed. One even has a shield and full metal armor. He will be hard to hit with an arrow. The fourth figure hangs back a bit, but even behind the bruises I recognize Daga. "You do realize that if you try to get payback with the beater of a beatdown you will get in a lot of trouble with the guild." They seem unphased by my comment, I guess lethal force is justified, as these guys are clearly not planning to let me live. Before I get rushed I summon my bow and send arrows at all my opponents. With three of the four knocked out I turn to the seriously wounded man. He looks to be dying. I am surprised by how much the thought bothers me. Why should I care about this guy. Is it because he is human like me? I never felt any remorse killing goblins and other beasts. Somewhere along the line I forgot that killing humans is different. Instinctively I analyze his wounds with healing magic and find a lot of internal bleeding, a punctured stomach and too much blood leaving for him to survive for long. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. With two of the three prisoners unable to walk well, I rope all three together and drag them back to town. I am still shocked by my strength in this world. By time I get to the guild branch, the three prisoners are covered in dirt. The acting chief of the branch meets me outside. "As soon as I left town these guys tried to ambush me." I punctuate the point by summoning the body of the dead man. Recognizing Daga, the receptionist inspects the men. She uncovers identical tattoos on all of them. "This explains a lot". The tattoos mean nothing to me. "Care to explain?" "The tattoos are those of a criminal gang operating in a city two days ride to the east. It looks like Daga has been working with them as a killer for hire. That would explain why her level is higher than we originally thought." So Daga grew her level to be higher than mine by killing people. I thought beasts gave the most life force? "What happens now?" My question is directed at her as the acting chief of the branch not as its receptionist. More tired than I have ever seen her she explains that she will need to find someone to execute the men and force a slave mark on Daga. "Would you be able to help?" "So Daga will lose her guild membership?" I realize it is dumb question as soon as it leaves my mouth. "Yes. For what she has been up to she will be turned into a slave and sold to the highest bidder." I have no idea how a slave mark is done, but if I am going to get used to killing humans, I guess I can help with the executions. The locals might be afraid of reprisals from the rest of the gang. As I leave the town for a second time, the heads are displayed on pikes outside the town gate. A warning for any criminal elements to enter the town. No doubt Daga will be pumped for information on the gang which will enable the guild to issue bounties on the members of the gang. Not my concern anymore. I continue on my journey south. Chapter 79 - Arriving at the swamp The archers fan out, each with a guide to look for wyvern. Sure enough, there are plenty of flapping creatures around. Most seem to be medium sized lizards about the size of the forest rats, just skinnier and with hairless and featherless wings several times their own size. It is like a mini version of the large wyvern I killed up north. It seems being too successful will draw suspicion. After a bit of verification and enduring the strange stare of some guy while another interrogates me, I am set free after a brief exchange between the two men. Later that evening I get a visit from a female guild staff apologizing for the treatment and explaining what took place. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I head to the mess tent for a meal and a drink, and find myself collared by the same big guys who previously interrogated me wanting to buy me a drink. "No hard feelings? We were just doing our job." Can''t say it was a pleasant experience, but I do appreciate the work they do keeping hunters honest. Instead of accepting their offer, I offer them a drink instead. When I point to my successful hunt, they relent and let my buy them a drink. I do try to find out more about the work they do for the guild, but it seems they are not allowed to talk too freely about it. I guess it makes sense. If you know how the lie detector works, you might find a way to beat it. Chapter 80 - Wyvern culling With my continuous leveling up, I can''t expect even Kira to come along with me on more dangerous missions. It would just be too dangerous. The culling mission showed how easy hunters can die. Several hunters lost their lives to adult wyverns. Two not far from me. The participation pay for the cull reflects the danger involved. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Chapter 81 - Back at the farm with the girls "Why can''t you just teach her archery using a bow? There seems to be several female hunters using bows at the guild like Rin." Since Mari has never tried a bow, she would not know the amount of strength needed to draw a bow with a good draw weight. "I will admit, I find it strange that female hunters use bows, as a bow requires a lot of strength to use. Did you notice the upper body strength of that female archer I was facing off against at the tournament?" Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Outside I find Kira putting bolt after bolt in designated targets. Her speed and accuracy is getting incredibly good. My analyze skill gives me an even more detailed breakdown of how she is improving. In both speed and accuracy she could well catch up to me one day, but as I stated to Mari, her main problem is range and penetration. At short to medium range she is already the scourge of goblins, but any stronger or better armored opponents would give her trouble. Hesitating a bit I decide to tell her about my latest experiences with healing magic. "During my trip I tried to heal severe injuries at two separate occasions, but failed both times. They both died." Kira asks me who they were and I explain the context to each story. "I can understand how you feel about the hunter, it is a bit like watching a distant relative die in front of you. Not sure why you are bothered about the other guy. I hope you prolonged his suffering." "What I meant, was not to practice on your own wife, though admittedly she wasn''t your wife at the time. You should practice either on poor people who can''t afford healing and are desperate for someone to do it for free, or you should practice on slaves." Neither option seems appealing to me. Chapter 82 - How to practice healing magic The slave owners like any shop owner are getting ready for doing business and bringing out their slaves. There are no ropes or chains as all the slaves have the slave mark. The mark is a series of gentle looking runes running in a circle around the neck of each slave. It is scary to think that nothing will remove that mark. It will be with them until they die, and until then all they can do is obey their master. "Come, lets see what you can do." To my surprise the merchant leads me into a small tent that seems to serve as his office. The merchant barks an order at a small slave girl standing in the corner. "Go and fetch number 221." The girl runs off and the merchant turns to me. "It is not often I get a C rank hunter coming to me for a favor. I hope you understand I will be taking a risk letting you practice healing magic on my products." What a sly merchant. He seems to be wanting to make me indebted to him for the future. The girl returns with another following close behind. "He called you number 221, but what is your name?" "I was called Dia before." How did you become a slave?" "My father sold me to clear his debt." I know all too well how common this girls life story is. For every good father there seems to be a bad one willing to sell his daughter into slavery to save his own skin. My mind is filled with an understanding of her condition. She seems to have some minor internal injuries that are stubbornly refusing to heal naturally, and a number of fractures and some bones that have healed poorly after breaking. The bruises should be the easiest to heal, but give a bit more time they would heal naturally. Looking at this from the merchant''s perspective, he just wants her to be healthier and pretties. Sitting behind her with my hands on her shoulders I focus on the other injuries and scars. About two hours later I am content that there is nothing else for me to heal. All she needs now is food and rest, and hopefully a master who will not mistreat her. I instruct the other girl to fetch the merchant. "Feel free to review the rest of my stock. I will order one of my more experienced slaves to assist you." Turning to the girl again he orders her to fetch number 211. "What is with the numbers?" My question is out before I can reconsider. "When you deal with as many slaves as I do, names are meaningless. Numbers are just more practical. Besides, their new owner often give them new names anyway." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Healing for about three hours straight seems to be my limit at the moment, but if I take regular breaks and slow down the process I should be able to continue throughout the day. Calita proves to be good company in the breaks. She has a mountain of common knowledge that I find fascinating. "Do you know anything about the old elves." The question seems to trouble her. "I am sorry young master, but I only know about human society. I am aware of my terrible ancestors who set the dragons loose on the humans, but that is all I know of them." Should I have seen that one coming? Why would she ask me to buy her? Would I want to? I know the answer to the last one. My own imagination betrays me. I have never been with an elf. I can try to tell myself that they are no different than human girls. Their ears are just a bit differently shaped than humans. I am such a hypocrite. Hang on, I got my wives and Pia. No need to add to them.