《World of Tala》 Prologue – The Start of Everything Part 1 In the depths of the forest of Pinar where monster lurks and hunt, a young man is running. His face is covered with sweats and he looked back occasionally as if he is being pursued. He is wearing leather armor and on his right hand, a short sword can be seen. The footing inside the forest is bad due to exposed roots and it is also in the middle of the night and you almost can¡¯t see anything in front of you. But the man continued to run. The way he runs through a forest in the middle of the night is impressive; he didn¡¯t know if there are monsters or wild beast lurking through the darkness of the night and he can¡¯t see if there are roots in his path but he keeps on running. Luckily, he hasn¡¯t stumbled on a root nor encounter monsters or wild beasts. He keeps on running heading towards the direction of the village. He keeps on regretting his decision on hunting at night, or rather his regretting the fact that he takes the quest of subjugating [Feral Owl]. [Feral Owl] is a nocturnal monster that looks like an owl, its eyes are crimson red, instead of beak they have a mouth of a wolf with razor sharp fangs, and it has a wingspan of 5 meters. They predate on everything that they deemed weaker than they are, it maybe [Goblins], [Wolves], [Humans] or anything that are weaker than them. They usually hunt alone but sometimes, you can see them hunting as a flock. He accepted the subjugation request of these monsters since the reward was good but now he¡¯s regretting it. ¡®If only I didn¡¯t accept this request then I won¡¯t encounter that monster!¡¯ is what he is thinking right now. ¡°Run! Run faster! Or else I will catch you and kill you!¡± He heard a voice of a man that is currently chasing him. He looks back and seen the one who is chasing him, walking leisurely as if he¡¯s going on a picnic but the speed isn¡¯t something you can call walking. Even though he is running with all his might, the man catches up on him while walking. The man, or should I say the monster that is chasing him has a pair of devil wings at his back, it has an upper part of a man in his mid-20¡¯s but on the lower part, it is covered with fur, it has two legs and instead of feet, a hooves could be seen. It has a tail that looks like a snake and it shakes as the monster walk. The monster eyes glows blue and sometimes, a small blue flame can be seen coming out of its mouth. The monster is one of the believed to be extinct race called [Demon]. History books said that the [Demon] race was gone when the [Demon Lord], the race ruler, died when the [Hero], Ayskrimm, fought it 1000 years ago. It is believed to be extinct since after the [Hero] killed the [Demon Lord], all [Demon] across the world emitted a blue flame and after the flame subsided, only their ashes remains. But right now, a [Demon] is chasing the young man. He didn¡¯t consider it is a [Demon] since all living races believed that they are already extinct. ¡°But, isn¡¯t this quite boring? For how long should I torment this man before the [Demon Lord] awakens? As far as I know, the seal that the [Demon Lord] used before his dying breath will be lifted if the host experience enough fear? Does this mean that I am not doing enough?¡± The [Demon] muttered to himself. He scratches his head and think, ¡®I am not suited on thinking complicated stuff¡¯. ¡°Well anyways, everyone fears death so should I give him a near death experience? Well should we try it? [Entangling Roots]¡± The [Demon] points his right hand towards the man and the roots beneath the man¡¯s right foot started to move. It entangles itself to the man¡¯s right foot causing the man to fall down. The man looks at his feet and saw roots entangling his right foot. ¡°What the hell is this!?¡± He tried to cut the roots using his short sword but it didn¡¯t budge, it didn¡¯t even leave a scratch on the roots but the man keeps on slashing, sometimes stabbing the roots but the roots didn¡¯t even budge. ¡°Give it a rest. It won¡¯t break that easily you know?¡± The [Demon] is now in front of the man without his knowing. The man¡¯s feels frightened by the [Demon]¡¯s appearance and slashes the roots much harder but nothing happens. ¡°Are you listening to me? I said no matter what you do to it, even if you burn it, it won¡¯t budge. The only thing that can free you from those is casting a [Dispel Magic] or I cancel the magic.¡± The [Demon] shrugs its shoulder ¡°Well, I won¡¯t cancel it though¡± the [Demon] added. The man heard what the [Demon] said but he pretended not to. He keeps on slashing the roots hoping that it will be cut after a few minutes. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t seem that you are listening. So this is how it feels like when someone isn¡¯t listening to your explanation¡­ Well anyways, you¡¯re going to die anyway [Summon: Death Worm]¡± The [Demon] casts another spell and a large magic circle with a diameter of 5 meters appears behind him. It is glowing red and you can hear the earth shaking as if something is digging its way through the earth. Suddenly, the earth where the magic circle was located opened up and what comes out from the hole is a giant black worm. Its mouth is full of teeth and a green slimy liquid drips down from its open round mouth. The mouth has a 20 meters diameter and its proportion to its body. The body length can¡¯t be measured since it is buried beneath the ground but the exposed body is 5 meters long. The liquid coming out from its mouth drips down to the ground making a sizzling sound upon contact. Apparently, it is an acid. As the young man saw the [Death Worm], his face color changes to pale white, as if all the blood was drained out of his face. His grip loosens causing the short sword to drop. The [Demon] smiled as he saw the terror on the man¡¯s face. He slowly raised his right arm and the worm straightened its body. ¡°Kaezar¡­.¡± The man muttered a woman¡¯s name he loves. ¡®If I only knew that I will be facing this kind of monster, then I should have confessed to her.¡¯ The man thought to himself as the [Demon] swings down his arm signaling the [Death Worm] to attack. The [Death Worm], with its mouth open, plunged towards the man and swallow him alive. Even the area where the man was located were swallowed by this giant worms and after swallowing the man, the worm returns to its original position and nothing could be seen at the area where the man was previously entangled. There is no corpse or proof that there was someone alive before there. The only thing left is the gouged out land due to the giant¡¯s worms attack. ¡°A failure huh¡­ Should I wait for another century for a human with the same soul wavelength appeared? It¡¯s been 9 times already and all of them are misses. Haaa¡­ Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do but to wait for another chance. [Dismiss]¡± The [Demon] dismissed his summoned monster and the worm is covered with light slowly fading with the light. The [Demon] opened his wings and fly back to its base. After a few minutes¡­ Light descended on the ground where the young man died. It is not a light made by sunlight and it¡¯s still in the middle of the night. The light restored the gouged out earth and a silhouette of a man could be seen in the middle. After the light fades, a young man can be seen lying down while wearing a leather armor and on its left side, you can see a short sword made of iron¡­ The man looks exactly the same as the one who died (killed) previously. This man is Jasper Perez, a normal college boy from Earth transported (summoned) in this game-like world Tala. \ \ \ Part 2 I am Felina Wingstone, the second daughter of Count Marloro Wingstone who governs the [City of Wingstone] in the [Kingdom of Sevir]. I am already 19 years old but I still don¡¯t have a fianc¨¦ this is because of my ancestor¡¯s belief. They don¡¯t let their children be married due to political reasons instead they want us to fall in-love naturally. So the blood that flows within our veins isn¡¯t a pure noble blood but it was mixed with the commoner blood. Of course there was someone in the family that tried to use their children as a political tool but all of them died due to mysterious incidents or due to sickness. They said that our blood was cursed but the historian denied it. Apparently, we are descendant of a [Hero¡¯s Vassal], they said that it was due to the statement of our ancestor saying ¡°This blood of mine shall not be used politically, instead I want my descendant to be married to someone they like.¡± Because of that, I am still unmarried up to this day. Well, I am not rushing since I am still young so there¡¯s still time. They say that our ancestor who became a [Hero¡¯s Vassal] married at the age of 22 so I still have 3 years to find a suitable husband. Of course there are some who are wooing me to become their bride but I turned all of them down. There are still some that keeps on wooing me after getting turned down but I let them do what they want. Not because I like what they are doing but that is their life. If they want to waste their time wooing me then let them be. I turned them down already but they still continue. Anyways, I am on my way to the [Fire Mountain Shrine] to give respect to our guardian deity. Legends says that the [Fire Mountain] was the last place where the [Hero], Ayskrimm, stayed and our ancestor made a shrine there because they believed that it was sacred and a deity lived there. The said deity was also a former [Hero¡¯s Vassal] who helped the [Hero] to slay the [Demon Lord]. After slaying the [Demon Lord], the [Hero] helped the populace of this world on their monster-related problems. There are legends that said that the [Hero] single-handedly hunts [Dragons], [Hydras], [Phoenixes], and other [Myth] grade monsters. After he manages to hunt those threats to the residents of this world, he chooses this [Fire Mountain] as a resting place. Some said that the [Hero] was summoned by [Mas], the God of Prosperity, and after saving the world he came back to his original world while others said that he was a simple commoner until the God of Prosperity, [Mas], chooses him to become a hero. The origin of the [Hero] was still not clear up to this day but strangely enough, there isn¡¯t anyone who claims to be a descendant of the [Hero]. The [Fire Mountain] is located at the north of the [Wingstone City]. To go there, it¡¯s either you¡¯ll have to walk for approximately 3 hours depending on your baggage or use a carriage which will take an hour of travel. Right now, I am using the latter. Mysteriously, no monster that lives inside the mountain or near the mountain, my father said that the guardian deity hunts any monster that steps into his territory so that must be the reason. After sitting for an hour while gazing on the scenery outside the carriage, I arrived at the foot of the shrine. From here you need to take the stairs leading to the main shrine. There are some red wooden arcs placed along the stairs welcoming the guest who came to pray. I am walking at the stairs when I noticed an old man sitting near the last step. She¡¯s wearing old dirty clothes and she¡¯s reading a worn out book as I come nearer to her, I noticed that she¡¯s crying while reading. There are some books that will make you cry since their story was sad and those kinds of books are thick but the one on her hands was thin. ¡°Hello, can I ask why are you crying?¡± I ask politely since I was normal to be polite to old people. The old woman looks at me and wipes her tears. Her hair is black with traces of white due to her age, her face has wrinkles on them and her eyes are color light brown. Even though her face is now full of wrinkles, she¡¯s still beautiful. At first, she seemed surprised since I called her suddenly but her eyes changes to the one of nostalgia after seeing me. ¡°It¡¯s nothing young lady¡­ I just missed the one who wrote this.¡± The old woman shows me the book. The cover was color red and the title isn¡¯t written there. ¡°Is that a novel?¡± ¡°Something like that. Would you like to read it?¡± Since I love reading books I nodded at the old woman¡¯s offer. The cover seems to be worn out but it is made of a leather of an animal. I don¡¯t know what kind of animal though. The paper use was already worn-out and they look like if you treat it roughly they will be torn apart. Some texts were missing and there are some erasures on it. Judging from the erasures, it was not the published version of the book. I opened the book at a random page and read what I can read from it and the words written here are the following: ¡°...I am gripping my new long sword [Rebellion] while facing the leader of the [Demon] race which terrorized the whole world. My new sword is based from the sword of Dante, the main character of the game DmC. It was made by my friend who loves crafting at [Games] and since coming to this world, he wanted to craft almost everything he saw in games, anime, comics, and novels. He crafted it mainly because of such reason and he¡¯s planning to craft [Yamato], [Armageddon Blade], [Chaos Eater] and other at a later date. This sword is the latest and the best sword he created and now, it will be used to slay the [Demon Lord].Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I slowly raised [Rebellion] pointing it on the [Demon Lord] in front of me. The blade shines as it reflects the light coming from the moon. The [Demon Lord] also pointed me his sword which emitted a dark aura. Apparently, the [Demon Lord] was saying something but I can¡¯t hear it for some reason¡­ ¡­After exchanging dialogue with the [Demon Lord], I charged at him and he raises his sword overhead, swing it down as I enter the sword¡¯s range. I deflected it with [Rebellion] and sparks light up the place¡­¡± There are terms I don¡¯t know like [DmC] and [Game] but the book seems to be based on the Legend of the [Hero], Ayskrimm. Some legends says that one of his companion, a [Hero¡¯s Vassal], was also his exclusive smith and the legendary sword [Rebellion] was made by that vassal. In this novel, it also mentions the other sword created by the said smith, [Yamato] a single edge sword that creates magic missiles in the form of sword, [Armageddon Blade] and the [Chaos Eater] which are giant sword that was used by one of the horsemen of apocalypse according to the smith, though we don¡¯t know who are these horsemen but both of the sword can easily cut a mithril armor, and lastly the legendary sword [Rebellion], it¡¯s cross guard was made of bones and a skull was placed in the middle of it, the hilt guard looks like a crown with a blade that¡¯s 1.2 meter long and the sword color is black. It was also the best sword, let alone mithril, it cuts adamantite like it was a paper. The writing format makes you feel that the guy who wrote this experienced it first hand and the first thing I read is at the ending of the typical novel about the [Hero] but this part isn¡¯t at the last few pages but instead it¡¯s in the middle of it. Normally, this scene would come up on the last part of the book but for this book that isn¡¯t the case. Well, there are some who continued to write a novel about the [Hero] until he stayed at this mountain. I flip the pages to the last page and it¡¯s not yet finished there. The last page talks about the [Fire Dragon Mountain Range]¡¯s dragon hunting but it feels like it¡¯s the first part of the hunt. This thin book is so detailed that you can clearly imagine the story it tells. Just like what I said before, it feels like the author experienced it first-hand. I returned the book to the old woman while thinking who wrote the book. I wanted to have a copy of the finished book but I have a feeling that the book isn¡¯t published since it¡¯s still not completed. Should I ask the old woman about it? But what if the book really wasn¡¯t published? Or rather, is the story already finished with just that? Maybe I should ask the old woman about it. As I was about to ask the old woman, she already left. When I look downstairs, she¡¯s not there so I look at the shrine but she¡¯s also not there. Where did she go? She¡¯s already old so I doubt that she¡¯ll go to the forest alone so that only thing left for her to go is the shrine huh. Thinking that the old woman is inside the shrine, I walk forward to the shrine. \ \ \ Part 3 I wake up inside a moving jeepney with passengers that just like me, a student. It seems that I fall asleep while traveling from Naga City to Libmanan. I am Jasper Perez, 21 years old, a third year college student of University of X. I am currently taking up the course of Business Management. I have black hair long enough to cover my ears, black eyes and I wear glasses due to excessive use of computer back then, and a normal looking face. Though my friends told me I¡¯m handsome, I don¡¯t believe it in the slightest. My height is 5¡¯5¡± and weighing of 65 kg. My past time are playing guitar, playing computer games and watching anime. Right now I am going home riding a jeepney. It¡¯s already 7:30 in the evening and there are many students that are going home. The jeepney is cramped with too many students and there are some at the roof of the vehicle since there are no seats available inside. Inside, there are some who are sleeping, chatting, listening to music with earphones and some are eating. I am sitting at the right corner of the jeepney near to the exit. Sitting in front of me is a fat guy that is watching an anime on his laptop. He¡¯s bald and he wears a black t-shirt and jeans. If he wears a sunglass then he will surely looks like a bouncer. His name is Gino Cruz, a friend of mine since childhood. The same as me, he¡¯s a gamer and otaku. We met each other at a computer shop back then and became friends because of that computer shop. On his left, a man was sleeping with his mouth open. His black hair was properly kept and he¡¯s also wearing glasses. Wearing a white t-shirt with a sperm that looks like N*ke logo and below it are words that can be read as ¡°Just did it¡±. He is also my friend, Marc Hernandez. If I were to describe their personality, they are almost the same as long as their together. Both of them fooling around together but when separated, Gino becomes an introvert while Marc stays the same. Sitting on my right is Iggy Bautista, a man who looks like a girl. If he wears a wig then you might think that he¡¯s really a flat (almost-non-existing-that-waste-her-money-to-buy-a-brassier) chested girl. This guy is the reason why we became an otaku. He recommended and let us watch anime that have good plot, and also have a ¡°plot¡± ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã). He¡¯s a shut-in and you can predict his destination if he went out of his house. It¡¯s either he¡¯s going to the computer shop or going to the convenience store. After waking up from that dream, I check my cellphone if I have some messages before inserting the earphone and playing an album of [P*erce the Ve*l] entitled [Co*lide W*th The S*y]. As the music starts, I look at the exit to confirm where we are right now but as I look outside, I saw a strange looking man walking leisurely following us. But as I observe it I realized that it wasn¡¯t a human being, the upper part looks like a man with its eyes emitting blue light, the lower part of its body is covered with fur and instead of having feet it has hooves. On its back, there is a pair of devil wings and it also has a tail that looks like a snake which sways as the strange creature walks. Even though the jeepney runs at 40kph and the creature is walking at leisurely pace, it¡¯s not getting left out. A chill crawl up from my spine as the creature walks, my hands got wet and my breathing become ragged. I became scared. Seeing my complexion, Iggy asks me what is wrong and I point my finger towards the creature and say ¡°There is something there. It¡¯s following us.¡± Iggy looks at the direction where I am pointing but he says that he can¡¯t see anything. Instead he looks at me worriedly. ¡°What are you saying? There¡¯s nothing there.¡± He said. I look at him to see if he¡¯s lying that he can¡¯t see anything and yet his eyes are telling the truth. I look back again at the exit and the creature is gone. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re just tired or half asleep. Rest a little bit more.¡± Maybe I¡¯m really tired. In the first place, that creature can¡¯t exist in the first place. Maybe my minds playing tricks on me, but my train of thought is interrupted by a scream of a girl sitting beside the driver. When I look at the front the creature is standing 5 meters ahead the jeepney. It¡¯s just standing there while murmuring something. The other passengers also look in front and some of them screamed. ¡°What is that!?¡± ¡°Monster!!¡± ¡°Kuya! Stop the jeepney!¡± Someone shouted but instead of hitting the break, the driver steps harder at the gas pedal intending to run over the creature but the creature seems to hover and maintain the 5 meter distance between him and the jeepney. The creature slowly pointed its hand towards the jeepney which causes louder scream from the passenger. After a few seconds, a big or should I say a giant worm appears at the creature¡¯s back and open its mouth. The screams grow louder and some begins to cry. I don¡¯t know what is happening at the roof but I think they are too scared to move or utter a sound. The worm suddenly plunged itself to the jeepney swallowing it whole. I can hear meat grinding sound atop of us and I can only imagine what is happening there. Inside the worm could be seen due to the headlights of the jeepney. It feels like we entered a tunnel but instead of the normal feeling you will have, it feels like we are being eaten alive which isn¡¯t wrong in our current situation. Inside the worm, all you can see is the meat of the worm and sometimes a liquid drips down from the ceiling of it. The liquid, upon contact, produces a sizzling sound as if it is a strong acid. The roof of the jeepney catches a single drop which slowly melts away the metal roof. It fell on the legs of a girl passenger, she releases a painful shriek. Her skin slowly burns as the liquid continues to penetrate her legs. You can see the yellow fat of her legs, followed by the red meat and white bones. The girl tried to brush off the liquid at first but when her hand come contact with the liquid, the meat started to melt away. The jeepney continues to go forward as if there¡¯s nothing wrong. When I look at the driver, his head is missing. He¡¯s already dead but his foot was stuck on the gas pedal. Noticing this, I tried to get out by jumping out but what I see on our back was the corpses of the passengers sitting in the roof. Before I can decide to jump, a man jumped out and he got skewered by a spear like things that came out from the meat wall. This scene makes me sit once again. If we stay on this jeepney, we will die. If we jump out, we will also die. Is there nothing we can do to survive this? As I am thinking those things, a light envelops my sight it is followed by the feeling of falling down from a high place. I tried to move my hands to reach to something but it refuses to move, even my feet and head refuses to move and even my voice refuses to come out. I don¡¯t know for how long we are going to fall but I closed my eyes and relax my body. ¡®This is it. I am going to die¡¯ I said to myself as I accept the fact that I can¡¯t do anything to save my own life. ¡®I should have told her that I love her¡¯ even though I am going to die any moment now, this stupid thought flashes on my mind. ¡®But I guess I really should have told her¡­¡¯ I smiled as I embraced the fact that I am now going to die. As I am falling down, a strong sense of drowsiness attacked me but I refused to sleep. I want to savor the last moments of my life so I don¡¯t want to sleep. Even if the feeling of falling down and the fear of dying is the only present now, it¡¯s still a proof that I am alive so I want to savor it. Truth be told, I don¡¯t want to die yet, I¡¯m still young and there are things I wanted to do but what can I do? What can I possibly do to survive this crazy event that is happening right now? Tears come out from my eyes unconsciously but I think it¡¯s okay to cry at this situation right? The feeling of drowsiness got stronger and no matter how much I tried to stay awake, the drowsiness only got stronger and stronger. I wanted to stay awake until I hit the ground but¡­. this¡­. drowsiness¡­. isn¡­ norma¡­.. \ \ \ Part 4 ¡°Breaking news!! This news would be graphic so excuse us to the ones who are eating their breakfast right now. An abandoned jeepeny was found last night in the middle of the Barangay Mambulo Nuevo, Libmanan, Camarines Sur. The jeepeny was believed to be the school jeep that used mainly by the student who commute to their colleges or university. The school jeep was found in a miserable state with scratches and hole that looks like it was melted. The roof was covered with blood and the inside was the same. The tires of the jeepney were completely melted and the headlights were busted. The belongings of the passengers and the driver were left inside but there are no corpses found. The police are currently looking for clues as to where do the student went but they believed everyone died during this accident. On site, we have our reporter Ted Falcon reporting, Ted¡­¡± As I am eating my breakfast with the television turned on so that I can watch news at the same time, that breaking news appeared which made me to stop eating. Not only me, but also my cousin, Graziel Santos and the reason for that is because of the term [School Jeep]. One of our high school batch mate, Graziel¡¯s ex-boyfriend and someone I hold dear, Jasper Perez rode those kind of jeepney. Even though I told him to find a boarding house here at Naga, he said that it¡¯s not needed since there are school jeeps that can take him home even if he have night classes. By the way, I am Kaezar Padilla, 19 years old and a college student of a certain branch of a university at Naga City. If I were to describe myself, I am a girl with a long black hair that reaches to my hips, I wear glasses because of my bad eyesight and often said that I look strict. The girl sitting in front of me is my cousin, Graziel Santos, she¡¯s 20 years old and also a college student at the same university of mine. Her hair has some highlights and its only shoulder length. Her face looks like a doll and she¡¯s been popular since high school. She is the ex-girlfriend of Jasper Perez. They started their relationship during our second year in high school but it also ended at the same year. Back then, I don¡¯t have feelings for Jasper but as we interact with each other, I found myself falling in love with him. Even though the news clearly said that the police believed that every passenger died, I am hoping that Jasper isn¡¯t one of the passengers of that jeepney. Maybe, he came late and the first school jeepney already departed and he is safe and right now, he¡¯s riding the train. Yup, he¡¯s not one of the passengers. I keep on convincing myself that he¡¯s not there but my heart clearly tell me that he¡¯s one of those poor passengers. Graziel is still watching the news while I quickly eat my breakfast and take the bath. I don¡¯t want to hear the news anymore. After I put my uniform on, I grab my bag and go to the university. It¡¯s 7:05 in the morning already and if I take my time walking then I will be late for my 7:30 class. Luckily, there¡¯s a tricycle nearby so I got in time. Inside our classroom my classmates talks about the incident about the school jeepney. Some says that they are lucky since they didn¡¯t board that particular jeepney and some formulate their own conclusion of what really happened. Some says that it was done by the terrorist, some said that it was alien while others jokingly said that they were transported to a parallel world. Hearing their conclusion made my mood go bad. How can they talk about it lightly? What if someone they knew was a passenger of that jeepney? Would they still be talking like that! I honestly wanted to shout those words but I choose to remain silent. I don¡¯t want to be involved in their talk right now since I am not thinking straight right now. I silently sit down on my desk and opens my [Fa*ebook] using my phone. In this current age where everyone uses the internet to exchange information, I can probably find something about Jasper. There¡¯s no additional news about it on my wall or the pages of the broadcasting networks. I close the app and my wallpaper appeared. Upon seeing my wallpaper, I realize that I can just call him or send a message if he¡¯s okay. I hurriedly browse my contact list but the professor came inside. This professor hates it when someone is using a cellphone in his class so I quickly locked the phone and put it on my pocket. The lecture begins but I can¡¯t understand the topic since my mind is full about the incident. What if Jasper was there? What really happened on that jeepney? If he¡¯s really there, I hope that he¡¯s safe. I hope that he misses that jeepney. These phrases run inside my mind right now. I don¡¯t have the composure to listen to the lecture but I force my hand to write everything my professor says. The professor keeps on teaching us while my mind is in utter chaos. After an hour, the professor leaves while leaving an assignment and the next class will be held at 9:30 AM so I still have an hour to contact him. I quickly draw my cellphone from my pocket and hurriedly search his number on my contact and when I find it, I press the call button as fast as I can. I place the phone near my ears as I wait for it to connect. After a few second, I hear someone talks across the phone. It¡¯s a voice of a girl saying¡­ ¡°The number that you dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area, please try your call later. The num¡ª¡° It seems that his phone is currently turned off. Maybe he¡¯s inside a class so it turned it off but his phone was always at vibration mode so maybe his battery is dead? Anyways, I should send him a message so that he can read it after charging his phone. As I am typing the message I will send to him, someone calls at my phone. The caller¡¯s name is [Tita Isabelle], it¡¯s Jasper¡¯s mother. Upon reading the caller¡¯s name, my chest tightened and sweat starts to come out from my hand. With my trembling fingers, I press the [Accept] button and put my phone near my ear so that I can hear what Tita Isabelle would say. ¡°Hello, Kaezar. Have you seen Jasper there at Naga? He hasn¡¯t come home yet.¡± Upon hearing those words, my mind accepted the fact that Jasper is one of the passengers of that school jeepney and I lost my consciousness. Chapter 1 – Dream The sunlight warms my body as I comfortably sleep in my bed but something¡¯s weird¡­ My bed feels harder than usual and I can smell the scent of the grass and hears the rustling of the tree leaves. Our house isn¡¯t in the middle of a farm or forest, it¡¯s along the highway so I should be hearing the sound of cars and motors and smell the scent of the exhaust. Also, there¡¯s something tickling me for a while now so I stretched my hand to feel what it is. It feels like grass but how can a grass grow in my pillow? I slowly open my eyes to check why there is a grass-like thing in my pillow. The first thing I see upon opening my eyes is grass, after that trees, too many trees which looks like I am inside a forest. I slowly raise my body and rub my eyes. Maybe I am not seeing things right. I open my eyes slowly again and the scenery did not change. I look around and all I can see is trees, grasses, some mushrooms and trees once more. Am I inside a forest? How did I end up inside a forest when I am riding jeepney to go home? Did the jeepney had an accident and I am thrown out to this forest? Wait¡­ In the first place, is there a forest near the highway? As I am asking myself these questions, I suddenly remembered what happened last night. Last night, I saw a strange creature and a giant worm devoured the whole jeepney after that the passengers panic including me then¡­ What happened next? I don¡¯t remember but if I think about it clearly, I will surely die if those things really happened. Meaning it¡¯s just a dream, a very bad dream, since I am still alive. But it still doesn¡¯t explain how I ended up here. Hmmm¡­ I cross my arms and think once more but no matter how hard I think, there is no answer that comes in my mind. I decided to think about it later and stand up. While standing up, I noticed that it feels a little heavier than usual, it¡¯s not to the point where I will have a hard time standing but it feels like I am wearing something a little heavier than clothes. When I look at my body, I found out that I am wearing a leather armor with a scabbard hanging on my waist also my clothes is different to what I am wearing and it look like the type of clothing you will see on Game of T*rones. In short, I am wearing a medieval type of clothes. I suddenly remembered that I watch that series at the vacant period yesterday but waking up wearing clothes from medieval period with armor on it doesn¡¯t feel real. Maybe I¡¯m dreaming? Including the incident that happened last night, maybe all of this is a dream. That sounds plausible. I am currently dreaming and I will wake up sooner or later. Anyways, having this kind of dream isn¡¯t bad in its own way. The last time I dream like this was in high school. The period where my imagination was on its peak, sadly I don¡¯t remember the details very well but I think it was a mixture of different games I played that time. ¡°Well, these kinds of dreams are rare where I am aware that I am dreaming¡­.¡± I stretched my body while muttering those words to myself. As I am doing stretches, my feet hit something and when I look at it, it is a short double edged sword. I pick it up and strangely it feels familiar. Well, this is a dream in the first place. I put it on the scabbard on my waist and start to walk randomly inside the forest when a message box appears on my sight.
Welcome to the world of Tala. Establishing connection to the world system¡­. Done.
¡°What¡¯s this?¡±
Searching nearby country¡­. Done. Searching nearby settlement¡­. Done. Initializing basic background¡­. Done. Installing language comprehension based on current race¡­. Done.
Suddenly, the message box shows something like a log, reporting everything to me.
You are now a resident of the village called Pinar in the Kingdom of Sevir.
Would you like to start the tutorial?
Pinar? Kingdom of Sevir? So this message box is telling me that I become a resident of the Kingdom of Sevir without registering myself? Wow¡­ I don¡¯t know what kind of dream I am having right now and it totally freaks me out. But, this message is asking me if I want to start the tutorial. Normally, the player will skip the tutorial and learn how the world works in a hard way but sadly I am not like that. I am the type of person who will not skip anything while playing a game I don¡¯t even skip the credits. It might look like it¡¯s a waste of time but I feel that I should let it end on itself since the developer put it there. But the problem is I don¡¯t see any button to press. Maybe it uses voice commands? Well, there¡¯s no harm at trying so¡­ ¡°Yes¡±
Since you accepted the tutorial, I will now explain how this world works. 1. This world¡¯s residents have levels. You will start as level 1 which is the lowest and the highest level is level 1000 but the level varies depending on one¡¯s job and race. 2. Experience gathering and leveling: ¡¤ For Combat Job: Hunting monster will yield more experience than crafting. ¡¤ For Crafting Job: Crafting items will yield more experience than hunting (Doing transaction for Merchants) ¡¤ For Supporting Job: Hunting with party will yield more experience than hunting alone or crafting items. 3. Changing jobs can be done after reaching level 10 at [Villager] job and visiting the [Association] of your preferred job. 4. To view your status, say ¡°Character Information¡±. 5. To view your learned skills, say ¡°Skill window¡±. 6. Doing bad things such as killing without valid reason, caught pick pocketing, raping, kidnapping, etc. will raise the ¡®infamy¡¯ according to how grave the things that you have done. 7. There is no concept of revival in this world. Once you die, you die. 8. Fame will increase as you clear quest, explore dungeons, and create something. With high fame, the store will give you discounts, it will be easier to talk with nobles, and other advantageous treatment while Infamy will be the opposite of the stat Fame. Infamy decrease as you gain do charitable works or being punished to the crimes you committed. 9. Skills that can be learned are limitless but there are skills that are profession exclusive and some professions had specialization on some skills. 10. Items can be collected through dismantling the corpse of the enemies. 11. If you want to learn more about your skills or learn more about the stats in your character information, just say ¡°[Skill name]/[Stats Name] Help¡±. This is the end of tutorial. If you wanted to view the tutorial window again, kindly say ¡°Tutorial¡± and this window will appear.
I never thought that I will be having a dream about medieval period, game-like world. Did I really want to play MMORPG that bad? The last time I played a MMORPG was second year high school? I don¡¯t remember but the last MMORPG game I played is World of W*rcraft. But for my dream to have these rules, what a very detailed dream it now feels like I am transported to a fantasy world. What if I really am transported to another world? Maybe I¡¯m a cheat existence like the protagonist of the ¡°isekai¡± genre, like the Gods of Loli, or the Devil. Who am I fooling? I better separate reality and fantasy, it¡¯s bad and it will only make me look like a fool if I mix them up. But this is a dream since magic didn¡¯t exist, that giant worm can¡¯t also exist, and lastly, that creature didn¡¯t exist. I am still riding a jeepney sleeping peacefully waiting for the jeepney to reach Libmanan. Yup¡­ This is a dream. And also, there is a weird rule mix with them that rule no. 7 ¡°There is no concept of revival in this world. Once you die, you die.¡± Does it mean that once I die in this dream I¡¯ll die in real life? How would I die in real life? Had a heart attack when I die in this dream? Or did that rule really meant that once I die, I¡¯ll wake up? It will be a waste if I die in this dream and wake up without thoroughly enjoying it. *Sigh* This dream is set to only have 1 life huh. I wonder if I eat a green mushroom would it become 2? Well, the rule stated that there is no concept of revival in this world so instead of gaining a 1 UP maybe I¡¯ll die upon eating a green mushroom. ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s check the status¡­ [Character Information]!¡± Upon saying the keyword, a status window appeared.
Character Information
Name: Jasper Perez Age: 21 Gender: Male
Race: Human Base Level: 1 Job: Villager Lv 1
HP: 100 MP: 100 Title: [None]
Base experience Point: 0/100 Job experience Point: 0/100
Fame: 0 Infamy: 0
Physical Dmg: 5 + 10 Physical Def: 5 + 4 Magic Dmg: 5Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Magic Def: 5 HP regeneration: 5 per 10 seconds MP regeneration: 5 per 10 seconds
Accuracy: 5 Evasion: 5 Speed: 5
Status Points
Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Vitality: 10 Wisdom: 10
Status Point Available: 0
Resistance
Fire: 0 Water: 0 Earth: 0
Wind: 0 Light: 0 Dark: 0
Equipment
Head : [None] Head : [Normal Glasses]
Head : [None] Body: [Leather Armor]
Shoulder: [None] Wrist: [None]
Legs: [Leather Pants] Feet: [Leather Boots]
Main hand: [Short Sword] Off hand: [None]
Secondary: [None] Ammunition: [None]
This dream is a game. No doubt about it. Did I really miss playing MMORPG that much? It seems that [Base Level] and [Job Level] is different from each other. If I were to guess, [Base Level] means my overall level while [Job Level], is the level of my job. In the game Ragna*ok, leveling [Base Level] will give you [Status Points] while leveling the [Job Level] will give you skill points. Maybe this dream runs on the same system as that game but the [Job] aren¡¯t taken from it, if it was then my [Job] right now would be [Novice]. I wonder where did the [Job: Villager] comes from? As far as I can remember, I haven¡¯t encountered a game with a villager job. Maybe it was taken from animes and LN. But, looking at this window, this dream really is pretty detailed. Almost everything is written on this window so it¡¯s easy to understand. [HP] is health points, [MP] is magic points, [Titles] are titles gained through specific routes, I wonder if the [Titles] gives additional stats like other games or it is just a fancy name. Well, almost all of them are self-explanatory but I am curious what is this [Title], the tutorial said that I can check it to know more about a certain stats. ¡°Hmmmm¡­.. Let¡¯s see, [Title Help]!¡±
[Titles] are given after finishing a specific task for the specific title. [Titles] can raise the user status or give bonus damage to specific enemies.
¡°So the [Titles] gives different bonuses huh¡­ Not just a fancy name. I understood the meaning of other stats by reading their name but maybe I should check it.¡± So I check each stats and this are the results.
[Strength] ¨C Increases Damage(melee only), allows the user to carry heavier objects.
[Agility] ¨C Increases evasion and speed.
[Dexterity] ¨C Increase Physical Damage(Range only), improves accuracy, improves the quality of crafted items.
[Intelligence] ¨C Increase maximum mana and magic damage.
[Wisdom] ¨C increase magic defense and MP regeneration.
[Vitality] ¨C increases maximum health, defense, and HP regeneration.
[HP] ¨C Health points. The representation of how many hits you can take. The moment the [HP] reaches zero then you¡¯ll die. Recovers when out of combat depending on the [HP regeneration] stat.
[MP] ¨C Magic points. The representation of how many spells you can cast. When your [MP] becomes lower than 50%, you will feel dizzy and when it reaches zero, you¡¯ll lost consciousness. Recovers when out of combat depending on [MP regeneration] Stat.
[Fame] ¨C Raising this stat will allow you to get a better chance of winning at bargaining and other preferential treatments. This stat can be gained by doing good deeds.
[Infamy] ¨C Raising this stat will slowly make you a criminal. This stat can be gained by getting caught doing bad deed.
[Physical Dmg] ¨C Physical Damage. This is the representation of how strong your physical damage.
[Physical Def] ¨C Physical Defense. This stat decreases the damage taken from physical attacks.
[Magic Dmg] ¨C Magic Damage. This is the representation of how strong your magic damage.
[Magic Def] ¨C Magic Defense. This stat decreases the damage taken from magic attacks.
[HP regeneration] ¨C The rate of regeneration of HP out of combat.
[MP regeneration] ¨C The rate of regeneration of MP out of combat.
[Accuracy] ¨C This stat tells about the accuracy of your ranged attack and how well will be the created items.
[Evasion] ¨C This stat makes the attack seems slower and the chances of avoiding the said attack raises.
[Speed] ¨C pertains to the movement speed and attack speed.
Pretty much the same of what I understand from their name. I guess the [Resistances] will be decreasing the damage from their respective elements. I close all the windows and I notice a red bar and a blue bar below it at the upper right of my vision. When I look closely, there are words written below each bar it says [HP] for the red bar and [MP] for the blue bar. Wow. This dream really is detailed, it even added an interface that allows me to look at my [HP] and [MP] without opening [Character Information] but I hopes that this dream also contains the [World Map] since it will be hard navigating without a map inside this forest, even a mini-map will do! I tried various command to summon a map window but nothing happen, let alone [World Map] not even a [Mini-map] appeared. *Sigh* What should I do now? If I remember correctly, the message boxes said that there is a close settlement here called [Pinar], maybe I will go there first but the problem is, I don¡¯t know where is that [Pinar]. Walk randomly? What if I got farther and farther from [Pinar]? Well, if I ended up at [Pinar] while walking randomly then lucky, if not then keeps on walking until I find a highway. ¡°For starter, let¡¯s walk straight in front of me.¡± As I am walking, I keep marking the trees I pass so that I will know if I already walk pass here, it will also allow me to get back to the starting point. \ \ \ As I am marking a tree, I hear some footsteps coming towards me. I pull the short sword from its scabbard, holding it with my right hand. I put my left side forward facing the source of the sound and lower my hips so that I can dodge easily. I don¡¯t know why I did this stance but my body moves after I raise my vigilance towards the footsteps. As the footsteps come closer, I raise my vigilance towards it. After a while, the source of the footsteps is now visible. It has a white fur, standing on two feet with its two front teeth peeking out from its mouth, two red eyes that are as red as a blood, two elongated ears. It is a rabbit. You say why I am on guard if it¡¯s just a rabbit? Well who would not be on their guard when the rabbit standing in front of me is already as high as I am. No matter how I look at it, it¡¯s a monster even though it has cute appearance. ¡°Go on¡­ Don¡¯t mind me, I¡¯m just a harmless man¡­¡± I said to the rabbit hoping that it will understand what I mean but instead of going away, it readies itself to fight me. The rabbit puts its two cute hands forward like a boxer and started to hop. I thought that I will only see this kind of development at cartoons and animes but this a dream so anything goes. The rabbit slowly lower its body and suddenly jumps, like its feet has springs, towards me. I estimated the time it will land and jumps back while slashing in my former position. The slash hits the right hand of the rabbit separating it with its body. Blood gush out of the wound like a fountain soaking the ground where the rabbit is. The rabbit let out a scream full of agony while holding its hand. I quickly fix my posture just like before while concentrating at the rabbit. The rabbit then glares at me while lowering its posture again. This time, it didn¡¯t jump but it pushes its whole body using its spring-like feet. Its speed is fast but I faced an enemy before which practically teleports while dashing like that so I think I can dodge it. (Of course I don¡¯t mean in real-life, even though I had a fist fight before, the opponent can¡¯t do something like that, what I mean when I said ¡°I faced an enemy before which practically teleports while dashing¡± is from a game. You¡¯re saying differentiate games and real-life? Oh come on, I am inside my dream right now so what¡¯s wrong with mixing them up? This whole dream is a mixture of different online games I played in a medieval period setting.) As the rabbit dash towards me, I lowered my body much farther and wait for it to come inside the reach of my blade. When it¡¯s already inside my reach, I jump towards its right body while holding the short sword with both of my hands and slash it vertically with all my might. There¡¯s a resistance when the blade touch the body of the rabbit but I put all of my strength to my arms and let the momentum of the rabbit cut its body. My sword cuts through its chest to its back resulting to the upper part of the rabbit fly while scattering blood and the lower part to stumble and fall to the ground soaking it red because of the blood gushing out from it. Actually, it¡¯s too gory that I wanted to look away from it and puke. Really, what¡¯s with this dream? After the battle, my short sword was soaked with blood so I swing it left and right copying what I saw in the anime before. The blood soaking the blade scattered as I did this leaving only a little blood stains on my blade. They said that blood makes the sword rust but I don¡¯t have a cloth to clean it, maybe I should just wipe it at the rabbit¡¯s corpse. Having these thoughts, I walk towards the corpse of the rabbit and wipe my sword from its white fur. Looking at it, it really is gory. The internal organs of the rabbit come out of its wound while blood makes the ground red. ¡°If I remember correctly, to gather the loot you need to dismantle it¡­¡± Looking at the corpse of rabbit makes me want to puke but I need to dismantle it so that I can collect the loot? I avoided gore movies and now you¡¯re telling me to dismantle this corpse just to collect the loot? No way~ I can¡¯t do it and in the first place, I don¡¯t know how to do it. I think I read about it somewhere and the first thing I need to do is to drain the blood, but how? Tie it upside down on a tree? I don¡¯t have a rope. Clean it in flowing water? I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a water source nearby. As I am thinking about these things, I realize one problem. It¡¯s not about how weak I am for a gory scene but¡­ I don¡¯t have a bag to carry the loot. It can¡¯t be help then, let¡¯s just leave it here. I turn around and continued to walk hoping to find a settlement. Just to be clear okay, I didn¡¯t dismantle it because I¡¯m weak with gore stuffs! It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t have a bag. Don¡¯t misunderstand. I continue to walk towards a random direction while leaving corpses of rabbits in my path. Maybe I am walking for an hour now but I still can¡¯t hear any human activity nearby. By the way, my level rose to 2 and the [Status Point Available] become 3. I didn¡¯t add any stats for now since I don¡¯t know what [Job] are available so I let it be. I am planning to build my stats after knowing all the [Job]s available. If I were to guess, maybe this dream has the standard [Jobs] for an RPG games like [Swordsman], [Thief], [Archer] and [Magician] for [Combat Job], [Alchemist] and [Blacksmith] are the standard for [Crafting Job] and [Acolyte] or [Priest] for [Supporting Job]. Well, if I were to choose among these random guess, it would be [Archer], a [Combat Job]. [Archers] are range damager, which mean I can kill my enemy without approaching it and besides, an arrow can¡¯t make a gore scene right? I will not see their organs or the blood that sprouts out from their wound so it¡¯s a good job but the problem is I don¡¯t know how to use a bow. I saw someone uses a bow at the internet but I don¡¯t think I can copy what he is doing. Well~~ I¡¯ll manage somehow after all, this is a dream. Without me noticing, I finally am out of the forest and there¡¯s a highway in front of me. It is not the typical asphalt highway which you will see in the modern times but a dirt highway. The highway is made in the middle of a forest so there are trees on each side of it. I think it is properly maintained since the ground was flattened and you can¡¯t find any rocks or weeds on it. There are also some freshly made tracks of wheels of a wagon and footprints heading to my right. I wonder if I follow this tracks I will reach the settlement? Well, there¡¯s no one I can ask and there¡¯s nothing I can do but try so let¡¯s follow it! ~ Chapter End~
Character Information
Name: Jasper Perez Age: 21 Gender: Male
Race: Human Base Level: 2 Job: Villager Lv 2
HP: 100 MP: 100 Title: [None]
Base experience Point: 10/200 Job experience Point: 10/200
Fame: 0 Infamy: 0
Physical Dmg: 5 + 10 Physical Def: 5 + 4 Magic Dmg: 5
Magic Def: 5 HP regeneration: 5 per 10 seconds MP regeneration: 5 per 10 seconds
Accuracy: 5 Evasion: 5 Speed: 5
Status Points
Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Vitality: 10 Wisdom: 10
Status Point Available: 0
Resistance
Fire: 0 Water: 0 Earth: 0
Wind: 0 Light: 0 Dark: 0
Equipment
Head : [None] Head : [Normal Glasses]
Head : [None] Body: [Leather Armor]
Shoulder: [None] Wrist: [None]
Legs: [Leather Pants] Feet: [Leather Boots]
Main hand: [Short Sword] Off hand: [None]
Secondary: [None] Ammunition: [None]
Chapter 2 – My, her and his situation I followed the tracks that I found, by the way the highway is made on a hill so I am walking uphill and I don¡¯t know what I am going to see after reaching the top. After walking for about an hour or so, I can finally see a settlement. The settlement looks like a sunnyside up egg with the egg yolk as an open field where there are many people gathering also in the middle of it, there¡¯s a huge tree providing some shade for the people. But, it¡¯s still far away. I think I still need to walk for another hour or so before I reach the town. If I am going to give an estimate on how far it is, I think it¡¯s about 4-5 kilometers away. It¡¯s going to be a long walk but I think its fine since the sun isn¡¯t that hot, compared to reality, and the air is also fresher. Based on what I can see from here, the structures are made of wood and there¡¯s no wall or fence to keep wild animals or that bipedal rabbit away. Most of the buildings are one-story structures but near the center, the open field, there is a two-story building and a lot of people are coming in and out from it. I wonder what that structure is. Is it a department store? Well, there¡¯s no point on thinking about it right now. Ah right, there is a mountain that could be seen on the back of the village and it seems so high since you can¡¯t see the top of it because of the clouds also the village is approximately 10~15 meters away from the forest that surrounds it. There is also wheat plantation on the side of the highway. It seems that the staple food here is bread not rice¡­ As a Pilipino, more likely, an Asian, my meal isn¡¯t complete without rice¡­ I wish that this village imports rice. Wait¡­ In the first place, this is a dream so why should I demand rice? After all, I am going to wake up sooner or later. I walk towards the village while keeping vigilant to the forest besides me. It¡¯s the forest where the bipedal boxer rabbit lives and it won¡¯t be strange for it to appear on this highway. The village is still far away from where I am right now so I better stay vigilant on my surroundings. As I am walking, I hear footsteps coming from the forest. It sounds like a multiple being running towards where I am and the sound interval of each step is short making me assume that they are running. I draw my sword from its scabbard and prepare myself to fight and then they showed up. The group that you will always see at transported light novels and attack a certain carriage and the protagonist will drive them away. They are wearing leather armors and their weapons consist of sword, axes, and spear with their messy hair and vulgar smiles and laughs and most importantly, they stink to the point that you will wonder if they haven¡¯t taken a bath since they were born. Yup, right now I am facing bandits. There are 3 bandits in front of me and I am not sure if there are some of them hiding inside the forest. The bandit in the center gives a vibe of a leader and his muscle are bulging while his axe is resting on his shoulders. On his left stands a small man with a spear and on his right stands a big man, smaller than the leader but still big, with his sword drawn. All of them has this wicked smile on their face. ¡°Hey hey~ What¡¯s with that stance? Tryin¡¯ to imitate the hero?¡± The leader said while his underlings laugh. I don¡¯t know who the hell this hero is but it seems that I have the same battle stance as him/her and it seems that in this dream, a [Hero] exist. Too bad I am not the [Hero] and I don¡¯t want to be one in the first place. Being a [Hero] will only give you unnecessary attention of the populace. Making you conscious on how you move and act since the [Hero] must move and act in a righteous way. There¡¯s a time where I aspire to become a [Hero] and had a dream about becoming a [Hero] but as I grew up, that feeling fades away. ¡°Ya know~ If ya leave everything ya have then we will let ya go~¡± ¡°Kuku¡­ Boss is right, we will let you go if you leave everything here¡± The leader and the small one said. But I ignored what they say and slowly retreated back to the forest, luckily they aren¡¯t surrounding me and give me a way to retreat but not too long after that, I realize that I am na?ve. On my back, I heard a laughter coming out from the forest. It was followed by footsteps slowly walking towards my back while dragging something heavy. When I look back, I saw a man, bigger than the leader dragging a big hammer on his back while smiling creepily at me. Then the small one went to my right while the one on the right side of the boss went to my left. Right now, they are encircling me. ¡®This is bad!!! I let them surround me!¡¯ I scream in my head while I hold the sword with both of my hands. What kind of dream is this!! Letting me meet a bandit while I¡¯m still weak and moreover, 4 of them at the same time! Should I attack first? Or let them attack me? What if they attack at me at the same time? Can I avoid or deflect their attacks? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Whatever! If I lose then I wake up and if I win then the dream continue! But the problem is¡­ To whom should I start? I feel my hands getting wet and sweat started to form at my forehead. ¡°Soo~ what ya gonna do? Fight or leave everything you have?¡± The boss said again while I am thinking on who should I attack first. If I rush towards the boss then the spear user can stop me and the hammer user can just swing his hammer at my back, same if I rush towards him and if I choose the axe user, I will be showing my back to the spear user. Maybe I should start with the hammer? He¡¯s the nearest to me in the first place but the problem is his weapon. It seems heavy and one wrong move then I¡¯ll die but if I let them attack me first then I¡¯ll surely die! The outcome will be the same so I¡¯ll do it! After deciding whom I¡¯m going to attack first, I quickly turn my body towards my target, the hammer user. The big man holds the handle with his two arms and swings the hammer vertically but I quickly lower my body while running towards him making his attack pass overhead. The wind generated by his attack is no joke but I continued to run and when his on the range of my sword, I sweep it sideways but the man jumps into the air dodging my attack. I see him raising his arms above his head aiming to swing down his hammer towards me but I didn¡¯t stop running. Then, he swings his hammer down but I am no longer in the reach of the hammer part. I swing my sword upwards with both of my hand while giving it all of my strength aiming at the wooden handle. The handle was cleanly cut and numbness spread in my hands but I let my sword flow towards his neck. I know I am going to kill this guy but it is a dream so I should not let my moral affect me right now. The sword manages to cut his neck sending his head flying while scattering blood here and there. His neck looks like a fountain because of the blood spurting out from it but I didn¡¯t let it bother me. There are still 3 enemies at my back! I run towards the forest while hearing an enrage screams at my back. Suddenly, I feel something uncomfortable at my back so I quickly turn my body towards it only to see a spear aiming at my chest. I tried to avoid it but it pierces my right shoulder and pain started to run at my body. ¡®Weird¡­ I should not feel pain if this is a dream¡¯ but my thoughts was taken by the pain of spear being pulled out of my wound. After that, I can¡¯t feel my right hand and I can see the sword slipping out from it. I hurriedly catch it with my left hand and deflect an incoming spear. After successfully deflecting it, I can see the axe user swing down his axe so I deflect it again but matching the timing I am deflecting the axe, the spear user once again strike at me. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡®Shit!¡¯ I hurriedly twist my body but the spear managed to graze my body leaving a mark on my leather armor. At that time, I thought I am saved but the leader joins the attack and swing his sword aiming at my neck. I jump backwards while the sword manages to leave a small cut on my neck. It¡¯s not fatal just a small cut but I never thought that I can avoid that attack. My feet successfully lands on the ground but the hammer that I cut before made me trip and I fall down on my butt. Without letting go of that chance, the axe user and spear user attacks me. The axe user¡¯s attack has a short reach so I tried to deflect the spear that aimed at my chest. Upon deflecting the strike at my chest, the spear continues to come forward and if I leave it alone, it will pierce my face! I tilted my face sideward but the spear still managed to cut my cheeks but without waiting for the spear user to withdraw his weapon, the axe user swings his weapon aiming at my head. I quickly block his weapon but due to his swing, I almost let go of my sword and let his attack land on me. The axe user suddenly grinned and put pressure to my sword forcing me to give my strength towards it and after a while, I understand why he grinned. The sword user intended to stab my face while the spear user aims at my chest. This is it¡­ Its game over I close my eyes and brace myself to the incoming pain but it never happen. I guess when you were stab in the face you won¡¯t feel it since it will surely skewer your brain¡­ But to think that I assumed this is a dream¡­ Well, it can¡¯t be help after all those unrealistic I¡¯ve experience starting at the jeepney, I¡¯ll really think that it is a dream as a way to escape reality. So, I died two times in a single day¡­ Nobody can do that Jasper! *Thud thud thud* A sound of body collapsing to the ground could be heard while I accept the fact that I am going to die. I feel the pressure in my left slowly disappear while the axe seems to be falling slowly. ¡°Hey¡­ Open your eyes.¡± I heard a girl voice talking to me. Is this the voice of the God? I thought that God is a man since I was a kid but¡­ It is a god so gender doesn¡¯t matter to him/her/it right? Just as the voice said, I slowly open my eyes and what I saw is the axe user with an arrow embedded to its temple. I look around and see the spear user¡¯s corpse with an arrow at the back of its head the same goes for the leader. The sword is currently pointing at my groin. ¡°I¡¯m¡­. still alive?¡± I muttered and look towards the girl who said to open my eyes. She¡¯s wearing a brown villager dress while holding a basket full of herbs on her right hand. Her black hair fall down towards her waist and a handkerchief tied on her head like a hat. Her black eyes under her glasses seem to be worried about me. Her face that put model to shame and she gives a strict person aura due to wearing glasses. A familiar face with her familiar voice, the girl standing in front of me is none other than Kaezar Padilla¡­ ¡°K-kaezar¡­.¡± I muttered as I lose my consciousness due to exhaustion. \ \ \ I wake up facing a white ceiling. ¡°I see¡­ I lost consciousness¡± I said to myself as I, Kaezar Padilla, am looking around for my glasses. My eyesight is bad so I can only roughly see the shape of my surroundings. On my right, there¡¯s a blurry shape of a desk and there I saw the familiar shape of my glasses. I reach out my hand to it and notice that there is someone sitting in a chair before the bed, since I can¡¯t see that person clearly, I don¡¯t know who it is so I wear my glasses and look at that person again. It is a man with a blonde hair while his pair of brown eyes looks at me while smiling. He¡¯s wearing the university uniform a proof that he¡¯s a student enrolled in this university. He is Jack Anderson, a half-American half-Pilipino student. He¡¯s also working as student assistant on the university clinic so I met him before since I have a sickly body. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± He said while smiling but on his eyes, you can see that he¡¯s worried about me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for bothering you again.¡± ¡°No no, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s my job as a student assistant¡­ and even if it¡¯s not my job, I¡¯ll still take care of you.¡± ¡°!¡± H-h-how can he say something like that without feeling embarrassed! Jack is, how should I say this, an informal suitor of mine? Well in my first year as a student in this university, I met him in this place and with the same situation. He¡¯s a year above me and even back then, he¡¯s working here. The first time we met was when I fainted at school orientation seminar. Since then he¡¯s taking care of me every time I faint and one day, he declared that he loves me and ask if it¡¯s okay for him to court me. I rejected him but instead of giving up, he continued to court me until today. It¡¯s been a year already but he hasn¡¯t given up yet. Seriously, I already told him over and over again that I have someone I like and relationship isn¡¯t my priority right now but he just smiled and said ¡°I can wait you know¡­ and even if you like someone as long as you¡¯re not in a relationship with him, I can still court you right?¡± That statement of his made me speechless and just said ¡°Do as you like!¡± But please, don¡¯t think badly of me, I clearly told him that I don¡¯t like him, romantically, but he still continues to do it. I don¡¯t know why his still courting me even though he¡¯s popular with other girls. I keep my head down hoping that he won¡¯t notice my flushed face. ¡®Seriously! This guy is persistent! Does he love me that much?¡¯ The door of the clinic suddenly opens and I can hear hurried steps towards me. I look up and see my cousin, Graziel, looking at me worriedly but when she noticed Jack, she smile shrewdly. What¡¯s up with that smile! ¡°Jack, I¡¯m sorry for bothering your ¡®Quality Time¡¯ but I am worried for my cousin¡­. Well, she¡¯s already awake so I think she¡¯s already alright. The third wheel is now exiting the scene~~ Good luck!¡± ¡°W-w-w-what¡¯s with this ¡®Quality Time¡¯?! I-it¡¯s not like that!¡± I shouted at Graziel while my face feels hot. She really likes to tease us! Jack is simply doing his work nothing more nothing less! And what did she mean by ¡®third wheel¡¯? We aren¡¯t doing anything so why would she be a third wheel! ¡°Hey, stop teasing her. Look, her face is now read.¡± Thank you Jack! Go and scold her more! ¡°Well, she¡¯s cuter while embarrassed right?¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, she¡¯s cuter this way.¡± Jack said while smiling refreshingly. ¡°Aahh!! Seriously! You two really get along! Jack! Why don¡¯t you just shift your attention to my cousin since you two get along too well!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, Kaezar is jealous of me?¡± My cousin said while hiding her mischievous smile with her hand. Hearing that, Jack chuckled and said¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t be jealous Kaezar, my love is for you alone.¡± This guy!!! ¡°I¡¯M GOING TO SLEEP SO LEAVE ME ALONE BOTH OF YOU!¡± I pull the blanket and cover my whole body with it while facing my back to them. Seriously, Graziel likes to tease me and Jack can naturally say those embarrassing lines with a straight face! I close my eyes as I hear them giggle behind me. \ \ \ After a while we hear the relaxed breathing of Kaezar while I, Jack Anderson, face her cousin Graziel. ¡°Thank you for helping me divert her attention.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯m quite worried about her and I think that being alone with you will not help her right now.¡± Graziel said while she pull down the blanket of Kaezar to her shoulder while taking her glasses. ¡°But seriously, I am quite impressed by you. You keep on loving her even though you know that she loves somebody else. Not anyone can do that¡­¡± Yup, I already know she loves somebody else. She already told me that but she never mentions a name. Even if she didn¡¯t tell me who it is, I already know. The guy she likes is Jasper Perez, a student of different university and I heard that he¡¯s her classmate on her high school days. I already met him due to our common friends and every time I see her with him, her smile can¡¯t be compared to her normal smile. As if she¡¯s enjoying every second she spend with him. It hurts when I see her smile like that and how many times did my mind told me to give up yet¡­ here I am hoping that one day, that smile of her will be directed to me. I guess I really love her that much¡­. But there is something I don¡¯t understand about that guy. I can feel that he also love her but he¡¯s not making any move towards her. As if something¡¯s holding him back and that ¡®something¡¯ is strong enough for him to hold back, I wanted to ask him about it but every time I tried to ask, my chest hurt and thought that if he became free of that something then he would take her away¡­ that thought scares me the most. I smiled bitterly on my cowardice¡­ ¡°Hey, is there news about ¡®that¡¯ incident?¡± I ask Graziel about ¡®that¡¯. That incident is the cause why Kaezar fainted, the incident where an abandoned jeepney was found in the middle of the road. Normally, if that happens then we would just feel a little worried about our own safety but sadly enough, that guy, Jasper Perez, is a passenger of that jeepney. The guy that Kaezar loves, my love rival and my friend. ¡°There¡¯s none, the police are still investigating about it and I think it will take too long before they solve it.¡± The mysterious disappearance of the driver and the passengers of a certain jeepney¡­ I heard it on the news that the jeepney was in a bad shape and there are traces of blood inside but the strange thing is, there are no corpses inside only their belongings are found. If this done by a terrorist group then they will surely ask for ransom money from the government but strangely enough the terrorist group isn¡¯t asking for a ransom money nor claiming that they did it. The police believed that every person inside the jeepney was dead but I feel that isn¡¯t the case¡­ If they really are dead, then why there¡¯s no corpses to be found, even if the perpetrator hid the corpses, there will be a track of blood that leads to it but there are none. Honestly, I don¡¯t know what is happening in this country right now¡­ Seriously, where are you right now Jasper? I can¡¯t stand seeing Kaezar like this, so even if you take her away from me, right now I think it¡¯s okay. Just let me see her smile lovingly even if it¡¯s not for me¡­ Chapter 3 – Dayo I woke up facing an unfamiliar ceiling made up of wood. I, Jasper Perez, seem to pass out after the battle with the bandits. Seriously, I thought I¡¯m gonna die there but thankfully someone saved me. I recall the last girl I saw before I passed out and she really looks like Kaezar. Maybe I just mistaken someone as Kaezar since I experienced a near death situation there or rather, I was sure I will be killed there, and my mind isn¡¯t functioning that well. I shrugged my shoulder but I feel intense pain from my right shoulder. Looking at it, it has a bandage wrap around it and there¡¯s a blood stain on it and it seems that my shirt and armor were taken off. Feeling pain once more, the fact that this isn¡¯t a dream becomes more solid at my mind. If so, where am I? This isn¡¯t Earth since there are these status windows which can only be found in games and there¡¯s also that bipedal boxer rabbit I encounter. Also this world resembles a game too much which will make you doubt that this is reality. Have I transported to another world like the web novels I read? Well, there¡¯s no denying it right now. I somehow ended up here while riding a jeepne¡ªwait¡­ before I came here, I saw something weird back at Earth. A man, or should I say a monster was following the jeepney I am riding then after that man vanished, a giant worm appeared and swallowed the jeepney whole¡­ So does that mean that I and other people inside the jeepney, died at that time? Isn¡¯t it a setting for this kind of occurrence that I will meet a god and will be given a cheat abilities then I¡¯ll become OP? Why that didn¡¯t happen to me? I want cheat ability too! And also, that god should explain the rules and¡ªat that time, I remembered the tutorial pace I passed after the first time I opened my eyes here. ¡°Seriously, the god here likes to cut corners¡­ Is it really that bothersome to meet us?¡± I muttered jokingly as I scratch my head with my left hand, actually I tried to use my right hand due to my habits but when I tried to raise it, the pain on my shoulder returns. ¡°The problem now is how I will get back to Earth¡­¡± I muttered again as I look around the room. The room and its furniture are all made up of wood. There¡¯s a wooden cabinet on my left while the window and the desk are at my right. At the desk, my glasses are there so I take it and wore it. My eyesight isn¡¯t that bad but it¡¯s a little blurry so I wear glasses so that I can look at the scenery at high definition but that¡¯s not the only reason I bought glasses, I can¡¯t read the notes written by my professor at the board if I don¡¯t have my glasses. The topic seems to go astray so I¡¯ll continue to describe the room. Besides where my glasses are, there¡¯s my shirt properly folded. I grab it and wear it since I feel a little cold wearing nothing at my top. I look outside the window, since the room I currently staying didn¡¯t have that much furniture, and see some people passing by. They all wear a villager¡¯s clothes usually seen in games. Some of them are carrying a woven baskets, some of them contains different goods while the others are empty. I can also see some armed people that look like cosplayers maybe they¡¯re adventurers or something similar since it is the standard for different world story, for now let¡¯s call them adventurers(temp), and there¡¯s also some people who seems to be guards wearing uniformed armor patrolling around the area. I can also see some peddlers from afar dealing with their own respective costumers. The outside seems to be peaceful but at the same time scary. Scary since in this world where monsters exist, you wouldn¡¯t know when will they raid this village. If I remember it right, this village is surrounded by a forest and there¡¯s a mountain range nearby which can be a den of monsters waiting for a chance to attack this village. The time I acknowledge that this isn¡¯t a dream, those thought came crashing at me. Even if there are people who armed themselves with weapons, even if there¡¯s guard patrolling at the village, I can¡¯t feel safe within this village especially since this village don¡¯t have a wall that can intercept the monster if they invade. Of course there those guards and adventurers(temp) that can protect non-combatant people but who know what are they going to do in time of crisis. They might just save themselves and flee while the monsters attack other person. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust others but it¡¯s just that I am aware of the fact that there¡¯s a possibility that they, combat capable people, can abandon us, non-combat capable people, in case of emergency. I don¡¯t leave my back to someone whom I don¡¯t trust. After all, who knows when they will stab or abandon you? The door creaks open and I turn my attention to it. The one who entered is the Kaezar look alike. They exactly look each other alike that you will think that they are twins, except that the Kaezar I know is on the Earth and her hair isn¡¯t that long. They both wear glasses and gives a strict person aura but this Kaezar here looks a little bit sickly than the Kaezar there. She¡¯s holding a tray with wooden cup and spoon. There¡¯s a steam rising from the cup that indicates that it¡¯s freshly cook. ¡°You¡¯re already awake? I brought food, would like some?¡± Even her voice is the same with her. If I still believe that this is a dream then I will surely embarrass myself. You know when you¡¯re aware that you are dreaming and the girl you love suddenly appeared in front of you, you¡¯d surely try saying some cheesy lines or two since you know that it will be over after you¡¯ve wakes up. I¡¯m really glad that I realized that this isn¡¯t a dream earlier, if not¡­ Jasper will embarrass himself! ¡°Ah yes. Thank you¡­¡± Still, I don¡¯t know her name. Should I ask? I guess I should ask but asking about her name suddenly might look like I¡¯m picking her up so I should ask it naturally if the opportunity shows itself. For the time being, let¡¯s call here Kaezar(temp). Kaezar(temp) places the food at the desk and pulls a chair underneath it. ¡°Can you eat by yourself? Would you like me to help you?¡± If it won¡¯t bother you then yes¡­ Is what I wanted to say but I hold back. Naturally, if a beautiful girl asks if she can feed you then you¡¯ll say yes if you are a man. What? What about being wary to strangers that I talk about before? Let me say this clearly, every rule has an exemption and this one is counted as such but sadly I can¡¯t say yes in this situation. I wanted to say yes, I really do but given that I need to learn things about this world, I can¡¯t act selfishly. After all, what if I did something that contradicts they¡¯re common sense then I would look strange to them and besides, it¡¯s not my role to break common sense-chan of this world. Leave it to the reincarnated/transported person with cheat like abilities! I may count as a reincarnated/transported person but sadly, I don¡¯t have a cheat like abilities. So common sense-chan! Do your best to avoid those kinds of persons! You¡¯re relative in some novels are already broken, especially from a certain God of Loli who broke your relative for consecutive 15 volumes and still counting! ¡°No, I can eat by myself¡± Regrettably, that is my answer to her wonderful proposal. If I only have cheat like abilities then I would not care about broking the common sense-chan of this world. Tsk. ¡°I see. Well then, I have a few questions for you so I hope you will answer me honestly.¡± I nodded at her since this will be a chance to learn a little about common sense-chan of this world and also I can ask her some question while I give my reply to her. ¡°Then first, who are you?¡± ¡°I am Jasper Perez, a man with a [Villager] job.¡± ¡°A noble?¡± ¡°Ah no, I¡¯m just a commoner.¡± It seems that only nobles has last name in this world. Kaezar(temp) narrowed her eyes for a second but proceeded to question me. I hope my answer isn¡¯t that strange¡­. Wait¡­ If you found someone with a [Villager] job wearing armor and at the same time wielding a sword fighting a bandit, it¡¯s strange by itself already¡­ ¡°Okay, then what are you doing in the forest?¡± ¡°That¡­ I don¡¯t know. After I wake up this morning? I found myself in the middle of it and walk randomly hoping to encounter human being.¡± The reason why there¡¯s a question mark above ¡®waking up this morning¡¯ is because I don¡¯t know for how many hours I slept before waking up now. ¡°Don¡¯t worry you¡¯re just asleep for about an hour.¡± Maybe I¡¯m showing it at my face since she reassures me. ¡°Then how did you ended up meeting those bandits?¡± She¡¯s asking me those questions before with calm tone and clear eyes but when she asked this question the tone is the same but her eyes¡­ It seems that she¡¯s suspecting me. Maybe she thinks that I am one of those bandits and we somehow ended up fighting with each other. Well, it seems plausible so her worries are understandable. ¡°After walking for hours, I found the highway and walk forward following it. After walking for a while, I can already see this village from afar but sadly the bandit came out before I managed to enter this village and I fought with my all until you saved me. By the way thank you err¡ª?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Kaezar.¡± Now I don¡¯t know how I should react on this. Should I be glad since I guessed her name correctly? Or should I found it strange that she has the same name as someone I know. In fact, they have the same voice, the same face, the same height and body tone, and now they have the same name? The only difference between them is that this Kaezar here has a longer hair than the Kaezar there.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Thank you Kaezar.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. But still, encountering a bandit after finally getting out of the forest, what a bad luck you have there. Anyways, where do you live?¡± At her question, I found myself lost for words. Where do I live? I honestly don¡¯t know about the geography of this world or the names of villages of this kingdom. Should I just say some random village names? Or should I say that I came from another world? Well, who will believe me when I said the latter. ¡°That¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Kaezar said while her face looks worried. Maybe she thinks that I suffer from amnesia. That¡¯s not a bad setting. If I suffer from amnesia then I¡¯ll have a reason to ask her many strange questions but I already give her my name! I should have just said something like ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯ or ¡®I don¡¯t remember¡¯! ¡°¡­¡¯ For a while now, Kaezar opens her mouth and closes it again hesitating to ask something to me. I wonder what it is. I am quite curious about what she¡¯s going to ask but seeing her being hesitant about it I don¡¯t want to know what it is. It might be something serious or something that will clearly be hard to answer. Let¡¯s just hope that she concluded that I am an amnesia patient. Her hesitation lasted for about a minute (not sure about it, it might be quicker than a minute but that¡¯s how I feel) when the door opens once again. The one who entered the room is a man wearing a brown shirt with a leather apron that has fresh stains of green colored liquid, carrying a test tube made of clay. His black hair is cut short making him look professional. He also has a well-kept beard compared to the other person outside. ¡°Oh you¡¯re awake. Then drink this.¡± He gives me the test tube telling me to drink it. I wonder what the content of this test tube is. ¡°Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s just a normal medicine. It will only help you recover faster so there¡¯s no need to be on guard.¡± Does it really show at my face? I¡¯m pretty confident at faking my emotions on the surface and most of the people I know can¡¯t really tell if I¡¯m faking it or not, except to some people who are close to me they can easily figure out if I¡¯m pretending or not. ¡°Thank you.¡± I timidly reach out my hand to the medicine. I pull out its cork and sniff it. The strong smell of herbs invaded my nose and basing on the smell alone, I can tell that this medicine is bitter. I slowly lift it to my mouth but I hesitate before drinking it. I look at Kaezar and the man and they¡¯re just looking at me as if they¡¯re asking why do I hesitate to drink the medicine? I slowly drink the content and the bitterness spreads on my mouth. I want to put it down already but they say that this is a medicine so I better drink it all. I just hope that it really is a medicine. I guess I can doubt if this medicine is legit right? I mean I grow up in a place where the medicines have labels with their generic name printed on it so this is the first time I am drinking an unknown medicine. After drinking the medicine, my right shoulder feels hot and somehow it feels like something is gushing out from it. That something is somehow connected to me and I can clearly feel it moving closer to each other. After a while, that feeling is gone and somehow the hot feeling in my right shoulder faded away. I¡¯m glad that¡¯s it really is a medicin¡ªHuh? Suddenly my head feels light and sight looks like its rotating. I tried to rub my eye but my hand refuses to move. I even tried to speak and shout but my mouth refuses to open and my voice refuses to come out. Cold sweat started to form at my forehead as I helplessly watch the whole world spin in front of me. I-is this a side effect of the medicine? If I only know that ¡®that¡¯ has this kind of side effect that I shouldn¡¯t drunk it! Shit! It¡¯s really correct to doubt every stranger I met! ¡°It seems that the medicine is taking effect.¡± ¡°Yes, it sure does.¡± ¡°Okay let¡¯s try it. [Raise your right hand]¡± My right hand slowly raised itself without my intervention. I want to put it down but my body refuses to follow my command. Congratulations Jasper! You just got drugged! Fuck me right?! ¡°[Answer me honestly], who are you?¡± The man asks while creasing his beard. F*CK YOU!!! I know that finding someone fighting a bandit, moreover, alone and armed you¡¯ll get suspicious but isn¡¯t drugging the person just to get an answer is wrong in different ways!! I have my human rights so you can¡¯t do this to me! ¡°Jasper Perez.¡± Tsk... They have a complete control at me. ¡°Why have you fought those bandits?¡± ¡°They tried to rob me but I resisted leading to the battle before.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not one of them?¡± The man narrows his eyes while looking at me curiously. It feels like he¡¯s not looking at a human but an animal. Yup, for him I look like an animal which mean that I don¡¯t have human rights. Is this the reality of those fantasy novels? The one who was summoned/transported into another world was stripped off of their human rights? Hahahaha! Don¡¯t joke with me! Please bring me back to my old world God! ¡°I¡¯m not¡± I think my voice become indifferent as time passed by. It¡¯s still my voice but there¡¯s no emotion on it. ¡°Where did you come from?¡± ¡°From the Republic of the Philippines¡± I hate that drug. It let you speak something that you wanted to hide. I don¡¯t want them to know about where I came from since it will surely be weird for them that I am not from the same world as them. ¡°Republic of the Philippines? Where is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s on the south east of the continent of Asia¡± Kaezar asked but I think it¡¯s not a question directed to me since she lowers her head pondering about it. Damn it! So you¡¯re telling me that as long as I hear a question I¡¯ll answer that honestly? F*ck! Kaezar look at me with her eyes full of doubt. She might be thinking that I am lying but I¡¯m not. It¡¯s just that I am an other-worlder so you won¡¯t know about it since that country is on another world. ¡°Philippines you say¡­ Continent of Asia¡­ Are you perchance, someone who came from another world?¡± The man asks the question that I don¡¯t want to hear. Ahhh.. It¡¯s done.. ¡°Yes¡± You know f*ck you for using that kind of drug. His eyes opened wide and stares at me curiously. It seems that he really is interested to other-worlders like me. Well, of course he will be interested at me after all, I have this kind of other-worldly knowledge about different stuffs. Even if I don¡¯t know how to make something, just that knowledge alone can help you create something akin to those. The man opens his mouth and I braced myself to be ask about some random things about my previous world. ¡°Did you know who Percival¡­ Uh.. what¡¯s his last name again at that world¡­.. Pendragon? No.. That¡¯s his last name right now¡­ It starts with Pe¡­ Hmmmm¡­ Peras?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Perez, same as this one dad.¡± Oh. The man who f*cking drugged me is the father of Kaezar. But Percival Perez? That name is something I¡¯m familiar with. After all, it¡¯s the name of my father who died when I was a kid. ¡°Yes right. Perez¡­ Do you know who Percival Perez is?¡± ¡°Yes¡± But then again, it might be someone I know I should have not said that. Instead I should have said that ¡®I might know him¡¯ but then again, I don¡¯t have any control on my body and speech right now. Seriously, f*ck that drug! I hope that the one who invented it die in a miserable way. ¡°No¡­ He said that he¡¯s not the only one with that name¡­ Okay next question, do you know Percival Perez of Libmanan, Camarines Sur?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s my father.¡± ¡°Father you say? So he¡¯s telling the truth about being reincarnated¡­ That battle junkie¡­¡± Reincarnated? My father? Right now¡­ I don¡¯t know what the f*ck is happening. I am aware that this world is like a fantasy but having a transported people along with reincarnated one, how many settings did this world have? If this world also has a method to summon a [Hero] I won¡¯t be surprised anymore. ¡°[Dispel]¡± Kaezar¡¯s father cast something on my and I am covered with green light. As the green light dimly covered my whole body, my sight straightens and I can finally move. I quickly put my hand in front of me like a boxer getting ready to fight. I really can¡¯t let my guard down towards these people! Even though one of them looks the same, has the same voice, and has the same appearance of someone I trust, it ended up that I can¡¯t trust her. Well, I should have done that in the beginning! Just because she looks the same as her it means that I can trust her! I¡¯m such an idiot. ¡°Relax. We aren¡¯t that bad.¡± ¡°Yeah sure! Someone who drugged someone isn¡¯t bad!¡± ¡°In the first place, I only drugged you to get answers truthfully¡­ Well, it can¡¯t be help since he also said that drugging people isn¡¯t a good thing. Honestly, you [Dayo] were concerned about weird things.¡± [Dayo]? The hell is that? Maybe I am showing at my face that I don¡¯t undersand what he¡¯s saying, he explained to me what [Dayo] is. [Dayo] are people who comes from different world. They look exactly as [Human Race] and also has the same strength as them but they posses other-worldly information. There are some items that were made by these [Dayo] like [Toilet], [Bath] and other items. Of course, that f*cking drug is something that was made by a [Dayo] whom he found lying down in the middle of the road. [Dayo], in Filipino language in means someone who came from another place. What a fitting name for someone like us. ¡°Still that drug really is effective. The main purpose of that drug is to heal the user but it has a weird side effect¡­ If it only doesn¡¯t have that kind of side effect, I can gladly sell it to the market¡­ Kaezar, I¡¯ll be checking up on him so I¡¯ll leave the rest to you.¡± Kaezar¡¯s father turns around and walk outside the room leaving us and Kaear alone. Upon closing the door, my body suddenly feels weak and my consciousness begins to blur out. I don¡¯t know what is happening to me¡­ Maybe this is just another side effect of that drug¡­ Seriously¡­. I want to punch who ever made tha¡­. \ \ \ P.O.V Kaezar (Fantasy World) I am Kaezar of Pinar Village, daughter of Fernando the alchemist. I am currently 20 years old but I still don¡¯t have any experience about love. Normally, at the age of 15-19 are the ages where girls married here but I am not the same as the other girls. I have an incurable sickness. That reason is strong enough to keep me single all these years. I can¡¯t handle heavy works and just carrying some heavy objects almost made me tired. With this kind of body I can¡¯t afford to have a lover. What if I accept one then this body collapses isn¡¯t it too pitiful to the guy who loves me if I die in an early age? Many tried to court me but I reject them all. After rejecting them, all of them gave up but there¡¯s this one boy who keeps on courting me at least that¡¯s how I feel since he doesn¡¯t confess to me. As time goes by I feel that I slowly fall for him and there are many times that I want him to be my lover but in the end, I didn¡¯t tell him. I¡¯m afraid¡­ Afraid that I¡¯ll hurt him if I accept him as my lover then leaving him, if I only don¡¯t have a sickness then maybe, just maybe, I live happily as his wife but what can I do if I have this kind of sickness? The doctor from the capital said that my sickness came from my heart and even they aren¡¯t really clear about the details of my sickness, they just know it by symptoms according to some [Dayo] who used to be a doctor back in his original world and sadly, that [Dayo] was already dead and only his books were left. It¡¯s a book which contain different symptoms of different diseases and how to cure them but instead of cure, what¡¯s written on my sickness is ¡®No cure except Surgical Operation. Sadly this world medicine isn¡¯t that advance and the patient may die if done wrongly¡¯ making me and my father accept my fate. It¡¯s also written that someone with these kind of sickness doesn¡¯t live long if they don¡¯t undertake an operation. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t want to be someone lover. That person keeps on taking care of me which makes me wonder if one day I would reject him like others. That man is known as Jasper. Jasper grew up with me after he was found by our chief in the middle of the forest alone. Apparently, he doesn¡¯t know his own origins and even his own name. The chief felt pity to him and adopt him giving him a name of Jasper. Back then, he keeps his distance on everybody but as time goes by he became close with everybody. He was known as the man who keeps on helping others and he became an [Adventurer] because of that. In the evening, he told me that he¡¯s going to hunt some [Feral Owl] since they started to attack the livestock of the villagers. Of course I stop him but he just smiled and brushes my head roughly saying ¡®You¡¯re worried about me? Instead of worrying about a healthy person take care of yourself¡¯ then he left. I don¡¯t know why but I feel something bad is going to happen. I want him just to stay here tonight and give up about hunting those [Feral Owl] other [Adventurer] can take the quest but in the end I didn¡¯t stop him. I just prayed to the Goddess Mass to take care of him. \ \ \ The next day I woke up feeling something important to me was gone. It feels like I forget something special and my heart hurt so much. Tears flow down from my eyes as I hold my hand across my breast. ¡®If I stop him from going out that time, then I won¡¯t be experiencing this kind of pain¡¯ is the thought that¡¯s running inside my mind. But who is ¡®he¡¯? I don¡¯t know but I feel that it¡¯s someone important to me. Important enough to make me cry like this. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening to me. I don¡¯t know who I should stop from going out last night. It¡¯s just that, it hurts that I don¡¯t remember who is ¡®he¡¯ and it hurts even more that I should stop ¡®him¡¯ last night by all means possible. But, it¡¯s already too late¡­ He¡¯s already gone and I won¡¯t see him again¡­ Even though I don¡¯t remember his name, his face or his voice but I know that I love him and I know that right now, he¡¯s gone in this world forever. *Knock Knock* Someone knock from my door so I quickly wipe away my tears and opened the door. It¡¯s my father Fernando saying that someone accepted my request from the [Adventurer¡¯s Guild]. That request is about helping me gather herbs used at creating medicine. \ \ \ After harvesting the required herbs, I let the swordsman of the team to carry my basket. Knowing my circumstances, the swordsman easily accepted it. He¡¯s carrying three baskets, two at his hand and one was tied on his back. As we are walking towards the village, the archer suddenly signals us to stop. I asked him what is wrong but he just pointed some men fighting each other. There are five of them and only one of them looks clean. The clean one, slashes to hammer user¡¯s throat and tried to retreat towards the forest but the other¡¯s didn¡¯t let him run away. ¡°What to do?¡± The archer asked me but I don¡¯t really know what to do right now. I don¡¯t know who¡¯s the good guy here but when I look at the clean one, my chest feels light and somehow my heart beats fast. Today, something weird is happening to me when I wake up this morning, I cried and now my hearts beats fast as if it¡¯s rejoicing. ¡°For now, maybe protect him I guess?¡± I don¡¯t have any concrete reason on why should we protect him but my heart told me so, so I¡¯ll just trust it. After the archer killed the other three guys, I walk towards the guy. He looks familiar but I don¡¯t know where I met him. He slowly opens his eyes and slowly looks at me and muttered my name. Maybe I really know him? Chapter 4 – Information Gathering He falls asleep again. I, Kaezar, daughter of Fernando, watch the sleeping face of the [Dayo] Jasper Perez. He said that he¡¯s the son of Uncle Percival Pendragon, the [Dragon Slayer]. Well, he really looks like him. His eyes and mouth is something he got from his father and maybe he¡¯s strong just like his father. His father, Percival Pendragon, is a reincarnated person from another world. Apparently, there¡¯s other world apart from our world Tala. Uncle said that the world he came from doesn¡¯t have any magic and the monsters were considered as works of fiction. He said that there are some ¡°games¡± and ¡°medias¡± that tells a story about people who were transported, summoned, or reincarnated on other worlds and he can¡¯t believe that he will be experiencing it. But, for him to fall asleep after drinking that drug¡­ He might be still too tired after that fight. I don¡¯t know how he did it but he managed to survive fighting four people at a time and even managed to kill one of them. Maybe it could be explain by saying ¡°As expected of Pendragon¡¯s Son!¡±. I heard from uncle that the act of killing is forbidden in his world so the people there aren¡¯t comfortable with killing each other. How I wish I was born on that world instead. In this world you need strength to survive since you won¡¯t know when would monsters or bandits attack the village so almost all citizen of this village knows how to use bows, of course it¡¯s just at the beginner level but it can still buy us sometimes before the help arrive. If we could live in a world where I don¡¯t need to fear about the threat of monsters and bandits then we can live peacefully only thinking about how to earn money to sustain ourselves. Haaa~. I pick up the tray and get out of the room. Since I don¡¯t have anything to do right now maybe I should help at compounding medicine. I might not look like it but I know how to compound some simple medicines. \ \ \ The compounding room is located in a shed outside our house. It¡¯s also, the same as any other building in our village, made up of wood. It¡¯s a big shed since it also acts as our warehouse where we put the raw materials on compounding medicines. As I walk closer to the room, you¡¯ll notice the odor of herbs and the odor got stronger as you walk closer to the door. I open the door and the odor of herbs becomes much stronger than before. I closed the door and put on the apron which is hanging behind it. There¡¯s also a cloth used to cover your mouth and nose and of course, I put it on with this, the strong odor decreases. Inside the room, there are different sizes of shelves. There are small ones which contain the tools use for compounding, the medium sized ones which contains finished product and lastly, the large one which contain different pots holding different kind of herbs. There¡¯s also a large table in the middle of the room where my father and the other [Dayo] are silently making medicines. The big table looks like a small one due to many tools, pots, and other items atop of it. The [Dayo] is a big fat guy. This guy was found by my father loitering inside the forest. I don¡¯t know why but most of the [Dayo]s are found inside the forest maybe there¡¯s a rule or law about it. Well, there are some cases where a [Dayo] was actually seen being transported in the middle of the city that happened 500 years ago I think? I just read it to some books telling the history of this country, you might think we¡¯re rich since we have a book but sadly it¡¯s given by uncle Percival. Anyways, the [Dayo]¡¯s name is Gino Cruz. He said that he¡¯s from other world and got thrown in this world without him noticing. The last thing he remembers was he¡¯s riding a vehicle called ¡°jeepney¡± while watching an ¡°anime¡± on his ¡°laptop¡±. I don¡¯t really understand what those things are but he said that ¡°jeepney¡± is like a carriage and the difference is, it doesn¡¯t need horse to run. The ¡°anime¡± is one of the ¡°medias¡± that uncle Percival talked about and ¡°laptop¡± is a tool used to watch ¡°anime¡± but that isn¡¯t the main purpose of it. Well, he also explains its main purpose but the words he said get harder and harder so I really don¡¯t remember it. Ah right, he¡¯s also the one who created that medicine. Apparently, he¡¯s making a magic medicine called potion but failed and that is the result. Potions are expensive medicine that can heal the wound of the user. We also sell potions but it¡¯s rarely bought due to it being expensive which can¡¯t be avoided since the ingredients used to create it were hard to gather or expensive in the market. Right now, father and Gino are researching a new recipe for creating potion using easily harvested ingredients. They almost succeeded only if it only don¡¯t have that kind of side effect. ¡°Ah, Kaezar. You don¡¯t need to help us here. Just look for the shop since there might be some costumer now.¡± Father said without looking at me. Well then, it can¡¯t be help I guess? I would like to learn more about compounding but there¡¯s no one who look after the shop so I guess I should get going. Our shop is the only one who deals with medicines so all of the people in this village bought their medicine in us. The shop is located at the front side of our house while this shed is on the back. Our shop also acts as a clinic where the patient can stay while recovering. ¡°I almost forgot tell Jasper that his friend is also here.¡± ¡°Friend?¡± ¡°Apparently Gino is a friend of Jasper since childhood so go tell him if he wakes up.¡± ¡°Ok¡± I take off my apron and mask and hang it on the back of the door again. I wonder why he prioritized compounding medicine than visiting his friend. Maybe they¡¯re fighting with each other¡­ \ \ \ Right now, I am watching the store. Though we call it a store there¡¯s only a desk can be seen in this room. There¡¯s no product to display since medicine are quick to go bad so we accept only request on what medicine the costumer want and my father compounded them. It might be time consuming but this way we can lessen our loss and most of the costumer tells the symptoms of their sickness or if they need it to heal a particular injury. Depending on what they say, my father compounds it. It¡¯s just an hour after lunch so there¡¯s almost no costumer right now. It might look our shop isn¡¯t going well but the fact is it¡¯s just the time of the day where the [Adventurers] are out in the field. They will probably come back at sun set and buy some healing medicine for their injuries. Of course some of them bought healing medicine before setting out but there are some who didn¡¯t and buy our products after they return. The latter groups are the type of [Adventurers] who hunts nearby and the former hunts deeper inside the forest where strong monsters lurks. What are [Adventurers]? They are a group of people who hunts monster and/or dive inside the [Dungeons]. They hunt monster to gather raw materials needed to produce different kinds of items, [Magic Stones] which serves as the monster¡¯s heart and use to enhance equipment and runs the magic tools used in our daily lives, or to gather food since most of them are edible. [Dungeons] are places where monster gathers and according to [Adventurers] the [Dungeons] are alive and they create monsters inside them and eat the remains of anything except the monster it created. They lure different living beings inside and let the monsters it created to kill it. Surprisingly, the monsters born inside the [Dungeons] doesn¡¯t need to eat to survive they just wander around inside the [Dungeons] hunting intruders so that the [Dungeons] can survive. There¡¯s also a gem which serves as a heart of it destroying it kills the dungeon and make it disappear as if it¡¯s not there in the first place so they say. Sometimes our costumers teach me about different things so I ended up knowing about this. ¡°A [Dayo] huh¡­¡± I silently mutter as I stare at the shop¡¯s door. [Dayo] a person who came from another world, it can be a summoned, like the [Hero] Ayskrimm, a transported, like Jasper and Gino, or a reincarnated one like uncle Percival. The reason why they appear on this world is still unknown but they said that it¡¯s a sign that something bad is going to happen. Personally, I think that something bad will happen if a [Dayo] was summoned than other cases (transported and reincarnated). Usually summoning a [Dayo] will make him/her a [Hero] and it¡¯s only permitted if the world will be facing a foe that the original residents can¡¯t manage. Well, summoning a [Dayo] or [Hero] is only possible by asking God. Many tried to recreate the magic circle used to summoning a [Hero] but no one succeeded. *Creeak* ¡°Excuse me~¡± A costumer shows up! I did my best to entertain the costumer and hopefully this kind of daily life continue! \ \ \ I, Jasper Perez, woke up again. This time the clouds are dyed with color red due to the setting of the sun. It¡¯s weird for me to have a dream about going to another world and getting trick to drink a drug. Yup, at least I want to make it a dream but sadly the reality is too harsh. It appears that the events that are best on dreams and fantasy stories are now my reality. ¡°Haa¡­¡± I sighed as I get up from the bed. Currently, I am in what you can call a fantasy world or more like a fantasy game world where level exist, monsters exist, hopefully magic exist, and that fucking drug exist. I scratched my head hard cursing my own destiny to have something like this. Yeah it would be great if I was given a cheat abilities just like the protagonist of transported people novel but sadly the God of this world, also the former, likes to skip explaining before transporting people. Maybe they act on a whim? But honestly, it¡¯s a pain. The first thing that happen after getting transported here is to kill a monster that look like a rabbit standing on its two feet and fight like a boxer then after it fighting four bandits at the same time. Luckily someone saves me and cure my wounds but sadly the medicine that I intake has a detestable side effect. It makes you answer all the question asks but I feel that it¡¯s not only limited on question, it feels like it can also control my body. Thankfully the guy who let me drink that medicine is not a bad guy, though it¡¯s debatable if he¡¯s really not a bad one. ¡°Oh yeah, my shoulder should be injured right?¡± I mutter at myself as I look at my right shoulder. There¡¯s a bandage on it and there¡¯s a trace of blood can be seen on the bandage. It looks painful but strangely it doesn¡¯t hurt. I rotate my shoulder just to try if there¡¯s something wrong but I can do it normally. Thank God because that medicine is effective at least. If only that side effect doesn¡¯t exist then I will feel gratitude with all of my heart. *Tok tok tok* Someone knock at the door and without waiting for my reply the door opens. Seriously, if you¡¯re going to knock and enter the door without waiting for a reply from someone inside then you should just enter without knocking. Well, there¡¯s a possibility of me being asleep but at least wait for about 5 seconds before entering. The one who enter is the Kaezar look alike. No her name is also Kaezar so I should say that the one who enter is Kaezar. Just like before, she¡¯s carrying a tray with a bowl of something. The tray and bowl are made up of wood and there¡¯s a wooden spoon beside the bowl. Right, I haven¡¯t eaten anything since I came in this world. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Kaezar asks while smiling. ¡°I think I¡¯m fine¡± I answered as I tried to get up of the bed but Kaezar said that I should rest because even though my wounds are now healed because of the medicine I haven¡¯t recovered my strength yet. ¡°Sorry for giving you that medicine¡± Kaezar said while she put the tray on the desk and pull out the chair on it. Seriously, why did they administer that medicine if they already knew the side effects of it? I want to say it out loud but thankfully nothing serious happen after I drink that medicine. The only thing they did was to ask me a few questions about myself and other than that they did nothing. If I were in their position and I also has that kind of medicine I think I will do the same, of course only in this world since in the previous world there¡¯s the so called ¡°Human Rights¡± where it protect the rights of the humans. But frankly, I think the human rights are being violated in our country in the past months. Ever since the new president sit at his position and declared the war on drugs, most of the news in the television, radios, and newspaper will have an article saying ¡°A drug pusher was caught then he resist the police and died!¡± and ¡°Another man was found dead at XX place and it was believed that the man was connected with drugs!¡±. Right now, the news about killings became fewer thankfully.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ll do the same thing if I were in your case.¡± Let¡¯s just tell something nice, though I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s nice to drug someone just to confirm their identities. ¡°And also about the one who created that drug¡­ Apparently, it¡¯s your friend Gino Cruz¡± Knowing who created the drug makes me angrier at it. That guy develops that kind of drug! What the hell is going on in his head!? Making a drug that can hypnotize someone on the pretext of healing them! If he uses it wrongly then I don¡¯t know what kind of criminal my friend would become. Well, if he¡¯s going to create it and share it with me then I would not be this angry though. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he don¡¯t have any ulterior motive on creating that drug. He¡¯s creating a magic potion from cheaper materials and it almost succeeded if it only didn¡¯t have that kind of side effect.¡± It may be showing on my face since Kaezar said something to support about him developing that drug. But magic potion huh¡­ Is it similar to the potion usually seen on games? The type of beverage/medicine that can restore HP of the user and basing on what Kaezar said, it seems to be expensive and Gino is finding a way to create that kind of drug using cheap materials. Learning about the circumstances behind it appeases my anger a little bit. Wait that accident happened when were together right? So how come he already started crafting even though a day hasn¡¯t passed when we appears here? ¡°Uhmm¡­ Gino is here right?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°May I ask for how long?¡± ¡°About a month now. He was found in the forest loitering at the forest looking curiously at his surroundings luckily he didn¡¯t encounter any monsters or bandits while he¡¯s inside the forest since he doesn¡¯t have any weapon to protect himself against them.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ He¡¯s really lucky if that is the case. As for me, after wandering for a bit, I encounter a monster then after finding a path I encounter some bandits¡± ¡°Yes he¡¯s lucky¡± But something¡¯s bothering me. How come that he¡¯s already staying in this world for a month now? We¡¯re together when that incident happened so how come that he came earlier than me? Maybe there¡¯s a queue on who¡¯s going to re-spawn in this world? But this confirms that I¡¯m not the only one who was transported from Earth to this world. Maybe every passenger of the jeepney was transported or is it just us who were transported? I think I need to investigate this. Maybe by investigating this I can get a clue on how could I return to Earth. ¡°By the way, where is he?¡± For now I guess I should talk with him about this world. I don¡¯t want to ask Kaezar since I don¡¯t want to take her time anymore but if it¡¯s her father then I won¡¯t hesitate to consume his time asking about every little thing. I think I have the right for it since he practically drugged me. ¡°Right now he¡¯s in the dining room eating.¡± ¡°Thanks. Ah can you guide me there?¡± ¡°Yes but only after you finished eating.¡± \ \ \ After eating the meal prepared by Kaezar, we are now walking towards the dining room. But seriously, I didn¡¯t expect to experience ¡®that¡¯ in this world. And by ¡®that¡¯ I mean the thing that the stupid couples that¡¯s so in-love with each other would typically do. Yes, I¡¯ve been hand fed by Kaezar though there¡¯s no romantic atmosphere at all it¡¯s only to the level of taking care of someone sick but it doesn¡¯t mean that the embarrassment I felt while being hand fed was a joke. My heart beats fast as I eat and I thought, ¡°When will I be release from this embarrassment¡±. It can¡¯t be help that I will feel embarrassed. Imagine you are being fed by someone you like though I know that the Kaezar here is a different person than the Kaezar in Earth but still they have the same voice and face which made me forgot that she and her are two different person. That scene before was something I am imagining that will happen if we ended up dating each other . I tried resisting but my resistance bears no fruit. She said that I am an injured person so I better let her feed me. I rebuked by saying that I¡¯m already alright due to the medicine but she shot me down by saying it¡¯s better to let my shoulder rest since that medicine was just a prototype and by no means it can heal injuries that fast. Haa¡­ When I tried to move my shoulder back then I don¡¯t feel any kind of problem but saying denying her goodwill will only make me look bad. But¡­ I must admit. I felt a little happy being hand fed by her. ¡°We¡¯re here¡± Oh we¡¯re already here. Should I be angry at him for creating that kind of medicine? Or should I feel happy that I¡¯ll met someone I know in this foreign world? There¡¯s no point on thinking about it right now so let¡¯s just meet him for now. The door opens and I see someone sitting in a relax fashion in a chair while drinking. He has this relax atmosphere around him as if he¡¯s in his house. How can he be that relaxed even though we are transported in an unknown world? Maybe he became familiar in this world since he¡¯s already here for a month but how come he came a month earlier than me here? Did I sleep for a month inside a forest? That¡¯s impossible. Sleeping defenselessly inside a forest full of dangers, what kind of fool would do that? ¡°Yo!¡± Gino casually said while putting his cup on the table. I look around the room to see if Kaezar¡¯s father is here but he¡¯s not. The dining room only has a simple table with chairs around it, a simple kitchen and a sink made of bamboo. So they has a bamboo here huh¡­ Somehow, instead of feeling I am in the medieval age Europe it feels like I am still somewhere in the Philippines visiting some relatives that were far from the reach of modern appliances. Of course if I ignore that sword wielding people and that medicine. ¡°How are you? Been a month right?¡± ¡°A month you say¡­ For me it¡¯s just a day though.¡± I said complainingly while thanking Kaezar for guiding me here. I proceeded to sit down at the chair facing Gino. Kaezar went to the kitchen preparing something. ¡°A day? I¡¯m already staying here for a month though and both of us was inside that jeepney when that happened you know?¡± Did I really sleep in the forest for a month without waking up? It seems impossible but if I really did then I really have a good luck. ¡°And also, there¡¯s someone I want you to meet but he¡¯s still not back¡­ Oi Kaezar! When will Jasper come back?¡± Jasper? Someone with the same name as me? ¡°Jasper? Who¡¯s that?¡± Kaezar looks at him confused with what he said. Her expression says ¡®I don¡¯t know who¡¯s that¡¯. ¡°You know, the one who passionately tried to win your heart even though you already rejected him. The one who went inside the forest last night to hunt Feral Owls, the one who looks exactly the same as that one while being a different person at the same time¡± Gino points his finger on me when he said the last part but I also have someone who looks like me? Seriously, what¡¯s with this world? Is this Edolas? ¡°Passionately? Rejected? Yes I rejected quite few men and all of them gave up. No one stays and tried to win my affection after being rejected though. Seriously, are you teasing me again?¡± Kaezar said with a fed up voice and Gino seems to be surprised by what she said. ¡°I am pretty sure that that guy existed.¡± Gino mutters to himself. I don¡¯t quite follow on what they are talking about but maybe it¡¯s something that I don¡¯t need to know since it happens before I came here. But something¡¯s bugging me¡­ Gino said that someone with the same appearance of me went inside the forest last night and hasn¡¯t come back since then and I wake up inside the forest at morning today¡­ It can¡¯t be that that Jasper died and I replaced him in the place where he died right? That can¡¯t be happening¡­ It¡¯s just a coincident that I wake up in the forest while that Jasper enters the forest last night. He might be drinking or eating at his own house right now and forgot to show his face here. Hahahahaha! That¡¯s it! it¡¯s just a coincidence. Even though Kaezar appears that she doesn¡¯t know him but I guess they¡¯re just playing a prank on me so that I feel agitated by that. You know, Gino likes this kind of joke and maybe he talks with Kaezar to go with him¡­ Yes¡­ That¡¯s it¡­ It¡¯s not that I replace the Jasper here at the moment he died. Yup¡­ ¡°Yeah I really like to tease people but come on, I mean, before he leaves he told me that he¡¯ll ask you again to be his lover and that night also you told me that you¡¯ll accept him right?¡± Even that flag isn¡¯t related to me right? That death flag isn¡¯t triggered right! There¡¯s no way that Jasper-kun died! He¡¯ll surely come back and ask Kaezar to be his lover again and they¡¯ll live happily ever after! ¡°?? What are you talking about? Certainly we talked with each other last night but it¡¯s not about that. We talked about¡­. Hmmmm¡­ What did we talked again last night?¡± She forgot!? ¡°I¡¯m telling you that it¡¯s about Jasper!¡± ¡°That guy?¡± Kaezar pointed at me. ¡°Not that guy! Certainly, he¡¯s Jasper but not him! The one who courted you!¡± ¡°As I am saying, I don¡¯t know who¡¯s Jasper you¡¯re talking about!¡± ¡°Jasper! You know that Jasper! Who was adopted by the village chief! The one who grew up with you! The one who continued to court you even though you already rejected him!¡± I don¡¯t know who are you but please Jasper-kun, come here and mediate with these two. Actually, it doesn¡¯t need to be you but can anyone stop this two! It feels that any moment now something will fly. It can be that wooden plate behind Kaezar or the cup at the table. ¡°Wait a minute! The village chief didn¡¯t adopt anyone!¡± ¡°Yes he does! And everyone in this village knows him! Ask your father and he surely knows him too!¡± ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll ask my father but if he don¡¯t know who¡¯s your talking about then I¡¯ll really get mad at you!¡± Kaezar left the room abandoning what she¡¯s doing in the kitchen well, she abandoned it ever since they got heated up discussing who¡¯s this Jasper. ¡°Seriously¡­ Why did she act as if he never existed? Even though she said that she loves him and now she¡¯ll act as if he never existed¡­ Did they fight or something?¡± Gino seems to be tired at their fierce exchange since he gulps down his cup. ¡°Uhmm.. Is it okay for me to ask something?¡± ¡°Ah.. yes.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s this Jasper you¡¯re talking about?¡± ¡°That guy¡­ He looks the same exactly as you.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ so where exactly are we? Are we in Edolas?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ How should I say this¡­ Well, let¡¯s just say that were in the world like Edolas but our counterpart here doesn¡¯t acts the opposite of us. Hmmm¡­ just think of this world as a parallel world but the technology came from the medieval period and add it with fantasy settings where monsters and magic exist.¡± ¡°O..kay?¡± I don¡¯t quite get it but I think I understand it to a certain extent. ¡°And also this world name is Tala.¡± ¡°Tala?¡± ¡°Yes Tala¡± Tala is a tagalog word for stars right? Bituin is also one. But seriously¡­ Why would they name this world as [Tala] and the transported, reincarnated, or summoned people as [Dayo]. Isn¡¯t this kind of genre commonly found in Japanese web novels? So why the hell are they using Filipino words here? ¡°Oh and also, the money here consists of gold coins, big silver coins, silver coins, big copper coins, and copper coins. Whereas, 10 copper coins = 1 big copper coin, 10 big copper coins = 1 silver coin, 10 silver coins = 1 big silver coin and 10 big silver coins = 1 gold coin. Also except for being a fantasy world, it also serves as a game world where level and status exist. Though I don¡¯t need to explain it to you since I know that you already read the tutorial right?¡± ¡°Yes I read it.¡± And you act like a NPC at the tutorial phase of the game. Though I won¡¯t say it since I am grateful at him teaching me these trivial things. ¡°Oh right, about the geography of this world have 5 continents, the central continent, north continent, east continent, west continent and south continent. This kingdom, Kingdom of Sevir is located at the top part of the east continent and this kingdom has 4 seasons, right now we¡¯re on spring.¡± So that means that we can experience other season as well such as winter, fall and winter. I said winter two times because it¡¯s important. You know, in winter ¡®that¡¯ appears. Something that the tropical nations can¡¯t enjoy, the thing you call snow. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to see snow falling from the sky and slowly, they¡¯ll paint the earth white. I¡¯m quite excited for it. But seriously, it¡¯s still spring but it feels a little chilly for me. Maybe because I grew up in a world where the sun¡¯s heat was amplified by the pollution or maybe my body isn¡¯t accustomed yet to these seasons. I wonder how cold will it be when winter arrives? Thinking about it drain my excitement about snows. ¡°Well, that¡¯s all I know about this world, we can figure it out after we starts our adventurer¡¯s life!¡± Is it just me or this guy suddenly announced that we¡¯re going to be an adventurer? Is this guy one of those so called ¡°hot-blooded¡± and ¡°muscle brain¡± guys? Why would you risk your life when you can live comfortably protected by the walls of the city? Though I would be lying if I say that I don¡¯t want to become an adventurer but I need to prepare myself before going out of the walls. How can he just went out even though we practically don¡¯t know how to fight? Well, the case of bandits and the boxer rabbit are special case since my body moves by instinct maybe to protect my very own life but instead of trusting on instinct I want to learn how to properly move myself in combat. Well, by having this kind of thought maybe I am also one of those ¡°hot-blooded¡± and ¡°muscle brain¡±¡­ No, just ¡°hot-blooded¡± since I use my head during fights. ¡°So you say but can you confidently say that you¡¯ll be safe as we travel?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, experience is the best teacher! I¡¯ll manage somehow!¡± Yup, I¡¯m not wrong to classify my friend as a ¡°muscle brain¡±. ¡°You know, there¡¯s a lot of danger at roads right? There¡¯s those animal like things and bandits outside right?¡± ¡°Yeah I know.¡± ¡°Good. It seems that you know, then how are you going to fight them?¡± ¡°By using my weapon?¡± This guy¡­ Is he really serious about that answer? Please do tell me that he¡¯s joking. I can¡¯t see him surviving facing bandits and those monsters. ¡°Yeah sure you have your weapon but do you know how to use them?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ A sword is used for slashing, spear for piercing and a mace for smashing right?¡± Gino said while putting one of his fingers on his chin while tilting his head. Don¡¯t try to act cute! It¡¯s disgusting! ¡°You know¡­ You can¡¯t win by that kind of thinking. The only future I can see if you¡¯re seriously going to become an adventurer with that kind of knowledge is you getting killed by monsters and when you met a bandit, you can be sold as a slave worst get killed.¡± Trying to hold down my anger towards this idiot, I implied that he needs to learn how-to-fight properly. I know that he¡¯s not that stupid for him to not to pick up on what I am implying in an obvious way but if he seriously said that he don¡¯t understand I¡¯ll punch him. ¡°I don¡¯t unde¡ªWait! Wait!! I¡¯m kidding! Com¡¯on! Who the hell will go be an adventurer without learning a basic or two in fighting?¡± I almost punched him. If he didn¡¯t seriously answer me then my fist will surely land on his face. ¡°So, do you know where we could learn about it?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ I know someone but he¡¯s still not back.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re going to ask that Jasper to teach us?¡± ¡°Yeah is there a problem at that?¡± Certainly there¡¯s no problem at that but imagine talking to someone with the same face and name as you, wouldn¡¯t be that awkward? Imagine if you¡¯re reflection in the mirror suddenly talks to you¡­ No that¡¯s scary not awkward¡­ Ahh! For me it¡¯s awkward! ¡°Don¡¯t you know someone else who can teach us? It seems to be awkward, at least for me, to talk to someone who looks the same as me with the same name¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Well, there¡¯s this girl whom I know that can teach us¡­ Of course she¡¯s an adventurer but¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not good at talking to her but let¡¯s ask her if Jasper is still not back tomorrow.¡± Somehow, it feels weird hearing your name even though you know that it¡¯s not you that he¡¯s talking about¡­ Suddenly, the door violently opened which surprised me. When I look at the door, there¡¯s Kaezar emitting some menacing aura around her. She¡¯s snapped! It also happens on Earth when we are high school student where I accidentally drop her phone leaving a crack on its screen. She approached me with the same aura that Tala-Kaezar currently has¡­ Thinking about it, I feel I¡¯m lucky since I survived that. Brooms, dust pan, books, anything that she managed to lift came flying at me. Of course I ran with all my might but that happened because she surprised me I¡¯m concentrating on playing when she silently approached me and yell right in front of my ears. After she calmed down, the room looks like a storm went past through it and I sustain some bruises here and there and when I explained that it¡¯s her fault, she unreasonably said that it¡¯s not since I am the one who¡¯s holding her phone and not her. ¡°You liar! Is it really fun to play your jokes on me!?¡± ¡°W-w-wait! I¡¯m not lying! It¡¯s true! Jasper really exist!¡± ¡°Haah!? I asked my father and the village chief but they don¡¯t have any idea on what you¡¯re talking about!¡± Every step that Tala-Kaezar takes makes my spine feel cold. Even though it¡¯s not directed at me, I still feel scared at her. I slowly leave my seat while keeping her in check. Slowly walks towards the door without her or Gino noticing and silently walk outside the room. I slowly close the door accompanied by Gino¡¯s scream and the sound of things crashing to the floor. ¡°My condolence, I hope that you survive this storm¡± Offering my prayers to him, I went back to the room where I wake up. It¡¯s already dark so let¡¯s sleep. Chapter 5 – Learning about Adventuring The next day, we decided to visit the one Gino¡¯s talking about. The one whom he¡¯s not good talking at and also, Tala-Jasper hasn¡¯t come back maybe he died after raising that death flag. Because of that I feel that we should not become an adventurer instead, we should just stay here and live being protected by adventurers and guards. Gino can compound medicine while I work somewhere here but apparently it was rejected by Gino. He said that if you¡¯re transported to a fantasy world you should become an adventurer because it¡¯s a rule but there¡¯s other MC that didn¡¯t became an adventurer right? Like a guy who¡¯s house is a magic spot, the blind child MC which silently makes a harem within her family, or the magic crafter that introduces modern innovation¡­ Right? There¡¯s no need to be an adventurer and aren¡¯t you a shut-in back in Earth? How come you¡¯re very motivated on going outside in an unfamiliar world? Feeling hesitant we walk towards the building where the adventurers gather, the [Adventurer¡¯s Guild]. The building is big and among other building, it¡¯s the only one with two floors. Apparently, the second floor serves as an inn for the adventurers of course there are other inns here but they all have one floor consuming a big plot of land. Why they didn¡¯t make it as something with multiple floor just like this [Adventure¡¯s Guild]? I wonder why? There¡¯s a sign board with something written on it, the letters used aren¡¯t that unfamiliar to me but it¡¯s not something that¡¯s being used in modern times. It¡¯s [Alibata], a letter system used by ancient Filipinos. The reason I¡¯m familiar with it because it was taught to us when I¡¯m in my first year of college but I¡¯m not really good at it and the things taught to us, I already forgot about them. ¡°Hey Gino, do you know how to read that?¡± I said while pointing my finger at the sign board. And also, there¡¯s the symbol of the adventurer¡¯s guild atop of the sign board. It¡¯s two sword crossing each other with a shield on its back. ¡°Oh right, I forgot to mention that last night¡­ Yes I can read them but I¡¯m not proficient enough to read a book in this world. Apparently, the writing system here is the same with the writing system of the ancient Filipinos. It¡¯s [Alibata].¡± ¡°Speaking of last night, how¡¯s the storm?¡± ¡°Storm? You call that a storm? For me it¡¯s already hell¡­ That¡¯s the first time I saw Kaezar like that¡­ She¡¯s normally gentle and smiles sweetly even if it¡¯s a stranger who¡¯s she¡¯s talking to but I never expected that she¡¯s like a demon when angry. Chairs came at me flying and thankfully, the plates were made up of wood so they didn¡¯t break but the room looks like a storm passed right through it¡­ Remembering it makes my spine shivers¡­¡± ¡°Good job surviving that¡­¡± ¡°Surviving¡­ There are times that I almost black out. One of the plates hit me flat on the face¡­ I don¡¯t want to experience that again¡­ Maybe I should keep my teasing on check¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s amazing that you¡¯re still thinking about teasing her after experiencing that¡­¡± Well, Gino¡¯s sturdy enough to accept a blow or two. Back on Earth, we were drunk and tried to imitate UFC, he received our friend punches as if it¡¯s nothing he proudly said that ¡°My fat is my armor!¡± while laughing and counter attacking at the same time. ¡°So are we just going to stand here or are we going inside?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go inside, I just hope that she¡¯s there.¡± We went inside the guild. The door of the guild is the same on what you¡¯re going to see on a movie about cowboys. Inside, there¡¯s many table where you can see someone drinking in the broad daylight. Some are already drunk and some are eating. There¡¯s also some who¡¯s descending the stairs while yawning. There are too many people inside but it still doesn¡¯t feel crowded. There¡¯s also a big board where there¡¯s a paper attached on it and there¡¯s a reasonable amount of adventurers staring at it, some pulled the paper and went into a table where there¡¯s some girl standing behind them. I guess that¡¯s the receptionist desk. Of course, all of the people here are armed and there¡¯s some wearing some armor with spikes on their shoulder pad. Some are wearing an insect shell like armor while most of them wear leather armor. I guess leather armor is common here. But what¡¯s with some of them? Wearing insect shell armor with spikes here and there? Are they trying to intimidate other adventurers? Oh right, there¡¯s this setting on web novels about newbie adventurer getting picked up by the senior adventurers... I hope that won¡¯t happen on us. Opss. I hope I didn¡¯t trigger a flag there. ¡°As usual, there are too many people¡­¡± Gino cringed while looking around inside the guild. Well, as a shut-in with low human interaction this is truly something that he will hate. The building is enormous so it doesn¡¯t feel cramped even though there are too many people inside. ¡°So where¡¯s this person who¡¯s going to teach us on how to become an adventurer?¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Oh there she is! Jeziel!¡± Gino called a girl¡¯s name while he waves his hand up high. The girl in question looked at us and smiled when she recognized Gino. The girl is just a little smaller than Gino wearing leather armor with a sword dangling on her waist. She has black hair tied in a ponytail which suits her. Her face looks like a doll and she¡¯s cute when she smiles but sadly, her chest is as flat as a chopping board but other than that she¡¯s quite a beauty and oddly enough, she looks familiar. Hmmm¡­ If I remember correctly, she looks like Gino¡¯s crush back on Earth¡­ Don¡¯t tell me he switches his interest to this girl since he can¡¯t properly talk in front of his crush at Earth! ¡°Sorry to disappoint you but it¡¯s not like that, we¡¯re friends and I don¡¯t want to enter a relationship nor be interested on any girl in this planet since I¡¯ll make sure that I¡¯ll go back home.¡± (Gino) ¡°I¡¯m not thinking about anything though.¡± (Jasper) Are you a psychic? Do you know how to read the mind of others? ¡°Lies! I know you since we were in elementary and I properly knows how your mind works! Specially that grinning face before, you¡¯re planning something!¡± I didn¡¯t noticed that I am grinning¡­ Better control my facial expression more and also just to be clear I don¡¯t have a plan right now ¡°Oh really? Speaking of which, the reason you¡¯re not good at talking to her because she exactly look like your crush?¡± ¡°Well, kind of¡­¡± ¡°Hoooo¡­¡± This guy is someone who¡¯s awkward when dealing with someone special with him. He¡¯s more likely to push that someone around than pulling them closer though it might sound like he¡¯s a ¡°tsundere¡± but rest assured he¡¯s not. It¡¯s something a Filipino would call ¡°torpe¡±. I mean those ¡°tsundere¡± are the one who shows aggressive behavior to someone they like but in case of ¡°torpe¡± they are the one, how should I say it, push someone special to them but not in aggressive way¡­ More like, they push them because they can¡¯t act normally on them most likely because they have a small confidence on themselves, mostly they think that ¡®She¡¯s better with other man than me¡¯ or ¡®I¡¯m not the worthy enough for her¡¯ something like that while both of them are troublesome to deal with at least the torpe, when they got confidence on their selves they are the most sweet and devoted partner you will ever find.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡®Well, maybe I should help this friend of mine to gain some self-confidence.¡¯ Thinking along that line, I put my hand on Gino¡¯s shoulder, look straight to his eyes and say. ¡°Don¡¯t worry bro, I¡¯ll back you up.¡± Different from my enthusiasm, my friend here look confused but after a moment he realized something and glared at me. ¡°What are you planning?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s cure that torpe attitude of yours so that you can freely express your feelings.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t what you¡¯re planning Mr. Jasper but let me tell this clearly, I¡¯m not torpe so I don¡¯t need your help.¡± Well well, he¡¯s denying it but no matter how you look he¡¯s someone you can call torpe. ¡°Yes yes you¡¯re not.¡± No matter what you say, I¡¯ll make sure that I¡¯ll fix that torpe attitude of yours. ¡°Hi Gino!¡± The girl named Jeziel already arrived in front of us and called Gino but instead of responding, stiffened and did not reply. If he is a computer program there will be a notification that will say ¡°Gino.exe stopped working. Would you like to stop it?¡± ¡°Hi I¡¯m Jasper, Gino¡¯s friend.¡± ¡°Hello there I¡¯m Jeziel nice meeting you. Is Gino okay?¡± ¡°He¡¯s okay just give him some time and he¡¯ll reboot in no time.¡± ¡°Reboot?¡± ¡°Ah.. He¡¯ll respond I mean.¡± As if what I said is a queue for him, he rebooted and greet Jeziel. ¡°Hi¡­ U-uhmm.. How are you?¡± ¡°Good. What brings you here?¡± Jeziel responded with a smile. Seeing her smile, my friend here blushed and covers his mouth with his hand. Most likely he¡¯s hiding his embarrassment by doing that. ¡°N-n-nothing¡­ Just walking around and ended up here. That¡¯s it¡­ Goodbye.¡± Oy, oy! Didn¡¯t we went here to learn about how to become an adventurer and you said that you¡¯ll ask her to teach us? Now what are you doing leaving like that? This is why torpes are troublesome. Holding his shoulder so that he can¡¯t leave, I bring my face closer to his and whispered. ¡°What the hell are you doing? Aren¡¯t we here to ask about adventuring?¡± ¡°Let me go¡­ I¡­ I need to help Fernando with his compounding!¡± Ignoring the pleas of Gino, I faced Jeziel while still holding Gino¡¯s shoulder. To be exact, I am holding his shirt not his shoulder it¡¯s just that it¡¯s on the shoulder part. ¡°Sorry for the ruckus, we¡¯re here to ask you if you can teach us on how to become an adventurer.¡± ¡°You¡¯re uninterested at being one before¡­¡± Gino muttered quietly while Jeziel keeps changing her glances from and Gino. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. It¡¯s normal for him.¡± ¡°O-kay? Ahem¡­ Of course I will teach you. After all I¡¯m glad that Gino finally made up his mind to be an adventurer. I tried to ask him so many times before but it¡¯s either he ran away or froze up in the place. I thought that he hated talking with me so I stop my invitation to him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s just bad at dealing with strangers¡­ But let me ask something, you invited him to be an adventurer back then?¡± Hmmm¡­ If this is the case then I can understand the enthusiasm he shown about being an adventurer. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Why?¡± I don¡¯t get it. Why would you invite other people to have a dangerous job? Isn¡¯t it normal for them to decide what they want to do? ¡°You see¡­¡± Jeziel scratches her cheeks ¡°He saved me and my party back then when were attack by [Pigman]. He took command and gave us an order to attack while he blocks the enemy and surprisingly, we won. It¡¯s not just me who wanted him to become an adventurer, my whole party tried to invite him but in the end he didn¡¯t gave us a reply. I¡¯m just glad that he finally decided to be one of us (adventurers).¡± Okay? I can¡¯t follow what she said. Basically, she and her party were saved by this guy and gave command to her party and won. Up to that part, I can still comprehend it but how the hell did it end up of them inviting this guy? ¡°You saved them?¡± ¡°Yeah, I saved them coincidentally¡­¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Back then, I¡¯m gathering herbs used for making medicine when I heard a scream. Of course I¡¯m carrying a wooden shield and a short sword since it¡¯s dangerous once you went out. I just fulfill the role of a tank then after the battle they invited me¡­¡± Maybe she noticed that we¡¯re whispering with ourselves she added some explanation to Gino. ¡°It¡¯s because he seems to have a talent on becoming a leader of a [Party].¡± [Party]? If I we¡¯re on Earth the first thing I¡¯ll think when she said the word [Party] is a place to drink and have fun granted that she¡¯s a normie but if she¡¯s a gamer then that word will have the meaning of a group. In this case, I think the latter is what she¡¯s saying. But it¡¯s impossible for him to be a leader. Well, if he knows each and everyone in the party then he can but if it¡¯s total strangers then I can only see disaster. Plus, what he ordered was the basic of party gaming. The tank takes the attention of the enemy while the other member attacks it. ¡°He maybe has that kind of talent¡­¡± Well whatever, let¡¯s just agree to her. Let¡¯s help this torpe guy here to gain some points on her. ¡°Right!¡± ¡°Rest assured, he¡¯ll be an adventurer and I¡¯ll make sure of it.¡± ¡°Thanks~!¡± Seeing her delighted by what I said, I can¡¯t help to think that this girl might have some feeling on Gino but let¡¯s not jump onto conclusion since maybe she¡¯s just happy to know that the talent (don¡¯t know if you can really call him that) she found decided to use his talent. ¡°Uhmm.. I have a question, what is this [Pigman]?¡± I asked the question which bothered me before. It¡¯s just that the impact of Gino¡¯s talent (lol) covered this. ¡°Oh yes, you said that you want me to teach you about being adventurer right? Then I¡¯ll teach you what you need to know!¡± Hello? Earth¡ªI mean Tala to Jeziel! Tala to Jeziel! Are you listening? ¡°So here¡¯s a few thing you should remember about being an adventurer¡ª¡° She¡¯s the type of girl who doesn¡¯t listen when she got excited huh¡­ ¡°¡ªFirst is about who are these adventurers? Adventurers are the one who exterminate the creature known as monsters! Why do we need to exterminate them? Simply because they cause harm to us, humans and other races! Adventurers also handle different odd-jobs like delivering an item, escorting jobs, hunting bandits or gathering of herbs.¡ª¡° So basically, they¡¯re like a mercenary whose specialty is hunting monsters? I thought that being an adventurer means that you will venture to an unknown land to discover the unknowns. ¡°¡ªSecondly, what¡¯s the difference between a mercenaries and adventurers? Mercenaries can be hired during war but adventurers aren¡¯t. Though they can¡¯t be hired during war, they serve as a vanguard when monsters invade. In the end, adventurers are similar to mercenary just that adventurers specialized in hunting monsters.¡± ¡°Third, there are different ranks when you become an adventurer. The lowest would be F-rank, followed by E-rank, D-rank, C-rank, B-rank, A-rank and S-rank. The task you can take differs in every rank. F-rank can only take the odd-jobs type of task, cleaning a toilet, delivering some goods within the city, etc.. E-rank was almost the same as F-rank but they can at least venture outside the village. D-rank above deals with monster extermination and the higher the rank, the more difficult the assign monsters are. I heard that S-rank deals with Basilisks, Hydras and the like.¡± ¡°Of course as your rank goes up it¡¯s the same as the payment you received in each task. Also the adventurer¡¯s tag which you can see hanging on my neck differs in every rank. Wood is for F-rank, Iron for E-rank, Silver for D-rank, Gold for C-rank, Platinum for B-rank, Orihalcum for A-rank and lastly Mithril for S-rank. Currently, there are three S-rank parties in this Kingdom, the [Akatsuki], the [Freedom] and last but not the least the [Odyssey]. Oh right now as you can see, I¡¯m D-rank.¡± ¡°And lastly, about registration and promotion. Registering as an adventurer is quite easy. first you¡¯ll need to pay 5 silver coins as a registration fee. This fee will be used for the creation of your adventurer¡¯s tag. Of course when you rank up it¡¯s free of charge but when you loss it then you¡¯ll need to pay 1 gold coin for re-issuing.¡± ¡°After paying the fee, you¡¯ll be guided in a room where the guild will conduct a simple test to know what rank you are going to start. Mostly they end up at E-rank while others fail to F-rank. There are some who started as D-rank while there are rumors about starting as C-rank. Back then I¡¯m just a weak girl so I started as F-rank and crawl my way to D-rank, takes me a few years though.¡± ¡°About promotion, you¡¯ll be eligible to take the promotion examination when you managed to gather 100 points in your rank. About these points, you will be given points depending on the task you completed and failing a task means instead of gaining points, you¡¯re points will decrease according to the points assigned to the task. That¡¯s the end of my explanation, thank you for listening.¡± Somehow, I managed to hear and understand everything she said with her machine gun way of talking. Also what piqued my interest were the names of the S-rank parties. [Akatsuki] smells like a group made by Japanese people or other otaku with different nationality and that [Odyssey] somehow it gives a feeling of a transported people from Earth who yearn to go back home. As a joke, [Freedom] reminds of America. What pops up in my mind when I heard that party name was a white blond fat guy firing a gun at the sky while shouting ¡°FREEEEEEEEDOM!!!¡±. And also the rank system it¡¯s really familiar to me since the last game I played before ending up here was the game that contains too much salt. Jeziel is currently panting for talking non-stop. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Y-yeah.. Haa.. Haa.. J-just give me a minute¡­¡± That¡¯s what you get for talking that fast without stopping at punctuation. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I would like to ask what are these [Pigman]?¡± Let¡¯s ask the question that bothering me before. I just can¡¯t imagine this monster in my head, though its name suggests that at least it¡¯s half human and half pig but I can¡¯t picture it clearly. Is it like a centaur but instead of having a lower part of a horse, it was replaced by a pig instead? Or is it a pig that walks on two feet with the head of a man¡­ Wait.. That looks like orcs in game. ¡°[Pigman] are monsters who resembles a pig walking on it two feet with a face and hands that looks like a man.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s [Orcs] right?¡± ¡°No no¡­ [Orcs] are a race of demi-human who¡¯s much stronger than [Humans]. They are 2 to 3 meters tall with their body covered with muscles and have green skins. Their ears are pointed but not as pointy as the [Elves] and two of their teeth protruding from their mouth. It¡¯s said that [Humans] and [Orcs] don¡¯t get along with each other and wages war of races countless of time now. By the way, the last one was 90 years ago ending in a draw because of the sudden intervention of a dragon.¡± Wow¡­ This world really resembles the entertainment of Earth. From web novels to games¡­ I guess the God of this world was a fan of Earth¡¯s entertainment¡­ I mean, [Orcs], [Elves], and [Human] are races which you can pick on a certain games. I won¡¯t be surprised if [Trolls], [Undead], [Tauren], [Dwarfs], [Gnomes], and [Draenais] exist. Seriously, what¡¯s up with this world? Chapter 6 – Even in this world, Money is still the problem After saying goodbye to Jeziel we left the guild. Why? Because we don¡¯t have the money to register ourselves as an adventurer. Jeziel told us that she can lend us 5 silver coins each but I rejected it. No matter what happens, I won¡¯t borrow money to someone I don¡¯t know. By the way, the plan for Gino was postponed until we become an adventurer. But to think that even in this world I will be facing financial problems. Thankfully, Kaezar haven¡¯t ask for lodging fee right now if she did, then I will be sleeping outside. After walking for a while, we found ourselves in the middle of the village. There¡¯s the enormous tree I saw back then and there are too many stalls surrounding it though I call it stall, it¡¯s a piece of cloth spread out in the ground with goods atop of it. There¡¯s also some who modified their cart so that they can display the items they want to sell. The sell monster parts, leather, herbs, food stuffs and other item deemed to be useful for daily lives and adventuring. Strangely, there¡¯s no one here selling medicine. It seems that Kaezar¡¯s family has the monopoly of medicine in this area but thinking about it, as a merchant, you¡¯ll sell profitable items and I doubt that Kaezar¡¯s family can take care all of it. How come they didn¡¯t even think about selling medicine here? Weird. ¡°Hey Gino¡± I call out to my friend who¡¯s desire for going back to the guild is obvious. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°How come the merchant doesn¡¯t sell medicine here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because of the storage life of the medicines. It can only last for a day so they can¡¯t buy it on other town and resale it here since the closest town is a day far from here even if you¡¯re using a carriage.¡± So it¡¯s storage life huh¡­ I wonder if they don¡¯t know any method of preserving it. Well, considering the current situation they don¡¯t. ¡°Haaa¡­ How can we earn 5 silver coins?¡± Without it, we won¡¯t become an adventurer. It¡¯s not that I want to be one in the first place but as a man and also a gamer, being thrown in this kind of world where status and skills exist gives me a feeling of wanting to improves my stats. ¡°We have weapons right? We can just hunt some monsters here and there or gather herbs and sell it to Fernando to earn money.¡± ¡°So you say but isn¡¯t it difficult to fight?¡± Call me coward I don¡¯t care but fighting monsters means risking your life. Well, if it¡¯s just a fist fight with human then I am confident that I can fight but if it¡¯s against monsters, even if I have weapons in my hand I¡¯m not confident that I will win and losing will mean that I will die. If only the god here gave me some cheat like abilities¡­ ¡°It¡¯s easy as long as it¡¯s the shallow part of the forest. You can just move like a game character you know?¡± ¡°Game character huh¡­ True that we played too many games back on Earth but do you realize that most of the moves there are exaggerated¡± ¡°Yeah they¡¯re exaggerated but there are things that we learn about them right? Like how to know the weakness of the enemy, how to deal with unexpected situations and other things. To tell you the truth, I sometimes gather herbs and sell them to Fernando so that I have some pocket money and I fought many monsters and those things that I learned at playing games worked too well here.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s with that spiritless reply? Come on, I know that you can do it since you¡¯re the one who¡¯s better at this kind of games than me.¡± ¡°But this isn¡¯t a game...¡± ¡°What I mean is, you¡¯re better than me in maneuvering. Promise, once you fought you¡¯ll realize that you can move better here than Earth.¡± ¡°Well, I already fought and certainly I move better her but the problem is one of those fights almost take my life.¡± ¡°I heard about it but considering that you¡¯re facing four bandits at once, you¡¯re pretty damn good. Most of the people here can¡¯t do that you know and considering your level you¡¯re the only one who can do that. Normally, bandit subjugation task are assigned at B-rank adventurers¡­ Wait¡­ They hunt the whole group so that¡¯s not counted¡­ Hmm¡­ Ah I know, escort task were given at C-rank adventurers and they also fought some bandits and if I were to estimate their level they would be level +/- 20 and also there will be on a party. You¡¯re the only one who faced 4 bandits at level 2 and survived. Not only that, you killed one of them.¡± Realizing the fact that I already killed someone in this world, my conscience kicked in and I feel guilty. Just the other day I am in a world where killing other people will put you to jail though it will be different if you did it on self-defense but still the act of killing itself is wrong. They¡¯re also living in this world and I don¡¯t have the right to kill them. I know I¡¯m being a hypocrite here but the guilt I feel on killing a bandit is heavy. ¡°Ah! Let¡¯s just ready our gear and head out!¡± Gino pulled my hands while I am being eaten by my guilt. \ \ \ When we got back Kaezar was manning the store. We just greeted her and went to take our gear. Strangely enough, even though it¡¯s my first time wearing armor, I managed to equip it without a problem as if I did this many times in the past. Then I proceeded to hang the sword on my waist and walked out. What greeted me was Gino wearing the same leather armor as me but on his back a shield could be seen and a short sword was also hanging on his waist. We went out and before we could get out of the door, Kaezar told Gino to bring back herbs since their supply was already low. And right now, here I am in the middle of the forest guarding Gino while he picks up some herbs. Luckily we haven¡¯t encountered a single monster yet. I tried to help Gino but he said that there¡¯s no need for that instead I should just watch the surrounding since it¡¯s dangerous. Haa¡­ I let out a sigh as I look around feeling bored. I wonder how the other adventurer procured their registration fee. Did they work and saved their earning until they got 5 silvers? Or did they do the same thing as we are currently doing right now. Or maybe their parents supported them. If I were to guess, then most likely it¡¯s the first one. They worked until they got 5 silver coins. Since the second option is dangerous without a weapon¡­ no even if you have a weapon it¡¯s still dangerous¡­ so it¡¯s a no go. The third one, well, some may fall in this category but I can¡¯t imagine a parent who¡¯s willing to allow their child to lead a dangerous live. Since most the people here are farmers, wouldn¡¯t they let their children work at the farm rather which is far safer than being an adventurer. Wait¡­ it¡¯s strange to find an adventurer¡¯s guild in this kind of place. Normally, the adventurer¡¯s guild must be somewhere inside the town since it¡¯s much safer there than here and also, inside the town there¡¯s much more people who will join the guild than in this kind of village. If this were a novel or game, there will be something special in this village. It might be near to a dungeon or there¡¯s something that they need to watch out for. Well, I hope it¡¯s the former. While thinking about those things, I heard a rustling sound coming from my back so I hold the handle of my sword preparing to draw it in case that it¡¯s a monster and face at it. The rustling sound becomes clearer and clearer then suddenly a shadow jumps out of a bush. It¡¯s the boxer rabbit I met before. I quickly draws my sword since it will be bad if it suddenly charge at me. Gino hurriedly pack the herbs he gathered on his bag and readied for battle. ¡°Lucky, a [Boxer Rabbit] appears. It¡¯s quite rare for it to appear here and I heard that they¡¯re hard to deal with due to their speed.¡± ¡°Really? They¡¯re hard to deal with? Sure they are fast but they practically run straight towards you and you can easily dodge it.¡± ¡°Dodge you say¡­ How can you dodge it when you can¡¯t see it?¡± ¡°But they¡¯re slow¡± ¡°Slow huh¡­ Honestly, I can¡¯t comment on that since I never encounter it before but Jaspe¡­ I mean, Tala-Jasper told me that they can close a 5 meters gap in a blink of an eye.¡± The boxer rabbit targeted me and lowers itself just like before and kicked the ground gaining speed using the momentum. Certainly, with this kind of move they can close a 5 meters gap but it¡¯s useless when you know that they will charge at you without thinking of defense but that is something that makes it easy to deal with. I stepped to my left dodging the charge while slicing its body diagonally. Fresh blood covered my sword and the rabbit fell down while rolling around. I know that my attack isn¡¯t enough to kill it since it takes me a few blows before killing it so I quickly turn around and saw the rabbit lying on the ground. I waited for it to get up but the rabbit didn¡¯t move. ¡°¡­¡± 5 seconds has passed the rabbit remains motionless. ¡°Is it dead?¡± I asked Gino but he didn¡¯t answer so I looked towards him and see his mouth and eyes wide open looking at me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Jasper, what did you do?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°I slashed at while dodging it?¡± ¡°No¡­ How did you dodge it?¡± ¡°By moving one step on my left?¡± ¡°What?! How can you see that kind of speed?!¡± Why are you shouting? I¡¯m just nearby so why do you have to shout? ¡°I can see it normally though¡­¡± ¡°What kind of dynamic vision do you have?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ It¡¯s just that after coming in this world my sight got better¡­¡± Not only my sight also my whole body got better. ¡°¡­¡± Gino seems to be speechless but didn¡¯t he say it before that upon coming in this world, his body moves better than before. Anyways the rabbit didn¡¯t move even now so I approached it without letting my guard down. Who knows, it might faking it¡¯s death to caught us off guard. When the rabbit comes to my range, I poked it with my sword but no matter how many times I poke it, it didn¡¯t respond. ¡°There¡¯s no response¡­ It¡¯s just a corpse.¡± I muttered some lines from the last game I played. Well, it¡¯s just to lighten up my mood but it seems to give a different feeling. Instead of lighting up my mood, I feel sad after saying those words. AAAAAHHH!!! I HAVEN¡¯T FINISHED IT YET AND NOW I¡¯M IN ANOTHER WORLD!!!! I wish I have my DS right now¡­ ¡°Haaa¡­.¡± Suddenly I heard a tired sigh on my back. It came from Gino and he¡¯s scratching his head really hard that you¡¯ll worry that his hair will fall out. ¡°Seriously¡­ There¡¯s nothing I can do by thinking on how the hell did you do it I¡¯ll just accept the fact the you defeated it¡­ More over in one hit.¡± Gino walk towards me or rather the corpse and he retrieves something from his bag. What he takes out is a rope. He binds the two feet of the rabbit and hangs it upside down draining the blood from it. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll prepare to dismantle it. Rabbit fur fetches a high price at the market and we can eat the meat. Also you can make an accessory using its foot. If I remember correctly, it raises the user¡¯s luck by one. Though, creating it will be somewhat difficult but it will surely help us if I made it right¡± I know that Gino knows some miscellaneous knowledge but I never expected him to know how to create an accessory. And also, I am regretting the fact that I left the corpses of boxer rabbits before. ¡°What¡¯s with that look? Did you forget what I like to do when we¡¯re playing RPGs?¡± Yeah, this guy loves to craft items at RPGs. To the point that the story line didn¡¯t matter to him, he plays for the sake of crafting different items. ¡°Now, pay more attention to the surrounding. There might be some monster attracted to the blood so stay on guard. I¡¯ll continue to pick herbs now.¡± Gino crouched down to his spot before and started to pick to herbs again. Maybe 5 silver isn¡¯t that expensive after all? \ \ \ After a while the blood continues to drip and Gino continue to harvest. I¡¯m getting bored once again to the point where I wanted some monster to be attracted to the blood. ¡°Oh right Gino.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Do pigman appears nearby?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t¡± ¡°Then did you dive deeper in the forest?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Then how come you save Jeziel¡¯s party from the pigman?¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ that huh¡­ It¡¯s just a coincidence though. Well, I¡¯m gathering herbs in the different spot when they passed through me. After a while, I heard a scream and due to my curiosity, I followed the scream. What I saw was Jeziel¡¯s party fighting a pigman which supposed to appear deeper in the forest though on very rare occasion, a lone pigman wonder in the shallow part of the forest. I guess they¡¯re just unlucky to encounter it. The pigman uses a club and swings it against them and one of their teammates suffers a direct hit to that and lay unconscious. At first I was going to ignore them since I thought that they can handle them but then, I saw her. She looks exactly the same as her so without me noticing I ran towards their party and blocked the attack of the pigman. Then I commanded them and we won.¡± Wow¡­ I don¡¯t know how to react to this¡­ Should I praise my friend for being heroic or be angry at him for thinking about abandoning someone? Though if I¡¯m on that situation, I won¡¯t fight but I won¡¯t abandon them either. I¡¯ll just take the attention of the pigman and ran away. But seriously, Jeziel¡¯s party has a bad luck¡­ ¡­ Don¡¯t tell me¡­ ¡°Hey¡­ Are you going to make that accessory right?¡± ¡°Yeah, what of it?¡± ¡°Are you pehaps¡­ thinking of gifting it to Jeziel?¡± Gino¡¯s face become red ¡®till his ears and faced me. ¡°W-w-w-what the hell are you talking about?! T-that¡¯s not the reason why I¡¯m going to craft a luck raising accessory you know?! I just want to raise my luck that¡¯s all!¡± Wow¡­ I didn¡¯t see him this flustered before. I just hit the bulls eye but let¡¯s pretend that I didn¡¯t notice it since it would be fun to see him handing the accessory to Jeziel. ¡°Okay¡­ Relax. I¡¯m just asking there¡¯s no other meaning to it.¡± Thinking about how he would give it to Jeziel, with his awkwardness, this will be fun. Hehe. I noticed that Gino¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t move away from me and behind those gaze says ¡®What are you planning?¡¯ ¡°What? I¡¯m not planning anything. I¡¯m just bored since I don¡¯t have anything to do.¡± Hearing what I said, Gino clicked her tongue and continued to pick herbs. I think he already picked several of them but I can¡¯t see a sign of him stopping. I wonder how many herbs did he need? And also, aren¡¯t this part of the forest kind of weird? I mean in this one spot, there are too many herbs to be gathered. *rustle rustle* Once again I heard the rustling sound. This time, it comes from my left and also the rustling sound seems to be longer than before. It¡¯s either the monster that will appear is big or it¡¯s in a group. ¡°Hey Gino, something is coming!¡± Gino stand up and draw his sword while he fastens the shield on his left hand. I also draw my sword and waited for the monster to appear. If only we don¡¯t need money then I would like to leave this rabbit here. What came out was a two child-like humanoid being. They have pointed ears, green skin, and a wears a ragged clothes to hide their nether regions. They also carry wooden clubs. With yellow eyes, they look at us and suddenly, burst out in a mocking laugh. All their teeth were pointy and colored yellow due to plaque. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Though I have a feeling that I know these monsters name but let¡¯s ask just to be sure. ¡°Goblins. The monster who was considered as a pest to human¡¯s field.¡± Goblins huh¡­ I guess I was right but seeing it closer in real life, they really look like the kind of goblins in games. I don¡¯t know if I should praise the humans at Earth for they exactly copied a real life goblin using only their imagination or should I complain about the maker of this world for copying the goblins of games. ¡°Well, they¡¯re small fries to begin with¡± Gino shrugged his shoulder while calmly walking towards them. I wanted to stop him at first but seeing his opponent, it feels like this will be a child play. The two goblins runs towards Gino and one of them raises its club. As they got closer, the other one prepared to smash its club from the side while the earlier one brings down its club. Gino effortlessly raises his shield to block the first attack and pierce the other goblin¡¯s head using his sword. Yup they¡¯re weak. I think saying small fries is a little bit generous to them since even small fries are hard to fight when you¡¯re still low level and yet, these goblins betrays that definition. Maybe we should just call them as trash? The pierced goblin falls down without even getting a chance to attack while the other didn¡¯t even noticed that its companion has fallen. After pulling out his sword, Gino beheaded the other goblin and swings around his sword to remove the bloods on its blade. ¡°Haaa¡­ the only thing we can sell from goblins are their weapons and this time, it¡¯s a wooden club. Nobodies gonna buy this trash¡­¡± Yeah let¡¯s proceed at calling them thrash. ¡°Oh right¡­ Didn¡¯t the monster have magic cores? Why don¡¯t you harvest it too?¡± ¡°The magic cores of the goblins are too small so we need 5 of them before we can sell it for 1 copper coin and the boxer rabbit don¡¯t have one in the first place since it¡¯s not considered as a monster but an animal.¡± Wow¡­ I never expected that. I thought that the boxer rabbit is a monster as well. ¡°Well, it¡¯s still money if we managed to gather 5 of them.¡± Gino started to gather the magic core of the goblins and after that he continued to harvest herbs. \ \ \ It¡¯s already time for lunch when we got back to the village. Gino already dismantled the rabbit and I don¡¯t want to recall that gory sight so I¡¯ll leave it to your imagination. Upon reaching the village, we first went to the market place to find a buyer for the rabbit skin. There is some blood on it but overall it¡¯s on good condition. I got surprised when Gino skillfully skinned the rabbit. He said that thanks to [Dismantling Skill] he learns how to dismantle it properly. He said that at first, almost all of the monster¡¯s corpse were wasted because he still doesn¡¯t have it before but now the chances of wasting it seems to be lower. He only fails if the monster¡¯s level is a lot higher than the level of his skill. Thanks to that we managed to get this good quality pelt and right now, I am holding it. He said that he¡¯s leaving the selling of this to me since I¡¯m better at it. Certainly, he¡¯s right. I¡¯m the type of buyer who¡¯s going to try to lower the price of an item even though I can afford it by its original price and different from me, Gino buys it at displayed value of it. It¡¯s not really my specialty but there¡¯s no other person to leave this kind of task. If only Marc is here then we can leave this to him. It¡¯s his specialty after all. Well, let¡¯s just try it see how good I am at bargaining. I approached a stall which looks decent enough and also, this store deals with monster¡¯s materials so I feel that I can sell it to him. ¡°Excuse me! I would like to sell this.¡± Saying so I show him the pelt, for me it¡¯s in good quality and the only flaw would be the blood but it can be washed off in the nearby river so it¡¯s not a problem. ¡°Hmm..¡± The merchant raises the pelt while inspecting it from all angles. ¡°It¡¯s in good quality but the slashed mark here brings down its value. I¡¯ll buy it for 9 big copper coins.¡± ¡°Woah there, isn¡¯t the quality good? I say that you should buy at as 2 silver coins.¡± ¡°2 silver coins? You¡¯re kidding right? Normally its 1 silver coins but certainly it¡¯s good but the wound is the problem. I¡¯ll buy it 9 big copper and 5 copper coins.¡± ¡°Come on. It¡¯s only one wound. You won¡¯t see something like this in here. 1 silver coins and 8 big copper coins.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit expensive? I¡¯ll buy it for 1 silver coin.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that for normal quality? 1 silver coin and 6 big copper coins.¡± ¡°The price you¡¯re asking is really expensive. 1 silver coin and 1 big copper coin.¡± ¡°Well, my price depends on the quality of the good I¡¯m selling. 1 silver coin and 5 big copper coins.¡± ¡°Hmmp. Certainly its good but buying it at your price will not give me any profit. 1 silver coin and 2 big copper coins. Take it or leave it.¡± Looking at his eyes, I think he¡¯s serious. Should I sell it now? After all, Gino said that the price market for this pelt is 1 silver coins, earning additional 2 big copper coins seems not so bad and we take it down with a single hit after all. ¡°Oooh!! What a good quality pelt! I¡¯ll buy it for 1 silver coins and 4 big copper coins!¡± Suddenly, another merchant cuts in. I don¡¯t know who you are but thank you. ¡°Tsk.. You¡¯re here again huh¡­ Fine I¡¯ll buy it at your price, 1 silver coin and 5 big copper coins.¡± Should I sell it now? We need 10 silver coins all and all and 1 silver coin and 5 big copper coins can help us. I look at the new merchant and he nodded. I don¡¯t really know who you are but thank you. ¡°Deal.¡± \ \ \ After the transaction, the new merchant came with me. Apparently his name is Juan. He¡¯s not really a merchant but a shoe maker. He also said that that kind of quality of pelt normally sells at that price. Thank to him I managed to sell it at the right price. ¡°Oh Jasper did you sell it¡­? Why are you here?¡± Gino greeted me when he saw me but suddenly, his gaze became cold when he saw Juan. ¡°I just helped him at selling the pelt. Never did I think that he knew you.¡± ¡°Uhmm¡­ You knew each other?¡± I can confidently say that they knew each other but that¡¯s not the thing I want to know. I want to know why they have this kind of relationship. It looks like they hate each other guts. ¡°Yeah unfortunately.¡± Gino replied coldly but Juan just smiled. Really what happen? ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Gino said and pulled me away from the market place. I don¡¯t know what happened to the two of them but I¡¯m not interested enough to ask. Well, if he want to share it then he¡¯ll share it. \ \ \ ¡°Oh. Welcome back.¡± We are now inside the shop of Kaezar and currently, Gino¡¯s mood lightens up. He¡¯s not frowning like before and he seems to be happy. Kaezar greeted us while looking at the bag behind Gino but her gaze slowly shifted to me then slowly lowers it until it stops in my hand. ¡®I think there¡¯s nothing interesting in my hands why did she look ther¡ª¡® My thoughts suddenly stop. If I remember correctly, Gino pulled me by my hands and never did it occur to me that he never let it go. ¡°S-so you¡¯re in that kind of relationship. Uh-hm.¡± Kaezar nods while her face is so red. She looks cute but right now that is not the issue. ¡°Hey you¡­ How long are you going to hold my hands?¡± I said threateningly to Gino but he just smiles and says ¡°Forever~ I¡¯ll hold it forever just like the love I feel for you~ D-A-R-L-I-N-G~¡± Disgusting!! This is disgusting!! I pulled back my hand but this guy holds it tighter than before! ¡°Let me go! I¡¯m a straight guy! Leave me alone!!¡± ¡°Eeh~? What¡¯s the harm? Love, did you forget the promises we said to each other at the forest?¡± ¡°We never said anything! And also, don¡¯t call me love! Kaezar! Help me!!!¡± ¡°Certainly there¡¯s nothing wrong in loving someone from the same gender but¡­ but the church forbids it! But they love each other so I can¡¯t just tell them to separate because it¡¯s wrong¡­ But the teaching of the church¡­. Uuuuhh..¡± Kaezar¡¯s eyes are spinning while muttering some words about teaching of the church and love each other. Needless to say that her face is all red. ¡°Well, joking aside we¡¯re back and I would like to sell the herbs¡± Gino let go of my hand and go near the counter where Kaezar stands. She didn¡¯t notice that Gino is already in front of her. She continues to mutter some incomprehensible words. ¡°Hello! Kaezar! Are you there?¡± Gino waves his hand in front of Kaezar and as if it¡¯s a trigger of something, Kaezar suddenly stops and look straight at Gino. ¡°Congratulations at your mirage.¡± ¡­ How did this girl¡¯s imagination run to? How come Gino ended up getting married? What¡¯s funny is that she said it while looking straight to Gino with her full serious face. ¡°Puhahahahaha! Hey! Are you okay?¡± Gino burst into laughter and I keep myself from laughing out loud. Seriously, how far did this girl¡¯s imagination run to? ¡°Ah¡­. Eeeh! Gino! Yes! I¡¯ll buy your herbs!¡± ¡°Okay relax. It¡¯s just a joke, Jasper and I aren¡¯t in that kind of relationship.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Of course we aren¡¯t. As I told before, I¡¯m a straight guy and I love girls.¡± Well, maybe joking like that in front of Kaezar is dangerous. She might spread rumors about us being a gay couple or something. In the end, Kaezar bought the herbs by 2 herbs = 1 copper coin and we have a total of 100 herbs so it was sold at 50 copper coins, and our total budget for registration is 2 silver coins. We still need 8 silver coins. Chapter 7 – Provisional Test It¡¯s already lunch and apparently Fernando and Kaezar already ate. So as the late comers we silently eat lunch and washed the dishes. It¡¯s kinda feel weird to see a dishwashing liquid in this world with sponge. Did they create these things with the aid of magic? Well, having them here makes it easier though. And also, the bottle used for the dishwashing liquid was made up of wood and you can¡¯t see if how many of them are left. After washing the dishes, Gino went to the shop while I maintain our weapons and the reason for that action is currently unknown, my body just move on its own but I guess it¡¯s better than idling around here doing nothing. It¡¯s kind of weird since I never maintain any weapon before but my body moves on its own helping me maintain our weapon. I¡¯ve been postponing it for a while now but having this weird feeling of familiarity to things I never done in my life gives me a reason to view this window now. Although at first, I assumed that I don¡¯t have one but hearing Gino talks about skills my interest about my own skill piqued up. ¡°Skill window!¡±
Active Passive
[Slash] Level: 0 MP cost: 5 ¡¤ Unleashes a powerful slash towards the enemy ¡¤ Damage: [Physical dmg] + 5
[Analyze] Level: N/A MP cost: 0 ¡¤ Give a detailed explanation of the target.
I¡¯m an idiot. Why did I postpone on checking my skills? If only I know that I have this kind of skills then the battle against the bandits might be easier. Next time, I¡¯ll properly check each and everything before assuming that I don¡¯t have it. Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it now. Past is past. No matter how many times I regret it, time will not flow back. This window is divided into to two parts, the active and passive. If it¡¯s a game¡ªNah, this is a game world so their meaning should be the same. Active skills are skills that you needed to activate before you can use it and Passive skills are the one who¡¯s always active and I have two active skills at the moment. The first one is [Slash] and even without looking at its description you can figure out what kind of skill this is. It¡¯s a physical damaging skill which gives +5 damage to slash attacks. I personally think that this skill isn¡¯t supposed to be an active skill. Shouldn¡¯t it be better for it to become a passive skill if it only gives additional damage to your slash? The next one is [Analyze]. The description said that this skill will give me a detailed explanation of a target. Maybe this is the counter-part of [Appraisal] skill commonly seen on web-novels and the like. It¡¯s good that it doesn¡¯t consume MP when you¡¯re using it. Well, let¡¯s try it. I look at my sword and said ¡°Analyze!¡± A new window appeared.
Name: [Short Sword] Item type: [Equipment] Equipment type: [One-handed sword] Gem Slots: N/A Card Slots: N/A Accessory Slots: [] Enchantment: [] Attribute: [Physical] Rarity: [Common] Physical Damage: 5 Magic Damage: 0 Physical Defense: 0 Magic Defense: 0 Additional Bonus: N/A Durability: 94/100 Market Price: 50 copper coins Created by: [Human] Aegor Materials: Copper Ingot, Wood, Wolf¡¯s leather
It¡¯s really detailed. It even gives the market price and creator of this sword. There¡¯s also this slots that really bothers me. In games you¡¯ll encounter some slotted items which can be upgraded by filling up those slots but this world seems to be obsessed with slots. Normally, there¡¯s only one type of slot per game right? Those who use [Card slots], which was dropped by a monster, or a [Gem slots], which was crafted by other players, but here not only it has both of them it also add another slot which is [Accessory Slots] and I¡¯m not familiar with it. Is it different on the equipment¡¯s window [Accessory]? I don¡¯t know but sadly that¡¯s the only slot available for this sword. Maybe I should ask Gino about this [Accessory Slots]. Enough with the actives skill and let¡¯s go to the passive tab but how do I operate this window? Do I need to touch it like a tablet? Or do I need to voice out a command? Or should I just think about it? Well, let¡¯s try them one by one. First let¡¯s try touching it. I reached out my index finger towards the passive tab but my finger gone through it. So it¡¯s not operated by touch huh. Then let¡¯s try voicing out a command. ¡­ How should I do this? Hmmm¡­ ¡°Skill window passive!¡± Nothing happened. ¡°Active tab change to passive!¡± Again nothing happened. ¡°Passive!¡± You know, I look like an idiot saying those kinds of command while the window doesn¡¯t even respond to it. Thankfully I¡¯m alone right now. It would be pretty embarrassing when someone is nearby and more than that, I¡¯m thankful that Gino isn¡¯t here or he¡¯ll surely tease me. There¡¯s only one thing left and that is thinking about it. Well, even if this window doesn¡¯t respond it¡¯s not embarrassing since no one can read my mind. Here it goes! ¡®Show me the passive skills¡¯
Active Passive
[Sword Mastery] Level: 1 ¡¤ Increases the physical damage of the user while using sword. ¡¤ Increasing the level unlocks active skills and increases the damage bonus. ¡¤ Current bonus: +0 attack damage ¡¤ Current skill unlocked: [Slash]
[Weapon Maintenance] Level: 1 ¡¤ Helps the user to maintain their weapon. ¡¤ Having higher level means the faster the process can be done ¡¤ Note: It¡¯s different on [Sharpening] and [Repairing]
[Evasion] Level: 1 [New] ¡¤ Increases the rate of successful evasion of the user. ¡¤ Current bonus: +5
[???] Level: N/A ¡¤ ???
[???] Level: N/A ¡¤ ??? ¡¤ ??? ¡¤ ???
I, unknowingly, have these kinds of passive skills and most of it is battle oriented and there are also two skills with question mark as its name. I wonder what it is. Honestly, I don¡¯t know how did I get it but having this kind of passive skills, aren¡¯t I suited for being a swordsman? Well, it¡¯s not bad since swords are romance but I don¡¯t like to see blood up-close. Maybe I should buy a range weapon but buying ammunition for it seems to be expensive and currently, our aim is to become an adventurer. Maybe I should ask Kaezar¡¯s father if he know some work that can give us a decent pay but it will surely take time before we managed to save up 10 silvers and also I don¡¯t know the normal wage here. What if I¡¯ll only earn 1 silver coin a month? It might look too little but basing on the selling price of herbs, which is 2 pieces of herbs for 1 copper coin, I think it¡¯s quite reasonable. 10 months of working will earn me 10 silver coins which will allow will be our fund on becoming an adventurer but 10 months is too long. I can¡¯t waste my time at that. If my aim is only to survive in this world then I think having a permanent job is safer than being an adventurer but the question is do I want to stay in this world? Certainly this kind of world is something every gamer would love but I have some things I need to do back in Earth so I need to go back. The thing I need to do is something important for me but I don¡¯t know for others and that is to give my mother, who raised and supported me even though she¡¯s a single parent, a comfortable life. I don¡¯t want to leave Earth before I know that my mother can live comfortably without me by her side. Seeing her doing her best to support me while disregarding her own self breaks my heart, at least before I leave I want her to do something that she likes without worrying about me. I just want to repay all the kindness she did to me. Hmm? Somehow another passive skill appeared.
[Calculation] Level: 1 [New] ¡¤ Allows the user to calculate numbers faster. ¡¤ Current Limit: 1 digit(s)
What¡¯s this? Do I now have a built-in calculator inside my head? But the current limit is 1 digit, quite useless. Maybe if I raise this it will allow me calculate in more digits? Well, there¡¯s no harm at trying but how do I increase its level? Do I need to perform mental calculation in one digit? For example 1+1 = 2, I look at the [Calculation Skill] but as expected its level did not rise. I repeated doing a one digit calculation on my mind for about 10 times but the skill level did not change at all. Maybe there¡¯s something I need to do for it to goes up? ¡°Hmmm¡­.¡± I put my left hand on my chin and think. I don¡¯t really need to increase this skill right now so maybe I should just leave it for now. Upon deciding that, I resumed maintaining our gears. \ \ \ After an hour or so, I finished maintaining our gears and their durability went up by one. Maybe if I want it to be 100% again I need to bring it to blacksmith. Now that I don¡¯t have anything to do, let¡¯s find Gino and ask about skills and the accessory slots. Currently, I¡¯m still at the dining room when Gino entered. He seems to be slightly exhausted and drink a glass of water. ¡°Hey Gino, can I ask you something?¡± ¡°Yeah, oh right. I finished making the accessory. Here.¡± Gino handed me the rabbit¡¯s foot but it¡¯s clearly different from before. It has blood on it before but now there¡¯s not a drop of blood could be seen. There¡¯s also a string attached to it and a wooden hook at the end. It looks like a key chain for me. Well, let¡¯s try using [Analyze] to it.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Name: [Rabbit¡¯s Foot] Item type: [Equipment] Equipment type: [Accessory] Gem Slots: N/A Card Slots: N/A Accessory Slots: N/A Enchantment: N/A Attribute: N/A Rarity: [Uncommon] Physical Damage: N/A Magic Damage: N/A Physical Defense: N/A Magic Defense: N/A Additional Bonus: +5 Luck Durability: 100/100 Market Price: 1 silver coin Created by: [Human] Gino Cruz Materials: Rabbit¡¯s foot, String, Wooden hook
It gives +5 luck huh. Not bad equipment for a low level like us and it can be sold for 1 silver coin which is somewhat expensive and it¡¯s also [Uncommon] type of equipment. I wonder how this rarity is judged. ¡°It¡¯s not bad huh¡­ It raises 5 points of luck and can be sold for 1 silver coin if we decided to change it. It¡¯s just a shame that we can¡¯t enchant it and it doesn¡¯t have any slots even though there are three types of them.¡± I remember the rabbits I killed before. If I cut its foot and bring it back here then we can easily have 10 silver coins. But there¡¯s nothing I can do about it since I don¡¯t know that it¡¯s a raw material for creating this kind of equipment. ¡°How did you know about it with just a glance?¡± ¡°Hmmm? I used my skill [Analyze] to see it¡¯s window¡± ¡°[Analyze]? Is it different from [Appraisal]?¡± Oh there¡¯s the [Appraisal] which is most common to web-novels and apparently, it¡¯s a different skill than my [Analyze]. I wonder what¡¯s the difference between the two. ¡°I don¡¯t know this [Appraisal] since I don¡¯t have it but [Analyze] skill gives a detailed explanation about its target.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡°detailed explanation¡±?¡± ¡°It gives the detailed explanation of the target from name, slots, enchantment, creator, and such.¡± ¡°Heee¡­ It¡¯s like that huh¡­ How did you get it? I only have [Appraisal] and it¡¯s still low level so I can only see its name and its MP consumption is the worst, casting it to know the name of an item for 10 MP. I want something like that too, giving a detailed explanation even though its low level.¡± So that¡¯s the effect of [Appraisal]. It consumes MP and gives only the name of the item if it¡¯s still low level. Kind of inefficient but maybe raising it reduces the MP and gives more information about the item. ¡°[Analyze] doesn¡¯t consume MP and doesn¡¯t have a level though¡± I¡¯m quite lucky to have this skill but I don¡¯t know the acquisition requirement for it nor when did I acquire it. ¡°Doesn¡¯t have MP cost and level? Isn¡¯t that a bit of cheat?¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, it does feel like a cheat skill.¡± Maybe it was given by God, a unique skill of some sort? I wonder if I abuse it I¡¯ll turn into a demon lord? ¡°So how did you get it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s just that when I check for my skill it¡¯s there.¡± I would love to say that it was a gift of God to me but he might really believe it. He¡¯s that type of guy after all. He easily believes the things said by his friends so it¡¯s easy to fool him. ¡°You really are lucky huh¡­¡± Gino look at my enviously. Well, I understand him though. I¡¯ll likely to be envious of him if he has this skill than me I mean, having information about your target will surely be beneficial. It also doesn¡¯t have a level so you don¡¯t need to grind it and it also doesn¡¯t cost MP when you use it so you can just spam it. ¡°Oh right right. I want to ask you about [Accessory Slot].¡± ¡°[Accessory slot]? First time I heard it and you also said about three types of slots? What are they?¡± It seems that Gino has no idea about it too. I wonder what this is, maybe something like a phone strap or the likes but if that¡¯s the case, where should I attach it? At the hilt guard maybe? And I wonder what kind of item it is. Well, maybe I¡¯ll encounter one of these later so let¡¯s leave it be. Upon deciding on leaving the accessory matter for later we decided to venture at the forest again. At the forest we gathered herbs at the same point again and it makes me wonder why it feels like the herbs in that spot don¡¯t decrease. If this were a game then the system will replenish it at fix interval but even though this world resembles games too much it won¡¯t have the same system as the games in Earth. Recently, I always wonder how this world works and the questions are piling up without decreasing at all. I hope that sooner or later those questions will be answered though. It¡¯s hard to move in a place where you don¡¯t know the rules after all. \ \ \ We came back after harvesting another 100 herbs and take note, it¡¯s on the same spot. I asked Gino about the abnormal growth rate of the herbs at that spot and apparently the [Dragon¡¯s Vein], a flow of mana underground, is thick at that part making the plants there to have an abnormal growth rate. In web-novels a [Dragon¡¯s Vein] can be the cause of spawning high level monsters, abnormal growth rate of plants, and rare ores can be found here and there and apparently it¡¯s the same in this world it¡¯s just that the [Dragon¡¯s Vein] at that spot just help the growth rate of plants only which is quite rare since most of the time all the three effect will be present. It¡¯s quite fortunate since if the [Dragon¡¯s Vein] here has the same effect as others then this village will surely cease to exist since the spot isn¡¯t that far from the village. Imagine a village being attacked by high level mobs at fix interval isn¡¯t funny and whoever live in that kind of environment can be called a monster. Thanks to it we have an infinite supply of herbs to harvest. I wonder if other adventurers know this spot. I asked Gino and he said that they didn¡¯t, if they knew about this spot then they will surely exploit, the same as we are doing right now, this place since it would mean that this will be a place where they can have a stable job, though it¡¯s just herb gathering. \ \ \ After a week of gathering herbs and Gino sacrificing learning his crafting skills, we managed to gather 15 silver coins. The registration fee would be 5 silver coins each and the 5 silver coins surplus would be used to gear up ourselves. Currently, we are inside the adventurer¡¯s guild. There are too many people inside but it doesn¡¯t feel cramped just like before, this building is really big. ¡°So, where should we go?¡± I asked Gino since I don¡¯t know where we should go or what are we supposed to do. At first, I thought that we should go to the receptionist but seeing the long line in each and every one of them. I don¡¯t know if we should line up with those adventurers or not. ¡°Hmmm¡­. Jeziel told me that there should be a receptionist who accepts request or registration for new adventurer but I don¡¯t know where to find it.¡± This is quite troubling. I didn¡¯t expect that we will encounter a problem here since I thought that the only problem we have is about money but it seems that I was wrong. We need to find this receptionist who processes the registration without knowing his/her appearance or his/her desk. ¡°Wait here.¡± Gino said and he walks away from me. He walks near the wall while looking around looking for the desk. After a while, he comes back and said: ¡°I found it. Follow me¡± Without waiting for a reply, he started to go to the receptionist he found. As we are approaching the receptionist who looks like she¡¯s bored to the bones, I noticed that there are some adventurers looking at us. They are some who placing bet on what we are going to do here, some betted that we are going to register ourselves but most of them betted that we are going to post a request. Honestly, if they have time to mind our business then they should pick some job at the board and complete it. That way they won¡¯t lose any money. ¡°Welcome~ How may I help you?¡± The cheerful voice coming in front cut my monologue. There¡¯s a woman standing at the other side of the desk smiling towards us. Her height seems to 5 feet, her blond hair tied in a bun, combined with her blue eyes which look at us with gentle feeling she emits an atmosphere similar to a friendly older sister at the neighborhood. There are no visible pores in her face and with her fair skin that looks like it is not accustomed to the sun, her big breast which I can only see at animes or mangas, most of the men would surely fall for her charm. Actually, I got charmed a little bit but having a special someone, though I think it is one sided, help me come back to myself. I peek at Gino and he look at her normally like he didn¡¯t got charmed by her face or boobs. Right now, I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s really a man or just someone pretending to be a man. I mean, most of the guys who would see her would react in some sort of way, it may be checking her big boobs, or revealing a small smile on his face but my friend just look straight to her eyes without even checking her breast or smiling a little. ¡°We are here to register ourselves as adventurers.¡± His voice is also normal. Did I just discover the secret gender of my friend? Is he really a she? Well, no matter what I¡¯ll accept him as a person since he¡¯s my friend but please don¡¯t add me to your target. ¡°That would cost 5 silver coins each for processing the guild card.¡± ¡°Here¡± I put the pouch that contains 10 silver coins at the desk and she proceeded to check if it has the correct amount. Ahh¡­ Her hand looks so soft. ¡°I confirmed the payment. Would you like me to explain the guild?¡± At her question, both of us nodded. \ \ \ Jeziel explanation almost the same as her explanation it¡¯s just that, there are things that Jeziel forgot to mention and that is, the guild isn¡¯t an independent organization. It is a part of this kingdom government and this is the only kingdom that has it. The guild was formed due to the threat of monsters against the civilian and also to give some civilians work. Back then, the monsters were regularly hunted by the knights, and same with dungeons, the knights dived and clear them but as they conduct this activity, the knights suffered losses which lead to the weakening of the kingdom¡¯s strength and the appearance of bandits. As the current king sat on the throne, he created the guild. This guild will solve the problem of monsters and lessen the chance of civilian turning into a bandit due to poverty. The guild is running for 10 years now and it shows it¡¯s effect. The knights didn¡¯t move out to hunt monster which means that the kingdom¡¯s strength will go up while civilian turning into a bandit decreases. So if that is the case, then why did they have a ranking system? It is to cope up for the monsters strength. There are strong monsters out there and they divide it by rank similar to the rank of the members. Because of that, the members of the guild, or so called adventurers, aren¡¯t obligated to participate on wars, instead they should ensure that they will hunt down the monsters to prevent them attack the towns and villages. Well, that¡¯s it. After explaining for a while, she escorted us to the second floor, by the way her ass is great too. She said that we need to take the ¡°Provisional test¡± also known as ¡°Placement test¡± where we would get rated on what rank we should start. It is a test where you¡¯ll need to fight one of the employees of the guild. They are former adventurers who choose to work inside the guild instead of the field. We don¡¯t have our weapons right now but even if we have it the guild will provide training gears. We went upstairs and entered a certain room there. Apparently, the second floor was the administration floor. In this floor, you will find the administrator¡¯s office, the budget office, test room and conference rooms. As we are entering the room, the receptionist whispered to me, ¡°Please don¡¯t be too obvious at checking my body. Copy what your did, I can feel his gaze on my breast even though he¡¯s looking straight to my eyes¡± and smiled. Apparently, I got caught but knowing that Gino was also checking her back then made me feel relieved. At least I know that he¡¯s straight. When we entered the room, what we saw a ring in the middle of it, it looks like the octagon without its fences. At its side, there are wooden swords, wooden shield, wooden spears, bows and arrows with blunt head. There are also some scarecrow being hit by some people which appeared to be a trainee and being observe by their instructors, sometimes I¡¯ll hear shouts like ¡°It¡¯s not like that! Like this!¡±, ¡°Aren¡¯t you doing it for a month now?! Why can¡¯t I see an improvement in your moves!¡± and the likes. The receptionist girl introduced us to a muscled man covered in scars. He looks intimidating and with his coarse voice, he¡¯s became more intimidating. His name is Clark, a former A-ranked adventurer and he will be the one who will conduct our test. ¡°Pick your weapon and get on the stage. I¡¯ll test you one by one, the first one to step will be going first.¡± Upon his command, we pick our weapon. Gino picked a sword, shield, and spear while I pick the bow and quiver and a short sword. The reason why I pick the bow is that I can hit this intimidating guy from afar. I don¡¯t want to go near him since I think I won¡¯t be able to withstand his strength. The first one to enter the stage is Gino. With his left hand holding the shield while his other hand holds the spear, the sword was strapped on his waist and he lowers his waist preparing to receive an attack from Clark. Upon seeing his stance, Clark smiled and rushed forward. His speed surprises me since his speed isn¡¯t something that you¡¯ll expect to someone who has a big body. Gino also got surprised but he didn¡¯t let it hinder him. When Clark entered the range of his spear, Gino thrust it aiming at the chest of Clark but he just smiled as if he¡¯s expecting it and side stepped dodging Gino¡¯s spear but apparently, it¡¯s a feint. Gino sweep his spear to the direction of Clark but it seems that Clark also knows it, he parried Gino¡¯s spear using his wooden sword and flick it above. Gino let go of the spear and rushed towards Clark with his shield in front, intending to bash it to Clark. Clark didn¡¯t care about what Gino did and continued to charge at Gino, he put his sword to his side intending to slash Gino vertically. Gino draws his sword while Clark executed his attack, Gino pushed his shield towards Clark¡¯s sword but the trajectory of the sword suddenly shifted, it went over the shield and slashes at the opposite side! Upon seeing it, Gino suddenly raised his sword intending to block the attack but Clark draws back his sword and now he¡¯s going to stab it at Gino¡¯s chest. Gino stepped back and slash down his raised sword successfully parrying Clark¡¯s sword. ¡°Hooh? You move well despite being fat¡± ¡°Of course I can move well, if I can¡¯t I won¡¯t be here taking this test¡± Clark seems to be impressed by Gino. Gino¡¯s movement isn¡¯t something that he can do back on Earth. Maybe thanks to the body strengthening we received upon arriving at this world, he can now move more freely. Gino created a distance again moving towards his spear. I thought that the spear got blown away the stage but it¡¯s still there. Upon reaching where the spear is, Gino fixes his stance again. It¡¯s the same stance he did at the beginning. Clark once more charged towards Gino. Gino patiently waited and when Clark almost got his on his range, Gino stepped at the blunt end of the spear causing it the stand up, above it is Clark¡¯s groin but Clark managed to stop it before it even stand higher by stepping on it. This time they are within each other¡¯s range and just like before Clark is first one to attack. Gino did the same action as he did before but instead of going past over the shield, the sword went under aiming at Gino¡¯s legs. Gino didn¡¯t manage to dodge it and got hit. Gino tried to counter attack using his sword but Clark grasped Gino¡¯s wrist and brings the edge of his wooden sword near to the throat of Gino. Gino closes his eyes as he accepts his defeat. ¡°I lost¡± ¡°That¡¯s given.¡± Clark withdraws his sword and let go of Gino¡¯s wrist. ¡°Congratulations, you are now a D-rank adventurer.¡± Gino went down the ring. He appears to be alright despite receiving an attack on his legs but I¡¯m not sure about it since he might be just putting up with the pain. ¡°It¡¯s your turn now. Avenge me Jasper-senpai!¡± Yup he¡¯s alright. He has the energy to joke around. ¡°Watch me kouhai¡± I step inside the ring. As always Clark is smiling confident on his skills. Yes he¡¯s strong and I¡¯ll admit it. Right now I won¡¯t be able to win against him but I am not planning to lose without landing a hit at his intimidating body. ¡°Fuuu~¡± I relaxed myself by breathing out and focus myself on him. This is something I do before I fight, both in game and real life, back on Earth. This way it will let me concentrate on a fight. ¡°You ready?¡± Clark asked while he prepares his stance. Truth be told, I don¡¯t know how to use a bow and even though there¡¯s an archery team at our university, I never have the experience on handling a bow nor watching their practice but looking at the movements of Gino from before, he didn¡¯t know how to use a weapon but still managed to put up a fight against Clark, maybe I¡¯ll manage somehow. I pull out an arrow from the quiver, load it to the bow and pull it back. Strangely, it feels that I¡¯m doing this kind of thing for a long time and it feels too natural. A crosshair appeared on my vision the same with the crosshair of the archer of Rakion. The distance between us is just 8~10 meters and basing on Clark¡¯s speed he can quickly close this gap in a second or two. Upon seeing me drawing my bow, Clark smirked overconfident as fuck that¡¯s pissing me off! I let go of the string and the arrow flew straight to Clark, as if the arrow is the signal, Clark charges at me while deflecting the arrow. Well, I expected that so I quickly run side-wards intending to create distance between us, I shot another arrow and he still deflects it. Tsk. He¡¯s really skilled. I intended to nock another arrow but the Clark already closed the distance so I hurriedly pulled out my wooden sword while letting go of my bow. I see Clark¡¯s sword aiming to my flank but instead of blocking it I duck intending to dodge it, I am expecting him to change the trajectory of his sword again but that didn¡¯t happened. It seems that he¡¯s surprised by my action and he forgot to change its direction. ¡®That¡¯s why you have that too many scars on your body! You¡¯re easy to get distracted!¡¯ I thrust my sword towards his unguarded stomach but as expected of a former adventurer, he quickly move to dodge my thrust and at the same time let out a counter attack this time I¡¯ll block it while watching if his sword will change its aim and just like what I expected, he really changes its direction. The sword which is aiming for my head suddenly changes its target to my side but I quickly pulled back my sword to guard my sides. Actually, it¡¯s pretty hard to do this and my stance almost got broken but I still managed to block it. He pulled back his sword and started to shower me with flurry of slashes forcing me to defend against it. I block his attacks and sometimes dodge it without taking a step backward. Sometimes his sword would graze me but it¡¯s not a significant damage so the fight continued. As time pass, I got used to his speed and now it¡¯s time to counter attack. \ \ \ What¡¯s this! What¡¯s this! This is crazy! This guy is keeping up with me, a former rank-A adventurer! I fought though monsters and bandits before but he¡¯s keeping up with me! This isn¡¯t the first time I experienced testing someone who can keep up with me but that boy is an exception, he¡¯s the son of the dragon slayer so it¡¯s expected for him to be that good but this guy, he keeps on improving while we¡¯re exchanging blows! This is fucking crazy! It¡¯s such a shame that the guild only allowed up to D-rank in this provisional test but personally, I wanted to give him B-rank since he can keep up with me, Clark the Flowing sword! \ \ \ As Clark continued to attack, I keep on blocking and dodging his attacks waiting for the right moment to perform a counter attack. Honestly, I am quite surprised by myself since I can move like this and I¡¯m thankful for it. Also the feeling of familiarity between bow and sword is different, at bow it feels like I know how to use it and been using it for a month or so but in terms for sword, it feels like I am using it again after not using it for years. It feels like my body slowly remembers how to properly use a sword. Kind of weird but I¡¯m thankful for it. Maybe this is something to do with body strengthening we experienced when we got here but whatever the reason is, I¡¯m thankful for it. ¡®Now it¡¯s time to erase that smirk on your face!¡¯ I tried counter attacking after blocking a blow aiming at my head and Clark successfully blocks it. As time goes by, I can feel that I can win this as long as I pressure him so I continued to counter attack when suddenly I feel the weight on my hand changes. The blade fucking snap from the handle! There¡¯s a sword coming towards my flank and even if I try to dodge it, I won¡¯t make it in time! If I step back, my stomach will got hit and if I tried to duck then it will hit my head! I¡¯ll lose huh¡­ I closed my eyes and braced myself to pain that¡¯s going to come. ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯re now a D-rank adventurer¡± I hear Clark¡¯s voice so I slowly opened my eyes. Clark still has smirk in his face while he look at me. His eyes have a strange light as if he found a new prey I hope that he¡¯s not like a certain anime character where he¡¯ll let his prey become stronger before killing them¡­ I walk down the ring and put back the weapons I borrowed thankfully they will not charge the broken sword to me. *clap clap* Gino claps as I go near him. ¡°As expected of Senpai!¡± Chapter 8 – The Message and the Summoning ¡°As expected of senpai!¡± Gino jokingly said to me while clapping his hands while the receptionist¡¯s seems to be quite surprised by my fight her mouth was lose open as she silently stare at me. In fact, it¡¯s not only the receptionist but also the other people who are inside this room, their mouths were open. Seriously, I want to fight a little longer since I feel that we¡¯re just getting started but my sword broke so it would be the end. Well, if that¡¯s a real fight where we bet our lives on the line then I won¡¯t stop as long as I breathe though. But still, having fought that hard and ended up with the same rank as Gino brings me down, I mean, I fought an A-rank adventurer head on without having a clear victor yet I ended up as D-rank? Isn¡¯t it annoying? ¡°Ahem¡± I pretended to cough to get the attention of the receptionist and as if my cough is the restart button, she jolted and fixes her appearance. ¡°Ahem¡­ Congratulations on becoming D-rank, please follow me.¡± I don¡¯t know what we are going to do now but we followed the receptionist just like she told and went out of the room. We return to the desk and she put two crystal orb on the desk. ¡°This is a device that will automatically record your personal information such as name, age, sex, and job class when you put your hand on it and press the button here.¡± She pointed a button located on the top of the orb. I don¡¯t know how this thing works at all but if I were to compare it to a device in the modern world, it would be like biometric scanner used in offices. Well, this is a fantasy world after all. I put my hand on the orb similarly Gino did the same and press the button at the top. The orb shines white and scanned my palm, it looks like a photocopying machine by the way. *Ting* A ring came off from the orb indicating that it¡¯s already done so I draw my hand back. How did I know that it¡¯s already done? You know when you heard a ring from a certain device it would mean that it¡¯s already done doing the thing it supposed to do. Similarly, Gino did the same. ¡°Thank you. Please come back tomorrow since creating a new guild tag takes time. Thank you for registering at the guild. Have a nice day¡± The receptionist smiled as we go. There¡¯s no particular thing that we are going to do so maybe I¡¯ll ask Gino to teach me how to read and write. Looking at the notice board, it seems that all of them are written in alibata and I don¡¯t know how to read it. Aaah! I wish I have a skill that will allow me to read and write the writings of this world! \ \ \ A man in his mid-30s is reading a report regarding the oracle of the Goddess inside a certain office in the royal castle. He¡¯s reading the report thoroughly making sure that he doesn¡¯t miss anything about it. ¡°Is this true?¡± The man put down the report on his document filled desk and lifts up a cup of coffee. With a sip, the bitterness of the coffee spreads out in his mouth making him calm. ¡°Yes your highness, this is the exact words that the priestess said when she received the oracle.¡± The man who¡¯s enjoying his cup of coffee is the king of the Kingdom of Sevir. His name is Ferdinand Lucid Sevir also known as King Ferdinand the first. King Ferdinand the first brings down his cup and took a glance at the report on his desk. The report was given to him just about a minute ago and he prioritized on reading it despite working on other documents concerning the kingdom¡¯s affair since gods really exist in this world and in fact, he met one before he reincarnated on this world. Yes he is a dayo. On the day when he died on Earth, the Goddess said that he¡¯s going to give him another chance in another world. At first he did not believed it and thought that that was all a dream and so he half-heartedly listened to the Goddess thinking that when he woke up, he won¡¯t remember it anyways but contrary to his expectation, the next time he woke up he¡¯s already in the body of a new-born baby. At first he thought that his dream turned to a very weird direction but as time passed, he accepted this life as his new life. He was born as the crown prince of this kingdom and raised as the next king. As he was a dayo, a reincarnate one, he knew how to govern and in fact, he was previously a president of a certain country before he reincarnated. Though his people called him a tyrant, due to various circumstances but most of them came from his subordinates abusing the authority given to them, so at the present time the majority of the people are still mad at him but thanks to that he didn¡¯t had a hard time learning it while at the same time he thinks that the current system is really inefficient both to the people and the country. So after sitting on the throne he started rebuilding the kingdom to his taste while being careful so that the incident that happened on his past life won¡¯t happen in this world. He created many roads and bridges, adopted the education system of Earth (though it¡¯s still new so the result can¡¯t be seen), improved the lands, recreated useful devices to this world etc. etc. giving him the title of ¡®Wise King¡¯. About those devices, he will receive divine punishment if he recreated it Earth-style so the Goddess told him, before he was born, that he can recreated as many items as he wants as long as it will use MP/magic power since it¡¯s a renewable energy. The MP used will come back to the Dragon¡¯s Vein which will distribute it to people who needs them. This way, even if the technology advances too much it won¡¯t harm the planet. ¡®To think that the fairy tales about it is true¡­¡¯ He thought to himself while picking up the note again but no matter how many times he reads it the content never changes. ¡®Haaaah¡­ Our weapon isn¡¯t ready yet and as much as possible I don¡¯t want to call someone from the previous world but this is a problem we can¡¯t face alone and the Goddess herself given us a permission to summon a hero...¡± The note says:
The evil sleeping in the north shall wake up once more. It will try to conquer this world again and everything will be turned to ashes. As it burn villages to ashes, the citizen will try to defeat it but no matter what they try, no matter how many soldiers they gather, they will always fail. So for you, my wise king. I would allow you to summon the hero who would save this world. As someone who once grew up in a different world, I expect you to treat the hero courteously. This message is especially for you my wise king. Your kingdom is the only one who was permitted to summon the hero, so do make haste since any day from now on the evil might woke up¡­
¡®It would be nice if we could handle it all by ourselves without relaying to abducting someone but it seems that isn¡¯t possible¡¯ As King Ferdinand the first thought about those things, he looks at the man who gave him the message. The man looked at his 60¡¯s but strangely enough, he moves like he¡¯s on his prime. This man is his prime minister who he trusted the most. ¡°Go call the head priest, the lord commander of the royal guards and the head magician. Tell them to prepare the reagent used on summoning otherworlder and meet me at the throne room.¡± ¡°At once your Grace¡± The prime minister bows down and exited the room. King Ferdinand leaned on his throne and let out a sigh. ¡®I¡¯m sorry to anyone who will be summoned but we need you right now so there¡¯s no helping it. I hope that the Goddess will give him a reward after this¡­¡¯ The king once more sighed and get up. ¡°Now then it¡¯s time to go¡­¡± He picks up the crown made of gold on the desk and wears it. \ \ \ At the throne room, a big magic circle was embedded on a carpet that was laid out in the center of the room. There¡¯s also a mountain of magic stone to be used as the power source for the ceremony besides the carpet. Summoning from another world consume too much MP from its caster and even if there¡¯s a 10 high level sages working together, their MP was still too little to supply the ritual. The king sits on the throne made up of gold and at its armrest there are skulls of the dragon carved on it. On his right there sat the queen on her chair, just like the throne, it¡¯s made up of gold but the decorations were quite simpler than the former. The queen looks like she¡¯s in her early 20¡¯s but the reality is she¡¯s already in her early 30¡¯s. While on his left sat the princess of this country, their only child, Princess Althea Lucid Sevir, she¡¯s turning 18 this year with her blood red hair is inherited from his father while her emerald like eyes is from her mother. Her hair is tied to a bun while silver crown rest on her head. Her eyes were sparkling with interest since this will be the first time she will see an otherwolder being called on this world. She loves the story her father told her before about his previous world so she¡¯s hoping that the one who will be summoned would also tell him about the other world. In her father¡¯s story the world he lived before coming on to this world is a world where magic doesn¡¯t exist but the technology used by the people were advancing at fast paced and right now, he doesn¡¯t know what kind of technology does his previous world has. Upon hearing that, the princess asked her father to recreate those technologies but he said that he doesn¡¯t know how to make them. At first she felt disappointed but her father gently patted her head and said: ¡°My little princess, don¡¯t be sad since I am currently working on finding the people who might know how to recreate them. Just be patient.¡± After hearing that, the princess smiled from ear to ear at that time and repeatedly thanked and praised her father. And right on this moment, another otherworlder will come. She met some dayo who works at his father¡¯s workshop and talked about technology of their previous world, she felt satisfied by it and would love to hear them tell stories about it and she knows that those dayo have some works to do so she limited herself from asking too much but right now, there would be someone who she will be able to talk to. She volunteered herself as the one who will explain as to why he or she was summoned on this world. ¡°So, let us begin.¡± The head magician said and along with other sages, they started to chant while the princess gets excited on someone who will be summoned. ¡®If it is a man then I hope that he won¡¯t be annoyed by me and if it is a woman then I hope that she can treat me as her little sister¡¯ These are the thoughts of the princess while the chant continued. As the chant came nearer to its end, the princess excitement went up while the magic circle in the carpet started to glow brightly and the mountain of magic stone beside it slowly turns into dust. The sages completed the chant and the magic circle shined brightly making it impossible to look straight at it so all of the people in the throne room close their eyes. As the brightness decreases, they slowly opened their eyes and saw a man and a woman standing in the middle of the carpet¡­ \ \ \ We are walking down the stairs while supporting Kaezar who became depressed on what happened on Jasper. I, Jack Anderson, and her cousin, Graziel Santos, are assisting Kaezar Padilla. By the time she wakes up it was already past 2:00PM and the first thing she did after waking up was to cry. I don¡¯t know what should I say or do at that time so I just let her cry. They said that crying is a good way for relieving the sadness we¡¯re feeling so I just let her be. Sometimes, she would say ¡°Jasper where are you?¡± in between and watching her cry and speak the name of someone repeatedly aches my heart. I wanted to do something that will make her happy but I know that she only needs one thing, and that is news about the whereabouts of Jasper Perez. Right now her eyes swallow and there¡¯s no will in it as if she gave up on this world already which frightens me. I know that she won¡¯t commit suicide even if we let her be but I¡¯m afraid that it will be bad for her to stay like this but then again, I don¡¯t know what to do¡­ If only I know where in the hell is Jasper then I will drag him to her but sadly, I don¡¯t. ¡°Hey Kaezar, it¡¯s okay. Jasper is okay and maybe right now, he¡¯s thinking on how run away from those terrorist!¡± Graziel tried to cheer her up but it¡¯s not working. I also wanted to cheer her up but I don¡¯t know what to say¡­ Should I just lie and said that Jasper texted me and he¡¯s doing fine? That would be too obvious doesn¡¯t it? What should I do? As we take the last step on the stairs the surrounding became pure white and I feel that we are falling down. ¡°Uwaaaaaaa!!!!¡± ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh¡± ¡°¡­¡± We screamed as we felt that we are falling but Kaezar was still unresponsive and as if she doesn¡¯t seems to mind that we are currently falling down to somewhere we don¡¯t know. Honestly, there are some rumors about our campus being haunted and sometimes, students will feel that they are falling from a high ground while going down the stairs we currently used but I never thought that those rumors were true! After all, I used these stairs for a long time now!! ¡°W-w-w-w-what¡¯s happening! Why are we falling?!¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Graziel asks questions while falling down but I don¡¯t know what to say after all, ¡°I DON¡¯T KNOW!¡± Yup, I don¡¯t really know what¡¯s currently happening! The supposedly rumors about this haunted campus became real all of a sudden and we are experiencing it firsthand! Aaaaah!!! How did those rumors end up again? Would they just feel that there are falling even though they are not? Or are they just going to disappear like a bubble? Hopingly it¡¯s the former!! As the feeling of falling continues, I think I hear a voice saying ¡°Sorry for the inconvenience. My people forgot how to properly used the summoning spell since it¡¯s been a very very long time since they last used it.¡± Inconvenience? Spell? Last used? I don¡¯t get it! This is bad! Due to fear I¡¯m starting to hear weird things in my head! ¡°H-hey Jack! Did you hear that?!¡± Graziel asked me while gripping on Kaezar¡¯s clothes. ¡°The voice of a girl?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± It seems that it isn¡¯t something that I hear due to my fear. What the hell is happening here! I don¡¯t know when we landed but I can now feel the ground and it seems that we are in a place where no matter what direction I look at I can only see the color white. ¡°Who are you?! Where are we?!¡± Graziel shouts her question while I try to asses our situation. We are going down the stairs while supporting Kaezar and when we are on the last step, a light suddenly enveloped us followed by the feeling of falling down and we ended up in this white place¡­ Yup it doesn¡¯t make sense! Did we get abducted by an alien? ¡°Please calm down. I am the Goddess that supervises two worlds. I go by many names since the being that dwells in my worlds named me as such. If I we¡¯re to give a name¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­ Since the three of you are Catholics then should I call myself as the God Almighty, the father of Jesus.¡± The Goddess (or so she call herself) gave us a name which we are familiar with but if she¡¯s saying that she¡¯s the father of Jesus, then why is she a girl? Isn¡¯t it supposed to be a man since its ¡®Father¡¯. ¡°Jesus introduced me as a man since at that time the women had lower standing than men.¡± As if the Goddess could read my thoughts, she answered my questions. ¡°Anyways, why are we here? Are we already dead?¡± I asked. Since meeting a God that resides in heaven means that we¡¯re already dead and we are in heaven now. Maybe that feeling of falling means that we tripped on the last step and bump our heads to the floor¡­ That will only give us a few bumps on our head and by no means fatal¡­ I don¡¯t get it! How did we end up in heaven! In the first place, is this place really heaven?! ¡°Relax, my child. You could say that this is heaven and at the same time it is not. This place is where I meet the souls of the people regardless of what they did in the mortal realm and cleanse their soul for their next life. The reason why I called you here is not because you¡¯re dead but because the other world which I supervise needs your help.¡± I feel relieved when I learned that we are not dead yet at the same time, bewildered to see the actual heaven. The bible said that heaven is a place where there¡¯s no conflict, sadness or anything associated with evil at all, all it have are perpetual prosperity and happiness. Well, they are half right since the only one here is the Goddess and almost all of the souls that went here got reincarnated already. This whole time I did not opened my mouth but the Goddess answered almost all of the question I have, can she read my mind? ¡°Yes, I can read your mind.¡± Even though I don¡¯t see her, I feel that she¡¯s looking at us with affection and smiling. Well, she¡¯s a God after all so reading human mind is a simple task for her. ¡°Anyways, I called you here to seek help. Would you please help the other world that I supervise on defeating the evil existence which will appear in the near future? The current strength of that world isn¡¯t enough and it will still be not enough after the evil wakes up.¡± Heee~~ So the Goddess called us here to save her other world. ¡°That¡¯s right. The world you will be saving is a fantasy world where magic exist. Of course you can freely recreate the Earth¡¯s technology but please use magic as the source of power since I don¡¯t want that world to have the same fate as Earth where pollution slowly destroys the world.¡± ¡°H-hey..¡± Graziel tugged my clothes. ¡°Do you think that she¡¯s telling the truth? I mean, we don¡¯t really know her and there¡¯s no assurance that we can survive on the world she¡¯s saying.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can survive but I think she¡¯s telling the truth, at least that¡¯s how I feel.¡± Yes, strangely enough I feel that I can trust her. Not because of her status as the Goddess but as a person. There¡¯s something that I can¡¯t describe properly but I know I can trust her. ¡°Thank you for trusting me. But I won¡¯t force you to help the other world since you will be separated to your family and friends if you go there but rest assured, even if you die there I¡¯ll bring you back to Earth alive again and if by chance you¡¯ll accept my request I¡¯ll pause the time in Earth so that your family, loved ones, and friends won¡¯t worry about you and after your done saving my world I¡¯ll make sure that your future will be blessed.¡± It¡¯s quite attractive offer and since there¡¯s nothing to lose my eagerness to go and help that world rising. ¡°I have a question before I accept your request, can you tell me where is Jasper Perez and how is he?¡± This is something I wanted to know not only because I am worried about my friend but I wanted to relieved Kaezar¡¯s worries. Upon hearing my question, Kaezar looks at me bewildered by my question and I just smiled at her without saying anything. Kaezar¡¯s eyes become moist because of what I did and said ¡°thank you¡±. She hasn¡¯t smiled yet but I know that no matter what the Goddess answer I¡¯ll definitely support Kaezar the best that I could. ¡°Jasper Perez, he got transported to that due to rift of space. It seems that he got dragged by that rift and ended up there and he¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°Thank God he¡¯s okay¡­¡± Kaezar¡¯s cries as she feel relieved knowing that Jasper is alive and well and she¡¯ll have a chance to meet him once more if she accepted the Goddess request¡­ Honestly, it hurts knowing that she¡¯s more concerned about Jasper¡¯s wellbeing than her own but there¡¯s nothing I can do about it since she loves Jasper that much and I love her this much¡­ I guess I will never be someone who can replace the place of Jasper in her heart¡­ ¡°We¡¯ll accept your request.¡± I said so without consulting the other two but looking towards Kaezar¡¯s reaction when she heard that Jasper is in that world, I¡¯ll bet that she wanted to go there as soon as she can but I don¡¯t know about Graziel. I look at Graziel probing on what¡¯s her decision but it seems that it¡¯s a groundless worry. Graziel nodded at me and smiled as if she¡¯s saying that ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, we are at the same side wanting to support Kaezar¡± It somehow feels weird. Our main purpose on going at that world is to save it but it ended up being our second priority since supporting Kaezar becomes the first reason that we are going there. I really hope that she would smile once more after meeting with Jasper. ¡°Then I¡¯ll start transporting you to that world already. And also only the two of you, Jack Anderson and Graziel Santos since Kaezar Padilla¡¯s body needs to be reconstructed. It might take a while but I promise you that she will be there too and just like you, she will be under my protection so that even if she died on there, she¡¯ll come back to Earth safely. And also when you got there tell the people that it would be approximately a year before the evil wake up and I also go by different name in that world but please say that you met me as Mas, the Goddess of Prosperity.¡± Before I could ask for us to be transported at the same time, my vision swirls and followed by the feeling of floating. I tried to shout but no voice came out from my mouth. The swirling of my vision became faster and faster and the next time I know it, I¡¯m already on the ground with Graziel besides me inside a big hall¡­ \ \ \ At the time Jack and Graziel was being transported¡­ I never thought that he will come in that world again. This is something that I, the Goddess, would miss it even though I can somehow see the future. Anyways, the only one left in this room is the girl named Kaezar Padilla. She seemed confused to what is happening in her surroundings and the sudden disappearance of her friends made it worse. ¡°Now then, I¡¯ll start reconstructing your body so that you can move easier in that world.¡± Honestly, I don¡¯t need to do this, the system I made on that world will repair and enhance her health, but I lied to them since she has someone with the same soul in that world. That person needs to die first before I transport her there or the system will misrecognize her information. With a snap of my finger, she lost her consciousness. It won¡¯t take a while since that person is destined to die at the end of this month and it¡¯s already at the middle so she¡¯ll live for a week only but I think I won¡¯t let her reunite with Jack Anderson and Graziel Santos yet. I¡¯ll grant her wish, even though she never voices it out. I¡¯ll transport her near her beloved. As I finished my plans, I sat down on my chair and picks up the remote of my TV and watch Earth¡¯s entertainments. I don¡¯t have anything to do so it¡¯s okay to relax for a while and since minor task such as monitoring the world are left to our subordinates so there¡¯s really nothing to do. ¡°They surely created some entertaining machine there. I wonder if I should connect to the internet or not?¡± Watching while wondering about some trivial topics, I pour myself an alcohol called sake offered by my believers from the country called Japan. \ \ \ I, Jack Anderson, am inside an unfamiliar hall with Graziel on my side. Our clothes are the same before we got transported into this world. There are old men surrounding us wearing a white robe holding staves. Not too far in front of us there are three people sitting on a throne. Two of them are woman and between them sit a man wearing a golden crown. He¡¯s hair is blond and his eyes are blue he¡¯s wearing a high quality blue cape and he¡¯s gripping a scepter on his right hand, he maybe the king. On her right sit a woman she¡¯s also wearing a golden crown but compared to the man it¡¯s much simpler that also goes to her throne. Her hair is red as blood and her eyes are colored chestnut. The King looks on his 30¡¯s but this woman looks at her early 20¡¯s. Maybe she¡¯s the princess of this kingdom and the one on left is her little sister since that girl looks like she¡¯s in her teens, her hair is also red but her eyes are emerald. The little sister (temp) seems to be excited about something as she looks alternately at us. One step down the stairs on the throne on the right side of the princess (temp) there stand an old man looking at us carefully as if he¡¯s inspecting a new item while on the left side of the little sister (temp) stand a man with a black hair and black eyes and no matter how you look at him you¡¯ll know that he¡¯s a Filipino. He wears a shining silver armor, it doesn¡¯t have any speck of dirt and its literary shinning, and on his waist there¡¯s a sword with overly decorated hilt and scabbard, I wonder if it¡¯s just a ceremonial sword or it¡¯s really is his weapon. Looking carefully at this knight (temp) face, he resembles Jasper a little bit. ¡°Welcome Heroes, you are in the presence of his majesty, King Ferdinand the First, king of the Kingdom of Sevir.¡± The old man introduces the king while he carefully looks at us. I am dumbfounded by this situation but I remember the deal we have with the Goddess and it seems that I am summoned on this Kingdom of Sevir. It somehow feels I am inside the fantasy series game of thrones¡­ speaking of that series, we got transported right before the episode 7 airs¡­ I should have requested to the Goddess to delay the transportation until season 7 is done airing¡­ Regretting the fact that I won¡¯t be able to watch it, I kneel awkwardly, copying what the characters of GoT did, since I¡¯m not used to it and Graziel followed me hurriedly bumping her knee hard on the floor which produces a loud sound. She then groans quietly and it seems it hurts, no it really hurts. I take a glimpse on the throne and the little sister (temp) is chuckling while the king and princess (temp) smiled, also the knight (temp) is looking at Graziel with warm eyes and the old man looking at her warmly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to kneel if you¡¯re not accustomed to it okay?¡± The king kindly said but never the less I¡¯ll keep kneeling until he permitted us to stand. ¡°It would be rude to you your grace.¡± Actually, I know that what he said about not kneeling when we¡¯re not accustomed to it can be taken as permission but I am pretty nervous right now and I don¡¯t want to look at them directly. ¡°Stand¡± The king said with a commanding tone. His voice carried a mysterious charm which will make do what he said. I stand upright immediately while Graziel stands up timidly. She leaned her weigh to one side since her knee seems to hurt a lot. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be tense around us. Just like you, we are someone from Earth too. May I ask what country do you belong?¡± The knight (temp) asked us while looking at us nostalgically. Are transported people from Earth a common thing in this world? ¡°We are from Republic of the Philippines¡± The king¡¯s eyes and knight (temp) got bigger and it seems that they are quite interested at us now. ¡°We are also from that country. Uhmmm¡­¡± ¡°Jack Anderson¡± ¡°A half huh¡­ Jack, how old are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m 21 years old Sir¡­?¡± ¡°My name is Percival Perez in Earth but here I am known as Percival Pendragon. Well, I suppose I am a knight but you can call me Tito since we came from the same country and you can call him Lolo¡± [note: Tito = uncle, Lolo = grandfather] Tito Percival rudely pointed at the king using his thumb. I don¡¯t know if he have too much guts or what but I think you will be executed if you¡¯re conduct was rude against the royal blood! Is he not afraid to die?! ¡°Hooo¡­ Is that how you treat your king?¡± See! The king becomes enraged! What are going to do Tito Percival?! ¡°H-hey¡­ Is it just me or the atmosphere looks tense?¡± I look at Graziel who tugged my clothes from my side. ¡°Yeah¡­ After all, Tito Percival did a rude remark on the king.¡± ¡°Percival? Do you know his last name? He seems familiar to me¡± ¡°He said that in this world his last name is Pendragon and in Earth it was Perez¡­¡± Wait¡­ His last name is Perez and if I look closely he resembles Jasper a lot so maybe¡­ No, no it can¡¯t be¡­ Graziel is also pondering about it and she frowns as if there¡¯s something isn¡¯t right on her conclusion. The king and Tito Percival glare at each other. No words come out from their mouth but you can feel the intense tension between them. I would like to ask some question to Tito Percival but I¡¯m scared that if I interrupt them their anger will be directed to me. I look around the throne to see if there¡¯s someone who¡¯s willing to stop their tension. The princess (temp) is just smiling looking alternately at the King and Tito Percival, the little sister (temp) is looking at us curiously while the old man (temp) looks at the two, the king and Tito Percival, with a look saying ¡°Not again¡­¡± Perhaps this is normal exchange for the two of them? Maybe they are close enough to be rude with each other but I think that those things should be done in private not right now since the tension between two of them will affect their surroundings. ¡°Please stop it both of you. We know that you¡¯re close enough to these banters but please do think about your surroundings, look both of them are terrified already.¡± The princess (temp) finally stops the two and both of them turn to look at us. They both have relaxed expression and the tension from before was not here anymore as if it¡¯s not there in the first place. ¡°Sorry about that. But it¡¯s true you know? Calling her Lolo fits his actual age after all, you guys seem to be at the same age as my son in Earth and this guy was already old when I was a teenager back then.¡± It seems that Tito Percival didn¡¯t want to stop but the king just sighed and said. ¡°If we combine my age in Earth and here I¡¯ll definitely enter the category of grandparents but in this word I¡¯m still on my 30¡¯s so calling me Lolo is inappropriate.¡± ¡°Hahaha it sure does.¡± ¡°Ahemm¡­ I am the queen of this kingdom, Lilianne Lucid Sevir and this is my daughter Althea Lucid Sevir.¡± The queen coughs and proceeded to introduces herself, the queen former princess (temp), and her daughter, the princess former little sister (temp). I am surprised by her being the queen since she looks like she¡¯s in her early 20¡¯s and her daughter looks like her little sister. ¡°Now then, the reason we summoned you is because of an oracle saying that the evil sleeping in the north will once more awakens and we can¡¯t defeat it with our current power even if all races forms an alliance with each other. Sadly we need your power so please forgive us for selfishly transporting you here.¡± The queen explained the reason why we are summoned with the king and Tito Percival¡¯s banters as background music. ¡°We know milady. The Goddess of Prosperity Mas already give us about explanation on what is happening on this world. We have approximately a year before that evil awakens so we have time to prepare.¡± I tell them the approximate time we have before the evil awakens since it seems that they don¡¯t know when would it woke up. I think in 1 year, I¡¯ll gather different experiences needed to fight that evil. Now that I think about it, this kind of stories where heroes beat the evil one is pretty clich¨¦ to entertainment industry on Earth. ¡°I see. Let me ask both of you. Do you have any combat experience?¡± The queen is still the one who¡¯s asking question since the king and Tito Percival still continues to argue and somehow the old man (temp) got dragged on it. I don¡¯t know when he got dragged by the two since I am talking with the queen. I looked at Graziel and she shook her head so I said that we don¡¯t have any experience. I don¡¯t know if fist fight can be considered as combat experience since it¡¯s mostly one on one so I didn¡¯t said that I have. ¡°I see. I think we need someone to teach you about fighting. I know that it will be hard and as early as now I am sorry for dragging you in our fight. I know that it will not be a good memory since this is a war for survival and you¡¯ll need to take lives of someone but I¡¯ll promise that we will support you financially, emotionally, and physically.¡± ¡°Thank you for your kindness milady.¡± ¡°And also can you tell us your status?¡± Status? What¡¯s that? Something like relationship status or civil status perhaps? ¡°You don¡¯t know how to summon your status? Well, simply say the words ¡®Character Information¡¯ and it will show you your current status.¡± Seeing us confused by the word status, the queen teaches us how to summon our status. We both said ¡®Character Information¡¯ and a window-like thing appeared in front of me.
Character Information
Name: Jack Anderson Age: 21 Gender: Male
Race: Human Base Level: 1 Job: Hero Lv 1
HP: 1000 MP: 500 Title: Hero [summoned]
Base experience Point: 0/100 Job experience Point: 0/100
Fame: 1000 Infamy: 0
Physical Dmg: 100 Physical Def: 100 Magic Dmg: 50
Magic Def: 100 HP regeneration: 100 per 10 seconds MP regeneration: 50 per 10 seconds
Accuracy: 100 Evasion: 100 Speed: 100
Status Points
Strength: 200 Agility: 200 Intelligence: 100
Dexterity: 200 Vitality: 200 Wisdom: 20
Status Point Available: 0
Resistance
Fire: 0 Water: 0 Earth: 0
Wind: 0 Light: 100 Dark: 0
Equipment
Head (Hat): [None] Head (Eyes): [None]
Head (Mouth): [None] Body: [T-shirt]
Shoulder: [None] Wrist: [Wristwatch]
Legs: [Jeans] Feet: [Shoes]
Main hand: [None] Off hand: [None]
Secondary: [None] Ammunition: [None]
¡°So this is my status huh¡­¡± I honestly don¡¯t know if my status is good or bad since I never played computer games before and the only thing I played are casual mobile games such as Piano tiles, candy crush, and 2048. ¡°Please do tell us your ¡®status points¡¯ since it would be important for us to know about it. This way we can help you more efficiently and this will also let us know what kind of role you will have in the upcoming battle.¡± So it¡¯s like that. I wonder if they can see my information since it¡¯s color is slightly transparent. Well, even if they can they won¡¯t be able to read it clearly since there is a distance between us and them. ¡°Hmmm¡­ For strength, agility, dexterity, and vitality all of them are 200 for intelligence it¡¯s 100 and wisdom is 20¡± I wonder what the difference between intelligence and wisdom is since I don¡¯t really know about these stuffs I want to learn what does these thing does. ¡°As for me for strength, agility, dexterity, and vitality all of them are 50 but for intelligence and wisdom they are both 300.¡± I look at Graziel as I hear her information. Honestly I don¡¯t understand it as to why my weakest status is her strongest while my strongest is her lowest. I always thought that heroes supposed to be superhuman existences. ¡°As expected of heroes, they are all high.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes, normally all of their status range from 8-10, 9-13 if you¡¯re lucky enough, at level 1.¡± Okay? It means that we are out of the norm and comparing to normal people we can be considered as superhuman. ¡°It seems that Jack Anderson is fitted for front line while the girl is fitted for the back line. Anyways, I presume that we already talk about the important matters so you can rest now. Please escort them to their chambers. We will call you if these three (pointing at the king, Tito Percival, and the prime minister) finishes their business.¡± ¡°Thank you milady.¡± After that, we get out of the room while the voices of three people becomes louder and louder. You¡¯ll hear occasional laughter and some vexed tone. Never the less, I think it¡¯s a good kingdom, though the king is like that, and I want to protect it. I don¡¯t know how strong the one they call evil but since we are the heroes, it will turn out fine! My blood is boiling due to the excitement since I never thought that I¡¯ll have this chance to be someone who they call hero and as a bonus it¡¯s a world that has the same ambiance of GoT! I wonder if dragons exist in this world. I would like to have a Podrick! Chapter 9 – Blacksmith I, Gino Cruz, am currently walking around the town. Honestly, I don¡¯t want to walk around during day time since there are too many people. The sun is currently up in the sky but strangely I don¡¯t feel that hot. Maybe because I live in a tropical country combined with all the pollution there the hotness was like I¡¯ve been walking through the fire or it¡¯s just the body reconstruction done to us, I don¡¯t know but for that, I am thankful. We decided to have a day off today since the guild tag takes one day to make. I don¡¯t think that it will take a day to create those little tags but it¡¯s good to have a day off. Back in Earth I¡¯ll just stay inside the house when I have a day off since there are many shows to watch (anime included), books to read, and games to play so the outside wall doesn¡¯t attract me that much. But in this world where the telecommunication is not available, where the cost of books are too damn high, and there¡¯s no games to play, even though this world is like a fantasy game, so having a day off means having nothing to do. I always thought I was lazy but I guess that the entertainment in Earth catches most of my attention so I always forgot to do the chores I should do and not having those entertainment of Earth here at Tala is the worst. I am bored to death! Fernando won¡¯t let me help him today since it¡¯s our ¡®day-off¡¯ and I don¡¯t want to be a third-wheel between Kaezar and Jasper at the shop so I don¡¯t know what to do! Maybe I should just gather some herbs or hunt some goblins for experience? My base level is 10 the same with my job level which means I can change class now but I don¡¯t know what I should take since most of the association here is combat related jobs, there¡¯s four crafting jobs here which is blacksmithing, tailoring, woodworking, and alchemy. By the way, Kaezar¡¯s father, Fernando, is the head of the alchemist association in this village and at the same time, he¡¯s only the member. And lastly there¡¯s only one supportive job association here, the Druid association. Druids are the one who commands the nature, though they are grouped in the support jobs, they are strong in fights and does not only act as support. I would like to have a job which encompasses everything in the crafting category. If I can then I think I won¡¯t be bored even if we had a day off in the future. I can shut myself inside my workshop and create whatever I want but sadly there¡¯s no job like that. ¡°Haaa....¡± I sigh as I think on what job I should take. I can take a combat related job since I¡¯m an adventurer after all but I don¡¯t want to specialize in combat. Jobs give a bonus to the people who have them. Let¡¯s say that a sword forge by a blacksmith will be stronger than the one forge by alchemist, similarly the potion made by alchemist will be more effective than the potion made by blacksmith and also there are the exclusive job skills which differ in each and every job. I heard that a swordsman has a passive skill which increases the damage dealt by using sword which can overlap with the sword mastery skill which will let him deal more damage than other class using the same sword. ¡°What should I pick I wonder? Blacksmith, alchemist or tailor? What should I pick I wonder?¡± I am singing a song I made on the spot, which I will forget later, while walking aimlessly when I heard the sounds of hammer pounding a metal. It has a rhythm on it which is making me feel relaxed as I listen to it. *Clang, clang. Clang, clang* My feet unconsciously followed the sound and now I am in front of the workshop of the blacksmith. Well, I don¡¯t know if I should call it a workshop since there¡¯s just a roof here for the shade and no wall. The workshop is located at the southeastern end of the village near the forest. A man is hammering the heated metal looking so focused. The metal is already a meter long but the man still continued to lengthen it. After it reaches the length of 1.2 meters, he dipped in the water as steam rose up from it. A few minutes later he pull out the blade and check if its straight and when he confirms that it¡¯s already straight he polished it revealing a shiny blade then he proceeded to attach the hilt locking and after confirming that it¡¯s properly attached, he swings it for a few times then nodded. ¡°So what do you want boy?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± The blacksmith suddenly asked me a question and I got surprised by it. I am absorbed watching the process of making sword so I didn¡¯t answer immediately. ¡°Are you interested on becoming a blacksmith?¡± Upon his question, I suddenly feel a familiar itch in my hand. The itch that lead me to take up information technology as my course in college, back then I felt it when I was still a high school student when I saw a programmer maintaining the server he made of a certain game. An incident which told me that I want to do it myself, the feeling of finding something you would love doing for the rest of your life. ¡°I do.¡± I answered to the man who smiled at me. Maybe I am smiling too but that does not matter now. I don¡¯t care if learning blacksmithing is a bad choice or it¡¯s impractical and I know deep inside me that if I let this chance pass, I¡¯ll regret it for the rest of my life. ¡°You¡¯re fat and look weak. You¡¯ll have a hard time learning it but that doesn¡¯t matter since your eyes shows your determination to become one. Come here, I¡¯ll teach you how to become one.¡± Feeling ecstatic I walk towards him and he suddenly throws the hammer he¡¯s using to me which surprised me but I catch it using my right hand. Strangely enough, the feeling of holding a hammer feels familiar. After that, the blacksmith teaches me how to handle the hammer, how to control fire, how to remove the impurities in the ore and some other basic stuff. As he was teaching me those I felt that I already know what he was talking but never the less I am listening properly at his explanations. Then he gave me an iron ingot telling me to give it a try. Basing on his explanation, I heat up the ingot until it becomes red and put it on the anvil using a tong. Then I proceeded to hammer it down shaping it to my desire. I am aiming to create a dismantling dagger from it since he only gave me one ingot and it seems that it¡¯s enough to create one. The iron ingot cools down I put it on the fire again until it becomes red and repeated the process until I shaped it to my desire. Apparently the blacksmith is saying something but I can¡¯t hear him since I am focusing on forging my very first item. As I work on it, I feel something weird. It somehow feels that I exactly know what I am doing and I already did this too many times before that even if I close my eyes I know that I can still make it. Right now, it looks like a rough dagger so I polished it until it becomes shiny. The blacksmith also said that polishing requires a little trick since it will affect the sharpness of the blade and it¡¯s the same with hammering it. Maybe the things he¡¯s saying before, when I am shaping the dagger, was about it. My hand started to move polishing the blade. My hands move on its own as if it has its own will but somehow it feels that I am doing the right thing. There¡¯s also a time where I feel that I already done enough and it¡¯s sharp enough to use but I want to use everything I have, everything I know to craft my very first item. After an hour of polishing, or so it feels to me, the blade of the dagger was already finished then I started to create a hilt for it. The hilt was made of woods I found lying on the ground and I shaped it using the carving knife the blacksmith has on the table where his finished sword was located. I carved it to something easy to grip then I attached the blade on it when suddenly a window appeared in front of me.
Please give the forged item a name.
¡°A name huh¡­ Well, let¡¯s just go with dismantling dagger.¡± Hearing my muttering, the blacksmith gasp and said something about crafting a fine quality dagger on first try but I ignored it.
Dismantling Dagger will be the name of the item. Are you sure?
I don¡¯t quite get it why do I need to name the dagger I made even though the blacksmith before didn¡¯t name his sword before. ¡°Yes¡±
You have created a masterpiece! Despite using low quality iron the dagger you created can rival a sword made from fell iron! Dexterity and strength rise by 5. Fame increases by 100.
Some familiar words are written on the window now. It somehow reminded me of LMS which also made me sad since I didn¡¯t manage to read volumes 49 above of the said novel. Well, the translator gave up on it due to the author telling him to do so. But seriously? A masterpiece in first try? Do I have a talent on blacksmithing? I tried swinging it and I feel that it reached the desired output. Looking at it, it looks sharp enough but I test its sharpness by trying to cut firewood near the forge. I pick it up and put it on the top of the anvil and lightly swing the dagger down cutting the firewood like a paper.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I somehow made it too sharp that it leaves a cut in the anvil I use as a chopping board. ¡°Oops..¡± I don¡¯t know how did it become this sharp but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a bad thing. Well, let¡¯s try checking it¡¯s status using appraisal. Thinking about activating the skill, a window appeared in front of me.
[Dismantling Dagger] Rarity: [Common] Physical Damage: 60 Durability: 100/100 An item forged using a low quality iron but it ended up having the quality rivaling the one created from high quality fell iron.
Uhmm¡­ I think this is something absurd. The damage output is very high making me doubt myself if I really created this kind of dagger. I mean I am expecting at least 10 damage but instead it gives me 60. Well, it¡¯s still a common rarity so I have a feeling that I can create something better than these later on. The blacksmith jolts and look at me straight in the eyes full of doubt about what I had done. Maybe he¡¯ll scold me and ask for compensation for the damaged anvil? ¡°You¡­ Are you sure that this is the first time you forged?¡± I nodded while I wrapped the dagger using a cloth I found lying in the table. ¡°That isn¡¯t possible! How come that you are better than any blacksmith I seen before! Are you really a beginner?!¡± ¡°Please calm down I¡¯m just in front of you so you don¡¯t need to shout. I don¡¯t remember forging anything before so this is my first time but strangely enough it feels that it¡¯s not.¡± Yeah, I don¡¯t remember anything about forging a weapon in real life. I only watch some videos before and at that video they are using modern equipment to forge a sword so this should be my first time yet it somehow feels that this isn¡¯t the first time I forged one, strange¡­ Maybe I¡¯m have a talent on it? ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are saying! Are you telling me that it¡¯s your first time yet at the same time it¡¯s not! The hell is that!¡± ¡°I know I¡¯m not making any sense since I don¡¯t get it myself but that¡¯s how it is! I don¡¯t know why but I know that this is the first time I forge but somehow it feels that I am doing this thing for a very long time and I just forget about it since I did not forge anything for a long period of time.¡± ¡°Haaa¡­ Well anyways, did you properly get the skill? It is a requirement to have a blacksmithing skill and level 10 villager before becoming a blacksmith.¡± ¡°Okay I¡¯ll check it.¡± I opened my skill list and got surprised by it.
Active Passive
[Sword Mastery] Level: 5 ¡¤ Increases the physical damage of the user while using sword. ¡¤ Increasing the level unlocks active skills and increases the damage bonus. ¡¤ Current bonus: +5 attack damage ¡¤ Current skill unlocked: [Slash], [Bash]
[Weapon Maintenance] Level: 3 ¡¤ Helps the user to emaintain their weapon. ¡¤ Having higher level means the faster the process can be done ¡¤ Note: It¡¯s different on [Sharpening] and [Repairing]
[Skinning] Level: 5 ¡¤ Allows you to skin any corpse. ¡¤ The quality of the skin depends on the level of the skill, if the skill is higher than the level of the corpse then the skin quality will be good, it it¡¯s lower by 5 levels then the skill will fail.
[Harvesting] Level: 7 ¡¤ Allows you to harvest any plants. The higher the level this skill has, the higher the chance of harvesting the plant.
[Alchemy] Level: 6 ¡¤ Allows you to create potion, elixirs, medicine and others. ¡¤ The higher the level of the skill the higher the chance of succeeding.
[Shield Mastery] Level: 5 ¡¤ Increases the defense given by a shield ¡¤ Increasing the level of this skill will unlock active skills and increases the defense bonus. ¡¤ Current bonus: + 5 physical defense, +5 magical defense. ¡¤ Current skills unlocked: [Shield bash], [Taunt]
[Spear Mastery] Level: 1 ¡¤ Increases the physical damage of the user using spear ¡¤ Increasing the level unlocks active skill and increases the damage bonus. ¡¤ Current bonus: +0 physical damage ¡¤ Current unlock skill: [Pierce]
[Blacksmithing+] Level: 1 ¡¤ Allows the user to craft and salvage metal items. ¡¤ As the level increases the user can work on different metals, the quality of the forged item, and correction on forging items. ¡¤ This skill gains two times experience than the normal [Blacksmithing] skill.
[Blacksmithing+]? Gains two times experience? Wait wait¡­ Isn¡¯t this a bit unfair to other blacksmith? I mean I can easily level up this skill since it gains two times experience than normal but isn¡¯t this kind of bug? Speaking of bug, the bug skill which I have disappears and instead this [Blacksmithing+] skill replaces it. I don¡¯t know what skill it was since its name and description are all question mark in the first place. Maybe the reason why I have this [Blacksmithing+] skill is due to that bug skill, I mean it disappears after I learned blacksmithing and instead of having the normal skill, I got something special. Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it since it¡¯s gone and all but let me thank you bug skill! Because of you I gained something akin to a cheat skill! ¡°So did you get it?¡± ¡°Yes I have it.¡± ¡°Then good, follow me and I¡¯ll make you a blacksmith. By the way my name is Aegor the head of blacksmith association here at Pinar, you are?¡± I didn¡¯t expect that this guy is the head of association. I mean, I thought that the head of the blacksmith association in this village is a big man full of muscles but he¡¯s just an average man. ¡°Gino Cruz.¡± ¡°A noble huh¡­¡± ¡°Ah no I¡¯m not, I am what you so call a dayo¡± ¡°Dayo huh¡­ Well, that explain why you managed to create that dagger. It seems that the gift you got from the Goddess. Well, having a gift will only let you grow faster but the handling of different metals comes from experience. Well then follow me.¡± Aegor started to enter the building besides the workshop and I followed him. I don¡¯t know about the gift from the Goddess but it seems that it gives a boost on experience on certain skills. Maybe that ¡®?¡¯ aren¡¯t a bug but a feature made by the Goddess for the dayo. Well, who cares? \ \ \ After entering the building, he leads me to a room which serves as his office. The office is tidy and there are various ores and ingots organized in shelves properly labeled. There are the common ores and ingots such as iron, copper, and the like and some ores and ingots that I see for the first time. There¡¯s a color green ore with a label of [Fell Iron], there¡¯s also a bluish silver ingot with a label [Mithril], a silver with some hue of blue ore labeled as [Adamantite], I don¡¯t know how he got mithril and adamantite but isn¡¯t them supposedly a high-class ores?. ¡°They¡¯re pretty right?¡± ¡°Yeah, they are.¡± I am still mesmerized by his collection since this is the first time I am seeing them. ¡°I mined them personally you know. I went places to places just to find them even though there are some very common ores which you can find in the marketplace I didn¡¯t bought any of them but instead I went to their mines and get them personally. There¡¯s this satisfaction of collecting them with your own two hands than buying them at the market.¡± Yeah, I feel that satisfaction too though it¡¯s limited to computer games. What¡¯s the point of crafting skills at games if you¡¯re not going to use it? I¡¯m the type of person who will take extra mile to have an item that can be bought from other players as long as I can make them. It might sound troublesome but I enjoyed each and every bit of it. ¡°Anyways we are here to change your job from villager to blacksmith right? You can look at them later. Changing jobs won¡¯t take too much time so come here.¡± I look at Aegor and he¡¯s sitting behind a table with an orb atop of it. The orb is a rough stone engraved with hammers, anvils, furnace and other blacksmithing tools. By using my appraisal skill, its name is [Job orb: Blacksmith]. I guess I¡¯ll need to touch it too just like in the adventurer¡¯s guild. I walk towards it and stop in front of the table waiting for Aegor¡¯s instructions. ¡°Well then let¡¯s begin. Put your hand above the orb and I¡¯ll start incantation needed for changing jobs.¡± Following his instruction I put my hand above the orb but before he begin reciting the incantation the door opens and I heard a familiar voice from it. This is one of the voices that I won¡¯t forget in my life, a voice that sounds so nice putting angel¡¯s voice to shame, at least that¡¯s how it appears to me, which made me inevitably turn around to see her face. ¡°Dad! Can you do a quick maintenance on my sword?¡± She¡¯s standing there wearing leather armor with her sword drawn out. Her sword was chipped due to her repeated reckless use. Her face that looks too perfect with her natural tan healthy skin and with her shiny black hair tied in a ponytail which gives her the impression of being a strict and serious person. Even though she¡¯s wearing an armor it can¡¯t hide her sexy body, though it¡¯s a shame that her breast are as flat as an anvil but never the less she looks beautiful. She¡¯s Jeziel, the adventurer whom I saved before and also the one who exactly looks like my ex, Jeziel Contreras. Though there are some differences between them, especially on how they talk and act, I still can¡¯t help feel awkward around her since she reminds me of my ex. Jasper and co did not know about her, Jeziel Contreras, since I did not even mention it to them even once. We only lasted for a month due to various reasons but mostly it was my fault, but I truly love her but I didn¡¯t expect that I¡¯ll feel awkward with her, Tala-Jeziel, the same as I feel awkward to Jeziel Contreras. ¡°I¡¯m currently busy so I¡¯ll do it later.¡± ¡°Eeeeh!! But I need it now though.¡± Yup they are two different people. Jeziel here is a free-spirited and childish person while Jeziel in Earth is mature, serious, calm and collected. ¡°Then after I¡¯m done with my business.¡± ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll be waitin¡ªGino?¡± I never thought that she would notice me. I thought that she¡¯ll leave without noticing me since when she opened the door she didn¡¯t even realize that I am also inside the door. ¡°Hi! B-been a while.¡± I greeted her as normal as I could but as usual I feel awkward around her so I stuttered. I hope that I can talk to her casually without stuttering. Well, the awkwardness will surely disappear after sometime. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± She walks to me while smiling asking the reason why I am here. ¡°I think I¡¯ll take [Blacksmith] as my job class.¡± I answer while looking at the floor. This time I didn¡¯t stutter but I¡¯m not looking at her face which help me relieved the awkwardness I feel to her. After she heard my answer the sound of her footsteps stops so I slowly look at her to know what¡¯s going on and she¡¯s dumbfounded by my answer. Is it really that shocking for me to take a crafting job? ¡°I, didn¡¯t expected that you¡¯re going to be a blacksmith¡­ I always thought that you¡¯ll take swordsman or combat related class as your job¡­¡± I scratch the back of my head while smiling wryly to her. I don¡¯t know why she thought like that¡­ No I think I know since she calls me a genius on combat or whatnot but I¡¯m not attracted enough to combat related classes after all. I want to become a blacksmith because I think it was my calling. ¡°Dad, you aren¡¯t forcing him to become a blacksmith right?¡± Hmm? What did she call Aegor again? Dad? Does this mean that Aegor is her father? No no no no. It can¡¯t be right? I mean the two of them doesn¡¯t resembles each other after all. ¡°I¡¯m not. When did I ever did that?¡± ¡°But Gino are you really sure you want to be a blacksmith? It feels like you¡¯re wasting your talent for combat.¡± Talent for combat? I don¡¯t think I have one. Is what I wanted to say but seeing her looking down for some reason those words never leave my mouth. ¡°I just finished the registration procedure at the guild.¡± I don¡¯t know why but those words came out instead. I thought that she will continue to persuade me to change my job class but instead she just smiled and said ¡°That¡¯s good!¡± which is unexpected. ¡°Then see you tomorrow at the guild! Dad, finish it quickly okay?¡± Aegor nods while gesturing at Jeziel to leave. Jeziel go outside and closed the door while my sight followed her until the door closes. ¡°I never thought that you¡¯ll be acquainted with my daughter. Anyways, let¡¯s do this.¡± I placed my hands at the top of the orb and Aegor started to recite the incantation. The orb glows blue while he¡¯s chanting and then after his chant the light faded and I become a blacksmith.
Congratulations! You are now a [Blacksmith]! Job class: Blacksmith ¡¤ Weapon job restriction lifted. You can now use any weapon regardless of job class. ¡¤ Add 1 point to Strength and Dexterity every time you level up. ¡¤ Forging an item gives bonus stats depending on its quality.
After the procedure, I went outside while Aegor keeps on telling me to protect her daughter. I don¡¯t know where his confidence on me came but I¡¯ll definitely protect her without him telling me. It¡¯s not that I¡¯ve fallen to her but she looks like her and I don¡¯t want to see her got hurt, well even if she¡¯s not I¡¯ll still protect her since she¡¯s my friend. Chapter 10 – First Quest Yesterday, we went to the adventurer¡¯s guild to register ourselves and took the provisional test or placement examination and we both passed and now we are going there again to take the adventurer¡¯s tag since it will take a day to make the tag we decided to rest yesterday. It¡¯s not that we¡¯re tired for the past few days but it¡¯s just a whim of us so I took that chance to learn how to read and write with Kaezar teaching me the letters while looking after the shop. It¡¯s not that hard since I already encountered it at Earth but memorizing the characters are a bit troublesome. I somehow succeeded at it and now I can read and write a little. Learning language is troublesome but having a beautiful teacher who smiled when you did it correctly motivates you to learn. Oh right, yesterday Gino became a blacksmith. It seems that he¡¯s already level 9 when I first came here and leveled up while we are hunting together. Well, I¡¯m currently level 3 but I¡¯m thinking on what job I should get. Maybe I¡¯ll become a swordsman since Gino¡¯s a blacksmith and all but it would mean that I would go to the frontline where I¡¯ll see gore stuff right in front of me. I do believe that I can adjust to it since humans can adjust to their environment but I don¡¯t want to adopt by close exposure to it. What if a mage then? It looks cool and all casting spells one after another and I bet it will feel like I¡¯m inside a certain fantasy movie that have an antagonist who don¡¯t have a nose but Kaezar said that magic-type job class have a high cost maintenance, you¡¯ll need to buy magic books which the cheapest is 10 gold coins, an invocation tool that will allow you to cast magic and the cheapest of it cost 10 silver coins and other things that you¡¯ll need and also there¡¯s no magic related association in this village. There¡¯s also the crafting jobs which Gino took and I¡¯m slightly interested to alchemy since I watched a certain anime where alchemist fight the seven deadly sins but that fantasy of mine was crushed by Kaezar, she said that the alchemist don¡¯t have that kind of power and they suck at battle. Maybe I¡¯ll just become an archer? I experienced it once at the provisional test and it seems fun so for now I¡¯ll set my sight on it. Anyways, I¡¯m already geared up waiting for Gino inside the shop. Today we are going to try taking a quest. ¡°It¡¯s already too late for this but are you really sure you¡¯ll be an adventurer?¡± Without me noticing, Kaezar was already inside the shop while carry a broom. She¡¯s looking at me worriedly when she asked that question. ¡°I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s a dangerous profession¡­¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Then why? If you need money then you can work here, you don¡¯t need to risk your life for it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about money.¡± ¡®I wonder why she¡¯s this worried about me. She only knew me for a past few days, it¡¯s not even a week since she met me but she¡¯s genuinely concerned about me. It was as if I¡¯m his lover¡­¡¯ that embarrassing thought surfaced to my mind and I know that¡¯s not the reason why she¡¯s concerned on my well-being. Yesterday she told me that it¡¯s pretty lonely in this house before we came and having us, Gino and I, took her loneliness away. ¡°Is it for fame?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about fame or money or anything else. I become an adventurer to find a way to go back home.¡± ¡°But this could be your¡­¡± She stops in the middle of her talk and look down at the floor. Honestly, I know what she¡¯s going to say. ¡®But this could be your home.¡¯ I would love to stay here but my mother would be lonely without me. My father was already dead and she focuses on raising me so much that she forgot that she¡¯s still young when father died and she¡¯s beautiful, in fact 3 years after father died there are too many man who tried to woe her but she refused them all while some still continues to woe her but none of them was entertained. There are also some who used me to get close to my mother but they still failed. I don¡¯t want her to feel the pain of losing someone again. I¡¯ll make sure that I¡¯ll go back and take care of my mother. But sadly, I don¡¯t have any method of going back nor information about it. This is why I became an adventurer. First of all, this method will surely give me money needed to survive in this world. No matter where you are as long as you have money you¡¯ll be fine of course if you are in place which money is useless then it won¡¯t matter but money is just a thing used to satisfy the other party. It can be an item, a food, anything as long as it satisfies others then it can be called money. Secondly, this profession will make me famous though it would take a long time but it¡¯s much faster than others. Fame can let you access more information than the others. And lastly, I am a gamer. These kinds of things make our blood boil but heck even though you¡¯re not as long as you are a man then it will surely make your blood boil. Smiling at her I said. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I promise that I will always come back here.¡± Though I said that in the end I¡¯ll leave this world and go back to my own. Maybe satisfied with my response, Kaezar smiled and passes me two boxes covered with blue clothes and red clothes. ¡°Here your lunchboxes. The blue one is for Gino and the red ones for you. Sorry for saying those things but I want you to know that those are my real feelings. I still think that you guys should just help in our shop but I guess there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. Both of you are man so I guess it¡¯s only natural for you to become an adventurer. Even my dad wanted to be an adventurer again¡­¡± I heard her muttered the last but let¡¯s just ignore it. I can¡¯t imagine Fernando being an adventurer but she¡¯s right, there¡¯s something in that profession that pulls the heartstrings of men. ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting let¡¯s go!¡± Gino came wearing his leather armor with a sword and dagger on his waist. On his right hand he carries a shield while his left hand carries a sack-like bag. ¡°Oh Kaezar you¡¯re there! Well, I¡¯ll just borrow your boyfriend here and rest assured I¡¯ll give him back without a scratch!¡± Hearing Gino¡¯s jokes Kaezar¡¯s face suddenly becomes red. ¡°He¡¯s not my boyfriend!¡± ¡°Then your love one.¡± Kaezar denied what he said but Gino quickly responded with more teasing making Kaezar¡¯s face redder than before. Well, if she¡¯s giving that kind of reaction I might misunderstand it and think that she has something to me but I know that she doesn¡¯t¡­ Maybe¡­ ¡°A-anyways! I hope that you¡¯ll come back unscathed Jasper as for the other one, I don¡¯t mind if you abandon him when things got rough.¡± Kaezar tried to change the topic but it¡¯s meaningless towards Gino. ¡°Hou~ you¡¯re really concerned towards the well-being of Jasper but don¡¯t care about me? You really do love him do ya?¡± See, Gino will just ignore what you did and continued to tease you. No matter what happen he won¡¯t let go of his prey. ¡°I-it¡¯s not that! I¡¯m concerned because he¡¯s my friend and I don¡¯t care about someone who tells those kinds of jokes!¡± ¡°Yes yes. He¡¯s your friend alright. Now Jasper-kun, how does it feel like to be friendzoned?¡± Honestly, I feel an urge to tease Kaezar too but if I support Gino here it won¡¯t end so let¡¯s just ignore him. ¡°Whatever let¡¯s go.¡± I said as I walk towards the exit. Gino complained but seeing me uninterested to support him he shut-up and follows me. \ \ \ After leaving Fernando¡¯s house we went straight to the adventurer¡¯s guild. The guild is more crowded than yesterday making Gino want to go back but since we are here and all, we¡¯ll proceed as planned. After taking our badges, we proceeded to the information board. The badge looks like a dog tag used by military men. The metal used corresponds our rank and in our case, it¡¯s made of silver with our names and ID number carved on it. There¡¯s also a stag crest carved in it representing the kingdom. At first, I thought that it was copied by a reincarnated person from a famous fantasy series but it seems that the stag represents the legendary creature who gave this land to the first king as a respect to it the royal family uses the stag as their crest. As we are walking towards the information board we saw Jeziel sitting alone in the table drinking in broad daylight. Sensing that something¡¯s wrong, Gino walks towards Jeziel and sat in front of her. I thought that she¡¯s bad at dealing with her but I guess his worry for her is stronger than that. ¡°Yo why the long face?¡± Gino said with his usual cheerful voice. Jeziel slowly looks at Gino then to me and looks down again to her mug. ¡°My party kicked me out. They said that I¡¯m terrible and would only endanger our party if I continue to come with them.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°I never had that kind of experience in my whole life but it sucks being told that you¡¯re terrible at something.¡± ¡°They said that I¡¯m weak and I should just attend the shop of my father. That there¡¯s no need for me to be an adventurer and there¡¯s no place for me in this kind of profession. But you know¡­ It¡¯s my dream to become an adventurer ever since I was a kid. Seeing those guys wearing armor, fighting monsters, keeping this village safe made me dream of becoming one. I mean¡­ *Sniff Sniff* I want to wear armor too, I want to fight monsters and keep the village safe but they said that I¡¯m not suited in this kind of work and throws me aside like I¡¯m some garbage. We all started at the same time and they aren¡¯t stronger than me but they still kicked me out.¡± ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a reason behind it.¡± ¡°A reason? There is one! They said that I¡¯m weak and terrible but I know the real reason, the reason was the¡­¡± Maybe I¡¯ll just let Gino console her and pick an adequate quest for us. I mean, I know that she need someone whom she can let out all of her grudge and I¡¯m not fitted on that role. I mean, there¡¯s someone who¡¯s concerned on her well-being even though that someone felt awkward dealing with her plus that someone is a good listener, he¡¯ll listen to anything you said and give an appropriate response on them, so yeah, let¡¯s leave her to him. It¡¯s not because of I¡¯m not good at those type of talk okay? I¡¯m just giving my friend something like a push in the back. \ \ \ After a while looking at the board, I found something that we can safely finish. It¡¯s goblin subjugation. We need to hunt goblins and bring their right ear as a proof to the guild. It does not indicate on how many goblins we should hunt and I guess just like other web-novels that I read goblins were treated as a pest and also tearing the request paper of it is prohibited and the reward is 1 copper coin per ear. Well, I¡¯ll discuss it with Gino and get on with it. While walking towards Gino, I use my [Calculation] skill to level it up. This kind of level system is a bother since it would make your skill weak despite being high level and it¡¯s time consuming but then again, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. I am not the one who designed this kind of system so I¡¯ll just stick with it. Oh the consultation was already over and Jeziel is smiling now while Gino is looking at me apologetically. I wonder what happen. ¡°Hey Jasper can I talk to you for a minute?¡± ¡°Sure, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I invited Jeziel to our party but is it alright?¡± It seems that this guy invited her without thinking on what I would say about it and he¡¯s worried about my reaction but he must know that I don¡¯t mind these things. I look at Jeziel and she suddenly became stiff. I¡¯m not going to eat you, you know? ¡°Well, we can try forming a party with her and if it succeeds then we can add her.¡± Hearing my response both of them smiled and said thank you to me. I didn¡¯t do anything to have their gratitude though. ¡°Anyways, since I went to the board and pick a suitable quest for us I would like you to hear about it.¡± ¡°Well, we can just subjugate goblins outside and pick some herbs as an extra income though~¡± Gino said carefree tone while putting both of his hands on the back of his head and Jeziel nodded at what he said. ¡°That¡¯s something that I am planning to explain but I guess it¡¯s unnecessary now.¡± ¡°Well, when you say you¡¯re a newbie adventurer you¡¯ll start with the weakest slowly climbing to the top right? And the weakest monsters in the surrounding of the village are goblins.¡± Once again, Jeziel nodded at his remark. Did she become a yes girl and can¡¯t say anything to oppose Gino? ¡°Right then, let¡¯s go!¡± I said raising my motivation and they replied with a ¡°Oohh!¡± and we left the guild. \ \ \ We are now inside the forest near the spot where Gino gathers the herbs. On the way here the two of them, Jeziel and Gino, are talking or more likely flirting with each other. Once in a while I¡¯ll hear Jeziel¡¯s giggles and Gino¡¯s jokes combined with some smooth sweet lines which you won¡¯t notice if he¡¯s serious about it or not due to his tone. There are too many times where I wanted to tell them to go back at the village if they want to flirt but I restrained myself since it¡¯s just the first day and I¡¯ll support my friend on getting the girl he wanted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt your lovey-dovey time but we¡¯re entering the part where monster lurks so please be wary on your surroundings.¡± I said teasingly but instead of getting a flustered reaction from both of them, Jeziel smiled wryly and said ¡°we¡¯re not having that kind of time¡± while Gino grinned while saying ¡°You¡¯re jealous, aren¡¯t you? Don¡¯t worry when we come back I¡¯ll let you flirt to your heart¡¯s content.¡± And this guy prepared a counter. I would love to say something back but I feel that once I opened my mouth our attention will be directed to our battering making our wariness towards our surroundings to fade. I¡¯ll also snob the annoying smug face of Gino. \ \ \ After walking for about 30 minutes we haven¡¯t encounter any monsters yet so Gino said that he¡¯ll harvest some herbs while we watch over him. ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s better to have something when we go back than nothing. Besides not encountering one is good since we won¡¯t have to fight.¡± Gino said while picking up herbs and due to boredom Jeziel also help gathering some herbs. Didn¡¯t he casually raise a flag there? I hope that it won¡¯t happen though. Betraying my hope, I heard some rustling sounds towards my left and I carefully looks towards that direction observing the places where they could come out. I prepared my bow and nock an arrow to it. Remaining vigilant I warn both of them and they quickly stand up and pulls out their swords. The rustling sounds become louder and I can now hear footsteps making their way towards us then it suddenly stops for a moment just to yell something incomprehensible maybe a warning or a signal towards its allies. After that more rustling sounds could be heard on our surroundings with footsteps as if they are running and just like before it halts for a moment but instead of yelling something, these guys simultaneously run towards us. As they come nearer to us, I can now see their silhouette behind the bushes and trees. They are 10 small shadows rushing towards us raising one of their arms holding something like a club based on their shadows. ¡°In front of us I can see ten of them!¡± I shout while aiming my bow to the one who¡¯s running in front of the group. A crosshair appears on my vision so I automatically adjust my sight just above the shadows head so that it would hit them. Back at the provisional test I didn¡¯t have the chance to try the range and aim of the bow since we¡¯re at the top of a stage and it¡¯s too little for me to adjust it but now I got a feeling that it won¡¯t hit them if I let the aim as it is. Releasing the arrow, it flies towards the shadow hitting the head of it. The shadow falls on its back while the others ignored that their comrade got killed in a matter of seconds. ¡°One down!¡± I quickly shoot another one but this time it missed. Clicking my tongue, I nock another arrow and aim. This time I¡¯ll point the center of the crosshair to their heads then releases it. Just like the first shot, it finds its way towards the head of my target killing it. ¡°Two down! Get ready to intercept!¡± Judging that they will come out of the bushes before I nock another arrow, I commanded my two vanguards. ¡°Roger!¡± Gino stood in front of us while raising his wooden shield and prepares to intercept anything that will try to run past through him while Jeziel doesn¡¯t know how to move since we did not talk about anything in regards to our battle formation. She just stands right there while keeping her guard up. ¡°Jeziel to Gino¡¯s right!¡± Honestly, I am not sure if my decision of letting Jeziel go in front is the correct choice but knowing that Gino is there to protect her and I¡¯ll cover them from the rear I tell her to go forward and help Gino at intercepting them. Just after I nock and aim another arrow they already came out of the bushes. They are child-like humanoid being with pointed ears and yellow eyes, goblins have appeared. As soon as they saw us, they raise a battle cry with their filthy mouth without stopping for a moment. I release my arrow and it successfully hit the head of another one killing it. 5 of them attacked Gino and Jeziel while the remaining two charges towards me running at the left side of Gino and the right side of Jeziel. Without fearing on my own safety, I nock another arrow and aim at the head of one of the two goblins who tried to run past Gino and Jeziel. My target is the one that Jeziel let pass. Jeziel herself is fighting two goblins at a time and she¡¯s having a hard time dealing with them while Gino handled three of them with a leisure to check the distance between him and the fourth goblin who aim to run past him. Releasing my arrow, it finds it¡¯s mark towards the goblin¡¯s head killing it while the other one failed at dodging the stab suddenly came from Gino. I release another arrow to support Jeziel. This time I didn¡¯t bother to correct my aim and just fired the arrow to the place where I feel that it will help her. As if verifying what I feel one of the goblins got hit on its leg and it raises a sharp yell while it falls down. It¡¯s not dead yet but it seems that the pain it receives will hold it for a little while. I nock and aim another one. This time I am planning on killing the other goblin which Jeziel is fighting. As I tried to predict the moves of Jeziel and the goblin I took a glance towards Gino and he¡¯s doing fine. In fact, he manages to kill one, decreasing the goblins he needs to handle. I almost shoot another arrow but Gino already beaten another one while the last one got stabbed in the back by Jeziel. I don¡¯t know why her previous teammates kicked her out since I don¡¯t see anything wrong on how she moves during combat. After the combat, Gino started to cut off the ears of the nearby goblins while the other two will be collected after it. ¡°You two are too strong¡­¡± Jeziel suddenly mutters. I don¡¯t get it why she said that we are too strong. It¡¯s just goblins and they are charging towards us disregarding their defenses so it¡¯s easy to take them down though they have the advantage of numbers but in the end, they are dumb and didn¡¯t make use of their advantage. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes! Back then we fought two goblins with 5 people yet we had a hard fight against them but in our case, we fought eight goblins with ease¡­¡± Is that really the case? True that fighting against an opponent with greater numbers is hard but they are just goblins so I think it¡¯s pretty normal or maybe we are really just the weird ones here. With this remodeled body of ours, I can move like I am controlling myself over the monitor playing a first-person fantasy RPG game. ¡°Are we perhaps OP?¡± Gino jokingly said so I retorted ¡°If killing 10 goblins is considered as OP then there are too many OP beings in this world.¡± And he just laughs and continued to cut the ears. Certainly, the feat of subjugating 10 goblins with three people is hard on our rank, the lowest rank where you can take subjugation quests, it¡¯s still not enough to be called as OP. We might be stronger than others or have a better cooperation than others but there are too many adventurers that can easily handle this much. There are, aren¡¯t they? \ \ \ After cutting all the goblin¡¯s ears we went to Gino¡¯s secret place and gather some herbs. The herbs we collected were divided equally for the three of us but I think my share would end up with Gino or Fernando to process. As for Jeziel, she decided to sell hers to gain some extra income. When we come back to the guild, there¡¯s a strange atmosphere inside. Almost everyone inside, not only the adventurers but also the employees are both excited and tense. Not knowing what is happening, we walk towards a girl receptionist to pass our quest and ask about it. ¡°You didn¡¯t know? Apparently two [Heroes] were summoned yesterday and the guild received a letter from the capital to the guild master telling him to pick some of his most talented and trustworthy adventurers for the sake of becoming a [Hero¡¯s Vassal] because of that this is the result, the current situation. By the way you did a good job hunting 10 goblins at your first try. It seems that you guys won¡¯t stay D-rank for a long time.¡± Quite a fantasy indeed, summoning [Heroes] for some reason or another. Normally summoning [Heroes] would mean that there is a [Demon Lord] somewhere in this world but let¡¯s hope that isn¡¯t the case it may be just because of wars or something else. And also, the [Hero¡¯s Vassal]-thing why would they call it like that if they can just say it as [Hero¡¯s Party]? Did they call it that way just for style? And also, that term [Hero¡¯s Vassal] is kind of familiar to me, I just don¡¯t know where did I hear or read that but I know that I encounter that phrase before. ¡°Oh there you are Jasper and Gino!¡± Someone calls us behind so we turn back to see who is it. There stood a muscled man covered with scars, it¡¯s Clark the former A-ranked adventurer and also the one who supervise or should I say the one we fought at the provisional test. ¡°Did you hear about the rumors?¡± We both nods at his question and because of that he smiles as if everything went according to his plan. ¡°I see I see. Actually, I recommended you guys to the guild master here so prepare yourselves. And also, quickly raise your rank to at least B-rank that way it would be easier for you guys to get picked by the guild master! The deadline for the guild master to send someone would be one month so you guys still have a month to raise your rankings!¡± Hahahaha! Clark walks away while laughing. He never considered our feeling if we even wanted to be a hero¡¯s party member or not but I guess being one of them will allow me access more information about our way home and also, they are summoned from another world and maybe they know how we could get back to Earth. I just hope that they have a convenient language cheat at least! It would be troublesome if they can¡¯t speak the international language. And also, we need to climb up to B-rank just to get a chance of getting picked as party candidate. I don¡¯t know if we would be able to climb up to B-rank in a month but let¡¯s just give it a try! For now, the aim would be climbing to B-rank within a month! Though I proclaimed as such, I don¡¯t know if Jeziel and Gino is willing to be a part of the hero¡¯s party. ¡°Hey, Jasper and Gino are you guys going to accept the invitation?¡± Jeziel nervously asked. I want to accept it but I can¡¯t decide it on my own. Well, if Gino decided to reject it, I¡¯ll raise my rank alone and accept the proposal though. I look towards Gino who¡¯s looking at the direction where Clark went. It seems that he¡¯s deep in thought and didn¡¯t answer Jeziel¡¯s query. Since he¡¯s quite I am going to say that I¡¯ll accept it but Gino suddenly talks. ¡°You know, I would love to be part of it but I don¡¯t think that we can raise our rank to B within a month.¡± ¡°I think we can though.¡± I replied to Gino. I am confident enough to say that we can raise our rank to B within a month. ¡°We only need 100 points to be eligible to take the promotion examination and now we have 1 point it might look like that we are too far from the rank given but I think that we can raise our rank within this week. The D-rank commission were mainly subjugation of goblins and wolves, there are also some commission about harvesting medicinal herbs and such so we can raise our rank easily with those types of commission.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. We can probably reach C-rank within this week but I don¡¯t think that we would be able to rise to B within 3 weeks.¡± I don¡¯t know why but Gino is pessimistic about it. Normally he¡¯s optimistic about everything but right now he¡¯s thinking negatively about this. ¡°Come on man! Didn¡¯t you said before that there¡¯s only two outcomes in every action we made, it¡¯s either we made it or not. If we can reach B-rank within a month then it¡¯s great and if not, then it¡¯s also good in itself at least we try. It¡¯s better to regret doing something than regret doing nothing at all.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s better to regret doing it than regret doing nothing at all but realistically speaking, raising our rank to B-rank within a month is impossible. If it was then why there¡¯s too many C-rank here? If it¡¯s that easy to raise your rank to B then most of the guys here must be on that rank but that¡¯s not the case, instead there are too many C-rank adventurer¡¯s here meaning raising your rank to B is hard enough for the people to be stuck at C.¡± Maybe I¡¯m became too excited that I didn¡¯t notice that simple fact. I guess reaching B-rank is an impossible task after all. ¡°And also, we are not a protagonist of a web novel where almost everything we need will be given one way or another you know?¡± ¡°Well your right but you know, I got this feeling that we will manage somehow if we try¡­¡± ¡°Please do separate dreams and reality Jasper. Just because you have a feeling that we will be able to reach B-rank within a month, it won¡¯t mean that it will come true.¡± He¡¯s right but I wonder why. Why do I have this feeling that we will reach B-rank within a month¡­ Chapter 11 - Heroes Education One day after our audience with the king, Graziel and I, Jack Anderson, are escorted to a certain room. The room has a black bloard and desk in front of it. Our escort didn''t tell us on what we are going to do, he just lead us to this place from our room. Speaking of our room, it''s 25m2 wide with carpet laid on the floor. Inside you''ll see a bed big enough for 3 people to sleep and there''s also a small round table with chairs surrounding it. In the middle of the table, there''s abeautiful vase with fresh flowers. To the right of the bed, there''s a wooden cabinet engraved with adeer crest on it''s handle and a little bit to it''s right there''s a door of the bathroom. The bathroom have shower, toilet, and a bath tub. Honestly, the GoT feeling I felt when I came was replaced by a hotel feeling. If it has a TV there then it will completly look like a hotel. I sit on the chair while Graziel slowly sit on my left. She seems to be thinking about something I don''t know--- wait... I think I know what she''s thinking right now, she might be thinking about Kaezar. Honestly, I forgot about Kaezar yesterday due to being too excited about this world and I feel bad about it. To think that I''ll forget about her due to my excitement, I''m the worst. While lamenting on what I did yesterday, the door opens and an old-man enters. He look like he''s on his mid-seventies but his back is strangely straight. He''s carrying two thick books with green cover. He walks towards the black board and give us the thick books respectively. Looking at the cover, there''s a strange character embroided using gold thread that seems to the title. Maybe it''s this world native language? But somehow it seems familiar to me. "I am Rondalf Petch, a sage employed by the royal family and I will be the one in charge to teach you the common sense, laws, geography and brief history of this country. I will also teach you how to use magic so please take care of me." Rondalf said while slightly bows to us. I am thankful for the royalty of this country since they are going to teach us the common sense and laws but why they didn''t inform us yesterday? \ \ \ It''s already lunch when the lecture finished and Rondalf told us that there will be someone who will fetch us later to escort us to the practice ground. Rondalf''s lectures are really helpful and I am thankful for that. There are some common senses and laws that was different to what I know like the average skill of a person, about the equipment needed when you travel, about the legality of owning slaves and how to handle them and such. When I heard about slaves I thought that they are poorly treated but except for criminal slaves, they are treated humanly. Of course slaves are humans but you know, slaves are treated like things on Earth back then. So hearing that killing slaves and abusing them physically are prohibitted I somehow feel relieved. There''s also level and job system in this world meaning there is a parameter that reflectedthe person''s strength and weaknesses. Because of this,hitting someone''s vitals, example the heart or neck, won''t kill them instantly but hitting those vitals will deal big amount of damage and depending on where you hitit would inflict bad status like stun, bleeding, weakening, etc. About the history of this kingdom rooted back 1,000 years ago. Apparently, this kingdom was founded by the Hero Ayskrimm after he subjugated the demon lord back then. It was formetly part of the Vrae kingdom in the north and the Hero asked for a small land to be his reward. The capital back then was the Wingstone City, now under the control of Count Wingstone, but it was moved 500 years ago when this kingdom repelled the invasion of Vrae kingdom andin retaliation, they invaded the said kingdom successfully getting about half of their lands. Back then, I thought why the hell did the Vrae Kingdom invaded since they are the one who gave the Hero Ayskrimm the land but I guess in 500 years was long enough for them to forgot about it. Actually I asked Rondalf about it and he said that it''s just the king of Vrae back then, according to the history books, was a tyrant and dream about conquering the whole continent while failing at their first expedition since we are the only country adjacent to them since they are the only country in the north and invading Sevir will let them have a foothold towards the continent. Speaking of wars, the kings of past didn''t initiate wars on their own, they just retaliates to countries who declared wars and invaded the land resulting to Sevir invading back while slowly expanding it''s land. It seems that the first king, Hero Ayskrimm told the second king not to invade other lands but retaliate if they got invaded. It smells fishy since humans are a greedy race and wanting more of what we have is a second nature to us but I guess there are always exemptions to the rules. And about geography, there are 4 continents in this world, the northern continent known as Northar, the western continent known as Duskhar, the eastern continent known as Rishar and lastly the southern continent known as Sithar. The Kingdom of Sevir is located on the continent of Rishar located at the North of it.There''s also some unique places in this world like a perpetual snow land of Northar where the whole place was covered with snow all year, the poisonous forest of Duskhar whichall plants and living things emitts poisonous gas, the great desert of Sithar that produces sandstorm every hour and the hell gate of Rishar, a giant bottemless hole which was believed to be connected to hell. Also, these 4 continents are the only known continent and there are some rumors about a fifth continent located at the center of the four. The rumors says that it was a continent covered with darkness where the strongest monsters resides but up until now, it was not confirmed and there''s also a rumor of a flying continent above the clouds but I bet it''s just a big cloud mistaken as a continent by a drunkard. That''s the summary of what we learned today and it seems tommorow he''ll continue teaching us about the history and culture of Sevir, how to read and write, and how to cast basic magic. I am in the dining room with the royal family and Graziel and we are having lunch right now. The table is about 5 meters long with white cloth covering it. In the center of it, there''s a fruit arranged in a tray and candle stand are placed two meters away from each other. There are 6 seats on each side and one at each end. The king sits at the center chair while on his left sits the queen and on his right was the princess. I am seating one seat apart from the queen and infront of me sits Graziel. I am quite nervous right now since I don''t know the proper eating etiquette but the king smiled at me and said, "just eat comfortably". After a while, maids entered the room carrying tray on their hands. One by one they placed it infront of us and take off the cover. The lunch consist of cooked rice, grilledhind legs of pig, prawn soup,vegetable salad and white loafs of bread. I think the rice are specially cooked for us since the royal family are eating without rice. I thought that the king was a dayo from Philippines but I guess he got accustomed to eating bread instead of rice. After giving our thanks, like a prayer before meal, we started eating. The rice is fragnant and it''s soft, I actually like my rice a little harder but I guess it can''t be help, while theporkis juicy in the inside and crunchy on the outside and the prawn soup is simply delicious. The white bread taste good without fillings and extremely soft. While eating, the king asked us about lecture and we honestly told him what we learned and our impression about the laws and common sense of this world. It somehow feels like we are a family with the king as father, queen as the mother and the princess as the little sister. We continued to chat pleasantly while eating our lunch. \ \ \ After lunch and a little rest to let our stomach digest what we ate, we are guided towards the training hall.It''s a 50m2 wide room with weapon rack on the side. The weapon here are all made of wood and there''s also shield arranged neatly near the weapon racks. There are short sword, long sword, great sword, bastard sword, short spear and long spear resting on the rack and our instructor, Percival Pendragon, said to pick one and come near him. He''s wearing a brown t-shirt with brown pants. On his right hand he holds a wooden long sword and a buckler on his left. After picking our weapon, mine is a long sword while Graziel picked a short spear, we walk towards him. With 5 meters away from him, he told us to stop. "Today, I''ll be teaching you physical combat. Just by glancing on how you hold a weapon, this would beyour first time right? So for today, you guys are going to attack me with everything you have. With this, I''ll be able to know your quirks and let you decide if the weapon you pick are appropriate to your own style. So come!" Percival proclaimed while smirking towards us. His smile-- no, his gaze scares me and my body froze solid refusing to move! Panicking inside, I tried to move my gaze away but there''s something in my head shouting that if I take my sight away from him I''ll be killed.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Mustering my strength while sweating like waterfall, I step my feet forward but it feels like I am walking underwater, Everytime I move it feels like there''s water resisting my body. "Hou? At least you can move in this level of killing intent. It seems that you aren''t ordinary. Tell me, are you a member of a combat sports?" "Y-yeah.... I am.. a member of... Arnis club in Earth..." I answered Percival while trying to compose myself. It seems that he''s releasing killing intent towards us testing if we''ll have enough composure to fight while being bathed by killing intent.It''s the first time I feel it but certainly it''s not a good experience, I only read these things on manga and comicsand it''s quite different if you feel it with yourself. The description they said about the feeling like being pointed by blade all over? It''s quite different. It feels like you are facing a landslide without anything to help you survive. It feels like no matter what you do, you''ll be killed in no time. I don''t get the connection between being in a member of combat sports to the reason why I can move while being bathed on his killing intent butI''ll just think of it as a good sign. "Also, a piece of advise. Envisioning your moves, even though it''s unrealistic, is really helpful. In this world you can move like you are inside a game. There''s this called "motion assist theory" which said that due to the existence of stats parameter, you can do almost everything as long as your stats can handle it." Percival explained to us while I struggle to take one step ahead. If what he said is true then maybe, just maybe I can break through this killing intent by envisioning myself moving normally. With that thought in my mind, I envisioned myself being able to move and suprisingly enough, I managed to move normally, though I still feel like I''m under water. Maybe because of my high stats that''s why I can move like this? I run towards Percival and unleashes a forward thrust towards aiming at his hand but Percival nimbly dodges my move and slashes downward to my unprotected back. "Gah!" Painrun through my back and it almost make me fall but I gritted my teeth and try my best to stay standing up. "Also if you play RPG games in your previous world, try envisioning them since it will be handy in this world. Even the moves in action movies are good too." Games and movies are good? Then Jasper would be good at fighting in this world since that guy is a gamer after all. The games I played are mostly mobile like candy crush or clash of clans and most of the action movies I watched are done with modern weaponries, I watched martial arts movies before but it''s been too long and I don''t remember how the actors moves, the only thing Iremember is the plot. Incidentally, I saw Graziel move stealthily towards Percival so I decided to take Percival''s attention to myself while letting Graziel do what she was planning. I unleashes flurries of attack randomly but Percival fended them off with using his shield and then Graziel thrust her spear aiming at Percival''s back but he blocks it using his shield without batting an eye to Graziel. Graziel''s and my eyes went wide to his move as if he have a pair of eyes at the back of his head seeing through Graziel''s surprise attack. "Not a bad plan but the way you hide your presence isn''t good. There are monsters out there who can blend their pressence to their surroundingsand compared to them, the way you hide is clearly inferior. Didn''t I said it before? In this world, your imagination can affect the performance of your body, not only that it can also affect the spell you cast so use your imagination to it''s limit!" Percival said while unleashing a powerful slash towards me. I desperately block it but the forcebehind his attack made me step back then using that time, he turns around and push his shield towards Graziel. "Kyah!" Graziel squels while she got pushed back by Percival''s shield then he suddenly fades out and vanished from our sight. "Graziel, this is how youhide. Erase your presence and the sounds of your steps." Even thoughI know he''s near us and we can clearly hear his voice, I can''t pinpoint where he is or feel his presence at all. "And when your enemy can''t find you, find an opening and just like this..." "Gah!!" A sharp pain spreads on left shoulder and I reflexively turns my back and swing my sword but it hit nothing. "...you can effectively attack them and exploit their weakness." This timeI am kicked at my back. Aren''t he focusing on attacking me? \ \ \ After 4 hours of intense training were I, only I, got beaten since when it comes to Graziel, Percival just gently push her using his shield. We are dismissed. I became familiar with the long sword and decided to use it as my main weapon while Graziel tried different weapon and she seemed can''t find something that she can use. Well, her stats are centered on magic anyways so she''ll be on the rearguard casting magic she didn''t really need a weapon. I am currently inmy room having a bath. Yesterday I just took a shower and went straight to bed but now I am enjoying myself with a bath. Honestly, my whole body ache but submerging myself on hot water is really relaxing. I don''t know what would happen to us in the future and having Percival teach us how to fight is really reassuring. "Haaa..." I let out a sigh as I think on what will happen to us. The God said that there''s still a year before it revive and 1 year is too short for us to be combat ready. I feel like running away and abandon this world behind but there''s this little voice inside of me saying that I should help here. "I must be a fool to save a world with no relation to me..." I''m always like this... As long as I see someone sufferingmy body will move on it''s own and try to help them without thinking about the consequences. Logically, I should stop this impulse of mine but leaving them alone leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know that I am sticking my nose to something where it doesn''t belong but no matter how hard I try to avoid it, my bodymoves on their own. Really... This maybe why I am chosen as a Hero. Without asking for return, I help others. "Haaa.." I let out a sigh as I stands up and dry myself using a clean towel. I wonder if Kaezar''s already in this world? I want to find her sooner since I am quite worried on what would happen to her if she was alone. The God said that she will transport Kaezar after she finished adjusting her body but she didn''t said anything on where would she transport her. "I guess I should just wait and ask God about itnext time I meet her." Though I am not sure when would that next time come. Deciding on that, I wear the pajama given by the royal family and lie down on the sofa bed. \ \ \ The next day, we were thought by Rondalf about magic. "Today we are going to talk about magic." Rondalf said as a preface and write "magic" on the black board. "Since His Majesty told me that you came from a world where magic didn''t exist, I''ll teach you about it from the start." Hearing what Rondalf said, my heart beats fast and got really excited about it. I wonder if we are going to use a wand and chant the magic words with a swish and flick? "Magic is a phenomenom which occurs when you use your mana to manipulate your surroundings. Ah right... You guys don''t know what is Mana right?" At his question both of us nodded. I think I have a little idea about what Mana is, basing on fantasy movies that I watched, Mana is something akin to stamina/energy of humans. I don''t know if that is correct or not so I''ll listen carefully to Rondalf''s lecture. "Mana is a force or energy dwelling inside of everyone and everything in this world. Even the chairs you are sitting right now contains Mana. Itwas believed that Mana came from the earth through a pathway called Dragon''s Vein but it was not confirmed so it''s just a speculations. Anyways, by the time that anything came into this world, Mana will automatically enters it''s body and settles on it." So does this mean that magic is a common thing in this world? I wanted to ask that question but Ronalf opened his mouth and explained once more. "Even though Mana dwells inside of everyone, only a few can manipulate it simply because the Mana they have are too little for them to use." So magic is rare despite having Mana huh... I wonder if I will be able to use one~ "Most of the magicians on this world are nobles since they can cultivate their maximum Mana capacity, or should I say MP, due to their wealth." I guess no matter where you are, money is power huh... "There''s three way of increasing Mana capacity, first is training. In this method, you''ll need to train yourself with handling Mana inside you and use it until it becomes empty, it might sound easy but feeling the Mana inside is quite difficult and emptying your mana will make you feel tired and in worst case scenario, you''ll faint. The second method is by eating rich in Mana foods which are clearly more expensive than the normal foods. So commoners won''t be able to afford to eat those hence most of the magicians are nobles. Lastly, and also the most risky of them all, was bathing directly in the so called Dragon''s Vein Spring. It is a spring-like place where Mana are concentrated, to it''s surroundings the Mana concentration on plants are too great which was used on the second method but bathing using the spring water, even if you dilute it by many times, will have a 90% chance of claiming your life. So it''s not recommended though." "There''s also another way to increase it by assigning it on your status just like what the previous hero, Ayskrimm, did. Well, it was said that it was just a myth since no one can manipulate the stats parameter on ones status but I think that we''ll now it if both of you, our heroes, level up." Somehow, the way Rondalf''s eyes sees us changed. It somehow feels like we are a research materials that he''s itching to fiddle around. I honestly feel scared at him right now but that way changes as he pretend to cough to control his urges. "Anyways, magic is a phenomenom created using Mana. Magic have 8 attributes namely fire, water, earth, wind, light, dark, space and non-attribute. Magic can''t be envoke without a skill corresponding to it''s attribute and getting a skill need you to have an aptitude towards it. Next time we will use a magic item to know what are your attributes but right now, I''ll explain the theories and laws of magic." \ \ \ Rondalf''s lectures started to get difficult with theories but the laws are easy to learn. In laws of magic there''s something called affinity of elements. Fire is weak against water magic but effective against wind magic, well of course that would be the case. Water put down the fire while wind strengthen it, just like in Earth. Also there''s no chants or spell name on magic since what you''ll need to do is to command the Mana using the image in your mind, the more complex the image the higher the Mana consumption and skill level are required. But if that was the case then aren''t magic affinities are quite useless? I mean wind magic can put out the fire magic by dispersing the nearby oxygen and other burnable elements in the air but Rondalf said that by doing that, you''ll need a high level [Wind attribute skill] and since the fire made by magicuses Mana as a fuel, it won''t be effective against it. It would be effective if it''s a fire made without using Mana though but using wind magic to take out fire is inefficient, it''s much more easier to use water magic than the fomer. Also, there''s the so called special attributes which aren''t affected by magic affinities, those are the light, dark, space and non-attribute magics. Light magic mainly focused on healing and restoration, Dark magic focuses on absrobtion and manipulation, Space magic focuses on space manipulation (quite overpowered but having an aptitude on it was really rare, it seems that only 1 person was recorded as someone who can manipulate space and that was a Hero''s Vassal named Prinny, one of the magicians of Hero Ayskrimm''s party) while non-attribute magic focuses in using Mana without giving it an attribute. The skills of this attributes are very hard to obtain with the space magic being the hardest and non-attribute being the easiest one. Based on the records, in this kingdom there''s 2,000 people with special attribute and all of them have non-attribute magic, 29 of them have light magic while only 2 have dark magic. The light magic practitioners are members of the Medical Department of the Kingdom while the 2 dark magic practitioners are the King and Queen of the kingdom, rumors said that the princess will sooner or laterawaken as a dark magic practitioner but there''s no solid proof about that. Speaking of royal family, isn''t it weird that they only have the princess as their child? Even in GoT the king have three (bastard) child to ensure the lineage of their blood but this kingdom only have one child and the sole heir to the throne. I wonder why? Maybe I''ll ask the King about it later. Chapter 12 - Raid (1) It''s been a week since we deided to aimto B-rank. I, Jasper Perez, along with Gino and Jeziel took quests while pilling points for promotion examination and we somehow reached C-rank after a week.With that said, I actually thought that achieving B-rank within a month seems plausible butI am mistaken. The quests in C-rank were the ones you''ll need to travel for about 1 day before you encounter the designated monsters/items and escorts mission which would be time consuming. And also, in this past weekI managed to raise my level and changed my job from villager to Archer. To become one, you need to hunt a tree monster called "Batag". Frankly, it''s a banana treewith a face in it''s trunk hoping around, funny thing is, "Batag" means banana in my hometown. It both have range and melee attack which is quite troublesome and they are typically seen as a pack. For range attack, they throw bananas to you, well you think that it won''t hurt? What if I tell you that the bananas they throw are as hard as iron and it''s fast enough to penetrate rocks. It also throws it''s heart and upon contact it explodes like a molotovand when you close the distance, it would ram itself to you and just like it''s fruit, it''s body is as hard as iron. Lastly, it''s leaf serves as a shield so it''s quite troublesome. The mysterious part of it was when it''s not attacking, it''s body was as soft as a normal banana tree and killing it will soften it''s fruit like normal. "I guess it''s really impossible to reach B-rank within a month.." Gino said dejectedly as we walk towards Jeziel''s house. We decided to pick up Jeziel and bring her back everytime we went out and it''s Gino''s idea saying that a maiden should not walk alone in the streets since it''s dangerous but Jeziel is an adventurer so his worries are almost baseless and I think he''s just doing it for the sake of having more time to spend with Jeziel. He just doesn''t want to admit it and it somehow feels like I am a third wheel between those two but leaving him alone with the girl he likes, I''ll bet he won''t be able to talk as much as he can. "Told you so.It''s impossible yet you said to we should at least aim for it." "Well, we really can''t take night quest with a Jeziel though. If we can the we may be able to achieve B-rank... Haaa..." What Gino meant of night quest is the quest to hunt Feral Owl, a nocturnal monster which looks like an owl.The night quest begun to appear when you reached C-rank since fighting during night is extremely dangerous unlike during the day. First of all, your visibility is limited and secondlyferocious beast such as wolves and bats appeared, while there are wolves during the day, at the night you won''t be able to detect their assault easily. And also since we are living with Kaezar''s family, we would be shameless if we don''t help around. Every afternoon, we help doing house chores like cleaning, cooking, filling up the water jug, tending the store and Gino help Fernando craft medicines. After walking for a while, we reached Jeziel''s house. Jeziel was already waiting when we arrived and after saying goodbye to her father, we procedeeded to the guild. As usual the guild was packed with people specially near the quest board. There we picked the "Batag Subjugation Quest". We''re taking taking this quest since we got fed up of killing goblins everyday and also, this quest will also gives us food ingredients like it''s fruits and heart. As for the Subjugation proof, we need it''s trunk. I foolishly thought that we can cheat this quest if we found a normal banana but since this place isn''t suitable for it, I gave up. \ \ \ We went out of the village and entered the forest. Since Batag is a plant-type monster they are abundant near water sources like rivers and lakes. We walk southwest of the village and reached the river after 1 hour of walk. It''s near the what they so called Fire Dragon Mountain Range which houses strong monsters and some fire dragons. At first, I was afraid at going near it''s foot but Jeziel told us that monsters from the mountain range doesn''t descend too much and if they do, they won''t attack indiscriminately. "Found one." I said while looking at the Batag that I found. It''s hoping alone near the river which is kind of rare and near on it''s roots, which serves as it''s feet, there were corpses of goblins. Did they had a turf war? While thinking that, we sneakly went near the Batag, cautious on not startling it. When the distance between me and Batag was 20 meters, I stopped walking while nocking an arrow to my bow while Gino and Jeziel continues. Then suddenly, Gino charged towards the Batag with his shield in front banging it with his sword. He''s taking the attention of Batag while Jeziel followed behind, using Gino as a hiding spot. When Batag notice him, it throws it''s fruit towards Gino. Gino skillfully divertit away from him without stopping. When he''s two steps away, Jeziel comes out from his back and slashes the Batag while running around. In this past week, Jeziel finally managed to adjust to our combat style. We aren''t the type of guy who commands each other since we known each other since elementary school, combined with our usual party play with different games, we became accustomed to each other''s movement. Jeziel did her best to adjust to us and succeeded on it. She''s now capable of guessing what we will do with a single glance. I guess her former comrade failed to this perfermance and deemed her as a failure but for us, she''s too good at adjusting with other people. If she were a dayo like us and also a gamer then I''ll understand it since online games won''t let you play with your friends all the time. There will always be times where you will act separately and play with strangers. Matching her slash, I released the arrow. It flew straight to it''s trunk, successfully piercing it. "As long it doesn''t recognize the attack, it''s body is really defenseless." I muttered to no one. Gino holds his ground while attracting Batag''s attention while Jeziel continued to release slash after slash while I release arrow once in a while and paid close attention to our surroundingsso that no unnecessary monster disturb our hunt. Normally, there would be a Goblin or two drawn to the sound of our fight but strangely enough, they aren''t coming. Is it because of the goblin''s corpse near Batag''s feet? Are they the only goblins in this area? Anyways as I release arrow while paying attention to our surroundings, we managed to beat it. The quest said that we need to bring back it''s corpse as a proof but i think it''s fine if we treat ourselves with bananas. Gino tied the trunk with ropes after he plucked out it''s fruit and heart. The leaves were cut away so that it would be easier for us to carry it. We still need 2 Batags to complete the quest. Normally, if you found one Batag, there will be 2~5 of them nearby but strangely enough, we can''t see or feel their pressence. "Aahh! This is quite troublesome! If it''s alone then I''ll have to carry this while searching and fighting huh..." Gino grumbles while carrying the trunk while Jeziel smiled wryly and mutters "it can''t be helped" and I just shrugged my shoulders. It may seems that we are abusing Gino but since his stats build mainly focused on strength, vitality and dexterity so his physical strength and endurance are much more higher compared to me, a agility, and dexterity build. While Jeziel can help him since she is a warrior but he stubbornly said that he''s fine. I guess he wanted to show Jeziel how reliable he is. In real world, he is a self proclaimed lazy and effortless but his surroundings sees otherwise. He''s the type of person who puts too much effort in one thing he found interest while putting enough effort to something he found boring, a guy who likes to lay down when there''s too many people but work too hard when he''s alone. I asked him about why he said he is lazy but he just said that he is one and there''s no other reason about it. Oh right, I don''t mean that he is like those characters where they work hard to practice when they are alone but his effort is inversely proportional to the number of people involved, after allhe hate hardwork. \ \ \ Walking around the perimeter, we successfully hunted another one and currently looking for the last one. We are currently near at the foot of fire dragon mountain range yet not a single soul to be seen or felt. There are some goblins and wolves corpses here and there which isn''t that rare since we are deep within the forest and monsters fought with each other here, something like a territorial wars or turf wars of monsters. I haven''t seen one of those but apparently it''s quite common said by Jeziel.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Walking around randomly while memorizing the land marks, we found the last Batag we need. Gino, without saying or signalling, went out and took the attention of the monster while Jeziel followed him. As usual, I am at the back surveying the surroundings while attacking with arrows. This is really weird... We are now at the depths of the forest so goblins should be abundant here but not a single one came... Saying those to my mind, I strengthenmy focus on our surroundings leaving the fight to Gino and Jeziel.Our surroundingis too quiet which is somehow creepy. Not a single song of bird could be heard as if they flew away from something terrible. In this world, the birds are brave enough to watch a fight between monsters without flying away, even when humans fought with monsters they don''t flee and just watch from beginning to the end, which is quite creepy on itself, but right now, those creepy birds can''t be seen. I got a bad feeling about this... While having this bad feeling that something will happen, I quickly shot arrows towards the Batag. I want to quickly finish this already or something will definitely show up here. I don''t know why but I am pretty sure but I know that something is going to show up if we take our time defeating it. After a few minutes, the Batag fell and I hurriedly told Gino to take the proof while looking around. It seems Gino feels it too but contrary to me, who is panicking, he is smiling as if he is looking forward to what ever will come but I know deep inside him, he wanted to run away right now. "H-hey, what''s happening? Why are you panicking?" Jeziel asked worriedly but I decided to ignore her. I don''t have the leeway to talk to her while surveying our surroundings. Even though it is strange, I am quite sure that something will pop up any minute now. It feels like the BGM suddenly changes while you are playing an RPG game, like while exploring the BGM was slow paced and relaxing then suddenly, the BGM suddenly became fast paced which warns you that there is something nearby, something strong for the BGM to change. Of course you''ll tense up since you know that you''ll be entering combat sooner or later. It''s like that, the way I am feeling right now. "Well, Jeziel it might be a bad news but there might be something strong lurking in this forest... By how strong it is, I don''t know but definitely it is strong." Gino explained to Jeziel while hurriedly took the trunk. Jeziel face pale and tenses up. She draws her sword and prepare for combat. If we are mistaken it''s good but if not, let''s just pray that the enemy will not be that strong. \ \ \ Inside a cave in the forest, there''s big man raping a girl they abducted. Hishead was bald and has a long scar on his forehead and cheeks. His unkept beard grows freely on his chin reaching his robust chest which is also covered with scars. The girl keeps on screaming while crying but the man payed no heed to it. "Boss! The preparation was done! We''re waiting for your order!" A scrawny man saidwhile looking at the back of the big man. Whip scars can be seen and there''s also some scars from being stabbed at the back but strangley enough, it looks quite good for the big man. The big man slowly gets up and delivered apunch on the girl''s stomach making her faint. He then tied the girl''s mouth with cloth and it''s feet and hands are bound by ropes. The big reach reaches out to the wolf''s pelt and covers his genitals with it. "So it''s time huh.." The big man smiled. Upon seeing the big man''s smile, the scrawny man feels intimidated and scared at his boss. His boss'' smile looks like a predator that found it''s pretty but that''s not really wrong. The big man ordered the scrawny man to assemble all of their members outside while he prepared his equipement. The scrawny man turn around and runs away as if his life depends on it while the big man put on his clothes and armor. His armor was already full of scratches and looks too battered but he didn''t care. It''s a magic equipment that increases his strength and vitality by 2. On his neck dangles a bone necklace which increases his physical attack by 1 and his great sword, which he carefully maintains, increases his physical attack and attack speed by 3. His equipment will fetch a high price enough to buy a peerage but the man didn''t care. He isn''t interested on something like nobility or what not, he likes to hear the scream of people as he slowly massacres their family. The anguished screams of the people brings joy to his heart, a quite twisted personality. As he walks towards outside the cave, he''s reminiscing the reason why he became a bandit. \ \ \ Before he was an adventurer and quite well-known at that, at first his thirst was quenched by toturing monsters but one day, he accidentally heard a scream which made his heart dance with joy, much more than tormenting monster. Feeling curious about it, he followed the sound and end up seeing a village being raided by goblins. The farmers and their family desperately tried to fight back but they are no match to the goblins. One by one the men falls while the women were dragged by their hairs to the village plaza. With his heart dancing with joy, a sadistic smile formed on his lips.He desperately tried to contain his urge to copy the goblin and throw away his humanity but that was blown away when the goblins strated to rape the women. No matter if they were a child or old, the goblins raped them with thewomen''s scream as the background. The anguished screams begging the goblins to stop or their appeals for the goblins to kill them sound so sweet at his ears while there''s also some goblins who dragged some living man and tied them on a stake. That man seems to have a family member at the rape festival and he struggled to be freed by his bindings but he failed, and even if he succeeded, the goblins guarding him will knock him down. The man face distorted due to anger and calling the name of someone but it was ignored by the goblins and continued to rape the women. The goblin guards keeps on laughing looking at the man while the goblins that are raping the women changes with the other goblins. At that time, something snapped inside him. Instead of feeling angry towards the goblins, he felt admiration. Instead of feeling bad about seeing the brutality of the goblins, he felt happy about it. At that time, the man threw away his humanity. At that time, he decided to quit being an adventurer and became a bandit. Watching for good three hours, the goblin took the broken women while the man bound on the stake was killed. The man stopped struggling after 2 hours and just look at ground motionless. The man walk back to the town intending to rest at the inn for the last timebut he found a party of 5 adventurer. Two of them are women and it seems that they are both Archer while the three men carried swords and shields. By him being a high level and fought too many monsters and bandits,looking at them he knew that they aren''t small fries, in fact one of the swordsmen can fight him toe-to-toewhile the others needs to support each other to fight him. He knew the danger of attacking them but something was whispering on his ears saying "you can kill them and take the women for yourself." With those words, he drew his great sword and rushed towards the partywithout any plan. Normally he will surely lose if did it that way if he was a bandit but he''s still an adventurer. Even if the opponent found him, they will just assume that he was running away from a monster he can''t beat. The adventurers readied their weapon preparing to interceptany monster that was following the man but to their surprise, the man suddenly cut two swordsmen who''s standing in front. The two died instantly without leaking outtheir death cries and the man continued to run towards the last swordsman. Though they were surprised by the sudden attack, the swordsman successfully bloked the man''s attack and the two archers split up and position theirselves to somewhere they can fire at their enemy. Seeing that, the man clicked his tounge and tried to aim at one of the archers but the swordsman didn''t let him do as he pleased. The swordsman slashed aiming at his head so the man was forced to blocked it while the two archers released their arrow at the same time. The man noticed it and ducked quickly dodging the arrows while letting out a slash aiming at the swordsman feet. The swordsman jumped back but he noticed that it''s a wrong move, the man ran towards the Archer on his left, the swordsman followed suit but the man was faster. The Archer at the man''s back released an arrow while the Archer in front draws her short sword. The man, as if he had a pair of eyes at his back, blocked the arrow without looking back. The Archer in front charged at the man while letting out a battle cry. As the man entered the range of the Archer''s short sword, the archer slashed downward but the man dodges it nimbly then with the hilt of his sword, he thrust it to the archer''s guardless stomach successfully made her faint. The swordsman finally caught up and slashed at the back of the man but the man quickly went behind the fainted archer''s back, making her a meat shield towards the swordsman attack. He thought it would be a waste if the swordsman decided to kill the archer but he thought that this swordsman will retract his sword if he did this. And as he thought, the swordsman stopped his attacked mid-air and the man didn''t let that go. He quickly pushed aside the fainted Archer and slashed at the swordsman''s face. Noticing the attack, the swordsman jumps back but he''s a little slow in dodging. The slashsuccessfully hit his face carving a 5 inches long wound on his forehead down to his cheeks. "Clark!" The other archer called the swordsman''s name as the swordsman, Clark, roll away from the man. "Don''t lose focus! He''s strong!" Clark reprimanded the female archer. The archer shook at Clark''s shout and once again focused on their enemy. The man walk swaggerly towards them and suddenly said. "Hey hey, your name is Clark right? I''ll give you a deal, I''ll let you off with your life and report me to the guild as a bandit. Name''s Luther by the way." The man, Luther, said while smiling badly. Even though he looks like he let down his guard, he didn''t. If Clark and the female archer made a move, Luther will surely kill both of them. "And also, aren''t your wound deep enough for the blood to gush out? Come on, I''m giving you a chance to live here no?" Luther said while he took one step closer towards the two of them. The real reason why he''s offering this deal to Clark was to make him stronger.It''s not a sign of compassion but instead he just thought that it would be interesting if he let Clark a little bit and sure enough, on later years it did become interesting. Clark wanted to fight until the bitter end but the female archer told him that they must retreat now. "What would happen to Fia?" The female archer said while pointing at the fainted archer at Luther''s back. Luther took glance at Fia and thought of something that will make this incident interesting. "She''ll be my trophy and I''ll promise you I won''t kill or sell her as slave but her chasity isn''t guaranteed. So if you take your time to recover, she might be broken when you took her away from me." At his words, Clark charged towards him but Luther kicked him at his face. Clark, who didn''t managed to dodge or counter-attack got pushed back to his original position by Luther''s kick. And yet, after falling down he quickly got up and tried to charged to Luther once more but this time, thefemale archer knocked him down and dragged her away. Luther can chase both of them but he didn''t, he took the girl, Fia, away and entered the forest. After two weeks, a Subjugation team consisting of 2 A-ranked parties with Clark and the female archer found Luther and they fought. One of the A-ranked party got wiped out but Luther recieved countless of wound all over his body. He then decided to flee but fleeing from the leader of one of the A-ranked party seems difficult. The A-ranked party named Odyssey with their leader named Percival Pendragon boasted a 100% success rate on their hunt but in this hunt they failed on capturing Luther due to his abnormal survival instincts. He successfully ran away from Percival and that was the only time he ran away from someone. After that, he created a legend of himself as the Bandit King Luther devastating the lands of Rishar. \ \ \ Outside the cave, Luther saw his hundred subordinates properly lined up as if they are soldiers. A smile appears at Luther''s face. Walking forward he stops just two meters away from his subordinates. "Today! We shall add another page of success at our legend! Just as we always do, kill and plunder! Take their grains, their wife, their daughter and their money! Then at the very face of their husband, lovers, and parents we shall took their virginities and laugh at the powerless man! This time it might be though since we are going to raid a well-known village of adventurers but this isnt the first time we did it! Some of you may perish but who fucking cares!? For the one who will perish, I''ll tell you this, we will fucking enjoy ourselves fucking the girls of that village so if you don''t want to miss that, survive! We shall succeed on plundering this village!" """ YEAAAH!! """ The bandits cries while Luther looks at them smiling. After a while, the scrawny man approaches Luther and reported that the first group was in position, waiting for his signal to attack. Luther''s smile grow widder as he give the command to the scrawny man. The scrawny man bowed and run towards the first group. "Let''s go and fucktheir women!" """ OOOH!! """ Now then, let''s see if you got stronger Clark. Don''t disappoint me Luther thought while he commanded his subordinates to march forward. \ \ \ Chapter 13 - Raid(2) While remaining vigilant to our surroundings, we decided to call it a day and go back to Pinar. Just like when we are fighting Batags, not a single soul could be sense inside the forest making it an eerily silent forest that something will suddenly jump out from the tree''s shadows. As we are carefully walking, I hear a snapping sound coming in front of us. It sounds like something running around without paying attention to it''s path. And also, it sounds big! "Hey something big is coming!" I warned Gino and Jeziel, both of them draws their weapon while Gino puts down the trunks at his back. I knocked an arrow to my bow and waited. I actually wanted to hide and snipe it from there but without knowing the total number of our enemy, it will only endager my life. What if it''s not alone and as I look for a hiding spot, it''s companion found me? The snapping sound becomes louder and we sometimes heard a loud crashing sound as if trees are getting knocked down. "Oi oi! Jasper this is bad!" Gino said while Jeziel''s knees trembles. "Of course it''s bad but we can''t run away now! By the time I heard the snapping sound, I felt that it already found us!" Yes, the first and second snapping sound became louder than the former meaning that by the time I heard it, it already noticed us. And also with Gino''s luggage we can''t run that fast and also I am not confident enough to outrun it. "Anyways! Be ready for combat! Jeziel step back and let Gino receives it''s charge!" I let out a command and both of them followed. Gino steps forward lowering his hips preparing to receive the charge while Jeziel take two steps back hiding herself behind Gino will I take aim basing on the sounds. After grasping it''s location, I released the arrow without confirming if it hits or not, I release another one. I only carry50 arrows since it''s quite heavy and we aren''t going too far away from the village so we can just go back in case I run out of arrows and right now, I released two of them without a clear target. "Grraaa!!" An animal cry resounded in front of us and our enemy slowly emerged. It''s a 4 meter long bear covered with red fur and it hasred scales on it''s back that looks like fire... No wait, it''s back is spouting fire! On it''s arms there''s also scales that looks like an armguard and it''s mouth occasionally let''s out fire. On it''s left shoulder I can see my arrows burried deep within with a little blood oozing from it. The bear stands up and it''s freaking big almost 5 meters tall and it somehow feels like I am fighting a Titan. Also thankfully it stops it''s charge or Gino would surely suffer if he take it head on. "W-what''s that?!" "A giant bear?!" Both Gino and I are confused by it''s sudden appearance but Jeziel looks at it with wide eyes as if he can''t believe what she''s seeing. "Hey Jeziel do you know what it is?!" Gino''s panicking voice brought Jeziel back to her senses and points her trembling fingers towards the bear. "T-that''s a [Flame Bear] that resides in the fire dragon mountain range! It''s a monster that needs B-ranked adventurer to subjugate it! W-we can''t win against that thing! Let''s just run!" Jeziel voice trembles as she desperately explains what it was. But what kind of human can hunt this monsters?! Aren''t they monster by themselves! Once again I am reminded that being B-ranked adventurer within a month is just a dream of a foolish man. B-ranked adventurers are all monsters in human''s skin and yet they aren''t the one at the top of the guild. I wonder what kind of monsters does the A-ranked and S-ranked hunts? The flame bear inhales deeply making it''s stomach swells. Even if it''s the first time I seen it, I know what''s it''s going to do. In games, there are monsters who uses breath attacks like the sand fish at monhun and most of their preliminary moves starts with inhaling. "Jeziel dodge to your side!" I hurriedly given a command to Jeziel since Gino knows that pattern too well. He loves MonHun after all and also there''s another one who loves MonHun, it''s Iggy. Gino jumps to his right while Jeziel and I jumps to our left. Upon landingI shot an arrow aiming at it''s head but the arrow got repelled by it''s scale covered arms. Then it drop it''s body standing on it''s four feet and charged towards me. As it charges, I shot an arrow to it''s head again but the bear moved it''s head away letting my arrow hit it''s shoulders. The bear growl at pain yet it didn''t stop it''s charge. As the bear comes near me, I tried shooting numerous times but the bear knocked it all with it''s hands while skillfully maintains it''s balance using three feetand as soon as the bear feels I am within his range, he let''s out a powerful swipe and I hurriedly duck dodging it''s claws! Gino then tried to slash the side of the bear but the fire on it''s back moves as if it is a separate living being. It attacks Gino forcing him to block it using his shield. As Gino blocks the flame, Jeziel resolves herself to help and slashes the flank of the bear. Her iron sword shallowly cuts the bear and she retreated back. The bear, feeling pain to it''s side decided to attack Jeziel. It quickly turns it''s big body towards Jeziel intending to ram it against her. Jeziel freezes due to fear and closed her eyes. I desperately tried to take the bear''s attention by shooting it with arrows but the bear didn''t turn. It seems that it judges that Jeziel is the weakest among us so it will kill her first. Gino then suddenly glows white and shouted. "YOU FUCKING CYNDAQUIL WANNA BE!!! FIGHT MEEE YOU IDIOTIC PIECE OF SHIT!!!" As if an invisible force hit the bear, it slowly looks at Gino while resisting something. Then after it''s whole body faces Gino, it let out a cry with fire leaking out from it''s mouth. "THAT''S RIGHT!! I AM YOUR OPPONENT!! I''LL MAKE SURE TO SAVOR YOUR MEAT WHICH YOU COOK YOURSELF!!" Once again, Gino glows white and the bear, as if getting guided, unleashes a swipe attack to Gino. Gino didn''t dodge it but withstood it with his shield. He got dragged away by the swipe yet Gino remains standing. His arms and feet started to bleed and on his mouth, bloods come out. Seeing him like that, I hurriedly knock arrows to my bow and shoot it. While it hits the bear, itdidn''t change it''s target. This time, it tried to bite Gino but I successfully stopped it by hitting it''s eyes with an arrow. The bear cries due to pain and changes it''s target to me. I quickly runaround to draw it away from Gino. As the bear chases me I seen Jeziel running towards Gino with a potion on her hands. Idon''t think that potion will let him fight again but I am glad that with that, his life won''t be on danger. I am not just running away, I properly shoot my arrow while running. At first it''s hard to aim while running but my body adjusted to it and now I can aim while moving. The bad thing is, I run out of ammo and now I am gripping a short sword on my hand. Fighting it head on doesn''t even occurs on my mind so I keep on running while trying to find something I can use as a cover. The trees are too thin for it''s gigantic body so I can''t rely on it while Gino was down and I can''t possibly use Jeziel as a shield now can I? "Dammit!!" I swear if I found something I can use a shield then I''ll fight this stupid bear! With that in my mind, I found something laying down at the side of a tree. It''s a green trunk with a anguished face of a man. It''s the subjugation proof of a tree monster called Batag and it''s clearly much more fragile than the solid wood but it''s much more lighter than it. If I use it as a distraction then I can let out an attack. Thinking along those lines, I look at Jeziel and shouts a command. "Jeziel! Throw one Batag''s trunk towards this stupid bear! Make sure that you hit it!" There''s a chance that she''ll take the aggro of this monster but I only need an opening. I swear to God if that opening presents itself I''ll dance with this monster! \ \ \ Gino tried to save me by taking the monsters attention. I, Jeziel, am thankfullto him but upon seeing the result of his deed, my face became pale while cold sweat runs on my back. His body becomes covered with blood andhis hand that holds the shield is clearly broken, there''s a bone peeking out from it! I hurriedly take out a high-ranked potion that can cure broken bones from my bag. It was given by my father when I won a long arguement about becoming an adventurer back then. He said that I should use it when the time comes andI am sure that this is that time. Jasper draws the monster away from Gino giving me time to save Gino. Gino''s feet are trembling and his eyes aren''t focusing on anything. It seems that he fainted due to that attack and he''s standing unconscious. I slowly lay Gino down and opened his mouth. His mouth was covered with blood and due to him being unconscious he won''t be able to drink this potion. What should I do? What should I do?! Suddenly, an idea resurfaced on my mind. It was something that I heard from the gossips of female adventurers. It seems that you can make an unconscious person drink but feeding it mouth to mouth but I don''t think it''s the truth since I heard it from someone who was known as a lewd girl... But, but! I don''t know any other method!? What if I just pour this potion down to his throat? It might get clogged on his throat and he might die!! What should I do!? Do I really need to do that? With that question in my mind, I look towards Jasper. He''s desperately trying to escape fromthe flame bear and I can''t count on him right now... Should I really do it like what the rumors said? But what if it doesn''t work? Won''t I look like a pervert trying to get a kiss from Gino and besides.... This will be my first kiss... Uhh... Well yes! It would be my first kiss despite being 20 years old! What''s wrong with that!? I mean, isn''t it weird for couple to get married at the age of 16!? Aren''t they too young!! Anyways, I got derailed by thinking unnecessary things... Without any choice, yes without any choice! I am not doing this because of something weird! Without any choice I opened the potion and relucantly, really I relucantly pour the content into my mouth and slowly transfer it to Gino''s mouth. I slowly pours the potionbecause it might still out if I pour it in one go. Gino''s throat slowly moves and he successfully drink the potion. His wounds got covered by a pale light and as if the time moves in reverse, his wounds closes up. The good thing about the high-grade potion are it won''t leave a scar but it''s generally expensive.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. After confirming that Gino''s wounds are closed. My face becomes hot and I covers it with my hands! I did it! Father, forgive me for giving my first kiss to someone who''s not my lover. Aaaahhhhh!!!! It''s embarrassing! I want to go home now and shut myself in my room!! "Jeziel!ThrowoneBatag''strunktowardsthisstupidbear!Makesurethatyouhitit!" Suddenly, Jasper shouts a command to me. Right! It''s not the time to be embarrassed about it! Also I did it to save Gino nothing more nothing less! I quickly run towards the trunk and carried on of it. Aiming towards thehead of the flame bear, I throw it with all of my might! The trunk successfully hits the flame bear''s head and it looks towards me. Then it let out a cry and charges towards me. I guess it''s my turn to run away now! \ \ \ Jeziel successfully hit the head of the bear and it changes it''s target from me to her. Without calming my breathing, I run towards the bear and unleashes a slash at it''s side. My slash dig deeper than what Jeziel did and using it''s momentum, I connect it to another slash. The bear seems to be annoyed by my attack and turns his attention back to me but I continued to unleash slash after slash. Numerous small wounds are inflicted and blood gushes out at the place where my sword went. The bear raises it''s arm intending to attack me with it''s claws but I nimbly dodges it and releases a slash on it''s arm. *Tang!!* Sparks flew when my sword made contact with it''s scale. It seems that it''s as hard as my sword but I didn''t mind it, or more likely I don''t have the leeway to mind it! The bear attacks are much more faster than the Batags but I can still dodge it thanks to my agility. With my strength, I don''t expect to deal big damage to it but it''s fine. Even in the games I played, I mostly went with speed type character or a combo type character. It doesn''t matter if my damage is too little, as long as the enemy can''t hit me and I continue to inflict damage to it it''s fine! As the bear''s attack becomes desperate, my stamina started to run out and sooner or later I''ll hit my limit. And if that happens, then it''s game over! With that in my mind, I concentrate even more andsomehow my line of sight suddenly changes. I can clearly see my back and the bear in front of me as if the camera perspective changes from first person view to third person one and now it feels like I am playing a game at my computer. It is weird but I decided to investigate it later since right now, one wrong move and I''m dead! As the fight continues, changes appears once more. My tiredness was blown away and now it really feels I am playing a game where my character has a boundless stamina where I can run and fight as long as I have HP. The bear''s attack became monotonous to me as if it''s following a certain pattern making my mind adapt to it''s speed and strength. I unconsciously move my body like a game character and it somehow perfectly moves like I envision it. With this I can win! I continued to move my body like a game character, dodging the bear attack while dashing left and right, releasing a combination of attacks without letting the bear to catch me. I continued to move like that until the fire at the back of the bear becomes small. Maybe it''s nearing it''s death? I continued to attack while the bear''s attack become duller and duller as time past by. After 5 minutes or so, the bear let out it''s death cry and fall backwards. It''sbody is full of slashesand the scales on it''s arms have too many scratches. It''s still breathing a little so I decided to kill it once and for all. I move my body towards it without letting my guard down and thrust my sword towards it''s throat. Itdidn''t even make a sound and I feel a great resistance when I plunge my sword to it. Slowly, my vision comes nearer to my body until it came back to it''s first person view. I didn''t notice it before but my swordwas full of chips and there are cracks here and there. I am quite impressed that it didn''t break in the middle of the fight since it looks too bad now. "Jasper!!" Jeziel called me but when I look towards her, my vision tilted. Huh? What''s happening? I tried to move my head but it refuses to listen. Myeyes stares forward without shifting a little and it''s seems that I am falling down. Pain started to creep in my body and my head suddenly feels like it''s being crack open. I tried to move my body yet it refuses to move. Slowly my body fall towards the bear and my vision slowly gets darker and darker. Don''t tell me.... I di....... \ \ \ I run towards Jasper who fainted after the fight against the flame bear. It''s a close fight where I almost forgot how to breath. At first, Jasper moves like normal but as the fight drags on his moves suddenly changes. His move becomes fierce and every attack he made feels like he''s not afraid of getting countered and also somehow he managed to dodged all the flame bear''s attack. The way he moves his body seems impossible for a human to do but he did it anyways, like those dashes which looks like he''s not lifting his feet just shifting his weight to towards his front and those abnormal slashes where he confidently rotates as if he knows that the enemy won''t be able to hit him. Also his crazy way of cancelling his attack just to dodge the flame bear''s attack seems impossible to copy. What are these people? With how Gino survives the flame bear''s attack and how Jasper defeated it, they become less and less than a normal humans. It feels like they are someone who reside on another plane than ours. At first I thought that Gino was talented in giving commands but as time goes by it feels like it isn''t. It feels like he got too many experience in fighting despite being a year older than me. It does not feellike they are fighting from the moment of their birth since if that''s the case they won''t be this reckless but theway they fight, how should I put this... It feels like they are disregarding their safety like when they die, they''ll have another life to try it again it again. Though it''s not like they disregard the damage they take but it feels like they have multiple lives. It''s hard to explain at words but I guess that''s relatively close to how it feels like. Their recklessness, their judgements, it feels like it''s an accumulation of experience from multiple lives. Upon arriving near Jasper, I check his pulse and breathing and thankfully it''s normal. He seems to be quite tired so I lay him down near Gino. With both of them unconscious I am scared on what would I do if a monster comes out. Actually, I am still not good at combat and I just blindly follows what Gino or Jasper says. Anyways, I have to do something with this flame bear''s corpse. If I leave it alone, monster might get attracted to the scent of it''s blood. Luckily, we are quite near to a river so I put the two boys atop the stomach of the flame bear and dragged it near the river. Gino seems to be against to me doing heavy labor but I guess he won''t mind it this time. After all, he''s unconscious. After dragging the flame bear''s corpse near the river, I take out a rope and tie it to a nearby tree while the other end to the flame bear''s paw. I slowly and carefully transfer Jasper and Gino to the ground and pushed the flame bear to the river. The river color changes to red as the blood got washed out from the flame bear''s body. Taking the dismantling knife from Gino''s waist, I started to dismantle the flame bear. After a few hours, I completely dismantled the useful parts of the flame bear. It''s skin was already folded and the scale on it''s arms are carefully arranged. The meatare packed with batag''s leaves and it''s innards are thrown away. I honestly wanted to eat but starting a fire and cooking it might attract monsters so I regretfully throws it. \ \ \ As Jasper''s party rest in the river bank, an urgent report comes to the adventurer''s guild. In the guild master''s room, a simple wooden desk can be seen. The desk were made of fine wood and artistic design are carved to it. At the top of the desk, bundles of paperwork could be seen and at the center of it lies a crystal orb sitting on a purple cushion. There''s also man sitting at the chair behind the desk reading an urgent report he received a little while ago. \ \ \ He''s a tall thin man wearing glasses. His hair is properly managed yet there are strands of white hair could be seen. He''s wearing a brown sleeveless shirt while on hisneck dangles a golden medallion with a sword and shield crest engraved on it. It is a top secret magic tool used to communicate to other people no matter how far they are. The man sitting on the chair is the guild master of Pinar branch. He''s currently frowning at the report he is currently reading. It is about a horde of monsters seen inside the forest. If it''s just a horde of monster then it''s fine to leave them alone but it''s a different story if their destination was the village. "There''s a hundred of goblins, 1,000 pigmen and an unknown monster leading it huh..." The hundred of goblins isn''t that hard to deal with but if it was accompanied by a thousand pigmen then even a former ranked A adventurer Clark can''t do anything to that number much worse is that there''s the unknown monster who seems to be the commander of this horde. The report came from a certain C-ranked adventurer who saw the scene. He went inside the forest to hunt Batags and pigmen yet strangely enough, he didn''t managed to find one. As he continued his search, he coincidentally found the horde and quickly went back to report it. "It seems that we won''t be able to handle this on our own huh... Certainly with these crazy number it''s impossible for us to handle it since B-ranked adventurers are pretty rare in this village and the only A-ranked here is Clark." The guild master continued to think aloud while activating the medallion. At first glance it looks like the guild master was playing with his medallion but on closer look, he''s inputting the password for it to work. The medallion is connected with the royal capital branch, also the main branch, in hope for them to send reinforcement against the horde. After a little while the medallion shone and it''s light went straight towards the crystal ball at the desk. Slowly, an image was shown showing a blonde girl with her hair braided on her back. "Thank you for calling the main branch of adventurer''s guild. This is Lyza speaking, how can I help you?" The girl, Lyza politely said the prepared line to be said as soon as they received a call. "Mm.. I''ll be straight to the point. Please send us some reinforcement. A horde of monsters were spotted nearby and basing on it''s number, we can''t handle it with ourselves. The best we can do is to hold it for a day." The guild master said in a single breath. Lyza seems to be surprised by what he said but remained smiling to end. It was engraved to them thoroughly to smile no matter how absurd the call they received. "Certainly, we will inform the King about it and send the soldiers there." "Sorry to say this but normal soldiers can''t do anything about this horde. There''s a hundred golin, a thousand pigmen and an unknown monster so please send someone who can handle those." The guild master said without batting an eye to Lyza. Lyza''s smile froze but shesaid that she''ll see what she can do about it. The guild master cuts the connection and Lyza went to the master''s office. After knocking for two times, shewas permitted to enter the office. A strong smell of tobaccolingers in the air making Lyza from but she decided to ignore it. A far guy was standing near the window puffing tobacco. "So, what happened Lyza?" The fat guy asked. He is the head of the adventurer''s guild, a noble that was assigned by the king to handle the affairs of the guilds funds and workers. "Sir, the Pinar branch are requesting reinforcement. It seems that they will be attacked by a big monster horde leaded by an unknown monster." Lyza gave a simple explanation to the guild master. Her explanation lacks details yet the guild masterunderstand how grave the situation is. First of all, Pinar Village have too many adventurers living there so a normal monster horde or two won''t made them ask for reinforcement and there''s also a former A-ranked adventurers there so you could say that they are competent enough to drive away a normal horde yet they still asked for reinforcement. This only means that the monster horde was abnormal. This made the guild leader frown and he extinguished the fire of his tobacco. "Lyza, tell the castle about it. We won''t only send some A-ranked adventurers, ask the participation of the knight order specially the one with the "Knight Hero" Percival Pendragon. As a former S-ranked adventurerI guess we can count on him." "Yes sir!" Lyza bowed and leave. On her mind, she thought that the reinforcement would be too excessive but she knows that the guild master or rather the head of the adventurer''s guild is a coward. He always made excessive preparation to anything even if it''s just hunting a goblin but with his cowardly acts, it always lead to something good. With that in her mind she reported it to the castle and the castle approved of the plan and without delay, the participating personnel gathered at the castle square. The reinforcement consist of 2 A-ranked parties, 15 members of the knight order leaded by Percival Pendragon, his daughter Skyla Pendragon, and lastly the two heroes. Skyla Pendragon is a girl aged 16 years old. She''s already at themarriageable age yet not even once did she had a lover. The reason was her father, Percival Pendragon, said that she''s too young to have a lover let alone to get married. Considering that her father is a reincarnated Dayo from modern times, 16 years seems too early at best they are still attending school at that age. She''s a level 8 magician and she begged her father to let her jointhe [Hero''s Vassal]. Of course Percival didn''t say yes but with concentrated attack of his wife, 2 daughters and only son he yeilded. Now Skyla is a member of Hero Graziel''s party. As for why the heroes are participating, Percival judged that this will be a perfect way to let them experience hunting monster and saving the citizens. So even if they only have 1 week of training of combat, they were enlisted as reinforcement. Jack is currently wearing a full plate armor made of Mithril. On his left hand, a kite shield securely strapped on it. The shield was also made up of Mithril and there''s a deer crest engraved into it. On his waist rest his sword, it''s still a normal sword since the Percival judges that he''s still not ready to weild the holy sword left by Hero Ayskrimm. Graziel wore a white robe that covers her whole body. It might look hot to wear but the robe itself is a magic item. The robe raises the MP Regeneration by 1% and it also invalidate the heat meaning wearing this robe during summer will feel like there''s an air conditioner cooling your surroundings. Even though they are ready, their means of transportation isn''t. Royal Magicians with the aid of the priest and priestess of the church are busily chanting the spell needed to teleport them to the nearest town from Pinar. Normally magic won''t need chants but this is something special. It''s a magic given by the Goddess herself so they''ll need to ask for "permission" to use it hence the chant. While the magicians and priests chants, the reinforcement displayed discipline. They just stood there without even making a noise as if there are all dolls. Of course it''s just the knight order, the rest chatted with each other specially the two A-ranked parties chatting about how handsome Hero Jack was or how cute Hero Graziellook while their topic are currently nervous for this occasion. They wonder how would they feel being teleported from here to the nearest town named Wingstone City.They imagined the feeling of falling down like what they felt when the Goddess summoned them but they hoped that isn''t the case. They are also preparing themselves to combat. It''s not that after teleporting they will start fighting but this is the first time they will experience combat where lives are in the line. Of course they will be nervous. While the first party member of Graziel''s party looks relaxed. It isn''t the first time she''ll participate on defending against a monster horde, she have an experience or two so she''s not that nervous and also, she grew up in a world where killing was the norm soshe''s not that nervous. The trembling of her knees aren''t because she''s scared or what not but she''s excited to fight. Yup, even the sweat that could be seen on her forehead was due to excitement. After a few minutes, a big magic circle appears and they sucked the reinforcement team to it like a toilet flushing your waste away. \ \ \ Inside the forest, there''s a group of bandit looking at the Pinar. They are the subordinates of Luther and currently, they are waiting for the main group to arrive. They noticed a slight disturbance on Pinar Village. The villagers seems to be panicking and the adventurers and the guards are busy trying to calm down the villagers. They thought something is happening inside the village but they just can''t enter and asked the villagers on what is happening. If only our spy tell us what is happening.. The bandits thought as they continue to observe the village. After a few minutes, a man wearing a merchant''s clothes riding a wagon pulled by horses goes out of the village. Even though he is a merchant, his wagon seems to be empty as he desperately stirs up his horses to run faster. The bandit readied their self since if they left that merchant go away, their profit woulddiminish. Even if it''s a man it can be sold as slaves to other countries. The merchant came nearer and nearer letting the bandits to recognize who he was. He was their spy! The bandit sheathed their swords and wait for the merchant to stop. They know that the spy knew where they were so they didn''t need to greet him or send a signal. The merchant slows down his wagon and when it come to full stop, the merchant quickly gets down and went towards the bandits. Even if the wagon was still visible to the village, he didn''t care, for him today would be the end of that village even if the bandits didn''t raid them, most of the citizens will die. "Oi! Tell the boss that a monster horde was coming towards that village!" The man, Juan, shouted towards the bandits. Juan was the one who helped Jasper at bargaining at the market before. He''s also one of Kaezar''s suitors but when she rejected him, his heart turns for worse. He became obsessed to Kaezar that he made a deal with the Bandit King Luther to raid the village just leave Kaezar for his enjoyment. As a merchant, he can conceal his emotions when dealing with other people so he used it as he acts as a spy for the bandits. His twisted love disregards his love ones happiness. As long as he have Kaezar to himself, he doesn''t care on what would happen to others. "Really? You might be just saying those words since you feel guilty on what you did?" The bandit representative said while he signals his subordinate to tell it to their boss. If it''s really the case then they''ll have to wait and catch the fleeing villagers but if it isn''t the case then they''ll continue their raid. "What would I fucking lie!? They say that there are a hundred goblins, a thousand of pigmen and an unknown monster leading them! Though it may be exaggerated but the horde certainly exist! So you''ll need to initiate your raid as soon as possible or you''ll be too late to enjoy the village girls!" In fact, what''s inside Juan''s mind isn''t the enjoyment of the bandits but the chance of Kaezar dying due to it. He knows that Kaezar has a poor health and she can''t do heavy jobs. If she, who have poor health, begun fleeing with all her might then she might die somewhere along the way. He wanted to take Kaezar and run away but their house was crowded by adventurers trying to buy potion and medicine preparing for a defensive battle. With them in there, he can''t asked Kaezar to run away with him or kidnapped her. And since she knows how to treat minor wounds and knows the effectiveness of medicine, she will be at the last batch of the villagers to evacuatewhich is quite dangerous on it''s self. They might be caught up by the surviving monsters so he can''t stay that long inside the village. In fact, his love towards her isn''t normal, it might be more appropriate to call it lust than love. "I know, I know. Relax our comrades are on their way here so what don''t you rest for a while?" After the bandit representative said those words, Juan felt an impact from his backrobbing his consciousness away. Then the bandit tied his hands and feet then throw him some random side. "Really, that merchant thought that we are his allies but too bad for him, he''s one of our prey." The bandit laugh as they continued to observe the village. They are a group of people that will continues to be your allies as long as you have worth but after wringing you out, they''ll throw you away like garbages. \ \ \ Chapter 14 - Raid(3) The news of monster horde quickly travels through out the village. As the villagers heard the news, they panicked greatly. Some quickly pack their belongings while others tried to sell items way over the market price. Upon this panicking villagers, a store continued to remain calm. It is the only store where you can buy potions and medicine. Though the store clerk remains calm, the same thing can''t be said to their costumers. "There potions please!" "Five medicines for me!" "Hey! Don''t cut in the line! 2 potions and 3 medicine please! Make it quick!!" "Kaezar please marry me!!!" The chaotic costumers speaks at the same time making the store clerk, Kaezar, to got confused on to who and what their order was. Most of them are adventurers but there are some normal citizens mixed up with them. All of them wanted to buy medicine and potion for emergency use. "Calm down! Please calm down!" Kaezar tried to calm them down but she failed. Against these panicking costumer, her voice didn''t reached them. There''s also some who tried to went over the counter but thankfully the other costumers pulled them back. The shelves on display was already emptied and she''s not sure if it was bought with the right price or not. Her chest tightens due to stress and her poor health yet she ignored it and did her best to serve everyone. While serving 5 costumers at the same time, she still worries about two Dayos who are picked up by their family. They went to the forest just before the discovery of the monster horde and haven''t come back yet. She prays that they are safe while thinking that if she knew this would happen, she should have stopped both of them. "YOU GUYS!!! FALL IN LINE IF YOU WANTED TO BUY!!" Suddenly a roaring yell echoed inside the shop. The panicking costumers shut up as if an angel passed through them. Looking at the source of the yell, they saw a big man covered with muscle. With his scars on his face, he looks like a veteran of combat and in fact he did survived many of those. He''s wearing an iron breastplate covering his vitals, an iron plated gloves, a pants with iron covering it''s front and an iron greaves. On his back he carries a gigantic great sword that looks like a lump of iron. He doesn''t wear helmet but his head was covered with a metal cap. He is the former A-ranked adventurer who became the test instructor of Jasper and Gino, Clark. "Why the hell are you panicking!? We are here,the adventurers!So fall in line properly like there''s no boorish monster horde approaching! We will make sure that everyone who wanted to evacuate can run away safely so calm the fuck down!" With his words and slight curses, the costumer calmed down. Not because their reason came back to them but because their survival instincts are screaming that if they continued, they''ll be kicked out of the shop physically by Clark. Clark walks forward and as if he was a prophet, the humans gave way. Looking at Clark, Kaezar managed to catch her breath and relaxed a little bit. "Say... Is Fernando around?" Clark asked while looking at the door connected to the house. Kaezar answered "yes"but it seems that Clark didn''t heard her. Instead he pulls something from his pocket and gave it to Kaezar. "Please give him this now. Don''t worry I''ll watch over the store." Normally, if someone told you to leave the store you''re watching over you won''t just follow it yet Kaezar followed what Clark has said because she knew him ever since she''s a child and he sometimes watch over the store during his free time. Seeing Kaezar went inside their house, Clark looks towards the other costumer. On closer look, most of them are adventurer which he gave examination. "Say you pieces of shit... Aren''t you a bit annoying? Why can''t you just fucking fall in line like a civilized people?" By Clark''s rude attitude, they were taken aback. The Clark they knew aren''t like this. He has the personality inversely proportional to his outward appearance but now it seem that his appearance and attitude becomes one. In fact, Clark was originally like this. He curses almost everyone and everything on daily basis but his personality softens when he retired. Back in the day, he was known as "Cursing Adventurer" but right nowit''s just a forgotten title yet it seems that slowly his title is getting revived. "Didn''t I told you before that panicking won''t help you! Are your brains full of shit? Even a bird can remember what I said before!" With the way he speaks, even the other people who aren''t related to his scolding felt ashamed on what they did. They thoughtlessly asked for items without considering the welfare of Kaezar. In this village everyone knows the constitution of Kaezar''s body yet they still forces her to serve them without letting her rest. After a while, Kaezar comes back with Fernando. Fernando was carrying boxes while Kaezar carried a basket full of equipment used to create medicine. Without talking, Fernando went out of the store followed by Kaezar. There are some who wanted to stop them but they were forced to shut up by Clark''s glare. After the two went out, some tried to follow them but Clark cleared his throat indicating that there''s something he wanted to say to them. "Now listen here you pieces of shit. The guild will be the one who will manage the selling of the medicine for an obvious reason. It''s for the steady supply of those things you want so fucking much. If something happens to Kaezar then trust me, Fernando will stop compounding those fucking item. So anyone who want to buy follow me." With those words, Clark leave the store followed by numerous costumers. At that time, Juan became the first captives of the bandits. \ \ \ Jack and the others vision stabilize. They are now standing at the plaza of Wingstone City. The transportation felt terrible as if they are thrown inside a washing machine. "Uhh... Where are we?" Graziel asked while holding her head. She can''t stand straight due to nausea and Skyla helped her. Looking around, Jack noticed the difference between the castle plaza and this city''s plaza. There''s a fountain nearby and a line of carriages can be seen. Also, there are some onlookers at the side of the road while some opened their windows to see them. It''s much more lively than the castle plaza... With those in his mind, he noticed that Percival walks towards the fountain. Of course it will be much more lively than the castle plaza. After all, this is a public place where commoners can enter while the former was owned by the royalty, only nobles, government officials and their servants are allowed inside. Percival stands at the fountain edge and surveyed his troops. "Listen here, members of the knight order and fellow adventurers! From here, we need to ride these carriages to reach the village! It''s approximately 1 day of travel and I asked you to remain vigilant as we travel onwards! We were sent as a reinforcement against a monster horde so will do so! On my name, Percival Pendragon the "Kinght Hero"I swear that I''ll bring you back to your families and love ones. So heroes of our kingdom, the shield that protect the citizen, I beg you.. DO NOT DIE!! FOR THE GLORY OF THE GODDESS!!!" """FOR THE GLORY OF THE GODDESS!!!""" With a unite shout, the knights and adventurer tension went through the roof. Cheers exploded from the onlookers and they wished them a good luck! Being in the center of all of it, the two heroes doesn''t know what to do. They just stand there dumbfounded by the tension of their surroundings. "Onwards my comrades! Let us save Pinar Village!!!"Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The knights and adventurers rides their respective carriages. The heroes were escorted by Skyla to their carriage which looks like more luxurious than others. Inside the carriage, the hotness of the sun disappears as if theyentered an air conditioned car. The seats are fluffy enough for them to relax. Jack sit behind the coachman seat while in front of him sits Skyla and Graziel. Both of them seems tensed. After a while, the carriage moves and despite the lack of good roads, the carriage aren''t shaking at all. This made Jack wonder on how did they made this. Even in normal cars, you''ll feel it shaking if it runs on these kinds of roads yet this carriage managed to stay still. As if Skyla knows what''s inside his mind, she smiled softly and said: "This carriage has a special item called suspension installed to it. This suspension thing was made of a Dayo trying to recreate an iron carriage called cars." "Is that so? But it feels much more comfortable than the cars though.." At Jack''s muttering, Skyla''s smile became deeper as she explained that thanks to a certain spell, the carriage body floats a little away from it''s wheels. So the feeling of shaking was fully negated. Hearing Skyla''s explanation, Jack smiled wryly. In the end, magic was responsible huh.. Just like how machine dominates the industry of Earth, in Tala magic greatly helps here. Actually, this world seems much more advance due to the thing called magic. With magic, they can communicate without wires and signals, they can fly through the skies as if they are birds, instantly reached there destination that normally needs 4 days of travel by horse, and many more yet their culture and buildings remains at the medieval period. Realizing the greatness of magic once more, Jack smiled wryly. \ \ \ Inside the forest, the Bandit King Luther waits with his subordinates. They planned to raid Pinar Village yet a monster horde coincidentally marched towards it. This dampen his mood and almost call it off but his subordinates insisted that they must raid this village with the sole reason of getting hands on their former spy''s love ones. The spy said that she''s possess Godly beauty making the bandits'' imagination went wild. In fact, kidnapping the said woman was much more easier but what''s the fun in that? If they raid the village, not only the so called "Godly beauty" there will also be some new toys to play with. His subordinates almost went wild andstarted to raid the village but with the swing of his great sword, he made an example with the other bandits forcing them to calm down. Now they decided to watch over the village. If they managed to win against the monster horde then they''ll start their raid, if they failed then they''ll start the slave hunt. With those two choices, no matter what they pick they won''t end up with a bad deal. After a while, villagers started to walk away. They are bringing all of their belongings and some of them have wagons to carry them. The eyes of Luther''s eyes shine and they look at their boss, Luther. Luther nodded and the bandit group blend to it''s surroundings planning to attack the immigrants leaving the village. \ \ \ As the villagers walk towards the nearest town, Wingstone City. They are chatting with each other trying to push out of their minds the monster horde coming to their village. The adventurer''s mostly F - D ranked were assigned as their escorts as the C - ranked above are obligated to participate in the defense. The adventurers might be a fledgling but with their numbers, they can take on any monsters weaker than a pigmam and bandits won''t attack these imigrants due to it''s size, even if the bandits knew that the escorts are lower than D - ranked, they will beovernumbered. Of course that''s the case if it''s a normal bandit group consisting of 5~20 members. The villagers and adventurers needs to walk for about 4 days to reach their destination and even though it''s relatively safe trip, the remain vigilant to their surroundings. As they walk through the roads, one adventurer noticed a man wearing rags lying down in the middle of the road. The man is covered with blood and on it''s right hand holds a chipped short sword.He''s still breathing yet it feels faint. The adventurer notified the group and they decided to help the man. It maybe a run-away slave or criminal but they are confident enough to suppress him if he do something wrong. As they come nearer to the man, one adventurer at the back noticed something sparkling inside the forest. He was about to warn the others but an arrow plunged deep within his throat claiming his life. *Thud!* The adventurers and villagers nearby heard the sound of something dropping on the floor. Looking at the source, they let out a terrified scream and panic started to cover the refugees. "We''re under attack!!" "Martin nooooooo!!!!" "Goddess! Save us!!" As panic grew bigger on the refugees, Luther''s smile widens. "What a beautiful scream! You guys! Commence the attack!!!" """OOOOOHHH!!""" As the bandit let''s out their battle cries, the refugees panic grew bigger and bigger. With only D-ranked and below adventurers as their escorts and no one to lead them, the preliminary attack of the bandits succeeded. Bandit came out of the forest from both side while the wounded man suddenly stands up and charges towards the group raising his own war cry. Some refugees tried to run back but bandits blocked their retreat. The adventurers tried their best but due to lack of experience they were overwhelmed by the bandits and soon enough, they fall one by one. Some gave up and throws away their swords but the bandit didn''t care, they continued to kill every man they see leaving only women who will fetch high if they are sold. Chaos spread at the battlefield while Luther observes from the tree top. Screams of anguish and terror fills the land while blood and entrails soaked the ground. His subordinates laugh as they kill everyone who resist while the villagers cried begging to spare the lives of their love ones. Some bandits agreed to it not because they pity them but to thoroughly enjoy them later. The fight lasted for 45 minutes only and the bandit left the scene without even trying to hide their deeds. Useless wagons are burned after taking everything valuable, human corpses scatters everywhere, it was as if a monster killed everyone of the refugees. As time pass by, monsters and wild animals attracted to the scent of blood started to feast at the corpses. Ravens stabs their beak at the eyes of the corpses taking their eyeball, wolves started to munch human meath while goblins dragged away some meat to eat later. \ \ \ As the refugees are getting attack by the bandit, the adventurers and villagers left in the village desperately created a barricade. The monster will come out from the north-east of the village near the foot of the fire dragon mountain range. "Stack those woods hurry up! If you want to survive create a simple fucking wall!" "We need more wood!!" "Then cut some from the forest!!" As the villagers and adventurers-alike runs around carrying planks and logs, the guild master called all the former A-ranked adventurers for a stragety meeting. Their objective is not only to hold out until the reinforcement comes but to beat the unknown monster leading the horde. "So what do we know about that monster?" The guild master asked while the one who saw it did his best to describe it. "It''s a bipedal monster with a feet that looks like a bird, it''s right arm are covered with blue crystal with a red gem glowing inside. It''s left hand, I don''t know if I should I call it a hand, is three green tentacles which emitts a green gas as it move. It''s head looks like a combination of cat and dog with the horn of a ram and a pair of bone wings grows at it''s back. It has a tail that moves around as it walks and it sometimes releases a violet gas at it''s tip. Also it leaves a black flame on it''s track. That''s all I know." The adventurer describe the monster as detailed as possible yet the one who''s listening to him found it strange. There''s no monster with that trait! They all think like that. Of course they don''t after all, they won''t be having this meeting if they knew the identity of the monster. "So as far as I can say, it''s not something we know and not something we heard or read. Did everyone agree to my conclusion?" The guild master said while looking to the people inside the room. Nobody refuted what he said so he continued to talk. "Basing on it''s physical appearance, it seems to be venomous. The violet gas released by it''s tail can be compared to poison mushroom''s spores while the green gas on it''s tentacles can be compared to farting monkey''s poison fart." The poison mushroom is a big mushroom like monster who stay still until their prey comes near them. They releases their spore, which are color violet to poison it and slowly eat it''s prey while the farting monkeys are a baboon like creature with a big ass. They attack using their sharp claws and teeth, tackle by their butt and by releasing a green poisonous gas from it''s butt. Both of them are considered as S-clasaSubjugation monster. They are typically seen inside the mountain range where people rarely visit. "It also has wings so it might be capable of flight and with it''s horn, it can be used as a piercing weapon. With a feet like a bird, it can scratch us while flying. It''s crystal arm will let it use weapon while the tentacles, let''s say that it can attack individually. Haaa.... Isn''t this too hard for a monster?" The guild master finished presenting his theory on how the monster would attack and everyone nodded. In fact, theguild master is the most intelligent one inside the roomso the other just accepted his theory as facts. "If we are going to base with that theory, then we need to attack it with range attackslike raining it with arrows and magic?" The one who said that is a man hanging a long bow on his back with a quicker full of arrows. He''s a former A-ranked adventurer who boasted of 100% accuracy.His name was well known while he''s still in active duty but only a few remember him just like Clark. An old lady nodded at the archer''s suggestion. She''s also a former A-ranked adventurer who was well known on her time.She''s a master of fire magic which incineratesit''s enemy down to ashes. "It''s not a bad plan but what if the monster has some defensive ability against range attack?" The one who said that was a dwarf. His height is just a meter tall with muscular build. His beard was braided and reaches down to his chest while his weapon of choice is a big hammer, a typcial dwarven weapon. The hammer was something he crafted, it was made up of Mithril and it can increase it''s weight depending the Mana it tookmaking it a lethal weapon when swung down while infusing it with Mana. "Then when that time comes, it''s your turn to shine." The old woman replied to the dwarf while smiling. It may sounds a bit sarcastic but she doesn''t mean any offense to it. The dwarf noddedand silently back down. "Okay, so first we''ll try to rain it with arrow and magic then finish it off with a melee attack. Any questions?" The guild master said then he looks at the faces of each and everyone. No one raise a fuss or question to the stragety making it good as approved. Next the guild master roll out a map in the table. In the map, there''s the small village of Pinar drawn, on it''s north, east and west forest can be seen and on the south leads a road to Wingstone City. Further north there''s a symbol for the fire dragon mountain range and at the west a river runs along. Then the guild master puts a goblin like piece, indicating the monster horde, at the north-east of the village. Then he puts a sword and shield piece at the village with some barricade piece in front facing the monster. "Currently, our defenses are mainly strengthened towards the north-east but we can''t possibly hope for the horde that big to go out of the forest from the same direction. So I would like it if some B-ranked adventurer move here and here." The guild master puts a human shaped piece at the North and east of the village. It seems to represent the adventurers to be deployed at the said areas. "They will act as scouts and a buffer force to the monster. I know that B-ranked adventurer are valuable human resource but based on the Intel we received, the monster horde consist of pigmen so deploying a C-ranked seems to be a foolish thing to do. Instead, they''ll help with defending the village from the attacks of the horde." The guild master said while the people around him all nodded except for one. It was Clark with a frown looking at the map. He seems to be dissatisfied with the guild master''s decision. "Are there any problem Clark?" Noticing that he''s not listening, the guild master asked but Clark stares for a while and shakes his head. "It''s nothing.. I just remembered some newly promoted C-ranked adventurer. They might be a good substitute here." Clark pointed at the North where a human shaped piece was standing. It seems that the guild master thought of it too but he just shakes his head denying Clark''s suggestion. "While they are indeed excellent, I can''t imagine them standing toe to toe with the pigmen." In fact, the party Clark and the guild master was talking about fought and won against a monster much more stronger than Pigmen yet no one knows about it so the guild master decided to be against it. He said that they were excellent due to what Clark said. He''s not the type of guy who would recommend someone while not having enough qualifications, bribes doesn''t mean a thing to him. If you bribed him, of course he''ll accept it but he still won''t recommend you if your don''t have skills to it. "Then, some of the former A-ranked along with the A-ranked parties will engage combat with the unknown monster while the rest will defend the village. I''ll assign Clark as the leader of attacking force while I''ll lead the defense. Clark, pick 3 of them and the rest stay here." There are 7 former A-ranked adventurers including Clark and the guild master and the guild master told Clark to pick 3 of them. Their numbers might be lacking but their strength are proven. Even if they are retired, they belong to the upper class of A-ranked near to the peak of S-rank. They just given up their profession due tosome personal problem while the others retired due to age. Clark and the guild master belongs to the former while the old woman and the dwarf belongs to the latter. As the guild master said, Clark picked the Dwarf, Ironhand, the old woman, Jeria, and the Archer, Peet. With their party configuration, there will be two vanguard and two rearguard. He actually wanted to pick the former priest but he abstained himself. He''s much more needed here than the frontline. "So what that you are dismissed. Go tell the other guys and prepare for combat." The meeting comes to an end yet they didn''t know that another threat lurks at the shadow of the forest. \ \ \ Chapter 15 - Raid(4) As the monster horde come near, themembers of defense force finally saw their enemies. Goblins with their ugly faces brandishes different weapons, some uses wooden club, some uses sword taken from unknown adventurer, some holds a rock and some holds fangs of wolves. Their clothing also varies with some wearing tattered leather armor, tattered loincloth, and some pelt of the beast they hunted. Without counting, you can tell that there''s a hundred or more of them and on their backmarch the pigmen. Unlike the goblins, they wear uniformly pelts and their weapons are bone mace made from a bone of a big monster, stone axes, stone spears, and stone maces with their handles made from wood with stone as their edge. "Here they come! Archer and mages prepare to intercept!!" The guild master shouts then the archers nocked their arrows while magician concentrated. As the horde draws near, the atmoshpere tenses and you''ll hear a gulping sound coming from themelee forces. If the archers and magicians attack failed to reduce their enemies number, they will surely loose. "FIRE!!" At the guild master commands, countless arrow pours down while you''ll see some ball of fire accompanying the arrows. Even if the magic released were low in numbers, it''s much more stronger than the arrows. The arrows and magics hits the horde culling their numbers. While some goblins used the corpses of their fallen commrade against the arrows, the one hits by magic burst into flames burning the ones nearby. The monsters'' cry of agony revibrated while the shouts of joy from the defensive force rang out! "Nock! Aim! Release!" Another command was issued, another set of rain fell towards the horde. This scene happened for 5 times yet they only managed to kill most of the goblins, the pigmen survives by using the corpses as shield to arrows while they threw them towards the magic if they deem that it will hit them. While some arrows found their mark, it didn''t inflict a fatal wound to them. "Now it''s your turn! Melee group chrage!!!" """OOOOOHHH!!""" Raising a war cry to raise their spirits, the melee group entered the fight! Before the fight, they were given only a single order, kill every monster who''ll try to attack the village. Some adventurers took at as to kill every monster in the vicinity while most of them decided that if the monster flee, they won''t chase them too far. The clash between the monster horde and the defensive force was chaotic. Goblins died not by the sword of their enemies but crush beneath the feet of the pigmen. The people who trips down got crushed under the foot of their commrades and others was slain by the other humans panicking, killing anything that moves within their vicinities. The guild master raises his staff and closes his eyes. He''s concentrating to cast a spell aiming to reduce the pigmen at the back. He has level 4 Earth attribute skill and level 3 fire attribute skill. He decided to combine those skill to cast his signature move. Opening his eyes, holes opened beneath the pigmen which made them fall after wards pillars of fire raises from them roasting those pigs alive. Seeing his magic, the archers and magician decided to help culling the number of pigmen furiously unleashing their arrows and magic. \ \ \ As the fight goes on, the bandits enjoyed their new "toys". They did anything that comes to their, be it beheading, skinning alive, boiling or frying them alive and other cruel acts. Cry of anguished and voices begging for their lives covered one part of the forest. Luther, surrounded by unconscious naked women that sometimes quiver with cloudy white liquid dripping down their crotch drinks the wine they got from the raid. All of the women are the good looking one but now their faces swells due to intense beating, their former smooth white skins are now covered with bruises. A little far from them, men can be seen tied hanging their head down. They are either the lovers, siblings, or father of the women. The women were tormented in front of their eyes and even if they closes their eyes, the screams asking them for help enters their ears and tormented their hearts. Amidst of them, there''s a one boy glaring at Luther. He''s one of the lover of the women that Luther raped. Within his glare, you can only find intense anger and desire to kill Luther. Looking at it, Luther smiled. He looks around and grabs the hair the boy''s lover and dragged her close to the boy. "Listen here." Luther said while he held the women in his right arm and on his left he held the boy''s chin. The boy intense glare made Luther feel satisfied, after all the more the boy got mad at him, the more he wanted to kill him. Meaning if he let this boy go and if he survives then he''ll come back stronger and he will definitely try to kill him.''This will makes this world a little more interesting!''Luther said to himself. "You''re weak, far too weak so you failed to protect her." Luther kneed the face of the girl and it let out a feeble cry. Blood drips from her nose which made the boy''s glare intensifies. His wounded arm, due to struggling too much before, bleed furiously as he put more force at his body trying to break free from the ropes. His mouth was gagged but you can almost understand his muffled shouts. It delivers his intense desire to kill Luther. "So be strong. Strong enough to protect everything you found valuable, if you don''t another bandit will surely break it. Remember this kid, only the strong survives in this world.." The boy continued to struggle whileLuther sowed the desire for strength to the boy. He then lifts the girl with one hand. Various liquid drips down to the floor and Luther, confirming that the boy is clearly watching, breaks the neck using his free hand. *Craaaackk!!* The cracking sound clearly rang out from the girls neck despite the noises in their surroundings. The girl''s body convulses then she stopped breathing. The boy''s eyes widen and became much more fiercer than before. His eyes becomes red as tears falls down through it. His face contorted akin to a demon while Luther pleasingly laugh at it. Luther then throws the corpse near the boy and left. He wears his clothes and armor once more and look towards the combat zone. It''s already few hours already yet the fight between the monster horde and the adventurers continued. The number on both side diminished greatly and the monster horde gained the upper hand in terms of number. There are lights flashing behind the monster horde but Luther ignored it, he''s not interested enough to know what causes it. He''s much more interested on what will happen to the village. "Will they win or will they lose? Either of the two is favorable to us... Kukuku..." \ \ \ While the defense force fought at the Pinar village. The attacking force finally found their target. It''s standing alone insidethe forest looking at the battlefield as if it''s not related to it. "Target found! About 200 meters away in front of us!" The archer, Peet said. Clark look forward and saw the strange monster. It''s head looks like the combination of dog and cat with a hold of a ram growing on it''s temple. Instead of fur, it''s whole body is covered with scales. It''s left side has tentacles with suckers all over it which reminded Clark the lower part of the monster called Syllica, it''s right hand was covered by a crytals with red gems emitting an eerie light. It''s torso was the same as a human but there''s a big mouth on it''s stomach while the lower part was the same as the harpy. On it''s back, a skeletal wings grew and it sometimes twitches while it''s tail produces purple smoke at it''s tip. No doubt it''s the monster. "Range squadready your weapons, vanguard''s bring out your swords and shield, be ready to charge any moment." Clark silently commanded as he draws his sword. The A-ranked adventurers, whether they are retired or not, followed his command. "Archers and magicians, Fire!!" Arrows and magics flew towards the monster but it''s tentacles intercepted all of it.Arrows was slapped down while magic was sucked by the suckers and slowly fades away until it completely disappears. "So it can absorb magic huh... Vanguards, to battle!!" Raising a command Clark charges at the very front followed by the dwarf and the others. The rearguard also shots their arrow and casted their magic to distract the monster. The monster frown as it''s attention shifted from the battle of monster horde to them. It''s tentacle intercepted the ranged attack while it''s crystal hands glows becomes brighter. As the vanguard charges, the ground shook then suddenly, a crystal spike emerged from the ground, being an A-ranked adventurer, they are already used to surprise attack. They dodged the spike with minimum movements but spike suddenly branched out from it. Some failed to dodge and the spike pierce their bodyreaping their life with one hit. The spikes are sharp enough to penetrate a Mithril made armor of one of it''s victim making it a dangerous weapon to be used against the heavy looking warriors. ''Damn!'' As Clark curses within, another set of spike emerges. This time, it made a wall protecting it''s caster, it looks solid like a castle gate but too bad for itthere''s a battering ram nearby. "Hmmp!!" Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The dwarf put all of his strength on his arms then swings his hammer while infusingMana as long as he can. The hammer''s weight suddenly skyrocketed making it too heavy to use but due to it''s momentum, the heavy hammer hits the wall letting out a *BOOM* sound. The crystals cracked then breaks apart. Clark jumped over the crumbling wall and found out that the monster was already gone. Few seconds later, scream breaks out from the rearguard. Clark quickly turns his face towards it and saw the monster attacking their comrades. The magicians quickly dies while the archer managed to dodge one or two attacks yet they still fell. Only a little number of them survived. It makes Clark question if they were really A-ranked Adventurers. In his time, A-ranked are the peak a normal human can reach. A rank where everyone can kill normal wyverns alone yet these A-ranked guys looks like a B-ranked adventurers pretending to be A-rank. "The guild''s might fell down huh..." The dwarf said and picked up a crystal. The crystal feels good at his hand and throws it towards the monster. The monster tried to brush it away using it''s tentacles but it failedand piercesone of it''s tentacle. "Look even my throw are alot more stronger than their bow." The dwarf said while smiling wry. He ejected the Mana inside and charges towards the monster while dragging his hammer. Clark smiled wryly at that and followed suite. The old woman covers her staff with ice and engage a close combat with the monster. Dodging every attack of it while counter attacking at the same time. Wounds caused by her staff froze the blood dripping from it. While Peetuses his arrows as a melee weapon stabbing it to the monsters back. "Amazing..." One of the survivors of the rearguard said, admiring the way the two of them handles the monsters. It made him wonder if they really are the same rank.He''s also an archer but he''s confident enough to enter a close combat using only his arrows. As an archer, he focused on improving his aim and shooting speed but the archer in front of him right now exceeded his aim and shooting speed but not only that, he''s also proficient with close quarter combat. "How long are you going to watch!? Aren''t you also an A-ranked adventurer!?" A dwarf passed him by and reprimanded him. After the dwarf, Clark also entered the fray. As the two vanguard entered the fight, the old woman and Peet retreated and attack again using arrow and magic. The man watching before wakes up and draw his bowbut he can''t carelessly shoot arrows since he might hit the vanguards but arrows and magic continued to fly towards the monster. The arrows and magic which looks like it will hit the vanguards suddenly flew past through them. At first he thought that it was done by magic but upon closer look, he realized that the vanguard covers the incoming arrows and magic then barely jump away from it letting it hit the monster. "Amazing...." As if he doesn''t know any other words besides that, the man mutters to himself. Even though their party was already 9 years old, without changing members due to death or other reasons, they can''t cooperate like that. He admired the team play Clark and company shown and came to the conclusion that they knew each other for a long time. While that isn''t wrong,knowing each other for a long time, this is the first battle where they fought together as a team. It''s just that back in their days these types of movement were common to A-ranked adventurers but the adventurers of present seems to be much more weaker. It maybe because the disappearance of the strong monster within the vicinity. At their time, strong monster runamok and monster territory are closer to the human settlements due to a family of black wyvern settling at the forest and mountains but those said wyverns were hunted by the now S-ranked adventurer party "Odyssey". It was said that they did it because the king told them so, or they did it to avenge therelative of their member who fell victim to those wyverns but the truth was never known. It''s just that one day, the Odyssey started their hunt killing the black wyverns who messed up the ecosystem of the monsters. At their death, the monster retreated back to their original territory and seldomly went out. The dwarf''s hammer bashes out the monster while Clark''s sword slashes it. Arrows pierce the monster''s breast while there are places frozen throughout the monsters body. The monster opened it''s bone wings and flapped as hard as it could. Despite it''s wing being made up of bone without meat or skin, strong gust of wind are generated then it ascended to air. Peet and the old woman shoot it with arrows and magic but it''s tentacle slapped the arrow away and absorbs the magic.It''s tail swells up and pointed it self to the vanguards. "Incoming!!" As Clark shouted that, the dwarf and Clark separates themselves to each other. A purple gas was thrown out from the tail and spreads out as it touches the ground. The weeds touched by the grass witters and dies. "It seems that itisn''t a normal poison hun...It''s much more troublesome than that farting monkey''s fart!" Clark curses while getting away from the range of the purple gas. The archer and old woman stops attacking and focused on getting away from the creeping gas. The man also run away as fast as he can but what Clark said bothered him. The Farting Monkeys are monsters located deep within unpopulated forest or mountain, they are monsters ranked as S-class Subjugation monster yet Clark talked about it as if it he hunted those monsters before. Back in Clark''s day, the farting monkeys are considered as B-class subjugation monsterwhich only proves that their times are much more dangerous than today. Farting monkeys and the like wanders the forest near human settlements in their day so it was given the rank of B-class while this days, those monsters went back to their original territory making them harder to encounter and if you need to hunt them, you''ll need to prepare for a long journey, week for the shortest but it could take years. The monster flew and attack using it''s talon and the purple gas it releases on it''s tail while Clark and others keeps on dodging. This repeated itself for 3 minutes until Clarkadjusted to it''s speed. The monster once more attacked using it''s talon but Clark seized it''s feet and slam at hard to the ground near the dwarf. The monster bounces back but it was brought back to the ground by the dwarf''s hammer, then the dwarf fills his hammer with Mana making it heavier. The monster struggles to lift the hammer but it''s just too heavy for it. It''s tentacles trashes around trying tohit the dwarf but the dwarf nimbly dodges them. Clark stabs his sword towards the monster''s head intending to end it''s life. The sword burried itself deep and the monster convulsed a little then ceased to move. "Is it dead?" Asked the dwarf while resting it''s hammer to the monster. "It must be. The head is the weakness of everything living in Tala. I pierced it so it must be dead." Clark confidently said. While it''s true that the head was the weakness of everything in Tala, there are some exception. Like the undeads, as long as it''s core was safe it will rise again and fight. The dwarf ejected the Mana from his hammer and lifted it to his shoulder. The monster corpse looks horrible, like a tomato smashed by a hammerit''s blood and organs scatters around. On it''s chest, a red round jewel could be seen. It''s the magic core of the monster. "Despite being flattened by your hammer, it remained unscathed." Clark said amazed by the core''s durability. He bent down to pick it up but the blood and organs scattered around fly towards it. Clark draws back his hand and jump away from the corpse. The dwarf clicked his tongue and prepared his hammer while Peet and the old lady shoots it with magic and arrows but as usual, it got slapped down by it''s tentacles. Then, something horrifying happened. The corpes of the A-ranked Adventurers flew towards the core as if it was being sucked and as soon as it touches the core, it got absorbedso fast that the corpse let''s out a cracking sound due to it''s bone breaking from the pressure. "What''s happening!?" Asked Clark but before the others could answer, they felt that they are being sucked towards the core. They resisted it with all their might but the new generation of A-ranked got sucked alive. Screams accompanied by the sound of breaking bones filled the air and after a while, the sucking stops but the core vibrated. A human heart started to form mid-air with the core as it base followed by blood vessels connected to it, the bone and meat, internal organs and finally the skin. Clark watched it happened with his mouth wide open.After all, he just witnessedthe construction of human''s body. It''s skin looks so smooth and it''s breast looks bouncy, sadly enough it doesn''t have nipples. It''s body ressembled a female human yet on it''s groins you can see a psuedo male organ. Why psuedo? It just look likes a meat dangling down it''s waist without any holes to it as if it was just put there as a decoration like it''s breast. After a while, hair started to grow on it''s head, it''s fast growth stop after the hair touches it''s waist. Then clothes suddenly appears to cover its naked body then the armor for it''s defense and a headband which looks like a helmet visor appears on it''s forehead. Three holes emerged from it''s featureless face. Two small holes that serves as eye socket and a big one that ressembled a mouth. Then pink lips emerges at it''s mouth hole accompanied by beautifully aligned teeth. Black ball appears on it''s socket while eyebrows grew. In the middle of the black ball, a white circle emerges and it''s nose started to grow until it reaches to the point where it looks good combined with it''s newly created face. There stood a monster that looks like a female human in the age of 20''s wearing a full plate armor. At first glance, she looks like a female knight but if you noticed her black eyes, you''ll realize that she isn''t normal. "Oi oi what the fuck is this!?" Clark curses while readies his stance. The ugly monster suddenly changes it''s form after they beat it. It now looks a beautiful female knight. "I don''t know but what we need to do doesn''t change!" Said the dwarf while Peet and the old woman nodded. Their team started with 18 people but right now there''s only 4 left. "Ah... Ahhh.. aahhh.." A beautiful voice came out from the girl as if she''s testing her vocal chords. After a few trials, she seemed to be satisfied by something and nodded. "Pleased to meet you, I am a demon loyal to the demon king. Currently doesn''t have a name." The girl introduces herself as demon but it greatly differs from the demon they know. The Demon Race, also known as Shadowkins, are a race similar to humans. They have the same lifespan as humans but much more attached to nature than elves. They are a kind race which prefers talking than fighting though there are a race with a superior abilities than the other races.They were discovered 1,350 years ago by the Vrae Kingdom and they live at the North Continent. For 333 years they were enslaved to the said kingdom and one demon unified hisrace to raise a revolt to the Vrae Kingdom, he was known as the Demon king which Hero Ayskrimm subjugated. Anyways, their appearance looks like a human but they grow horns at their forehead, wings at their back and tails at their waist. Also their lower part ressembled a goat so they were called the demon race. But the female knight in front of Clark greatly differs from the demon he knows. They don''t have cores in their heart and they won''t manipulate monsters to attack villages since they dislike combat lastly, they don''t transform to other forms. "Did you not hear me perhaps?" The beautiful female knight tilted her head. It looks cute but knowing that she''s a monster, the remaining men found it disgusting since a monster, who slaughtered humans and feels happy to watch them die, acts like a normal human. "Oh well, I won''t remember you anyways but let me give you an advise. Our king will soon come back and different from the last time, we will surely conquer this world. With that said, bye~" Wings grew at her back and with a single flap, she flew up. Peet tried to shoot her down but the girl raises her hand then suddenly, black rings appears to her back and releases white crystal ressembling weapons and it rained down to Peet. Peet tried to dodge but five black rings appeared on his sides and from them, crystal chain emerged constricting his movements. The weapon like crystal was blocked by Clark and the dwarf and the chains was broken using ice magic by the old woman. "Your quite eager to die aren''t you? I am giving you the task to spread it to the whole world about the return of the King so just do it okay~~" With a playful tone, the female knight said to the 4 people. Then she flew away. From what that demon said, the demon king will revive but they don''t know whenwill it happen. They first thought of the North Continent but they disregards it after the considering that the demon race they knew were clearly different to the demons that the female knight said. With bad news in tow, they walk back to the village. \ \ \ The fierce battle in Pinar Village continues. Countless corpses of Pigmen and goblins scatters around mixed with them are the corpses of adventurers who aren''t lucky enough to survive. Pigmen, a C-class subjugation monster shows it might with their numbers. C-ranked adventurers normally struggled to kill one of them yet there''s a whole horde attacking now and they are somehow holding them down with the help of B-ranked adventurers. The average level of C-ranked are 25 yet they still find it hard to figure a level 10 pigmens this is because the status values of monsters are much more stronger than the people of the races, the higher the level of the monsters the greater it''s status values. The guild master surveys the battlefield while resting. His Mana was already exhausted so he can''t fight and normally magician will meditate to recover it faster but he doesn''t have the leeway to do that. Meditation needs you to concentrate to recover your mana faster making him unable to issue commands if the situation suddenly change and also, meditation can''t be canceled unless the practitioner was attacked and when that happened, instead of recovering, his/her mana will be drained to zero. The battle looks hopeless at glance. There are still 600 pigmen and there''s only57 adventurers lefton battlefield but the barricades they made aren''t breached and there are adventurers being healed at the back. There''s also the A-ranked adventurers at the forest but the guild master knows that they can''t count on them, they might be heavily injured at best and at worst dead. They are facing an unknown monster with unknown abilities after all, it''s not good to pin their hopes to them. "At this rate we will lose..." Muttered by the guild master when he noticed something flying from the forest approaching them at fast speed. It stopped when it was above the pigmen and the guild master can somehow see it. It looks like one of the demon (Shadowkin) race but this one doesn''t have a horn, tail and it''s feet appears like a human. It raises it''s left hand a big black ring come out. Big enough to cover the whole battlefield. At first the guild master dont know what it is doing and curiously watch it. He thought that it was one of the magician reinforcement coming from the capital and a user of dark magic so he thought that it was either the king or the queen but the alarms in his head keeps ringing. At the time he was going to issue a command to retreat, black lightning fell to the ground engulfing pigmen and adventurers alike. He feels terrified at the Mana released by that magic and hopes that the adventurers are alright. The lightning settled down leaving the pigmen and adventurers unscatched. He doesn''t understand what happened but after a few seconds, the pigmen started to change. Their tusk became longer and releases a sinister aura, their skin becomes black and their weapons transformed into a pure black metal that looks like it was forged using the legendary ore Night Shade, the ore used to forged the legendary weapon Rebellion used by Hero Ayskrimm. It''s hardnest was second to none and it allows better Mana circulation than adamantite but a little lower than orichalcum. Also, the pigmen armors changed from being made of pelts, now it shines a black luster as if it was forged. The pigmen''s fatty body changes and now it rivals the muscular race of orcs and undoubtedly they are much more stronger than before. The adventurers also changed, like the pigmen their weapons and armor became pure black butthere''s something much more noticable to them. The white and blacks of their eyes switched places and a red gem, which looks like a monster core, appears on their head. Their body also changed with bones picking out of their shoulders and their hands became pointed. "What is this..." The guild master was dumbfounded by what happened. He doesn''t know what to do, the 57 adventurers transformed and he can sense that they became monsters. He looks again at the flying person but it disappeared without him noticing. \ \ \ Now, the former adventurers and pigmen marched towards the village. In this desperate situation, the offensive party went out of the woods and they noticed that the pigmen seems different to what they know. Regardless of that, they knew that if they let them alone the village will be devastated by it. Without creating a plan or reporting to the guild master, they charges towards the horde hoping to lessen the damage to the village. Chapter 16 - Raid (5) Clark and company charges towards the pigmen horde. Even if their enemies are mere pigmen, they didn''t dare to let their guard down. Unlike normal pigmenthey were clearly stronger with their black armor and weapons. A normal pigmen used pelts and furs as armor with their weapon being a stone tied into a wooden stick but these pigmen clearly used a forged armor and weapons. The old woman cast a fire spell. The spell was a big ball of fire which fly through the skies like it was launched by a catapult. The pigmen didn''t notice the attack on their back and continued to march forward. As the big ball of fire approaches, the pigmen notices it but it''s already too late. As the pigmen tried to dodge, the big ball of fire hits one of them turning him into to ashes in a matter of seconds. The pigmen thought that the attack was already done and they are now safe so they turn their attention to it''s caster. Little did they know that the ball of fire continued to turn the hit pigman to ashes as it slowly advances towards the ground. As soon as the ball touches the ground, fire crawls along the ground burning the pigmen nearby while forming a circular shape. It has a diameter of 10 meters and everything inside it turns into ashes. As the fire burns up, the pigmen who turns around were shocked for a moment but as if they don''t fear death, they charges towards the old woman disregarding the fact that every time a pigmen touches the fire, the said pigman would turn into ashes. "Theybecame the literal meaning of monsters huh.." Muttered by the old woman who casted the spell. Normally, monster felt fear towards an attack that instantly kills them and tries to flee in different direction yet this horde disregarded it. "Well there''s nothing we can do about it!" Peet said while shooting his arrows. Living up with his former rank, his arrows hitthe head of the pigmen accurately. Normally, this would claim their lives but the pigmen, even hit arrows burried in their head, continued to march. At closer lookin their wound, a black fire leaks out burning their wound and the arrow at the same time. Clark and the dwarf brandished their sword and hammer sweeping the incoming wave of pigmen. Dissecting and crushing the said pigmen yet they don''t die. The dissected pigman crawls on the ground dragging it''s exposed organs with it while the ones hit by the hammer staggeringly stands up and walks forwards struggling. "There will be no end to this!" The dwarf shouted as he keeps on swinginghis hammer. Clark agreed but what else can they do? The moment they stop swinging their weapon spell their deaths. \ \ \ The guild master commanded the nearby magicians and archers to use their arrows and magic against their former comrades. At first they are relucant to do so but the guild master persuaded them that if they didn''t attack, they''ll die. Driven by that, they unleashes their arrows and magic even while repeatedly asking for forgiveness. ''That accursed monster!!'' The guild master cursed within his mind while casting spell as long as his recently regenerated Mana allows. Rain of arrows and spell hits the former adventurer yet they continued to march with the pigmen at their back without caring about their footings. Sometimes one of the former adventurer fell down and triesto stand up but it was crushed beneath the foot of the others killing it. With that, the guild master commanded the archers and magician to aim at the enemies feet trying to trip them. The archer and magician followed him and successfully trips their target.The sound of meat being crushed echoed and the faces of the magicians and archers became pale. After a little while, some pigmen at the back turns around from the attacks coming at their backs. At that sight, the guild master feels relieved that the ones he sent to deal with the unknown monster came back alive. Some freshly healed adventurers returned and he commanded them to hastily digholes and trenches. The adventurers without raising a fuss followed him. They are wondering why they are attacking the other adventurers but with one glance towards the attacker''s face they understood that those in the frontline aren''t humans anymore. As they turned around to get shovels, the guild master stopped them and told them to stand by. ''At this rate, they won''t make it in time. Those monsters are already near us. If it''s a normal horde then we will surely be able to withstand them but right now, I am not sure if we can. At best, we can stand our ground for about 5 hours which is too short for the reinforcement to come.'' The guild masterpondered while observing the battle in front. They successfully managed to bring their enemies numbers down anddivide them into two yet the ray of surviving seems bleak. At this rate they will be forced to bring the battle inside the village. The thought of the village buildings being engulfed with battle hurts the guild master''s heart. It will definitely damage the buildings and houses of the villagers who flee and he wondered how would he took responsibility with it. But he didn''t know that the refugees were attacked by bandits and there''s no way that they''ll be coming back. With that the Pinar Village was already doomed to it''s destruction. \ \ \ "Kaezar, administer this medicine to that guy! Make sure to clean his wounds!" As the battle for Pinar took place, Fernando and Kaezar with the help of other guild staff and craftsmen are busy healing the injured. After the first clash, many wounded adventurer were delivered to them. Some lost their arms or legs, some have a deep wound on their body which makes you wonder how did they manage to stay alive and lastly some people who''s joints bend at impossible angles. Being picked up from their store to act as medical team, Fernando and Kaezar was so busy. They heal and nursed the wounded while compounding medicine and potions. The ingredients stocked at the guild quickly diminished as Fernando compounded countless medicine as he applied it on the spot. Then the healthy adventurers went to the front lines once more. Some will come back after a while with wounds and injuries, while some doesn''t come back anymore. Kaezar wondered if they are still fighting at the front lines or if they are now dead but she doesn''t stopped treating the wounded and injured. With sweat covering her forehead, she felt a sharp pain to her chest. The pain she was accustomed to and also the reason why she can''t work too hard, it was the pain from her sickness.Her mind was telling her to rest but when she looks around, she saw adventurers with their injuries stillunattended, trying to pick up their weapons and drag their body towards the battle. The guild staff thankfully managed to stop them but you can clearly see on their eyes that the front lines are barely hanging on. There are also some groaning to pain as they wait for someone to heal them while some others who smeared herbs on their wounds and wrapped it with bandages. With those people around her, how can she afford to rest? Pushing herself, she ignored the pain and continued to attend the injured.The pain goes stronger and stronger yet she didn''t pay attention to it. She knows that she might just fell and die if she continues but she doesn''t care. For her, protecting the village where she grew up was much more important than her life. Her hands continued to work while the pain becomes stronger. Thenumber of peopleentering the guild seeking for treatment reduces as time goes by and after a few hours of treating the injured, no one entered the guild anymore. Ay first, she thought that the fight was over and they won but due to lack of cheersshe realized she''s wrong. ''Could they be defeated by the horde?'' That thought crosses her mind so she shook her head erasing that thought in her head. ''No matter what, I should focus on what I can do.'' She focuses on treating the injured rather than to think what happened. As she''s treating a patient, she heard a loud sound of explosion accompanied by shouts and numerous footsteps running around. The adventurers were forced to use the village as a cover since they were gradually being pushed back by the horde. The former adventurers are already dealt with but the half of the surviving pigmen, the other half went to Clark''s group, continued to march forward. With magicians MP and archers arrows nearly gone, they are forced to use the village. The first to retreat were the magicians, they were commanded to rest while waiting for the pigmen to come. They were followed by the archers who were instructed to fetch arrows at the guild while the close combat forces kites the enemies towards the village. The close combat forces was astonished by the vitality of the pigmen. No matter how much they hit their vitals, they continued to march until draw their last breath.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "This is useless! We can''t kill them like this!" Said by one of the swordsmen. He hits the vitals of his enemies by 10 times yet it''s still lively. It makes him want to give up and run away but there are still civilians at his back making it I possible for him to run. Normally, adventurers prioritized their own life before the others but in this village almost all of the adventurers were locals so they know each and everyone here. Just thinking of abandoning them didn''t crossed their minds. "Aim for their legs! Cut their tendons! They won''t be able to walk if those were cut!" Shouted by a thief. He''s actually the driver of the jeepney who got caught on the space rift. He arrived 6 years ago and until today, he''s trying to find a way back to his home. He actually considered asking help from the royalties and the heroes but he decided against it. He thought that itwould be rude to ask them for help, that''s the reason he gave to himself but the reality was he made connections to this world and lately he found out that his interest on going back becomes smaller. Following his advice, the close combat forces aimed at the pigmen tendons and they successfully neutralized their targets but the pigmen at the back continued to move forward trampling their neutralized kin to their death. This happened for a while until they managed to lure them inside the village where the magicians are waiting. Upon arrival, the close combat forces quickly runs away and the bombardment of magic started. *Boom!! Bo-Boooom!!!* Explosion sound envelops the area while some of the building caught on fire.Pigemn fell down one by one but there''s 17 of them survived. Those surviving pigmen''s body was full of burn marks and at their opened mouth, smoke came out. "Gruu... GRRRUUUUUUUUU!!!" The pigmen released a warcry followed by their rampage! They started to swing their weapon indiscriminately disregarding if they are hitting theirfoe or comrade.Loud sound of meat gettingbeaten and slashed echoed accompanied by the roaring sound of fire. At that time, the archer came back and started to shoot their arrows at the pigmen. Countless arrows rained down on the pigmen and most of them hits, plunging deep on their bodies. For a while, while looking like a porcupine, the pigmen swings wildly until they fell down like a marionette with their threads cut. "We won!!!" Said by the theif while raising his daggers to the skies. The guild master wanted to rebuked him and told him to prepare to help Clark''s team but he noticed Clark and others, with some injuries here and there, running towards him. At that time, he felt relieved and somehow feels bad towards the reinforcement coming towards them. If he knew that the unknown monster could be killed with their current power then he shouldn''t asked for the reinforcement but what''s done is done. "With this, the defensive war against the monster horde ends with our victory! " The guild master shouted but when the adventurers were going to shout for joy, they heard a horn getting blown from the forest at the southeast. They run towards it and saw a hundred bandits with some riding horses as if theywere a cavalry. "You must be kidding right?..." The guild master mutters as he watched the approaching bandit towards them dyed red with the setting sun. \ \ \ ~Let''s turn back the time a little bit.~ \ \ \ I woke up in the middle of the forest. I honestly thought that I once again died but remembering that I, Jasper Perez, fought against the bear and faint afterwards feels relieved that I''m still alive. The sun was still up in the sky and basing on it, I can say thatit''s around noon to 1 o''clock in the afternoon. Looking around, the bone of the bear was stacked with each other and besides them are the pelt and someleaves wrapping something. It maybe the bear''s meat. At my right, maybe 10 meters away, lies Gino on the lap of Jeziel. His shield was broken and he''s clearly awake pretending to be asleep. I think he can''t get up from Jeziel''s lap since Jeziel was also sleeping. ''I don''t want to disturb their quality time but we need to go back now or we''ll need to walk at the forest at night.'' With that thought, I let out a fake cough but Jeziel seems to be sleeping deeply so I decided to walk near them and shake her. After a few shake, Jeziel''s eyes open and like a crab being cooked, her face slowly turns red. "Uhmm... This isn''t what you think! I-it''s just that... Uhmmm... Right! It''s just that Gino saved my life before so I am just repaying my debt!" With her hands flaying intensely, she explained to me what she''s doing. I honestly don''t care about it and I don''t feel envious towards Gino but I kick him hard on his side to wake him up. With an "Ouch!"escaping from his mouth, he sprung up. Jeziel seems to be worried to the place that I kicked and carefully massaging it. There''s an urge rising in me wanting to kick Gino again but I lost my timing since he stands up with a red face. "Is it really necessary for you to kick me?" Gino said while creasing his side while Jeziel looks at him worriedly. "Not really. There''s just a voice telling me to kick you so I just followed it." After saying that, I look at my sword. It''s almost broken, no it''s already broken and I can''t use itsince it looks like it will snap if I swing it one more time also my quiver was empty and Ican''t see any useable arrow within our surroundings. I guess all of them broke when Jeziel dragged the bear. Looking at her build, it would be physically impossible for her to drag that big bear but I guess since there''s the status points in this world, it is possible for her. After all, shehas a warrior job. "Dang it! My shield was broken! Haa... I guess I''ll need to buy a new one at the village... Oh right, Jasper take this." Gino checked his equipment and throws a sheathed dagger to me. I catched it with my left hand and draws it out.It''s blade looks good and the grip was comfortable for me. Checking it with my [Analyze], I got surprised by it''s attack power. It''s much more stronger than my short sword and bow combined and there''s also one gem and card slot to it! And what''s more, it was made by this fat guy in front of me! "Hey Gino! What''s with this dagger!?" I shouted a him while carefully sheathing the dagger. I am afraid to use it since it seems to be so overpowered but I currently don''t have a choice right now. Gino just scratched his cheeks and looks to his left while saying " I don''t know". "Hmm? Whatdo you mean? It''s just a normal dagger right?" Jeziel asked while tilting her head. She looks cute and all but that isn''t important right now. It''s this cheat dagger! It said that it was made from Iron but it''s on par with the Fell Iron! I don''t know what kind of metal it is but I guess it''s much more stronger than normal Iron! "Well, did I tell you about an unknown skill of mine? It seems to be something related to blacksmithing, or more likely it''s blacksmithing skill but with a ''+'' sign like something you''ll see when you play new game plus... And that dagger was made with that skill..." I don''t understand it but I somehow understand it at the same time. His explanation was quite lacking but with him comparing his newly acquired skill to a new game plus character was quite understandable. In short, his blacksmithing reverts to level 1 but it retains it''s previous bonuses. But what bugs me now is how the hell did he managed to get that skill. Normally, in new game plus yourskills and levels would reset and also, you''ll need to reach the highest level first (or finish the game) beforeyou''ll become eligible to access new game plus and it''s impossible for him to raise his blacksmithing for a short period of time. Which means, it was a blessing from the so called "God"? I mean in most other world web novels the otherworlders, Dayo, was given at least one OP skill so it might came from that... So does this mean that my two [???] Skills are both OP skills too? Well I think it is and also maybe the thing that happened before, the time when my perspective turns from first person view to third person view, was related to it. With a little hope and excitementI peeked at my skill list but sadly it''s still the same... No wait, my Archery and Sword Mastery levels up and there''s also a new skill here called [Dash]. Based on it''s description, it allows me to move faster in a single direction. Quite simple skill but it''s good when used at combat. The maximum distance I can do is 2 meters and it took 0 MP per use. It might look OP at glance but it consumes my stamina so it''s just so so. And also, I forgot about my active skills... Up to this point I haven''t used any active skills during combat and I think that using it will only be a burden to my movement. Not that I tried it before but you know, in games and other novels using skills will create an opening and you won''t be able to cancel the skill to dodge or party the attack. Well, I''ll just say something a gamer always say, "I''ll save it for emergency". "Uhmm.. guys can youtalk in a way that I can understand?" I think I heard a feeble voice saying that line but I ignored it and suggested that we should go back. Following my suggestion, Gino picked up the three Batag trunk while Jeziel dragged the meat and I carried the bones. At first, I wanted to burry it but Gino stopped me saying that it can be used as a materials. I don''t know if what he is planning to do with the bones but if he''s going to create an equipment from it, I''ll refuse to use it. If it''s the fur then I''ll use it but if it''s made of bones, who would dare use it? Ah. The adventurers at the village might use it... After all, I saw one wearing a bone armor with the monster or animal skill as his helmet and honestly he looks absolutely barbaric. As we walk inside the forest, we didn''t encounter any monster just like before. Maybe those monsters still thought that the flame bear was still lurking at their territory so they are hiding from it but I think after a few days the monster will come back... Wait... Where the hell would they hide in the first place? We are at the west of the village so to our east is the village. They can''t go to the north since it will lead them to the foot of the mountain range, south it would be the highway since they''ll be blocked by the river and without any choice, they''ll head southeast towards the highway. And being there, they will surely attract the attention of the merchants and their escort which will report it to the guild but we didn''t hear anything about it. If they''ll head to Northeast then they''ll meet some adventurers there. Also, the impression given by the goblins were they are absolutely idiotic so it''s doubtful if the thought of crossing the river would enter their minds. I somehow feels uncomfortable with it but I guess they are just right here and there scattered throughout the forest hiding from that flame bear. After a few hours of walking, we reached the village but it appears to be abandoned. Not a single person could be seen with signs of the residents trying to leave the village as soon as they can since some doors are left opened without locks and there are also items scattered around. There''s also a thick black smoke coming from the east of the village and you can hear the clashing soundof weapons. "What happened here..?" I muttered to myself as I stare dumbfounded at the village. The hustle and bustle of the market could not be heard nor the rhythmic sound of the hammer pounding an iron was absent. Jeziel burst into sprint towards her home and Gino followed her after telling me to check on Kaezar and his father. I walk alone at the abandoned villagewhile looking around. There are some cooking equipments, toys, books and other item scattered around as I walk towards Kaezar''s house. I would like to check what is happening at the east side but checking Kaezar''s welfare takes priority. Upon arriving, I look around while calling out to Kaezar and Fernando but no one called back to me. I hope that they are safe. Feeling impatient, I took another quiver at my room. It was made by Gino, the same with the arrows, but they are mostly created from wood.. The bad feeling in my chest grew as I walk towards the source of the sound. After a while, I can finally see the guildand there were wounded people entering to it. Cries of agony could be heard coming inside the guild while the sound of clashing weapons echoed throughout the road. With hurried steps, I went inside the guild. At the first floor, there are adventurers lying down on a blanket covered with bandages. Some of them lost a part of their body while the others aren''t moving anymore as if they are dead. Blood soak weapons are layed down near them while they let out a painful groan from their troath. The urge to puke rises from my stomach but I held it in. Idon''t know what is happening butI am sure that it an emergency. Guild staff comes up and down from the second floor carrying crates and baskets filled with medicines, potions, and bandages. Their faces look haggard and you can clearly see that they haven''t able to relax for a long time. "You there! Don''t block the way!" A voice coming from my back told me. I quickly move aside and let him pass. It''s a man supporting someone hit by an arrow on his back. Blood flows down to the ground making a trail to where they come from. "Jasper! Jasper!" A female voice calls me from the second floor. Looking towards the source, I saw Kaezar carrying baskets. She looks tired and her breathing was ragged but her eyes shows a strong will to help the others. Knowing her body constitution, I hurriedly run towards her. ''why are you pushing yourself!?'' With that thought in my mind, I run forward. I sometime steps at someone''s hand or feet which almost made me fall but I continued to run. Upon reaching Kaezar, I take the basket away from her and assisted her to climb down the stairs. "What are you doing!? Think about yourself a little!" Upon hearing what I said, she just smiled wryly and said "I can''t rest while the others fight. I''m still okay so it''s fine." "Fight?... Sure you''re okay for now but when you rest later, the fatigue you accumulated will take their toll. Please rest already, I''ll help out here. I don''t know what would I do if something happened to you." Kaezar just smiled to what I had said and somehow, her cheeks are tinged with red. Hmm? Why are you blushing Kaezar? As that thought cross my mind, I realize I said something outrageous. Then, my two inner self talk to each other. Me1: WHAT THE FUCK!! WHY THE HELL DID I SAY THAT LINE! IT NOW LOOKS LIKE I HAVE A FUKING FEELING TOWARDS HER! Me2: well, she''s pretty and caring so I guess any man will fall for her but. Me1:. BUT! I ONLY LOVE KAEZAR OF EARTH! NO ONE ELSE! Me2: she look like her so who cares? Besides, we aren''t even sure if we can go back to our former world. Me1: NOOO!! EVEN IF THEY LOOK THE SAME, ACT THE SAME AND MOVE THE SAME, THERE''S A SUBTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO! AND ALSO WE''LL BE ABLE TO GO BACK! WE''LL FIND A WAY TO GO BACK! While my inner-selves are arguing, my face feels hot and I am pretty sure that I am blushing right now. Seriously, why the hell did I say that? Something like ''i don''t know what would I do if something happened to you..''it''s fucking gay man! I''m sure if Gino was here, he''ll copy a meme saying "Ha! Gaaay!" "Thank you for worrying about me." Kaezar said while letting out a fullbloom smile. Somehow, I can see flowers blooming around her and a ray of light showering her. I quickly averted my gaze as I know how dangerous it is for me to continue looking at her. I love Kaezar Padilla! IloveKaezarPadilla! IloveKaezarPadilla! IloveKaezarPadilla! I chanted my feeling towards Kaezar Padilla as I assist Kaezar. When we reached the first floor, Kaezar walk towards to some of the guild staff busily attending some patients. "Hi! Here''s the replacement of bandages." As she said that, I put the basket near the guild staff and take the empty basket away from the guild staff''s side. After the guild staff said thank you, we went to the second floor again while I assist her. Chapter 17 - Raid (6) After helping Kaezar with her work, we went to the second floor to rest. It''s already night but the sound of battle still echoed throughout the village. By the way, Gino and Jeziel are also at the second floor. It seems that Jeziel''s father left a note saying that he''ll be at the guild repairing the weapons and armor of adventurers. Gino decided to help Fernando since he''s the only one who knows how to compound potion and medicine. With the two of them, the production speed doubles and the casualties decreases. Still, I didn''t know that when I went back, there would be a defensive siege against a monster horde. We were almost got deployed to the frontlines but thanks to Kaezar and Fernando telling them that we know how to compound medicines, we are excused to it. It''sactually Gino alone but since I was also mentioned, I keep my mouth shut and thank Fernando and Kaezar at my heart. "They arestill fighting huh..." I muttered to myself as I listen carefully to the sound of battle. There''s a time where a victorious shout like sound reverberates but it was quickly changed into battle cries so I guess it''s just a false alarm. By the way, Gino gave me 5 quivers of arrows just in case so I can fight if needed. I also have the cheat dagger made by Gino as a sub weapon. "Yes they are. It would be great if we won already." To my muttering, Kaezar replied. Her complexion was much better than before so I guess she''s fine for the time being. I think her disease was like asthma, it won''t attack as long as the tension was still in your body but once it left, there goes the little guy making you suffer. I reached out my hand and patted her head. I don''t know why I did it, my hand move on its own. Similarly, Kaezar seems confused at what I did but she didn''t slap away my hand so I guess its fine. Despite the fight happening outside, I feel good. I hope time would stay still and let me enjoy this moment. Suddenly, we heard a commotion at the first floor. It isn''t that strange since we are currently defending ourselves against a monster horde but the commotion this time feels different. Normally, it would stop after a few seconds and it won''t be this noisy so to know what is happening, I went down the stairs. "...we can''t hold them that long! To anyone who can fight, please protect the injured and women! Evacuate to the nearest town while remaining vigilant to your surroundings!" Are we losing against the monster horde? My heartbeat rise as I turn around to tell the others of the news but someone caught my attention. He was standing at the guild''s door carrying a curved long sword; he¡¯s wearing a leather armor stained with blood of his enemies. He smiled fiendishly and said. "FOUND YA LITTLE FUCKERS!!" The guild hall becomes silent as the man raises his sword. Countless footsteps could be heard at his back and when he swings down his sword, the people behind him charges in killing anyone at their path. "This is bad!! Hurry up and run!! Arrrggghh!!!" The man who told us to run was mercilessly slashed down. His corpse soon turns into paste under the feet of the enemies. I ran upstairs and shouted the people there to run! At first they are taken aback by my behavior but as soon as they heard the screams below, they burst out to a sprint. I picked up my bow and quiver and took Kaezar''s hand. At first she was confused on what I am doing but after her father, Fernando, told her to run away with me she started to move. We are currently at the second floor and the only way to run away was the front door. "WHY THE HELL THIS BUILDING DOESN''T HAVE ANY EMERGENCY EXIT!!" I cursed out loud as I desperately try to find a way to run away. There are some who jump outside the windows but unfortunately they landed towards the enemies and got their self killed. So windows are out! And the main exit was also out! What should I do!? I desperately think for a way to get out and run but nothing comes to my mind. I look outside the nearby window, the stars shine brightly outside but this isn''t the time for it!! Dammit!! What should I do what should I do!? Then I noticed something at the window, there''s a nearby roof to it. It was made of dried grass and it will definitely collapse if someone steps on it. Without thinking about it, I carried Kaezar and jumped out. aaAAAAHH!! If I die then I die! If I survive then good!! Letting it go with luck, I jump towards the roof. As soon as my feet landed on it, it collapsed and we fell down to the floor. The room was dark with only moonlight illuminates our surroundings. There are tables and chairs here so maybe it was the dining room? With a little light, I surveyed our surroundings trying to make sure that we are safe. After a while, I bring Kaezar down and gestured her to follow me. As we walk quietly, we reached the nearest window and I open it slightly then peeked outside. There''s no one there so I slowly opened it and went outside. Looking around, there''s no one around us. I signaled Kaezar to jump out and we ran under the stars through a cemetery like road. Corpses of humans and monsters are littered around here and there. I ignored the urged to vomit and swallow back the gastric juice rising on my throat. Kaezar grasped my shirt strongly and she covered her mouth with her hand. We ran towards the forest while carefully looking around. We take detours here and there avoiding everyone. At this point, I don''t know if they are my allies or my enemies so it''s better to ignore them. There are also some girls being violated outside but I ignored them. They might be my acquaintance but comparing the live of Kaezar to them, their lives¡¯ worth isn¡¯t that much. I am actually surprised by my decision to abandon them but I don''t have a choice. If I help them carelessly, our location would be known and I''ll be killed while Kaezar would be violated. I ignore their cries and turn my back towards them. Sorry! If only I was stronger! I said a quite apology to my mind trying to tell an excuse to relieve my conscience. Thankfully, Kaezar didn''t say anything; if she had told me to help them then I might shoot those bastards with my arrows. It''s not that I will do it just because Kaezar told me to do it but, I am doing my best to ignore them! If she told me help then the effort I used to hold it back would be useless and I''ll do my best to save them! After a few minutes of running, we reached the forest. I am still alright but Kaezar is breathing roughly. Sweat could be seen falling down on her face and I guess her back was already wet. Seeing her like this, I regretted running without considering her. "Are you okay?" I know that it''s still not safe here but with Kaezar''s condition, I decided to rest. With rough breathing, she answered "yes". "We''ll rest here for awhile." I said. It pains my chest to see her like this but considering that we are running away from the bandits, I don''t have a choice but to push her to her limits. Kaezar sits down and doing her best to catch her breathing while I look around vigilant of our surroundings. I don''t know the exact number of attackers but if I we''re them; I''ll assign someone nearby to ensure that no one will be able to escape. "Thank you for saving me..." Kaezar said. "It''s nothing." I replied. Then suddenly, a huge explosion occurred coming from the direction of adventurer''s guild. Looking at it, there''s also fire within its vicinity. I hope that they''re alright. I said to myself as I look towards the burning village. I really hope that Gino and the others are alright. I don''t know where they are or what they are doing but I just hope that they''re alright. Also, what happened to Fernando? I hope he''s safe Praying for their safety, I keep vigilant to our surroundings. Suddenly I heard a rustling sound around us. There seems to be someone approaching us. If it was someone who runs away then they''ll be coming from one direction only but these guys comes to us surrounding us. I prepared my bow as I wait if they are friendly or not. The rustling sound comes closer and closer and due to the darkness of the night, I can''t see them clearly only the outline of their shadows. After a while they stopped moving. I still don''t know if they are friendly or not but I draw my bow and tried to shoot the one nearest to us but before I can release my arrow, an arrow flew towards me aiming at my shoulder. I quickly dodged it and shoot an arrow towards the direction where it came from. The arrow flew in the air but it seems that I missed my mark. After that, I heard a scream at my back. Turning around I saw Kaezar with a sword pointed at her throat by a man behind her. His ugly face looks like it was punched by Pacman until it caved in and drool drips down from his mouth. He also let out a creepy laugh "kekeke" while looking at me. After a while, another man came out. He''s also ugly but not as ugly as the one behind Kaezar. "Drop down your bow or she''ll die!" He said while sneering at me. "Bastard...." I want to punch his ugly face until it caved in like the other one but knowing that they will harm Kaezar if I don''t follow his orders, I slowly crouch down to put down my bow. "Oh and also, one wrong move and will slit this woman''s throat." He said with a smug face. I¡¯ll follow his orders for now but if I found an opening, I''ll fucking kill him along with the other one. Then all of the other people come to us. Looking around, most of them wear a rugged armor with different designs. You can''t see any uniformity on their armor yet you''ll know that they are part of the same group. After all, all of them look at me mockingly. They are ten of them and I can see someone carrying a bow at the very back. "So, ya manage to take da gurl huh!" Said by a short man wielding a small axe. I guess he''s the leader. "Y-yeah I got h-h-her! So it w-w-would be me t-to do her f-first right!" Said the caved in man. "You fucker!!" I tried to pick up my bow but two man restrained both of my hands. I put all of my strength to my arms trying to push them away but they are strong! Not only their physical strength but also the smell coming from their bodies is strong! "N-no!" With a pale face, Kaezar struggled to break free from the caved in man while I keep on trying to break free. The caved in man just laugh at her struggles and licks her neck. With what he did, Kaezar struggles more and keeps on saying "no!" with tears falling down from her eyes. Her glasses fall down due to her movement while the caved in man keeps on licking her neck. "FUUUCKER!!!!" I desperately move around and tried to stands up but the two men restraining me firmly hold me down. "I SWEAR I''LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!!!! I''LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!" As if mocking me, the caved in bastard licks Kaezar''s tears as he looks at me smugly. You fucking piece of shit!!! "aaAAAAHH!!!" I shouted as I did my best to break free. It seems that someone was talking behind me but I can''t hear what he''s saying. After all, all I can think about is how should I fucking kill this bastard in front of me. Then suddenly, I felt a blow at my stomach. The air in my lungs went out and I cough a few times yet I didn''t stop glaring at the bastard!The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Y-yeah!! J-j-just like that!!! Scream more!! Scream as I r-rape your girl! Kekekekeke!!!" The caved in bastard grasped Kaezar''s breast with his free hand while Kaezar desperately tries to escape. Seeing that, the caved in bastard delivered a powerful punch towards Kaezar''s stomach. With that, Kaezar stopped moving and hold her stomach painfully. Then the caved in bastard pushed her down and said something towards the ugly bastard! I can''t hear what he said due to my screams but I think I know what he said. The ugly bastard holds both Kaezar''s arm then he looks at me and silently said, "We are going to rape her!" With that, I use all of my strength left on my body. It feels like I''m under an adrenaline rush as I keep on struggling against my restrainer! "TRY IT YOU FUCKERS!! I SWEAR I''LL KILL YOU ALL!!!" The people at our surrounding laughs, then the short man walks in front of me and punched me in the face. Then he grasped my chin and forced me to look at his face. "Listen here ya ''lil retard! All of us will fuck ya gurl in turns! We''ll make sure that every hole in her body will get violated! So just shut up and watch! Ya understand me!?" Without answering, I spit on his face. The short man just smiled and punched me over and over again. It hurts but I don''t care about it. I estimated the speed of his fist and before his fist hit my cheeks, I pulled my head back and bite on his arm with everything I got. "Ouch!!" The short man tried to pull back his arm but I am strongly biting him enough to leave a wound on it. After a while, he managed to pull back his arm because the skin where I am biting him got torn out from his arm. The taste of blood fills my mouth and I spit out the skinI tore from him. "Bastard!" The short man tried to swing his axe but before he manages to do so, a sword pokes out between his brows. "I don''t care if you want to torment him but killing him is a no-no." Said by another man. The short man was already dead but he continued to talk. "After all, his screams will be good background music together with the woman." He said as he pulled out his sword from the short man. There are only 9 of them left... "So I encourage you to scream!" He said to me as he step aside allowing me to see what is happening. Kaezar''s clothes were torn into two exposing her private areas to the public. She keeps on twisting her body as she repeatedly screams "no! Stop! Please! I beg you!" But it only serves as a fuel to the caved in bastard. His hand reaches towards Kaezar''s most private place while his tongue started to lick Kaezar''s breast. I continued to struggle as tears falls down on my eyes. "GET AWAY FROM HER!!" The other men laughs at me as I struggle to break free while one man walks towards Kaezar while unbuttoning his shorts! "Aaaahhhhh!! Stop!!! STOP IT YOU FUCKERS!!!! LET ME GO!! LET ME GO!!!" I screamed as the man approaches Kaezar. He let his pants slide down and I can see his ugly ass. He turns his head towards me and smirked. Slowly he kneels down towards Kaezar''s face and I can guess what''s he''s going to do. At that point, my vision became black... / / / The reinforcement continued their travel after an hour of rest. As they move, nobody opened their mouth to talk. It seems that they are feeling tensed by the battle they will participate later but Percival feels different. He feels that something was wrong so he commanded the two knights beside him to scout a head. As the scout galloped forward, Percival''s eyes sharpen. It was the eyes of the hunter looking for prey. His intuition was mostly right at times and if he was wrong this time then it isn''t a big deal. It would just let them know if there''s something ahead. After a few moments, the knights came back. They seems to be hurrying and their faces seems desperate. After reaching Percival''s position, they put their right hand to their chest while forming a fist, a salute usually used by knights. "Sir! There are debris of wagons and corpses ahead. The refugees were attack and based on the wounds of the corpses, they were killed using swords! Most likely the attackers are bandits! Sir!" One of the knights reported. Percival salutes back at the knights and turned around to shout. "Hear me Shield of Sevir! It seems that the refugees were attacked by bandits! I command you to form a group of five and search the vicinity! Find any traces of the attack and report it to my aide!" """HAAA!!!""" """Yes!""" The knights and adventurers agreed to what Percival said and he turns toward his aide to tell him to stay here with some people. After that, he went to the heroes and tell them the situation. Of course, Graziel and Jack were surprised and they wanted to help the search but Percival stopped them. "If my intuition is right, we need to rush towards the village. Coachman! Let the horses run towards the village as fast as they can!" After saying that, the coachman let the horses run. As the carriage went farther ahead, Percival assembled a 10 man unit under him and followed after. As their horse run towards the village, they saw the damaged done by the bandits. Corpses of men were thrown all over the place and there are also some wagons with broken wheels at the side of the road while the others are over turned. As expected, there aren''t any women at the corpses they can see. Percival feels angry towards the bandits and wanted to kill all of them but he knew that helping the village takes priority than that, after all there''s a chance that there are civilians still alive at the village. Please be safe! While wishing the safety of his friend, Percival and his troops galloped towards the village. After a few minutes, they can now see the village. There are smoke rising to the sky with flames visible to where they are standing. Without delaying, he ordered the coachman to follow them after they entered the village. Percival draws his provisional iron sword and charged. After entering the village, he saw many corpses littered on the streets. Some of them are still breathing but has fatal wound in their body. Seeing that, his anger went up by a notch and casted a healing spell towards the still breathing people without stopping his horse. Green light envelops his target and their wounds are slowly closing. Though his healing magic isn''t as good as the healing specialist, he can still save them from dying. As they continued to gallop, they reached the adventurer''s guild. The windows and doors are tattered while the walls are covered with blood and entrails. Percival signaled his men to stop and dismounted on his horse. "You guys, search the perimeter for survivor. Make a three-man cell formation and avoid fighting them as much as possible. If you think that you can kill the bandits you encounter, feel free to do so. Also, prioritize rescuing the survivors. That''s all!" """YES!!""" The knights went away with the said formation as Percival walks towards the guild building alone. His face looks calm but his eyes carried a wrath that won''t lose to a dragon. His aura completely changes from being a commander of the knights to a bloodthirsty beast. The title [Hero Knight] isn''t suited to him right now but instead another title of him will surely fit it. He was called [Devil] at the past due to what he did. Back then a group of a famous bandit caught her sister with her husband and children, he''s still an active adventurer back then and the country can''t let out an army due to the tension at the north. With that said, he planned to charge alone at their lair but two of his party members forcefully joined him. It was a warrior named Gastor, his best friend and second in command, and a magician named Claire, his wife. With the three of them, they entered the lair. The bandits attacked them but even before Claire''s magic was casted, Percival charges and killed everyone in a blink of the eye. His body and sword was covered by blood but his mouth curved upwards revealing a beastly smile. A smile that doesn''t suit his normal happy go lucky attitude, it was as if he was possessed by a wicked demon. Without waiting for his party members to recover from the shock, he went ahead and by the time his party members caught up with him he already killed every bandit inside and rescued his sister along with her family. With relax pace, he entered the guild building. Looking around, he saw the bandits drinking alcohol on the table while the others are busy raping the receptionist and other female adventurers. Then one of them saw Percival. The guy laughed and shouted. "Hey you bastards! There''s a brave soul who went inside alone! What should we do? I know, let''s have a bet! The one who killed that guy will be given 10% of what the others looted! Sounds good right?!" """Oooohh!!""" The bandits stopped what they are doing and draw their weapon. Percival didn''t react to what they decided to do and just observed them. There are 20 bandits at the first floor and they must be more at the upper floors, letting out a breath, Percival steps forward and charges towards the guy who talked about the bet. Without the other party noticing, he cut of his head. "That''s one." He said while kicking the head towards the nearest bandit. "Bastard!! Kill him!!" The bandits charges to him but he doesn''t feel anything from it. For Percival, it just looks like 19 ants charging towards him. They are just small fries that can be killed easily. Then, Percival once more moves. Due to his speed, the bandits can''t clearly see him and they can only see a blur moving around them. Every time they see Percival clearly, it was at the time one of their comrades fell. Some of them tried to run away but a fire magic hits them turning them into ashes. After a minute, the bandits at the first floor were dead. Then Percival proceeded to the second floor. The second floor has a wide open space. It was formerly the training ground but like the first floor, it became a place for the bandits to drink and rape. The only difference was, at the second floor the girls are much more beautiful than the first floor. Without saying anything, Percival started to slaughter every bandit. Most of them are caught defenselessly while the other managed to draw their weapons and tried to block Percival''s attack only to got sliced up into two with their weapons. Then after that, Percival walks towards the third floor. It was the administration floor where the requests are being processed and now it became a place where the survivors are hiding. Somewhere caught and dragged down to the second floor while the others desperately defend the room with their life. Seeing that scene, Percival raised an eyebrow on what the bandits are doing. They are coming one by one towards a certain door. Cheers could be heard coming from the bandits even though one of their members fell down. They truly are savage. Percival thought to himself while watching the spectacle happening in front of him. With his sword in hand, well even if he''s barehanded, he can kill the bandits easily but he decided not to. He thinks that it will be a good experience to the defending side if he managed to repel everyone here and he will give his aid if it became dangerous for them. Percival activated a skill called [Hide]. It''s a skill normally used by thief-class jobs that makes your presence dim and if it''s high level enough you can become invisible. With that said, Percival''s [Hide] skill was almost at the peak and he easily sneak past the bandit and watch. The one standing at the door is a fat guy wearing leather armor. His right hand holds a short sword while the other holds a tattered wooden shield. The guy was covered with blood and sweat while breathing roughly. At his surrounding, 10 corpses of bandits are lying down while at his front a bandit was amusingly looking at him. "Just to let you know, I am much stronger than the previous men. I killed more than 50 people already and I''ll give you the honor to be the one of them!" The bandit said. The bandit has a long sword and wears properly maintained leather armor. With the way he''s holding his sword, Percival can tell that he''s not bluffing about being strong but he''s not sure if killing 50 people is something to brag about. In wars he participated, killing a hundred was normal to him and the quality of the person he killed isn¡¯t ordinary. They are trained soldiers going to war; they specialized in killing other person not like the adventurers who were trained towards killing monsters. Of course the bandit might or might not kill a soldier before but even if he does, it might be just one or two soldiers at his 50 something killing streak. The fat guy didn''t say anything. He just prepared his stance and looks towards the bandit. He clearly doesn''t have any leisure to talk since he''s battered already. The bandit charges forwards while the fat guy stand strong. As the bandit was swinging his long sword, the fat guy catches it with his shield and diverted the force behind it to the ground. It isn''t special but looking at the fat guy who clearly looks like an indoor type, it''s an amazing feat. Then the fat guy trusted his short sword while taking a single step forward. As if the bandit was expecting it, the bandit jumps back and upon landing, he rushes towards the fat guy intending to thrust his long sword deep down his throat. But the fat guy quickly warded off the attack with his shield and steps backward blocking the only way towards the room. This guy is good Percival thought as he watch the fat guy move. As he keeps on watching the fight, the back suddenly got noisy. "Hey! There''s some suicidal guys here! More ever they have two girls with them! Both high class!!" Said by one of the bandits. At first he wondered who they are but then he remembered about the wagon he ordered to go first. Despite being the one who went first, Percival became the first one to enter the building. It can''t be helped after all; the heroes helped everyone on their way here. Luckily they haven''t encountered a bandit and this will be their first actual combat if Percival will let them. Percival scratched his head and pointed his arms towards group of bandits. Imagining a restraining ice, he cast out a spell. It''s a water attribute spell commonly known as [Ice Shackles]. This spell will freeze the target¡¯s lower body restraining them but you can adjust it depending on your MP. If you''re going to freeze multiple targets at once, then the MP needed would be big and if you decided to freeze them until their neck the MP consumption will also rises. With that said, Percival freeze all the bandits, except the fighting one, up to their neck. This would require an astronomical amount of MP but Percival can manage it. Not because he has a magic oriented job or has a magic item that let him use the Mana in the air but because of his pure hard work. Ever since Percival was a kid, he keeps on training without skipping and right now, he''s the strongest human(?) in the whole world. Startled by what happened, the bandit who''s fighting the fat guy flinched and without letting the chance go, the fat guy thrust his sword towards the bandit''s throat. "W-what''s this?!" Jack said while looking at the human popsicles. Both Graziel and Jack were awed while Skyla seems to be used to it already. She ignores the popsicles and walk towards the fat guy. The fat guy, thinking that she was an enemy, raises his shield. On closer look, he''s trembling and clearly exhausted but he''s pushing himself to protect the people at his back. "Don''t worry, we are you reinforcement." Hearing that, the fat guy almost collapsed due to his tension leaving his body but he held himself together and stands straight. "Thank you for your help..." The fat guy said while breathing roughly. Then, Graziel accompanied by Jack walks towards them and Graziel was shocked by what she saw. The fat friend of Jasper was standing in front of her. He''s wearing leather armor holding a short sword and tattered shield. Blood and sweat covers his body and he is clearly on the verge of collapsing but still stands tall in front of them. "Gino!" Graziel called and the fat guy looks towards her. His eyes went wide and a small smile could be seen from his mouth. "Yo! Graziel, it''s been a while!" Gino greets Graziel while Skyla and others were surprised by it. "You know her?" Jack asked as he looks at Gino carefully. He''s looking at him from head to toe trying to remember if he saw him before. "Yes, he''s Jasper''s friend." "Is that so? I am Jack Anderson. It''s a pleasure to meet you." "I''m Gino Cruz, the pleasure is mine... Oh right. Graziel, are you with this girl?" Gino asked Graziel while pointing at Skyla. Skyla frowns at what Gino did but she keeps quiet. "Yes. We are the reinforcement from the capital!" Graziel said proudly but Gino''s only reaction was "Heee~"seemingly unimpressed by what Graziel said. "Since you were part of the reinforcement, I would like to ask you a favor." "What is it?" Graziel ask while feeling nervous on what Gino will say. His eyes were serious and she felt like that if she declined him, he''ll do it personally without caring about himself. "I want you to rescue Jasper and Kaezar.." With Gino''s request, both Graziel and Jack eyes went wide open. / / / While Jasper''s vision becomes black, the man kneeled completely towards Kaezar. Right now, she can clearly see the man genitalia in front of her face. It''s repulsive appearance made Kaezar''s mouth to shut close and she tried to look at the other way. No!! Help me anyone!! Please help me!! She keeps on asking someone to save her but no one came. Her chest was currently being licked by an unknown man and for her, it feels disgusting. The man''s hand was creasing her stomach and the man who kneeled in front of her forcefully held her face towards his genitalia. "Look here! This thing will enter you later!! Also, after we played with your body to our heart contents we will sell you as a sex slave so you must remember this thing!!" The man shouts as he held Kaezar''s face trying to open her mouth. Kaezar can smell something bad in front of her but her closed eyes and mouth didn''t show any signs of opening. "Tsk! Hey you! Punch her stomach!!" The man said to the man licking her. She doesn''t know if the man followed his command but he felt that the hand creasing her stomach was gone. With that, she braced herself to receive a punch. "Uwaaahh!!" PAAK! Suddenly, she heard a scream followed by a sound of two bodies colliding. The licking stops and she feels something flew past of her head. She doesn''t want to open her eyes but her curiosity won over so she timidly opened them. What she saw was something that makes her dumbfounded, no not only her but everyone in that place was dumbfounded. With their mouth and eyes opened wide, they look at Jasper''s appearance. He was covered with dark blue aura and his eyes are glowing white. Everyone who looks at him taught of the same thing, "he looks like the midnight sky". With the dark blue aura and a shining pair of white eyes, he truly looks like the night sky with two stars twinkling on them. As his head sways sideways, a trail of white light was left from his eyes. His head keeps swaying. Then suddenly, she felt that the hand restricting hers was gone. Looking upwards, she saw the man facing Jasper with his sword drawn pointing towards her. "Noooo!!!" She screamed as she desperately tries to crawl away from him but after a few seconds of her scream, Jasper suddenly appeared in front of the man holding a dagger which was stabbed deeply at the man''s stomach. Then he forcefully swings it upwards cutting his stomach to his head open like a pig being butchered. His organs fell down to the ground along with his blood. This made Kaezar terrified towards Jasper. At first, she wanted to run away from that place but she feels so weak and her chest hurts a lot. It''s not because of what was done to her but because of her sickness. She knows best her body and this time, she knew that she pushed herself past her limit. After cutting his opponent open, Jasper takes of his armor and shirt then walks slowly towards Kaezar. Seeing him walking towards her, her body trembled due to fear and she almost screamed out but Jasper gently gave Kaezar her shirt and smiled. With his eyes glowing, shecan''t clearly sees his eyes but she knew that Jasper was currently broke. His mind wasn''t thinking of anything other than protecting Kaezar. With her trembling hand, she takes the shirt and put it on. After wards, Jasper stands up and disappeared as if he teleported away from her. At her side she heard the screams of her rapist. The man that shows his genitalia towards her got his tube cut into small pieces. It started from its head down to its base like a food being prepared. Then Jasper started to cut the finger on the man''s feet and after everything was gone, he proceeded to his hand. The man''s screams was full of agony and it makes Kaezar wonder how he managed to stay conscious while experiencing that. Jasper forcefully inserted his dagger in the man''s feet fingernail and one by one he peels it off. As he was doing that, the man''s allies tried to flee but without turning around, Jasper pulls out some arrows from the quiver at his back and throws it like a dart towards the fleeing man. It all hits the back of their head and with a thud, all of them collapses. Then Jasper proceeded to cut the man''s finger by its joint. Then after it was done, he stabbed the man''s stomach and opened it by cutting. His internal organs could be seen moving and Jasper pulls out the man''s intestines and forcefully inserted it to the man''s mouth. Then he stood up and went towards the man who licked Kaezar''s chest. It seems that the man was unconscious so Jasper just opened the man''s mouth and see pulled out its tongue. He then pulls another arrow from the quiver and repeatedly stabs the man''s tongue. By the time the man wakes up, his tongue was already stitched to the ground. He tried to pull it back he can''t. Jasper then pulled the man''s arm and stabbed it with arrows. Every joint of his fingers has an arrow embedded to it. Not satisfied enough, Jasper then pulls out the arrow at the man''s tongue. He let the man catch his breath then proceeded to open up his belly. With the man''s organs exposed, Jasper then put his hand inside and grasped the man''s heart. The man screams were ignored as Jasper stare on to the man''s face, then Jasper cracked a smile. It was a smile that sends shivers to the man spines. Jasper slowly crushed the man''s heart and as he puts pressure to it, the man''s face distorts into pain and his screams echoed throughout the forest. After that, he killed the last two men. It was the one who restrained him but he just stabbed them in the chest. It seems that Jasper doesn''t care about the both of them, the only one he wants to torment were the rapist of Kaezar. Chapter 18 - Raid (7) In the middle of the forest, a certain sound could be heard. Anyone who hears it will surely feel scared on it specially it''s happening in the middle of the night. A continuous beat of stabbing something could be heard accompanied by a voice of a man continuously swearing. If ever someone was braced enough to follow the sound, he or she will see a repulsive sight of guts and bloods scattered all over the place. In the middle of it, there''s a certain girl lying down unconscious and a man repeatedly stabbing a meat, no, a human corpse. The man stabbing the corpse is Jasper while the girl lying down unconscious is Kaezar. Jasper, still covered by the weird aura, rhythmically stabbing the one who almost raped Kaezar. His eyes, while glows like a star amidst the night sky, harbors fiery anger towards the corpse. Right now, helooks like a monster feasting upon the corpse... \ \ \ "I want you to rescue Jasper and Kaezar." With what Gino said, Graziel and company was clearly surprised. They know that Jasper was in this world but they didn''t thought that he will be in this village with Kaezar to boot. "Hey Gino... Is Kaezar alright?" Asked by Graziel. Upon hearing that, Gino''s eyes went wide due to a sudden realization. They didn''t know that the Kaezar here is different from Kaezar of Earth. Scratching his head, he said. "Well, she''s fine the last time I saw her but... The Kaezar I am talking about is different from your cousin.. she''s the daughter of Fernando, our benefactor." Upon hearing that, Jack''s expression suddenly changed. From being shock to feeling relieved then become serious. He felt surprised when Gino said Kaezar was here, relieved that it isn''t the Kaezar he knew and serious because they need to rescue both Jasper and the said Kaezar. "Where did they go?" Ask Graziel. Impatience could be heard on her voice and knowing that Graziel is the ex girlfriend of Jasper and also one of his close friend, Gino understand what she currently feels. Gino wanted to search for them but he can''t go since there were bandits blocking his way before and now, he''s clearly exhausted. "I don''t know where they are but I think they aren''t that far yet.. they might be hiding around the village or they might be at the forest." Gino answered. If he was Jasper, he''ll surely look for a safe place to hide and if he can''t, then he''ll bet everything and leave the village through the forest. Traversing the forest during the night raises the chance of getting attacked by monsters but it''s much easier to for Gino to fight monster than human. The fact the he killed multiple human at his first time puts a big burden on his mind. Every time he killed, his conscience kick in and almost made him give up but knowing that Jeziel (and others) was right behind him, he can''t fall. If he did, Jeziel (and the others) will surely suffer as a result. As a man, he can''t let the happen. So every time his conscience attacks him, he keeps reminding himself that he did it to protect someone. "Is that so? Skyla, take the heroes and search within the village. Me and the other knights will search inside the forest. And you, protect this room while you, tell the other knights to secure this building." Percival ordered them and they started to prepare to sort out. Percival knew Fernando; in fact, he''s one of his former party member and also his best friend. He hasn¡¯t seen him yet but he assumes the worst. He might be dead right now. \ \ \ The hero party searched the village. They managed to rescue some villagers hiding in their houses and they also saw horrible scenery of corpses lying down in the middle of the streets. They are numerous and the hero party can see corpses as far as the eyes can see. It''s not limited to humans; there are also monsters mixed with them. "They successfully repelled the monster horde but got done by the bandits huh..." Jack mutters to himself. He imagined the scene where the defenders celebrate for their success only to get attacked by bandits. They tried to resist but due to being exhausted, they quickly failed and die. "Let''s go." Jack said and led the rescued villagers towards the secured adventurer''s guild. \ \ \ Meanwhile, Percival''s team went inside to the forest and look for Kaezar and Jasper. As they are walking, they are paying attention to their surroundings. There might be some bandits hiding at it so they didn''t let their guard down. As they walk around the shallow areas of the forest, they heard a sound of something rhythmically getting stabbed. Percival used sign language to command the knights. You might be wondering how would the knights see the sign while they are inside the forest at night, the reason was simple. The eyes of the resident of this planet are much better than the Earthlings thanks to the status points. The knights split up and walk silently. Despite wearing metal armor and greaves, they are surprisingly quiet. Percival moved forward. After a few minutes of walking, Percival heard a curious sound. A rhythmic sound of meat getting stabbed, he decided to investigate the sound. As he walks towards it, a thick smell of blood drifts around attracting the beasts and monsters inside the forest but surprisingly enough, they don''t get too close to it. Instead, when they felt the presence of Percival, they charged towards him. Percival in return, throw his blood thirst towards them. He accurately targeted them but to his surprise, the sound he''s hearing stops instead, he saw a dark thing running towards him wielding a dagger on its hand. It moves fast enough to surprise the beast and monsters but it''s still slow to Percival. For him, it looks like a child running towards him. Percival silently draws his sword and prepares to take its attack head on. As the thing comes nearer, his heart feels something towards it. It feels nostalgic as if he saw something from his past. The thing let out a horizontal slash which Percival diverted and take a step closer towards the thing then push his palm towards its unguarded stomach. The aura covering the thing prevented Percival''s attack but it soon breaks apart like a glass. At that time, the darkness covering the thing vanishes and Percival can now see the clear appearance of the thing. It''s a man that looks like in his early 20''s, he has black eyes and hair with a nose so similar to someone he knew. But the black aura quickly covers the man and resumes its attack. Its attacks were heavy, quick and precise forcing Percival to focus on his defenses. This made Percival smiles a bit. ''It''s been a long time since I was on defensive...'' He said to his self as he continued to block. At first, its attacks are all straight forward. It''s just swinging it''s dagger with all its might while relying on its physical abilities but suddenly the man''s attack pattern changes. It''s attack becomes more fluid and it''s attack started to connect to its next move. This made Percival frown. It reminds him of arcade games where you can control your character to perform a certain chain movements to seal your opponents character. A smile unintentionally grew on Percival''s lips. This reminds him of his past. Percival, is a reincarnated person(Dayo) from Earth. When he was growing up, arcade games are one of his hobbies in fact, even when he married he didn''t let go of his hobbies. So when Percival encountered this moves here, he can''t help it but to smile but sadly it''s not strong enough for Percival. After deflecting some attacks, Percival decided to counter attack. Since his enemy is doing a combo move, he decided to use one to. His attack started with an upward slash, effectively destroying his enemy''s defense then he uses his fist to punch it on its unguarded stomach this made the thing flew back but Percival chase it and let out a side way slash while kicking the ground. His sword successfully hit it but due to the weird aura covering it''s body, it only affected the thing lightly but it didn''t matter, Percival attack just started. After that, he kicked up the ground once more and unleashes a series of slash towards its back. Then he casted a low tiered wind magic to launch his enemy upwards, the enemy flew for about three meters above while Percival followed it by jumping and unleashes a series of slashes. Percival slashes continued until the thing''s body is just 1 meter away from the ground. You might wonder what''s impressive about that but every time Percival hit''s the thing''s body, it actually slows down its fall resulting for it to take 8 seconds to reach the 1 meter mark. Then Percival forcefully unleashes a downward slash hitting the thing''s stomach dragging it down to the ground.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "BOOM!!" With a loud sound, the thing finally touched the ground. Dirt and fallen leaves scattered around and a crater was made on the ground. Normally, anyone hit by that attack will surely be cut into two in mid air scattering blood and guts everywhere but due to the thing''s weird aura, it only left a small wound on Jasper''s stomach but unfortunately his leather armor broke. Slowly, Percival stands up and rest his sword to his shoulder but when the sword touches his shoulder, it broke down leaving only its hilt. Percival smiled wryly while shrugging his shoulders. It actually doesn''t matter to Percival if he has a weapon or not after all having a weapon or not doesn''t concern him. "Now then..." Percival look at the thing again and noticed that the weird aura slowly got sucked into the thing''s chest. After a few seconds, Percival can now clearly see the thing''s true appearance. Its face can''t be said handsome but also not ugly, just a normal face you can normally see in the streets, its black hair is long enough to cover it''s ears. The man''s wearing broken leather armor and has a shallow wound on its stomach. While observing the man, Percival feels that it''s not the first time they meet. Looking closely at the man''s face, he can''t stop himself to feel surprised. Though it looks normal, it''s a face is something he knew! Its looks the same as his face when he was in his 20''s in Earth! Percival quickly casted a [Appraisal] skill and the information about the man appeared in front of him. * * * Name: Jasper Perez Race: Human Level: 15 * * * What shocked him isn''t the fact that a level 15 human managed to move like that since he''s covered by a weird aura but the name of the man he fought. Jasper isn''t a rare name, at most it could be said that it''s uncommon but the problem is his last name, Perez. At this world where only nobles can have a family name, it could mean that this guy is a noble but there''s an exception for that and that exception were the transported people or Dayo. Normally Percival would just ignore the fact that he''s a transported person but the problem is the man''s full name, Jasper Perez. Perez, Percival''s last name in his previous world while Jasper was the name he gave to his only child at that world combined with the familiarity of the man''s face. He''s 90% sure that this guy is his son. "Does this mean he died on Earth?" He asked himself as he stares dumbfounded at his presuming son. \ \ \ Mean while, Kaezar Padilla is experiencing something weird, it¡¯s the feeling of falling down while she can''t move her limbs nor her voice comes out from her mouth. ''where am I?! What''s happening?!'' Panicking, she tried to voice out those words but no sounds come out from her mouth. Her surroundings are enveloped with darkness which reminds her of the space except no stars could be seen shining around. ''How did I end up here?'' She asks herself as she tries to recall what happened a few hours ago. The last thing she knew was she''s on the clinic with Jack and Graziel after collapsing from when Jasper''s mother asked about the whereabouts of her son. ''Right... Jasper is currently missing and there''s also the attack of a school Jeep on the news. It might be a coincident but I can''t rule out the possibility of Jasper boarding that Jeep.'' Then she collapsed only to find herself at the clinic. She''s talking with Jack then her cousin Graziel came and teased her so she decided to sleep once more. After waking up... ''...I went to my classroom at 5th floor accompanied by Jack and Graziel. Then upon arriving at the 4th floor I heard a rumor about someone seeing Jasper boarding that jeep and collapsed, leaving me with a little strength to make myself conscious then it became cloudy. It feels like someone told us that she knows where Jasper is and she will take us there then... What happened next?'' She can''t figure out what happened to her after that talk. She don''t know what happened and where are Jack and Graziel right now. What she can say is that, her limbs aren''t bound and that she''s falling down. After a few minutes or so, Kaezar feels that her fall began to accelerate. Her hair flutters wildly on her vision while her limbs are powerless. Then she feels like she falls through a body of water slowly rising up to the surface and... "Haaa... Haaaa... Haaaaa.." With rugged breath, the lifeless corpse of Kaezar(Tala) springs upwards. "Where... Am I?" She asked herself while looking around. The soul already changed and Kaezar(Tala) is now officially dead and replacing her is Kaezar Padilla. Kaezar surveyed her surroundings and the first thing she saw were trees all round her. Confused by this sudden change of scenery from nothingness to being inside the forest, she overlooked the corpses and blood scattered around her. But it didn''t take a while after she regained her composure to notice those things.. "Kyaaaaaaa!!!" She shouted at the sight of lifeless human corpses scattered around her while the nearest to her was covered with stabs wounds and appears to be missing fingers on both of its hands and feet. "W-where am I?! Is this hell!?" She said screaming from the bottom of her heart. Confused, she stands up but the dress she''s wearing was already torn into two making it slip down her whole body. Finding herself naked, she quickly crouched down and covers the important parts of the female body. She quickly retrieves the now blood drenched dress and covers her body with it. She felt reluctant using it as a cover but it''s better than being naked. "Really, where am I? What should I do?" With that muttering, tears started to flow down from her eyes. Without knowing where she is or what is happening, there''s no helping that she''s crying. Then she heard a noise coming in front of her. It looks like someone stepping on dry grasses and sticks, moving towards her. She becomes scared to that sound, what if it''s a wild animal or her kidnappers? What if it was the one who did this bloody mess in front of him? Gripping tighter to the bloody dress, she moves backwards, retreating away from the noise. ''I must run...'' With that thought, she tried to stand up but her legs refuses to listen. Her expression twisted from fright while breath becomes haggard. Desperately crawling backwards, her hand touches a cold thing. Looking at it, she noticed that it''s a sword. Despite being in the middle of this blood soaked place, the sword was clean and shined lightly when the moonlight touches it. She gripped the handle and points it towards the direction of the noise. With trembling hands, she mustered all her courage and said in quivering voice, "Who goes there?!" Praying that it''s someone who came to save her, she stared at the direction of the sound. The footstep seems to stop for a moment then a voice could be heard coming from that direction. "I am Percival Pendragon! A knight of Sevir Kingdom! I came to help you!" Hearing that, she feels relieved and almost let go of her sword. ''Not good, stay vigilant! It''s not certain that he''s saying the truth!'' She gripped the sword tightly once more and said, "Show yourself!" While wondering where in Earth is Sevir Kingdom, she waited for the man''s reply. "Okay! But please don''t hurt yourself with that sword!" The man said and slowly shows himself. The man''s wearing full plate armor with sword hanging on his waist, on his back, there''s an unconscious man wearing tattered leather armor with an empty quiver at its back. As per what he said, he really look likes a knight. ''But isn''t that a bit weird? Knights exist only on old times. Seeing someone dressing up as knight in modern age makes you look like a fool...'' The thought stopped after that, she noticed that familiar face of the man at the Knight''s back, the man whom she wanted to meet since morning, the man who went missing after the incident and the man who she held dearly on her maiden heart. ''Jas...per?'' "Jasper!" She shouts the man''s name and let go of the sword. Her legs that refuse to listen to her before stands up and began running towards Jasper. Disregarding the corpses in her way, she sprints forward while holding the dress. "Oh you know him? Would that mean that you¡¯re also from Earth? Well, due to that light I am certain that you''re one." The knight said something but Kaezar isn''t listening to him. To her, getting close to Jasper is currently occupying her mind. She then went around the knight to take Jasper''s body. Reading the mood, the knight slowly passes Jasper to Kaezar. "Aah.. I''m worried what happened to you... I don''t know what I''m going to do if something happened to you.. Please don''t disappear like that again..." Kaezar said while crying while Percival look at the two with warm eyes. ''Really, getting your girl worried about you isn''t something cool Jasper..'' At this point, whether Jasper is his son or not isn''t relevant to him anymore. For him, looking at this scene made him feel nostalgic on his early days as an adventurer. \ \ \ "I guess I should clean up." Looking at the two, Percival muttered to himself. Looking around, this part of the forest is a mess. Corpses and blood are scattered around. If someone claims that this was a demonic ritual site then anyone will believe them. Percival started cleaning up the place. With his control over magic, he commanded the earth to eat the corpses and drink the blood. At first, he would like to burn them but being in the middle of the forest, burning these corpses might result into a wild fire. As he buries the corpses, he tries to remember something about his friend, Fernando, well being. At the guild, he did not saw him neither his corpse so Percival isn''t sure what happened to his friend. ''Did he survive or did he die?'' He asks himself. ''I know that he is not weak in terms of fighting but dealing with those bandits while protecting his daughter.... Wait... Does he have a daughter?'' A weird feeling encompasses Percival''s heart. It feels like he forgot something but at the same time, he''s not. This contradictory feelings made him try to recall every single detail about Fernando and his family but no matter what, the contradictory feelings remains, in fact the feeling that he''s forgetting something weight much heavier on his heart. ''My memory tells me that Fernando and his wife doesn''t have a child but somehow I am sure that they have one...'' "Hmm??" He closes his eyes and started to organize the information in his head... Then after a few seconds, he slowly opens his eyes. He already has an answer. It is something he heard from a transported person whom became his friend. Apparently, when some got transported in adult form, their Tala counter parts got erased from the world as if they never existed in the first place. They hypothesized that it happens because of the soul, the soul needs to be unique to exist in this world so having a duplicate will put a burden on this world, hence the world make sure that there''s only one soul existing in this world. While the reincarnated persons lived in this world since the beginning of their life, they just have the memory of their past life. With that said, he feels that the girl hugging Jasper was someone he knew before but died and got replaced by a Dayo. \ \ \ Hmm..? Feeling unfamiliar warmth I, Jasper Perez, slowly opened my eyes. With my blurry eyesight, I can see a figure of a face looking down on me while I feel tears fall down on my cheeks. Slowly, the memories before I lost consciousness resurface. "!!" I quickly stand up and look around. The last thing I remember is Kaezar being defiled on me then my sight grew dark, I don¡¯t know if I passed out or what but if I did passed out, I won''t forgive myself, first I''ll make sure that those guys will regret being born and I¡¯ll atone my sin of not protecting her... Killing myself won''t change the past, if I did that I''m just running away from the guilt I am feeling for failing to save her. I look around and saw that there''s no bandit around instead, there''s a knight with his back in front of me. "Hey you! Where''s the fucking bandits!" I shout at the knight and slowly he turns around. ''Wait... Why does he look so familiar?'' That question was raised in my mind as I try to recall whether I met him before or not. Wait! That''s not the time to think about it, I need to find Kaezar! "Jasper! Thank God you''re safe!" I heard a familiar voice accompanied by a tight hug. I turn around to see a girl naked under a piece of rug hugging me tightly. The tone of her voice is something I am quite familiar. "Kae...zar?" I asked and the girl nodded and said, "Yes it''s me Kaezar Padilla". I was stunned by what Kaezar said, how did she end up here and where the hell is Kaezar of Tala? "You know boy, the girl hugging you right now and the girl you''re trying to look for is the same person. Not exactly the same but she is the girl of Earth transported into this world.." With the Knight''s input, I somehow understood the thing that Gino said before about me and another Jasper... If I remember correctly, when that Jasper went missing or should I say erased from this world I take his place and live without his memories or everyone''s memories about him. Does this mean that I, failed to protect her? My heart aches as if a knife cutting it slowly but deeply, Tears flows down from my eyes as I regret on being too weak to protect a single girl from the bandits. Unknowingly, I hugged her back while sobbing and saying "I''m sorry" over and over again in my mind. "Really... T-thank God and you''re alright... I, no we are quite worried about you! Especially your mother Tita Isabelle, she''s quite worried you know! If you''re going around to play, why didn''t you contact her or me before! Then we shouldn''t be this worried about you!" Play? What does she mean? Oh right, if she got transported just now then she''ll really think that I am playing around since the time of knights and arrows are already a thing in the past. But as I thought, mom is really worried about me. After all, it''s been months since I came into this world... I created bonds here and almost forgot about returning home. Thanks to her, I remember that I need to go back to Earth... Well, the strongest chain that''s binding me here was gone, it''s sad but I''ll promise her that I''ll kill those bastards who defiled her. "Wait... You''re the son of Isabelle Diaz, Later married to Percival Perez?" The knight asks. I wonder how he knew my mother''s maiden name. The knight walks in front of me and crouched down so that we can easily look eyes to eyes. He looks straight to my eyes trying to probe if I''m going to answer truthfully or not. "Yes, she''s my mother. And who might you be?" With my honest answer, the knight''s eyes shine brighter delighted by it. He then fixes his expression into a serious one and said.. "Jasper Perez, I am your father and currently living as Percival Pendragon in this world." Wait... What?