《Breaker of Chains》 Chapter 1: I never liked Kansas anyway. Alex Watson considered himself a skeptic, someone whom didn¡¯t really believe in the supernatural. The fact that a blue screen was currently in front of him baffled him.
Someone is trying to summon you, do you accept? Accept/Reject Time until summoning is automatically rejected: 60 seconds.
His thoughts were a mess as he stared at it. Was he insane? Did he really snap? He thought about the day, the same old boring thing, there hadn¡¯t been anything that would make him particularly stressed. His morning coffee was crap, yes, and there had been a problem in his metro, but he was fairly confident that he wouldn¡¯t go insane thanks to these things. Maybe someone had spiked his coffee? Certainly would help to explain why it had that weird taste. Time until summoning is automatically rejected: 30 seconds. While the timer went down, his mind had wandered, should he¡­accept it? He was fairly sure that it wasn¡¯t real, but if that was the case, there wasn¡¯t exactly a whole lot for him to lose, was there? And in the off chance it was real¡­well, he wouldn¡¯t miss a lot of things. Or be missed, for that matter.
Warning, 10 seconds left!
Alex pressed the accept button. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± He mumbled. The effect was instantaneous, in a second, he was in the middle of a street in Chicago, the next, he was throwing all the contents of his breakfast in the ground. In the background, he heard someone shouting¡­something. He was too busy throwing up to give a damn, he felt awful, like his whole body had been squeezed through something far, far too small to fit him, and that was only part of the problem. He was nauseous, he felt lightheaded and the air felt¡­heavy, which meant that that he had trouble breathing. This continued for a while, to the point that he genuinely believed that he was going to die, he simply couldn¡¯t get the oxygen in his lungs. Thankfully, after what felt like a eternity, his stomach was empty, which at least allowed him to breath, even if his nose felt like it was full of acid. Slowly, he felt like the air was lighter, until he felt like he could breath normally again. Alex sat, then started to take deep breaths, ignoring the screen that appeared in front of him, and simply focused on getting as much air as he could into his lungs. As he did that, he heard someone talking, but he wasn¡¯t paying a whole lot of attention, which was currently on getting a grip on himself, slowly, he felt in control of himself, his In front of him, he saw someone in what looked like a cultist. Dressed entirely with a black coat and with a dagger in his hands, he had his back towards Alex, with both of his arms extended; the he spun, staring straight into Alex. He looked¡­oddly handsome, not exactly what Alex would think of a cultist, olive skin, dark hair, the only remarkable thing about him were his heterochromatic eyes, which had a look in them that Alex was quite familiar with: disappointment. ¡°What the fuck is happening?¡± As if in answer, the cultist said something that was¡­garbled. Alex could understand some of the words, but most of them were in some language he didn¡¯t recognize. His focus went to something else when the screen in front of him flashed red, a sound of sirens accompanying it; he figured that reading what was in front of him was probably important.
You have suffered a dimensional shift. Adapting to current dimension. Initiating emergency Awakening protocol. Starting process to adapt user to this dimension: Step one: assure continued survival. Complete. Step Two: Adapt body to dimensional standards.Starting in: 3 seconds Step Three: Adapt mind to dimensional standards Step four: Awaken extra sense.
Alex read the information, wait, what did it mean to adapt his body? The answer was made clear when his entire felt like his entire body was pure pain. The feeling was like something was removing every organ and bone in his body then putting it back, thankfully, It only lasted for a few seconds, but the result was that he fell down in the puddle of his vomit. ¡°I¡­immediately regret all of my decisions¡­¡± He mumbled, he felt...better, the pain had vanished as soon as it came, even if he was disgusted, he then remembered that there was one more thing. ¡°Wait, please W-¡° Unfortunately, it seemed that waiting was not an option. He felt a splitting headache, as if someone was shoving hundreds of needles in his brain, while at the same time using it as a drum, he contorted in pain for the few seconds that it lasted. In the process, it seemed that all of his bodily functions went in overdrive, because he was crying, sweating, vomiting, and his pants felt a whole lot heavier. ¡°Stoopp¡­¡± Once again, the pain vanished just as suddenly as it came, Alex then prepared for the next thing, and, to his surprise, this time, it was not painful, but it certainly was intense. He felt overwhelmed by something¡­other. He felt as if was as if he had been blind his whole life and suddenly was able to see again. He felt an ocean of sensations wash over him, most of it was just¡­tranquility, but with 4 in specific standing out, the first one was a deep disgust, then came something like a calming stroll in a forest, then comfort, then curiosity, after that, the sensations lost its intensity, it was still there¡­just a whole lot more manageable. Slowly, he opened his eyes, noticing that he was crying again, but this time, it was not due to pain or discomfort. Yes, the new sense had given him a whole lot of that, but the sheer beauty of it all made him shed tears, as he opened his eyes, he saw a new blue screen pop up.
You have successfully adapted to the current dimension. Now continuing Awakening protocol. Generating character sheet. Starting generation of class and path. Perk generation geared towards continued survival of user. Due to cicurmstances, a new attribute has been created: Insight
You have successfully adapted to this dimension, now, generating status sheet:
Name: Alex Watson. Age: 22 Gender: Male Class: (Generating) Title: None Path: (Generating) Skills: None (Moving to own tab) Perks: (Generating, moving to own tab.) Affinities: Dimension, (generating) Level: 0 Inflexible attributes: Strength: 90 Dexterity: 110 Agility: 100 Constitution: 100 Logic: 120 Semi-flexible attributes: Insight:1 Free Points: 0
In front of where the cultist was previously standing, was a literal knight in shining armor. He was dressed in full plate, not an inch of flesh showing his body, and his armor seemed like¡­not, it was literally glowing. Alex was simultaneous horrified by what happened and awestruck by the person¡¯s presence.Before he could ponder on what all if that meant, he saw something, which he really wish he had not. It was the tip of a sword, which he saw protruding from the cultist that he saw earlier, blood spilled in the circle, then, he was sent flying by a kick. The knight lowered the leg that he had used to kick the cultist, and then stared Alex , whom stared very nervously at the knight¡¯s bloodied sword. ¡°Are¡­You¡­¡± The knight tried to say something, but his voice was¡­garbled, he understood a few bits and pieces, but most of it was in a weird language. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me please! All I did was pressing a fucking button!¡± The figure obviously could understand Alex as well as Alex could understand him, but seemed to get that he was in a bit of a panic, helped by the fact that he was crawling backwards. The knight took a few steps back, and then put his sword in a sheath, then, he raised his hands. Alex took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, but the disgusting smell that covered him really was not helping. ¡°Calm¡­¡± The knight once again started talking, with a shooting tone, in a way that reminded him of when people were talking with their pets. While Alex couldn¡¯t help but feel a tad insulted, it did help him, slowly, he started to control himself, the knight nodding in response, when he seemed to have calmed down, the knight then raised his hands towards him, which Alex reluctantly accepted, then he was brought to his feet. The moment he got up, Alex almost feel face fist into the ground, his body felt¡­different, and unsteady, the knight, however, helped him stay steady in his feet. It was in this moment that he noticed that the knight was not alone, and he found difficult to believe what he saw. Behind the knight, Alex saw two other people. One was what he only could describe as the stereotypical elf: Tall, blonde and gorgeous. He ears were long and pointed; her face had an inhuman beauty in it, striking him dumb for a second, she was dressed in what looked like leather armor, and was holding a longbow in her hands. Floating besides her was someone that made her look tame, a bona-fide witch, whom was floating on top of a flying broom. She was human looking, albeit also inhumanly beautiful, and was dressed on all black, long black hair flowing in the hair beneath a large witch hat. Alex noticed that he had been distracted when the Knight lightly tapped him on his arm; he winced, having been taken by surprise by their appearances. The knight seemed to be trying to drag him somewhere, shakily, Alex walked alongside him, stopping when he saw where he had been taking him, a wooden bench, slowly, he sat down, he felt exhausted, but was glad that he wasn¡¯t lying on his own vomit anymore. The knight took a step backwards, then started to talk with the other two present about¡­something, they were talking fast and he could only understand half of what they were saying, so his comprehension went straight to hell. A bit curious, he looked around him; he hadn¡¯t bothered to figure out where he was until now. Well, he knew where, in a fantasy world. That much was obvious by now.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He looked around him; the place looked like a massive cathedral¡­to Cthulhu. Most of the place was like all the other cathedrals that he had seen on his life, big, made of stone, lots and lots of benches, but instead of what normally would be Christian stuff, like crosses and stuff, were instead tentacles. In the furthermost part of the cathedral, he could see what looked like a statue of what he imagined an eldritch abomination was like, which utterly terrified him. Unfortunately, while looking around, he saw the body of the cultist that he had seen stabbed earlier. He felt his breath accelerate again, when he saw the corpse, then he glanced at the knight whom had stabbed the cultist, suddenly reminded about the fact that the knight had killed somebody. He started to panic again¡­and then he saw something, the cultist was moving. Alex very mixed feelings by that fact, which turned into terror as he saw the cultist tart to crawl towards him. Wait. Not towards him, Alex then noticed something that he had not. The place where he had appeared was a very big circle, in the center of the circle; he saw a really weird book, which, just from looking, made a shiver run down his spine. The pieces started to match in his head. The person looked like a cultist, was in the middle of a cathedral of Cthulhu, and was going towards what he could only describe as the Necronomicon¡¯s weird cousin. Alex had played enough call of Cthulhu to know where this was going, and he wanted no part in it. ¡°Hey¡± Alex tried to talk to them, but they seemed a tad focused on their own conversation, he tried to get up, but his legs were not cooperating. ¡°Hey¡± When they gave no reaction, he took a deep breath. ¡°HEY!¡± This seemed to make them finally notice of him; he then pointed a finger towards the cultist. Oddly enough, Alex understood perfectly what the witch said next. ¡°Well, shit.¡± In that moment, the cultist flipped himself, took a knife from¡­somewhere, and then stabbed himself in his heart. The moment this happened, blood started to flow from his body unnaturally, almost as if being sucked from him by the circle, he then started to laugh maniacally. Alex really had not thought that his day would have with him encountering Cthulhu. The effect of this towards the people around him was immediate, the Elf jumped backwards, managing to cross most of the weird cathedral in a single movement, the witch started flying upwards and the knight rushed towards him. He briefly panicked as he saw that, but his intentions became clear when Alex was lifted off the ground in a bridal carry. As soon as he did that, the Knight sprinted towards the entrance, laying him down nearby it, before rushing towards the circle shouting something, leaving a very dizzy Alex behind. At that moment, he felt a chill go down his spine as he felt something¡­other appearing. That was the best way he could describe the feeling, other. It didn¡¯t belong in this world, or Earth, for that matter. Alex felt a weird sense of clarity, because at this point he knew he was in the front¡­well, backrow seat at this point, of the summoning of an eldritch abomination. Thanks to your proximity to extradimensional magic, your affinity towards it has increased! At least it seemed that something going his way for once. Even if he had to question what an affinity towards eldritch abominations would do to him. Alex stared as the Knight stood behind the circle, sword held high, he briefly wondered why no one did something already. Was it rude to interrupt someone being summoned?
Valkoz, lord of (Error) has been summoned. Your insight has increased! Entering disaster mode. A local party has engaged with the disaster, would you like to join? Yes/No
Alex stared at the screen; it sure was comforting when even the freaking system screen was showing errors. Still, not seeing a point of not doing so, he shrugged, and then clicked yes. In the corner of his vision, Alex saw another blue screen pop up.
Wind the last true guardian HP: 99% MP:80% Stamina: 90%
Sky the living saint HP: 99% Stamina: 90%
Alice the good witch HP: 99% MP:90% Stamina: 99%
His eyes where once again drawn towards the magic circle, from which tentacles started to emerge; just looking at them made Alex¡¯s head hurt, the pain getting worse as more and more tentacles emerged from the circle. As soon as the first tentacle emerged, the elf, whom probably was Wind, started firing her bow like it was a machine gun, a constant stream of arrows hitting the tentacles, making it look like a hedgehog. Meanwhile, Alice started chanting something, while Alex could understand some of what she was saying earlier, now all of it was gibberish. While all of this was happening, the knight simply stood there, in front of the circle, menacingly.Alex stared at the screen, all of sudden feeling like he was an npc that the DM threw for the epic level party to escort, still, it was nice to know their names. Meanwhile, was sitting on a bench, feeling a tad out of his depth, he tried to think of something that he could do, he felt¡­useless, maybe there was something in his status screen? As soon as he thought about it, it appeared in front of him, but...the only difference was that he gained 1 point of insight. He could do fuck all against that thing. More and more of the being started from emerge, Alex¡¯s head hurting more and more, he also noticed that no part of the creature was leaving the circle, but he was fairly sure that the circle wasn¡¯t big enough for that¡­¡±ARGH¡± A sudden spike of pain filled his mind as soon as he thought about it, at the same time, another blue screen appeared in front of him.
Thanks to constant mental interference, a perk has been generated: Strong mind (0/100% to next level) Your mind is naturally protected against all form of mental interference, both direct and indirect, it also becomes easier to notice such interference, and even when successful, their impact will be lessened. Thanks to this perk, the Willpower attribute has been unlocked.
Alex mumbled a numb yey as he saw the notification, his eyes once again were drawn away from it and towards the giant tentacle monster. At the very least, it hurt less to look at it. More and more left the circle, more than it should be possible, but Alex tried not to think too much about it, more and more arrows hit it, and Alice continued her chant, then, he felt it. Valkoz had been fully summoned, he knew that instinctively, helped by the fact that he felt a massive shiver go down his spine again. Valkoz, in all of his glory, looked¡­like a lot of tentacles. He didn¡¯t have a mouth, face, or anything of the sort, he was just¡­tentacles. His tentacles had tentacles that had even more tentacles. In truth, Alex had trouble describing him, mostly because his head started to hurt when he tried to think about how it looked, or what it¡¯s color was, thought of it like a Shoggoth, and decided that it probably was healthier to think about it that way. The thing started to try to move beyond the circle, but it was as if it was hitting an invisible wall, it crashed again and again against it, and slowly, Alex felt that something was starting to break. A tentacle went beyond the circle, thrashing part of the cathedral, more and more tentacles started to leave it, then, with another chill going down Alex¡¯s spine, all of it burst outwards. The mass of tentacles rushed forwards against the closest person, Sky didn¡¯t react as the wall of tentacles rushed him, merely raising his sword, and standing still, then, Valkoz crashed into him, but somehow, the knight stood his ground, the sound of his sword blocking the abomination echoing through the cathedral. In defiance of the laws of physics and common sense, he was not pushed back, despite the sheer weight of his enemy. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the witch stopped chanting, Alex saw something in the corner of his vision, and then, he looked. An absolutely massive ball of fire was in front of the witch, the size and intensity of it such that he could only describe the thing as a mini sun, then, it shot forwards towards the tentacles. The mini sun shot forwards, but immediately, Alex noticed that something was wrong, as soon as it moved, it started shrinking, before it reached the monster, it had become the size of a basketball, then, it vanished as it touched the tentacles, it was in that moment that Alex figured that he was well and truly fucked. After that, more and more of the tentacles rushed forwards, the knight blocking them, and dodging when they tried to grab him, and occasionally cutting it when he could, but the effect he was having was minimal, same for the arrows that were pelting it, it was obvious that they needed something big to kill it, and the fireball hadn¡¯t been it. Alex kept watching the fight, feeling more and more helpless, not helped by the fact that in the corner of his eye, he saw as their stats dropped. Alice tried a bunch of different things, throwing lighting, ice, a green cloud, but the result was always the same, as soon as it reached the tentacles, it vanished. In the middle of the fight, a tree grew in the middle of the cathedral, breaking the floor and going towards it, only for the three to stop moving when it got nearby the monster. Sky continued to hold his ground, somehow stopping Valkoz from going beyond him, every time the tentacles tried to bypass him, he moved with inhuman speed and cut it, this, however, was doing little to actually harm the monster. None of that was working. They had to do something different, but what? He idly wondered as he looked around the cathedral, trying to find something that could potentially useful. Then he thought about something, all of their¡­magic were big in scale. The problem was that the monster nullified it, so maybe¡­ He stared towards the witch, whom was flying around the cathedral, he tried to wave at her, but she either ignored it or was too focused on the giant tentacle monster. ¡°Err¡­Alice!¡± He tried to shout, but the sounds of the battle were far too loud for her to hear him, he sighed, looked down, and then slowly tried to get up. His legs were still wobbly, but much less than before. Slowly, he tried to walk towards the witch, founding that each step was easier than the previous one. While he could move, a problem became apparent, and that was the fact that she was moving way too fast, so instead of going after her, he stood where she occasionally passed, then kept waving at her while shouting her name, hoping she would notice. ¡°Alice! Alice!¡± Finally, after his throat was hurting from shouting so much, she finally seemed to notice him, she stared at him for a few seconds in disbelief, then looked at the giant monster, then back at him, it seemed like she was going to ignore him for a second, but then she flew towards him. The witch stopped in front of him, floating in her broom, Alex was a bit stunned by her appearance, because holy crap she was gorgeous, almost inhumanly so. Dark hair and green eyes that literally glowed stared at him; her look made it obvious that she was annoyed. ¡°Do you understand me?¡± Alex asked. While communication hadn¡¯t worked previous, but he could understand bits and pieces of what they were saying, maybe he was learning their language really slowly? She stared at him blankly, and then shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡±He understood bits and pieces, but whatever was translating her was not working properly, he then tried to articulate with his hands what he meant, pointing towards the ceiling, then towards the monster. ¡°Collapse the cathedral. Collapse the cathedral. ¡°He kept repeating, gesturing wildly hoping that if he repeated something enough, they would understand. Her annoyance seemingly started to grow, since she was openly glaring at him now, but then, realization seemingly struck.
A perk has been generated: Human translator (0/100% to next level) You can talk, read and write in any language that is spoken by humans, while also increasing the speed of learning of all types of languages.
Alex gave a sigh of relief, thankful that he wouldn¡¯t have to learn a entire different language to be able to talk with anyone, the witch nodded, looking around the cathedral. ¡°Can you understand me now?¡± She asked. ¡°Y-yes, I¡¯m¡­not sure how.¡± ¡°Probably a perk, they tend to be convenient like that. Anyway, I recommend that you leave the cathedral as fast as you can.¡± Alice said, shot Alex a grin, then flew away. Alex nodded, then proceeded to dash towards the entrance, focusing in his immediate survival, as he did that, he almost fell on his face, he remembering the small fact that his body was currently in an odd state, getting up, he decided to move on a more sedate pace, hoping that they wouldn¡¯t bring the building down on him for being too slow. Thankfully, it seemed that they would be taking their sweet time doing it, because he safely left it, as soon as he left the cathedral, he felt his body freeze up. ¡°It¡¯s way too fucking cold.¡± The outside of the cathedral was filled with snow, he could see the outlines of a road, but it was mostly covered. He stared around the place, it seemed like the cathedral was in the middle of the woods, and It seemed that a big battle had happened, because there were a lot of weird stuff in the landscape, spots that were scorched, trees and roots were growing in weird places, and a giant metal spike was nearby the entrance. Before the whole isekai thing, he had been outside in the middle of summer, as such, he was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. In the middle of a whole lot of snow. He then heard a loud crash coming from behind him. He quickly choose that a bit of cold wasn¡¯t worth certain death and rushed forwards, doing his best to not fall on his face. As soon as he was at what he felt like a safe distance, he turned towards the cathedral again, discovering what had caused that noise. Massive trees where growing inside it, destroying huge chunks of it. In the corner of his vision, he saw Wind¡¯s mana bar rapidly dropping, still, it was having an effect, the cathedral started to wobble, this causing Alex to take a few more steps backwards. As soon as the cathedral looked like it was about to collapse, he saw the three of them quickly leaving it, the witch flying through a window, the elf jumping through the entrance, and lastly, the knight stood by the entrance, fending off the tentacles. As soon as the knight left, he heard a loud crash, then the cathedral started to fall into itself, Alex took a few more steps backwards, covering his hears to try and protect them from the sheer volume of everything crashing down. He had not noticed previously just how big the freaking thing was, after a few seconds, it was finally over. ¡°It¡¯s not dead.¡± ¡°Well, shit.¡± Alex honestly wasn¡¯t sure who said that, maybe himself? It summarized his thoughts exactly, he wasn¡¯t even sure who said that. Maybe it was himself. Then, a brilliant idea hit him. ¡°Burn it.¡± ¡°What?¡± The three of them turned towards him, equal parts surprised and confused. ¡°Burn it, light it up, incinerate it, or in other words, put the fucking thing on fire.¡± ¡°I tried before, didn¡¯t work great.¡± Alex shrugged. ¡°Just try it again.¡± The witch looked at her companions, and then shrugged; she flew to the side, and then started once again to say something in a language he could not understand, an oddity that he would investigate later. Meanwhile, the other two stood ready, the knight with his sword in hands and the elf with her bow pointed towards the cathedral, inside, he could see something moving in the ruins, trying to escape. Alex went from freezing to being cooked alive, because this time he was nearby when the massive fireball formed nearby him, and holy crap it was hot, he took a few steps backwards, because he noticed that the fireball was still growing, and he really did not want to be cooked to death. He noticed that the other two were not even fazed by the mini-sun in their side. One of them had not even flinched when a giant tentacle had struck him, so perhaps he should not have been surprised.
A perk has been generated: Elemental resistance (0/100% to next level) Your body is naturally protected against all common elements, significantly reducing the effects that they have on you. Effect of perk is increased by constitution stat. Synergy with Strong Mind.
The moment he saw the notification, lessened the effects of the sheer heat of the fireball by a lot. He still felt it, but was not as bad as before. Then, the fireball shot towards the cathedral, and things went exactly as he had planned. Well, in truth, more like he had hoped it would work. The fireball impacted the cathedral, setting it ablaze, the flames quickly spreading through it, more and more of it being set ablaze, this kept for a few minutes, until the thing was a giant pyre, and then, he felt the pants-shitting screeches of Valkoz. The screech made his body simply...shut down. the only reason he didn¡¯t hit the ground face first was that someone held him. Then, his nose started bleeding, his brain felt like it was melting, he felt like he was going to die, for a moment, he was sure that his mind was going to break, but he felt something different inside him. A shooting sensation, which felt like a stroll through a forest, while at the same time something tried to tear his mind to sherds. He felt like his brain was destroyed and reconstructed, but slowly, he grasped control of his mind, the pain in his mind lessening, bit by bit, then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped, all that remained was the forest.Until, at last, darkness. Chapter 2: Aftermath. Alex woke up a few hours later, a bright blue screen greeting his groggy mind, earning a grunt of pain from him. He blinked a few times, while he was sure that there were a lot of very interesting things in front of him, right now, he just really didn¡¯t want that in front of him. As soon as that thought passed through his head, the screens vanished, instead, his eyes stared straight into two glowing blue eyes. ¡°Are you awake?¡± Alex blinked a few times in in disbelief, his mind was¡­foggy. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure about what happened previously, still, his attention was drawn to the person in front of him. Their face was white as snow and inhumanly beautiful, despite the fact that it was covered in scars, he taken back by¡­him? Her? Even though he saw them as beautiful, he honestly could not tell their gender, it was oddly androgynous. ¡°I think there is a problem. His eyes are open, yet he isn¡¯t reacting.¡± ¡°Was his mind broken by that thing?¡± ¡°Maybe, I tried to heal it, but minds are kind of delicate things.¡± Alex blinked a few times; the fog seemed to lessen in intensity as he put his thoughts into order, doing his best to not focus on the face in front of him. Right, he needed to say something. ¡°I¡¯m up! I¡¯m up.¡± Alex said while shaking his head. Alex then felt himself being lowered, he finally noticing his position. He had been carried bridal style. He felt hall of his remaining pride shattering as his back hit the cold snow, which¡­actually didn¡¯t feel that cold, oddly enough. ¡°How are you? Can you get up?¡± Alex honestly wasn¡¯t sure, but he tried to, slowly raising to his feet. As he did so, the person in front of him took a step backwards, giving him some space. ¡°I¡¯m¡­fine. I think.¡± ¡°Good, take your time.¡± At least his body was. His mind wasn¡¯t doing great, He thought about the previous day, trying to remember how he got into this situation in the first place. He briefly wondered if he should be panicking about waking up In the middle of nowhere, but he had a feeling that they didn¡¯t mean any harm, with that in mind he looked around the place. His eyes were once again immediately went to the person in front of him. They were a bit short, smaller than he was, and he wasn¡¯t exactly tall either, they were dressed in a white shirt and pants, and he still couldn¡¯t tell their gender. He then looked around him, he was in the middle of a snow covered forest, and it seemed that it was nearing nightfall, the place looked¡­vaguely familiar, he had been in a place like this previously, in his sides were two people, both of whom he vaguely recognized, a witch, and an elf. The memories from the previous days slowly returned, his eyes going to the person in front of him. He remembered a witch and an elf, yes, but he remembered that it was a party of three¡­ ¡°Wait, are you that knight?¡± He heard the elf and witch sniggering, while the person seemed to find amusement in his words, a smile spreading through their face. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not really a knight in any sense. You can call me Sky, it is a pleasure to meet you.¡± Sky then raised their hand towards Alex, whom stared dumbly at it before shaking it. It seemed that some gestures were multi-dimensional. ¡°You can call me Alex. It¡¯s nice to meet you too.¡± He said, and then turned to the two other people present. ¡°I mean, you already know our names since you joined the disaster team, but if you want to be formal¡­I¡¯m Alice, pleasure in seeing ya¡± The witch said. Alex looked at her again, noticing that she was flying in her broom, he vaguely remembered that she did that previously, it was really weird to look at. ¡°Wind. It¡¯s an honor to make you acquaintances.¡± The elf said. He stared at the two of them for a second; both women were stunning to look at, especially Wind, the elf looked inhumanly beautiful, even more so than Sky, his eyes were then drawn towards her ears, they were¡­really weird to look at in person. ¡°First time meeting an elf?¡± She asked with amusement obvious in her voice. ¡°Y-yeah, sorry, I¡¯m just¡­a tad disoriented. A lot of shit happening.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s quite common. At least you aren¡¯t flirting with me.¡± She said as she shot him a grin. Alex was a bit surprised with her attitude; he had expected a bit more of stereotypical elven pride. Maybe he was being a tad racist. ¡°Anyway, that kinda of ties in one thing that we are curious about.¡± Alice said. ¡°Well, more than one thing, really. Where are you from? And how did you get summoned?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­a complicated question.¡± Alex said with a pensive look on his face. Should he just tell them? They apparently saw him pop up in the same circle as an interdimensional horror, so there was probably no harm in telling them the truth. ¡°I¡¯m from the United States. It is a country from another dimension. I got here because I saw a blue screen popping up in my face asking if I wanted to be summoned.¡± Alice just looked at him for a few seconds, a look of disbelief on her face, then, she started laughing, Alex noticed that the other two had blank looks on their faces. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s just¡­stupid.¡± Alice said with a grin on her face. ¡°What¡¯s his face was talking such a big game about summoning a being from out of this realm, and then summoned a random guy.¡± Alex stared at her, not sure about how to feel about what she was saying. ¡°You¡­don¡¯t seem to be bothered by the whole from another dimension thing.¡± Alex noted. ¡°I have seen that kind of stuff happen before. I mean it isn¡¯t exactly common, but all of us have encountered someone like that at least once. And no offense, you are the least threatening one I have met so far.¡± ¡°Certainly less threatening than that monster.¡± Sky said. ¡°Or the blood thing.¡± Wind said. ¡°The curious thing is that you are the first human looking interdimensional traveler that I have ever met. Do you have any idea why?¡± ¡°No idea. My only knowledge of dimensional stuff before was from fiction. Hell, part of me thinks that I¡¯m currently dreaming or I am insane or something of the sort.¡± The whole situation was crazy, but¡­he felt oddly calm about all of it. Alice flicked him in the shoulder, it hurting a whole lot more than the flick should, feeling like she had shot a rubber band in his shoulder. ¡°Ouch. What was that!?¡± ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s all real, relax.¡± ¡°Alice, please don¡¯t hit random people.¡± Sky said sounding exasperated. ¡°Relax; it was just a small flick.¡± ¡°All right. Please don¡¯t flick random people.¡± Alex was a tad annoyed by it, but the pain was quickly fading¡­it helped to confirm that it wasn¡¯t a dream, at the very least. ¡°I¡­have several questions, also. Where are we? Why are you three here? Why did that guy summon me? Why did he summon a tentacle monster? Does anyone have a coat?¡± It was cold, and it was getting colder, it was to the point that his breath was visible, even so, he felt like it should be affecting him far more than it was currently.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°While I am sure that you have a lot of questions, I would rather we continued our journey, I¡¯d rather reach the inn before night.¡± The elf said. ¡°And we do not have any coats or anything that might help. The cold doesn¡¯t really affect us, so we don¡¯t bother bringing anything of the sort.¡± Sky said. Both things annoyed Alex, especially since he had answered their questions, but¡­he figured he didn¡¯t have a lot of choice in the matter. Plus, the sooner he got into shelter, the better for him. ¡°Alice could create a bit of fire for you though.¡± Wind said. ¡°I would appreciate it. I really wasn¡¯t expecting snow today.¡± Alice nodded. ¡°I will do that, now, do you prefer Wind or Sky to carry you?¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure you are unranked, so someone will need to carry you the rest of the way.¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°I have a feeling that he has no clue what being unranked means.¡± ¡°Thank you, Wind. I couldn¡¯t have figured that without you. To simplify: We are fast, and you probably aren¡¯t, so, to reach the town quickly, someone has to carry you.¡± Alex didn¡¯t feel like being carried any more. Maybe it was misplaced pride, but the thought didn¡¯t sit well with him. ¡°I mean¡­don¡¯t you have horses or something?¡± ¡°What is a horse?¡± ¡°Big four legged thing with hooves. You ride on top of them?¡± ¡°Like phonars?¡± ¡°I think that the wildlife in this world is a lot different from mine.¡± ¡°Anyway, choose who will carry you!¡± Alice said ¡°Can¡¯t you carry me in your broom?¡± ¡°It can¡¯t fit two people¡± ¡°Alice, stop trying to prank the new guy and just let him ride the broom.¡± Sky said, giving her an exasperated look. ¡°But-¡° ¡°No buts. You are already wasting far too much time.¡± ¡°Fineeeeeee.¡± Alice pointed her tongue at Sky, then floated down with her back towards me. ¡°Hold tight and don¡¯t try anything funny.¡± ¡°Good thing I¡¯m not a comedian.¡± Wind groaned in response. ¡°Now there are two of them.¡± Alex sat down in the broom behind Alice, she sliding forward, giving him space to hold it; it was¡­really uncomfortable, to the point that he wondered how Alice managed to stay in it for a prolonged periods of time. Then, the broom started floating upwards. ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to regret my decision.¡± ¡°Too late. Now deal with the consequences.¡± He was not afraid of heights, but when they shot forwards at the speed of a bike, with the only thing holding him in place being a piece of wood, he was not ashamed to admit that he was scared shitless. Eventually, Alex got used to the flight, it took a while, but he managed to do it, it helped that it seemed that they were deliberately trying to have him not go splat, with Sky behind him and Wind in front of him, probably in there to help him in case he fell. As he relaxed, he managed to enjoy the situation a bit, it was still uncomfortable as hell, but the sheer magic of the situation excited him. The smell of the forest, the beautiful landscape and the comforting warmth around him¡­wait a second. That made him stop and think for a second, he finally noticing that he wasn¡¯t feeling cold anymore, he stared at Alice¡¯s back, there weren¡¯t any visible flames, but he saw sure that It was thanks to her. ¡°Thanks!¡± He tried to shout over the rushing wind, but she probably hadn¡¯t heard it, Alex making a mental note to thank her properly later. A few minutes passed, Alex doing his best to try to tolerate the trip, however, he once again saw a blue screen pop up in front of him.
Warning! The time to accept your gifts is expiring. Time left: 5 minutes.
Alex then remembered that a bunch of stuff had popped up In front of him earlier, and he was a bit busy to bother reading them then, could¡­they appear again?
A perk has been generated: Combat Strategist. Insight has increased. (X10) Willpower has increased. (X9) Perk: Strong mind has leveled up.(x10) Perk: Elemental resistance has leveled up.(X2) A low-level disaster has been averted thanks to your help! You will receive rewards based on your contribution. Earned XP! Level up!(X20) Three entities have offered a choice of a gift in thanks to your actions; would you like to see them? A quest has been issued by ???? Your class has been generated.
Combat Strategist (0/100% to next level) Your mind is very good at creating plans on the thick of combat. Increases your abilities to create and enact plans on the middle of fights, while also increasing the quality of these plans.
Alex rapidly read everything in front of him, feeling a bit worried by his insight, it reminded him of a certain game about eldritch abominations¡­he just hoped that he wouldn¡¯t go mad from any revelations. Still, he had to focus now; he didn¡¯t want to lose something because he couldn¡¯t focus. Alex stared at the screen in front of him, how did he see the offered gifts? As soon as that thought went through his mind, another blue screen appeared.
Choose one
Gift of the leader. You will become a natural leader, people will find it easier to follow your orders and you will find it easier to give said orders, people around you will flock to fight for you. Unlocks Charisma stat. Gift from Athorax, the god of war. Offer expiring in 5 minutes.
Gift of Fortune Events will conspire to go in your favor in every way, fortune will be drawn towards you, all endeavors of your endeavors will find success, and you will defy death at every turn Unlocks luck stat. Gift from Kandros, god of fate. Offer expiring in 5 minutes.
The breaker of chains: Choosing a blessing means that you bind yourself with said entity, for good or ill. This is because gifts are bound to the divine, and should they choose, the gift could vanish any day. This is a gift without any strings attached, gaining it will not bind you to anyone or any cause, on top of that, the gift is entirely under you control, and you can vanquish and reclaim it as you wish. By choosing the breaker of chains, the difference in power between you and your enemies will be lessened, this effect increasing against enemies that are more powerful. There are countless tyrants that hold themselves higher thanks to raw power. The power of the breaker of chains allows all of it to become meaningless, showing them for whom they truly are. Differently from all other gifts, you will be able to take this one at any time, on top of that, it will become more powerful as more and you do more deeds. Take care, however, for you will attracting attention by taking this gift. Synergy with class: defiant. Offer made by ????
Alex stared at the screen, he¡­was not sure. All of them seemed useful, even if he was a tad scared of the first one, because of the implication of it messing with people¡¯s minds, he¡­really wished he had more time to decide. Still, one of those called his attention more than the others.
Warning: 1 minute left to decide.
The last one was addressed directly to him. At least he felt like that, plus, it felt...different from the others.He weighted the decision on his mind, and then waited until the other gifts vanished. He had a lot of reasons for not wanting to choose the other two, but ultimately, it come down to one thing: He didn¡¯t want to bind himself to anything just yet, especially without knowing more about what he was going to bind himself to. The option to choose the two other gifts vanished, only the breaker of chains remained, and he gave a sigh of relief, a part of him feared that he had been duped and would get nothing of the whole deal. Then a thought came to his mind: Apparently, gods were real. And he had just ignored two of their gifts. He really hoped that they didn¡¯t hold a grudge. Alex took a deep breath, he would ask the group about the subject later, but for now, he had other things that he wanted to look at. ¡°Status¡±
Name: Alex Watson. Age: 22 Gender: Male Class: Defiant Title: None Path: (Generating) Affinities: Advanced dimension, fire, ice. Level: 0(20) Inflexible attributes: Strength: 90 (9) Dexterity: 110 (9) Agility: 100 (9) Constitution: 100 (9) Logic: 120 (9) Semi-flexible attributes: (current max increase:0) Insight:12 Willpower:10 Free Points: 0 200(Currently usable:0, current standard daily usable increase: 10)
Alex was confused. What did any of that mean? What did the numbers next to his attributes mean? What was the difference between inflexible and semi-flexible attributes? What did his attributes do in the first place? He sighed; the system didn''t come with a tutorial. He wondered if there was anything that it could tell him?
Class description: Defiant: These who faced beings greater than them and survived became known as defiants. They found ways to bridge the gap in power between beings, to face their enemies as equals and thus, they defy the natural order, fighting against all odds for what they believe in. Jack type class. Skills focus in making it possible to fight against much more powerful opponents, on top of that, provides passive resistance to all forms of manipulation and magic.
Alex thought about the class¡­he liked it, even If he wasn¡¯t sure about how useful it was, but he didn¡¯t have anything as a basis to compare it to. He then tried to ask the system about a bunch of things¡­with no results, much to his annoyance, why the hell was his class the only thing that the system described to him? Another question to the pile. Then, there was only last thing that he had almost forgot about. Something about a quest?
The breaker of chains. The world is stagnant and ruled by beings whom have chained reality itself. The cycle persists for untold millennia, and will continue forever more if no one breaks these chains. Objective: Kill all of the gods. (0/13) Reward: Unfathomable power. Potential for apotheosis. Quest issued by: ????
Alex stared blankly at the quest. What the hell? He had to kill gods? He paused, remembering the offer that he received earlier. He did not have to, it was an option given to him. He¡­wasn¡¯t sure what he felt about killing gods, if they were the Greek-like assholes, then¡­maybe. He didn''t want to kill anyone, the quest implied that they were kind of assholes, but...there were far too many unknows. But how the hell could he even kill a god to begin with? How did gods even work in this world? How powerful were they? A thought went through his head, if they were assholes...what would they do to him if they knew that he had a quest about killing them? That plagued his mind until he reached the village. Chapter 3: And now, some exposition. The rest of the flight was uneventful, albeit with the thoughts about the gods and the breaker of chains thing. To distract himself, he tried to find more information about the system¡­but he gave up halfway through the journey, the only thing that had any description was his class. After what he felt like hours, by nightfall Alex finally saw what looked like a village in the distance, the place looked about what he expected of a medieval village, large wooden buildings spread over the place, with a stone road connecting them. They reached the village a few minutes later, night covering the village by that point, the only source of light being torches spread around the village and the full moon overhead. As the broom started to decrease in altitude, Alex stared at the sky, his attention going to the full moon, then to the stars, which shined brightly, something alien to someone whom lived in cities. It was gorgeous. ¡°So, what did you think about your flight?¡± Alex turned his attention towards Alice, whom was staring him with a grin in her face, he now noticing that they had stopped a while ago, he hadn¡¯t noticed thanks to being distracted by the night sky. ¡°Terrifyingly nice.¡± Alex mumbled after a short while. ¡°So, was entranced by the stars? Can¡¯t blame you, they are aligned today.¡± Alice said. ¡°If you want to invite him to your cult, please do that later.¡± Wind said from behind Alex. ¡°It¡¯s not a cult, it¡¯s a religion.¡± ¡°Same difference.¡± ¡°You two can argue about this when we are in the inn.¡± Sky said. While Alex was curious, he decided that he could ask about it later, and slowly got off the flying broom, glad that his feet were once again upon solid ground. ¡°Well, you weren¡¯t the worse passage I had at the very least.¡± Alice said, also getting off the broom, then, she picked a purse in her pocket, and put the broom inside it, somehow. ¡°You have a bag of holding.¡± ¡°Yep. Useful little thing.¡± Alice said with a grin on her face. ¡°Never mind that I found the damn thing¡­ ¡±Wind mumbled. ¡°More useful for witches¡± Wind was about to reply something, but Sky decided to interrupt. ¡°Can we bicker once we are in the inn? I¡¯m sure Alex would rather be somewhere that¡¯s not freezing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine actually; I think Alice did something to heat me up.¡± Sky looked at the witch, an odd look on their face, and then shook their head. ¡°I see.¡± Alex could not help but feel that there was something odd with how Sky said that but didn¡¯t comment on it, immediately afterwards, the saint started walking, the three of them following suit. ¡°By the stars, both of us know that it¡¯s harmless.¡± ¡°Is¡­there a problem?¡± Alex asked, looking at Alice. ¡°Not really, Sky can be a bit of a stuck up sometimes.¡± ¡°If you did what I think you did, I¡¯d argue that it¡¯s justified.¡± ¡°What did you do to me anyway?¡± ¡°That might sound bad, but I threw a harmless curse at you.¡± Alex shot a blank stare towards Alice, all of sudden feeling very worried. ¡°What.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not bad, I swear. Just a harmless curse to deal with the cold.¡± Alex felt that she was being sincere; she hadn¡¯t really done anything harmful towards him until now. ¡°Could you explain, please? I don¡¯t know how curses work in this world to begin with.¡± ¡°All right, I will simplify because curses are very, very complex things. In the most simple of forms, they are things that happen under a set of circumstances. What I did was curse you to feel a modest heat while you were cold, to vanish when you are nearby a flame.¡± ¡°That¡­sounds harmless.¡± ¡°It is, indeed, mostly harmless. But the thing that Alice is neglecting is that curses always have a chance of having¡­unfortunate results.¡± Sky said. ¡°Unfortunate result? Like what?¡± Alex asked, feeling a sudden sense of dread. ¡°That kind of stuff is extremely rare and I¡¯m good enough to minimize the odds of something bad happening.¡± ¡°I mean¡­how could moderate heat be bad, exactly?¡± ¡°Perspective. What is a moderate amount of heat to you is different to what Alice sees as a moderate amount.¡± Sky said. ¡°The difference in rank between you two means that if something like that happened, you would be cooked alive.¡± Wind said. A shiver shot through Alex¡¯s spine. ¡°But-¡°Alice started to say something, but was cut off by Sky. ¡°We will talk about the subject later.¡± He¡­honestly wasn¡¯t sure what to feel of the subject, but he was admittedly a bit scared that he could have been burned to a crisp. They continued their walk, no one in the mood to talk, it gave Alex the chance of seeing the town properly, it was weird being in a place like this after spending his whole life in a city. Only torches illuminated the streets and they were mostly empty, albeit he could hear loud noises coming from a few buildings.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Soon, they reached one of the bigger buildings, quite a bit of noise coming from it, Alex noticing that there was a wooden sign with inn written on it in front of the building. As soon as he entered, a bunch of different things hit him at once; the smell of alcohol and food, a heavy singing, the place felt full. ¡°Are you coming?¡± Alice¡¯s voice took him out of the stupor, he noticing that the others were staring at him. ¡°Sorry, just not used to this kind of stuff.¡± ¡°Its fine, would you prefer to rest then? We can talk tomorrow if you would like, it will be far less noisy.¡± Sky said. Alex shook his head, it had taken him by surprise, but it was not like he hadn¡¯t been in a bar before. ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry.¡± Alex followed them as they sat around a table. The people of the inn looked¡­normal. After meeting an elf, a witch and Sky, it felt odd. Most of them had a northern European look, which meant that he fit right in. Except for his clothes, everyone else had some kind of coat with them; he was the only person whom did not get the memo that it was the middle of winter. He sat down in a chair next to Sky, they called a waitress over, asking for some food that he didn¡¯t recognize¡­or probably didn¡¯t exist in his world to begin with. ¡°Are people always this¡­cheerful around here?¡± ¡°Probably not. But we hunted down a nearby slumberer yesterday, so they decided to do a big feast with all of that meat.¡± Sky said. ¡°Slumberer?¡± ¡°Very big, very slow, but very dangerous if left unchecked. The plus side is that their meat is quite sought after.¡± Wind said, a grin appearing on her face. ¡°And off to gluttony land you go¡­¡± Alice said ¡°There¡¯s nothing gluttonous in wanting to taste a bit of rare food.¡± ¡°I am fairly confident that it¡¯s the definition of gluttony.¡± Sky said, Alex was a bit surprised that they joined on the teasing. Alex idly noticed that the previous mood was seemingly hone as soon as they entered the tavern. ¡°Right, there is¡­a lot on my mind right now, where do I start?¡± Alice shot him a look. ¡°In my experience, the beginning is usually the best start.¡± Much as he felt like she was teasing him, he felt that there was truth in it. And the beginning was¡­ ¡°It¡¯s just me that occasionally sees¡­stuff in front of me?¡± ¡°You mean the system, don¡¯t you?¡± Alice asked Alex gave a sigh of relief, if they didn¡¯t, he felt that he would sound a bit crazy. ¡°So you guys also see blue screens?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Alice said with a serious tone in her voice. ¡°Mine¡¯s purple.¡± ¡°Green.¡± Wind noted. ¡°Blue.¡± ¡°So¡­what¡¯s this system?¡± ¡°Before you ask that, I will warn you that Alice likes to rant about things that she knows quite a bit.¡± Wind said with an exasperated look on her face. ¡°Sure, I love exposition.¡± Alex said. Alice gave me thumbs up. ¡°Right, that¡¯s a very complicated question. Basically, the system is a thing that every sapient being has that allows them to use the mana around the world.¡± ¡°Mana? And how does that work?¡± ¡°Mana is the energy of creation, which can be altered in countless of ways to achieve countless things, and how the system works¡­the intricacies is probably beyond a mortal mind¡¯s comprehension, but to simplify it, basically, it takes the mana that you receive, and distributes it around your body and soul, and improves them with it.¡± Alex nodded slowly, the system was about what he expected. ¡°And how do you receive mana? Killing things, I guess?¡± ¡°That is the most effective method, usually, but far from the only one. Everyone passively gains mana from the environment, meditation, potions and a whole bunch of other things can give you mana.¡± ¡°Usually killing monsters for mana is reserved for adventurers like us.¡± Wind said. ¡°Nobles and influential people get access to high-density mana sites, potions, and artefacts to increase their rank.¡± Alex nodded, and then stared blankly at Wind. ¡°Rank?¡± ¡°Yes, rank, haven¡¯t you opened your status yet?¡± Sky said, looking at him. ¡°I would recommend you to do so, and to look at your perk and skills.¡± Alex slowly nodded. ¡°I have looked at my status screen, but¡­I haven¡¯t seen any mention of rank.¡± Just to be sure, he opened his status screen. Nothing. He opened the skill screen, it listed mental defense¡­and nothing else, then perks, there, he found something interesting, albeit that wasn¡¯t related to the current subject.
Number of perks: 4 racial types. 2 currently in the process of unlocking.
Besides that, it listed his perks, all of them had the same description as before he decided to ask more about perks later, focusing on the current subject for now. ¡°That¡¯s odd, but I have read that in rare cases, the system changes the name of things so that the person can understand it.¡± Alice said. ¡°Everything works the same way, though.¡± ¡°Right. So, you increase your mana and gain ranks¡­or for me, level up.¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡± ¡°So, why did I gain mana from that fight? Does everyone around get mana when an monster is killed?¡± ¡°No, unless you are in a party, mana only transfers to the person whom killed the monster. But this situation was a bit different.¡± Alice said. ¡°To begin with, it was a crisis. Anyone who helps in a crisis gets a mana reward from the system, independent of what type of help it is.¡± "So, i gained mana by telling you guys to do something?" ¡°What matters is that you helped, more than anything.¡± Sky said. ¡°And don¡¯t underestimate how much you helped us, without you, it¡¯s likely that we would have to retreat, and it would be¡­troublesome for that thing to have been allowed to roam free.¡± Alex nodded, in the end of the day, he felt like it was better to not look a gift horse on the mouth. Before he could ask the next question, a plate full of food was put in front of him, he looking up afterwards, not having noticed the waitress approaching the table. ¡°As thanks to giving us the beast¡¯s corpse, the food is on the house today.¡± The waitress said, giving them a smile. In response, Sky extended a golden coin towards the waitress. ¡°I insist that we pay for it. You can keep the change.¡± The waitress seemed to hesitate for a second, but then, she took the coin. ¡°T-thank you sir Sky.¡± She said, then hurried away from them. He wondered how much that golden coin was worth. Considering her reaction¡­he felt that it was quite a bit. Alex then looked towards Sky, a curious look on his face. ¡°So¡­no offense asking this, but you are a guy?¡± Sky gave him a smile. ¡°Perhaps.¡± Alex gave them a blank stare. ¡°You¡­don¡¯t want people to know your gender?¡± In the other side of the table, Alex heard snickers coming from both the woman in front of him, then, he saw Wind throwing something at Alice. ¡°Not really. It is more like¡­it doesn¡¯t matter to me, either way. If you want to think of me as a man or as a woman, it is fine. As long as you don¡¯t flirt with me, that is.¡± Slowly, he nodded, he didn¡¯t really get it, but he decided to not question it. ¡°It¡¯s cheating.¡± Wind said. ¡°He only asked because of that girl.¡± ¡°A bet is a bet.¡± ¡°You two were betting if I was going to ask Sky¡¯s gender?¡± ¡°Not if, When. I thought that you would wait longer to be polite.¡± Wind said. ¡°Is it really that common?¡± ¡°Everybody who spends any length of time with Sky asks that question.¡± Alex nodded, and then focused on the food in front of him, devouring it. He must have been hungrier than he thought, because the food practically vanished from his plate, or perhaps it was because the food was delicious, unlike anything he had eaten before. ¡°Is¡­there a problem if I ask for seconds?¡± ¡°Not really. Since you are with us, the food would be free. And that was before Sky gave them enough money to build a second tavern.¡± Alex nodded, calling the waitress, then stared at Sky. ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­a bit excessive?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Sky¡¯s face reddened a bit. ¡°In truth, I ran out of lesser coins, and I refuse to get service for free, so¡­¡± ¡°So you gave her more money than she earned her entire life.¡± ¡°There is a good reason why we hired someone to manage Sky¡¯s finances.¡± Alice said. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong in being generous.¡± Sky said. ¡°There is if it leaves you sleeping in the streets.¡± ¡°Does it really get that bad?¡± ¡°Nowadays, not really. A few years ago, on the other hand¡­¡± Sky looked even more flustered. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about embarrassing things of the past, please. I know plenty about you two.¡± Alice then turned towards Alex, a far too sweet smile on her face. ¡°So, any more questions?¡± ¡°Subtle.¡± Alex said, hearing Sky sniggering at his side. ¡°Quite a few, in fact. This may come out of nowhere, but¡­can you guys tell me about the gods?¡± Chapter 4: Even more exposition. Alice shot him a look with a raised eyebrow. ¡°What about them?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡±Alex paused, trying to figure out how to word his question. ¡°What are they like? Can you meet them?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a controversial topic.¡± Sky said slowly. ¡°The three of us are biased against them due to¡­various reasons, but they have done some good.¡± ¡°Like the forest purge.¡± Wind said sarcasm thick on her voice. As Wind said that, Alex saw a few looks going towards them...well, in truth, even more, the entire time it seemed that they were drawing attention, he had a feeling that the three of them were famous. ¡°True, but slavery is outlawed due to divine mandate. Even if their enforcement is¡­lacking.¡± ¡°Err¡­what is this forest purge?¡± Wind shook her head. ¡°I think it would be better for us to tell you some other time.¡± Alex was beginning to suspect what it was, and decided that it was better not to pry. ¡°Personally I find the stars more trustworthy, and I don¡¯t understand them half the time.¡± Alice said. ¡°That aside, for you other question¡­in theory you can meet them, but in practice it¡¯s¡­very unlikely.¡± ¡°Why did you ask that, anyway?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­gods are quite different in my world, and I was curious what they were like around here.¡± Alex did not think there would be a problem telling them about the quest that he received¡­but he figured that doing so in the middle of the tavern was a bad idea. Sky frowned, but nodded. At this moment, more food arrived, Alex rushing to devour it, it was frankly delicious, idly, he noticed that he was not the only one taking seconds; Wind was eating a portion twice as large as his in front of him. Soon, only scraps remained from his meal, he debated asking for more with himself, but decided that it was a tad too overboard. ¡°So¡­what was that whole thing that happened?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Who was that guy?¡± ¡°He was a summoner with a grudge against me. He threatened to summon something that he couldn¡¯t put down if I didn¡¯t show up.¡± Sky said. Alex stared at them. ¡°He threatened you with suicide if you didn¡¯t appear?¡± ¡°Pretty much. My biggest worry was about all of the people that would be caught in whatever happened, so I called a few friends and went after him.¡± ¡°Why was that guy so obsessed with killing you to begin with?¡± He had even killed himself to summon that thing. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure, to be honest.¡± Sky said, shrugging. ¡°I don¡¯t even remember his name; I think I foiled his plans or something.¡± ¡°So, to you it was Tuesday.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not every Tuesday that I fight an extradimensional monster, but it¡¯s fairly accurate, to be honest.¡± ¡°I tagged along because Sky tends to make things interesting.¡± Alice said. ¡°And I was nearby and didn¡¯t have anything important to do.¡± ¡°So the three of you aren¡¯t really a party?¡± ¡°Somewhat. I usually tag along with Alice, and it¡¯s not unusual for me to work with Wind, but we have our duties. Except Alice.¡± Alex yawned, he was honestly a bit tired after this whole day. ¡°Do you want to rest?¡± Sky asked. Alex shook his head. ¡°Not yet, I want to talk a bit more.¡± As he said that, he saw Alice grinning. ¡°I¡¯m curious about some things, what is your world like, Alex? Never heard much about other dimensions.¡± Alice said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­different, but similar. There are only humans, no magic, no monsters, no system, no gods¡­that we are aware of, at the very least.¡± Considering that he went to another dimension, it was not entirely impossible that a god did in fact exist back home. The three of them stared at him, a curious look on their faces. ¡°That¡¯s¡­difficult to imagine.¡± Alice said slowly. ¡°But kinda intriguing.¡± ¡°Makes me worried about nature in your world.¡± Wind said. ¡°No offense to you, but the vast majority of humans don¡¯t give a damn about it.¡± ¡°None taken, and that¡¯s pretty accurate. I was honestly a tad worried when I lived there.¡± ¡°It sounds kind of of¡­nice, however. Not having to worry about monsters, I imagine life is a whole lot easier.¡± Sky said. ¡°It¡¯s simultaneous much better than you think and much worse than you expect. Anyway, enough about the boring world, I want to know more about yours.¡± ¡°I guess that you accepted to come to this world for a reason.¡± Alice said. ¡°Yep. Anyway, what¡¯s the deal with classes? How does that fit in with the whole mana thing?¡± ¡°Classes are a manifestation of what you are doing. Basically, the mana enhances your body to increase your abilities in things that you are already doing.¡± ¡°So¡­classes give you skills?¡± ¡°Yes, but also determine your growth rate.¡± ¡°Growth rate?¡± ¡°Next to your attributes there is a number that shows your growth rate, which determines how quickly you reach your next attribute rank.¡± Alex stared at the witch, confusion clear on his face. ¡°Attribute rank?¡± ¡°Yes. Every attribute has a rank.¡± Alex once again looked at his status screen. ¡°What do you mean a rank?¡± ¡°Next to your attribute there should be a number from one to nine.¡± This time, Alice was the one to look confused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can answer that, actually,¡± Wind said, a smug grin on her face. ¡°I¡¯ve met a few feral people with status screens that are completely different from ours. That¡¯s because they weren¡¯t taught the ranks.¡± ¡°So instead, the status screen shows something that he understands.¡± Alice said, and then grinned. ¡°Tell me what¡¯s on your attributes.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°I have 100 strength.¡± Alex said. Alice stared at him blankly. ¡°Can you repeat that?¡± Alex did so. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not translating.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°One other thing that I can answer.¡± Wind said again, her smug grin getting bigger. ¡°He probably is talking about something that either a: There is no other word in our language, or b: Has different meanings.¡± ¡°Thank you for your humble helpfulness.¡± Alice said with venom thick in her voice. ¡°I will be humble in accepting your undying gratitude.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s nice and all, but¡­it¡¯s a number. How don¡¯t you have that number?¡± ¡°I have no clue.¡± ¡°I¡­will try to simplify it. Do you understand the number ten?¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°Nine?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Weird. Anyway, let¡¯s say you have nine apples, you add one, how many apples do you have?¡± ¡°I¡¯m having flashbacks to being taught the math¡­¡±Alice mumbled. ¡°You have a rank of apples.¡± That was weird. The way Alice said that she was taught math was odd, and why did the translator not simply translate ten as rank? ¡°Right, if you take these¡­this rank of apples, and add nine other ranks, how many apples do you have?¡± ¡°You have a prestige of apples. Wait, you are telling me you have a prestige in a stat?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Alice sated at Alex for a few seconds, her eyes literally glowing. ¡°Impossible.¡± ¡°I mean, it¡¯s what is in there. I think I am pretty weak, to be honest, especially compared to you guys. But why is this so big a deal?¡± ¡°A prestige strength is something that is difficult to achieve. A guy that appeared today to get that would be crazy. Wait, what¡¯s your rank?¡± Alex paused for a second, trying to remember what she was asking in the first place¡­right, his level. ¡°Rank zero?¡± ¡°Unranked? That¡¯s¡­¡±Alice paused for a second, thinking about something. ¡°Sky, test his strength, please.¡± Sky nodded, put their arm in the table and gave Alex an apologetic look. Filled with dread, Alex did the same, arm wrestling with Sky. Or trying to, because he couldn¡¯t make Sky move an inch, he felt like he was trying to move a tower. ¡°He definitively doesn¡¯t have a prestige in strength.¡± ¡°I figured as much. Then that means that¡­he probably is rank one in strength.¡± Alice said, and then looked at him. ¡°Do any of your attributes go above a tier¡­err, nine prestige¡¯s?¡± ¡°Nope. By biggest stat is¡­a prestige and¡­20, no, 2 ranks.¡± He was struggling a bit with their weird math. ¡°If I had to guess¡­for you, a prestige is equivalent to a rank. That¡¯s very odd.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­confusing. Why didn¡¯t it translate that way?¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°The system can be weird sometimes.¡± Alex sighed, but felt like he would not be receiving any answers any time soon. ¡°Anyway, what does that mean? How much is a rank?¡± ¡°Roughly speaking, a rank in something means that you are average in it. At least among unranked. A rank two in, say, strength, means that you are twice as strong as the average person.¡± That was a bit insane. Since he gained twenty levels, with his growth¡­that meant that he was thrice as strong as he was back on earth. Or¡­he should be. ¡°Wait, why haven¡¯t my stats increased, anyway?¡± ¡°Because it takes time for the changes to happen.¡± Alice said. ¡°Basically, the mana that you received will change your body and soul over time. You could rush it, but¡­that usually does long-term damage.¡± He nodded, that¡­made some degree of sense, even if it was obnoxious. No sudden rush in power from leveling, it seemed. ¡°What¡¯s your class, anyway?¡± Wind asked. ¡°Defiant. What about yours?¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty rare. I¡¯m a Spellbow¡± ¡°You will never guess my class.¡± Alice said, giving me a grin. Alex gave her a blank stare. ¡°Alice, the good witch.¡± His voice was completely dry as he said that. Alice smirked in answer. ¡°Very difficult to find out.¡± ¡°Right, and you, Sky?¡± I asked, turning towards them. ¡°What?¡± They asked, seemingly confused. Alex had a feeling that they had dozed off a bit, honestly, he couldn¡¯t blame them, he also felt like he was close to that point. ¡°Are you tired?¡± ¡°Sky¡¯s just bored to death with all of this talk.¡± Alice said shooting them a grin. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not the most enthusiastic person when it comes about talking about the system.¡± They said, slowly. ¡°Why is that?¡± The saint shrugged. ¡°Choose a path, follow it. The details don¡¯t matter too much.¡± ¡°There is quite a bit of important info that everyone needs to learn.¡± Alice said. ¡°But Sky isn¡¯t wrong, really. That information can be helpful, but if you stick to a path, you will be good in it.¡± The elf said. ¡°What is a path to begin with?¡± ¡°It¡¯s your actions. How you behave, how you act, how you fight. All of that becomes your path.¡± Sky said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Sky is talking about it both literally and metaphorically. You unlock a path through your actions, which gives you skills, perks and generally makes you stronger.¡± Alex slowly nodded. ¡°I think I get it, but what If I don¡¯t like the path that I get? Can I change it?¡± ¡°Yes, all you have to do is to change how you act, then, a new path will be generated.¡± Sky said. ¡°That seems¡­surprisingly simple. Just do what you want and you get better at it?¡± ¡°Correct, that¡¯s why I think that you shouldn¡¯t bother too much with the system, it changes to suit your actions.¡± While Alex understood where they were coming from, he couldn¡¯t agree with Sky, simply because he liked to understand the mechanics behind things far too much. Plus, his life was going to be on the line with the system, any advantage that he could find was good. ¡°All right. Also, you never told me your class.¡± ¡°Warrior.¡± ¡°That feels¡­surprisingly generic.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what I do, ultimately. No need to get fancy.¡± ¡°While Sky simplifies it quite a bit, it¡¯s¡­not wrong. A class being rare or common doesn¡¯t mean it is any better than other classes.¡± Alice said. ¡°It¡¯s about how you use your class.¡± Sky said. ¡°What¡¯s the deal with my class, anyway?¡± ¡°There is a description which shows up if you think about it.¡± The witch said. ¡°Yeah, I saw the description, I¡¯m just kind of¡­curious about the specifics, I guess what kind of skills I gain.¡± ¡°As I said, it¡¯s a pretty rare class, I only saw a couple of people with it.¡± Wind said. ¡°As for the specifics¡­from what I know, it varies quite a bit in how it works. It can be very powerful, allowing you to hit above your weight class, but it is very dependent on your own skills, I think. As in, your actual skill in combat¡± Alex held back a yawn, he felt his eyelids getting heavier, but he wanted to know more. ¡°Remind me of what the Defiant class does, please.¡± Alice said. ¡°Really? Coming from you?¡± Wind said, shooting Alice a smug grin. ¡°I¡¯m not going to remember what every single rare class does, doesn¡¯t matter how much Logic I have.¡± Wind sniggered. ¡°It¡¯s a Jack class. It gives you buffs based on how much stronger your opponent is.¡± ¡°Can you two explain some of these things? What is logic, and what is a Jack class?¡± ¡°One thing at a time, please.¡± Alice said. ¡°All right, I think¡­I should rest soon, but first, tell me about the class, please.¡± ¡°Right. Since it gives you buffs against stronger opponents, it means that you will level fairly quickly, but it will be much riskier.¡± Alice said. ¡°On top of that, actual skill will be very important, since you will not be any stronger than your opponents. Personally, I would recommend you to go for a simpler class.¡± Alex wondered how he was supposed to do that, but decided that it was a question for tomorrow. ¡°On classes, they are classified in types. Killer, defender, helper and jack. Some classes can be a bit complicated with it, since they can do multiple things at once.¡± Alice said. ¡°A Jack class is one that can perform all other roles.¡± ¡°Warrior is a mixed defender and killer, witch a mixed helper and killer while a spellbow is a pure killer class.¡± Alex was quite familiar with the subject after spending far too much time playing MMOS. ¡°I get it, I think. There is something similar back home.¡± ¡°That¡¯s weird; didn¡¯t you say there wasn¡¯t any magic in your world?¡± ¡°It is¡­somewhat complicated. These types of roles appears in some games.¡± Alice nodded. ¡°Weird coincidence, but all right. For the last question, Logic is a stat, it often is seen as how intelligent someone is, but it¡¯s not entirely true.¡± Alice said, pausing for a second, as if searching for the right words. ¡°Higher logic lets makes you learn faster, memorize more stuff and improves your memory , but it doesn¡¯t make you more intelligence, because intelligence is something kinda of complex.¡± ¡°I get it.¡± Alex said, getting up, honestly, at this point he had only heard half of what Alice had said. ¡°I really want to continue, but¡­I¡¯m really tired.¡± ¡°I get it; we all had a long day.¡± Alice said. ¡°I thought you two would never stop¡­¡±Wind said. ¡°You had your fun acting smug.¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± While the two were bickering, he looked around; the inn seemed to be mostly empty at this point, and most of the people whom where left seemed to be a tad drunk. ¡°Well¡­where am I staying?¡± Alex said, then glanced at the others. ¡°I don¡¯t want to impose, but¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Sky said, cutting him off. ¡°Sky just gave the waitress enough money to buy a tavern out of laziness, don¡¯t worry about monetary problems.¡± Alice said. ¡°I just realized that at no point I asked why you three were helping me to begin with.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s the right thing to do. How do you think you would have handled yourself if we didn¡¯t help?¡± Sky said. Alex¡¯s thoughts went back to that cultist, and to the fact that he appeared in the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter. ¡°Very, very badly.¡± ¡°No offense, but you need help to survive in this world, and I made it my job to help others.¡± Sky said, and then smiled. ¡°T-thank you.¡± It was weird, Alex normally would be suspicious of such actions in the past, he had been fooled by seemingly kind people too many times in the past to trust this easily, but well¡­until now, they had done nothing but help him, and they seemed incredibly sincere, it was¡­oddly refreshing. ¡°Sky is too much of a bleeding heart.¡± Alice said. ¡°Pretty much, yeah. Far too nice for their own good.¡± Wind said. Sky rolled their eyes, and then got up. ¡°Guess you aren¡¯t the living saint for nothing, huh?¡± ¡°I earned that title, yes.¡± ¡°How humble¡± Alex said, a smile spreading across his face. ¡°I merely state the facts.¡± Alex followed Sky as they went to talk to the innkeeper, he didn¡¯t hear what they talked about, but soon was with a key in his hands. Soon, he was in a room, and quickly laid down in it, blacking out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Chapter 5: Gearing up. Slowly, Alex opened his eyes¡­and then immediately closed them as an bright blue screen appeared in front of him. ¡°Way too fucking bright¡± He mumbled. He stayed with his eyes closed for a few more minutes, memories of the previous day rushing forwards. All of it felt like a dream, but¡­the blue screen in front of him was proof enough that it wasn¡¯t. With a thought, he dismissed the thing, deciding to take a look at it later when he woke properly, then, he sat in his bed, looking around where he was. He was in a wooden room, it was fairly small, only having a small desk on a corner, a small chest and his bed. He stood up slowly, then walked towards the only windows in the room, which¡­wasn¡¯t an actual window, and more of a hatch that he could open and closed, still, it was easy enough to do so, then, he looked at the snow covered village which seemed to be in the process of waking up. All of it felt surreal for him, but¡­it was his new reality. His thoughts went back to earth. He missed many things from it. A hot bath, for one, but in the end, all that he truly missed were modern luxuries. Then, his mind went to the things that he did not miss, and he could not help but be glad that this happened. A fresh start, without all of that baggage. ¡°You are awake.¡± Alex jumped in surprised, and then quickly turned towards the door, seeing an amused looking Sky staring at him. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. You startled me.¡± Alex said. He had been a bit too lost in his thoughts beforehand. ¡°Sorry. ¡° Sky said, an completely unapologetic look on their face. ¡°All right, why are you here, anyway?¡± Alex said, glaring at them. ¡°Also, how did you even enter?¡± ¡°You forgot to lock the door.¡± Sky said. ¡°And I came here to check on you; see how you were holding up.¡± Then, the saint¡¯s expression changed to something kinder. ¡°If you want to talk about the subject, I am willing to listen.¡± Alex stood silently for a few seconds, there was something oddly¡­comforting about Sky¡¯s presence, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel paranoid about it, still, before he knew, he felt words leaving his mouth. ¡°Just¡­bad memories. Thinking about home.¡± ¡°I can relate.¡± Sky said. Neither of them said anything else, but Sky had a knowing look on their face, eventually, the saint seemed to figure that Alex didn¡¯t really want to elaborate. ¡°Anyway, I have to run a few errands; would you like to accompany me?¡± Sky said, and then paused. ¡°It would be a good time to buy appropriate stuff for you.¡± ¡°Sure, but what about Alice and Wind?¡± ¡°Alice will take a few hours to wake up; she isn¡¯t exactly a morning person. And Wind has something that she has to do.¡± Alex nodded; honestly, it was not like he had a whole lot of things that he could do right now¡­which probably was part of the reason that Sky asked him to come to begin with. It was not as if they needed his help for anything. ¡°I will go. Quick question, is there a bath anywhere? A shower? Hot springs or something?¡± ¡°There are baths in the bigger towns and cities; unfortunately, this village is far too small for something like that.¡± ¡°I expected as much.¡± Alex said, sighing. Sky started walking, and Alex followed them, down the stairs of the inn, towards the first floor. ¡°Are baths common in your world, then?¡± ¡°Pretty much. Most houses have one.¡± ¡°Sounds difficult to believe, but then again, I¡¯m no architect or engineer.¡± ¡°Yeah, there are a lot of stuff like that that I think I will miss.¡± The inn seemed to be empty this early in the morning Sky immediately went towards the door. ¡°I want to grab something to eat. If¡­it isn¡¯t too big of a problem.¡± Sky turned towards him a bit flustered. ¡°Sorry, forgot about that.¡± Soon, both of them were in a table eating bread with some kind of jam on it, much like the food yesterday, it was delicious. ¡°So¡­you skip breakfast often?¡± ¡°High level adventurers don¡¯t need much food.¡± Sky said, and then took a bite of a bread. ¡°But I don¡¯t mind eating for pleasure, I just forget about it sometimes.¡± Alex nodded, considering how tasty the food around here was¡­he couldn¡¯t really judge Sky. A couple minutes later, both of them were outside the inn walking trough the snow covered streets, Alex shivering slightly as he followed Sky. Thankfully, the cold was affecting him much less now, and it was rather easy to ignore. ¡°Anyway, what kinds of errands are we doing, anyway?¡± ¡°First we will buy stuff. Then, we will see what we find to do.¡± ¡°Odd, but alright, what kind of stuff are you going to buy?¡± ¡°Proper clothing, armor, a weapon.¡± ¡°Why the sudden interest in gear?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you wish to become an adventurer?¡± That made Alex pause; he hadn¡¯t been sure what he wanted to do to begin with, but... ¡°I think so.¡± He wanted to go out and do something, he didn¡¯t want to get stuck in a menial job again. ¡°I figured out as much with how much you were talking about the system yesterday.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Alex nodded, but could not help but feel suspicious about Sky¡¯s generosity, he had been screwed over far too many times by this kind of thing¡­but he wasn¡¯t exactly in a position to refuse it. He didn¡¯t have any money or resources, and he doubted his ability to acquire it in the short term. As they talked, they walked through the streets, it seemed that most people were still asleep at this hour¡­what hour was it, anyway? Unconsciously, his hands moved to his pants, where his phone usually was¡­and it was still there. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡­¡± Alex mumbled in disbelief, picking and holding his phone in his hands. He had completely forgotten about it until now. His thoughts were busy with everything that had been happening. Sky looked curiously at him. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a phone, it¡¯s¡­¡±He paused for a second, trying to figure out how to answer Sky. ¡°Kind of like an artifact from my old world.¡± He activated it, everything was normal, and the charge was at 50%, it probably would only last a few more days he did not use it. Unsurprisingly, there was no Wi-Fi or signal. ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°A bunch of stuff. But honestly? It¡¯s mostly useless here.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­difficult to explain, but basically, most of the stuff it¡¯s used for needs¡­other stuff to function, and that stuff doesn¡¯t exist in this world.¡± He felt embarrassed by how poor his explanation skills were ¡°You remind me of Alice when she is talking about magic.¡± Sky idly noted. ¡°No offense, but don¡¯t bother trying to explain to me.¡± ¡°Fair enough, I don¡¯t think I would be capable of explaining it well to you to begin with. There are a few interesting things that it can do, though.¡± Alex said, pointing his phone towards Sky. Alex pressed a button, and then turned it towards them, showing them their picture. ¡°That¡¯s¡­me.¡± Sky said, staring in disbelief. ¡°It looks like a prestige painter made it¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a photo. It¡¯s about the most impressive thing that I can do with it, besides¡­playing music, and some light, I guess.¡± ¡°That sounds more and more useful.¡± ¡°Maybe, but¡­it kind of has a charge, and it will probably break on its own in a few months either way.¡± ¡°That sounds very magical.¡± Sky asked, seemingly amused. He briefly wondered if he could use magic to recharge the cellphone, somehow. However, considering how little he knew about its inner workings, he had a feeling that it would end badly. Plus, he didn¡¯t even know how magic worked in this world to begin with. One more thing to ask Alice. ¡°Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguible from magic.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Technology can become so ludicrous that it might as well be magical.¡± ¡°You should show that to Alice later, she will obsess over it for a few hours.¡± Sky said. ¡°Here it is.¡± Alex was about to ask Sky something, but his thoughts went to the building in front of him, with a cloth symbol in a sign in front of it. Both of them entered the store, the place was somewhat similar to clothing stores back stores back on earth, but with a whole lot of white leather and fur, which were the materials that most of the clothing seemed to be made out of. ¡°I think we are a bit early.¡± Alex noted, noticing that the place was empty. ¡°Perhaps. Do you want to come back later-¡°Sky was interrupted by a loud shuffling in the back of the store, a very tired young man appearing behind a balcony shortly afterwards, he opened his mouth to say something, and then froze staring at Sky. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Alex slowly said, feeling a bit worried about the boy. ¡°Y-yes, sorry, it¡¯s just¡­I wasn¡¯t¡­err...expecting the living saint in the store.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. I came to buy clothing for my friend over there.¡± Sky said, pointing towards Alex. ¡°By the way, what¡¯s your name?¡± He flinched at being called friend, but didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°R-right.¡± The boy said, staring at Sky for a few more seconds, and then remembering that the saint had asked him something. ¡°M-my name¡¯s Eric.¡± He said, then looked towards Alex. Alex could not help but be amused about how star struck the boy was, even if it made him wonder a few things. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bit young to be working here?¡± Alex asked, a bit curious. ¡°I¡¯m not that young.¡± He grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m 15, and¡­well, my father didn¡¯t think there was a lot of movement this early, so he told me to take care of things for him¡­¡± Alex could not help but feel like it was kind of a dick move, especially during winter, but then again, it was a medieval society. ¡°Anyway, what are looking for in clothing?¡± Alex stared at him, confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean¡­being the living saint-¡°The boy was cut off by Sky. ¡°Call me Sky, please. No need to keep repeating my title.¡± Eric nodded eagerly, his face red. ¡°R-right, um, you must be an adventurer too, right?¡± ¡°Probably. Why?¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s because we have some pretty good stuff here.¡± Eric said, then entered the same door that he came from, returning a few moments afterwards, a breastplate in his hands. ¡°This here is a leather armor made from a forest devil, tougher than steel but much lighter.¡± Sky stared at Alex. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± ¡°Yes? I think it¡¯s good¡­right?¡± Alex asked, staring at Sky, whom didn¡¯t say anything. After a few seconds of that, he continued. ¡°But first, I need some clothing, please.¡± ¡°R-right.¡± The kid nodded, put the armor in the corner then walked in the store, grabbing a bunch of different clothing. ¡°What you are looking for? Comfort? Protection?¡± ¡°A¡­mix of both, I think.¡± Soon, Eric was in front of him, a pile of clothing in his hands. Alex took them and walked into a side room, testing them out. While he did that, he heard the two talking. ¡°Err¡­this might sound weird, but, how did you start adventuring?¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of a common question; actually, it was a¡­mixed start. I got a good weapon from an adventurer, killed a few monsters, explored a dungeon, and, well¡­the rest is story.¡± Alex himself paid attention to Sky¡¯s words as he tried the clothing. It fit him surprisingly good, on top of being oddly comfortable; the one problem was that it was a bit loose, but it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Soon, he was in the middle of the store, wearing his new clothing and holding his old one and plus a few others that he had liked in his hands. ¡°I kind of forgot to ask, how many should I buy?¡± Sky shrugged. ¡°As many as you like¡± Feeling a bit guilty, he bought three pairs of clothing; if he needed more, he could buy afterwards. Hopefully. ¡°I was kind of curious, why do you sell armor in a clothing store?¡± ¡°Why not? In an area like this everyone needs a bit of protection, and my father tells me that since he is already making leather clothes, might as well make leather armor.¡± ¡°How very capitalist of him.¡± Alex said as he grabbed the armor. ¡°What?¡± Sky and the kid both stared at him, confused looks on their faces. ¡°Long story, anyway, how do I put this on?¡± Eric guided his trough the process, Alex had a feeling that he would need help the next few times until he got the hang of it, far too many straps. Soon, Alex was staring at the store¡¯s mirror, albeit one made out of some polished metal rather than glass. His armor and clothing were all different shades of white, both shirt and pants were a darker shade of white, his coat was as white as snow while his armor was closer to gray. He stared at his armor, now complete after Eric had went again to the back of the store to grab the rest of it, now, most of his body was covered, only his hands, feet and face hadn¡¯t armor in it, although he was wearing an helmet that didn¡¯t hinder him too much. Over the armor, he was wearing an white fur coat, all in all, it was surprisingly comfortable. ¡°It¡¯s¡­nice, I think. But why is everything white?¡± ¡°The leather from most monsters in the region is mostly white, and it¡¯s actually kind of difficult to change the color.¡± ¡°You look like you are copying my style.¡± Sky said. Alex noted that most of his clothes looked like leather versions of Sky¡¯s outfit. ¡°So¡­you are the¡­I mean, Sky¡¯s apprentice?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure. Maybe?¡± Alex replied staring at Sky. Sky shrugged, but Alex felt like that was accurate, it seemed like Sky was taking him under their wing. ¡°Something like that. Anyway, here is your payment.¡± Sky said, throwing a gold coin towards the kid, whom seemed to get frozen in place as he stared at it. ¡°T-this is a bit much, sir¡­err¡­miss¡­err, Sky.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, you can keep the change. Plus¡­I have a feeling that you want to become an adventurer, yes?¡± ¡°Y-yes. How did you figure it out?¡± ¡°You made it obvious. Use the change to get something good once you awaken, and be sure to ask for the hunters for help to get your early levels, all right?¡± ¡°Y-yes. T-thank you very much for the advice.¡± Sky shook their head. ¡°It¡¯s no problem. So, do you need anything else?¡± Sky looked, staring at Alex. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think so, no.¡± ¡°Good, let¡¯s go then.¡± Sky said, leaving the store, leaving a very confused Alex and a very flustered Eric. Alex followed them, soon he was back to walking through the snow, the clothes that he bought in his hands, unfortunately, this world didn¡¯t have plastic bags to carry things. ¡°Is that kind of reaction common?¡± ¡°It¡­varies. I wouldn¡¯t call it common, but in some places that happens often.¡± Alex hummed in acknowledgment as he followed behind Sky, as they went¡­wait a second. ¡°So, how are you handling the cold now?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even feel it anymore, to be honest.¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°So¡­where are we going now?¡± ¡°You got armor, what do you need now?¡± Alex thought for a second,before almost slapping himself. It was rather obvious. " A weapon." Chapter 6: Gearing up harder. A few minutes passed as they quietly walked through the village, Alex watching the villagers as they went through their live. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s being an adventurer like?¡± ¡°It¡­varies. Adventurer is more of a title more than anything; usually it¡¯s for people whom roam around killing monsters and exploring dungeons.¡± Sky said. ¡°Ultimately, what the life is like is up to you.¡± ¡°So¡­is there some kind of adventurer guild or something?¡± ¡°What? Nothing of the sort, no. Being an adventurer is kind of informal.¡± Sky said. That was mildly surprising to him, especially with how common that kind of thing was around the genre. ¡°So¡­how do you find jobs? How did you get so much money to begin with?¡± ¡°Monsters have quite a few useful materials, most beginners learn how to harvest monsters, and find buyers. If you are lucky, you find a dungeon. If you are even luckier, you survive said dungeon. That¡¯s where my money comes from.¡± Sky said. ¡°And as for jobs¡­most high level adventurers have a fairly easy time finding employment under nobles. For other types of jobs¡­usually contacts and reputation. People know who you are and search for you.¡± Alex paused for a second, trying to find the right words. ¡°That¡¯s a clusterfuck.¡± ¡°Fairly accurate. Adventuring is not easy for beginners.¡± No wonder an adventurer¡¯s guild was so common, it simplified so many of these steps. ¡°It sounds¡­incredibly difficult to become one. And incredibly deadly.¡± ¡°Also fairly accurate. Most beginners die horribly thanks to not having much under their names.¡± Alex felt fear gripping his chest at these words, was that kind of life style really something that he wanted? ¡°Keep in mind that under proper guidance, that happens far less often¡­from what I head. Never had an apprentice before.¡± ¡°That¡¯s reassuring.¡± ¡°I¡¯m merely telling the truth. You have no obligation to become one.¡± Alex nodded, deep in thought. He didn¡¯t have many skills to begin with, what could he do? Maybe he could become a scribe? Ultimately, he could choose between mediocrity for the rest of his life, or trying to become something else. ¡°I¡­want to become one.¡± Maybe it was pride, but he wanted to do something great in this world, plus, Sky was giving him exactly that opportunity. ¡°But why are you offering to¡­well, teach me anyway?¡± ¡°This area is fairly high ranked, so it would be difficult for you to do anything without help, so I was going to help you find something to do either way.¡± Sky said, then shrugged. ¡°But ultimately, I felt like it was the right thing to do.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­I can see why you are called the living saint.¡± ¡°No problem. And yes, I earned this title.¡± ¡°How humble.¡± ¡°Merely honest.¡± Alex snorted. ¡°So¡­can you tell much about adventuring? What are those dungeons, for example?¡± ¡°Dungeons are¡­complicated. I¡¯m not too knowledgeable of the subject, but basically, they are places full of monsters and treasures.¡± Sky said. ¡°That¡­doesn¡¯t tell me much.¡± ¡°Ask Alice later, she can explain it in depth. And¡­just about everything else, probably.¡± ¡°All right. So, for how long have you been adventuring to begin with?¡± Sky Shrugged. ¡°I kind of lost track of time at some point, probably well over a decade, I think.¡± Alex wasn¡¯t entirely surprised. Everything about Sky seemed to show a lot of experience, even if they looked like someone in their early twenties. ¡°It seems like someone wants to talk to me.¡± Alex looked around confused, but soon saw an old man in the distance waving at them, Sky calmly walking towards him. Alex hurried along. Soon, they were in front of the old man, whom Alex felt was judging both of them with their eyes, Alex wondered just how old he really was, he had white hair, wrinkles in his face, yet he seemed to be comfortable in the middle of a cold winter with light clothes. ¡°So, you are the living saint I keep hearing about?¡± The old man asked ¡°Yes, sir. Do you need help with anything?¡± ¡°Yes. I was checking my cellar earlier today, to get a good wine in the morning, you see? When I saw something in there, a monster.¡± The old man said, pausing to catch a breath. ¡°Good thing I still know how to run. Anyway, usually, I would ask the hunters for help with this kind of thing, but most of them seem to be busy having a hangover.¡± ¡°I would be glad to help, but where is your home in the first place?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the winery. Part store, part my home. Helped build it with my own hands when I was younger.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Quick question, why were you in the middle of the streets to begin with?¡± Alex asked. Alex was suddenly reminded of an rpg, where the npcs didn¡¯t seem to mind staying outside all year. ¡°I was searching for hunters who weren¡¯t in the taverns. Figured that if they were out at this hour, they had to be sober.¡± ¡°We will go there later, all right? But first, I need to get my friend here am weapon. As soon as that is over, we will take care of it.¡± The old man shrugged. ¡°Thank you, either way. I¡¯m willing to pay for this, of course, but don¡¯t be surprised if a hunter takes care of it if you two take too long.¡± He said, and then started to walk, before stopping suddenly. ¡°Almost forgot, my kid is back home, he will open the door for you two.¡± Then, he went back to walking. Sky also continued his trek, Alex following behind him shortly afterwards. ¡°Is¡­that kind of thing common?¡± ¡°Somewhat. It¡¯s kind of in my reputation that I help with this kind of stuff.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t it get annoying, though?¡± ¡°Sometimes, but I think it¡¯s a productive way to pass the time.¡± Soon, both of them entered a store with an anvil sign outside. Inside, dozens of weapons were displayed. Swords, spears and daggers were the most common, with the occasional mace or axe. It was the first time he saw a medieval weapon in person, and he could not help but feel impressed. From further inside the store, he heard a constant clang. ¡°You have clients!¡± Sky said. The clang continued for a few more seconds, then stopped, he heard the shuffling of feet, then, a door opened, a¡­dwarf appearing. He was small, tough looking but oddly did not have a beard. ¡°Was not expecting clients this early. Especially from someone famous.¡± The dwarf said, shooting us a grin. ¡°Anything catch you as fancy?¡± Sky stared at me, raising an eyebrow. ¡°I am¡­not well versed with weapons, but I think I want to use a sword¡­and shield. Any recommendations?¡± ¡°A rookie, eh? Getting yourself an apprentice? Looks really fresh. Anyway, you will find high quality stuff in here, nothing enchanted, though. Not worth the bother. ¡°The dwarf said, and then looked at Alex, scanning him from top to bottom ¡°It depends on what you want to do to begin with. So, do you plan to stab somebody?¡± ¡°Err¡­maybe. I want to kill a monster.¡± ¡°Then use a spear. Shield could be useful, but aren¡¯t made to be used against a monster.¡± The dwarf said. ¡°Plus, you got decent enough armor. Alex nodded, and then shot Sky a pleading look. They seemed amused by his indecision. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about your first weapon. I recommend trying something that catches your interest, test it out, and then try something else.¡± Alex nodded and looked around for a second, just because he bought a weapon, it didn¡¯t mean that he would be stuck with it for the rest of his life. For now, he should prioritize. ¡°A spear then.¡± The dwarf nodded, then went then grabbed one nearby spear, which had two wings nearby the shaft, then, he handed it to Alex, he grabbed it with one hand, while holding his clothes with the other, thankfully, Sky noticed his plight and grabbed the clothes, freeing his hand. ¡°Here. It is a boar spear, quite handy against some of the tougher monsters. The dwarf said, and then put a hand on his chin. ¡°The length is boreal wood, while the shaft of cold steel. So, unless you go fight a slumberer or something, your arm is more likely to break than it.¡± ¡°That sounds good. I think. But do you have boars?¡± ¡°Sound¡¯s good? It¡¯s good boy. And what in the heaven¡¯s name are you talking about?¡± Alex nodded. ¡°All right, never mind what I said.¡± He wondered what it would translate to if he hadn¡¯t known what a boar spear was beforehand¡­but these were thoughts for another time. ¡°I will be buying this.¡± Sky gave the dwarf a gold coin, Alex figured that he decided not look a gift horse in the mouth, since he didn¡¯t question it. Both of them left the store, Sky, however, stopped at the door. ¡°Quick question, where is the winery?¡± ¡°Man of fine taste, eh? Nearby the center, next to the town hall, can¡¯t miss it.¡± Sky nodded, then left then they continued their walk through town, Alex feeling very confused about something. ¡°What kind of dwarf drinks wine?¡± Sky stared at him, their lips quirked upwards. It seemed like they were trying not to laugh. ¡°That was a gnome.¡± ¡°That explains the lack of beard.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help but wonder how are you even aware of other races, considering the fact that you are from another dimension.¡± ¡°There was¡­literature about this kind of stuff. Elves, dwarves, magic and stuff. I guess it¡¯s just a funny coincidence.¡± Alex said. ¡°Not to sound racist, but what¡¯s the difference between the races?¡± ¡°If either a gnome or a dwarf heard that, they would kick your ass.¡± Sky said, a grin splitting their face. ¡°To be fair¡­they are quite similar. Biggest difference is that dwarven stuff tends to be cruder, where gnome¡¯s tend to do fancy stuff, but in terms of quality? It¡¯s mostly on the same rank.¡± ¡°Interesting. And dwarves have beards, right?¡± ¡°Yes, even their woman.¡± Alex decided that was not really a sight he was interested in. He briefly wondered if thinking that was racist, before deciding to focus on matters that were more important. ¡°So¡­what do you think of my choice of weapon¡± Alex asked. He stared at the spear in his hands, it was surprisingly light, he waved it a bit, getting used to the weapon. ¡°Good. Especially for a first weapon. Spears are easier to use than most weapons. It fits a beginner.¡± Sky said, then paused for a second. ¡°Although¡­I couldn¡¯t help but notice that you were hesitant to choose it.¡± ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s just that I don¡¯t want to be stuck with using something before knowing how good the thing is.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a valid concern, actually. Wielding a weapon risks gaining an perk related to it, but don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± Sky said. ¡°In most cases, the perk won¡¯t be specific to the weapon, merely something that enchases you that happens to make the weapon better.¡± Alex nodded, that was a bit of weight off his shoulders. ¡°So, I shouldn¡¯t worry too much about it. Got it.¡± ¡°Since we are in the subject, did you hear when I was talking with Eric, about how I started being an adventurer?¡± ¡°Yes, sounded interesting.¡± ¡°What I didn¡¯t tell him was that the weapon that I received was a dagger. A very good dagger, but a dagger nonetheless. I spent years wielding it, but then, well¡­I decided that I much preferred wielding a sword.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know much about weapons, but fighting monsters with a dagger sounds¡­difficult.¡± ¡°It was. But it did teach me one very important thing, sometimes, the toughest opponents can be beaten with a good weapon in the right place. ¡° Alex nodded. He wondered what part of Sky¡¯s survival was due to their skill¡­and how much was due to luck, all things considered. ¡°I will try to keep that in mind. Soo¡­I will be handling the monster in the attic, right?¡± ¡°Maybe. I will see if it is truly dangerous first, but odds are it will be something you can handle. Something that was a real threat wouldn¡¯t be stuck in the attic to begin with.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t earlier that this was a high level area?¡± Alex paused. ¡°Fairly high level to you. But yes, i did. But that does not every monster in the area is high level, and the higher a monster¡¯s level, the more attention it will draw.¡± Sky said, and then paused. ¡°Unless it¡¯s something stealthy, like a grue or a prowler, but they wouldn¡¯t be stuck on an attic either.¡± Alex briefly wondered why it was translating that word to a grue, but then he noticed something. ¡°Wait. You are saying level now.¡± Alex said, now that he thought about it, Sky had been for a while, he just hadn¡¯t noticed. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Translation weirdness. Can you tell me about this area¡¯s rank?¡± ¡°This is¡­somewhat confusing. But as I said, it¡¯s a fairly high level¡± Alex nodded it seemed that rank and level were interchangeable now, which¡­he was fairly sure wasn¡¯t the case yesterday. Interesting. As he continued to walk, his thoughts went to what was about to happen. His first fight. He was scared. He was sure that Sky would protect him, but the thought of facing a monster was intimidating. But at the same time, he couldn¡¯t help but feel excited. This was the kind of stuff that he read for a good chunk of his life. Soon, they were in front of a building with an wine sign outside, the entire place felt¡­old, parts of the building seemingly rotten or in disrepair, then, he heard a loud bang coming from it. Chapter 7: Normal mission. Seemingly not giving a damn about the noise, Sky stepped forwards and knocked on the door, it was opened shortly afterwards by a kid that seemed a tad scared. ¡°Y-you two are here to deal with the thing?¡± The bow asked with a hopeful look on his face. ¡°Worry not, for we are here. We came to deal with the monster.¡± The boy gave an audible sigh of relief, then stepped backwards. Sky and Alex stepped inside, Alex looking around the house as he did so. Just like the outside, the place felt old, the furniture was not in the best of shape, and it had the old feel of a grandfather¡¯s house. ¡°Do you know what it is to begin with?¡± Sky asked. ¡°Not really, I think gramps saw it, but, well¡­he didn¡¯t tell me.¡± Sky nodded. ¡°I will check it out, will you show us the way, then?¡± The kid eagerly nodded. The two of them followed him through the house, hearing an occasional bang from above; soon, they reached a staircase, which seemed to lead to the attic. ¡°There. Good luck, just¡­be careful. Please.¡± Sky knelt and smiled at the kid. ¡°Worry not; whatever is up there, I have faced much, much worse. It won¡¯t be a issue.¡± After Sky said that, they stood and, then, light covered their bodies for a second, then, they were covered from the head to toe in full plate armor, with a shining sword in their hands. The boy and I gave a startled cry. ¡°You can just¡­equip your armor?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Something like that.¡± Without further ado, Sky started went up the stairs, a loud creak being heard every step. Alex could not help but feel like they were going to break any second, but contrary to expectations, Sky managed to reach the top. The saint opened the door, then immediately snorted. Sky immediately closed the door and then went to Alex¡¯s side. ¡°You can handle that, Alex.¡± Sky said, amusement clear in their voice. Alex nodded, gulping audibly and then going up the stairs, the constant creak worsening his nerves, soon, he was staring at the door. ¡°Nervous?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s¡­the first time I¡¯m going to kill something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a monster. Give it time and it will start hunting humans.¡± Sky said, plainly. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t feel guilty about this kind of thing.¡± Alex made a mental note to ask Alice the specifics on monsters. Still, he felt like Sky wasn¡¯t wrong, his actions were helping people. Probably. Slowly, he took a deep breath, calming himself, then, just to check things, he thought about his stats.
Name: Alex Watson. Age: 22 Gender: Male Class: Defiant. Title: None Path: (Generating) Affinities: Advanced Dimension, fire, ice. XP:35% Level:2(20) (current daily increase:2) Health: 100% Stamina: 100% Mana: 100% Attributes: Strength: 108(9) Dexterity: 118(9) Agility: 108(9) Constitution: 108(9) Logic: 138(9) Semi-flexible attributes(current max increase: 2): Insight: 12 Willpower: 10 Free Points: 200(Currently usable:20, current standard daily use increase: 10)
Alex looked startled at the bigger numbers, then remembered that he dismissed a screen when he woke up earlier and hadn¡¯t remembered to see thanks to Sky.
Level has increased by 2. Current growth rate: 2 levels per day. Perk: Elemental resistance has leveled up. Perk: Human translatorhas leveled up.
Alex slowly nodded, then looked at Sky. ¡°I just noticed that I leveled. I currently have a few free points, so¡­where should I use them?¡± ¡°Your call. All of them are important in a fight. Think about what your priorities lie.¡± Alex sighed. He was a tad annoyed that he didn¡¯t receive a straightforward answer. He understood the reason why, but he really wanted some direct instructions for once. He thought about the subject for a bit, then put 10 points into agility then 10 into strength. His first instinct was to hoard the points until he had a better idea of what the hell to do with his stats, but he figured that the long terms problems of using 1/10 of his free points was¡­probably minimal. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I will step up if it looks like you are in true danger.¡± Sky said. ¡°Plus, it¡¯s something that I am sure you can handle on your own.¡± Alex slowly nodded. ¡°Now, stop stalling.¡± ¡°Just a bit more¡± He grumbled. Slowly, he opened the door pointing his spear forward as he did so, then slowly edged forwards, searching for the monster. The place was a mess, full of barrels, haphazardly thrown through the room; wine coated the floor and the floor had a bunch of small holes in it. It wasn¡¯t difficult to find the monster due to the fact that it was in front of the door. The monster¡­looked weird. It was roughly half of Alex¡¯s size, an seemed like a mix of a chicken and a penguin, part of its body was feathered, mostly the wings, but the rest of it was slick. Its beak was inside an barrel, and it seemed to be¡­drinking wine. Alex stood still in disbelief. ¡°Is this Penguin drinking wine?¡± ¡°That¡¯s called a poger.¡± Sky said from behind the door. Alex wasn¡¯t sure when Sky went upstairs, especially considering that he hadn¡¯t heard the floor creak. ¡°It¡¯s mostly a pest which break into food stores with its beak.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The poger stood up, looked at Alex, squeaked something, then went back to drinking wine. Honestly, Alex could not help but feel like the thing was wise. Still, he came here for a reason, and he intended to fulfill it. He pointed his spear forwards, and then took a step towards it, the poger seemed to notice it, because it reluctantly stepped backwards. Then drunkly stumbled to the side. ¡°It¡¯s drunk.¡± Alex said in disbelief, then looked back, staring Sky, whom seemed to be trying really hard to not laugh. Alex wasn¡¯t sure whether to be annoyed or thankful of the monster¡¯s current state. Ultimately, he shrugged. At least it wouldn¡¯t be that hard. He slowly walked towards it, the thing constantly stumbling from one side to the other as he did so; Alex tensed up and readied himself. Alex thrust forwards with his spear, but the Poger¡¯s drunk state resulted in it stumbling to the sides, his thrust merely piercing the air, then, squeaking a drunk war cry, it jumped forwards, tackling him to the ground. The thing was only half his size, but its speed Alex¡¯s surprise and the floor being slippery resulted in the tackle being far more effective than it had any right to. As Alex fell, he kept hold of his weapon for dear life. As soon as Alex¡¯s back hit the ground, he felt something hitting his chest, raising his head, Alex saw the poger trying to pierce him with his beak, his armor thankfully stopping him from getting skewered. Unfortunately for Alex, the Poger also seemed to notice this, because he stared Alex right in the eye. ¡°Fuck no!¡± Alex shouted, quickly slapping the thing off with all of his strength, thankfully it was as light as it seemed and it flew away with his blow. Acting quickly, he used the opportunity to get up, and once again pointed the spear towards it. Both of them stared at the other with murder in their eyes, Alex took a step back, almost tripping in a nearby barrel. Not helped by the slippery floor. Impatiently, the poger rushed forwards, with a beat of its wings, it flew forwards drunkly¡­to Alex¡¯s side, completely missing him. Alex turned quickly, even as the thing did its best to stand up, he once again thrust forwards, this time, the poger wasn¡¯t so lucky, the spear piercing its side, blood flowing from the wound. However, the thing seemed to enter a berserker rage that Alex felt was fueled by the alcohol, it flew forwards towards Alex squeaking in rage and impaling itself even further in the spear in a bid to reach his head. Fortunately, the side wings of the boar spear did its job, stopping the poger from going much further. At this point, all Alex did was wait for the thing to bleed out as it As it died, Alex stared at the things eye, disgust swelling in his stomach. It was a monster, yes, but it was the first time he had killed something, still, logically, he knew that it was probably justified, he had no doubt that it would have killed him given the chance. Slowly, he did the grim job of removing the spear, putting the poger on the floor, keeping him in place with his feet, then slowly withdrew his spear, it finally leaving completely with a disgusting pop. Not being able to take it anymore, he turned to the side and threw up. It took him a few minutes to get a hold of himself, but eventually, he took a step forwards, and went to the door, doing his best to ignore the dead monster. He stopped at the door, Sky blocking the entrance and looking at him with a blank face. ¡°Do you think you can handle the lifestyle? Alex stared at his bloody spear, and then thought about the dead poger. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure, to be honest.¡± Could he get used to killing things? ¡°I think you can. From my experience, there are three situations that an adventurer must get through before they truly can dedicate themselves to the lifestyle.¡± Sky said. ¡°First one is facing a monster; second one is facing a dungeon, and the third one is the one that makes the most people give up.¡± Sky said, a grim look on their face as the saint stared straight into Alex¡¯s eyes. ¡°Facing death. Doesn¡¯t matter how good are, or how many allies you have at your side, one day, it will happen.¡± Alex froze for a second; there was something in Sky¡¯s voice that made him pause, he felt a lump in his throat and felt like he couldn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I guess we will know eventually.¡± Alex eventually said. There was some finality in Sky¡¯s tone which relieved him, finally feeling like he was in control of his mouth again. ¡°Now, congratulations on killing a drunk poger.¡± Sky said, a smile appearing In their faces, completely at odds with their previous tone. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know that monsters could get drunk, to be honest..¡± ¡°Yeah, it was¡­very weird.¡± Alex slowly said. ¡°Tell me about it, but you get used to it in this lifestyle, now, let¡¯s get your reward.¡± Soon afterwards, both of them were out of the house, Alex having gained a shining silver coin for his efforts, given to him by the kid. Soon, both of them were silently walking trough the streets again. ¡°What was that?¡± Alex asked, slowly. ¡°It was a monster, obviously.¡± Sky said. ¡°Not that, just¡­you. When you were talking to me about death, you¡­did something to me.¡± Alex wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable in receiving mental whammies from people, even¡­no, especially from someone whom seemed as trustworthy as Sky. ¡°Gravitas. It¡¯s¡­a metaphysical weight that I can put into things, it¡¯s something that you gain in high level.¡± Sky said. ¡°If you wish, I can demonstrate a bit.¡± Alex briefly wondered why the translation chose that word, but decided to focus on the important matter. ¡°Does¡­that affect my mind?¡± ¡°It does not change your thoughts or anything of the sort, i¡­can¡¯t really explain properly, to be honest, but it¡¯s harmless, I can guarantee you that.¡± ¡°Honestly, if you could influence my mind, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to resist at this point either way.¡± He had a perk to help with that, but he felt like the difference in power was too great anyway. ¡°So¡­do it. I¡¯m kind of curious.¡± Sky nodded, this time, Alex could practically feel the weight, it was much more intense than last time, he felt like his legs were made out of lead, and that he couldn¡¯t act beneath such power¡­and as soon as it happened, it was gone. ¡°Do keep in mind that sometimes it slips when I¡¯m not entirely in control of my emotions or when I want to make a point.¡± Alex nodded. ¡°All right. Just¡­it¡¯s really uncomfortable to be on the receiving end.¡± ¡°All right. But I did that to emphasize my point, that feeling is something you should get used to.¡± ¡°You seem keen on making me not want to be an adventurer.¡± ¡°I want you to be aware of the risks.¡± ¡°What about that clothier¡¯s kid, then? Why didn¡¯t you do the same thing?¡± ¡°Because he already knows. It¡¯s quite common for adventurers to pass and even live in border towns such as this.¡± Alex wanted to argue that Sky couldn¡¯t know that for a fact, but he figured that they knew more about this world than he did. ¡°Since we are on the topic, what did you think about fighting your first monster?¡± That made Alex pause to think. There were many things, disgust, the adrenaline of the fight, but one thought slipped through his lips. ¡°That felt¡­too easy, I think.¡± ¡°You were fighting against a low level drunk monster; it was never going to be a challenge.¡± ¡°I think the drunkenness helped it more than hindered it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think Pogers are masters of drunk fighting.¡± ¡°I swear that damn thing was master of the drunk beak.¡± ¡°Out of curiosity¡­have you fought against someone before?¡± ¡°That was literally my first fight in my life.¡± ¡°That¡­explains a lot. You need a lot of work then, especially with your class.¡± Alex nodded, maybe it was idiotic, but he really wanted to try to make his class work, it seemed to have a lot of potential, but realizing that potential was going to be a challenge. ¡°I Will. I have nothing better to do with my time anyway. Anyway, what do you think of my reward?¡± ¡°Honestly? It is overpriced. An iron coin for a Poger is a steal. That old man was probably desperate.¡± Alex looked at the coin with a bit of curiosity¡­and a bit of disappointment. He had thought that it was made out of iron. ¡°I never asked about currencies.¡± Alex said as he stared at the coin in his hand. It was fairly plain, with what looked like a face in one side, and a straight line in the other. ¡°Let me guess, 100 iron to 1 silver, 100 silver to a gold coin?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­fairly accurate, actually. Weird.¡± Sky Said. ¡°Only missing that 100 copper is worth an iron coin.¡± That helped to explain why a gold coin was so valuable, even if his reward was worth a lot less than he expected¡­ ¡°You just said 100.¡± Sky gave Alex a confused stare. ¡°I think my perk might have changed words around.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fairly common. It probably has leveled and adapted to your needs.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­convenient.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of the point of perks.¡± ¡°Anyway, what do we do now?¡± Sky shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t have much in mind, to be honest. We could go hunting, but it is unlikely that we would find monsters suitable for you. We could search for more stuff to do or we could train.¡± Sky said.¡°Training would be particularly good for you, since it makes your effective level increase faster.¡± ¡°Effective level?¡± ¡°Once you level, it takes some time for your body and soul to adapt to the level, but If your train your body, it happens much faster.¡± Alex nodded. ¡°That sounds good, but¡­I kind of left my breakfast on the winery.¡± Sky snorted. ¡°Sure, we can go back for a lunch.¡± As they went back to the inn, a thought appeared in Alex¡¯s head. ¡°So¡­where are the three of you going after this?¡± Sky hummed in thought for a few seconds. ¡°Probably make my way towards the elven kingdoms. Wind said that something seemed to be brewing up with the orcish hordes.¡± ¡°Big, green and like to pick a fight with everyone?¡± ¡°Pretty accurate. Normally, I would not tell someone of your rank to tag along, but there are quite a few low rank areas in the way. Their conversation was interrupted by a shout. ¡°Sir Sky! I have urgent news!¡± Alex heard an voice coming from behind him. Alex and Sky both turned towards the voice, it was a man running towards them dressed in what seemed like wizard robes, albeit entirely gray ones. Sky waited patiently, and soon the man was In front of them. ¡°What is it?¡± Sky asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­confidential information.¡± The man said slowly, looking at Alex. ¡°All right.¡± Sky said, and then turned towards Alex. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure what this is about, to be honest, but I will be right back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, see you in a bit?¡± ¡°It¡­shouldn¡¯t take long, I guarantee.¡± The man said, taking a few steps back. Alex nodded as the man and Sky went to a corner, leaving him alone to his thoughts. He wasn¡¯t sure about how he felt. Things were wild from the moment that he arrived, but¡­the sheer change of pace excited him after spending so long in dull routine. As he thought about that, he looked at his surroundings, appreciating the village¡¯s beauty. Then, he saw something that he should not have, it was pure coincidence, really. Something that happened due to mere chance, a twist of fate. In the distance, he saw a man looking at him, a crossbow in his hands pointing towards Alex. It took Alex a second to react, the man. Not so much. ¡° What the fu-¡° He couldn¡¯t finish his sentence, because as he felt something impacting his chest, the only thing leaving his mouth was his scream of pain. Chapter 8: Normal morning. What happened next was blurry for Alex, all he could remember were a few flashes and a constant mind-numbing pain. A knight in shining armor standing over him, the ceiling of a room, the sky, another ceiling¡­ He woke up a few times in a room that he didn¡¯t recognize, but he only managed to stay awake for short periods of times, slipping into and from unconsciousness constantly. When he managed to stay awake for any length of time, he was in such an awful state that he couldn¡¯t properly communicate with the people around him. It took him a long time to truly feel like he was conscious again, and when he did it, he immediately regret bothering to do so. He felt¡­weak. Worse than any other time in his life, he also felt incredibly sick, with a constant feeling of wanting to vomit, but being unable to do so. Slowly, he opened his eyes, a blue screen covering his vision, while he was annoyed by the bright lights, he was far too curious about the information in front of him, so, he waited a few minutes until he didn¡¯t feel blinded by the screen in front of him.
You have gained 8 levels. Due to circumstances, leveling has slowed down. Current rate: (1 per day.) Due to circumstances, a perk point was rushed to increase survival odds (X2) You have gained the perks: Poison resistance, Death¡¯s door. A skill has been generated: Defy Odds. Poison resistance has leveled up X30 Death¡¯s door has leveled up X10 Defy odds has leveled up X10 Willpower has increased by 5
Poison resistance: You have natural protection against all forms of poison, decreasing their effects and allowing for quicker recovery. Synergizes with willpower.
Death¡¯s door. You have a bigger like hood of barely surviving wounds that would otherwise have killed you, also decreases the effects wounds have on you in general, the effect increasing the bigger the wound. Synergizes with willpower. Synergizes with defy odds.
Defy odds: Increase the like hood of things going your way, with it¡¯s power increasing the more the odds are stacked against you. Synergizes with death¡¯s door.
Alex stared in disbelief at the screen in front of him. He¡­almost died. Hell, apparently the odds were stacked for him to die. ¡°What the fuck happened?¡± His voice felt raspy and weak, he idly noted that his throat felt very dry. ¡°Are you awake?¡± Alex heard a voice coming from his side. With a thought, the screen vanished from his face, he finally being able to see where he was. It looked, and felt like an old cottage. Everything in it was made out of some type of ancient wood. ¡°Alex?¡± The voice asked again. Alex blinked, then stared at the voice. He was more out of it that he thought at first. ¡°Yes. Can¡­you give me water, please?¡± He stared a very tired looking Sky in the eyes, whom nodded in answer. They got up from a wooden chair, opened the door to the room, then vanished into the cottage. How had gotten into this situation? His memory was a tad foggy, he remembered meeting Sky, Alice, Wind, a tentacle monster, a village, then¡­something. It took him a minute to remember the last detal. man with a crossbow. He¡¯d been shot. He was distracted by Sky returning and giving him a water skin, Alex greedily drinking it. ¡°I asked Wind to bring food.¡± ¡°T-thank you.¡± Alex said, his voice cracking a bit. He really was in a shitty shape. ¡°it¡¯s no problem.¡± Sky said. Sky once again sat in the chair, while Alex returned to his thoughts, putting his mind into order. It took a few minutes before he could find his voice again. ¡°Reiterating a bit¡­what the fuck happened?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure myself.¡± Sky said, slowly. ¡°I discussed quite a bit with the others, but the only conclusion that I could get to was that this was an assassination attempt.¡± Alex stared at Sky, his mind slowly coming to grips with the situation. ¡°That¡­makes no sense.¡± ¡°I agree. I know for a fact that you weren¡¯t lying about the part about coming from some other dimension.¡± Sky said. ¡°It would be impossible for you to attract unwanted attention when we had our eyes on you the entire time.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Couldn¡¯t...couldn¡¯t they be targeting me because of being from another dimension, or something?¡± ¡°Maybe. The problem with that theory is that according to Alice and Wind both, you seem like a perfectly normal human, and no one could have known that you were the one that was summoned.¡± Alex stared at Sky, feeling like he was forgetting something very important. ¡°So why would they target me? They mistook me for the wrong guy?¡± ¡°Unlikely. They knew beforehand that I was there, to the point that the assassin had me distracted with something specifically catered to me.¡± ¡°So¡­somehow someone knew where I was going to be and knew with whom I was going to be.¡± The door to the room once again opened, Alice and Wind entering, Wind having a wooden bowl in her hands, quickly handling it to Alex. ¡°Good day sleeping prince.¡± Alice said ¡°Good to see that you survived.¡± Alex didn¡¯t even look at what was in the bowl, just putting it in his mouth and gulping as fast as he could, ignoring how hot it was. ¡°The food¡­is really damn good.¡± On top of that, he felt full as soon as he was done gulping. ¡°He eats just like you.¡± Alice said, shooting Wind a grin. The elf completely ignored her comment. ¡°It¡¯s an elven delicacy, forest soup.¡± ¡°And now we have another glutton in the team.¡± Alice said. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten in¡­¡± Alex paused. ¡°How long was I out of it?A week?¡± Eight days, actually. And we have been sure to feed you properly.¡± Sky said. ¡°More like Sky has been sure to do that properly.¡± Alex stared at Sky, that served to explain why they seemed to be so tired. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no problem, especially after what happened¡­¡± He heard a deep sigh coming from the two woman of the team. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, as we told you countless times. You really couldn¡¯t have predicted an assassination attempt at someone that was in this world for literally a day.¡± Alice said. ¡°You¡­are blaming yourself for this?¡± Alex asked in disbelief as he stared at Sky. ¡°It was¡­my responsibility to protect you.¡± ¡°No offense, but¡­I¡¯m not really your responsibility. And this crap was outside of your control, it¡¯s really not your fault.¡± Sky nodded, but Alex felt like their heart really was not into it. He just hoped that it wouldn¡¯t cause too much trouble in the future. ¡°So¡­can someone explain at length what happened? And can I maybe have more of that?¡± ¡°That soup is supposed to give a normal man enough nutrition for a day, I think you have had enough for now.¡± Wind said. ¡°You are only saying that so that you can eat more of it.¡± Wind continued to ignore the witch¡¯s comment¡¯s about her eating habits. ¡°Can we please focus on what¡¯s important?¡± Sky said, sounding a tad exasperated. ¡°Your sexuality?¡± Alice asked ¡°Alice¡¯s fragile ego?¡± Wind said. Sky put their hands in their face. ¡°You two sometimes are impossible.¡± ¡°You know why we are doing this.¡± The witch said. ¡°Why are you two doing a comedy routine?¡± Alex asked, feeling a tad confused. He couldn¡¯t help but feel like their relationship was weird. Neither of the two answered anything, instead shooting him a grin. ¡°That¡¯s a good question, isn¡¯t it, Sky?¡± Sky stared at them, an exasperated look on their face. ¡°Is this really the time.¡± ¡°After how you spent this week? Very much so.¡± Alice said. Sky took a deep breath, closed their eyes, and then stared at Alex. ¡°¡­They want me to lighten up a little.¡± Alex stared at Sky. He really didn¡¯t know them nearly well enough to truly get the situation. ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± Alex said. ¡°But could you three please explain to me the situation? I am very confused right now.¡± ¡°At this point, even I feel confused.¡± Sky grumbled. ¡°One thing at a time, Sky, could you please begin to explain what happened?¡± Wind said. Sky glared at Wind, then at Alice, before sighing and looking at Alex. ¡°Fine. You two are sometimes impossible to deal with.¡± ¡°To begin with, before you got shot, someone whom claimed to be from the Kraigor confederacy asked to speak to me in private.¡± Sky said. ¡°It was about some Valkyr raiders, but that¡¯s besides the point. Next thing I knew, I heard a scream, and then I rushed over to you, finding you on the ground with an arrow sticking out of your chest.¡± Alex nodded, he remembered as much, he was a bit curious about the kingdoms and raiders, but decided to focus on the fact that he had been freaking shot. ¡°Did you see who it was?¡± Alex asked. Sky shook their head. ¡°By the time I got to your side the assassin was long gone, I¡¯m fast, but it doesn¡¯t take much to hide in the middle of a town.¡± ¡°Sky nearly broke my room¡¯s door when she came over for my help.¡± Alice said, grinning. ¡°Priorities. I immediately carried you over to Alice¡¯s room, and she gave you a potion.¡± ¡°Yep. I¡¯m fairly good with alchemy, but nothing that I gave you was effective, it was fairly apparent that you were poisoned by something quite potent.¡± ¡°I¡­figured as much. Hell, I gained an poison resistance perk.¡± ¡°That explains how you are alive.¡± Wind said. ¡°What was the poison, anyway?¡± ¡°A stygian vestige.¡± A voice said from outside the room. An elven man entered the room, he was short, covered in furs, and had bindings covering his eyes, but somehow stared straight into Alex¡¯s own as he entered the room. ¡°It would seem my guest has awoken. How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Like shit, err¡­who are you?¡± ¡°Poison. I would ask that you go more in depth about how you are feeling.¡± ¡°Err¡­Alex. Well, I feel¡­weak, sick and I have a constant urge to vomit.¡± ¡°It seems that you are recuperating well, then.¡± The elf said. ¡°The stygian poison is something that affects both your body and soul, rapidly corroding both. At this point, the poison is outside of your body, but it will take longer for your soul to recover fully.¡± ¡°So¡­I¡¯m in no risk of dying right now, right?¡± He felt like it was unlikely, especially with how the others were acting, but he wanted to be sure. ¡°Besides from assassination, no.¡± Wind said. Sky shot the elf a glare as she said that. ¡°I¡¯m being sincere. Alex isn¡¯t in any danger from dying in the sort them, but that is something that he needs to keep in mind in the future.¡± ¡°I am in a goddamn emotional Rolle coaster right now.¡± Alex said. ¡°What?¡± The saint asked with an raised eyebrow. ¡°My emotions are a clusterfuck.¡± Sky seemed only more confused as he said that, but Alice nodded sagely. ¡°That kind of thing is good for the soul.¡± Alice said. Poison walked towards Alex, ignoring everyone else¡¯s comments, then handed him a potion. ¡°Drink this. It will help with your recuperation.¡± Alex took it, then swiftly drank It, it was¡­surprisingly sweet, which helped to offset the burning sensation that it left as it went down his throat. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°A distilled apotheosis¡¯s nectar. A type of poison which turns your body into mana.¡± Alex stared at Poison in disbelief. ¡°Some types of poison can be beneficial in some situations.¡± ¡°He isn¡¯t going to kill you¡± Sky said. ¡°It might hurt quite a bitch, though.¡± Wind said. ¡°Sometimes a bit of pain is necessary for a good recovery.¡± Poison said, then walked towards the room¡¯s door. ¡°You should be completely fine in a week; probably much sooner depending on how well your soul heals.¡± Alex stared at the man as he left the room, then stared at the potion flask in his hands, seemingly made out of crystal. ¡°So¡­you guys are going to explain why you guy¡¯s first instinct when I was poisoned was to give me more poison?¡± ¡°That makes the situation seem worse than it actually is.¡± Wind said. The burning that he felt was only getting worse, but it was a tolerable pain. ¡°I currently feel like someone set my stomach ablaze, so I feel like it¡¯s justified.¡± Alex said. ¡° ¡°I understand that you don¡¯t really want pain, I think no one does, but it¡¯s a necessary evil.¡± Sky said. ¡°Do you wish for us to continue, or do you want to rest?¡± ¡°Continue. I don¡¯t think I can rest when someone throws fire in my stomach.¡± Sky gave him a sympathetic look, then continued the story. ¡°Continuing where I left off, nothing we did was able to help you. Wind healed you; Alice brewed a few potions and tried some other things. While the wound was healed, nothing we did managed to actually help you.¡± ¡°I figured that you had been poisoned, so, I recommended going to a specialist in the subject, which is how we got here. I¡¯m not entirely sure about what he did, but Poison managed to nurse you back to health.¡± Aliec said ¡°That¡­makes sense. But I can¡¯t help but feel he is shady as hell.¡± Alex whispered the last part, deciding that offending the guy in charge of giving you poison was a terrible idea. ¡°I mean¡­his name is poison.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an elven thing.¡± ¡°Because elves aren¡¯t weird, right?¡± Alice said, shooting Wind a grin. Wind opened her mouth, raised a finger, and then closed her mouth. Chapter 9: An relaxing conversation. ¡°Elven culture aside¡­you seem to be taking this quite well.¡± Sky said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­probably because I haven¡¯t had time to process it yet.¡± Alex said. Still, that made him think for a bit, should¡­he be taking all of it so well? He didn¡¯t exactly miss his old world, but should he have been adapting to all of this so easily? ¡°Wait. Perks and attributes, can¡­impact my mind, right?¡± ¡°Yep. It makes sense you would get a perk helping to keep your cool, now that I think about it.¡± Alice said. His thoughts went to his stats as he heard that.
Name: Alex Watson. Age: 22 Gender: Male Class: Defiant. Title: None Path: (Generating) Affinities: Advanced Dimension, fire, ice. XP:35% Level: 10(20) Health: 80% Stamina: 80% Mana: 60% Attributes: Strength: 180(9) Dexterity: 198(9) Agility: 180(9) Constitution: 180(9) Logic: 210(9) Semi-flexible attributes(current max increase: 10): Insight: 12(10) Willpower: 15(10) Free Points: 180 (Currently usable:80, current standard daily use increase: 10)
He was impressed by the large increase all over the board, but his attention was drawn to his last attribute. ¡°Does the willpower attribute help with being calm?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Yep. That helps explain how you managed to deal with¡­everything, really.¡± Alice said. ¡°That also helps to explain how you managed to survive, lucky bastard.¡± Wind said. ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­complex. It increases your mental strength, allows you to do stuff that you shouldn¡¯t be able to, allows to survive when you had no right to, bullshit like that.¡± Alice said ¡°It¡¯s considered one of the best attributes to be unlocked.¡± ¡°I had been meaning to ask about it, just¡­kind of didn¡¯t have too much time.¡± Alex said. ¡°Why do some attributes have to be unlocked? Why is it called semi-flexible?¡± ¡°And back to asking questions about the system. Don¡¯t you get tired of it?¡± Wind asked. ¡°I¡¯m a curious person, sue me.¡± Alice sniggered. ¡°The system has a bunch of random features, some attributes happens to be part of it. No one is quite sure why.¡± ¡°Sounds like an pain the ass.¡± ¡°It is, trust me on this. But to explain in depth, attributes are divided in 3 parts: Inflexible, semi-flexible, and flexible. Inflexible are the attributes that you start with, which are based on your state when you awaken, they can only be raised trough the system.¡± ¡°So, there are no hidden inflexible attributes?¡± ¡°Well, yes, but actually, no. There might be inflexible attributes that I¡¯m not aware of, and there are technically two hidden inflexible attributes, which are appearance and lifespan, that increase as you level.¡± ¡°Question, how big is the increase in lifespan?¡± Alice sniggered. ¡°How old do you think I am?¡± Alex stared at her, feeling like it was a trick question. Woman didn¡¯t ask that kind of thing. ¡°Err¡­early twenties?¡± Alice laughed. ¡°Mid fifties.¡± ¡°That big a difference? How long can you live? What level are you?¡± ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t tell you my level, that¡¯s confidential. At this point, I could probably live a few centuries, from what I heard, the effect becomes bigger the bigger your level. Basically, someone level 200 will live much longer than level 100.¡± ¡°Exponential increase, then.¡± ¡°I have no clue about what you just said.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­complicated math. That probably hasn¡¯t been invented yet.¡± ¡°Odd, but all right.¡± ¡°So, now that we are talking about lifespan, what is it like for other races?¡± ¡°Varies a lot, but elves have the highest.¡± Wind said. ¡°On the other hand, as far as I am aware, ours doesn¡¯t increase as much as others.¡± ¡°How long can elves live?¡± Alex asked, curious. ¡°Usually half a millenia.¡± ¡°Damn...¡± ¡°Anyway, back to stats¡­¡± Alice continued, but was interrupted by someone snoring. Everyone in the room froze, trying to figure out where the sound came from, then, Alex noticed that Sky had their eyes closed. Once again, the sound came. Alice put her hand in her mouth, holding back a laughter. Wind seemed almost as amused, but put an finger in front of her mouth, walked up to Sky and lifted them, quickly leaving the room afterwards. ¡°I think Sky was a tad bored.¡± Alex said as Wind left the room. ¡°Probably. It helped that Sky was already tired. They barely slept this week, kept going around worried about assassins.¡± ¡°Does¡­Sky do that for everyone they meet?¡± ¡°Honestly? Pretty much, yeah. They can be a bit obsessive.¡± In one hand, it felt weird how much Sky was willing to go to help, but he could not help but feel grateful towards them¡­ ¡°Doesn¡¯t help that you keep sidetracking the conversation.¡± Wind said, once again entering the room. Alex flushed at that. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that Sky finally got some rest.¡± Alice said. ¡°Now, can I run my mouth more?¡± Wind rolled her eyes, but sat down. ¡°All right, semi-flexible attributes are ones that you can both raise trough actions or with points, albeit both at a reduced rate, while flexible attributes are ones that can only be raised through actions.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°So, what¡¯s a flexible attribute like? Can you tell me about one?¡± ¡°Charisma is the most common, but honestly, they are quite rare.¡± Alex nodded, that helped a lot in understand things. ¡°So¡­what does insight do?¡± Alice paled as Alex asked. ¡°I knew that I forgot something important¡­¡± ¡°You¡­are very fortunate to be alive right now.¡± Wind said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­a bad stat?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­not bad, just dangerous. Especially in the situation that you got it. Insight¡­helps you understand things that aren¡¯t immediately obvious; the problem is that sometimes you learn things that you are better off not knowing.¡± ¡°I¡­think I get it, I think. And it freaking terrifies me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s mostly manageable with willpower. I¡¯d recommend that you always have twice as much willpower than your insight.¡± ¡°I¡­have some points right now, should I do that?¡± ¡°I would highly recommend that, plus, it¡¯s likely that it will help in your recovery.¡± Alex did as he was told, increasing his willpower, discovering that each point of willpower costed 5 free points. He winced as he spent them but put his willpower at 24. Maybe it was foolish to increase so much one single stat, but he trusted Alice enough in the subject. As soon as he put the last point, he felt a wave of¡­calmness washing over him. The pain that he felt, the sickness, all of it was still there, but felt a whole lot more¡­distant. ¡°Wow. This¡­is effective.¡± ¡°There is a good reason that it¡¯s considered one of the strongest stats.¡± ¡°Since we are in the subject, any recommendation on what I should increase?¡± ¡°Sky would probably tell you to choose your own path, or something.¡± Wind said, doing her best to mimic Sky¡¯s voice. ¡°Sky¡¯s¡­not entirely wrong on that. All stats are useful in their own ways, but you should probably know what you are doing before you spend them.¡± Alice said, then paused. ¡°Also, don¡¯t try to spend all free point in one moment, it leads to¡­bad things.¡± ¡°So much for saving up before a boss fight¡­¡± Alex said, then paused. ¡°Didn¡¯t I just do that?¡± ¡°Willpower is an exception due to it¡¯s nature. But if you tried to do that with insight, you¡¯d probably get an information overload.¡± Alice said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t¡¯ tell you to so something painful.¡± ¡°But you would tell him to do something funny.¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± ¡°I will keep that in mind. Any more advice on the subject?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Some stats need you to have another one to use safely. Too much strength without constitution can make you stronger than your body can handle, too much agility without dexterity means that you can¡¯t really react to things on time.¡± Alice said. ¡°It¡¯s not actually that common to happen unless it¡¯s a huge amount, but it¡¯s something to keep in mind.¡± Wind said. ¡°Anyway, have you thought about what are you going to be? Besides a hunter of drunk pogers?¡± ¡°Sky told you two about it?¡± ¡°Yep. Told us all about how you slew the mighty drunk poger.¡± Alice said, sniggering. ¡°Well¡­I¡¯m not sure, to be honest. I don¡¯t fancy myself being a squishy wizard, but using magic does sound cool¡­¡± Alex said, and then paused. ¡°I actually forgot how to ask this entire time. How do you even do magic?¡± ¡°You really can¡¯t focus on a single subject at a time, can you?¡± Wind asked. ¡°You were the ones asking about what I want to do.¡± ¡°Well, but it kind of leads into one of the most complex subjects around. Well¡­there are countless ways, really. You can make a pact with a powerful spirit, with a god, learn the language of the stars, spend a long time in an elementally inclined place¡­or you can do the boring way and tap into your inner magic.¡± ¡°Or you can be like me and do multiple of these.¡± Wind said with a smirk on her face. ¡°All of that sounds really fascinating¡­¡± Alex said, then remembered something that had been gnawing at the back of his mind. ¡°Wait, god? Gods¡­gods¡­¡± His eyes widened. ¡°Holy shit.¡± Both woman looked very confused at Alex. He ignored them and focused on something that he had completely forgotten. Blessings.
Available blessings: The breaker of chains: Choosing a blessing means that you bind yourself with said entity, for good or ill. This is because gifts are bound to the divine, and should they choose, the gift could vanish any day. This is a gift without any strings attached, gaining it will not bind you to anyone or any cause, on top of that, the gift is entirely under you control, and you can vanquish and reclaim it as you wish. By choosing the breaker of chains, the difference in power between you and your enemies will be lessened, this effect increasing against enemies that are more powerful. There are countless tyrants that hold themselves higher thanks to raw power. The power of the breaker of chains allows all of it to become meaningless, showing them for whom they truly are. Differently from all other gifts, you will be able to take this one at any time, on top of that, it will become more powerful as more and you do more deeds. Take care, however, for you will attracting attention by taking this gift. Synergy with class: defiant. Offer made by ????
Alex read the entire thing, focusing on the attracting attention part. ¡°I¡­remembered something.¡± Alex said, slowly. ¡°Do¡­either of you know what a breaker of chains is?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Alice frowned. ¡°I¡­think I read about it, once, but my memory about the subject is foggy.¡± ¡°I¡­well¡­¡±Alex tried to put his thoughts into words, but his mind was a mess. ¡°When that tentacle thing died, did you two get the offer of blessings?¡± ¡°Well¡­neither of us are really big on the whole divine thing.¡± Wind said ¡°I worship the stars, and they rarely give blessings. Did you receive one?¡± Alice said. ¡°Yeah¡­I got offered two blessings from two different gods, and a third one that was called the breaker of chains¡­can I show you guys my screen?¡± ¡°That¡­is really weird.¡± Alice said, a thoughtful expression on her face. ¡°But no, you can¡¯t show your us your screen. Just tell us what you see.¡± Alex did as he was told, both of them listening silently as he read aloud the entire thing, then, once he was over, Wind and Sky exchanged a look. ¡°You¡­didn¡¯t accept it, did you?¡± Alice asked. ¡°No, I wanted to ask first if there would be problems if I did, and, well, there were problems without me doing it.¡± Alex said. ¡°I was going to tell the three of you about it before, well¡­the whole assassination thing.¡± ¡°I¡­think I need to research the subject. Right now.¡± Alice said. ¡°I agree, the situation all of sudden makes a whole lot of sense.¡± ¡°Wait. Do you two know something?¡± Alex asked. ¡°No. Just a guess.¡± Alice said. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t say for sure¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s the gods isn¡¯t it?¡± Alex asked, and their winces served as confirmation. ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah. But as I said before, but¡­It¡¯s just a suspicion. Maybe it¡¯s a coincidence.¡± Alice said, but it was rather obvious that she didn¡¯t believe what she was saying. ¡°How¡­are the gods here? Do they physically exist? Do they have another plane? What are they like? How powerful are they?¡± While he had already asked about the gods, he hadn¡¯t exactly gone into a lot of detail last time. ¡°It¡¯s¡­complicated. Without touching on the divine aspect, they are incredibly powerful beings that are tied to certain concepts; they don¡¯t really exist on other planes, as far as I am aware.¡± Alice said. ¡°Pretty much. They are incredibly powerful, have countless followers, and tend to be¡­unpleasant. I speak from personal experience about that.¡± Wind said. ¡°Great, I¡¯m being hunted down by greek gods¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°God¡¯s that are a bunch of prideful jerks.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t disagree, but you really should shut up, that¡¯s the kind of thing that attracts their attention.¡± Alex slowly nodded, this¡­really complicated things. ¡°Can¡­they smite me?¡± He asked, then shook his head. ¡°Of course they can¡¯t, if they could they would already have.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Like¡­just throw a bolt of lightning in my face?¡± ¡°Well, Ar-¡± Alice started to talk, then paused halfway.¡± The goddess of magic could, but she would need to know where you are. Like, by saying her name.¡± Alex paled, but nodded.¡± Alex stayed silent for a while, he¡­had always been a skeptic, and figured that either gods did not exist, or they were assholes. He was not really happy to be proven right in this world. ¡°Also, there is a difference between the divine and the gods, which is a very complicated subject.¡± Alice said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Basically, the gods are one of the beings that are divine, there are others that can do what they can do. Beings such as the great oak, the divine beast, and the ones that I follow, the stars.¡± Alice said. ¡°You worship giant balls of plasma?¡± ¡°What?¡± Alice asked, sounding confused. ¡°I figured you wouldn¡¯t know what stars are made out of. Why do you worship the stars, anyway?¡± ¡°What the stars are made out of? What? ¡°Alice asked, then shook her head. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t worship the stars, I follow their guidance, and give them their respect.¡± ¡°So, basically, she worships the stars.¡± Wind said. Alice rolled her eyes in answer. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­going to judge.¡± Alex said slowly. ¡°So¡­do you worship this Oak, Wind?¡± ¡°Just because I am an elf doesn¡¯t mean I like huge oaks.¡± Wind said sniggered afterwards. ¡°I pay respect to the oak, but no, I don¡¯t really worship anybody because of reasons.¡± ¡°Because of reasons.¡± Alex repeated. ¡°Reasons.¡± Wind stated, once again. ¡°So¡­any chance that a big oak or balls of plasma want to murder me?¡± ¡°Ball of what?¡± ¡°Guess you wouldn¡¯t have the word for that here¡­¡± Alice glared at him, before sighing. ¡°Not really. Besides the divine beast, they wouldn¡¯t really interfere in such a way.¡± ¡°So, just¡­the gods are after me. Probably. What¡­do I do?¡± ¡°I recommend that you train like you are next in line in the chopping block after you recover.¡± Wind said. Alex nodded, he had already planned to train¡­but the situation made it all the more urgent. ¡°Should I get the blessing of the breaker of chains?¡± ¡°Maybe. At this point, you already attracted attention, the problem of selecting it would be, well¡­¡± ¡°Even more attention. Sounds fun.¡± Silence stretched trough the room, Alex had countless questions in his mind, but the sheer amount of things that he could ask overwhelmed him. ¡°Alice¡­you are going to research about the breaker of chains thing, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I know someone that can probably help me.¡± ¡°And Wind?¡± ¡°I will be guarding the forest. While it¡¯s unlikely that anyone would dare trespass the forest, I will make sure of it.¡± ¡°Sky is going to push themselves even more¡­¡±Alice said, sighing. ¡°This reminds me, what was that discussion you three had earlier?¡± ¡°Sky pushes themselves to the point of it being unhealthy. I have been trying to help her ease up for¡­a while.¡± ¡°Is it that bad?¡± ¡°Sky has been constantly watched over you during the past few days, barely sleeping. And no offense, it¡¯s over someone that they met a couple days ago.¡± Win said. ¡°That¡­doesn¡¯t sound healthy.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t. It¡¯s not really anything new, but it got much worse after¡­¡±Alice began saying, and then paused as Wind shot her a glare. ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s private information.¡± ¡°And now I¡¯m curious.¡± Alex said, before shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine, really. I think everyone here has stuff that they would rather keep for themselves.¡± The look on both of their faces told him enough about the subject. ¡°So¡­what now?¡± Alex asked. ¡°I will be going then.¡± Alice said, getting up. ¡°Already?¡± ¡°The sooner I go, the sooner I can find answers; can you handle my part in the meantime, Wind?¡± ¡°Sure. I will warn Sky about everything. That¡¯s going to be a fun conversation.¡± Alex slowly nodded, feeling a tad baffled by the whole thing. Without further ado, Alice left the room. ¡°I¡¯m kinda fucked, aren¡¯t I?¡± Alex asked aloud. Chapter 10: Beginning of training. Alex wanted to say that the next few days flew by, but he wasn¡¯t that lucky. They were a god damn slog. Being bed ridden without access to modern technology was unfathomably boring. His cellphone had run out of battery while he was out, so his only source of entertainment was talking with Sky and Wind, and read what few books in the house that he could actually read, his human translator perk wasn¡¯t very helpful in an elven village. On top of that, most of what few books he could read were incredibly dry about alchemy, and while the subject fascinated him, it was really, really boring to read. Thankfully, that state of affairs only lasted 2 days, in the third, he was free to move around, but it was only in the fourth that the first part of his training could start. ¡°This place is beautiful.¡± Alex said. Admittedly, he had seen the village yesterday, but he felt like it deserved to be repeated. Alex¡¯s looked at the elven village in awe as he walked through it. The entire place was made out of wood, with trees spreading harmoniously through it, it looking gorgeous even in the middle of winter, when most of the trees were dead. It made him want to know what it looked like during spring. On top of looking beautiful, the architecture was functional, with numerous wooden roads and walkways on top of the houses connecting the entire place together. ¡°You should see this place during the other season, and It¡¯s nothing compared to the big places like Qulang.¡± Wind said. The elf had decided to do Alex¡¯s training for today, mostly to give Sky more time resting. ¡°Qulang?¡± ¡°Capital of the hidden kingdom. Which is basically the biggest of the elven kingdoms.¡± Alex had spent the last couple of days mostly asking countless questions, about the system, about the nearby kingdoms, about the history of the land¡­but the sheer amount of information meant that he was learning something new all the time. ¡°Sounds¡­impressive. I hope I get to see it one day.¡± Alex said. ¡°Anyway, what¡¯s the training I¡¯m going to do?¡± ¡°You have a whole lot to learn, but today, I want you to get a handle of your body.¡± Wind said. Alex nodded, he did feel quite a bit different than before. In the past 4 days, he had gained 5 more levels, and the sickness that he felt had mostly faded, he actually had started to feel¡­different than before. To start with, he felt much more aware of his surroundings, his eyesight was sharper , he could hear much further, and it almost felt like the world was¡­slower. Alex followed Wind as they left the village and entered the nearby forest, it was absolutely massive, going further than his eyes could see. ¡°Anyway, I think we are far enough that you won¡¯t hit anyone, so, follow me!¡± Wind said. Wind dashed forwards, almost vanishing through the dead trees, and Alex rushed behind hear, curious about just how fast he could go. He almost hit a tree as he ran, but the world seemed to slow down and he barely managed to turn in time to avoid it. He was much faster than, but his body seemed used to it, it was easy to control his movements and his reflexes allowed him to avoid the obstacles in his path. A grin split Alex¡¯s face as he just enjoyed the moment, the wind hitting his face, his rhythm as he put one foot after another, dodging trough trees and branches, he lost himself in the moment for a second¡­and then hit a tree head on. Alex blinked, a few times, staring a very amused elf whom was standing in front of him. That¡­had hurt. He put the hand in his face, his nose was bleeding a bit. ¡°And that is what happens when you gain a lot of levels really quickly, you get cocky and make mistakes. Could have gone worse.¡± ¡°What¡¯s worse than head-butting a tree?¡± He grumbled as he slowly sat down. ¡°Why are you shaking?¡± For a second, he could swear that there were two Winds in front of him. ¡°Head-butting a monster. And I think you hit the tree a bit too hard¡­need a bit healing?¡± ¡°I would appreciate it.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t say the magic word¡­¡± ¡°Shazam.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Abracadabra.¡± ¡°You are doing one of those jokes that no one but you understands, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m not thinking straight.¡± Wind rolled her eyes, then put her hand on Alex¡¯s head, muttered something in a language that he couldn¡¯t understand, then, she started to glow. Immediately, the pain started to fade a feeling of a comfortable breeze spreading washing over him, then suddenly, it was over. ¡°Thanks. Makes me really want to learn healing.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Good luck. Most people take years to learn the basics.¡± Alex stood up, he still felt a bit out of it, shaking his head a bit to try and get a grip. ¡°Seriously? Then how did you¡­oh, right. Huge lifespan.¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually not that old. My healing comes from a pact that I made with a spirit. Much easier to easier process, even if it¡¯s a pain the ass in it¡¯s own right...¡± ¡°Is that¡­something that I could do? In the future, I mean?¡± ¡°Maybe. Unfortunately, most spirits aren¡¯t really a fan of humans, I¡¯ve only really met two humans whom managed to impress them enough to offer a pact.¡± Wind then shot him a grin. ¡°You know both of them.¡± ¡°Sky and Alice? I am¡­kinda surprised about Alice. But, well¡­why this racism?¡± The elf shrugged. ¡°Both of them earned their respect trough different means¡± Wind said. ¡°And most humans aren¡¯t really fond of taking care of the land, so most spirits aren¡¯t fond of humans.¡± ¡°What¡¯s even a spirit to begin with?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t tell you. Sorry. Now, stop yapping and back to training.¡± As soon as she said that, she once again shot forwards, Alex soon following after her. Alex kept at it for what felt like an hour, he didn¡¯t hit any more trees, but there were a few close calls, and quite a few branches had a unfortunate encounter with him. After an small eternity running, he felt like his legs were on fire, and had to stop before his body gave up on him. ¡°And that¡¯s your limit. Well, past your limit really.¡± Alex didn¡¯t answer, too busy breathing as hard as he could, he kept at it for something close to a minute. ¡°You really should have stopped earlier.¡± Wind said. ¡°I¡­¡± Alex began to say, paused, took a deep breath, then continued. ¡°I was following after you.¡± ¡°And you should have told me when you couldn¡¯t keep going.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me to do that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of the lesson, as our friend already demonstrated, pushing yourself isn¡¯t really healthy.¡± Alex winced in answer, thinking about Sky. He couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty about their state. For the past few days, Sky had been a bit¡­intense on being sure that he was safe, he felt bad both about the fact that he was being a burden, and about not telling about the whole breaker of chains thing. He had been reluctant, not wanting to deceive the person had done nothing but help him, but he ultimately had accepted it, mostly because he felt like Wind knew better than him what he should do in this situation. ¡°Point¡­goddamn taken.¡± Wind then beamed at him. ¡°And we are going to have so much fun getting back!¡± Alex gave the elf the beast death glare that he could. ¡°Fuck you.¡± The words slipped from his mouth. ¡°You wish.¡± ¡°Fuck off and let me rest in peace.¡± He felt like he would regret these words later, but currently, he didn¡¯t give a damn. It took quite a long time before he felt like an human being again, thankfully, Wind was merciful and gave him a water skin, he felt like he would have died otherwise. He made a mental note to get one for himself later, he had a feeling that she wouldn¡¯t be this kind later. ¡°Sorry about the whole¡­insulting you thing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s par of the course. Of course, you are going to suffer a bit thanks to it, but no bad feelings.¡± He felt an almost physical sense of dread at her words. The elf shot him a grin. ¡°Anyway, break¡¯s over, time for the second part.¡± Alex groaned, but got up. ¡°So¡­test my strength, right?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Wind asked. ¡°Well, the training until now tested agility, constitution and dexterity, right?¡± ¡°You are missing two things, but yes.¡± That made him pause, thinking about the subject for a bit. ¡°Willpower to see how far I could push myself, and insight thinking about this in the first place. ¡°Correct! And answering your earlier question, now, we will lift a few things.¡± The next part of training was him raising rocks and Wind stacking more and more things on top of it. ¡°Think you can handle any more than that?¡± Wind asked. Alex was currently holding a stack which consisted of two rocks larger than his head and a bunch of smaller ones on top. What little pride he had left vanished when he saw the small looking elf pick a rock twice his size with one hand. ¡°I¡­¡± Alex was about to say that he could, but hesitated, remembering Wind¡¯s earlier words. ¡°Can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Good. Be careful when dropping them.¡± Alex did as instructed, and he was glad that he hadn¡¯t put any more weight, because it turned out that moving his arms with all the rocks on top of it was a lot harder than holding them in place, but he managed, even if his arms felt like they were on fire ¡°You learn surprisingly quickly.¡± ¡°You wanted these rocks to hit me, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m merely teaching you to take note of your limits.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­kind of baffled by this, honestly. Most stuff that I have seen would say that going past your limits is a good thing.¡± ¡°in small bursts? Sure, absolutely no one is going to complain about having a dedicated trainee. The problem comes when you constantly do that, without taking care of your body.¡± Wind said. ¡°And if you haven¡¯t forgotten, you still aren¡¯t exactly in great shape.¡± ¡°So¡­you¡¯d do things that potentially harm me?¡± ¡°Better to deal with bad habits as soon as they appear.¡± Wind said. ¡°And I¡¯m here to guarantee that you don¡¯t suffer any permanent damage.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t I in a kind of very shitty situation?¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡± ¡°Then¡­shouldn¡¯t this be a situation that I push myself training?¡± ¡°Not¡­really. No offense, but no matter how much you push yourself, how big of a difference do you think that would ultimately make?¡± Alex was not sure how to answer that. ¡°Alex¡­you have been here, for how long, exactly?¡± ¡°Err¡­almost two weeks, I think?¡± ¡°Right. And how much time to train do you think anyone that is after you would have?¡± ¡°Years. Basically¡­you are telling me that no matter how much I train, it won¡¯t make a difference.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m telling you that, in the short term, no matter how hard you train, it won¡¯t matter much.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the same thing.¡± ¡°The difference is that you would get unhealthy habits for short term gain, when the short term gain is unlikely to help you much to begin with.¡± Alex frowned. It¡­really annoyed him, but he knew that what she was saying was the truth, and it made him want to become more powerful that much more. ¡°That¡¯s¡­kind of the whole point of being an defiant and breaker of chains, isn¡¯t it?¡±
Insight has increased.
His eyebrows shot up as he read the message, feeling like he stumbled in something important. ¡°Maybe you could match some adventurers in power¡­but most of them have been fighting for years.¡± ¡°So basically, even if I matched their powers, they are still more skilled than me.¡± ¡°Yep. I think you have a whole lot of potential, but you will need to train a lot, fight a lot and put a lot of effort to reach it.¡± Wind said. Alex sighed, then nodded. ¡°I figured as much.¡± ¡°Now, enough rest, now for the final part of training.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Find your way back by yourself!¡± Win said, a grin splitting her face. ¡°Wait, I wasn¡¯t¡­¡± Alex stopped mid-sentence, because the next thing he knew, she was gone like the wind. He groaned at his own awful pun. Chapter 11:A (mostly) elven interlude. Wind hummed in thought, looking at Alex atop a tree, which was right in front of him. There was one thing that she had found that was quite common amongst the vast majority of people: They didn¡¯t look up. ¡°Warn me if anyone approaches him, all right?¡± Wind asked seemingly to the air. A normal person would think she was crazy, but she felt the spirits of the forest answering. As soon as they did, she moved, jumping from tree to tree with inhuman speed, while somehow at the same time not making any noise. Her perks were convenient like that. Wind knew that Sky would be pissed they knew that she had ditched their trainee, but her duty always came first. The spirits of the forest had warned her that something or someone was intruding in the forest, which meant either powerful monsters or adventurers. She really hoped it was the former. A few seconds passed, the spirits guiding her as she went towards the intruder, slowing down to make sure that she wasn¡¯t seen. Whatever it was, she was sure that it was powerful due to the spirit¡¯s reaction. It took only a minute for her to find her target. To most, it would seem to be a blur running through the forest, to her; however, it was obvious what it was. Giving a resigned sigh, she followed it. Her eyesight allowed her to easily tell what It was: A human male, an high ranked one at that. From what she could tell, he was probably weaker than her. She slowly started to make her presence more obvious, and soon one thing was apparent: He didn¡¯t have a whole lot of detection skills or perks. That only made Wind worry more. For someone to reach a high rank like that, he either was stupidly lucky, or was part of a team. She kept following him for a minute, gauging his strength and magic as she did so. He was a warrior, adamantine armor and sword, both heavily enchanted. She figured that he was likely middling prestige 2. Satisfied with her intelligence, she acted. With a quick use of wind magic, she shot forwards and stood on top of a smaller tree, then, with a burst of magic and aid of the spirits, she waited. As soon as he approached, roots shot from the ground all around him, creating a cage around him. ¡°Why have you trespassed on elven lands?¡± Using a bit of wind magic, she made the voice seem as if it came from all around the person. ¡°The guardian, I presume?¡± The man did not seem particularly surprised by her presence, nor did he seem worried by the fact that he was trapped. Wind wondered if he was overconfident or knew something that she didn¡¯t. ¡°True guardian. I will repeat myself only once more, why have you trespassed on elven lands?¡± ¡°We have received information that a criminal is currently being housed in here, I, and some compatriots, have come here to capture him.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t bother to mince words: Provide evidence or leave. Otherwise, you will be executed.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. As a bit of a demonstrations, Wind made the roots move around him, tightening the prison around him. The man didn¡¯t seem worried, he reached to a bag in his back, and grabbed two things, an wanted poster and a letter. With an effort of will, a burst of wind sent both of them towards her, she quickly reading them. It worried her quite a bit. ¡°I can¡¯t help but notice that it doesn¡¯t say anywhere what crime he committed.¡± ¡°I think it is wise to trust the words of the gods.¡± She was seriously considering making an example of him when she felt something poking at the back of her mind. The spirits were warning her someone. Without bothering to say anything else, she bolted towards Alex. Wind did everything she could to move as quickly as possible, using the wind to boost her steps, asking the spirits to help and guide her path and pushing her body as far as it could go. Each step that she took sounded like thunder, and that did exactly what she wanted: Scare whoever was after Alex. It took a little over a second to reach him. She quickly looked around in search of whomever had been here, but by then, it was too late, they were already leaving and so was the warrior. She briefly considered going after them anyway, but that would breach the treaty. On top of that, it would leave Alex vulnerable, they wouldn¡¯t need to defeat her, only stall long enough to allow them to kill him. She sighed in annoyance. They really were dedicated to killing Alex. As she thought about the subject, she stared at Alex, her thoughts drifting towards him. He seemed to be currently in the middle of a panic, looking wildly. He seemed to be a nice enough person, and was seemingly dedicated towards being an adventurer¡­but she couldn¡¯t help but wonder if all the trouble that he would bring would be worth it. She was no stranger of sacrifices for the greater good. But was it worth it going both against her duty and against an friend? Face a god, or go against what she believed in? Neither were good choices. She shook her head, deciding that both were thoughts for later. For now, she decided that she could have a bit of fun at his expense. For the past few minutes, Alex had been wandering around the forest trying to figure where the hell the village was. Unfortunately, he felt like he was walking in circles. As he walked, he froze as he heard a noise that sounded like an hundred lighting strikes at once, the sound fading just as suddenly as it began. ¡°The fuck!?¡± He panicked, wondering what the hell he should do, looking around in search of what the hell that had been. The clouds were clear, so it probably wasn¡¯t actual lighting. After a minute, he gave up in searching, not finding anything, he was still very much scared, however. Slowly, he went back to walking towards what he figured was¡­probably the path back. Hoping that he hadn¡¯t somehow pissed someone. ¡°You dare trespass this forest, human?¡± A booming voice came from all around him, making him jump and look around very confused and very afraid as he looked around, once again not finding anyone nearby. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t mean¡± Alex gave a panicky reply. He was cut-off mid-sentence by the voice. ¡°You shall suffer the punishment of trespassing this land.¡± The voice declared, becoming louder and louder. ¡°I-im sorry, I didn¡¯t know I just¡­¡± Alex stuttered in fear as his very livid imagination thought about what was about to happen. He was interrupted by someone appearing in front of him. ¡°Getting pranked.¡± Wind said, with a wide grin in her face. Alex froze, his mind slowly coming to terms with what happened. Then, as he slowly felt back in control of his body, he shot her an murderous glare. ¡°That¡­was fucking terrifying.¡± Alex said, slowly. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Just a bit of clever wind magic.¡± As Wind said that, she snapped her fingers, half of her sentence coming from behind Alex. ¡°I¡¯m¡­pretty sure neither wind nor sound work that way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s magic, it works the way it wants to work.¡± Alex nodded, that¡­kind of made him even more interested on the subject, unfortunately, Wind had said that she would only begin to teach him the basics once his soul recovered enough. ¡°Anyway, coming back to today¡¯s training¡­you actually are kind of in the right track.¡± ¡°Yeah, I did the best I could to follow my tracks, but¡­I¡¯m not really good at it¡± ¡°I figured as much. Now, let¡¯s get back.¡± Alex nodded, still glaring at her. ¡°I almost forgot¡­what were that loud noises that I heard earlier? Was that you too?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Did you really have to scare the crap out of me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alex gave a resigned sigh, then followed after Wind back towards the village. Chapter 12: A relaxing secret meeting. On the day after the training with Wind, Alex immediately knew that something was wrong when he woke up to a dark place. As in, pitch black. He briefly wondered if it was still the middle of the night, but even the nights were brighter than this. ¡°Alex.¡± He jumped as he heard a voice coming from the darkness, the fact that he was in a dark room sinking in, thankfully, he was reassured when a ball of light appeared, showing that he was still in his room. And showing Wind¡¯s grinning face. ¡°The hell?¡± He blinked a few times, trying to wake up properly. ¡°We need to discuss something very, very important.¡± ¡°Did it have to be right now?¡± ¡°Yes, actually. I have a couple of things to do.¡± He shot her a glare, but nodded. He was freeloading on her and Sky after all. Wind left the room and Alex followed her, soon, both of them were sitting around a table, Alex noticing that Sky was already there. ¡°Nothing can enter or leave this room, all right?¡± Wind said. Alex nodded, then stared at one of the windows. There was not a single piece of glass in the entire village, instead, the window were just openings in the houses with wooden shutters. He briefly was reminded of when he went back to sleep, a bit of moonlight going through them. ¡°Are you blocking light from entering the house?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m blocking everything from entering the house. Just so you know, it¡¯s currently early morning.¡± Wind said. ¡°Magic?¡± ¡°Magic¡± ¡°Can you two please focus?¡± Sky asked. ¡°I understand that you are curious, but what is the reason for all of this? What happened yesterday?¡± ¡°I figured that you would notice.¡± Wind said. ¡°Wait, something happened yesterday?¡± ¡°Yes, Wind has been acting oddly since you two came back yesterday.¡± ¡°You need to stop being so perceptive. Anyway, to simplify things: There were intruders in the forest.¡± Wind then proceeded to tell them about what happened in the previous day, the encounter that she had with the warrior, then about when she felt someone approaching Alex, and how she immediately rushed towards him. ¡°You can run fast enough to create thunder?¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡± Meanwhile, Sky was shooting Wind a glare. ¡°So, you left Alex alone?¡± Sky said. ¡°After we all knew that someone was trying to assassinate him?¡± ¡°Not really alone, I asked a couple of spirts to watch over him.¡± Both Alex and Sky were now openly glaring at her. ¡°You asked ghosts to watch me?¡± ¡°That is the part that you focus on?¡± Sky said, looking at Alex with disbelief. ¡°Not ghosts, spirits. Big difference.¡± Wind said. ¡°What is-¡° Alex was cut mid-sentence by Sky. ¡°Focus. Now, Wind, can you please explain yourself?¡± ¡°First off, to preface any arguments. While it was not impossible, Alex, you were in minimal danger, because the moment a living being was anywhere nearby you, I would be aware of it and would rush over, just like it happened.¡± ¡°That is the same argument that Alice uses with her curses, but continue.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The elf winced, but continued. ¡°Now, both of us know that it¡¯s my duty to deal with intruders, I had to do that.¡± ¡°Yes, but you could have brought Alex back beforehand, warned me, and then went to do your job.¡± Sky said. ¡°All of which would, take time, which the intruder could use to do who knows what.¡± ¡°Look, I know neither of you want to sidetrack, but could you explain why you need to do that to begin with?¡± Alex asked. Sky sighed in obvious annoyance, but didn¡¯t complain. ¡°To simplify a long story, do you remember my title?¡± Wind asked. ¡°The¡­guardian, or something?¡± ¡°Last true guardian; basically, it¡¯s my duty to protect any forest.¡± ¡°So, you prioritized your job.¡± ¡°Pretty much. If something big was about to happen, I would have gotten you to Sky first and foremost.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not¡­exactly happy to know that there was an assassin nearby me yesterday, and I didn¡¯t even fucking know about it until now.¡± Alex said, a bit of hysteria slipping into his voice. ¡°But¡­I understand that you have priorities.¡± ¡°I also understand that it¡¯s your duty, but¡­I think you could have handled it better, Wind.¡± The elf nodded. ¡°Fair enough, I will keep it in mind next time something like this happens, now, there was something else.¡± Wind said, sliding a piece of paper to Sky. ¡°That guy gave me a letter and a wanted poster, I couldn¡¯t really read it, but I know that it¡¯s meant for you.¡± Sky nodded, picking it up, quickly reading it¡­and then tearing apart. Repeatedly. ¡°Soo¡­what was in it?¡± Wind asked. ¡°Bullshit.¡± Wind and Alex both stared at Sky, waiting for them to explain further. ¡°Anything¡­we should know?¡± Alex asked, slowly. ¡°Anchros, the god of fate is the one behind the assassination attempt.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Wind said. ¡°And he told you that?¡± Sky sighed, took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm themselves. ¡°According to him, you are being hunted by crimes that you will commit and that should I continue to help you, a great catastrophe will happen.¡± Alex wasn¡¯t sure how to react to that. He¡­didn¡¯t really want to become a villain, he didn¡¯t consider himself particularly heroic, but that was going too far. ¡°Is that¡­guaranteed?¡± Alex asked slowly. Sky shook their head. ¡°To begin with, due to a variety of reasons, I¡¯m fateless. The fact that I found you would make it almost impossible to predict what you will do in the future.¡± ¡°All right, I¡¯m incredibly confused now. How the hell does seeing the future works? What does it means to be fateless?¡± ¡°Seeing the future, as far as I am aware, is seeing what fate is tied to a person. It¡¯s¡­really complicated, and I admittedly don¡¯t know a whole lot about the subject.¡± Wind said. ¡°Sky being fateless means that they don¡¯t have a fate tied to them due to¡­reasons. But that means that they affect the fate of people around them.¡± ¡°That sounds confusing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only scratching the surface of the clusterfuck that is fate reading.¡± Wind said. ¡°All right, so, he wants to murder me for crimes that I might do, and due to the actions of the people around me, more likely than not, I won¡¯t do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it, yeah.¡± Wind said. ¡°As I said, it¡¯s a load of bullshit. And to begin with, I wouldn¡¯t leave someone to die just because fate said they might do something.¡± Sky said. Alex could not help but feel grateful towards Sky when the saint said that. ¡°This makes me wonder why he would bother to send you a letter to begin with.¡± Wind said. Sky frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t care, it won¡¯t change my actions.¡± ¡°Well, while that might not change yours¡­I have something that will change the actions of most other people.¡± Wind said, putting a poster on the table. Alex stared at the poster, it kind of looked like the posters that he saw on westerners back on earth, on the top, it had a big bold WANTED, then, what looked like a drawing that looked remarkably like him, below, he saw a bounty of¡­a¡­something of imperial coins, he was sure that it was a number, but it was flickering. After a few seconds, it shifted, showing him 1000. Alex noticed something else; a blue screen appeared in the edge of his vision. This man is wanted by the gods. ¡°That¡­is worrying.¡± ¡°I thought the same thing. But¡­what are imperial coins?¡± Alex asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t mention them earlier because of just how rare they are. They aren¡¯t an official currency.¡± Sky said. ¡°It¡¯s a¡­magical item of sorts, and their actual worth varies a lot, but¡­they tend to cost around 50 of golden coins.¡± Alex stared at Sky blankly, 50000 golden coins. Each coin, from what he heard, would allow someone to be set for life. ¡°That much money would make you richer than most kings.¡± Wind said. Alex was well versed in what greed to people, when that much money was involved¡­he would not only be hunted by not only the damn gods of this world, but by the vast majority of the population too. ¡°And they are aware that he is here.¡± Sky said, slowly. ¡°Yep. But¡­it should be mostly fine here, elves don¡¯t really take kindly to bounties from human gods.¡± Wind said. ¡°They still will probably try to send assassins.¡± Sky said. ¡°Probably, but I think we can take care of that.¡± ¡°Neither of you¡­really care about money, do you?¡± It honestly baffled Alex, that amount of money was mind-boggling, if he was put on Sky¡¯s shoes¡­he wasn¡¯t sure if he wouldn¡¯t simply decide to take it. Sky shrugged. ¡°Not really. I won¡¯t say that I don¡¯t want that money, but not when it would be taken from the blood of a innocent.¡± ¡°I just like to stick it up to the human gods.¡± Wind said. ¡°So, in the end, nothing changes in the short term. We just have to be more careful when guarding Alex.¡± ¡°Right. I will set up a few things with the spirits, so you handle Alex¡¯s training for today, all right?¡± Wind said, getting up. ¡°I still have a couple of questions.¡± Alex said. Wind rolled her eyes, but nodded. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Why all of this secrecy to begin with?¡± Alex asked. ¡°You just said that the village wouldn¡¯t care, right?¡± ¡°It might not seem like it, but there was a bit of information that we didn¡¯t want to get out.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t tell you, sorry.¡± ¡°Anything else.¡± Alex stopped to think for a second, then, Wind snapped her finger, light poured into the room, and she vanished. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to training?¡± Sky asked. Alex opened his mouth, sighed, and then nodded. ¡°Let me get something to eat first.¡± Chapter 13: I wish i had the eye of the tiger. Around an hour later, Alex and Sky were walking through the forest, Alex in full armor and spear in hand, wondering what exactly Sky¡¯s training would entail, while he did so, he took a look at his status screen.
Name: Alex Watson. Age: 22 Gender: Male Class: Defiant. Title: None Path: (Generating) Affinities: Advanced Dimension, fire, ice. XP:37% Level: 18(20) Health: 100% Stamina: 100% Mana: 100% Attributes: Strength: 252(9) Dexterity: 270(9) Agility: 252(9) Constitution: 252(9) Logic: 282 (9) Semi-flexible attributes (current max increase: 18): Insight: 13(18) Willpower: 24(8) Free Points: 135 (Currently usable: 115, current standard daily use increase: 10)
His daily increase had gone back to 2 three days ago, which resulted in his current level. He couldn¡¯t help but grin at his progress¡­even if it probably wasn¡¯t much in the grand scheme of things. ¡°I really should use my points, shouldn¡¯t I?¡± Alex wondered aloud. ¡°Definitively. While I can understand your reluctance, it would be stupid to hoard them for long.¡± Sky said. ¡°Just don¡¯t spend everything at once.¡± He nodded, thinking back on the numerous rpgs that he played back on earth; he never really bothered to hoard points. It was probably his min-max tendencies attacking him again.
Name: Alex Watson. Age: 22 Gender: Male Class: Defiant. Title: None Path: (Generating) Affinities: Advanced Dimension, fire, ice. XP: 37% Level: 18(20) Health: 100% Stamina: 100%Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Mana: 100% Attributes: Strength: 274 (9) Dexterity: 270(9) Agility: 274 (9) Constitution: 260 (9) Logic: 290 (9) Semi-flexible attributes (current max increase: 18): Insight: 13(18) Willpower: 26(8) Free Points: 65 (Currently usable: 45, current standard daily use increase: 10)
With a nod, he closed his status screen, deciding that he would use the remaining ones in the following day in roughly the same pattern. Soon, both of them reached a clearing in the forest, destroyed trees were scattered through the place, albeit the center of the clearing was oddly empty. ¡°What happened in this place?¡± ¡°Probably a rampaging monster, it happens from time to time. Long gone, before you ask.¡± In truth, he had not been planning to. Probably because he didn¡¯t feel like a monster wouldn¡¯t be much of a threat to begin with while Sky was nearby. Without saying anything else, Sky walked to the center of the clearing, a flash of light covering them, showing the saint in full armor and with a sword in their hand as it disappeared. As he saw that, Alex briefly wondered if Sky counted as a magical girl. Deciding that it was a line of thought that he really shouldn¡¯t have, he decided to focus on what he was here to do. ¡°So¡­how are we doing this?¡± ¡°I want to see what you can do, first.¡± He briefly thought back to the poger that he fought against. He really couldn¡¯t do much. ¡°To make it simple: Try to hit me with your spear.¡± Alex nodded, lifting his weapon and pointing it towards Sky, then, he rushed towards Sky, whom unsurprisingly, easily dodged it. Alex stepped backwards and stared at Sky. ¡°Keep trying until I tell you to stop.¡± Nodding, he did just as told, thrusting and thrusting with his spear. Each attack was effortlessly dodged or blocked, then, he saw something shift, when he thrust again, Sky once again dodged, but this time, as they did so, Sky swung their blade forward, hitting him in the arm. A cry of pain left his mouth and he stepped backwards, holding his arm with his other hand. He felt like he had been hit by a baseball bat. ¡°You overextend with each thrust, leaving yourself open to a counter attack. You have a range advantage when wielding a spear, take advantage of it.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that before hitting me?¡± ¡°From my experience, pain is the best teacher, now, let¡¯s continue.¡± Alex frowned but nodded, doing as told. They kept at it for a long time, Alex constantly trying everything he could to hit Sky. It was impossible, or at least close to, but he tried anyway, because he wanted to improve, because he wanted to be able to defend himself. Thrust after thrust was either dodged or parried, any openings or flaws were punished by the flat side of Sky¡¯s blade, even as he did his best to not leave any opening. While he was aware that there was an immense gap between them, he never felt like Sky was moving too fast for him to react, and felt like most of the times he was hit, he had screwed up somehow. Alex wasn¡¯t sure how much time they spent training, but by what seemed like mid-day, he was in the ground, staring at the sky, breathing heavily, and bruised everywhere. ¡°Can you get up?¡± Alex briefly wondered if he actually could before willing himself to do so. It¡­hurt. Everywhere. He sat down beneath a tree. He really needed a break. ¡°My world is pain.¡± He grumbled ¡°Do you think I went too far?¡± Alex had to pause and think about the subject for a minute. He had been at it for quite a while, Wind¡¯s words echoing in his head. ¡°A bit, yeah. But I think part of it is just stubbornness. I really want to improve¡± ¡°I get it. It¡¯s the same for me.¡± Alex stood silently for a while, taking deep breaths. Sky didn¡¯t bother sitting; he had a feeling that they hadn¡¯t even been winded by all of that. It made him want to become that strong even more. ¡°Are you used to doing this? Training someone, I mean?¡± Alex asked when he finally felt like the world had a meaning besides endless pain. ¡°Somewhat, I taught the basics to quite a few beginners, but I¡¯m far from a experienced teacher. Alex nodded. ¡°I expected as much, no offense, but¡­I don¡¯t think this is a traditional method.¡± ¡°It really isn¡¯t. The truth, however, is that I don¡¯t really have formal training. I can only teach you the same way I learned: Practice.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have any kind of training when you began adventuring?¡± ¡°None. At most a few brawls.¡± ¡°How are you even alive?¡± Alex asked in disbelief. ¡°Mostly luck, with a lot of tenacity and creativity on top of it.¡± Both once again ran out of words, the only sound coming from the woods. Mostly, it was due to Alex being far too tired. ¡°So, are we heading back?¡± Alex asked. ¡°If you believe that you can¡¯t keep going, then yes.¡± ¡°I want to test just one last thing.¡± Alex said, slowly getting up. ¡°How do you use skills?¡± ¡°Just focus on it. Some people need to say the name of the skill to use it properly, but I never had that problem.¡± Alex nodded, once again raising his spear, his mind went to his only skill, defy odds, as he did so, he felt something in his mind¡­click. He once again thrust forwards, feeling a wave of power rushing through him as he did so. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as he saw Sky sidestepping his attack, but this time, it felt different. Sky was slower, much slower, but even then, he felt like it wouldn¡¯t hit, yet, somehow, he felt the tip of the spear inching closer and closer, and hit Sky¡¯s shoulder. It then proceeded to bounce harmlessly off their armor. Before he could even react to that fact, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, and then, darkness. Chapter 14: Legacy Alex slowly opened his eyes, almost immediately regretting his decision when a bright blue screen appeared in front of them. ¡°Fucking blue screens.¡± He closed his eyes, and with a thought, made the notifications show up later. At the very least, the system was intuitive to use. Besides the burning bright blue screen, he felt exhausted. The kind of bone deep weariness that you got when you spent far too much time at work and only manage to sleep a couple of hours the following day. It brought back quite a few bad memories. Slowly, he sat down, and looked around, seeing that he was back in the same house that he had spent the last days in. At this point, it was clearly night outside, which meant that he had been unconscious for most of the day. Slowly, he thought back about what happened. ¡°The hell did I do?¡± With a though, he made the notifications appear again.
Your willpower has increased by 1 A skill had been created: Bridging the gap. Bridging the gap40/120) Can be activated when fighting a higher level opponent, for a short amount of time, lessens the effect of the difference between attributes. The bigger the gap, the bigger the effect, but the bigger the stamina cost. Synergizes with willpower. Very high stamina use Warning, your stamina has reached negative levels! Emergency shutdown. Bridging the gap skill level has increased! X2
It was rather obvious. ¡°That¡­explains quite a bit.¡± The door of the room opened, and Sky walked in, holding a cup with a green liquid in their hands. ¡°How are you?¡± ¡°Alive. And very tired.¡± ¡°Result of negative stamina. You unlocked a skill, right?¡± As Sky talked, they handed Alex the cup, which he drank eagerly. It had a taste of¡­invigoration, like he was drinking a good night of sleep, with vegetables on top. For a second afterwards, he felt like he tasted green. It was this kind of stuff that made him like this world this much. ¡°So, stamina potion, right?¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± ¡°Let me guess, mana potions are blue and health are red?¡± ¡°Correct. Your knowledge of random trivia continues to be baffling.¡± Alex snorted. ¡°Anyway, it was a skill. The costs scale with the difference in power between us.¡± ¡°That explains a whole lot.¡± ¡°Just how freaking strong are you?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t tell you exactly. But to put it into perspective, I¡¯m over 200.¡± Considering that Sky for whatever reason didn¡¯t want him to know their exact level, he figured that it was a whole lot more than 200. ¡°Just how high do levels go?¡± ¡°Most people aren¡¯t going to be advertising their levels around. A whole lot of people say that they reached 800, but that¡¯s¡­unlikely. I¡¯d say the most powerful people are around level 600, at best. But that kind of people are very, very rare.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± He had a feeling that Sky was near the top. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they had something stupid like 10 times his attributes.¡± ¡°Why is it so rare? Does it get that hard to level?¡± ¡°Not really. It¡¯s more that, once you reach that level, the only way you will grow is by taking risks, but at that point, you should be already fairly wealthy, influential and powerful.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Basically, people just¡­want to enjoy their lives, at that point?¡± ¡°Correct. The ones that become stronger are the crazy ones, the ones that have a purpose and the ones that have far too much wander-lust.¡± ¡°Which one are you?¡± ¡°A mix of all of them, I think.¡± Sky said. ¡°Anyway, enough of that off-topic, how are you holding up?¡± Slowly, he stood up, he still felt tired as hell¡­but he could walk, at the very least. ¡°Let¡¯s eat something.¡± ¡°Now that I stop and think about it, shouldn¡¯t I be a whole lot hungrier?¡± ¡°Wind force-fed you earlier.¡± He decided that he didn¡¯t want to know how, and followed after Sky, sitting down on the kitchen table as Sky grabbed the meals. It was a mix and match of exotic vegetables. All of them were tasty, really, but¡­he missed meat. ¡°So, put any thoughts in what you want to do?¡± Sky asked. ¡°This came out of nowhere.¡± Alex said. ¡°And I wanted to ask about skills.¡± ¡°You can ask me about them later, so, can you answer me?¡± Alex nodded, but chewed on something that looked like a carrot as he thought about the answer. He¡­wasn¡¯t entirely sure himself, but as he stared at Sky, he felt like they were expecting¡­something from him. What did he want to do? He didn¡¯t really have long term goals, hell, he didn¡¯t know enough about the world to make long term goals, but¡­that in itself was an answer. ¡°No offense, but¡­I have been in this world for what, two weeks? I don¡¯t know enough of the world yet, so, for now, i want to know more about the world, I think. Explore it, discover it¡¯s wonders, and maybe in the way, I can find a bigger goal to strive towards.¡± Sky nodded a ponderous look in their face. ¡°All right. it¡¯s not a bad goal. I certainly have listened to much worse ones.¡± ¡°Now I¡¯m kind of curious, what silly goals have you heard?¡± ¡°There is one gal that made her goal in life to bed me.¡± Sky said, a mix of amusement and annoyance in their voice. ¡°I take you aren¡¯t interested?¡± ¡°Not for the foreseeable future. Then there was one knight whom wanted to bed a woman from every race, as long as they weren¡¯t monstrous, that is.¡± ¡°I can somewhat relate to the guy.¡± Alex replied, jokingly. ¡°It was a woman.¡± Sky said, shooting him a deadpan look. ¡°Do you attract perverted woman?¡± ¡°According to Alice, I attract perverted people in general.¡± Alex snorted. ¡°I suppose you attract the opposite of what you want.¡± Alex said, then thought for a second. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me yours.¡± ¡°Make the world a better place.¡± ¡°Somehow, I¡¯m not surprised.¡± Alex said. ¡°How do you think that has gone?¡± Sky didn¡¯t say anything for a while, seemingly deep in thought. ¡°I made a difference. Not as much as I would like, but¡­I made one.¡± Alex pondered on the subject for a bit, while he respected Sky even more, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a tad¡­worried. Especially when Sky themselves said that they were a bit crazy, it did help explain Alice and Wind¡¯s attitude towards them by quite a bit. Sky sighed, closed their eyes, put their hands behind their back, then, put them in the table, this time, however, holding a dagger. If there was one word that Alex could use to describe the dagger, it would be¡­evil. It was made from a pitch black material, seemed to exhale malice, and had a odd shape. ¡°The hell is that? Why do you have an evil dagger?¡± Alex almost jumped from his chair due to how scary the weapon looked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­quite a long history.¡± Sky said. ¡°It¡¯s a dagger made out of black mithril with a curse laid on it. It is nothing that can harm the wilder, mind you. I say that from personal experience.¡± ¡°Why are you showing me this, exactly?¡± Alex asked, eying the weapon suspiciously. ¡°I want you to have it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite an good weapon, it served me well, and I think it can work quite well with you.¡± Sky said. ¡°And if you have a good weapon¡­sometimes all it takes Is one good blow.¡± Sky said, and let go of the weapon, leaving it lying on the table. Slowly, Alex moved his hand towards it, he hesitated, but eventually held it¡¯s hilt and raised the weapon. It felt¡­heavy. Not physically, but he felt odd holding it. ¡°It¡¯s¡­a very good dagger. It¡¯s main weakness is that you need to actually hit someone with it, but with that skill of yours, I thought it would fit quite well.¡± Alex nodded. ¡°One good hit from it can kill people of very high level, but keep in mind that you can¡¯t wield other enchanted equipment while you wield it.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Limitation due to your level. It won¡¯t be a big issue, but ask Alice when she gets back.¡± Alex nodded. ¡°All right. Thank you, really.¡± Alex said, then kept staring at the dagger. ¡°How will I carry this thing around?¡± ¡°I almost forgot.¡± Sky said, putting a hand behind their back, then raised it again, this time with a sheath in it. ¡°How do I get a pocket dimension?¡± ¡°How do you know that it was a pocket dimension?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that it wouldn¡¯t fit in your ass.¡± Sky sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s from the same place that you armor and sword show up from, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t tell you.¡± Alex couldn¡¯t help but feel like he hit the nail in the head, especially due to the annoyance that was obvious in their eyes. ¡°Can I get one too?¡± Sky rolled their eyes. ¡°Maybe. Can¡¯t help you with that.¡± ¡°So¡­either it¡¯s an rare artifact, a skill, or a perk¡­my bet is one the last two, since you would be capable of helping me if it was an artifact¡­¡± Sky gave him a scowl, and then pointed towards the sheath. ¡°Take the thing already.¡± Alex meekly nodded, grabbing it. The sheath was a lot like the dagger, entirely pitch dark, albeit it wasn¡¯t metallic and didn¡¯t emit malice, he strapped it to his pants¡­with a bit of help, then put the dagger inside it, the feeling of malice fading as he did so. ¡°Neat.¡± ¡°I can understand being curious, but there is a reason that I don¡¯t go around telling people about my capabilities. I have many enemies, and they would be really interested on my capabilities.¡± ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just¡­my curiosity has a grip over my common sense sometimes.¡± Alex said, then paused. ¡°But I already have an insane bounty on me, how much worse can it get?¡± Admittedly, that kind of behavior had bitten him in the ass in the past, and he probably should put a grip on it before he went mad due to finding out about something men was not meant to know. ¡°A lot. As I said before, there reaches a point that adventurers stop taking risks, but quite a few of them are willing to take action due to holding grudges. Plus¡­there are other things that might take notice, and I definitively won¡¯t tell you about them. ¡°Now I¡¯m really curious.¡± ¡°I figured. Next thing I know you will start being like Alice¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I would look good on her clothes, shows too much skin, I think.¡± ¡°Stop being a smart-ass. Don¡¯t need another one of those.¡± The saint said without any real heat in their voice. ¡°The more the merrier¡± Alex said, then took a deep breath. ¡°This dagger¡­it¡¯s important to you, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°You could say that. It helped me a lot, caused a whole lot of trouble, and killed the most powerful enemy that I have faced in my life.¡± Sky said. ¡°Nowadays, I don¡¯t really use it, and I think it¡¯s fitting to give it to you.¡± Alex was suddenly reminded about when Sky talked about their first weapon. He drew the dagger, and gave it a long stare. It was the exact opposite of what Sky was, in just about every way possible. ¡°I will try and use it well.¡±