《A Tyrant: Unshackled》


 Prologue

    There once lived a man, a man who would always exceed, in mind, in body, in soul.. That he was special became obvious early, and the feeling only grew with time. Nevertheless, people could only wonder what would become of him, surely nobody guessed right.


    A young boy was born in an average household. With the birth, worry enveloped the room as the baby refused to cry, but with no problems found, concerns were put to rest. The boy was quiet, and inquisitive by nature. His family quickly learned that. He always seemed calm, always observing his surroundings with a natural but contained curiosity beyond his age.


    The boy grew. He became able to move by himself, and with that his curiosity finally blossomed as he explored everywhere he could.. Every day he would crawl around the house examining items, looking for places to hide, that were comfortable, that he could climb to. When he tired, he would either stop to rest or even to fall asleep on the spot, completely uncaring for the location. Time passed. He began talking early, then walking early and though his parents had noticed he developed slightly faster than others, what that entailed only became obvious as they began teaching him, as he absorbed every little piece of knowledge like a sponge, starving for water.


    His parents were naturally proud of their son. The rate at which he learned gave them high expectations for his future and they only got higher as time went on. When the boy was getting close to his third year his sister was born. The newborn girl cried loudly as she came into this world, much unlike her brother but easily, quieted down as soon as she was in her mother¡¯s embrace.


    The family¡¯s life was calm and peaceful. Even as they received a second child, a girl, nothing changed. The girl, much more normal than her older brother, failed to impress in comparison. Yet he seemed to love her more than anything, he played with her, he took care of her, he spent more time doing so than his parents themselves. But that didn¡¯t stop his progress as contest after contest won in different fields slowly shifted attention towards him.


    The boy enjoyed himself as he grew up. Even though he never went to school, teachers came to him, even though he didn¡¯t have his friends, he played with his sister. Reading books, spending time with his sister, even beginning to train physically, time ticked on, and even with enormous expectations on his shoulders, the child never wavered, answering them with seeming ease, as he simply di what he enjoyed most. Learning, advancing.


    Yet¡­ the more time passed, the more he learned, the more he saw, he grew a disappointment for humanity. For the world they¡¯d created, the crimes they committed, the greed that drove them. Everything felt wrong. This self-destructive display, this absolute lack of unity, the harm humanity caused to itself, and spread to everything else. It disgusted him. But he tried to ignore it. He was happy in his home, in his safe place. His own little world, separate from all the suffering, all the hate, all the harm.


    His sister was an oasis of healing, his little angel. He almost felt bad about bothering her every time the dark thoughts came up, though he never revealed them to her. His parents didn¡¯t pay as much attention to her as they did to him, but somehow he felt even more compelled to pay her company because of that. As if to give her enough love to make up for it. Unlike him, she went to a school, and he would often help with her school work, though he was a bit awkward when she brought friends home. He never had any of his own after all. He had no idea how to act. So he usually didn¡¯t interact much.


    The years he spent growing up weren¡¯t all playing with his sister though as the renown of his genius grew more and more. In art, in science, in martial arts, he always excelled. And more and more people were starting to notice. Moreover, many of them began to try and win his brilliant mind over. He though, had no intention of leaving his home, no intentions of leaving the only thing he cared for. So he rejected. And eventually, most gave up¡­ most. Because some people don¡¯t give up. Instead, they turn to extremes, and the greed the boy was so disgusted by brought the outside world into the his little space.


    After a long day at a martial arts tournament, the boy walked home, another gold trophy in his hands. But as he opened the door and greeted his home, nobody answered. He thought everyone was out. Maybe shopping, maybe busy. Maybe his sister was out with friends. Maybe his parents were late at work. It all evaporated as he entered the kitchen, and instead of his home, he found a waking nightmare, as his mother¡¯s bloody body lay on the ground, an expression of horror and shock stuck on her face, just like in her final moments. Shock became clear on the boy¡¯s face as well, as the trophy dropped from his hand, clanking onto the floor, before he sprinted out checking the rest of the house. Every door, every room, finding nothing, until the bathroom, where he found, waiting for him another spectacle of horror, his naked father in the bathtub, one circular hole in his neck the only thing that signified how he had died. With his sister nowhere to be found, and his family dead, the boy could do only one thing. Scream.


    The boy fell to his knees, paralyzed, he felt something inside, almost like it was eating away at him, he had trouble breathing. Only one thing had snapped him out of his stupor. His sister. Where was his sister? He needed to find her. But what could he do. He pressed a hand to his pocket, and took out his phone. He dialed the police. And waited, his thoughts swimming, unfocused. For the first time in his life, the young man was confused, he was helpless.


    The house was a crime-scene but he had his prize money, he spent the night at a hotel. He was let go, the officers, deciding he was in no shape for an interrogation and that it would be held at a later date. He¡¯d never imagine that his parents dying would have that much of an effect on him. The parents that had just thrown him from contest into contest, from tournament to tournament. The parents that sometimes didn¡¯t give his sister a second glance. The parents he sometimes felt like he hated. But maybe he loved them after all. Their lifeless eyes came back to haunt him, and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he couldn¡¯t do something, anything. Frustrated and powerless, that entire night, he couldn¡¯t sleep. What scared him a little, though, was that despite how much pain he was in, he didn¡¯t cry.


    The next day his phone rang. The boy picked up, expecting it to be the police, yet he was met with an unknown voice. When the police did attempt to find him later that day, all attempts failed. The young man had disappeared completely, his phone left in the hotel room, all data on it erased after a factory reset. Nobody would hear from him for a long time.


    The years that followed slowly overtook the young man¡¯s country with a foreboding atmosphere. The economy worsened, crime rates rose, and the main government became worse and worse at dealing with it, causing protests to be held against them. In these times, one man rose up to save his country. The same young man who had disappeared years earlier, now twenty-two, with unmatched charisma gained the populace¡¯s approval, lead a rebellion against the government, and took the reigns of the country for himself. The man, now nothing like the boy from four years ago, obtained a country.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    This was what the years he was gone were for. That day four years ago he was invited to work for the rebel forces of his country, which sook to take control for themselves, and with his sister¡¯s life in their hands, he was forced to oblige. Quietly, he bided his time and gained support, within the very organization he was forced to work for, and eventually, with his new brothers and sisters, he took down the leaders, and replaced them. The first thing he did with his new position of power was to find out where his sister was held, but instead, his worst suspicions were confirmed as it was revealed during an interrogation of one of the leaders that his sister had long been dead. Instead of keeping her alive, they had disposed of her and made it look like they¡¯d hidden her instead.


    The man lay in his bed that night, for the first time, tears streamed down his eyes and stained the pillow. Yet he smiled, laughed. At this organization, at the government they try to topple, at his hope and his despair, at the world¡­ and at himself. He couldn¡¯t stop laughing. By the time he did, the night had passed, and his smile had disappeared completely.


    Two years passed since that day. And he now stood as the leader of a country. But that was only the beginning. No. He swore that day before he left his room. He swore he would accomplish something, and that would be a long and difficult path, so much so, he could barely see this as an achievement. Taking the country was easy. Now came the hard part. But he would either prevail and become a villain, or he would die trying.


    He worked tirelessly from that moment on. Politics were far outside his area of expertise, so he had to double-check, triple-check everything. All of his plans were meticulously thought out to a point of obsession. And every single waking moment, he spent on refining them. He would waste no chances. He would make no mistakes. He reworked system after system in his country, foreign relations improved, and military strength rose. Every single piece of currency the country owned was assigned a role, and he made sure that role would further his goals as much as possible. At an astounding rate, the country on the brink of collapse turned into a powerhouse instead.


    Even as he kept gaining strength, it was never enough. Spying, blackmail, backhand deals. He resorted to anything that would further his goals. Placed entire countries in his back pocket and ruled them from behind a curtain of deception. When he found cause for war, he bit on and chewed until the other country submitted and became a part of his. The public was not on his side for long, but he was too powerful, too cautious, too smart, too obsessed. He wasn¡¯t in this for the power. He had a goal to achieve much further beyond that, and he would let nothing stand in his way. No matter how much he was hated, no matter how much others tried to knock him down. It wouldn¡¯t go like the old government. He was the one who toppled that. And he would not be toppled himself. He would stand. As an iron tower, only to fall when its purpose was complete.


    Quickly though, it became obvious that he would be able to complete his task himself. Even in his best predictions, he would barely be able to finish the initial phase. He needed someone to take over. He needed a successor. So he adopted, three kids, who became his sons. Another task was added onto his already inhuman schedule. He started sleeping less and less. But the whole time he kept reminding himself of his goal. Over and over. He would keep repeating it to himself. He would write it down only to burn the paper. He couldn¡¯t leave a written record behind. He needed to complete it. He needed to complete it. He needed to cease being human. He had to become a tyrant.


    Raising kids was difficult for someone with no experience, let alone for someone as busy as him. But he had no choice. He had to do it himself. He couldn¡¯t trust anyone else. Only they would know the cause. The needed to know the cause. They needed to continue it. He needed to raise them so they would continue it. But he was already pouring every fiber of his being into ruling, and he couldn¡¯t let up. So he poured more. And more. And more.


    His tactics, ruthless, his power, unquestionable, his men, disciplined, well-equipped, his spies planted carefully and meticulously, his allies, controlled like puppets. The world learned to fear the the man who was called a tyrant, but by then, it was too late. He was too strong, too prepared, too many connections in too many places, too many hidden allies. He had predicted everything, even people that thought to betray him. By that point, even though he did not rule the world, it was as good as his, and as that became obvious, the last candles of hope, snuffed out, left a void of infinite darkness in people¡¯s hearts, darkness which turned to hate, for the man who had put them in this situation.


    He knew. The world would hate him until its end, and far beyond.. So many lives lost at his commands, so much despair caused by his decisions, but he wouldn¡¯t stop, he couldn¡¯t stop. He had already gone too far. There was no turning back. If he were to stop walking, all the corpses to trample over to get there would have been meaningless, so he walked forward. He turned old. His legs became weak, his back started giving out, his eyes blurred, his voice grew hoarse. He involved his sons more and more in the rule, slowly he had them gain the people¡¯s trust, slowly, he had them light the candles of hope he had snuffed out. And despite their deep admiration for their father, or perhaps exactly because of it, they went along with his plan, even though they knew it would lead him to his ruin. He wasn¡¯t the hero of the story, he kept reminding them, they were, and they needed to slay him, the villain, to become as such.


    But every man had his limits, so did he. That was why he needed to strike a final mark in his son¡¯s path, the path of the world itself. Those were his thoughts as he boarded his jet. The jet was scheduled to fly for his birthplace, he would go to visit the grave of his sister one final time. So was the story. His life was full of regrets. But at that moment his biggest one seemed to be that he would never actually be able to stand before her grave. After all, the jet was purposefully sabotaged. It would never make it to its destination, and neither would he. He knew that, and still he boarded. The sabotage was his idea, in the end. Maybe his sister would forgive him from wherever she was now. Perhaps not. He knew he was going to a place of his own, different from hers, so he would most likely never know. Who was he kidding? He didn¡¯t believe in an afterlife in the first place. He would die that day, and his sons would finally take over. They saw him off, never satisfied with this plan to the end, but forcing themselves to pull through with it.


    The old man sat in his get, and for the first time in perhaps decades, he wore a genuine smile, making him look like nothing more than a normal old man. He looked at his watch, as if counting the minutes, the seconds until his end. An explosion occurred and violently shook the jet. The flames roared behind him, as the vehicle plummeted down towards the vast ocean below.


    It was really the end. The old man closed his eyes, his smile still wide on his mouth. He remembered the day he learned his sister was dead. The decision he made that night governed the rest of his life. If becoming a villain meant he could make a path towards a better future then so be it. He would become a monster; he would become a tyrant. This is the best he could do with his limited ability and time. Millions of regrets plagued him in his final moments but he smiled despite them. Because this would now be over. And he could finally rest. Or perhaps he would be tortured in the deepest pits of Hell. That didn¡¯t matter either way. He could finally rest. He could stop thinking. He could stop running. He could stand still, and rest.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Today is truly a happy day.¡± muttered the tired man, as the final words he would speak in his life.

 Chapter 1: Darkness and Change

    I lived a pretty shitty life. My early days I spent laying around and my later days I spent in an unending hell of work that could possibly end up destroying the world.Needless to say I had to make sure that didn''t happen, but that didn''t mean I could slack off on assuring my own victory either. Now though... to be honest honestly none of it felt real. That majority of my life felt like I was in a bad dream, watching a nightmare. It felt unreal.Like I was watching the events unfold through someone else''s eyes. Even as I felt the gears in my mind constantly turning, trying to think "What should I do next?" "How do I win?" "What do I need?". The thoughts constantly spinning in my mind even through whatever else I was doing, unable to stop for fear that all of it would be meaningless in the end.


    Now though... this was the first time in what felt like forever, that I can truly say I feel alive. The nauseating pressure,the grey colors, the obsessive desire to finish what I had started before my time would run out and the burning drive required to keep it all going. It was all gone and I felt free, liberated, alive. I felt... happy...


    When was the last time I felt like this? I wonder if this is what I felt like back in the days when my family was alive. I couldn¡¯t remember very well, but somehow it felt different... maybe back in those days I took everything I had for granted. Now I could properly appreciate this sensation of freedom that I¡¯d gone so long without. It felt like I¡¯d grown wings and taken off into the air. Quite appropriate considering I was in a plane.


    I looked at my watch. The thin hand moved once at a time, tick-tock tick-tock, making sure I knew my time was slowly coming closer, but that didn¡¯t stop me from enjoying this moment, nothing would. Sure I felt slightly sad that I wouldn¡¯t get to enjoy this feeling for much longer, but that was nothing compared to the overpowering feeling of liberation. Right now I wasn¡¯t afraid of death, nor of anything that might follow. I never was a religious person and I didn¡¯t necessarily believe there was an afterlife but IF there was one then I wasn¡¯t going to give this feeling away for anything. Whether it¡¯s torture in hell or whatever went on in heaven I will hold onto it no matter what.


    I relaxed in my seat as I remembered my sister. Ah. I wonder if I¡¯ll get to meet her... maybe an afterlife wouldn¡¯t be so bad then... but if hell and heaven exist... I¡¯m definitely leaning towards the former aren¡¯t I? I chuckled slightly at that. Maybe I won¡¯t be meeting her after all. Maybe that¡¯s for the best. I could spend my days relaxing in hell. Maybe me and the Devil would actually get along fairly well. I wonder if there''s the same kind of ground rules in hell like in prison. "What''re you in for, new guy?" "Hundreds of millions have died in my conquest for the world." "Yeah well join the club." "The rest of the club didn''t actually succeed before dying did they?". Instant. Respect. Heh.


    An explosion rocked the plane and threatened to burst my eardrums. It was time. I lowered my watch, completely unfazed by the loud noise and the implications it brought. The explosion should have taken out the fuel compartment and as such the jet was now spiralling out of control towards the massive body of water below. The perfect place for an accident to occur. Nobody would die but me. Even a pilot wasn¡¯t necessary because of the guiding system that the jet had installed. If it wasn¡¯t, maybe I could have tried flying it myself. I once again chuckled at the prospect. Maybe the setup wouldn¡¯t be necessary then as I¡¯d surely crash the plane myself. Oh. Actually. Some of the fish below might become victims. I offered a small apology in my head. At the very least it would be a noble sacrifice. The mighty tyrant who had unjustly taken control of the world will die along with them after all.


    As the airborne vehicle quickly descended towards my inevitable demise I closed my eyes and prepared myself. With death I would finally be able to rest. I wouldn¡¯t need to think anymore, wouldn¡¯t need to feel pressure or worry as I have already bestowed the world onto my successors. I would be able to rest in peace. Ah. So this is what that phrase means. Yes. I have a feeling that If I had a grave a ¡°R.I.P.¡± would be unnecessary. I would probably do so regardless, though I¡¯m sure many people wouldn¡¯t want that for me. In the end they would at least be rid of me so they would have to settle for that.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Today is truly a happy day.¡± As I finished saying these words everything went dark.


    The darkness covered everything. Nothing could be seen, nothing could be heard, nothing could be felt. Everything was still. As if time didn¡¯t exist. Yet the seconds ticked anyway. Even if he had no way to track them anymore. It was in this place that the old tyrant found himself. His consciousness was dull, weak, as if his mind was not fully there he could only form simple thoughts, yet he found no need for this as he simply rested away the toll, that life had taken on him.


    He was at peace there. He could simply forget everything: forget himself, forget the world and his past, and simply rest. He found himself in a state similar to meditation, not achieved on purpose but achieved nonetheless. And thus he simply floated in the seemingly empty place. He had no body, he could not tell how much time passed, or if it did at all. Everything he¡¯d learned to rely on was missing. But it didn¡¯t matter.He didn''t need any of it. To him all of it was unnecesarry. What he only needed now was rest. A pure state of simple rest. But... he already knew... nothing good would last forever.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Eventually something interrupted him. It tried invading him, tried to change him. The sensation was disturbing, disgusting. The man was furious. His peace was interrupted once again, but this time he wouldn¡¯t let it be taken away, this time he would fight! This time he would persevere!


    ¡®No!¡¯ His previously dormant mind roared ¡®I will not let you take away who I am! What I did!¡±. He fought back. He wasn¡¯t sure how he was doing it but he ¡®resisted¡¯ the feeling. The whole of his being was threatened and he fought against that to the best of his ability, pain washing over him the harder he defied the strange sensation..


    He felt more and more of him being invaded as the intruding sensation got stronger, more repulsive. In turn he fought back with as much strength as was allowed to him. The struggle lasted what seemed to the man like eternity, eventually reaching a stalemate. The man had gotten strong. The presence couldn¡¯t invade further and though it tried constantly, it failed to break the hard shell of resistance, formed by the man¡¯s willpower. Eventually he felt something new from it ¨C resignation. And with an incredibly sharp bout of pain, stronger than anything he had felt before, he fell into unconsciousness.


    Warmth suddenly permeated his senses, a pleasant, endearing warmth. A warmth that once again caused him to feel at peace. He felt like he was in a new place, completely unrelated to the vast darkness before. He had no logical reason to believe as such. It simply felt ¡®different¡¯, much too much so from the nothingness prior. The warmth here reminded him of something... something buried deep, deep within his memory, as it reached out to some sort of primal need of the humanity Inside of him. Yes. It felt like he was in the warm embrace of his mother. But he couldn¡¯t enjoy it for long. He felt tired. Though he tried his best to resist it, once again he felt himself slipping away as he drifted off into another slumber.


    He awoke again, unable to tell just how much time had passed. His mind was clearer this time, like a cloudy veil had been lifted from his awareness... no, to be exact it felt like it was lifted halfway as his mind still felt sluggish, weak. He still felt the motherly warmth around him but it was weaker this time, causing the man to be reminded of the day his mother had died. But now he also felt something else. Something more physical. But he couldn''t quite put a finger on what it was. And while he thought about it, trying to escape the unpleasant memory that had shown up in his mind, drowsiness, once again, assaulted him, before he quickly fell asleep.


    Once more he opened his eyes. This time he felt different, the pleasant warmth was gone and in its place he clearly felt something new... no... he had felt this before... but it seemed like it was so long ago... arms, legs, head. He felt everything and though there was an unfamiliar sensation around his lower back which he ignored completely in favour of everything else. He had a body. Even if it felt like he was locked away in a small room with walls on all sides he had a body. He felt like moving, he wanted to so badly. He moved his arms slightly, getting used to the familiar feeling all over again, but there wasn¡¯t enough space to properly move his legs.


    And that¡¯s when it came. An itching, all-consuming desire to leave. He wanted to be free. He needed to get out of here. But the walls... those accursed, suffocating walls! They needed to be breached, he needed to get outside! He felt a strange sensation from his hands, but couldn¡¯t even pay it attention. The desire was too strong. Too overpowering. Almost unnaturally so. But it was definitely his. It didn¡¯t feel artificial in the least. He formed a fist as strongly as he could before he reeled back as much as was possible in the tight space, and smashed it into the wall in front of him to no visible effect. That didn¡¯t deter him as he slammed his other fist into the wall as well.


    He continued punching it. Again, again, again and again he would use his fists to assault the obstacle in his path. He didn¡¯t count, he didn¡¯t care, he just needed to get out. It was with such feelings that he welcomed the light seeping in through a small crack that had finally appeared after who knows how long, as if encouraging him to continue. His fist once again met the previously unbreakable-seeming obstruction and the cracks got bigger, another one expanded it even more and after a third the wall collapsed as he fell out of the room which had imprisoned him for oh so long.


    He was instantly blinded by the light, causing him to close his eyes, as he felt the strange desire for freedom dissipate. A few seconds passed before he opened them again and was once more blinded. He blinked once before the world slightly revealed itself before him as a shade of blues and greens and once more before he could clearly see his surroundings.


    Trees prevented him from seeing too far in every direction, having white bark and leaves with various shades of blue they felt alien but had an undeniable beauty, appealing to the man¡¯s senses. A carpet of grass covered the ground he had fallen on, feeling wet from morning dew. It was coloured blue like the trees as well as a, different from what he knew, more emerald shade of green. A slightly warm breeze washed over him as he slowly got up on wobbly legs, unused to carrying any weight, and looked around. The sun shone down, bringing a nice warmth to the clearing he was in as he turned around to regard his previous accommodations, yet what he saw as he turned back was a large, slightly moreso than himself, egg.

 Chapter 2: Liberation

    The egg was coloured a pure white with black lines forming what looked like a scale pattern. As the fact that he had just come out of the mysterious egg registered in his mind, the man¡¯s concentration wavered and his unstable legs failed him. He found himself falling on the grass once more, putting his body in better view and causing him to regard himself.


    His arms were covered in white scales, much like the pattern the egg presented. They started from the upper side of his hand going back and covering his entire arm all the way up to his shoulders and then his neck, though they did not proceed above it. His torso was also covered by them with the exception of his abdomen, they proceeded down his legs to his heels without covering the rest of the feet. He touched his back only to find that It seemed to be completely covered as well and found something at the lower side of his back. Thinking it¡¯s the source of the strange sensation he had been feeling there ever since he awoke the last time he brought it in front of himself only to see a thick lizard-like tail covered in more of the scales.


    He sat staring at it for a few moments in shock, trying to make sense of the situation. Was he reborn? But what about the greenery around here? The term didn¡¯t even seem appropriate anymore. He tried moving the tail, finding he could, though it was sloppier than even his legs were right now, probably because he had never even had one before. The concept of reincarnation wasn¡¯t foreign to him. Though he had never stopped to think about it, being reincarnated as a different creature didn¡¯t seem outrageous either. But what sort of creature was he? And WHERE was he?


    His questions didn¡¯t receive an answer but they were enough of a temporary distraction for him to calm himself down. He let go of his tail and stood up once more. He took a few shaky steps until he got to a tree at the edge of the clearing and leaned on it to prevent himself from falling. The tree was much bigger than he was expecting. No¡­ he had truthfully already realised. It wasn¡¯t the trees that were big. It was him that was small. In truth he was the size of a four-year old human. Other than the scales and tail he looked exactly like one. He had short, white hair on his head and a pair of piercing, yet beautiful light blue eyes with slit pupils.


    That had honestly surprised him much less than everything else. If he was just born out of the egg it was natural that his body would be undeveloped. If anything he was thankful it did not take the shape of an infant as that would have been exceedingly difficult to work with. There were surely predators in this forest and he doubted they would deny the fresh meat of a helpless prey, even if it did not have much of it.


    In any case he needed to get his legs used to walking, he needed to find shelter, food and water. Whatever sort of creature he was he seemed to be a humanoid, the thing hanging between his legs further confirmed that. His body structure outside of the scales seemed to be strangely identical to a human which made him even more convinced that the things he needed to survive weren¡¯t any different from what they used to be.


    Before he fully left the clearing he turned, looking at the egg once again. Something inside him was trying to make him stay. Something feared leaving the egg behind but he couldn¡¯t drag it with him and, more importantly, because he was fairly sure this was some sort of psychological disorder. The fact that the egg had served as the only place he knew in this world, something that protected him from harm and reminded him of his mother, was making him attached to it. It made him fear stepping out into the big wide world, he knew nothing about, by himself. It was a feeling similar to what young children would feel when separated from their parents.


    The boy did his best to ignore those feelings of fear and anxiety. He gave the egg a final look before turning around and walking into the unknown of the woods, surrounding him.


    He took small steps as he leaned on tree after tree. His legs slowly got better at supporting him, less stiff, easier to control. While he did this he noticed something else. His senses were much sharper than they had been before. His nose picked up smells almost like a dog¡¯s, his eyes detected even the smallest movements and were undeterred by the shadows created by the overgrowth and his ears picked up the movements of everything around him easily.Around half an hour passed as he walked, trying not to be distracted by his new senses before his legs were able to carry him steadily without needing to lean on something every few steps.


    He could now fully indulge himself in examining the surroundings through his new eyes. He spotted a bunny rabbit with incredibly long, droopy ears, caught glimpse of a small, brown-furred creature in the upper branches of a tree, with two small, round ears on top of its head and a long, thin tail, a small, colourful lizard in the grass caught his attention as it moved as well, looking almost like it had camouflaged itself due to its colours being very close to those of the grass.


    He saw both familiar and unfamiliar creatures. Some, looking like a creature he knew but slightly different, others completely new and like nothing he had known before. That wasn¡¯t the only things he spotted as some of the bushes held berries and some of the trees fruit, but as he did not know any of them or if they would be the same even if he did, he refrained from eating any of them. Thankfully he didn¡¯t come across anything that wanted to eat HIM.


    An hour went by with him walking and observing his surroundings before he heard the faint sound of flowing water. He had already grown used to walking by that point. It¡¯s not as if his legs were weak and lacked the physical ability to carry him, after all, but they simply felt hard to control as they had never been moved before. As such, only an hour was enough to get them back to a mostly normal state.


    ¡®Finally something to drink¡­¡¯ he thought as he turned to the direction his enhanced hearing had picked up the sound from. It didn¡¯t take long before he arrived at a stream of water. At least it looked like water. He gathered some in the palm of his hand, even sniffed it before putting it to his lips and drinking a refreshing mouthful to ease his thirst. It tasted slightly different than in his memories but he didn¡¯t know what else was in the water or if his new tongue also had a different way of registering tastes. He could only pray that it was safe for drinking as he took another sip.


    After his thirst was completely quenched he looked around to see a deer-like creature drinking from further downstream. Only, unlike a deer, the creature had a thin horn growing out of the middle of its forehead, not being very long or short. The animal looked up and noticed his gaze, causing it to quickly run into the treeline and out of his sight.


    The boy sighed. He was a creature he didn¡¯t know, in a world he didn¡¯t know, surrounded by flora and fauna he didn¡¯t know with no signs of civilization in sight. In all honesty, this wasn¡¯t exactly the after-death experience he was expecting, nor was it one he was hoping for.


    ¡®On the bright side¡­¡¯ he thought ¡®This might be a second chance. I have no responsibilities here. No desires. No attachments. Maybe I could live an actual life this time. Even if I¡¯m not human¡­ no actually that might be for the better.¡¯


    In fact, he hadn¡¯t thought of that before. He wasn¡¯t human now. He was something else. Even if it was similar. Still he decided it wasn''t really something that bothered him. Even if he was no human it didn''t change who he was. He looked around the stream again, spotting several animals eating something beneath a tree. He realised the fruit in it might be edible. They looked like cherries but pink and with a shorter stem. Some of them had fallen on the ground under the tree. There were several more of the trees around. In fact he had seen them on his walk already.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    He walked up to one of the trees. This one didn¡¯t have many fruit fallen on the ground around it. Most of them still remained in its branches, out of reach of most of the herbivores in the area, the type of trees being fairly large even compared to the rest of the ones in the woods. He wondered if he could climb up, not sure if he could do so very well with his small size.


    While thinking of what his current strength was relative to a normal human child another thought struck him and he looked at his hands closely. He had bashed his fists into the egg¡¯s shell dozens of times before it had cracked. He wasn¡¯t sure how strongly he hit but his knuckles weren¡¯t covered by the scales yet they weren¡¯t injured in the slightest. Even when he had just gotten out of the egg and was examining his hands his knuckles didn¡¯t have any sort of injury on them so it wasn¡¯t as if they had simply regenerated in the one or two hours that had passed since then as ridiculous as that would be in and of itself. This struck him as odd.


    He formed a first as strongly as he could, clenching his teeth in anticipation and smashed his fist into the tree. He regretted it instantly as the skin on his knuckles peeled off, while the tree shook heavily and fruit fell from its branches. He moved his hand back slowly as the pain made him wish he had never done that. He remembered. He did something else in the egg. He was overcome by instinct back then so he couldn¡¯t remember but the pain seemed to be an effective reminder.


    He concentrated his senses on his fist and it was quickly covered in scales, turning it into a sharp claw. His other hand was still hurting as he silently cursed himself for not remembering sooner. After a minute of simply standing there, annoyed at both himself and the tree, he moved back to the stream after grabbing some of the fruit that fell on the ground. He first washed his wound and then took a pair of the fruits, washing it in the stream and took a bite. A sweet sensation landed on his tongue. The fruit was delicious. Its texture felt much like a cherry but it¡¯s taste was sweet, like sugar but not as overpowering, feeling like a natural sweetness. He quickly reached out to the next fruit. Then the next. Until they were all gone and he felt full. He suddenly started feeling drowsy again after that.


    ¡°What am I a cat¡­?¡± he mumbled to himself, half-jokingly half-annoyed ¡°Then again¡­ no¡­ I¡¯m a new born¡­ I guess needing sleep is natural if I was just born today.¡± he rolled his eyes as he approached another fruit tree, different from the one he had punched just a moment earlier. His hands turned into claws and using them he climbed up into the tree with relative ease. It wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable, but it was enough. For now, he needed sleep. And so he dosed off once again while thinking that he had been losing consciousness much too often for his liking recently.


    A low sound woke him up. He was still drowsy, unable to even tell what he was woken up by yet. He rubbed his eyes. While it was night, to him it seemed quite bright out. Not as much as if it was day but through his new eyes the night seemed that much more appealing to him. He had always liked it more than the sunny day even before this, but now both its beauty and his ability to appreciate it were greater.


    As he was taken aback by the fact that he could see so well in the dark he heard it again. A low, growling sound. He snapped out of his sleepy state to look around and as he looked down he saw it. It was a beast with black fur, more so than the night itself, with clear red, almost glowing eyes. It was big, almost reaching a meter and a half in height and would otherwise look much like a wolf from his own world. If he was in any other tree the boy was sure he would have been dead by now but for some reason the terrifying nightmare of a creature was still only looking up at him, as if weighing its options.


    The boy did the same. Any rapid movement could antagonize the creature and in his current circumstances, he very much wanted to avoid doing so. Despite the strength he had demonstrated when testing it on the tree he had no confidence in putting down this natural predator and if possible would avoid putting himself in a situation that required him to do so.


    So he did what he could. He looked at the beast with the calmest gaze he could muster and stood as still as he could possibly manage, yet ready to move at any moment. The wolf stared up at him for a moment, then two, before it looked away and walked off in the opposite direction from the stream. The boy watched it walk away until it was fully out of sight, sighing in relief, as he was sure it had no further interest in him. While he may have panicked slightly in the encounter that was because of his surprise more than anything as he did not feel any fear for death. In fact, it was almost disturbing to even himself how unafraid of the fact he could have been eaten he was. He now knew the nights around here were no joke. He would have to find proper shelter soon, lest he become a snack for a wandering bear next.


    The rest of the night, the boy spent completely awake. As dawn came, the sun rising above the horizon, the boy still sat completely still in the tree. If it weren¡¯t for his vigilant eyes, one would think he was a mere corpse. The boy had, in truth, simply seen too much that night to remain as carefree as he was before. While the wolf remained the most horrifying, the rest of the wildlife that awoke during the night around here was nothing to scoff at either.


    During the night he had seen a giant shadow in the sky, only noticing it because of the abundant amount of stars in it. The shadow most likely belonged to a sort of bird, having a long neck with a large wingspan. The size was only relative to what he perceived was the height the creature was flying at but despite that not being the most accurate measurement he was still fairly certain that would be one large bird. As big as the wolf maybe¡­ maybe bigger.


    He had also heard heavy footsteps from the stream, which he was fairly close to. He didn¡¯t see what caused them this time but he was only glad, as at that point he didn¡¯t even want to have anything to do with the cause of a creature that could walk around so brazenly in the middle of the night which usually hosted a plethora of creatures which depended on silence of movement and surprise to hunt.


    These surprise encounters with the unknown, combined with the constant sounds like howling and soft steps on the undergrowth, which never failed to tense him up, kept him from lowering his guard all night. Even if he was unafraid of death that didn''t mean he desired it and would surrender his life so easily. The stream of water which accompanied him and tried to calm him, distract him from all these sounds didn¡¯t help as his particularly sharp ears kept picking them up.


    In the end after spending such a night completely still up in a tree without moving from the branch he was sleeping on, he was already quite mentally exhausted. With a thankful sigh, to the sun¡¯s rise, he finally moved, stretching his rigid muscles which he¡¯d barely used in almost twelve hours, considering the time here could be measured in the same way as it could in his own world..


    If something kept the youth wondering before he was now sure. He was in another world. Whether he truly arrived there by reincarnation or there was something else at work he did not know but he figured it did not matter. This was an opportunity. While he was completely frozen during the night and knew nothing of his surroundings, this was a definite chance for him. To move forward. To once again live, but without being bound by so many things. To him this was a blessing which allowed him to enjoy that euphoric feeling he had experienced back on his jet for that much longer. He was allowed to actually live freely, with no shackles.


    Not to mention this world was a complete unknown. The creatures were new, the scenery was new, everything was new. He had so much to explore, so much to find out. Maybe there was civilization, maybe whoever lived in this world were vastly different to his own both in culture and biology, maybe even his own race was out there for him to find. He didn¡¯t know why he awoke in this forest. The egg seemed to have simply been left in that clearing. No. By the way it was slightly buried into the ground, it was most likely left there on purpose.


    Well. If he was abandoned by his parents to die he didn¡¯t care. That was just convenient to him. He wouldn¡¯t feel indebted to them. Less shackles, more freedom. He walked over to the stream and drank his fill of water. He was a newborn, looking like a four-year old, lost in a forest, naked, but he felt alive. A grin worked its way on his face as he finished drinking. He walked up to a pink cherry tree and covered his fist in scales before striking the tree with all his strength. Unlike before he felt no pain. Only the strong impact which didn¡¯t seem to damage him whatsoever. The tree shook satisfyingly andhis breakfast fell around him, as he grinned widely at all the possibilities.

 Chapter 3: A Tyrants Instinct

    The sun had just started setting for the day. The white-haired boy was currently tailing a particularly interesting prey. Why was the prey interesting? That was for several reasons. It was the fifth day since the arrival of the little tyrant into this new world. Ever since the incident on his first night he had been taking extra precautions to be able to sleep. He would always erase his scent with the juice of the fruit and berries he had been eating the last few days and would hide in particular spots that would be hard to see. As a result he hadn¡¯t had any troubles with it ever since..


    Other than this prey none other seemed worth it. Even if he could get meat he had nothing to carry it around with, starting a fire to cook it on would be inconspicuous and would honestly be a pain in the ass to do every time without tools, not to mention the risk of getting another animal¡¯s blood on you in a forest where the night was full of predators. The scent of blood was¡­ harder to wash off than one might think. Compared to that, berries and fruit were readily available all around the whole forest so he didn¡¯t need to carry any around and rather than marking himself for predators they helped him stave them off. Not to mention they were delicious. ''Fruit were definitely the way to go. Yup.¡¯ Thought the tyrant while nodding to himself.


    But¡­ here was a prey that could solve all his problems in one go. Because this wasn¡¯t normal prey. No. The green to brown, humanoid creatures were wearing clothes made out of leather and fur. They had big noses, hinting at their above average sense of smell and were only slightly bigger than the boy, who was currently the size of a four-year-old, albeit on the bigger side of one. The creatures were the stereotypical depiction of a goblin.


    They were all carrying weapons made out of either stone or bone, with only one exception. The leader who wore more covering clothes and even had a hood covering his head had one simple tool that had many implications for the boy. On his waist hung an iron dagger in a scabbard. The boy had seen him using it for skinning. He had already seen the place the creatures lived in and though he hadn¡¯t seen the inside he was quite sure that they hadn¡¯t the knowledge or tools for creating something out of iron, which in turn meant that someone else crafted the dagger. Someone who was from a more advanced civilization than them.


    But these small creatures which were near the bottom of the food chain for predatory species around these parts held too much potential for the young one to ignore. They had clothes, shelter, food and tools. All things the boy needed on some level.


    Thus ever since yesterday when he had stumbled onto the cave, they called home during his daily exploration of the forest he had decided to stalk them until he could come up with a following course of action. He had three choices, each coming with their own pros and cons.


    Killing all of them and taking everything would be the easiest course of action. He would enjoy a nice, big, well-hidden cave with much space which had proven to be effective at staying hidden from the predators around and was close to the stream of water, which he had been following from day one. Less than an hour¡¯s walk away actually. He would have all their current resources, tools and everything else that remained undamaged after the fight. The cons were he wouldn¡¯t be able to acquire anything MORE. The goblins would be dead. They would no longer produce clothes, no longer hunt and forage for food and no longer create tools. He would be stuck with what he had when he killed them. And more than anything. He didn¡¯t think it was necessary.


    Stealing from them was the second choice and as the second choice it was also the second most difficult. Or at least the second most troublesome. Through it he would be able to enjoy a steady supply of resources though he would need to put in some amount of effort to get them. The goblins would continue to produce more and he would be able to continue to leech from them. Tools, clothes, food. All of that would be one trip to the cave away. He doubted the critters would notice they were being stolen from and even if they did he was reasonably confident they would be able to do little to stop him. The cons were he wouldn¡¯t be able to make use of the delicious-looking shelter and he would have to regularly exude some effort to get to the supplies but the biggest problem was he would be stuck around the cave if he wanted to make use of the supplies. And that he didn¡¯t want.


    The third option, and the one that would be considered the most annoying to execute, was to take them over and become their new leader. Of course this came with many amazing benefits. He would be able to boss them around, asking for whatever whenever. Clothes? Tools? Food? Everything would be his and he would be able to make use of the shelter as he pleased as well. But¡­ the cons were even more overwhelming than the benefits, making the tyrant want to groan just thinking about it, though he contained the desire, not wanting to risk detection.


    Taking the spot of leader of the goblin would be an enticing opportunity but¡­ there was too many annoyances and risks that came with it. First of all, he would once again be stuck around the area of the cave, rather than it being a hideout he could use temporarily while exploring the surrounding area and then abandoning it. In other words ¨C disposable. Then there was the fact communicating would be a complete annoyance. He couldn¡¯t tell what the goblin¡¯s language was at all, neither did he feel like putting the effort into learning it and even if he did feel like it, it would take him at least a month.


    The problems kept going. The responsibility he would have of protecting them, the fact the goblins might try and rebel on him and slice his throat in his sleep, the lack of trust he would have in them in general, not to mention the fact that becoming the leader of goblins, who were usually never on good terms with anyone, could potentially mean he could be forfeiting good relations with other civilizations like the one the dagger came from.


    Right. Just like he thought that plan was a definite pain. But the benefits couldn¡¯t be ignored for the time being and he could always discard the goblins if he needed to. He thought about what to do all the way back to the cave when something struck him. Why was he thinking so hard about this? All of that was unnecessary. He didn¡¯t need the cave, nor the food. And he didn¡¯t need the goblins either. There was something he was missing. Something fundamental about himself. Something from his old world he had failed to abandon. He didn''t like it. A chain existed to be broken.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He jumped down from the tree he had been hiding in, gaining the hunter group¡¯s attention right as they were about to enter the cave. They raised their spears, long wooden sticks with a sharp piece of flint tied at the end, though he simply walked forward, disregarding them. The leader with the hood and the iron dagger shouted something at him in a language he couldn¡¯t understand, but he kept walking forward. The goblins were frozen in fear. They pointed their spears towards him but did nothing even as the young boy stopped, standing right in front of them, a blank, emotionless expression on his face.


    He stood there, unmoving, as if waiting for something. The goblins still frozen in fear stood still for a long time as well, until the leader suddenly shouted thrusting his spear towards the boy. Yet the spear didn¡¯t reach him. Before it pierced the young tyrant, he grabbed the shaft of the spear, stopping its movement entirely. His reaction speed was far beyond what any normal human could have. He lifted it up, prying it out of the goblin¡¯s grasp before smacking him across the face with the back, which the goblin had been holding on to until then. It fell over, unconscious.


    The other goblins looked on in bewilderment as the boy threw the spear backwards. He looked at them once more, as if expecting something and they put their spears down, the terror felt at the unknown to them creature, guiding their movements. They were aware of the predators in this forest. They had lost many people to them even during the day in the rare chance that the predators were staying up late or they came in contact with one of the rare ones that wandered during the day. If one of them found their cave they would definitely die. But maybe if they didn¡¯t anger it, maybe if they appeased it, they wouldn¡¯t all be slaughtered. The chances were slim, but they were better than none.


    The boy walked forward, not having any way to know what they were thinking, causing them to instinctively step aside. But before entering the cave he gave one last look at the unconscious goblin on the ground and bent down, picking up the iron dagger. The goblins just watched him do so, the fact he didn¡¯t kill their fellow, giving them hope they could yet survive this.


    The scaled youth walked into the cave after taking the dagger. Two of the goblins followed him while the three others picked up their fallen comrade and carried him inside. As soon as he entered some of the female goblins screamed while a few more ran up and pointed spears at him again. The boy looked annoyed this time.


    One of his escorts quickly said something in their language and one of the goblins pointing the spears at him, being a bit bigger than those around him shouted back at them. His escort then said something else which seemed to shut him up. He reluctantly put his spear aside, followed by the other goblins and said something to the boy. Of course he didn¡¯t understand them in the least so he turned to his escorts and grabbed the clothes he was wearing, made out of the hide of some sort of animal. He looked back at the goblins as he was holding it and the bigger one grunted and turned away waving him over, as if saying to follow.


    The boy did so. It didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t thinking that it might be a trap. Neither did he think the goblins couldn¡¯t be a threat if they all banded together against him. But there was something inside him that refused to acknowledge him. Some sort of pride, inserted deeply inside him. For a moment he thought it might have been because of the invader. That thing that tried to change him. But no. This was too strong. Too deep. It felt too big a change for the invader to have caused. No. These were his true feelings. He was prideful. He was forced to ignore that pride of his for the sake of practicality until now in consideration of how much was at stake. But now he was free, he was unleashed. Yes. He took pride in who he was. He was a genius, a tyrant, and someone who gave up everything in order to forcefully push the world in the right direction. He was selfish and unreasonable, forceful and possessive. But in being such he refused to be a petty thief or a mindless murderer, even a ruler to these creatures.


    In the end that was who he was. A tyrant. While he saw no reason to kill the goblins they had something he wanted and he would request it. If they didn¡¯t want to give it to him then he would take it by force. He didn¡¯t feel the necessity to kill them but neither did he feel a necessity to reason with them.


    The bigger goblin led him through the cave until they reached a chamber full of various items. It was slightly cold inside but he didn¡¯t seem to mind it. It was like his body was registering the cold but wasn¡¯t bothered by it. Taking only a moment to register the new sensation, he stepped inside and looked around.


    The place had a selection of tools and clothing. There were a few of the spears he had seen before. A few crude bows, as well as one of high quality, unlike the others, a pile of arrows, which much like the bow were full of crude ones with only a few well-made iron ones, some axes made of wood and stone, clubs and so on. The boy reasoned the bow was taken from the same person they took the dagger from. On the clothes side. There were lots made of hide and some made out of leather. He walked over to them, looking through them before picking out a leather robe that was slightly large for him. He couldn¡¯t wear normal pants after all¡­ the tail sort of got in the way¡­


    He threw the robe on, ignoring the frustrated gaze of the goblin. He didn¡¯t need the tools. He understood that now. They would just get in the way. There were still a few more things that interested him though. First was a large, well-made, black, leather cloak. Much too large for himself or anyone else in the place. He believed it was taken from the same place as the rest of the well-made items here. He thought it could be useful and took it. The second was a leather sack, which the hunters group was carrying two of as well.


    He picked one up. There was a leather strap that could conveniently open and close it and the size of it was about half of the boy¡¯s torso. He could carry quite a bit in it. He threw the iron dagger and the cloak inside, threw it over his shoulder and went to leave. He was satisfied with what he had and with the outcome of the situation. He could take a slight bit of what he had and nobody needed to die. It was definitely the best outcome.


    Thanks to the iron dagger he also knew there was more to look forward to. The goblins stared at him as he left the cave, wearing the slightly oversized robe, not daring to interrupt him, and gathered outside to see him walk off. They didn¡¯t know exactly what he was. He was unreasonable but not cruel. Selfish but not greedy. His expression didn¡¯t even change during the entire encounter. He was a mystery to them and while the boy himself didn¡¯t exactly know what he was he knew what to call himself. Because as always. He was a Tyrant.

 Chapter 4: A Meeting

    The boy yawned and stretched as he woke up. The sun had already risen halfway up in the sky which meant it was now noon. He had overslept. Today again he had spent his night in a tree though he no longer took the precautions for hiding himself as much as before. He slept in peace without that. If a beast wanted to attack him as he slept then he dared it to do so. He was a tyrant. He didn¡¯t fear a challenge. He didn¡¯t fear for his life. The one thing he feared was no longer being himself.And his habit in suppressing himself had shown prominently in the previous days. bn


    Years after years of ignoring his own wishes, his own way of doing things for practicality had left him twisted. He could no longer be sure what was him and what was an act. But he wasn¡¯t afraid of death. He no longer had any reason to avoid it either. Whatever his last life had made him into didn¡¯t matter. This one was for his enjoyment. He would make sure of that. Why should he be cowardly and hide from the beasts in this forest? Let them come. Let them attack him. Whether they could kill him or not, he grinned ¡®I will make them regret it. Even if I die I¡¯ll make sure to take as much of them as I can with me.¡¯


    He let out a deep breath, calming himself and putting on an indifferent expression once more, before untying his bag from the branch next to him. So far it still only contained the dagger and cloak, as well as some bigger fruit that wouldn¡¯t be damaged by his two possessions, that he knew were safe to eat. He had already spent a week in this forest and had learned what¡¯s eatable and what isn¡¯t based on the animals around him.


    Jumping down from the tree, he walked for a few minutes before arriving at the stream he had been following the whole time. He put his bag aside and splashed some water in his face. He took out one of the fruit which looked like a pear and cleaned it, before taking a bite, the sweet juices of the fruit travelling their way along his tongue and down his throat as he chewed, as if the sweetest thing he had ever eaten. The fruit in this forest, all being tasty was an amazing blessing. Why would animals even be predators here? What was wrong with them? This was where ti was really at. Yup. Fruit were the best.


    He was about to head down the stream again, when he heard something new. These past few days were full of sounds he quickly learned to ignore. Things walking around in the grass was one of them. Because of this he had completely ignored the sounds of two things approaching the stream from the other side. But what he heard now made him focus on it again. A voice. No. two.


    He quickly noticed that the two were already very close. In fact, a bush rustled right as he concentrated and an old woman walked through from the other side, followed by a young girl, maybe nine or ten years old. They were further upstream, but since the boy didn¡¯t even make an effort to run, nor to hide, they quickly spotted him. The grey-haired old woman suddenly took on a more serious look than a moment ago and said something to the girl who quickly hid behind her.


    The young boy couldn¡¯t understand them, as they were talking in a language, unknown to him. The old woman then said something else, seemingly to the boy this time, though he just scratched the back of his head. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to speak English would you?¡± he said, using his voice for the first time since he found himself in that world. Just like him, it was undeveloped and sounded no different from a normal four-year old¡¯s.


    Of course, the old woman did not understand his language either. She examined him for another moment, obviously cautious, before turning around and crouching down. She put a hand on the girl¡¯s shoulder and told her something in their language once again. This caused the girl to run off. The tyrant wondered if the old woman had told her to go inform someone. Though he didn¡¯t run after her. If others wouldn¡¯t be on good terms with him just because of his appearance or race he didn¡¯t care much if they would inform others of his location.


    Five minutes passed the old woman simply standing still and starting at him, with the boy staring back, then ten, then twenty, before the girl came back, out of breath and carrying a necklace, which looked a bit like a dog tag with strange symbols written into it. The boy examined it curiously. The old woman took the necklace while saying something to the girl again with a kinder tone of voice. The girl sat down, leaning her back on a tree, while the woman turned to the tyrant, throwing the necklace to him.


    The necklace was caught effortlessly, the boy looking at it then back at the woman curiously and after the woman gestured for him to put it on, he reluctantly did so.


    ¡°Maybe now we can speak?¡± the boy heard the old woman say. His eyes widened in surprise but he quickly hid it behind his usual blank expression. He hadn¡¯t expected the problem of communication to be solved so easily. It wasn¡¯t that difficult to speculate that magic could exist in this world. He already had a small inkling of the possibility when he was born from the egg, which only grew stronger as the days passed and after his encounter with the goblins it mostly turned into a certainty. And if magic existed then translation magic wasn¡¯t much of a stretch at all.


    ¡°Interesting. How does this thing work?¡± he asked while examining the metal and the symbols written into it. The old woman observed him do so with caution, though less so than before.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen runes before, boy?¡± she asked a question of her own, though it was a slight mistake on her part. Of course she couldn¡¯t have known that the boy would figure out so much just from what she called it.


    ¡°Runes? Hmm? So it works through these letters that are scratched into it? They¡¯re certainly complicated.¡± He continued examining them, committing the ¡°runes¡± to memory already. It wasn¡¯t that hard to do for him, though he speculated there¡¯s more to it than just the symbols themselves. If it were just that it would be too simple. Then again. If a random old woman had one, then maybe it was simple after all?


    ¡°Are things like this rare?¡± he asked snapping the old woman out of her state of surprise. It wasn¡¯t as if she was that shocked. It was simply that she didn¡¯t know how to respond to the obviously highly intelligent boy. She unintentionally put up her guard again.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°More importantly, what are you doing here?¡± she asked, not wanting to give the boy more information.


    ¡°I¡¯m just wandering around. This forest is really beautiful. If only all the animals that come out at night didn¡¯t try to eat me I might have even considered living here.¡± the tyrant answered nonchalantly. It was true. In the week he had spent in this forest he had gotten completely used to the slight alien look of the trees and learned to appreciate their beauty in full. ¡°Plus the fruit are all delicious.¡± His heightened sense of taste reminded him ¡®Maybe I should eventually kill off all the predators in this forest and really settle down? No. If I¡¯m able to kill them all then I don¡¯t need to go out of my way to do so do I?¡¯ the boy let his thoughts wander, as he considered if he could ever truly live here in the future.


    The old woman noticed he was getting distracted as he stopped examining the necklace so she coughed loudly, bringing his attention back on her ¡°You say you¡¯re just wandering but surely you must have a purpose.¡± She noted in doubt.


    ¡°Regardless of what you think, I don¡¯t.¡± the boy answered matter-of-factly. How was he to have a purpose when he knew next to nothing about the world? He let the necklace hang around his neck freely, already having memorized the symbols on it and looked at the woman again.


    ¡°Your kind are rare around these parts. Even if you don¡¯t have a purpose for being here in particular, surely you must have one for coming to this country, or to the human lands in general.¡± She said, causing the boy¡¯s interest in her to suddenly rise. Of course his scales were visible. Both on his neck and on the hands he was using to examine the necklace. Even if he was wearing the robe that didn¡¯t mean it covered everything. Even his tail which was slightly moving behind him could have been noticed albeit not as easily.


    ¡°My kind? You know what I am then?¡± He asked, slipping up in his excitement. He noticed immediately that he revealed how little he knew but only sighed mentally about it. It was too late to fix and it¡¯s not like it mattered much. It was true he knew little. If the old woman could fill that missing knowledge in, then maybe he should just have her do so.


    The old lady on the other hand had her eyes open wide in surprise. ¡°Y-You don¡¯t know what you are?¡± she was surprised not by the fact such a thing could exist. Amnesia was something familiar to her and was in fact not very uncommon. She had traveled much in her days and had seen many instances of one losing their memory. What she was surprised by was that even someone of the race she recognized him as and so young at that would have it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t. I simply woke up in this forest and have been wandering around, trying to leave for around a week.¡± He answered, not caring about revealing his lack of knowledge to her. He did leave out the fact he had woken up inside of an egg though.


    The woman looked at him doubtingly for a few seconds ¡°And you remember nothing else?¡± she asked as a final confirmation.


    ¡°I remember some things. But not what my kind is.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ that is quite unfortunate.¡± Some pity was evident in her voice. She paused in silence for over a minute, looking down at the ground, thinking something over. The boy didn¡¯t disturb her and the girl was too busy trying to make sense of what was going on, when suddenly the woman lifted her head up again and smiled kindly ¡°Boy. Do you remember your name?¡±


    ¡°My name? I don¡¯t¡­¡± Of course he remembered his name from his past life, but he wanted to leave that behind. As prideful as he was that life was that life. This life was this one. He had never thought of a name so far. But if he wanted to interact with civilization then it was true he would need one so he thought about it, not putting too much effort in.


    ¡°You don¡¯t, do you? My name is Ann and this girl is Maya. As for you¡­ Hmm¡­¡± She put a hand on her chin, trying to think of one as well, but before she could say something she was interrupted.


    ¡°Rex. Call me Rex.¡±The boy interrupted her before she could say something he would regret. He thought the name fit perfectly. Yes. He felt he could grow attatched to this one.


    ¡°Rex? An odd name¡­ but I suppose it¡¯ll do. Very well, Rex. It¡¯s nice meeting you. Tell me. Would you like to come live with me?¡± she asked suddenly, taking the boy off-guard. Even he did not expect her to ask him something like that.


    ¡°What? Why would I do that?¡± he answered with his own question, slightly bewildered.


    ¡°Because I have much to offer. I know alchemy, I¡¯m an able rune crafter, I have lots of books and I could even teach you the language of this country so you don¡¯t have to rely on something like that¡± she pointed at the necklace ¡°to speak it.¡±


    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s an enticing offer. Let me ask then. Why are you offering me this? What do you have to gain from it?¡± he was understandably cautious. The woman was too enthusiastic about this.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not expecting you to do it for free. So, in exchange, after you¡¯re satisfied and want to leave, you¡¯ll do me a favor. I want you to get something for me.¡±


    ¡°What is that?¡± Of course Rex didn¡¯t want to suddenly owe this old lady a legendary item of some kind.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you exactly what it is as I teach you about them. You said you don¡¯t know much correct? I promise it¡¯s not something that should be hard to get¡­ for one of your race at least.¡±


    ¡®So it would be difficult for someone of yours¡¯ he thought ¡°How long will I have, to bring that to you?¡±


    ¡°As long as you do it before I pass away It should be fine and I¡¯m not planning on dying anytime soon hahaha!¡± she laughed heartily as if showing off that despite being elderly in age she was still full of vitality.


    ¡°¡­ Fine. But don¡¯t expect me to keep my part if it turns out to not be worth it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair enough. Maya, we¡¯re going now.¡±


    ¡°A-Ah! Yes!¡± the girl quickly got up from the ground, dusting herself off.


    The boy jumped over the stream effortlessly and though it wasn¡¯t beyond the capabilities of a normal human to achieve, the fact that he was still a new born and how effortlessly he achieved it garnered attention by both Maya and Ann. The woman smiled at the display, her decision to trust whatever she had in mind to him, being reaffirmed. She started walking towards her home, the boy followed, leaving the bewildered girl by herself. Though she quickly snapped out of her trance, running after her master and the new boy.


    Though it hadn¡¯t gone exactly how he expected, Rex had discovered several things that day. And the thought of magic alone was already enough to almost make him grin. It was really hard for him to maintain an unimpressed look through that interaction.


    They walked in silence for an hour or two. Maya would occasionally glance at Rex, though he simply kept looking ahead, even as he noticed. He didn¡¯t really care to feed the girls curiosity. Eventually the boy noticed they were approaching the end of the forest. The light hit him as they left the tree line and he saw wide plains of farmland. Well. Wide in a relative term. Considering the village that looked to be around a ten minuteof a walk away was simply too small to truly cultivate any grand fields.


    He had expected they would head here but the old woman betrayed that. She turned to the right and as Rex followed her gaze he noticed a wooden hut, which, though certainly well=built and not very small was still nothing compared to a house and was only a short distance away from them, that meaning a large distance from the village.


    The boy let slip an audible sigh as he gazed at his new home for the foreseeable future.

 Chapter 5: A Month

    I sighed as I carefully uprooted a plant. I was back near the stream I had spent so much of my time around. I asked Ann if it had a name at one point, her answer leaving me slightly disappointed because it didn¡¯t. Since it didn¡¯t I decided instead I would name it. Since then I¡¯ve been calling it Peace Stream since it was a place of gathering for the mostly harmless animals in the area and had supported me with the sound of its slow, peaceful current each and every night I had spent in the forest, as if singing me a lullaby.


    The old woman questioned the name, saying the predators gathered there as well but I ignored it. It was a small detail in the grand scheme of things. One which I decidedly chose not to pay attention to.. I nodded to myself with a smile That name was perfect. Yes.. I think I might have been much more free with my expressions when by myself. I wonder if it was something I unconsciously hid.


    Well whatever. I got up and moved on to the next plant which I spotted pretty easily. It had been a month since I started staying at Ann¡¯s place. During that time, I found out quite a bit. For being just a small hut, Ann¡¯s house had quite a number of books which I could learn from. Books about geography, biology, alchemy, history, creature encyclopedias and so on. The catch was. I needed to learn the language as the necklace did not go quite as far as to translate writing, though what it did do is make the process of learning the language much, much easier. So I¡¯ve been progressing. At this point I can hold a normal conversation and can read simple books but I still have much to improve. If i had concentrated my efforts purely on that I would most likely be finished by now, but alas there was much to do and my teacher was often quite busy herself.


    I carefully uprooted another plant. Even now I was paying back Ann. After all, I¡¯m now wearing actual clothes, custom made by the tailor in the village to fit me. Yes. Even the tail. Though putting the pants on was definitelying a nightmare at first, I''ve grown used to it. Of course, custom made clothes are nice and all but in return for getting them I had to do a week¡¯s worth of gathering herbs. A few weeks have passed since, but something made me need a new set made, hence my current stroll around the woods. The reason being I had far outgrown the last one.


    I had already slightly noticed it in the forest but it wasn¡¯t nearly as noticeable as this past month in which my body grew by what seemed like two years. Now I looked six years old. On the bright side. I wouldn¡¯t remain a child for nearly as long as I thought. On the bad side. I wasn¡¯t sure if this would progress past the point of maturity, making my lifespan annoyingly short. Ann had no idea why this was either, but it led to another week of herb gathering duty. Thankfully today was the last day.


    The herbs weren¡¯t hard to find. It was just bothersome work, making me feel like I was playing a bad MMORPG from my earlier days and doing fetch quests. I easily memorized their appearance when Ann was teaching me what to gather, in fact, I¡¯ve learned quite a few ways to use them in alchemy as well. Watching the old woman work let me get an insight in it. One thing I wish she would give me more insight in was runecrafting. While she did say she was a runecrafter and I¡¯d learned that she was taught from a very young age, being incredibly experienced in the art of it, there was little opportunity for me to learn it from her.


    Not only did she seem to avoid teaching me it, but I also couldn¡¯t get a sneak peek as she practiced because¡­ well¡­ she never did. While runecrafting was impressive and quite rare nobody in the small village could afford an item enchanted by her. In fact, she was already charging dirt cheap for the alchemy alone and that was just something she knew on the side, not her main profession.


    Why live here and not somewhere she could make more money? Where people could actually afford what she offered? Apparently this was her home village. The woman had travelled most of her life and in her old age had decided she would spend the rest of her days here even if no one who remembered her remained alive. Maybe that was why her home was so far from it. Well. Not that it mattered to me. This was what I picked up from random conversations and what Maya told me. The little girl was on much better terms with the old woman than I was, which suited me just fine as I didn¡¯t plan on getting on good terms with anyone here. I just wanted to learn what I could from the old woman, pay her back for the great service she¡¯s done me and be on my way.


    Speaking of what she had taught me. I learned what I was. Or what Ann thought I was. According to her I should have been a Drakin, a half-human, half-dragon hybrid. They were an incredibly rare sight but were also quite famous. Most people knew. If you encounter a Drakin do not cross them. Drakin were a lump of pride and power. One of them could kill whole groups of men easily and there didn¡¯t exist many humans who could fight one of them on equal footing. They were weaker than dragons but even if inheriting only a small amount of that power, they were not to be trifled with.


    But. There were a few discrepancies between them and me. And they weren¡¯t small either. First of all, Drakin were born like humans. That is. Not from an egg and not as a four-year-old. Though. of course, Ann didn¡¯t know about that detail of my birth so she didn¡¯t notice that. Second was they were supposed to grow at the normal rate of humans as well and stop aging at some point. The stop would be earlier the faster they developed their power since it would occur after they surpass a certain threshold. Ann didn¡¯t know what the threshold was, but that didn¡¯t matter. As long as I reached the age of at least ten before it happened I would be satisfied. I didn¡¯t really need to look old. Looking like a child might actually make for some amusing encounters.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I noticed another herb on the other side of the stream and jumped over it even more easily than before. With my body developing so were my physical abilities. And apparently. So were my magical ones, as I began being able to faintly feel the magic in the air. It felt different from before. And not just because of my senses, which I had gotten more used to with time. I had started meditating recently and reaching out to that magic in the air.


    My meditation was based on what I did in the dark space, I was barely conscious so I had trouble replicating the effect, but while I haven¡¯t been able to get as good a result as back then I was sufficiently capable in it. That being said magic wasn¡¯t so simple and while Ann knew much about runecrafting she didn¡¯t know any actual magic. So for now. I just occasionally practiced feeling and moving around the energy around me. Mana.


    Maya was quite impressed. Apparently it was a big deal to be able to do that. Maybe it was just easier for my race. I also learned what Ann wanted and why I would be able to get it. She wanted a labyrinth core. Where do I even start with these things? Labyrinths. Labyrinths were a vast complex of traps, monsters and death around every corner. But the other thing they contained was treasure. And that was what drew people to them. A labyrinth core was a crystal at the very end of the labyrinth which was the source of everything inside it. It was basically a naturally formed magical item.


    As for what it was for. It had many different uses, making it an incredibly valuable item, able to be sold for a large sum. What Ann needed it for? Apparently it had the capability to store large amounts of mana. Something Ann had little of by nature. Having it would greatly increase the quality of her runecrafting and would allow her to create even more complex and mana-hungry enchantments. Why she needed that here in the middle of nowhere she had no one to enchant for? She didn¡¯t tell me. And it wasn¡¯t my business anyway. I was only asking out of curiosity and didn¡¯t intend to pry further than she would allow me.


    I uprooted the last herb and threw it into the bag, Ann had given me to gather them in. It was time to go back. I jumped over Peace Stream again and headed in the direction of the hut. I had learned so much in the last month but so far from enough. I wanted more. I wanted to know about magic. I wanted to experience these labyrinths myself. I wanted to go out on my own and travel the world. But it was early. I was too unprepared.


    Drakin were worth a fortune on the slave market. Yes. Of course this world had that. It was hilarious to think that it wouldn¡¯t. After all, humans were weak animals that tried to make themselves feel strong. A slave that could only obey each and every one of your commands was a good way to do that. That being said. Even if I could handle normal humans no problem if by chance someone stronger decided to show up and hunt me down I would be in actual trouble.


    The villagers were afraid of me at first, but learned to accept me during the month. I didn¡¯t do anything bad to them after all. I may be unreasonable but compared to what these people knew of Drakin, I was a saint in Drakin flesh. I was prideful sure, but I didn¡¯t treat people as pieces of garbage thrown around the village or bugs who lived there. Drakin very much did. They saw humans as a race that was beneath them even though they held human blood of their own. Another thing that made me smile slightly. If anything was to be ridiculed it should be that contradiction they constantly lived by. It was honestly amusing, almost cute.


    Dragons on the other hand¡­ were much the same. But they were also legendary beings, some of the strongest creatures in existence. Ancient dragons even more so. Apparently dragons were all born with an ideal of power. Or something like that. It was called a Pha''al. Apparently that¡¯s what the dragons themselves called it. Ann couldn¡¯t explain it to me too well. It was something like an in-born form of ultimate power each dragon had in their minds which they would eventually be able to reach if they could get powerful enough. A dragon¡¯s scales reflected that choice in one way or another but it wasn¡¯t always consistent. A blue dragon could be a dragon whose form reflected the skies, lightning, water, ice, even much vaguer things like a concept or emotion.


    A white dragon was completely vague as apparently no ancient white dragon was ever discovered. Drakin on the other hand seemed to be born with scales reflecting their affinity, though that was still just as vague. White-scaled Drakin often had affinities with life, lightning, force, mana itself. A lot of things. Many of them unknown. Many unrecorded. And many a secret. It wasn¡¯t like Ann knew everything either. She just knew more than an ordinary person would. Most likely because of her travels during her life.


    I sighed as I thought about it. Really. While I had learned so much in the last month. I felt like I had learned next to nothing in reality. I looked at the herb bag and sighed again, wondering if there could be a more efficient way of repaying Ann the next time I outgrow my clothes.


    Just as I turned back forward as I approached the end of the forest, I spotted Maya waiting outside Ann¡¯s hut. She spotted me almost instantly and waved over to me with a wide smile.


    ¡°Reeeeex!¡± She called out for seemingly no reason. I sighed again. It really was a habit at this point. The girl had grown unusually attached to me in the past month. Well. More like she always sought me out to do things. Whether it¡¯ll be practice alchemy, or collecting ingredients, going to the village, or helping me read books. She was having much more fun with these things than I thought she would and to be honest¡­ It made things that much more enjoyable for me as well¡­ and that¡¯s why... I need to leave soon.

 Chapter 6: Adventure

    ¡°Are you really going?¡± Asked Ann with a serious expression. Rex was stood in front of her with the bag he got from the goblins over his shoulder and the dagger strapped to his belt. They were standing outside of the hut, though he no longer wore the necklace Ann had originally given him. It wasn¡¯t needed anymore. He now looked like he was eight, after another month had passed. He was taller than most his approximate age would be and was about the same height as Maya, who stood to the side of Ann with a sad expression.


    Rex nodded ¡°I¡¯ve stayed here long enough.¡± The old woman sighed at that. He reminded her too much of her own self when she was young. Hungry for adventure and exploration. To see and learn new things. Granted he was much smarter and talented than she was as a child that didn¡¯t stop her from making the connection. That¡¯s exactly why she couldn¡¯t say anything to stop him. Maya looked unsure of what to say either. Her only real friend was leaving after all. None of the other children in the village were around her age. They were either younger or older. And none of them had the same interests as her. That¡¯s why she had grown attached to the boy who was her fellow pupil under Ann.


    ¡°D-Do you really have to go¡­?¡± the girl questioned, only to get another nod as a response. Nothing was stopping Rex. Both of them could see that. He was the type of person to go through with what he has decided. As such the old woman simply sighed again and took something out of her pocket.


    ¡°Here.¡± She said, putting her hand forward. It had ten silver coins in it, which made the boy raise an eyebrow.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already give me enough?¡±


    ¡°Take all that as a payment for the item I asked for. Considering its original price, I¡¯m honestly scamming you. Though I¡¯m sure you already realized that yourself.¡± She said, still presenting the coins to him. The boy took them and deposited them in his right pocket.


    ¡°Technically you aren¡¯t. You said I can stay until I¡¯m satisfied. While I was here you fed me, taught me and gave me books to read.¡± ¡®Even though you didn¡¯t teach me anything about runecrafting until the end.¡¯ He added in his head ¡°It might be a bit cheap since I only stayed two months but considering the original deal was for however long I want. I¡¯m just scamming myself.¡± The old woman smiled slightly, before breaking out in laughter.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. Don¡¯t take too long with the core now. I can¡¯t use it if I¡¯m dead after all.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you weren¡¯t planning on dying anytime soon?¡±


    ¡°Ha! That memory of yours is almost annoyingly good sometimes.¡±


    The boy sighed while holding back a small smile of his own ¡°I¡¯ll try to hurry it up.¡±


    ¡°Where will you be headed to first?¡±


    ¡°The town of Fyric¡¯s pretty close right? I¡¯ll head there first¡±


    The old woman nodded ¡°Good luck on your travels.¡±


    ¡°U-Um! I-!¡± the girl stepped forward wanting to say something herself, but having no idea how to word it she just looked down, trying to think of what to say. Rex waited for a moment to see if she¡¯ll do anything, but when she didn¡¯t he sighed and put a hand on her head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t act like we¡¯ll never be seeing each other again. I still need to come back and leave that core anyway.¡± He said patting her on the head gently once before moving his hand away. She looked up to him and just nodded, looking like she¡¯d tear up. Rex sighed and turned away.


    ¡°See you again.¡±


    ¡°I better!¡± the old woman shouted at him jokingly and watched him walk away towards the village. She watched him until he was barely visible in the distance ¡°Come on Maya. We have work to do too.¡± She said turning away and walking towards the hut. Maya followed her, without her usual cheerfulness.


    Rex made his way to the village and as he walked through it he was occasionally greeted by some people though he only nodded in greeting as he passed by. He had become quite well known in the village over the last two months. He had done quite a bit after all. From delivering potions to helping people work the farms. All of it was on the old woman¡¯s instructions and he was sometimes quite annoyed by it but he did it nonetheless.


    The reason he carried the dagger was because he wanted to use a weapon in combat rather than his claws. He didn¡¯t really know how people might react to his hands becoming a weapon after all. He didn¡¯t know if Drakin could even do that. By now he was sure he was something slightly different. Though the fact that he might be part dragon was amusing to him. When he thought about it the image fit too well and hearing how powerful both dragons and Drakin were, he couldn¡¯t say he wasn¡¯t excited at what he could possibly become in the future.


    He exited the village and took the road south-east. Fyric, the town he was making his way to right now, was about three days away by foot. To him it might have been less, since he wouldn¡¯t need to stop and rest other than to eat. He had gotten a good night¡¯s sleep so he could walk straight there through day and night. His bag was full of fruit, gathered from the forest as well as some dried meat jerky, courtesy of Ann.


    All in all, he had about five days-worth of food, though he could always resupply at the city. The silver coins Ann had given him were called silver Rais. Rais were the currency of this kingdom - Hurria. Nobdody was sure where the name came from. Apparently the king that implemented the coins as currency decided it, but refused to reveal its origin. Each silver Rais was worth ten copper ones, each ten were worth one gold one. And ten silver Rais would be enough for him to stay at an inn and eat for a few nights. He didn¡¯t really need it to survive considering he could just do so in the wilderness. But it would be a good start since he needed it for something else instead.


    He walked along the dirt road absentmindedly, not stopping even for food or during the night. He was surrounded by green fields, familiar to him in color. Apparently the forest he had lived in for seven days was special. It wasn¡¯t all trees or greenery in this world that was weird in color. That being said he already missed the enchanting blue of the trees and grass and the beautiful emerald green that was brought out by the rest of the colors. The green fields that stretched as far as the eyes could see were beautiful but not nearly as much, though he was happy that he was finally free to walk around at night as no monsters threatened to devour him and there were no people around to complain about it. He was stuck reading books all night in Ann¡¯s after all.


    At some point he started running lightly instead of walking. While it was just a jog it didn¡¯t tire him at all. He was able to jog all throughout the night with no problems and around noon the next day, a stone wall became visible on the horizon, clear to his eyes though it might have not been as much to others. He slowed to a walk once again as he approached the town.


    The wall, made of stone and standing tall, the towers even taller had a gate at the front of the road. It was, of course, not the only one but Rex didn¡¯t know how many it had and where they were. He just approached the one on this side. A few guards stood at the entrance. They looked on quite relaxed, even bored. ¡®A sign of peace.¡¯ Thought the tyrant.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    He walked by not paying them attention while they on the other hand widened their eyes as they noticed the scales and tail on the boy and straightened themselves trying to look like proper guards. As he passed them by without paying them any attention they sighed in relief. The boy¡¯s ears easily picked that up and he contained a grin. Just like Ann had said Drakin weren¡¯t something wise people would mess with. Even if they looked like a child.


    The town was lively. People walked around the streets, stalls were set up here and there. There were some stores as well. People stared at the boy as he walked through the town, and carefully avoided him, obviously uncomfortable. It was understandably kind of annoying to have to deal with this bad reputation even if it came with some perks. At least he wasn¡¯t some sort of race that humans didn¡¯t like. Well. A race that humans didn¡¯t like and weren¡¯t afraid to express it.


    Regardless he had something to do. He approached a guard who was patrolling.


    ¡°Hey. Where¡¯s the adventurer¡¯s guild in this town?¡± he asked causing the guard to notice him and suddenly go pale.


    ¡°O-Oh. It¡¯s actually really hard to miss. J-Just follow the main street and eventually you¡¯ll see a large wooden building. It¡¯ll- will have a sign with a sword and staff crossed over a shield.¡± He explained nervously.


    The boy nodded ¡°Good.¡± He said before walking down the street. To be fair. As bad as the reputation was. He enjoyed acting this way. Honestly if he caused trouble in the city even if he was physically stronger than a normal human the guards would most likely overwhelm him eventually. There would probably be casualties and it would take them a lot of effort but he WOULD most likely fall eventually. Then again. If there happened to be someone stronger in the town that probably wouldn¡¯t be a problem. The captain of the guard was also a possible threat since Rex didn¡¯t know who it was. It could be a spoiled brat who rose up in rank through his influence or it could be someone truly formidable. Or adventurers could join in too. Now that he thought about it he probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to cause as much damage as he felt he could. It would probably be another matter if he learned some magic.


    But yes. Adventurers. There existed several guilds in this kingdom and others. They usually collaborated between each other, but the adventurer¡¯s guild in particular was international. It was the same adventurer¡¯s guild wherever you went. As for adventurers. They did pretty much everything and the guild highly valued the mindset of risk versus reward. The more difficult a job was the more money it would pay. That¡¯s why they had the ranking system set up. From lowest to highest the ranks were E>F>D>C>B>A>S>SS>SSS. Of course those weren¡¯t the actual letters of the English language. They were the equivalents as the language of humans was very close to it. The grammar was similar and although they had more letters than the English language, some of them served the absolute same purpose. Even the order of the alphabet was similar.


    Requests of E rank were basically chores. They had pretty much next to no danger in them and were menial labor that anyone could do. Thus the E of E rank or so the tyrant liked to think. That being said. No adventurer was actually of E rank other than those who were being punished. Adventurers usually started out with a rank of F and could take requests of ranks E, F and D. requests of F rank were low danger requests that didn¡¯t require combat but still had the possibility of it. Basically they were mostly gathering tasks in low-danger areas. By the way there were also gathering tasks in E rank but they were in no danger areas. In other words, mostly helping farmers with their crops or gathering something inside the city.


    D rank requests are where subjugation tasks start to appear. They will be subjugation requests of a weak monster and they usually don¡¯t ask for the elimination of the whole group but rather request a number of them killed in order to stave the flow a bit. Goblins were popular targets as they reproduced quickly but going into their lair to eliminate the source would be a C-rank subjugation quest rather than D. C-ranks are where things start getting more diverse. Both in options and in difficulty. Tasks involving labyrinthexploration started at this rank as well, though it usually didn¡¯t involve clearing a labyrinth and if it did it would be quite the easy one. The request of the old woman. To retrieve a labyrinth core would be B-rank at the very least and would have to involve a VERY generous pay considering you would both be risking your life and handing over a valuable item you could earn a fortune off of if you sold yourself. Of course. He was basically doing it for free.


    The boy sighed as he spotted the building and headed in its direction. People still stared at him. Getting to B-rank would be a pain but it would be beneficial. Even though C rankers could get information about and venture inside of a labyrinth, which he planned on doing. In fact, clearing the labyrinth and bringing back the labyrinth core as proof would be a good way to earn him a promotion to B rank on the side of completing Ann¡¯s request.As long as that dungoen was designated as dangerous since taking the core of a normal labyrinth was illegal. If he did that the whole kingdom would be on his ass about it and he would have bounties up the wazoo. Even if the adventurer''s guild wouldn''t turn hostile towards people just because they''d cleared a labyrinth they wouldn''t really stop the kingdom for putting up a huge reward for their head either.


    The boy opened the door of the building. The atmosphere inside was much like a tavern. There were tables to the side where adventurers gathered. Some were drinking, others huddled around discussing something, some who were by themselves, others who were looking for company. Adventurers were just as diverse as the jobs they did. They were jacks of all trades but each had something they were better at than others. Some preferred doing subjugations. Others preferred earning their keep by selling information. Some explored dungeons while others preferred keeping out of danger and doing easy tasks. Some were gatherers, others alchemists, some even chose to take up the trade of a blacksmith.


    The boy walked in. Nobody paid attention at first but then some people noticed him and quietly called attention to others, as a big chain reaction occurred, by the time Rex had made it to the counter, the place had quieted down completely. The one at the counter looked to be in his fourties. He looked at the boy. ¡°Your business?¡± he asked seeming unafraid.


    A quick look around showed him that most weren¡¯t. They were cautious. But not afraid. This actually made the boy feel a bit impressed. Even the guards went pale at the sight of him. He supposed the country hadn¡¯t had a war in a while if the guards were as they were. With peace came laziness, and with that stagnation. Adventurers on the other hand were used to dealing with adversity. It was in their job description... well at least for D-rank and up.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking to register.¡± Simply said the boy.


    ¡°There¡¯s a fee of two silver Rais for that.¡±


    Rex simply took the coins out of his pocket and put them in front of the man, who took the two coins, leaving them under the counter.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He took out something that looked like a crystal ball from under the counter and put it on top. ¡°Put your hand on this.¡±


    Rex did so. The ball took a moment to glow green, causing the man to nod and take something else from under the counter, placing it on top once more. It was a form along with a bottle of ink and a quill.


    ¡°Gonna need you to fill up this with your information. Not all of it is necessary. Fill in what you feel like. Your name doesn¡¯t need to be real either but keep in mind that in the adventure guild that will be your real name from then onwards and changing it won¡¯t be simple.¡± He took something else out as well, a white card and a needle, placed on top of it. ¡°I¡¯ll also need a drop of your blood here.¡±


    Rex was fine with the form. But he didn¡¯t feel very comfortable with giving out his blood. Still. It should have been worth it. He just needed to make sure he would take care of it if it became a problem.


    He used the needle to pierce his finger. He had to put in a slight bit of effort to do so. His skin was also stronger than a normal human¡¯s, albeit nowhere near as much as his scales. He put his finger on the card and the blood sunk into it right afterwards.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t write I could do it for you.¡±


    ¡°No thanks.¡± He said in a tone, almost like he had taken offense¡­ which he had. Taking the form, he looked it over. It was quite extensive. You could write in your age, family, previous jobs. A lot of information could be entered. Even if not necessary. What Rex entered was simple. His name, his race as Drakin, and his gender as male. He put the quill down. The man took the form and looked it over.


    ¡°Rex Tyrannus?¡± he asked, causing the boy to nod in confirmation ¡°Come back tomorrow for your card. You¡¯ll be able to accept requests as an adventurer then. Welcome to the guild, kid.¡±


    The boy simply turned to leave. While inwardly annoyed. Another night to be spent with nothing to do, the liveliness of the adventurer¡¯s guild returning full force, if not stronger almost as soon as he stepped out didn¡¯t make him feel any less annoyed. ¡®Time for a really long walk, I guess.¡¯ He thought before walking away.

 Chapter 7: Value of Silence

    A boy entered the adventurer¡¯s guild early next morning with a bored expression. Rex had spent what was left of the previous day walking around town and the night, taking a nap on someone¡¯s roof, where nobody would see him. At least he was able to sleep. He didn¡¯t feel like dealing with thieves. There weren¡¯t as many people inside at this time, but everyone still quieted down once more when he entered the building with some whispers still present this time.


    ¡°Is that him?¡± heard Rex through his sharp ears.


    ¡°Idiot of course it is. Or do you think there''s a second white-scaled young-looking Drakin visiting ?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I guess you¡¯re right but-¡°


    It was at that point Rex just tuned them out. It was mostly conversations about him. Some wondered why he was registering as an adventurer. Some speculations flying around he was exiled from wherever the Drakin holed up, which would undoubtably cause him trouble at some point. But he ignored it all. It was too early in the morning for him to deal with this shit.


    He walked up to the counter, the same man as yesterday stood there.


    ¡°Pretty early aren¡¯t ya?¡±


    ¡°Is my card ready?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± He took it out from under the counter and put it on top.


    ¡®Is that counter a magical storage device or something?¡¯ thought the boy half-jokingly as he picked up the card. It was the same as the white card from the last day but it had a black border and his information written into it in black letters. This included his name, his race, his gender, his adventurer¡¯s rank of F and a number counter for the number of tasks completed of each rank before S.


    ¡°You know the rules?¡±


    ¡°No need to explain them.¡± He was aware of the important parts. Ann had filled him in on adventurers and the guild quite a bit. She knew he would need to become one to get a core quickly.


    ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Said the man, before Rex turned around and went straight towards the task board, which was positioned away from the tables. He looked at the board as he stepped in front of it. There were quite a few tasks and each request had a stamp to show what kind of quest it is.


    The blue logo of the adventurer¡¯s guild showed a one-time request issued either directly by the guild. The red snake biting its own tail represented repeatable requests, usually also from the guild, though not always. You could do them as many times as you wished until the guild pulled them off the board. Obviously you weren¡¯t to pull them off yourself until then. The green stamps of two hands shaking each other, is a request issued by someone through the guild''s official request system. In other words. Usually a request issued by an individual or a small group of such. In case the request is taken that fact has to be reported to the guild first before you go out and find the issuer yourself, though apparently there were exceptions. You could usually bargain for a higher price with them or make requests of your own and if you can¡¯t strike up a deal you have to report to the guild with there being a fee if you fail to report immediately as you would be holding up other potential takers from taking the quest during that time. It was even possible to get your licence suspended if you did so too often.


    The last one. The yellow crown showed a quest issued by a large organization, usually the country itself. For instance, there was a request with a golden crown stamp for taking care of bandits on the south-west road. Unfortunately, it was C rank. From D there was nothing interesting. The town alchemist, needing to have some herbs collected from the forest. The classic goblin hunt, apparently guild-sponsored. ¡®Oh? Some kobolds taking shelter in the nearby mine? Ugh¡­ the hunt is D rank but the extermination is C. As usual.¡¯ The boy sighed. Nothing interesting at all. And just like that as he was distracted he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to turn around quickly, on instinct.


    What he saw when he turned around was a young man. Probably at the end of his teens, or his early twenties, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing an iron chestplate and kneeguards but no armor beyond that. He had a shortsword at his waist as well. He might not have had enough money to afford anything better since Rex knew for a fact that steel existed in this world and wasn¡¯t too uncommon.


    Rex stood still waiting for him to say something but the man seemed a bit taken aback, unsure of what to say ¡°Um¡­¡± with a small smile on his face, seemingly trying to appear friendly. The young tyrant heard some men whispering behind him ¡®What¡¯s he doing?¡¯, ¡®There he goes again¡¯, ¡®Damn it, Leon, you¡¯re gonna get us killed.¡¯ He thought he heard from one of the groups.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Rex nudged him on.


    ¡°A-Ah right. You looked like you were troubled with the requests.¡±


    ¡°Troubled? Well I guess that would be right. D-rank requests look like they¡¯ll be boring. And I can¡¯t take C at first.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s the problem? Well uh¡­ if you complete five D-ranks you¡¯ll be able to advance to C. Maybe you could just do one of the repeatable ones? If you¡¯re capable enough you should be able to get to D in no time.¡±


    Rex thought for a moment before sighing ¡°I guess there¡¯s no choice. I might as well get this over with.¡± He looked at the board again. The D-rank quest for the kobolds was repeatable. He had to kill five per request and bring their right ears as proof. Rex sighed at that. Annoying. He didn¡¯t have another bag so this one would probably be bloodied by the time he was done. He had nowhere to leave his cloak either.


    He turned around to leave again, but saw the man was still there.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Rex asked


    ¡°Oh. No. You chose a job? What about a party?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t need one. I can do this much myself.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ W-well good luck.¡±


    Rex nodded to him before leaving the building. Leon saw him off and let out a sigh of relief as soon as the door closed and walked over back to his party. A woman and two other men sat at the table. The woman with black hair, wearing a dark robe and mantle was cupping her head in her hands, propping herself up on the table. One of the men, with similar dark hair was following suit, while the other one, having blonde hair and wearing a priest¡¯s robe was smiling wryly.


    ¡°Hahaha¡­ that was nerve-wracking.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me?!¡± the dark haired man suddenly rebutted ¡°You almost gave my sister a heart attack! She came in just as you got to that guy, and suddenly he turns around giving you the death stare! We thought you were fucking dead man!¡±


    ¡°Oh it wasn¡¯t THAT bad! He¡¯s just a kid!¡± rebutted Leon.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Drakin, you moron!¡± the woman exclaimed next ¡°What do you think he is? A lizardman? They have the blood of dragons in their veins! We¡¯re D-rank adventurers! He could have probably downed you on the spot!¡±


    ¡°Now, now. calm down, you two. ¡° said the priest with a troubled smile ¡°It all ended fine and maybe Leon had the right idea. Maybe we¡¯re all just a bit too cautious of the boy. He didn¡¯t seem like a bad person and maybe that¡¯s the whole reason he was so cautious.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± she sighed ¡°Fine. I guess all¡¯s well that ends well.¡±


    Her brother said nothing, leaning back in his chair, unconvinced and unsatisfied.


    ¡°A-Anyway. About those goblins¡­¡± Leon continued talking about whether to take the goblin extermination request and their plans to complete it if they did.


    Rex on the other hand had long since moved away from the guild, heading for the southwest gate which was the closest to his destination. As soon as he left the gate he saw a forest in the distance with a path towards it. That was where the mine was located. The travel was only about half an hour. Maybe one. It wasn¡¯t too far away from the city, giving the option of people to go on foot from it each day instead of living in the mine itself, though they obviously had that option as well. The kobolds should have been spread out in the area around the mine. Not just inside of it. So he wouldn¡¯t even need to go there if there were enough outside. That being said he needed twenty-five which was quite the number. He would most likely have to go in the mine at least for a bit, if not go quite deep in. Still, he was quite sure he would be able to find at least twenty-five of them. Cleaning them out was a C-rank request after all.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He walked the path until he reached the forest. Unlike usual where he¡¯d learned to ignore most sounds he concentrated on them now. The forest wasn¡¯t dark to him, but sounds were still a better way to locate the general location of creatures. He went off the path, but kept in mind the general direction it was in. It wouldn¡¯t do him good to get lost after all. Even if this forest was nowhere near as big as Nocturnalis ¡®Fuck whatever it¡¯s really called.¡¯ He hadn¡¯t actually bothered to even ask or look up the name of the blue forest, as he prefered his own. He checked on the sounds creatures made one by one until he heard something specific that made his head hurt.


    It sounded like a voice. A very squealy and rough voice, quite inhuman by nature but a voice nonetheless. But that wasn¡¯t the important part. What were they saying? He didn¡¯t know the words. He didn¡¯t know the words but their meaning seeped into his head. Still he couldn¡¯t quite make it out, as if the words were sort of wrong.


    It was giving him an insufferable headache. His head throbbed in pain. They needed to- ¡°Shut up¡± the tyrant mumbled under his breath as he stumbled a few steps forward and broke out into a sprint faster than any human in his old world could run. ¡°Shut up!¡± he shouted this time as two small, hunched over, humanoid figures came into view. They were lizard-like, and both had a small beard coming from their chin. They squeaked loudly in the same language again, causing his headache to worsen even more and with a gruff beast-like grunt he turned his hands into claws and slashed deeply into both their throats at once. They didn¡¯t even have a chance to use the shovels they seemed to have as weapons.


    He panted deeply, taking a while to catch his breath, his headache still persisting but slowly getting better. Until he heard it. So many voices in the distance. Was it a dozen? Two? More? He couldn¡¯t tell. His head felt like it was splitting apart. He couldn¡¯t take it. The pain was too great. They needed to ¡°Shut¡­ up¡­¡± he said, stumbling towards the voices, though the words didn¡¯t seem to match up. He forgot to even cut the ears off the kobolds he had just killed. The voices needed a silencer. He would gladly fulfil that role right now.


    He sprinted off once more. The voices were all unstoppably assaulting his mind, giving away the exact location of the speakers. As he sprinted through the tree line three more figures appeared in his view, each stopping in surprise, though he kept barreling towards them stopping only in front of the first one, by using the momentum of his run to thrust his claw forward, piercing straight through the kobold¡¯s torso and puncturing his heart. He didn¡¯t stop for even a moment as he used a leg to kick the dead body away towards The kobold furthest in the back, while he turned to engage the second one. The kobold lifted his shovel in panic and tried to bash him with it. Rex raised a leg high in the air, knocking the shovel aside and using the momentum of the attack to spin around, landing his foot on the ground again and using his other one to kick the kobold away full force, it¡¯s power breaking straight through the shovel¡¯s handle and landing directly in the kobold¡¯s ribs, several cracks registering pleasantly in in the boy¡¯s ears before the kobold was knocked away, right into a tree, falling dead on the spot.


    The last had let go of his weapon, a pickaxe, in surprise to catch the body. He had let go of it but by that time he saw his kin being flung away. Not even holding a weapon, as Rex turned towards it, it stumbled backwards, tripping and falling on the ground. It used its voice to beg for mercy bringing further pain in Rex¡¯s head, causing him to propel himself forward and kick the creature down, stepping on his throat and snapping it. The kobold tried to struggle for a few moments before it¡¯s limbs fell limp.


    But the voices didn¡¯t stop there were so many more. He sprinted through the forest. Before he knew it another kobold was dead, by having its throat cut. Then another group of three showed up. The first two walked together this time. They both tried to bash him with their shovel and pickaxe only to have the blows dodged. Rex grabbed the handle of the shovel, twisting it and stabbing it into the kobold that held it, causing it to fall dead on the floor. The pickaxe wielder raised his weapon again, only to have Rex propel himself forward, appearing within his range in a flash and striking a fist into its face, crushing it completely. The last rushed towards him with another pickaxe, only for Rex to grabthe one the last kobold had just dropped and stabbing it accurately into the attacking one''s head.


    Again the voices didn¡¯t stop. The silencing continued. A kobold had his leg broken, before being stabbed in the heart. Another had his head snapped by an upper kick. Rex quickly killed kobold after kobold, as he tried to concentrate more and more on the killing, in order to ignore the pain, turning him into an inhumanly efficient killing machine.


    The next moment he clearly knew what he was doing, he was panting heavily inside of what seemed like a stone tunnel. ¡°Ugh!¡± he winced from the pain that still remained in his head, but the voices had now stopped. He stumbled over to a wall, leaning his back on it and sliding down until he sat on the floor, finally giving him the chance to observe his surroundings, undeterred by the darkness of the cave, no¡­ the mine¡­ he supposed, considering the wooden supports, built around.


    The ground of the chamber was covered in blood and about fifteen dead bodies of kobolds lay on it. While most of them held shovels and pickaxes like the ones outside, there was one who seemed to use a steel shortsword and another who had a Long wooden branch. ¡®A staff?¡¯ he thought. He wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed or even how many kobolds he¡¯d killed, but that wasn¡¯t the problem now.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to go back and collect the ears now.¡± He emitted a long-winded, deep sigh.


    Once more it was early morning and¡­ once more the doors of the adventurer¡¯s guild opened to reveal a young, white-haired boy. He entered, now with a shortsword strapped on the side of his belt with the dagger on the back. Everyone quieted down and¡­ ¡®This is becoming routine isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Rex asked himself as he went to the counter. Looks like it was someone else today. Instead of the old man, a girl, somewhere in her twenties sat behind the counter. It was hard to tell the age really. Always was for Rex. She didn¡¯t seem as fearless as the old man from before, being visibly nervous.


    ¡°W-What can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°I want to report a completed task¡­ More like ten actually.¡±


    ¡°Ten? Um¡­ which tasks are¡­ those?¡± she asked, skeptically


    As an answer the boy threw down his bag on the counter. The thick leather had done a good job to hold the blood in thankfully but an ear fell out as he put it down. The girl admittedly took it well. It looked like she wasn¡¯t new there or anything. She¡¯d seen her share of monster parts.


    ¡°Oh this is¡­ kobold? Oh! We did have a repeatable quest for kobolds up!¡± she exclaimed, out loud, realizing what Rex meant by ¡®More like ten¡¯. She opened the bag to peek inside, at which point her eyes widened. ¡°Th-This is¡­¡± she took them out one by one, counting. All the way up to sixty-three when she took the last one out. ¡°S-Sixty-three. That completes twelve of the continuous jobs. M-More like. Didn¡¯t you clear it out? Why didn¡¯t you take the C-rank request if you were planning on doing this? It should have paid¡­ better¡­¡± she slowed down her words as she looked at Rex, realizing he was visibly annoyed. She HAD meticulously counted the ears from one to sixty-three.


    ¡°O-Oh! Sorry! Right! Your reward from this will be sixty silver Rais. May I have your card?¡±


    Rex looked through his pockets, forgetting which he¡¯d put it in and took it out, handing it over.


    ¡°This was¡­ your first request, correct?¡± she said, almost not believing it herself, getting a nod out of Rex.


    ¡°I understand. In that case you will be promoted to D-rank from today on.¡± She rummaged beneath the counter a bit ¡®Someday I will uncover the secret of this thing¡¯ She pulled out a small leather pouch. ¡°Your payment. Please wait while I update your card.¡± She said, leaving the pouch on the counter and walking through a door behind the counter.


    Rex took the bag and shook it a bit, getting the pleasant jingle of coins from inside. ¡®This is the definition of ¡°They don¡¯t pay me enough for this shit¡±. That headache wasn¡¯t worth a few thousand gold, let alone sixty silver. Ugh. I feel like I¡¯m gonna lose my breakfast just remembering it. I¡¯m never going near a kobold again.¡¯


    ¡®Oh hey actually. I¡¯m D-rank now. That means I can take requests of C.¡¯ he walked up to the board looking for one in particular. ¡®Darn. Someone took the goblin extermination.¡¯ He sighed ¡®Guess bandit hunting it is. I still need to get to C rank to officially get information about labyrinths from the guild. Maybe there are some easy ones I can clear around here.¡¯ He ripped the bandit request off the board and went back to the counter, waiting a few minutes for the girl to come back.


    After a few moments the door opened and she walked out.


    ¡°Thank you for waiting.¡± She said, putting the card on the counter. Rex picked it up, reading it. It had him listed as D-rank and noted he had completed twelve D-rank and one C-rank request. He looked back up at the girl and raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Oh. Also.¡± She put ten gold coins on the counter ¡°the rest of your reward.¡±


    The boy picked up the coins, looking at them for a moment. Ten gold coins was the reward for the C-rank extermination request. ¡°Is this okay? I didn¡¯t take that request. And I¡¯m getting credit for both?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s apparently fine. It isn¡¯t against the rules to check in repeatable requests as well as the extermination requests of the same kind at the same time either. And since you¡¯re D-rank now you can receive the reward for the request. Even if you didn¡¯t take it you obviously completed it.¡±


    The boy looked at the coins again and dropped it in the pouch before looking back up and nodding in gratitude. He presented the bandit request next. It had a reward of fifteen gold coins. ¡°I want to take this one next.¡±


    ¡°Ah this one. I understand. Please come back once you have completed it.¡±


    ¡°What about proof?¡±


    ¡°Requests like these don¡¯t need any but be aware that lying about a complete task can get you permanently and completely banned from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡±


    ¡®No wonder people keep that rule¡­¡¯


    ¡°I see. Also what are the requirements to advance to C-rank?¡±


    ¡°To advance to C-rank you need to complete ten D-rank and five C-rank requests.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± He simply said before turning away. He took a short glance to check if maybe the man who¡¯d called out to him yesterday, Leon, was around, but it didn¡¯t seem like it so he just left the building. Not that he was planning on doing something if he WAS around. He simply wanted to check. Leon had left an impression on him.


    For now though, he would see what he could find around town. The shops he¡¯d discovered on his first day here awaited him and he would finally be able to visit them properly.

 Chapter 8: A Job to Complete

    A caravan of five wagons, being pulled by horses, slowly travelled along the road, through a forest. The first wagon was for the caravan master, the second contained the rest of the passengers, while the last three had goods that were due to be sold at the caravan¡¯s destination, the capital of Hurria.


    There were twelve armed men, surrounding the wagons, vigilantly scanning the area for a possible ambush, since it was known that this road had been the recent scene of frequent bandit attacks The men all wore leather armor with metal plates built in to protect their most vital parts. It was basically budget armor but it also allowed for better movement than full plate would. Most of them had a shield on their arms and a sword on their waists but there were four who had bows on their backs instead of the shields.


    They were mercenaries. While some people hired adventurers for this sort of work it wasn¡¯t a very good idea to hire them to guard large caravans. Mercenaries were more popular for that sort of work. Large adventurer parties existed but only rarely and you needed quite a few people to protect a large caravan. As such if you hired adventurers you would most likely need more than one party to come on the job which wasn¡¯t a great idea. The coordination of the whole group would be much weaker. Mercenaries on the other hand usually had military training. Even if they weren¡¯t soldiers the guilds usually taught untrained members themselves. They all obeyed the orders of the leader and part of their training was specifically for guarding caravans like these.


    The sounds of the wheels rolling and the wagons jumping with every bump was overwhelmed only by the tension in the air, which came with being in hostile territory. The passengers were silently hoping they could pass with no incident while the mercenaries were concentrating fully on locating the enemy, bringing an eerie atmosphere around them. This road was known to have had a large amount of bandit attacks recently, and even a request to the adventurer''s guild had been issued, but they were yet to be cleared out.


    The tension was suddenly released instantlyas a bow was strung back and the slightest noise alerted the mercenaries right as the arrow was released. The mercenaries all raised their shields, three of them blocking projectiles, while one of the mercenary archers was hit in the neck, with no hope for survival.


    ¡°Ambush!¡± screamed the leader as everyone drew their weapons. The remaining archers instantly shot back at the locations the arrows came from, screams echoing out along with the thuds that signified the fallen enemies. Suddenly they were surrounded by shouts, as bandits rushed in from within the trees and surrounded the caravan. The horses, pulling the wagons neighed, obviously fearing what was to come. The bandits outnumbered the men, being at least twice their numbers but they weren¡¯t as well equipped. The sounds of metal clanging on metal spread out as the passengers shook in fear, within the wagons. Just a single one didn¡¯t fear for their circumstances.


    The passenger, travelling with the caravan master jumped off the wagon ¡°Can¡¯t you quiet down a bit?!¡± everyone¡¯s heads turned in his direction. He was a boy with white hair, scales around his neck and a lizard-like tail. ¡°Seriously! Can¡¯t I take a nap in peace without someone interrupting me?¡± he had a bow and quiver on his back, a shortsword on the side of his waist and a dagger on the back of it. He didn¡¯t wear any armor but why would he? Everyone knew Dragon scales were one of the strongest natural defenses in existence and Drakin ones, while much weaker, were still better than any steel armor you¡¯d find at the blacksmith, not to mention they allowed for absolute freedom of movement unlike most other protection humans usually wore.


    The bandits hesitated and while the mercenaries were caught off guard as well, the fact that he had come from the caravan meant he was possibly on their side, letting them recover more easily. They struck back at the bandits while they were distracted, a few killing their targets. The boy sighed and drew his sword before rushing towards a bandit, stabbing the sword through the man¡¯s heart, without giving him a chance to recover from his surprise. It seemed some of the bandits, if not most, were by no means combat-trained. It explained why the mercenaries could hold their ground despite being so heavily outnumbered.


    As soon as his sword pierced the bandit¡¯s heart, he pulled it out and rushed towards the next one. His sword slashed one¡¯s neck, the next one, falling soon after. Bandit after bandit fell, allowing the mercenaries more room for work, as they started slaying them as well, the boost in morale helping along with the lower number of enemies. The bandits on the other hand were forced to give up. They no longer believed this could end with anything but all their deaths. They called a retreat, running back into the trees. The mercenaries didn¡¯t pursue. While they ended up having only one casualty, the rest of them were quite wounded and in the first place their job was to protect the caravan, not get rid of the bandits. But as the leader turned to thank Rex for the help, he found him to be gone. After all, the same thing couldn¡¯t be said for the boy¡¯s own job.


    Rex ran after the bandits, easily following them by scent, but keeping his distance. While he was complaining earlier, after just being woken up he was actually lucky to get attacked by those bandits. It was also something he was hoping would happen. It was just that he was still annoyed to be woken up. Thankfully the bandits were kind enough to lead him straight to their hideout.


    He followed them until arriving at a point where he could see into a clearing. Tents were set up in it, though there wasn¡¯t a wall or anything surrounding it. ¡®That¡¯s just careless¡­¡¯ he thought while sighing. He climbed into the trees and approached the camp further. The bandits that had just come back were surrounded by others,explaining themselves to another.


    ¡®The leader?¡¯ he certainly seemed to be better armed than the others and he looked like he was better trained. He was a large man with large muscles and an air of experience around him.He had an axe and shield strapped to his waist and back respectively, looked old, probably beyond his years, and had a gruff face with a few scars as well as a bald head. ¡®Alright. If I kill that guy, it should be good enough. Hmm¡­ but if I do that the others might run away¡­ It¡¯ll be a pain getting to them then. If I¡¯m gonna do this, I might as well make sure it¡¯s done well¡­ That being said it¡¯s not like it would be easy to handle so many bandits in a straight on fight.¡¯ He thought about what to do for a moment before deciding. He pulled his newly bought bow off his back and nocked an arrow, pulling back and aiming. As he calculated the trajectory of the arrow he released and saw it satisfyingly fly into the neck of the leader. He stumbled, trying desperately to take a breath, to no avail and as he fell to the ground another arrow flew in and hit another bandit in the neck. The others drew their weapons. In the end... Rex had decided it''s not worth thinking too much about.


    Most looked like they had done so out of desperation, only a few looking like they were actually composed to some extent. Rex fired another arrow at one, who didn¡¯t have a shield and it hit him straight through the eye, piercing his skull and killing him. At that point they finally saw where the arrows were coming from, causing Rex to drop down from the tree while putting the bow back in its sheath.


    The bandits finally saw him causing them to all tense up in surprise. Some didn¡¯t notice the peculiarities in him right away, causing them to be surprised at their enemy being just a child. The rest were pale in the face, thinking about running away. Rex wasn¡¯t going to make it easy for them as he instantly rushed towards them while drawing his sword. At that point everyone noticed he wasn¡¯t normal.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    As Rex reached them the first man slashed his sword at him but it was easily dodged before his throat was sliced. Though another two instantly tried to close in and kill him. Rex deflected one of their axes with his sword and right as the other one was about to strike the back of his head, the bandit, thinking he had already, won let his guard down only to have his axe knocked out of his arms by the boy¡¯s tail. He thrust his sword forward piercing the heart of the man in front of him before jumping up and smacking the one behind him with his tail, a snap was heard as the bandit¡¯s head turned at an impossible angle and he was knocked down, his eyes open wide and lifeless.


    As he landed on the ground he pulled his sword out and turned to the others. They were all hesitating but he wasn¡¯t. Every second he wasted could be a second he could kill another person, before they make up their mind and run. He knew he couldn¡¯t kill them all but if he killed the majority, including the leader his mission should be sufficiently complete. He could have waited for night and eliminated them quietly. The thought had passed through his head. But he didn¡¯t want to resort to such cowardly tactics. He was a tyrant. A tyrant wielded his power indiscriminately and directly. Maybe he didn¡¯t have much of it yet, butit was enough for these guys.


    He rushed towards them instantly. Their desperate attacks failed to hit him, as his sword danced around, precisely dealing nothing but mortal injuries. Another ten died before the others simply turned back and ran. Even those that had some semblance of bravery left, lost hope, seeing all their comrades flee and joined them in their escape, all of them running away in different directions. The boy pursued as best he could. He caught up to one group, slashing the back of their necks easily while they ran away. Another bandit passed close by alone, giving Rex a view through the trees. He drew the dagger on the back of his waist and threw it, piercing the back of the man¡¯s head. ¡®Shit. Did I waste my money on this bow? Should I have just bought some throwing knives?¡¯ a carefree thought passed through Rex¡¯s head in the middle of his murder spree.


    He ran after the rest, seeking them out from the sound of desperate footsteps but as five more fell to his blade, the others were already too far for him to track efficiently. He could still find them with some effort, but it didn¡¯t seem like it would be worth it. In less than ten minutes a whole camp of around forty bandits had fallen, with only sixteen leaving alive. That should have been enough.


    Rex sighed as he sheathed his sword and retrieved his dagger, before walking back to the camp. He hadn¡¯t brought a bag along this time, but he didn¡¯t really feel like looting the camp. He had unfortunately had to abandon the cloak. It was only weighing him down anyway. He could buy a new one later. The only reason he took it was because he had no reason not to as it used to be one of his only possessions in the world. For now though, Rex walked into the clearing again. He looked around, the ground had several bodies sprawled out. He sharpened his ears but he couldn¡¯t hear any of them breathing¡­ no¡­ there was breathing but from somewhere else.


    He opened his eyes again, cutting his concentration and looked in the direction the breathing came from. The biggest tent in the camp stood there, quite a bit larger than the rest. Rex walked over, already having an idea of what was inside. He opened the flaps of the tent, looking inside with his eyes, piercing the darkness. The inside held a few wagons worth of merchandise, no doubt, stolen from the caravans passing through the forest road. The bandits weren¡¯t around here for long, they were relatively new in the area, but two weeks was still enough to gather this much if you were lucky. They obviously were, until now. They had been too brazen with their activities which lead to their current situation.


    That¡¯s not what caught the boy¡¯s attention though. No. What caught the boy¡¯s attention were four large cages with people inside them, five in each. They looked at him, some with hope, others fear, but all of them right now had their eyes on the boy who had shed light into the darkness of the tent. They were all naked, stripped of all possessions. Some were women, others men, even kids. Though there were no old ones. Rex guessed they didn¡¯t sell for much. He stood at the entrance for a minute, his expression cold. All the cages had padlocks on them. The leader outside probably had a key, but Rex didn¡¯t care at the moment.


    He approached the door of the first cage and took the lock in his hand, before transforming it into a claw and pulling with all his might. The lock creaked and snapped, giving way to his herculean strength. If it was made of steel it might not have been as simple, but this was a comparatively fragile iron lock. He moved on to the next cage, doing the same. Then followed the other two, until all the locks on the cages were completely torn off.


    The people, slowly looked on as he did his work, unable to see him very well in the dark tent, which no longer had the light of the sun shining through the flaps, not daring to exit yet, but more and more people gaining hope in their eyes. As the last lock was torn off, one man from the first cage, stood up and opened the cage with slow movements, stepping out cautiously. The boy gave him a glance, before throwing the torn lock to the side and proceeding to leave the tent. As he walked away more and more people left the cages and as he left he heard some talking, even crying inside. Though he didn¡¯t care enough to concentrate on it and make out the words.


    He waited in the camp for a while. About half an hour passed before someone reluctantly stepped out of the tent. It was a woman, this time dressed. Quickly after her followed others, all of them seeming to have borrowed some clothes from the pile of merchandise in the tent. They all flowed out of the tent little by little, until they were all outside. Twenty people gathered. They all approached the boy and the man who had left the cage first earlier stepped out in front of the others.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± he said bowing in gratitude ¡°Thank you so much! For saving me! For saving all of us!¡±


    The boy looked upon the man with a still cold expression. He raised a finger and pointed in a certain direction ¡°There¡¯s a road that way. Once you arrive there, head left. If you walk without stop, you¡¯ll arrive in town before night.¡±


    ¡°Y-You won¡¯t be coming?¡± one of the men in the back asked worriedly, before instantly shrinking back, as if having said something wrong.


    ¡°If you¡¯re worried about your safety then¡­¡± Rex paused and pointed at the bodies sprawled out in the camp ¡°There are weapons and armor there. You should take them. If you wish to be safe¡­¡± he looked meaningfully at all of them ¡°Then earn the strength to protect yourselves.¡± he couldn''t have carried the loot anyway and Rex was never a very materialistic person. He was fine as he was.


    The men, women and children were all speechless. They looked at the corpses and then back at the boy. The first one to move was ironically one of the boys in the group. He started walking over to the dead bandits. Some of the men followed, before most were there, picking the corpses for what they had. A few looked at the bandits in disdain before starting and while stripping them of their possessions. Before long they walked back to the scaled youngster. The men were now armed with weapons and armor while the women and children simply carried something to protect themselves with. They couldn¡¯t wear armor as none of it was suitable. All of the bandits were male, and none the size of kids.


    ¡°And you?¡± asked the man who had addressed him first earlier. He seemed to be appointed leader. ¡°May I ask what you intend to do?¡±


    Rex stood up at those words ¡°Ah. It¡¯s nothing important. I just changed my mind on something. After all¡­¡± the boy¡¯s look was cold, almost physically so. The men and women could feel it. There was something in that boy that was beyond them. Of course they resented the bandits for what they¡¯d done. Some of them had lost families. Some of them were personally mistreated by the bandits. Some of them had even kicked the dead corpses out of frustration. But there was something more in the boy. Something that wasn¡¯t as simple as resentment. It was an obsession. A cold, burning fire that could consume all of his being burned in those cold, piercing eyes. The boy turned around, walking off towards the woods. His next words caused chills to travel down the spines of all those present.


    ¡°I have a job to complete.¡±

 Chapter 9: A Step Towards Magic

    Twilight covered the sky, as it slowly turned to night. The forest below was quiet, the noises of animals turning to silence, bringing a tranquil feeling to the darkening forest. A single light stood out in this peaceful moment, a fire, built in a clearing. A boy with white hair sat next to the fire, enjoying the warmth and sound of the crackling wood with closed eyes. A shirt was hung next to the fire, wet from the blood that had been cleaned off it in a small stream, close by and a sword, quiver and bow were all rested on the trunk of a tree nearby. His dagger sheathed and left right next to him.


    The boy reflected on the day and frustration took hold of him. It had taken him a significant amount of time to take care of the rest of the bandits. The fact they had all run in different directions really helped them stay alive for longer. Not by much. But it bought them some time. If they were smart and cautious it was possible some might even have escaped. But that wasn¡¯t the case. The boy had slaughtered each and every one of them. He was sure. He had counted.


    He wondered for a brief moment if the group of former prisoners had made it to the town on time, but it didn¡¯t bother him if they didn¡¯t. It wouldn¡¯t kill them to spend a night outside. Still, he doubted they couldn¡¯t make it to the town, which wasn¡¯t far from his current location. Unfortunately, it was too far. At least for him. Too far for him to make it before night, when the gate was shut to the general public. Only people with permits could enter the gate at night and needless to say, the boy didn¡¯t have one.


    Of course he could force his way through, but he didn¡¯t want to cause too much trouble. Because trouble could mean something very bad for him. It wasn¡¯t as if he was exempt from the rules of this place and even if he didn¡¯t like it, he would have to keep a low profile for a while. Or¡­ as low as possible, considering his race. He was capable enough to handle himself, but that was it. A real expert in this world could defeat him quite easily and as long as he didn¡¯t know exactly how powerful magic could be that¡¯d prove to only be a further disadvantage. He evaluated his strength to be enough to carry out B-rank requests on his own. But A-ranks would probably carry a very real risk of death. For now, he was too weak. He would have to behave himself.


    He also thought about the items in the bandit camp. Those could have been useful, though the group might have taken them. ¡®Aww well. Too much trouble to go back for that now. I have nowhere to sell that kind of stuff anyway. Or carry it for that matter.¡¯ The items in the camp was mostly merchandise. Clothes, food, alcohol. The bandits probably had some coin on them, but he was sure the group had taken at least that with them. He had been too¡­ distracted, to do so himself.


    All of the men and women there witnessed his deep-seeded hatred. Where the hatred stemmed from, they couldn¡¯t be sure, but that cold, yet burning rage, they saw in his eyes that day would surely leave a mark on all of them. That was why he had neglected to loot the bandits himself. He had been too consumed by that. Eliminating the other bandits took priority far above earning some coin on the side. As for the weapons and armor. It was more that he pointed them out to the group rather than giving it to them. It¡¯s not like he planned on carrying them. Though he had taken at least the coins of the bandits he had slain afterward, as little as they were, only amounting to twenty-four silvers. It at least brought up his total fortune a tiny bit. He had bought the bow, quiver and arrows for a total of seven gold coins, leaving him with nine. Now this brought his fortune back up to eleven gold Rais.


    The boy let out a sigh, as if letting go of all his negative thoughts, and calmed down. That was enough reflection. He would be stuck in the forest until tomorrow and since he had slept two days ago and had taken a nap in the caravan earlier it still wasn¡¯t necessary to do so today. Instead he decided he would practice some for the first time in a while. He released his thoughts, letting them slip off and relaxing his mind into a state as close as he could get to not thinking about anything. He could hear his breathing get louder, and then more distant, until he couldn¡¯t hear it at all. He imagined himself surrounded by darkness. A complete and utter darkness that consumed everything. The same as the space he found himself in after he died. But now. Among the darkness a new feeling aroused. There was something there. It felt like gentle flowing water, yet it didn¡¯t feel suffocating, nor that it was hard to breathe, or that he floated uncontrollably in it. It was like being underwater, but it being no different than being on dry land.


    That feeling was it. The feeling of the magic in the air. The feeling of mana. The so-called essence of everything. But so far, the boy had been unable to do absolutely anything with it. The most he could do was force it to move around, even though it quickly went back to how it was originally and seemed mostly unaffected. This was all he could do with it. There was no improvement at all within the two months he had tried. There was something that bothered the boy though. Within all his time meditating he could not sense this mana within himself or anyone else. Not Ann, not Maya, or anyone else he had meditated around. Even the trees in this forest seemed to not have any mana in them. It was strange. According to Ann, mana was supposed to be the essence of everything. Everyone and everything was supposed to have mana. If so and if mana was so clearly and easily felt like he was doing right now, then why did he not sense that of those around him?


    The boy speculated that was the step needed to be able to use magic. To be able to feel the mana¡­ if not within everything around you, then at the very least within yourself. The idea that the notion of mana being inside everything was false had crossed his mind, but even if Ann was not a magician she still used that mana in her craft. She was bound to know about it and she confirmed that while she didn¡¯t know if it was essence or something else, everyone was indeed supposed to have it to some extent. And the boy doubted Ann would lie. He didn¡¯t want to think Ann would lie to him about it. Not because he wanted to trust her. But because if she really had then he would have no lead on magic whatsoever.


    So today. The boy tried something different. Rather than feeling for the essence of the world, he tried feeling for his own. That¡¯s why. He even blocked off the feeling of the mana around him and instead focused inwardly. It was a strange sensation. Like inside him there was a complerely sepparate world to explore and he was observing it with a third, separate eye. One that could see nothing but mana.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    He observed himself, searching for the mana that must surely have been inside him. He did so for minutes, then hours, but he found nothing. Still. He felt progress. He was getting better and better at observing himself through meditation as the process continued. It was much different from the frustrating sensation of trying to control the mana around him, where he felt no progress whatsoever.


    Still, as he opened his eyes with the sun already risen, the fire having gone completely out and his shirt still slightly wet, he had sensed not even a trace of his own mana. Regardless, he felt closer, much more so than he did after practicing to control the mana around him. And he now thought understood why. If the mana around him was the essence of the world. It wasn¡¯t ¡°his¡±. That¡¯s why he had no way to control it. Nobody would unless they somehow had the ability to transform others'' mana into their own.


    He would have loved to keep practicing but he had gotten hungry and it was high time he headed back to town. His food had already run out so he would buy some more. He had fifteen beautiful gold coins waiting for him at the adventurer¡¯s guild after all, and that was more than enough to stay fed for months. He could practice more once he was done with that.


    He put on his, still slightly wet, shirt and retrieved his equipment. His sword and dagger, attached to his belt and his bow and quiver going over his shoulder and on his back. He walked towards the road, reaching it in less than an hour and started walking in the direction of the city from there.


    On his way he thought exactly what he could do with his money. He had already checked the book stores and found nothing interesting. He thought for a moment about some throwing knives, but found it would be a waste of money with his current funds, considering he would have to buy something to carry them in as well. Probably a new belt, which would have to be custom made because of his size, which he would outgrow in less than a month. Thinking about it like that. He honestly couldn¡¯t wait until he stopped growing in size so rapidly. He sighed and reminded himself it should only be a few more months at most. Whether he would continue to grow in age afterwards was something he would have to wait and see.


    After thinking about it thoroughly he still had no idea of what to use the money for. He just wasn¡¯t a very materialistic person. He valued ability much higher than possessions or wealth. Such things were only tools to a practical person such as him. Well, it didn¡¯t matter. He would simply buy a bag and some food to put in it, before leaving again. Meditation was much easier to do outside so he didn¡¯t even feel the need to rent a room at an inn. He had survived without one so far and he could do so in the future.


    It took him a few hours to reach the city and pass through the gate. He walked straight to the adventurer¡¯s guild, ignoring the curious and fearful glances of the people around him, entering as soon as he got to the large wooden building.


    The adventurers were already in a jolly mood, having gathered and discussing with each other just like usual. There were some loners among them, of course, but there weren¡¯t many. Some of them looked at him and once more shut their mouths but there were a few that only glanced over before resuming their actions. They were the regulars. The ones who had gotten slightly used to the out of place Drakin wandering in and out of the building from time to time.


    He walked up to the counter, which was once more manned by the older person, Rex had met one day one.


    ¡°I¡¯m here about the bandit extermination.¡± Rex spoke out.


    ¡°Complete it already?¡± asked the old man, for confirmation. He wasn¡¯t surprised in the least. He knew the young man in front of him was more than capable enough to accomplish the task. He received a nod as a reply. ¡°Anything you wanna report about it?¡± reporting wasn¡¯t necessary but some adventurers did it sometimes. When a request had unnatural circumstances or simply because they preferred doing so. The more information the guild had the better it was for them, after all. When something seemed out of the ordinary, the guild would take that into account.


    ¡°Nothing interesting. I just cut down all of them.¡±


    ¡°All of them?¡± the old man asked once more to confirm. He once again didn¡¯t doubt the boy. He just wanted to make sure he didn¡¯t mean something else. Like that he had eliminated MOST of them.


    ¡°All of them.¡± The boy confirmed, his tone of voice telling the old man that not one of the bandits truly lived anymore.


    ¡°Alright. Hand me your card and I¡¯ll update it as well as bring your reward.¡±


    Rex did so, handing over his card, the old man taking it and putting it under the counter, before putting it back on the counter along with fifteen gold coins. Rex took the coins, putting them in his pouch and then reacquired his card as well. He turned his back to the counter and looked around once more for Leon and his group. He didn¡¯t find them but glanced over to the request board instead. He walked over to it looking over the jobs.


    There wasn¡¯t any C-rank work left in the vicinity of the town. If he wanted to do more he would have to take one for the nearby villages. Villagers in the area would have to travel to a town to put up their request. Not every one of them could have a guild building after all. Unfortunately, none of the requests seemed interesting or worthwhile. Even the surrounding villages didn¡¯t seem to be having any problems that could warrant a C-rank request. Either that or they couldn¡¯t muster up enough for a reward to issue one. Villages weren¡¯t the richest of environments after all.


    Beyond that though. This was a peaceful country. It didn¡¯t have much trouble and as such didn¡¯t have much work. Rex was sure the adventurers who were just looking to feed themselves wouldn¡¯t have a problem with that, but Rex wanted something more. Something he couldn¡¯t find in a peace-ridden environment such as this. And even though he knew it would probably bring him a great deal of frustration and anger he decided. After he was done with Ann¡¯s request he would leave this country and head somewhere else. Where exactly he hadn¡¯t decided yet. But a country that was more exciting would be good. Even if that excitement would most likely be full of annoyance for the young tyrant.


    For now though. He would go out into the forest. He would stay there, practicing meditation, probably including some practice with his sword and bow as well. He would check in every morning to look at the requests before heading back to the forest if there was nothing interesting and he would continue this until he reached C-rank. Then he¡¯d get Ann¡¯s request out of the way so that he could once more be free.


    With that thought in mind Rex left the building. After procuring a reasonable amount of dried meat and fruit as provisions he headed out to the nearest forest, which would become his home for just a while longer.

 Chapter 10: A Personal Request

    Under the dark clouds covering the light of the newly risen sun, Rex sat. Cross-legged and with eyes closed, he concentrated on the energy within him, yet he still failed to bring it to the surface. He had made much progress in the last week, having started to feel the energy inside him as he entered deep meditation, but the next step eluded him. He opened his eyes as a sigh followed right after.


    He noticed the dark clouds looming above, blocking out the sun ¡®Guess the townsfolk weren¡¯t just joking aroud.¡¯ he thought, having overheard talks of a rainy season soon approaching. He put a hand inside his bag and took out two bottles, one of oil and one of wax, and with them he also took out a cloth. First he took his sword, taking it out of its scabbard, he took the cloth and oiled the blade before waxing the leather on the handle and once again putting it away in its sheathe. The talks of a rainy season had reminded him that if he didn¡¯t maintain his weapons they would eventually be taken by rust and the young man wished to avoid that. Not only would it be a waste of money, but he didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d be able to acquire another weapon once the ones he had were useless.


    Next he took his dagger, no longer an iron one, but one made of the better steel instead. He had bought this as he thought the old dagger would be a waste of money to maintain. He had sold that one off for ten silver, less as a weapon considering how old and unmaintained it was and more for the material it was made out of. The blacksmith might have even given him a better deal than most merchants would. He looked like a man that was serious about his trade. After applying the oil and wax on the dagger in the same way he sheathed it and stood up, attaching it to the back of his belt and the sword to his side. He took his quiver and slung it over his shoulder followed by his bow, before heading off to town, taking a fruit or two from his bag and eating them on the way, the assortment of equipment not weighing him down in the least.


    This had been his routine for the last week. He would meditate at night, sleeping every few days. In the mornings he would go to the adventurer¡¯s guild, check the jobs while hanging around for a bit, trying to possibly get some information on labyrinths either from the girl at the counter as she seemed less professional than the old man or from other adventurers. And then he would go to the forest and either practice with his sword, gather fruit and herbs or hunt for the rest of the day. Out of these he had to admit the hunting was his favorite. He would practice with his bow, throwing his dagger and stealth not to mention he got free food. It was by far the most productive of his tasks. Even if practicing with his sword and meditating were still necessary and actions he enjoyed performing, the hunting was what he looked forward to the most.


    Passing through Fyric¡¯s gate, he headed straight for the adventurer guild¡¯s building, stepping inside.


    ¡°Oh Rex! How about a drink today?¡± called out instantly one of the guys who¡¯d gotten used to his presence. The guy¡¯s name was Eric. He was one of the bigger men around, with his choice of weapon being a large axe and usually wearing heavy armor. Or at least he would if he could afford it, he said to Rex while having a laugh about it once.


    He walked over to the request board without answering as per usual, but something today stuck out to him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be passing on the drink today.¡± He said to Eric¡¯s disappointment as he walked over to the counter. It was the girl on the counter today it seemed. He still had yet to learn her name and he didn¡¯t plan on it either. He had no reason to after all. ¡°I want to take the non-official C-rank request.¡± The request seemed simple. Kill a monster threatening a village. There were a few more details written down, but in his excitement Rex neglected reading them. It was just a C-rank request so it couldn¡¯t be too difficult and he could find out the details from the issuer.


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d say that.¡± She answered with a smile. She was well aware of Rex¡¯s desire for C-rank work so he could advance. She took out a paper and handed it to him. ¡°This is the current address of the issuer. Head there as soon as possible.¡±


    Rex took the paper and headed out the door immediately only to be stopped, reminded of the dark clouds, alerting him that it would be raining soon. With a grumble he headed to the nearby tailor rather than directly to his destination.


    There were some outfits displayed at the front and even more revealed themselves as the boy opened the door and entered, walking up directly to the counter. He had visited this store once or twice before. The man behind the counter was the husband of the woman actually producing everything here. The best part was there were also leather items rather than just cloth.


    ¡°Welcome. What¡¯re you looking for today?¡± The man asked, clearly remembering the Drakin from his previous visits.


    ¡°Do you have a leather cloak about my size?¡± Rex answered with his own question. The man seemed to think for a moment before telling Rex to wait for a moment and going in the back. He came back out with a well-made brown cloak, complete with a hood lined with fur at the edges. It looked like it would be annoyingly hot to wear, but it was exactly what Rex was looking for. He probably wouldn¡¯t be as bothered by it as a human anyway.


    ¡°Try this on.¡± The man handed it to him. Rex took it and looked it over. It had two metal buttons around the neck area along with two strings which seemed to need to be tied together. He donned the cloak and tied together the strings closely so it wouldn¡¯t leave the cloak very open. It was slightly annoying to wear with all his equipment, but it hid it well and he was sure he could get used to it. He nodded once, taking off the hood.


    ¡°How much for it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s seven gold Rais.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    That sounded reasonable. The steel dagger he bought had costed three gold coins and leather armor cost around ten so this didn¡¯t seem unreasonable at all. He took out seven gold coins from his pouch and gave them to the man, thanking him and leaving the store in a hurry, now ready to head to his destination. The thick cloak was necessary if it was the rainy season. While Rex didn¡¯t mind getting slightly wet, his equipment would disagree. With the thick leather it would be decently protected from the rain pouring over it.


    As he took out the paper to look at the address he wasn¡¯t surprised to see it was an inn: ¡°The Yawning Lion¡±. It certainly sounded like a good inn overall. If only these things could be judged solely by name. The address included some directions which Rex followed, not knowing where the inn was and after asking for directions once or twice he made it to the issuer¡¯s staying place. The inn wasn¡¯t bad, but wasn¡¯t good. Despite the fact it seemed to have a homely feel to it. Rex guessed it was a pretty good deal for probably being a budget inn. He entered, approaching the counter of this place as well.


    ¡°O-Oh. Welcome! Would you like to rent a room?¡± said the girl, stumbling over her own words. The rumors that there was a Drakin in town was something she¡¯d heard about, but she didn¡¯t expect him to show up at her family¡¯s inn.


    Rex shook his head ¡°I¡¯m looking for somebody. He should be staying on the second floor? Fifth room on the right?¡±


    ¡°Ah yes. Please go on up.¡±


    Rex walked to the stairway at her words and went up to the second floor, walking down the hallway the fifth room to the right was the second to last in the hallway. He knocked on the door and waited for about half a minute before the door opened to reveal a man somewhere in his forties widening his eyes at the boy in front of him. The cloak covered up his scales completely, allowing for such misunderstanding as the man was currently having and while Rex¡¯s eyes were still different, the man had failed to notice them in his frustration.


    ¡°I¡¯ve come for the job you posted at the guild.¡± Rex stated, not caring for the surprise in the man¡¯s eyes. The man¡¯s eyes narrowed adding a hint of anger to his otherwise serious nature.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to deal with children, looking to get themselves killed.¡± He spouted as he tried closing the door, annoying Rex and causing him to put his foot in the way, stopping him from closing him off.


    ¡°If you treat me like a kid you¡¯ll regret it.¡± Rex warned. Though his warning wasn¡¯t a threat. The man seemed to have a serious problem. He most likely cared for his village and whatever the thing threatening it was, he seemed to believe it was a genuine threat to the village¡¯s survival. The man would really regret it if he rejected him and left the job to a normal D or even C-rank party The man let up on pushing the door and after a few seconds opened it again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for games. I¡¯d appreciated it if you reported that you won¡¯t be taking the task to the adventurer¡¯s guild so that I can receive actual help.¡±


    Rex sigher ¡°Look.¡± He put out his hand and pulled down his sleeve slightly revealing his scales, causing the man to widen his eyes once more. ¡°Can we talk now?¡±


    The man paused for a moment, seemingly thinking it over then stepped aside, leaving the door open. Rex walked into the room taking that as confirmation. The man closed the door behind him and walked over as Rex put his bag on the floor and sat on the bed, making himself at home.


    ¡°You¡¯re a Drakin?¡± asked the man, not quite sure. Rex only nodded as a response. ¡°I guess you may be able to help then¡­ What¡¯s your rank?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only D-rank since I started around two or so weeks ago, but I evaluate my strength to be at least B. Possibly A. I can¡¯t answer completely accurately since I¡¯ve never met an adventurer of said ranks.¡±


    ¡°¡­Why should I believe you?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to. My race should vouch for my strength. If anything I¡¯m being humble.¡± He wasn¡¯t Rex knew that he was somewhere around the threshold of B and A-rank adventurers just from what Ann had told him in stories.


    ¡°Still I¡¯ll need to know what you¡¯re capable of.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯ll help the C-rank requests I¡¯ve completed so far are clearing out a kobold-infested mine and wiping out a bandit camp of around forty men. To be honest the latter was probably mis-ranked. The adventurer¡¯s guild probably misjudged the number of bandits. Either that or the request had been hanging for long enough for them to build them up beyond that of C-rank difficulty.¡±


    ¡°¡­ That¡­ should suffice.¡± The old man said, slowly wrapping his head around the fact that the ten or so looking boy in front of him casually mentioned murdering forty men like it was nothing out of the ordinary for him. His reason knew the boy was far from human, but it was still disturbing to say the least. Especially since he¡¯d had a good amount of interaction with the children in his village. ¡°When will you be able to set out at the earliest?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to set out even now, so whenever¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Then I suppose we should discuss what the mission is about and of course. The reward.¡±


    ¡°Give me a briefing first.¡±


    The man nodded ¡°My village is in the mountains and is surrounded by forest full of animals. As such most make their living there through hunting. There are farmers but there¡¯s not a lot of land suited for it and even the one that is isn¡¯t very rich so the best work in the village is usually hunting. Unfortunately, lately something¡¯s started living in that forest. It¡¯s been taking our game, scaring away the animals and I¡¯m afraid that eventually it will even assault the village as well.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. You don¡¯t know what it is?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I do. We organized a party, even found it¡¯s hiding place. A big cave. Probably used to have something else living there. Maybe a pack of wolves. Maybe a bear. Now it¡¯s resident is an ogre.¡±


    ¡°An ogre? Those aren¡¯t known to be the best hunters.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t. But with that size they can run fast. With that and their enormous appetite even if they tire relatively easily animals in the forest are being forced to move further and further away from there. And further and further away from our village.¡±


    ¡°Well an ogre huh? Hmm... I¡¯m not sure how well I can take something like that down by myself. About twenty gold coins seems a fair price for something like that.¡±


    ¡°We¡­ can only offer fifteen¡­ at the most.¡±


    Rex sighed. He knew it would be like this. Money wasn¡¯t the important part for him anyway. ¡°Well whatever. I¡¯ll do it for fifteen then. I need the task complete on my record rather than the coin.¡±


    ¡°Really?! Then-!¡± exclaimed the man


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m willing to starve for it!¡± Interrupted Rex ¡°I¡¯ll take ten at the VERY least.¡±


    ¡°Ten¡­ I see¡­ That¡¯s a better price than I would¡¯ve probably gotten for anyone else¡­¡± He cleared his throat. If they successfully defeated the ogre, he could now be glad that the village won¡¯t completely starve for it. ¡°I forgot to mention, but a few others in the village have offered to help with defeating the monster. You might not have to fight by yourself.¡±


    ¡®I¡¯m not sure if I want that or not¡¯ thought Rex instantly. A bunch of hunters with no actual training for battle might only get in the way. Though if he crafted a decent plan he would most likely be able to make use of them. It was good to have an option. ¡°Great. When¡¯re we leaving?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re really ready to leave now then¡­ meet me at the south-east gate in two hours.¡±


    ¡®Ugh¡­ guess we¡¯ll be travelling in the rain¡¯ Rex thought, slightly annoyed. He got off the bed and picked his bag up. ¡°In that case I¡¯ll see you there.¡± Rex turned to leave, but remembered something before exiting, while holding the door half-open he turned slightly back to the hunter. ¡°Ah that¡¯s right. My name is Rex.¡±


    ¡°Tristan.¡± Answered the man briefly. Thank you for being willing to help despite the low reward¡­¡±


    Rex smiled slightly, inwardly thinking it quite funny how quickly his attitude changed. With that he turned around and left. He climbed down the stairs and went outside, sparing the young girl at the counter no more than a glance as she waved goodbye to him, nervously. As he left he headed straight for the gate where him and the hunter were supposed to meet, but unsurprisingly not even halfway on his way there he felt a drop of water fall on his cheek. Soon after the drop turned into a few more, before the rain he had been waiting for, for the last three to four hours finally began right at the most inopportune moment. He sighed as he pulled up his hood, thinking where he should wait out the two hours without the rain constantly pelting him.

 Chapter 11: A Peaceful Fantasy

    Rex waited for Tristan, taking shelter, using the overhang of a building close to the gate, incredibly bored. He had taken the time to go out and buy a waterskin to hold some water in, but he now had nothing else to do. He wanted to do something. To practice his swordsmanship, to meditate, even having a drink sounded fine to him right now, though his draconic constitution seemed to make it incredibly difficult to actually indulge himself. Incredibly useful and incredibly annoying. It looked like he was still far from being able to simply enjoy a good bottle of alcohol. Something he¡¯d always hoped to be able to do, but was never able to. Not with how busy he was back in the day. Not with how important it was for his mind to stay clear.


    The young boy sighed as he waited patiently. An hour passed, then another half of one, before Tristan finally arrived. He was also wearing a cloak, looking to be made of leather, but not quite as thick. Certainly if any human was wearing a similar cloak to Rex¡¯s right now they would be sweating from the heat. While Rex felt it, it didn¡¯t bother him. He walked up to Tristan and after a nod to each other they started walking together, leaving through the gate. It was technically still early afternoon. Probably only around one in the afternoon by Rex¡¯s old standards. They would be able to still travel a few hours for the day.


    ¡°How far to this village of yours? You said it was in the mountains so it¡¯s at least a few days right?¡± asked Rex as the rain poured, soaking them both unpleasantly.


    ¡°If you¡¯re used to travel then we can probably make it within five days¡±


    ¡®Meaning I could have made it in about three on my own. Maybe two.¡¯ Rex immediately compared in his mind. He wasn¡¯t making fun of the man. It was just a habit. Comparing human capabilities to his own. He needed to get a grasp of what he was capable of compared to them. He knew that humans could become much stronger in this world than the humans of his own. He knew that his current ability was within those bounds, but he was still the age of a ten-year-old boy. In fact, not even. His abilities would keep increasing as long as he grew while humans needed either months upon months of hard work or a staggering amount of talent to get to where he was right now. He was not only working hard, but gaining strength passively over that time. That¡¯s all he needed. Time. With time he would be able to attain a level of power where he wouldn¡¯t need to fear the law, nor anything else.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Rex snapped out of his thougts at Tristan¡¯s words.


    ¡°You looked really¡­ intense for a moment.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Rex realized that he had failed to hide his frustration, letting his thoughts appear clearly on his face. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. This rain is just annoying me to no end.¡± A stupid excuse, but one that should work considering the reputation of Drakin and that Tristan barely knew him. The old man didn¡¯t ask for more.


    The journey continued without any particular mishap. They stopped at night, the rain having let up by that point. Still everything was wet and they had no way of starting a fire. They ate the food they had readied in advance and went to sleep. Even Rex was tired as he had skipped sleep yesterday and this was his fourth day without it. They woke up in the morning and once again set out. The weather seemed like it would hold up for that day and that it thankfully did. The day was spent mostly walking. Neither Tristan, nor Rex were the talkative type of people so they didn¡¯t say much.


    It was evening when they arrived at a village and decided they would spend the night there. They found a relatively cheap inn, both renting their own rooms, going to bed after having some of their rations. While the inn provided food for an additional price none of it looked appetizing and both had packed enough food for the travel already. Tristan didn¡¯t want to waste what little money he had while Rex just didn¡¯t enjoy leaving food to spoil. While the dried meat would hold out for a good while, the fruit easily became closer and closer to spoiling after each of the warm days they traveled. Tristan spent the night sleeping while Rex meditated on his essence, his mana, with little success.


    They set out again in the morning. Another day of travel allowed them to reach a village at the foot of the mountain, where they spent another night. And the fourth day, after spending it in climbing the mountain, they camped close to the path they had taken. One which wasn¡¯t worthy of being called a road. After discussing some things about the next day they both slept the night. While Rex still wasn¡¯t tired he decided it was necessary. The next day they reached the village at noon. The village had a palisade surrounding it with a wide opening where the path went through it, serving as an entrance. It was surrounded by forest, giving it a refreshing feeling to Rex who had been in an age where places like this were mostly nonexistent.


    They walked through the entrance which Rex noted didn¡¯t even have a gate. He supposed that a village this small probably didn¡¯t even have enough people to watch over it. Though contrary to his beliefs as soon as they entered he saw what seemed like a guard standing to the side. ¡°Looked like a guard¡± may have been a bit of an overexaggeration. The man, nay boy was young. Probably still in his teens. He wore some basic leather armor and had a shortsword dangling from his side. That and the vicious glare he was sending Tristan and him were the only things that made Rex recognize him as one. He looked too¡­ inexperienced was an understatement. He probably had no idea how to use the sharp stick he had at his waist.


    ¡°Tristan! What is the meaning of this?!¡± he asked loudly, demanding an answer, instantly causing Rex to get slightly annoyed. ¡®Great. It¡¯s one of those people¡¯ he thought. Needlessly loud, with such a judging gaze. Rex sighed, letting go of his annoyance. He just needed to wait for this to be dealt with by Tristan.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Tristan back. He knew what the boy was asking. He really did. But he didn¡¯t know where to start. He was hoping a more concrete question from the young boy could fix his dilemma.


    ¡°Where are the adventurers you were supposed to bring? And who¡¯s this brat?!¡± the young man asked this time.


    Rex thought the old man answered this, but he had already tuned out the conversation before he could get too upset at the unknowing boy. He looked around the village from his position. The village was small. There were less than thirty houses in its entirety, but plenty of free space, differentiating it from the bustling and cramped city he had been in less than a week ago. There was plenty of grass growing on the ground and though most of the trees seemed to be cut down there were a few still left here and there. The buildings were all made out of wood, but they had stone chimneys coming out of them. Except one which seemed to have two. He was willing to bet it was either someone of authority in the village¡­ or a blacksmith.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    The village gave off a sense of familiarity and coziness. A homely feel. The kind of place where everyone knew each other. A tightknit community. Rex thought it might someday be nice to live in a place like this. His thoughts of being a hermit in Nocturnalis were appealing, but so was this. A village where he could live out a peaceful life, however long that life lasted. He could be the local hunter, maybe help some others with the craft, maybe teach the militia how to swing a sword. He could only hope that someday maybe one of the races would accept him and allow him to live with them in such a place. Or better yet. Maybe a place where even the different races got along would be even nicer.


    ¡°Rex.¡±


    The dwarven blacksmith that pounded away at his anvil all day. The elves, tending to plants and learning to hunt. The demons, Esthel¡¯ros they were called, working as the militia. The human who would brew some fine ale and would occasionally invite everyone for a rowdy night of drinking. He imagined himself there. Waking up to the pounding of the hammer. Leaving his house and seeing his neighbor tending to his flower garden, bringing a pleasant smell to his sensitive nose. The thoughts appealed to him.


    ¡°Rex.¡±


    Thinking about it like that even this youngster who had insulted him was probably just the local troublemaker. Or maybe he simply loved this village that much. Yes. Yes Rex could understand his feelings now. The lad was surely frustrated that there were no promised men to come help them defend his village. Of course he would. He grew up here. He loved this place. He didn¡¯t want it to be destroyed by a random og-


    ¡°Rex!¡± Rex heard finally as he felt someone put their hands on his shoulders.


    ¡°Huh?¡± He muttered in confusion as he turned and saw a mildly confused and worried-looking Tristan staring at him along with the youngster. ¡°Oh. Sorry what was that?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Tristan sighed, almost as if giving up.


    ¡°Seriously, old man. This is who you brought? This is who is capable of helping us fending of an ogre?¡±


    ¡°Arin I-¡± Tristan began talking before being cut off.


    ¡°Now, now. I promise I¡¯ll help you take care of the ogre. I heard there¡¯s even some people from the village willing to help. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard.¡± Rex explained generously to the young man by the name of Arin.


    ¡°You will? Really? Okay enlighten me on how a, at most ten year old brat will help us defe¡­at the¡­ ogre¡­¡± he began his words only to slow down by the end of his sentence. For the first time Rex had looked him straight in the eyes as they talked. And while the light blue color of his eyes was unusual he was not one to know that it was almost inhuman. What was completely within his mind to comprehend were the draconic slits lining the insides of his eyes, replacing what should have been the human round pupil.


    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s wrong, lad?¡± Rex asked, smugly. He might have understood where the boy was coming from, but he wasn¡¯t one to avoid a slight bit of teasing on the side.


    ¡°Y-You. What are you?!¡±


    ¡®Ah ever the loud one.¡¯ Rex thought while grinning. He lightened the tight fit of his cloak, leaving it more open and revealing his hands, covered with scales on the back, pulling back his sleeves as he did for Tristan, revealing the scales continuing up his arm.


    ¡°Listen, boy and remember it well. For this is what one looks like when they inherit the blood of dragons.¡±


    Arin¡¯s eyes widened ever slightly further upon hearing this before Rex turned his back.


    ¡°Tristan. Take me to your home. I want to talk about a few things with you¡± he beckoned the old man as he walked off.


    Tristan only gave the boy a weak smile and pat him on the shoulder before running after Rex, catching up to him quickly and leaving the bewildered youth to his own thoughts.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that a bit unlike you?¡± The hunter asked as soon as he was caught up. Even though he had only known the young Drakin for a few days they had spent almost all of their time together and he had had the chance to observe his behavior quite extensively. He usually kept up a cold front, not boasting about his race, nor showing much emotion at all.


    ¡°Was it?¡± Rex asked back, not realizing how strange what he had done was considering his usual behavior. ¡°Well. The boy needed some proof that I¡¯d be able to protect the village. Or at least help in doing so. I provided him with quick proof.¡±


    Tristan understood that couldn¡¯t have been the only reason. He had done the same to the hunter after all. But with him it was different. He had even seemed annoyed to have to do so if anything. ¡®Maybe it just wasn¡¯t as fun to tease an old man.¡¯ He thought. It seemed strangely plausible. Arin had fallen into a reaction amusing enough for even him to crack a smile. Something he rarely ever did, much like the scaled boy.


    ¡°This is it, by the way.¡± He said as he stopped in front of a modest wooden house of two rooms. As he opened the door and walked in Rex followed. There were two trophies of animals hung on the wall. One was the head of a large black bear while the other of a large boar. Both seemed like they would be incredibly fine catches. There were no others showing Tristan¡¯s high standards for hunting. He was a man proud of his career and not taking anything less than magnificent as a trophy. The others were most likely either taken by the other hunters in the village or not at all.


    The furnishings weren¡¯t impressive by any means, but Tristan walked over to a wooden table, taking off his cloak and hanging it on the wall. He then proceeded to take off his equipment underneath. A bow, a quiver and a skinning knife. Even if he hadn¡¯t gone hunting he¡¯d taken the tools of the trade. Something Rex had noticed quickly while travelling with him.


    Rex walked over as well, taking off his cloak and hanging it on the back of the chair before taking the rest of his equipment off and sitting down. Tristan was already sat.


    ¡°Now what did you want to speak about?¡± asked the old man.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ let¡¯s start with the location of the ogre¡¯s cave. You mentioned it, but never gave me a proper location.¡¯


    ¡°The cave¡­ it¡¯s less than a day¡¯s walk through the forest away to the west.¡±


    Rex nodded ¡°Then what about the other people that wanted to help? What can you tell me about them?¡±


    ¡°One of them is Arin. You already met him¡± Rex was slightly surprised, but nodded. ¡°Another is a man named Michail. He¡¯s one of the hunters in the village and a pretty good one at that. He¡¯s in his mid-thirties if I remember right. Has a wife in the village and is a good shot with a bow.¡± Rex nodded. ¡°The last one is a guy named Lean. He¡¯s still young, but he¡¯s older than Arin, in his early twenties. He can wave around a sword, but that¡¯s about it. There¡¯s no swordsman in the village so those who do have them are left to figuring out how to use them themselves. Both Arin and Lean are part of the militia that¡¯s supposed to protect the village in case of attack.¡± Rex nodded again.


    ¡°What about you? Will you be coming?¡±


    ¡°Of course I am.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s five people including me.¡± Rex put a hand on his chin as he thought for a moment. ¡°Very well, then. I¡¯ll be staying here for today and tomorrow I¡¯ll be going out. I¡¯ll probably be back in a week.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± screamed out, Tristan unconciously.


    ¡°Calm down. I¡¯m not leaving. I¡¯m going to search through the surrounding forest. Get myself familiar with the terrain and see if I can¡¯t come up with a plan to get rid of the ogre.¡±


    ¡°I-I see. Right. Sorry. But the ogre might attack at any moment. There¡¯s no time to waste. We should leave for the subjugation tomorrow at the earliest.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure the ogre doesn¡¯t attack the village while I¡¯m away.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a secret. But I promise you I won¡¯t let it attack. Just trust me and have patience.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll trust you.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Rex said before stretching. ¡°Ah. Now then. I¡¯ll be meditating and I¡¯ll sleep tonight.¡±


    ¡°Just so you know I only have one bed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I can sleep anywhere. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    The old man nodded. He wasn¡¯t young enough to sleep on the floor without having some problems with his muscles the next day, but the young Drakin was more than capable of the feat. Rex got off his chair and sat down, beginning his meditation, hoping that today will finally be the day his magic would awaken. But just like that, time flew, and by the time he opened his eyes it was dark in the room and he could hear the rhythmic breathing of the sleeping old man from the other room. He laid down, his back to the wall. And just like that. Fell asleep.


    He woke up when it was still early. Too early for even the hunter to be up. Rex guessed the effectively short nap he had was a result of already sleeping the previous night. He wondered for a moment why sleeping as often wasn¡¯t a problem before while it was now, quickly deciding it was a matter of age. He was a newborn back then and while he had matured quickly it was no longer as simple to sleep so often. He quietly equipped himself. He donned the cloak and left in early morning. It would be a busy week, but he wanted this hunt to be successful so he decided. For once. He would put in as much effort as he possibly could to ensure that.

 Chapter 12: Beasthunting

    Rex headed for the front entrance of the village, fully intent on leaving, before he noticed the presence of someone else. Rex didn¡¯t recognise him, but he did recognise the fact that he was a guard. It looked like, contrary to his beliefs, the village had, at least, a few people able to forego their time to watch over the entrance at night. The man turned upon noticing the white-haired boy in the darkness and paled, his hands beginning to slightly shake as he put a hand on the handle of his sword.


    ¡°Wh-who are you?!¡± the man questioned in a louder voice than appropriate for the tranquil atmosphere.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the terror. I¡¯m not gonna eat you. I¡¯m here to take care of the ogre problem you guys were having?¡± Answered Rex, noticing the man¡¯s fear. He didn¡¯t blame him. There was something about creepy children walking nonchalantly through the dark. Combined with his white hair and inhuman eyes it should¡¯ve given most normal people at least a spook.


    The man relaxed slightly at his words ¡°A-Ah... the Drakin TrIstanbul was talking about.¡± He sighed out in relief ¡°What are you doing out so early.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going exploring.¡±


    ¡°Exploring?¡± the guard raised an eyebrow slightly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. See ya around.¡± He said before passing by. The guard didn¡¯t stop him. Even if he was told the Drakin wasn¡¯t a bad person he didn¡¯t want to test what would happen if he got in his way for no reason.


    As Rex left the village he walked down the path for a bit before stopping. He took a deep, long breath before, taking on a more serious expression. It was time to work. He took off into the forest, going West, the direction of the ogre¡¯s cave. As he got closer he could smell it in the air. He almost dreaded approaching further, but did so regardless until he could see the cave and even hear the deep growling sounds of the ogre¡¯s snoring. He thought for a moment about attacking it in its sleep, but set the thought aside. He couldn¡¯t kill it in one hit with his toothpick of a sword and he would prefer to have a solid plan before acting.


    He left the vicinity of the cave and explored the terrain around, hoping he could find something he could use. It was in the mountains. Digging a deep pit would be difficult. There weren¡¯t many cliffs and those that were there were of little strategic value if any. There was plenty of food around which the ogre was known for eating, and he wasn¡¯t very sharp. Poisoning him would be easy, but Rex didn¡¯t know of any poisons that would affect the ogre significantly. He also couldn¡¯t set fire to the forest in order to scare him off as that would have the same effect on the rest of the animals and putting it out would be next to impossible unless they were lucky enough to get a lot of rain before it spread significantly.


    The strategic worth of the area around the cave... was almost non-existent. Setting up any effective traps would be next to impossible on the short notice he had. It was unfortunate, but Rex had to think up a plan of simplicity, involving only him and the four others that would participate. After some thinking he decided on something decent that should make use of the abilities of the two hunters as well as the sharp pieces of metal the two guards would surely have. Without delay. He started the preparations with a small grin.


    <hr>


    Tristan woke up in his bed. He got up easily, used to the early mornings. He walked into the other room and ate some bread and leftover jerky for breakfast, deep in thought. It had been a week since Rex left. True to his word, the ogre hadn¡¯t attacked the village yet. Some of the villagers had suggested sending people to check up on it periodically, but Tristan insisted they didn¡¯t. He didn¡¯t want to risk people dying or getting in the way of whatever Rex was planning. If Rex didn¡¯t come back today¡­ that would have to change. The old man trusted the Drakin more than he really thought he should.


    Something about Rex simply felt like he was worth that trust. His usually quiet demeanour coupled with his practical actions. He wasn¡¯t one to do something for no reason. Or at least so it appeared to the hunter. That made him believe that this job was actually something he was fully intent on doing and not something he was willing to fail. Tristan didn¡¯t know how the boy knew the ogre wouldn¡¯t attack, but he was right. And now that it had been a week¡­


    Just as he was thinking that the door opened. In came a boy with white hair, causing to Tristan suddenly stand up.


    ¡°Rex!¡± he shouted in surprise


    ¡°Oh, Tristan. You¡¯re already awake? Good. You think you can gather the others you mentioned? We¡¯ll be heading off today.¡±


    ¡°Today?¡± the old man asked out loud unintentionally.


    ¡°Yeah. I finished the preparations and I¡¯d rather leave as soon as possible. I¡¯ll explain the plan here and we¡¯ll head out.¡±


    ¡°G-Got it. I¡¯ll go get the others.¡± He said before leaving the house. He quickly went around to the others¡¯ places. Alan was still sleeping causing the hunter to need to wake him up. It wasn¡¯t a surprise. For someone as dedicated at his job as him, he was bad in the mornings. That¡¯s why his shift was from noon til evening. Thankfully the other two were already wide awake and they quickly gathered their equipment and returned to the hunter¡¯s house where Rex waited.


    ¡°Good. Now I¡¯ll explain the plan and everyone¡¯s role in it.¡±


    As Rex explained the men were sceptical at first, but quickly understood that this was a good way for them to help. Even after the explanation was finished and they walked through the forest, heading for the monster¡¯s resting place the words echoed in their minds, each reflecting on them in their own way.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Okay. The plan is simple.¡± Rex had said. ¡°The ogre is big but not necessarily slow. What he is, is unintelligent and easily tired. So our objective will be to weaken it first, before I carefully attempt at finishing it off.¡± He paused to judge everyone¡¯s opinions, but it didn¡¯t look much like they had any. Except Arin who seemed upset. That was nothing new as he had looked like that from the moment he stepped in. ¡°Right. The way to weaken him is as follows. I¡¯ll focus his attention on myself and while that¡¯s the case Arin and Lean will attack his legs from behind. Aim for his tendons and render him disabled. Tristan and Michail. You¡¯ll attack the ogre with arrows to further distract him. As soon as you cut his legs you¡¯ll instantly run away again and get yourself in position for the next attack as I get his attention fully on me again. Oh. And archers. Try not to get his eye.¡±


    ¡°Eye?¡± Asked Tristan out of curiosity. The ogre was supposed to have two. He had seen the beast himself after all.


    ¡°Ah well. You¡¯ll see.¡± Rex just answered mysteriously before telling them all to get ready.


    It was three hours ago now and they were getting close to the ogre¡¯s cave. Slowly a noise came to reach their ears, at first confusing the group save Rex, but quickly become evident to be the snoring of the enormous creature, they were there to end. They continued closer as the intimidating sound grew louder and louder until they could finally see the cave. Rex raised his hand, causing everyone else to disperse and hide in the foliage. He took his bow off his shoulder and nocked an arrow. His cloak had been left in Tristan¡¯s house as it would only serve as a nuisance in combat. While he had the confidence he could handle a few people with it on and it might even help. In this terrain where it could get stuck on something at any moment, it would be a problem with fighting a giant monster which would require a lot of movement.


    With the arrow nocked Rex took a deep breath. He quickly focused on the locations of his companions, keeping a mental note of them so that he can lead the ogre away possibly give the archers a better shot and the swordsmen a clear opening, and with that¡­ he screamed out with all his breath. The ogre quickly got up from his slumber, almost startled, almost fearful. He exited the cave revealing his full body. Standing at six meters (~20 feet), he wore absolutely nothing, his face and even head deformed and disgusting by human standards. He had no hair growing over the top of his head, his body overweight and covered in dirt, with three giant fingers on both hands and feet.


    The monster¡¯s two eyes moved around until they landed on the white haired boy and narrowed. Rex pulled back the arrow in the bow and took aim before releasing it. The arrow flew through the air and pierced the ogre¡¯s eye. A deafening roar followed as the ogre wailed in pain. It looked at Rex again, it¡¯s remaining eye, bloodshot in rage, before it rushed at him in an enraged stupor. As an answer Rex emotionlessly threw his bow far to the side and drew his sword.


    The ogre brought down his palm on the Drakin, being almost five times his size, but Rex jumped to the side avoiding the attack easily. To normal people it would have been difficult if not impossible to dodge, but he was stronger than anyone else here. He had confidence that if he concentrated on defence then the ogre wouldn¡¯t be able to harm him. That¡¯s why. That¡¯s why he had decided he would attract his full attention while the others would wear it out with their weak damage.


    As the attack landed the two guards left the foliage, running towards the beast. As it started lifting it¡¯s arm the two hunters both struck an arrow in each of its sides bringing it a small amount of extra pain, distracting it. While the pain was nowhere near that of it''s eye being gouged, it nonetheless distracted it further. It roared once more, trying to swipe at the two men, only to feel getting stabbed from the front by Rex.


    Again it turned to him and attacked. The one attack had not been enough to disable its legs and it stepped forward again trying to squish the nimble white-haired midget, but time after time it failed to capture him. Again it felt pain in one of its shoulders and the other arm and it braced itself for the pain in its legs to come though it never did. Instead, it felt another slash on its gut, opening its eyes it saw the boy again. This boy. This infuriating creature!


    For the past week he had terrorized it. He would steal its prey. He would interrupt its sleep constantly, not letting it get even a wink night after night. He would attack it and he would mock it. He would do anything and everything to infuriate the ogre. He had succeeded. The ogre had reached a level of rage it didn¡¯t know it was even capable of. With an eye flooded with bloodlust it attacked again, but differently. It flailed it¡¯s arms back and forth attacking relentlessly, not even Rex being able to evade the attacks easily. It toppled trees and left prints of its hands in the ground, trying to crush the bug that had made its life miserable in the last several days.


    Another two arrows shot out, both of them hitting it. The ogre looked around again, even more confused while blinded by rage. It felt the pain in its legs again, completely having forgotten about it until the moment. It looked around again, but by the time it did the ones responsible were already hidden. It roared once more and not targeting anything began destroying the forest around them, indiscriminately. Once more Rex had to stab it and attract its attention, concentrating its attacks back on himself. He dodged an attack, noticing that it delayed pulling back its arm and this time took to countering, attacking and slashing his sword at the tendon of the arm it had just attacked with, cutting it completely and causing the arm to go limp as the ogre screamed. It held it¡¯s arm only to feel more pain, unable to lift it up.


    The two warriors once more saw their chance and both left their hiding places in the foliage. Lean slashed at the ogre¡¯s legs and turned to run, but was surprised when Arin di d something else. Even though he didn¡¯t see him he could hear it. Arin let out a large battle scream, one they had never let out so far as to not alert the ogre when attacking from the back.


    ¡°Die beast!¡± Arin shouted out before stabbing his sword deep into the side of its torso. He tried pulling it out immediately, but it was stuck and at the moment the ogre turned to look at him with tears flowing from its eyes from the pain it was as if time stopped. Lean turned his direction and ran towards Arin. The ogre moved his good arm and was about to swat Arin away. Rex could clearly see that. Lean wouldn¡¯t make it, but he had time to react. With his speed he could barely manage to save the boy¡­ but at the same time¡­ he couldn¡¯t. And as he steeled himself to not intervene Arin got slapped away, hitting a tree and falling to the ground. His bones were visibly broken, most limbs twisted in strange forms and directions.


    ¡°Arin!¡± Screamed out both Lean and Tristan.


    The ogre turned to attack Lean next, but he felt a slash at his front again, not just on his gut this time, but on something much, much more precious. He roared, turning to Rex again and attacking him instead. As Rex jumped out of the way he shouted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted. Back to positions. The fight isn¡¯t over!¡±


    Lean hesitated before running back into the foliage, but Tristan didn¡¯t listen. He ran around the ogre, taking the long route to get to Arin¡¯s body and got to examining him. Rex dodged another attack and as he landed, he grabbed Arin¡¯s sword forcefully pulling it out of the ogre and throwing it to the side.


    ¡°Michail! Take Arin¡¯s role! We¡¯re only a few strikes away from downing this thing!¡± he shouted out again to the man, he had thrown the sword near to. Michail was the only one who hadn¡¯t screamed out and so he decided to trust him with it. Of course it could have been out of fear that he had remained quiet, but Rex saw no one else to give the sword to.


    After once more evading the ogre he stabbed him in the front.


    Lean came out again, slashing the leg of the ogre, finally snapping the tough tendon and bringing the ogre to one knee before running away, barely escaping the range of the ogre before it¡¯s extended arm could grab him. Unsurprisingly Michail was nowhere to be seen, but this was within expectations for Rex.


    The leg the ogre couldn¡¯t use was of course on the same side as the arm he couldn¡¯t. Rex circled around him from that direction, the ogre tried to turn and reach him with its hand, but it was too slow, it¡¯s movements sluggish from obvious tiredness, as it felt its other tendon being cut and snap. Falling over from the pain in both its legs, it lay on its stomach as Rex climbed over its exhausted and battered body, dropping himself in its vision. It tried to move its hand to grab him, but its stamina was at its end and it could barely move.


    Before the hand reached him Rex stabbed his sword deep within the Ogre¡¯s remaining eye with a beastly roar, accompanied by his full strength. The ogre let out a scream but its voice was weak. It was obvious it was close to death. As a finishing blow Rex turned his hand into a claw as he punched the sword even deeper into its socket, with even part of the hilt going inside of the ogre¡¯s eyeball. Rex panted a few times. He reached into the eye and pulled his sword out, before walking over to Tristan and Arin¡¯s mangled body.


    Tristan heard someone approach and looked back, to see Rex and Lean both. He heard a twig crack and saw Michail coming out of the woods into the destroyed area, his head down in shame and holding Arin¡¯s sword. He lowered his head and then looked at them once more, giving a solemn shake of the head. Arin was dead.

 Chapter 13: Cheer in Somber Times

    The group of four walked through the forest. Lean was at the front, after him walked Michail, followed by Rex and then Tristan, who carried Arin¡¯s destroyed body. His limbs dangled in a broken fashion, disturbing everyone present but still they insisted on taking the body to the village to bury him properly. Rex now carried only his sword, now cleaned from the gore that had covered it previously, and his quiver. He had hoped the bow would survive the encounter, but he found it in pieces on the ground.


    Sans Rex, everyone had their heads down as they walked in silence for over an hour. In shame and in low spirits. Though they had killed the ogre the shadow of defeat loomed above them.


    ¡°Why...¡± mumbled Tristan under his breath, causing everyone to stop. In this silence even a sound like that was well audible to everyone in the group. Everyone turned to Tristan who looked at Rex. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you save him...? You should have been able to save him...¡±


    Rex didn¡¯t answer for a moment, but eventually opened his mouth ¡°Certainly. At that point I would have been able to barely push him out of the way of that attack.¡±


    ¡°Then-!¡±


    ¡°But!¡± Rex interrupted before Tristan could let out his anger ¡°if I had done that then I would have taken the attack instead. I¡¯m sturdy, certainly. But I¡¯m not invincible. An ogre is strong. It¡¯s their only saving grace. Even if it was me I would have sustained heavy damage to take on a direct attack from it.¡±


    Tristan put his head down and clenched his teeth before speaking again ¡°But you would have survived! And then we could have-!¡±


    ¡°Could have what?¡± Rex interrupted again ¡°Could have saved me? Could have defeated the ogre? Could have escaped? None of you are experienced in combat. Two of you are hunters and experienced enough in life. Even then would you have been able to kill this thing? I doubt it. Maybe you could have saved me. Maybe you could have ran back to the village. What if the ogre followed then?¡±


    Tristan shut his mouth and looked down again. He thought about what would have happened if Rex was out of commission. As Arin was knocked away Rex was the only one who still had a calm mind. The only one who still had reason enough not to get distracted from the fight. If it was Rex instead... would he had been able to remain calm...?


    Rex was the one this whole strategy was based around. In the end, the four of them had been nothing but supports. It was Rex that kept the beast¡¯s attention. Rex that commanded everyone. He was the strongest, fastest, smartest and most experienced. If he had been out of commission would someone had been able to take his place? Would someone be able to take a role remotely close to what he had been? Would someone be able to remain calm and take command? Guide the escape or retaliation? Tristan bit his lip, causing a small line of blood to flow down from it. There was none. If Rex wasn¡¯t there to command them they would at best flail around trying to escape, possibly bringing the ogre with them to the village. If not someone had to be a distraction... someone who would probably not survive...


    ¡°Look... I really am sorry for what happened to the boy. But if I had saved him... it could have ended in a lot more casualties than him.¡± Rex said, trying to be sympathetic. He almost added the fact that he had walked into the situation himself and that it wouldn¡¯t be fair for others to die at his mistake, but he realised it wasn¡¯t the most sensible thing to say in the current situation.


    Tristan said nothing for a few minutes. The rest waited until they heard his voice again ¡°Sorry...¡± came the single word. Rex nodded and they proceeded their silent walk. After a few more hours they had arrived back at the village. They had left in the early morning, but it was now late in the afternoon. The villagers were going about their own daily lives until someone noticed their return, immediately alerting everyone else. In no time at all there was a crowd gathered at the entrance, rejoicing their success.


    It didn¡¯t last for long that they didn¡¯t notice the somber atmosphere of the party, before they got worried. An old man walked forward out of the group. His hair had grown mostly grey with his old age and he wore normal linen clothes like most of the rest of the village. The group stopped a distance from the crowd in silence. ¡°Tristan... that¡¯s...¡± The old man attempted to ask, unable to get the proper words out.


    Tristan understood what he wanted to ask. It was obvious. He nodded. ¡°Arin... didn¡¯t make it.¡±


    The old man froze up, not knowing what to say before he realised he should ask about something else ¡°Th-the ogre? What about the o-¡°


    ¡°It¡¯s dead.¡± Rex interrupted.


    ¡°I see...¡± He felt ashamed of himself to feel relieved at the news when Arin had died for it.


    ¡°Chief we...¡± Lean tried to say something, before giving up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, boy.¡± Answered the Chief, not sure what Lean was trying to say. ¡±Come. You must be tired. And we should prepare for the funeral.¡±


    The crowd dispersed as the four passed through. Lean was surrounded by the rest of the guards, reassuring them that he was fine, while Michail was confronted by a worried-looking blonde woman, most likely his wife. TrIstan walked away with the chief while Rex followed. They walked over to a fenced off area which had a large number of wooden stakes stuck into the ground, with a few items, different for each one, gathered at the base.


    There was a shovel by the entrance which Tristan promptly took after putting down Arin¡¯s corpse. He walked over to an unoccupied space and began digging. Rex simply stood by and watched until the Chief addressed him.


    ¡°We could go and discuss your payment if you¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°Ten gold coins. No more, no less.¡± Answered Rex, without taking his eyes off the old hunter, stabbing away at the ground with his shovel.


    ¡°Ten? I¡¯d thought you would definitely ask for more than that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the price me and Tristan decided on. I¡¯ll honor it. Not to mention I let one of your villagers die. I don¡¯t need the full reward.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± the Chief mumbled and nodded to himself.


    ¡°Then I will go prepare some things. Tonight we mourn and we celebrate. I¡¯ll get your reward sorted as well.¡±


    ¡°No need. I¡¯ll be staying for at least the night. You can do that tomorrow.¡±


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°You have a place to stay?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re surrounded by forest. If needed I can find a not-really-comfortable tree to sleep in.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± The chief said before leaving.


    Tristan continued to dig. An hour passed and the hole had become a decent size, but still not deep enough so he continued. Again and again his shovel pierced the dirt and by the time the sun was setting, he had finally finished. He had taken no rests, sweating profusely and panting slightly by the time he was finished. He looked at Rex and then back down. He stood still for a moment before he walked over next to the Drakin, leaning back on the low wooden fence and resting.


    While the village around was rowdy, with people running around and preparing for later in the evening, the two stood in silence. Neither knew what to say to the other, nor were they sure if they should. So they simply stayed still. Waiting for everyone to be ready as the forest darkened and the light of the setting sun was replaced by the fire of torches around the village. After two more hours most of the village had gathered at the graveyard¡¯s entrance and Tristan felt someone pat him on the shoulder. As he altered the direction of his gaze he noticed it was the chief.


    They both walked over to the grave with the chief holding a torch. Tristan gently picked up the broken body of the former Arin and let it down inside the dug hole. He picked up the shovel again and started burying him as the chief began speaking.


    ¡°Brothers and sisters, we have gathered here today to see off one of our own. Arin was a fine young man. He loved this village dearly and this village loved him back. For such a young man to lose his life is a great tragedy, but he lost it in a way to be proud of. For thanks to him, the vile monster threatening our village, our forest, is no more! Thanks to his noble sacrifice it is we who may go on living. What are we to do, but show him that his sacrifice was not in vain! Tonight we may mourn, but we must also celebrate! Let us show the departing Arin that the village he devoted himself to protect is still the village he loved and loves him!¡± As his speech continued, Tristan filled the grave back up with dirt. One shovel-worth at a time. Rex listened intently to the speech. He could hear a few of the villagers sob. Some more openly than others. Mainly he could hear the sound of a few children doing so. Arin must¡¯ve been liked by them. The scaled young boy wondered if someday the people in his world would feel as connected to each other as the ones from this village do. If they¡¯ll be kind enough to offer the slightest bit of condolence for those who die. He doubted it. The number of people dying each day in his world had surely desensitised them and he didn¡¯t have any right to complain. He was the same.


    As the Chief finished his speech a few villagers walked over and one by one left some items by the graves. First a freshly-baked blueberry pie. They must¡¯ve made it in a rush after they¡¯d learned his fate. The villagers were probably used to losing people. Blueberry pie was apparently Arin¡¯s favourite food. The next to approach was a man who left a crudely carved wooden statuette of a family of three. Apparently it was Arin¡¯s hobby to sculpt wood to pass the time. As he saw Michail walking up next and what he was holding Rex straightened himself and walked over to him before he could leave Arin¡¯s old sword at the grave.


    ¡°Is it possible you leave this instead?¡± he handed his own sword to the man ¡°I was thinking the boy¡¯d rest easier with the sword that killed that monster in the end.¡±


    Michail was speechless. He stood still for a moment, thinking the offer over and without answering he nodded and backed off. Rex was surprised for a moment. He hadn¡¯t intended on leaving it himself, but he nodded back. Walking over to the grave, he left the sword, still in its hilt resting on the stake that marked the grave. Finishing that he walked back again. A few more people left something at the grave. A bottle of ale, which he¡¯d wanted to try, but was too strict to himself to do so and a large fang from a wolf that one of the villagers had previously worn as a necklace.


    The Chief nodded as they finished ¡°Thank you everyone for leaving something. Hopefully with all of this, even in death Arin won¡¯t forget himself, and won¡¯t forget how much he meant to all of us.¡± As the funeral ended and the villagers walked away, gathering in the center of the village, Tristan and Rex were left alone. Michail and Leon stopped to look back at them. They waited a few moments with nothing happening before Michail shouted out.


    ¡°Come on Tristan! Everyone¡¯s already starting!¡±


    ¡°Now let us celebrate!¡± Rex heard the chief say from where everyone had gathered followed by a loud concessive agreement from the rest of the village. While the others might have not made it out as accurately, they most definitely also heard it. Tristan sighed and began moving towards the exit, stopping at the small missing part of the fence and looking at Rex. The Drakin repeated the hunter¡¯s sighing gesture and followed, going to the celebration together with Tristan and the other two.


    There were a few tables set up around the bonfire. A few having a number of different simple foods while the last served as a temporary bar. Rex unhesitantly walked over and sat at the bar.


    ¡°Ale.¡± He said before the old man behind the counter took out a wooden mug and filled it up. Rex took the mug and stared at it for a bit before sighing.


    ¡°Rex¡­¡± he heard from the side.


    ¡°Huh?¡± he turned to see Tristan sitting in the seat next to his.


    ¡°Look¡­ I¡¯m sorry for earlier.¡± The old man said while the bartender filled up a mug for him as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I understand.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I just wanted to thank you. If it wasn¡¯t for you¡­ it might have been worse¡­ much worse.¡±


    ¡°Well that depends. If a normal adventuring party had come you might have had better luck if they were at least at C-rank. They might¡¯ve been able to handle that ogre better. And more importantly. Without your help.¡±


    Tristan shook his head ¡°Arin wouldn¡¯t have accepted that. He would have insisted on helping no matter what.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I see. Stubborn sort¡­ any family¡­?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ his parents died in a wolf attack seven years ago. He was an only child.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Rex had a moment of silence before raising his mug and downing half of the mug in one go followed by a big sigh. He looked at the rest of the ale in his mug.


    ¡°Not the best ale ever, eh? But it¡¯s all we¡¯ve got.¡± Said Tristan, knowing exactly what Rex was thinking.


    ¡°I take it ya don¡¯ need any more then.¡± Interjected the bartender


    ¡°Ah wait no! I still like it!¡± Tristan answered in a bit of a panic, the rest of the men at the bar having a laugh, even Rex smiled lightly at the exchange. He looked around at the rest of the people. Michail was eating with his wife. Leon was surrounded by a group of friends and telling the tale of the ogre-slaying. Indeed¡­it was obvious that the people here were used to loss. A few of the children were also still awake though most seemed to have been put to bed. Just as he was observing their group one of them suddenly turned to him and ran over.


    ¡°Hey!¡± the boy greeted ¡°You¡¯re the one that killed the big monster right?¡± he asked Rex excitedly.


    ¡°Huh? I¡­ Well yeah. But I couldn¡¯t have done it without the help of the others.¡± ¡®Not as easily¡¯ he added on mentally.


    ¡°Wow! I should become an adventurer too!¡±


    ¡°Kid¡­ don¡¯t waste your life.¡±


    ¡°Huh? But aren¡¯t you an adventurer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I won¡¯t die easily.¡±


    ¡°Then I won¡¯t either!¡± the child answered excitedly


    ¡°Wait no that¡¯s not what I¡­¡± he stopped his sentence there and sighed, followed by the laughter of the guys at the bar.


    ¡°Joshua. If you become as good a swordsman as him then you can become an adventurer.¡± Said one of the other villagers.


    ¡°Really?!¡±


    ¡°Of course! But just so you know it won¡¯t be easy. You¡¯ll have to practice a lot.¡± Answered the same villager again.


    ¡°I got it! I¡¯ll practice a ton!¡± for the last time said the child before running off back to his friends happily.


    ¡°Not very good with kids are you?¡± Teased Tristan. Rex only sighed defeatedly at the comment before a wave of laughter washed over him again.


    The night progressed with much of the same, but slowly the fires of the celebration burnt out as person after person returned to their homes. Eventually even Tristan had gotten too drunk to go on, causing Rex to have to drag him back to his house and throw him into bed. He then left his room and lied down on the floor of the main one. It was uncomfortable, but to him it didn¡¯t matter. Having gone four days with no sleep again, he had snoozed off as soon as he laid on the floor.


    Morning came once again and Rex woke up. Hearing Tristan¡¯s, still sleeping breaths from the other room he decided to take a walk. He left the house and wandered around the village, getting waved at by some people that had already woken up. As he passed by a particular house for the second time the door opened revealing the chief.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± He greeted


    ¡°Yeah. Good morning.¡±


    The Chief approached the young Drakin and put his hand forward, revealing the gold coins in it.


    ¡°Ten gold coins. No more, no less. Correct?¡±


    Rex nodded and took the money, adding it to his puuch.


    ¡°I feel like I should give you some more, considering you even left such a wonderful gift for Arin, but unfortunately I don¡¯t have the coin to buy a quality blade like that one. Not any coin that we can spare at least¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I gifted that of my own accord. I don¡¯t need the money for it.¡±


    ¡°If nothing else¡­ maybe you could take the sword Arin left behind?¡±


    Rex stopped to think at that offer. The swords the villagers used were nothing amazing, but they weren¡¯t bad either. The problem was they were made of iron rather than steel, making them much weaker. As much as he wished to accept the sword for what it¡¯s emotionally worth, he shaked his head, deciding not to burden himself with a sword he could neither make good use of, nor replace.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather you give it to someone who will inherit Arin¡¯s will to protect the village.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ yes. That would certainly be good. Thank you again.¡±


    Rex nodded and walked away, stopping by Tristan¡¯s house again, hearing some pained moans from within. He opened the door to see Tristan clutching his head as he sat at the table.


    ¡°I definitely drank too much last night¡­¡± he mumbled.


    ¡°Tristan¡­ will you¡­ be able to travel like that today?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Rex! Yeah, yeah. Of course. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    Of course Tristan would have to come with him to confirm the quest had been complete.


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± Rex suddenly remembered. He took his quiver off the ground and lifted up for him to see. ¡°Is it fine if you keep this? I don¡¯t need it anymore. My bow got destroyed anyway.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Can¡¯t you just buy another one?¡±


    ¡°Nah. That¡¯d cost too much. And to be completely honest traveling with so much on my back is incredibly uncomfortable¡±


    ¡°But then¡­ now you¡¯re left with nothing but a dagger.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. So is it okay that I leave it here?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Alright. I¡¯ll take it.¡± He agreed, defeated.


    ¡°Great. Anyway just tell me when you¡¯re ready to set off.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ Just¡­ give me another hour.¡±


    Rex grinned and agreed. After an hour they both equipped themselves and left to travel back to Fyric.

 Chapter 14: An Unexpected Discovery

    Rex sat in meditation. After travelling with Tristan for a few days, having slept yesterday, he once again peered into himself, his gaze heavy and strong. He had gone through a change since leaving the village. No, to be accurate he had finally noticed something that had been there all along. Within him were pathways, veins immaterial in the same sense that mana was. He tried to get his mana to flow through them, but quickly came to realise the essence of the situation. Something was blocking them, the pathways failing to be useful in their only purpose and him, unable to utilize his mana due to it. While he wished to simply open them by force he didn¡¯t know the consequences of such an action or if it was even possible. Of fear that it would render him unable to use magic, that it would somehow damage those pathways, he restrained himself and as patiently as possible he looked for another way to solve the problem.


    Rex suddenly opened his eyes as he felt his body being shaken. The first thing he saw was Tristan¡¯s face.


    ¡°¡­ I did it again didn¡¯t I?¡± Rex posed a rhetorical question to the old hunter. It was obvious he had and Tristan¡¯s nod only confirmed it. He had been so invested in meditation he had been ¡°oversleeping¡± for lack of a better word. The first time it had happened when they were resting at an inn Tristan had actually had to go in his room and wake him up¡­ at midday. He had tried to be patient, but patience has a limit. Since then, whenever Rex planned to meditate they used the same room instead of separate ones. It saved money and Tristan would be saved having to knock on the Drakin¡¯s door for half an hour.


    Rex got up and stretched as Tristan went about gathering his belongings and equipping himself. Rex doing the same right afterwards. Putting their packs over their shoulders they set out once more. Rex looked up to see the sun, but all he saw were dark clouds quickly approaching from the south. Along with the moisture in the air and the strong winds¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna storm today huh?¡± Rex expressed his estimation


    ¡°Probably¡­ I might have to spend the night in town. Traveling through a storm is never a good idea.¡±


    ¡°We got rained on a decent bunch on our way here though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the sort of season it is. And don¡¯t compare rain and a storm! They¡¯re completely different!¡±


    Rex nodded. He had meant his last expression as more of a joke anyway. That being said they kept walking along the road with an increased pace, hoping that they would make it before the clouds caught up with them. Thankfully the town gates became visible only a few hours afterwards. Ignoring the wagons at the gate, trying to quickly get their examinations over with before the storm hits they walked through the gates. They headed directly for the guild building with no delay. Rex wanted to get the job done with and Tristan wanted to hurry up and get to his inn. The town looked more desolate than usual, though in truth it was simply that the people didn¡¯t wish to be caught up in the upcoming force of nature, so they stayed indoors.


    Tristan and Rex were some of the only people to walk through the streets at the time. As they arrived at the guild they went inside, only to be greeted by the same scene of it looking more desolate than usual. Still more than a few people were present. The adventurer¡¯s guild offered some basic rooms on the second floor, but most still preferred an inn, since they usually offered meals and baths as well.


    ¡°Oh Rex! Welcome back!¡± Was instantly heard as Rex entered the building. Looking to the voice Rex noticed it was Eric. The one he¡¯d always have a drink with in his spare time. He raised his hand in greeting to which Eric answered back in kind with a huge smile and a mug of booze in his hand.


    Rex and Tristan walked over to the counter, now handled by the old man.


    ¡°I issued for a job two weeks and a bit ago and wanted to report its completion.¡± Said Tristan first. The old man looked at him for a moment before asking a question himself.


    ¡°What was the request?¡±


    ¡°Ah. A monster extermination near a village in the mountains.¡±


    ¡°Ah the vague one.¡± The old man mumbled to himself, only Rex truly making out his words. Of course the request was vague. In truth the monster was a B-rank difficulty. If that and the fact that they couldn¡¯t even pay a good price for it got out¡­ well not many other than Rex would take the job. If any at all. That job was essentially a scam. Though Rex didn¡¯t mind as long as his card got updated for it.


    The old man took out some papers from under the desk and looked through them quickly before taking out one and placing it on the counter for Rex and Tristan to see. It was the request Rex had taken. ¡°This one right?¡± He asked to which Tristan simply nodded. ¡°Proof of identity?¡± Tristan took out his skinning knife and placed it on the counter for the old man to pick up and examine. ¡°Small knife, wooden handle with the initials TA carved into it. Alright. I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re the one who completed it?¡± He said the last part, turning to Rex, receiving a nod in answer and Rex leaving his card on the counter, knowing the procedure. The old man picked it up and went through the door behind the counter, coming out a minute later and giving the card back, the number of C-rank jobs complete now gone up to three.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± asked the man behind the counter.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Answered first Tristan and then Rex, before turning around and walking towards the entrance.


    ¡°So what now?¡± asked Rex.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go to find an inn and leave tomorrow. I¡¯ve had enough travelling to last me a good while this past month.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s how it is when you live in the middle of nowhere.¡±


    ¡°Still not a bad place to settle down if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fully willing to agree.¡±


    That surprised Tristan. He hadn¡¯t expected Rex to say that. The boy didn¡¯t seem like the type of person to think that, nor to admit it even if it was true. Or so Tristan¡¯s impression was. He guessed he shouldn¡¯t have assumed so easily.


    ¡°Well. See you again someday.¡± Rex said as they reached the exit, snapping out Tristan from his surprise.


    ¡°Yeah. Feel free to visit whenever.¡± He answered and getting a nod back from Rex, he left the building heading for the inn.


    Rex turned back afterwards and looked first at the job board, only to find that again there were no C-rank jobs readily available. Sighing at the expected outcome he turned again and walked over to where Eric was sitting. Ordering a mug of ale. The two talked for a bit, Rex talking about his unusually long job. He had been away for almost three weeks after all. Though he didn¡¯t give too many details. He didn¡¯t want Tristan to get in trouble after all.


    ¡°You know. You seem a bit taller than I remember.¡± Eric mentioned all of a sudden during the talk. This was something Rex had been expecting to come up sooner or later.


    ¡°Probably just the booze talking isn¡¯t it?¡± he avoided the question.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Pro¡¯ably.¡± Eric answered, fairly. He wasn¡¯t that drunk. He could hold his alcohol better than any other man he knew. But it wasn¡¯t out of the ordinary for a detail like that to slip by him while he¡¯s drinking.


    It had been almost a month since Rex had left Ann¡¯s house. At least according to his past calendar. He now looked around two years older. Obviously that would be recognized easily enough. Not to mention he was gone for at least two weeks to exterminate the ogre. That should have been a one-year growth in and of itself. ¡®It would probably be wise to move on soon¡¯. Recognized Rex.


    But as they talked, someone caught Rex¡¯s eye. Or rather his ear. A burly man, most likely looking older than he actually was, looked at Rex while he was talking to some others with him, looking away as soon as Rex looked back. The Drakin pretended not to notice and brought it up with Eric.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that? New people?¡±


    ¡°Nah. They were already registered. Just from out of town.¡± Right as they started talking the man and the others at his table got up and left the building. ¡°I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s up to, but it¡¯s probably no good. He¡¯s been gathering people for something and everyone he¡¯s talked to for it is the shady type.¡±


    ¡®Interesting.¡¯ Rex thought as he sipped his drink and watched them leave the building. He had overheard part of their conversation and it was definitely a secretive ordeal. They had decided not to talk about it here and left to have the conversation elsewhere. Probably somewhere more private. ¡®Well not like it¡¯s any business of mine¡¯ Rex decided as he finished his drink.


    ¡°Well nice talking to you as always Eric, but I have some things to take care of before the storm comes around.¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll be staying at the guild tonight by the way.¡±


    ¡°Probably me too.¡± Even Rex didn¡¯t want to antagonise a storm for no reason.


    ¡°Oh! Perfect! We can have a drinking night!¡±


    ¡®You¡¯d have one even without me wouldn¡¯t you?¡±


    Eric laughed loudly at that ¡°Definitely.¡±


    Rex waved a goodbye as he left the building. He headed quickly for the clothing shop, entering inside, the bell rang, but there was no one at the counter.


    ¡°Just a moment!¡± was heard from another part of the building. Probably the living area. There were two doors behind the counter. Rex knew one of them went to the storage space and he speculated the other lead to the actual area of the building the couple used as a house.


    After a few minutes of waiting the man came out through the door, besides the storage one.


    ¡°Oh. Hello. How can I help you today?¡± he asked, a bit out of breath, but with a smile. Sweat slowly dripping down his brow. Rex decided not to ask.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to have some clothes custom-tailored for me. My tail kind of gets in the way of normal ones usually.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Is there anything particular you want out of them?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ make them extra baggy and on the comfortable side.¡±


    The man noted down the order on a scroll with a piece of charcoal.


    ¡°Mmm¡­ I¡¯ll need to take some measurements. Is that fine?¡± he asked again, still wearing his professional smile. Of course Rex had nothing against it. He let the man take his measurements. Including those of his tail.


    ¡°Alright. That will be three gold coins. The clothes will be ready¡­ hmm¡­ probably the day after tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Alright I¡¯ll check then.¡±


    The man nodded and added ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Actually yes. I¡¯m planning on buying some throwing knives from the blacksmith down the road. I was wondering if you have anything to hold those kinds of things in?¡±


    ¡°Oh! We do. The old man usually sends people that need those our way in fact. We even have a few ready. Give me a minute.¡± He said, leaving the counter through the door to the storage, only coming back out in at most a minute. He was holding a pouch which he put on the counter, showing it to Rex. Rex took it and examined it. Opening it up and then closing it. The pouch was well-made. With ease of access as its first priority, it opened quickly and closed easily. Inside were eight slots for the knives. It was obviously big for him, but this one he felt was unavoidable. At least he wouldn¡¯t have to constantly change them. Unlike if he bought a specialised belt or something.


    Rex nodded ¡°Do you have another one?¡±


    ¡°We do.¡± Replied the man


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the two then.¡± After taking out another of the pouches Rex payed him five gold in total. Three for the outfit and one each for the pouches. He attached the pouches to his belt, one on his left and one on his right side, and exited the building, heading for the blacksmith next.


    He opened the door going inside the mostly wooden building. Though there existed a department out back, made completely out of stone. Immediately he noticed no one was at the counter. Again. Though he could hear the pounding of metal from the back. There would usually be a girl working the counter. Though in this case Rex realised she was only working here to make some money. Not out of relation to the blacksmith himself. Finding himself not knowing exactly what to do, Rex looked around the shop. First he looked through the swords, deciding on one that would fit him. Next looking around and finding the throwing daggers. He knew how much the swords cost, but not these.


    As he was wondering what to do he heard the banging stop. A minute later the blacksmith walked from out the back wiping the sweat off his brow. He was a large man with bulging muscles as any blacksmith would be. You couldn¡¯t do what they do on noodle arms. The blacksmith noticed Rex and frowned.


    ¡°Ahhh, the girl forgot to close the door again¡­¡± he sighed. ¡°Well¡­ seeing as you¡¯re here and you had the courtesy not to take whatever you wanted and be off with it. Wadd¡¯ya need?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a new sword. As well as looking to buy some throwing knives.¡±


    ¡°Any sword you fancy in particular?¡± most of the swords in the shop looked completely the same. They followed the same procedure and sold for about the same price. But the blacksmith knew that some were better than others. There were some he made on a bad day. Others where his hand simply slipped slightly. Every sword was different in his eyes. Of course Rex lacked a deeper understanding of crafting a sword. He just picked up one that felt good in his hand. It wasn¡¯t the blacksmith¡¯s best work, but he managed to pick out one of the better ones on instinct alone.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be ten gold coins. Together with the scabbard.¡±


    ¡°How much for the knives?¡±


    ¡°They usually go for a gold and five silvers, but tell you what. If you buy ten I¡¯ll take you ten gold instead of fifteen.¡±


    Rex pondered for a moment. His current savings were twenty gold and some coppers. He wasn¡¯t sure how much a room at the adventurer¡¯s guild would cost, but he doubted it would be expensive. Still he didn¡¯t have enough money to buy both the sword and that many throwing knives. ¡®Ugh¡­ My indifference to money is really shining through in a light I don¡¯t want to see it in.¡¯ Rex thought. He could have had more money on him if he was more focused on obtaining it, but that was never his goal to begin with.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take ten knives. But forget about the sword.¡±


    ¡°Well. Just pick ten up from over there.¡± He pointed ¡°I¡¯ll restock them by tomorrow¡­ or whenever the storm¡¯s over.¡±


    Rex left ten gold coins on the counter and picked up ten knives, putting five in each of his pouches. He wanted two so he could access them easily with both his hands after all. After that he left. Looking up at the sky, the storm was already close. It was most likely around three in the afternoon and it would hit in a few more hours. Who knew how long it would take to clear up afterwards.


    Now that he was finished with his errands, Rex headed for the guild building. As he went inside he instantly noticed Eric, still drinking.


    ¡°If you keep going at it we won¡¯t be able to do anything tonight, you know.¡± He called out to the man in a light tone.


    ¡°Hah! You¡¯re joking right? I could keep going ¡®til next morning!¡± Rex shook his head slightly and walked over to the counter


    ¡°Are there any free rooms?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a few left. One silver per night, by the way.¡± The old man answered.


    Rex rummaged through his pouch, taking out ten coppers and placing them on the counter. The old man took them and gave him a key instead. At least you could lock your door here. Some inns didn¡¯t even have that much


    ¡°Fifth room on the right.¡±


    Rex nodded, taking the key. He climbed up the stairs, down the hallway until he reached the room designated as his. Putting the key in the lock he spun it until it clicked and opened the door. The only light inside of the room was coming through the one window which was kept open. An open window it was, but not one with glass. It had naught, but a wooden panel to open or close. The bed looked comfortable enough and had a large chest at its foot, to leave your stuff in, Rex assumed. A desk with a chair was present as well. The room was lightly furnished, but had the necessities. To Rex who would rarely even sleep in a bed, it was practically heaven. He figured that any actual adventurer would be satisfied with the conditions.


    He took his equipment off, storing it all in the chest except for his dagger which he kept on his back just in case. The chest had a lock, trying out the key for the door of the room Rex found it worked so he took the liberty of locking the chest before leaving, locking the door behind him as well. Stashing the key away in his pouch with his coins, he climbed down the stairs and enjoyed the rest of his time until night were spent enjoying the company of Eric and some other merry adventurers. Even as the storm arrived and the sound of rain invaded the scene the inside of the adventurer¡¯s guild were completely unaffected.


    After taking Eric to his room upstairs after drinking was finished, he went to his own and went to sleep, deciding to make full use of the rare chance to sleep in a comfortable bed rather than meditating. He hadn¡¯t figured out how to make progress anyway. And ignoring the problem for a while might have been a good way to get an idea. Sometimes, distracting yourself from one thing could lead to seeing more about the problem than you could before.


    He woke up in the morning, the sound of rain having stopped and the sun yet to have risen. It seemed like the storm hadn¡¯t lasted too long after all. The boy opened the chest and took out his things, equipping his things one by one. He put on his cloak and then took his bag before leaving the room, climbing down the stairs. The counter had the young girl behind it. Rex figured that her and the old man alternated day and night duty since the guild was supposed to be open during the night as well. He walked up to the request board, but there was nothing new. No surprise with the storm keeping people inside. He left the building into the dark street, riddled with gathered rainwater in the form of puddles.


    He wondered for a bit what to do, but eventually decided he would just go out of town. He would get a bit muddy, but he didn¡¯t mind. A pair of shoes at least didn¡¯t need to be custom made for him. As he headed to the gate he noticed another group leaving just ahead of him. Most of them wore hoods and looked to be quite shady, but Rex recognized one, his eyes granting him the ability to do so. As the group of eighteen looked around, no doubt attempting to be careful, Rex was allowed only a peek at the face under the hood of one of the individuals. There Rex recognized the face of one of the men being recruited by the newcomer just yesterday.


    He didn¡¯t have anything to do. He was already bored enough a it was and he wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take him to reach a breakthrough in his current problem. To such a Rex this was a chance, as if sent down from the heavens above. The boy grinned as he decided. Why not check out what they would be doing. And so the trailing began.


    The group left the town using the gate Rex would usually come in and out of every day when he would wait for a job, but unlike him they didn¡¯t take the path to the forest, instead taking the road. They walked down it for half an hour and after leaving the town far behind them they abandoned the road, heading into the grassy plains below. Thankfully the grass was tall enough to hide someone of Rex¡¯s stature if he was careful.


    After a few more hours and with the sun finally risen the group arrived at a forest, one unfamiliar to Rex. That didn¡¯t keep him from following though. The way things had progressed in this new world forests were almost like a home to him, no matter where they were. He leapt from tree to tree carefully sticking to the shadows as he traced the group through the forest until they arrived at a steep cliff. And what he saw there as the men stopped was a door, no a gate. Large and with a tree styled into it , covered in moss and vines. That door, which left even Rex staring at shock was¡­ ¡®A labyrinth entrance¡­¡¯.

 Chapter 15: This is... A labyrinth...

    ¡°Alright. We¡¯re here.¡± Said the man at the front of a group of eighteen people as he took off his hood, revealing his rough features. He wasn¡¯t scarred, nor unattractive, he had heavy features and a larger build, but not exceptionally so. His face didn¡¯t ¡°look¡± shady at all. He looked rather average, if anything. He turned around and addressed the rest as they all took their hoods off one by one as well.


    ¡°You know the deal.¡± He said ¡°We go inside, clear the place, get the labyrinth core and then get out. Each person will get an equal share of what¡¯s left over after we get ours. Of course since we¡¯re the ones who found it and are the ones that are selling the core, we¡¯re getting more. Assuming there¡¯s no complaints there.¡± A few people nodded, most just staying silent. Of course they had complaints, but they couldn¡¯t argue it. From among the others, though, one person stepped forward, looking nervous.


    ¡°U-Uh. I¡¯m not too sure about this anymore. I mean it¡¯s a labyrinth. You know how many people die in those right?¡± The others all turned to him and his party.


    ¡°Oh no.¡± Said the rather large man at the front. ¡°It¡¯s too late to turn back now. You agreed to it and you came this far. We can¡¯t let you go back now. There¡¯s no guarantee you won¡¯t report the labyrinth to get the reward when you get back or worse report us to the guards. You¡¯re either coming along or you¡¯re not going anywhere at all.¡± He finished as he purposefully let his cloak reveal his hand readying itself to draw the hammer strapped to his waist.


    The man who stepped forward gulped and backed off ¡°R-Right. Of course we wouldn¡¯t do that. It¡¯s just a beginner labyrinth anyway. Should be easy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡± The unremarkable man answered, before turning and placing both hands on the large stone doors. Two other men from his party positioned themselves on each side and put their arms to their part of the door as well and as they counted to three they combined their forces and pushed open the stone doors, covered in vines, revealing the dark inside of a cave.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get ourselves a fortune!¡± He shouted as him and his party took the vanguard and everyone else followed him enthusiastically. A minute passed¡­ then two¡­ and when five minutes had passed from the entrance being opened the doors slid themselves back to a closed position. As they did a small figure fell from a tree to the ground and walked out of the foliage.


    Rex put his hand on the door in wonder. He had observed the exchange, but in favor of keeping himself hidden he was unable to secure a spot to see the inside of the cave behind the doors very well. Even then. He could feel the abnormal amount of mana coming from inside. Like nothing he had ever felt before. He weighed his option in his mind as he looked up at the door, a few times his size. This was his chance. A chance to acquire a core without all the hassle of climbing through guild ranks or digging for information. A chance to pay back Ann for caring for him for those first months that much sooner.


    It wasn¡¯t impossible to find a labyrinth on your own, but you still wouldn¡¯t be allowed inside without being C-ranked in the adventurer¡¯s guild or having an official permit with you. A permit only issued to people affiliated with the country. The adventurer¡¯s guild, as usual, were the ones to govern the labyrinths. But their word was not above that of the country or the law. And in this country it was completely illegal for anyone to go inside without proper permission and even more illegal to clear a labyrinth which hasn¡¯t been listed as a subjugation target. It wasn¡¯t against Adventurer guild rules. It was against the law. Still¡­ this wasn¡¯t something Rex could pass over. In a secluded area, only him and the group knew of the labyrinth. Even if someone else did Rex would most likely be long gone by the time they realized something was wrong. Rex didn''t need the money from such a thing. Reporting the dungeon to the guild would probably let him live leisurely for a year or two. Maybe buy some magically enchanted items even. Rex simply wanted to pay back what he promised to the old woman who taught him most of what he knows about this world. With a smirk, Rex put his second arm on the door, making his decision, and he pushed. A deal was a deal, after all.


    The door was heavy, but to him it was far from impossible to move, even if not easy. He was far stronger than the men earlier after all. As the door opened under the weight of his push, he felt the mana escaping wash him over similar to a cool breeze and was finally able to see the inside. Beyond the first cavern in the cave was what could only be described an underground paradise.


    Grass and flowers grew from the ground, moss covering the walls with flowering trees growing on the right side of the path and a stream of water flowing on the left. The trees were in full bloom, the white flowers occasionally falling to the ground among the grass and a new one visibly growing in its place only a moment later. The area was far larger than anything he had expected from an underground labyrinth. Glowing mushrooms grew out of the ground and walls, illuminating the area. It was by no means as bright as day inside, but it was bright enough to maneuver yourself without the need of an additional light source and to Rex it might as well have had the sun shining through the walls as if they weren¡¯t there.


    Though the trees weren¡¯t many compared to the forest outside as they were only on one side of the path through the labyrinth, they were by far more beautiful, illuminated by the blue, almost mystic light of the mushrooms. Rex took a step within this beautiful environment, speechless and bewildered while he walked along the path.


    ¡®Strange¡­¡¯ he thought as he realized no monsters were in sight, only to quickly remember that it was most likely because the group ahead had taken them out already. Still it was strange for there to be absolutely none. He looked around, expecting something to jump out at him from nowhere, but nothing came. Even as minutes passed and he walked continuously down the winding, but straightforward path, he saw nothing. He was starting to wonder how long the path was when he felt a sting of pain in his leg, right above his foot. Looking down instantly, he noticed a small, green-scaled snake, perfectly camouflaging into the grass, biting into his leg through his boot. With no delay, he reached down, grabbing its upper jaw and pulling it off his leg, before squishing its head in his hand. Despite expecting blood to come out of it, instead a strange white liquid did. Despite this Rex simply threw the body aside, causing it to disintegrate into nothing along with the blood, still left on his hand. That was how labyrinth monsters died.


    He moved to get back up and keep walking, making a note to keep more attention on the grass as he proceeds forward, but he was assaulted by sudden dizziness. He stumbled to the right, holding himself up, leaning on a tree. He his eyes and then opened them again, trying to focus his vision. After about a minute his vision stabilized if only a bit. He decided it was good enough to walk, before proceeding forward. Much slower, much more cautiously.


    ¡®If that¡¯s what the venom did to me¡­¡¯ he thought briefly as he recalled testing how his body faired against poison. Ann had told him Drakin had higher poison resistance than normal at his inquiry, but that didn¡¯t sate his curiosity. Instead he decided to test the effects more practically. Back then even a poison which should have paralyzed someone for a full day at the minimum did nothing more than make him feel a bit stiffer for an hour or two. This snake¡¯s venom though¡­ it would most likely kill. If not, it would probably immobilize someone for a week or more. In a labyrinth, that was as good as dead unless you had trustworthy companions. Something the group ahead of him¡­ had anything but.


    A few more minutes passed before Rex turned a corner and saw a wall with a large hole at the bottom of it at the end of the path. The entrance to the second floor, Rex assumed. But before he could reach it he saw another of the snakes slithering towards him through the grass. This time though it didn¡¯t have the element of surprise. For a predator that completely relies on stealth to hunt, the moment it is discovered is the moment it has failed. As if to prove that statement right, the snake lunged for Rex¡¯s boot, causing him to lift his foot at great speed in the last moment and as the reptile realized its target was already aware of its presence and prepared to retreat the boot was brought back down, mercilessly and effortlessly squashing the head of the predator underneath. As the body and the blood on the underside of his boot began fading, Rex proceeded forward through the hole in the wall, revealing stairs, leading down.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡®Well. First floor cleared. Easy enough.¡¯ Rex thought as he climbed down, the venom already mostly neutralized. The first floor was as straightforward as he expected. It was a path with many twists and turns, yes, but it was still a single line, bringing no complications. Rex expected the second floor to be nowhere near as simple. Still¡­ ¡®Why is this staircase so long?¡¯ asked Rex, frustrated in his head. He had been climbing down for minutes now. And as he finally saw the exit right after asking himself the question, he suddenly stopped, hearing something.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± he heard someone say. An unfamiliar voice. He guessed it was normal for him to have caught up to the group. They had only about five minutes of a head start, but they had to deal with all the monsters on the way as well. And judging from the fact he didn¡¯t see any corpses. Unlike him. No one in their group managed to get bitten by the snakes. Rex frowned a bit, slightly upset at the realization.


    ¡°We have to proceed forward. We packed food for at least a few days just in case anyway. We¡¯re prepared for this.¡± The familiar voice of the ¡°leader¡± of the group was heard next. ¡®What? Food for a few days? Why would they need that?¡¯ this was a beginner labyrinth. Clearing the first few floors should only take a few hours at most. ¡®Are these guys that incompetent?¡¯


    ¡°AWe¡¯ll stick together and look for the exit. It¡¯ll take longer, but it¡¯ll be better to be safe than sorry.¡± No¡­ they weren¡¯t stupid. So the second floor was actually that much of a problem?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± he finished before Rex heard them walking off. He waited a minute until their footsteps were far away enough before climbing down the remaining stairs and seeing what he was to be up against for himself. But as he looked through the hole in the cave that served as the exit to the staircase, he could barely believe his eyes.


    He stepped out on the grass, once more present on this floor as soon as the stone staircase leading down ended. The second floor was darker than the first. But that wasn¡¯t because there were less mushrooms. The mushrooms were still visible, growing next to the trees, even on them in some case... but unlike the first floor, the trees were everywhere and close together, Their branches and flowers intertwining and blocking out the view of anything above them. They were also taller. Much more so than the ones on the first floor which at some points had branches which even he could bump into if he was walking close to them. There wasn¡¯t a chance to bump into the branches on this floor. Even for grown men, there still wouldn¡¯t be.


    He jumped up and grabbed onto a branch, spinning himself on it, despite it slightly hurting his hand and stepping on it with his feet, before jumping up once more, grabbing onto another. He maneuvered through the tree¡¯s branches until he reached the top and was able to look off the top of the tree line. From this, two things became apparent. The first was that the ceiling, rather than the glowing mushrooms, was covered by a light blue moss that also emitted light. Strong enough to reach down to the trees, but not strong enough to break through to the ground underneath the colossal bark-encrusted plants. The second thing that became apparent was¡­ the cavern where this underground forest was situated was enormous. The trees themselves were already several meters tall, but the distance from their tops to the ceiling of the cavern was several times their heights. And the walls of the circular cavern were what seemed like at least five kilometers apart from their opposing side.


    The other group wasn¡¯t joking. It could take days to find the exit in this floor, assuming it wasn¡¯t in any of the walls and there weren¡¯t any hints. But¡­ Among the forest were several trees that were considerably bigger than any of the others, taller and wider. Rex decided that searching there was as good a place as any to begin. He descended from the tree carefully, jumping down from one branch to the other until he hit the ground safely. He had to be extra careful since he was still wearing his cloak. As he touched the ground he took the cloak off and folded it, putting it away in his bag, which he tied across his body, leaving it on his back.


    He smelled the air, trying to find what direction the group headed in, but the overwhelming smell of forest flowers and herbs hid their scents. Sighing in disappointment, Rex started walking towards the tree at the center of the forest. There were six trees in total with one at the center of the forest and five more around it at equal distances away in different directions. Rex decided to head for the center first even though two of the other trees were technically closer to the entrance. Why? It was mostly a whim, since the difference in the distances wasn¡¯t that great anyway.


    As he was walking his sensitive ears suddenly picked something up. A rough step just behind him folding the grass noisily. He hadn¡¯t detected anything up until then. He had no idea how who or whatever had gotten so close to him without triggering his senses, but he wasted no time, throwing himself to the side the moment his ear picked it up. Rolling across the floor he stopped himself suddenly using the strength of his momentum and his arms to launch himself up and back into an upright position before drawing his dagger.


    In front of him. Close to where he had been standing just a moment earlier was standing what looked like a wolf, looking at him, growling lightly. The ¡°wolf¡± had green fur. No. That wasn¡¯t fur. It smelled no different from the forest around him. It was covered in needle-like leaves that made up something that looked like fur. A predator. The worst thing was. This thing was stealthy. And wolves hunted in packs. Rex had no way to tell if this thing didn¡¯t have friends waiting around nearby. No the scariest thing was that he wouldn¡¯t know even if it was right behind him. If this thing didn¡¯t decide to jump for him, and if he didn¡¯t have ears sensitive enough to pick up a needle dropping in these silent woods, he would have been successfully ambushed no matter what.


    ¡®Damn.¡¯ He thought. ¡®The group ahead would have no problem with these things. They would just need to have someone watch their backs. No matter what these things couldn¡¯t hide themselves in plain sight.¡¯ But he. He was alone. Even for all his superhuman senses and abilities he couldn¡¯t tell if a single wolf was behind him. Pathetic. Rex¡¯s eyes narrowed as his expression got sharper. The wolf detected that as well and took a step back, but as if reminded of something it experienced a similar change of expression to Rex before It rushed forward with a howl.


    Despite obviously being an ambush predator it was still fast on its feet. Perhaps more so than a normal wolf. But it wasn¡¯t anything special in the Drakin¡¯s eyes. As the wolf leaped towards him, he moved out of the way turning to its new direction. The wolf landed on its feet and kept running, making a half circle around Rex as he tracked it, before rushing straight at him again. Though Rex predicted its plan.


    Just as the boy had expected he heard another leap from behind him, the same as when the wolf in front of him had attacked him for the first time. And just as he heard the slight crunch of grass behind him, he spun around a hundred and eighty degrees to see the jaw of another leaf wolf inches away from his neck. Unfortunately for it. As Rex spun he used his momentum to plunge the dagger he was holding in the wolf¡¯s head. He was surprised as the skin of the wolf was penetrated, being harder than he thought it would be, but there was no time to think of it at that moment.


    He instantly let go of his dagger, having no time to draw it from the head of the wolf in mid-air and jumped to the side, rolling once and getting back on his feet with two throwing daggers drawn and aimed at the second leaf wolf. With a wave of arm and a flick of his wrist both flew into it. One piercing its eye and the other where the stomach of a normal wolf would be. White liquid leaked from the wounds as the wolf yelped and fell to the ground. It tried to get up as Rex walked over to its already fading partner, but could only do so shakily, barely standing. Rex stepped on what was remaining of his brother leisurely, filing the wolf with anger. He bent down, grabbing his dagger and pulling it out of the skull of the beast. With its final strength the injured wolf rushed him again, hoping to catch the white-haired terror by surprise. But as it jumped for the still bent down Rex, the last thing it saw was Rex moving suddenly stabbing the dagger into its throat.


    Rex sighed as the battle ended. He pulled the dagger out of the second wolf, its companion already having disappeared completely. He retrieved his throwing knives as this one too, turned into mana and as it did a white-colored sphere of soft light appeared in the air. Rex knew what this was. This was exactly the reason everyone would risk their lives in labyrinths. The reward. Through putting your hand in the mana you would be able to claim part of it which would automatically turn into some sort of an item. Nobody knew how exactly they were distributed, but they depended on the labyrinth and apparently it could even depend on who was claiming the reward. Although these were mostly rumors. Ann had been in a labyrinth once or twice, but was by no means experienced in them. She could only say what was common knowledge and what she had overheard people saying on the side. She had never been that interested in labyrinths until her old age.


    But as the white-scaled Drakin stretched his arm towards the ball of mana, he suddenly felt something attempt to bite him on the neck, though the scales stopped it. Instinctively, his outstretched hand moved away from the mana sphere and smacked his neck, causing a splatter sound. Taking his hand off of his shoulder he brought it into his vision. Along with the same white liquid, replacing blood that the snakes and wolves had. On his hand was one of the flowers that would constantly fall off the trees. Except at the base of it was a small chitin-covered head and four spider-like legs. As the body of the creature faded away Rex looked up in horror at the dozens of flowers dancing through the air.

 Chapter 16: Close Encounter

    ¡®Calm down!¡¯ Rex berrated himself as the petals danced through the air. It was impossible for all of the falling petals to be creatures. In the first place if that was the case he would have been bitten as soon as he set foot on this floor. No. It would have even happened on the previous one, assuming the creatures weren¡¯t native to this floor and indeed existed on the first one as well. But what should he do in counter to them? Use his cloak? It was certainly thick, but it would limit his movements and if one of those critters indeed fell on it, it would keep him from feeling it and perhaps allowing it to even slip under and either bite him from a better position, or drop on a vulnerable spot out of similarly nowhere.


    Then¡­ his scales? His scales were hard. It would be impossible for one of those critters to pierce them. But his head was completely uncovered along with his abdomen. An idea struck him. Could he do what he did with his hands and fix that? He tried. He felt the scales spread upwards over his skin, but they stopped quickly, only covering his cheeks. ¡®Better than nothing.¡¯ He decided, before trying the same on his abdomen. Again he could feel the scales spreading and covering his skin, but again there was a limit. He still couldn¡¯t cover most of his abdomen nor could he even begin to do anything about his¡­ ahem¡­ most vulnerable area.


    ¡®And just in case¡­¡¯ he took off his shoes and threw them in his bag along with the rest of his belongings. The bag was almost full. He turned his hands into claws and tried something he had been practicing, but never really used until now. His feet got covered in scales as well, the process being just as quick as his hands and only taking a fraction of a second as compared to his abdomen and cheeks which were something new to him entirely.


    They changed shape, taking on a sharper look than the soft human foot, even the fingers looking different, sharp, enough to tear through someone¡¯s throat. Just like his hands, his feet took the form of claws, much different than those of humans. Even more different than his hands were. His hands still took a relatively human shape even while being transformed into claws. Rex was still getting used to the strange sensation. Like this his feet allowed him much greater maneuverability than anyone wearing shoes. His claws allowed him greater footing and balance. Even though they were slightly bulkier than human ones, that amounted to no disadvantage whatsoever


    Finished, he finally stood up, now looking more draconian than he ever had before. He noticed the ball of mana right next to him, but ignored it for a moment, looking upwards and scanning through the falling flowers, before turning away and putting his hand inside the orb. The mana dispersed suddenly, almost as if the sphere shattered. Rex could sense it being absorbed into his surroundings though. It just went back to the labyrinth. And the small part that had remained in his hand had turned into what seemed like a small white gem.


    Rex didn¡¯t recognize it. To be accurate he didn¡¯t know anything about it in the first place. He had focused his studies about this world in a few areas in particular and stones were not a part of it. He guessed that maybe it could be sold for a decent price. He threw the marble-sized gem in his bag and moved forward while keeping his vision on the flowers. Those were what he was most concerned by right now. He doubted the wolves could do any real harm to him. They went for the neck and his neck was covered in his scales. Not the softest of materials. Rex wouldn¡¯t be surprised if their teeth were the first to give in. The wolves were surely not used to scales of that strength, most likely underestimating their durability based on being able to bite through the scales of the small snakes that inhabited this floor and the last.


    As he noticed one of the strange flower insects he swatted it away before it even reached him, Its body disappeared as he continued forward not even sparing the small thing an extra glance. A small snake tried to bite his leg, but unable to pierce his scales it was simply kicked away. The attacks of the two small predators continued unsuccessfully, but strangely Rex saw nothing of the wolves until he got close to the tree he was heading towards. After once again checking his direction by climbing through the trees and observing the areas from the top, he confirmed that he was only two or three minutes away from there tree, he dropped back to the ground and turned to continue forward when he heard the slight rustle of grass he had been awaiting the entire time.


    His tail sprung upwards as he reached into his right pouch and grabbed two knives. Right as he felt his tail impact something accompanied by a loud yelp he tried spinning around. With a slight delay due to being unused to his feet, he turned to watch the wolf impact the ground and threw his two daggers at it, one piercing its stomach and the other its throat, or at least where they should have been in a normal wolf. Rex didn¡¯t know if the anatomy of these was anything similar. Even their blood wasn¡¯t the right color.


    The wolf¡¯s body started disappearing but it was too soon to relax, as Rex heard a low growling sound. He concentrated trying to pick out its direction, but only then did he realize it wasn¡¯t coming from any particular one. Wolves started appearing in his vision, slowly walking out of the foliage, baring their teeth. One by one they revealed themselves as Rex could do nothing, but watch, the realization that he was surrounded setting in quickly and mercilessly.


    With wolves on all sides and lacking a decent weapon to fend them off, Rex determined his only option was escape. And being surrounded the only way to escape¡­ was up. As soon as he was ready to spring up the wolves, seemingly sensing his intentions attacked all at once. But they were too late. They all rushed as Rex jumped up grabbing onto a branch and as they jumped to bite him he swung himself up, kicking two of them in the heads as he did so. He planted his feet on the branch firmly and looked down at the wolves, growling up at him. He was too far up for them to reach. He was safe. For a moment he relaxed and that was the exact moment he felt something fall from above and instantly wrap itself around him. Even then then the tyrant reacted quickly, successfully getting half of his right arm and his tail, spares from the prison of muscle. The head of his attacker stood in front of him, as he stared into the eyes of the white-scaled snake, many times larger than the small green one.


    Of course with this development there was no way even Rex could keep his balance on the already somewhat thin but though branch. What he could do was at least chose the direction and somewhat affect the way he fell. Rather than falling head first the moment he lost his balance he jumped slightly making sure to drop to the left side of the branch with his feet down. As he passed falling by the branch. His free right hand grabbed onto the branch and held him up. It was incredibly difficult to do with only half his arm at his disposal and the wall of muscle that constrained him and tried to crush him wasn¡¯t helping. He struggled once more, trying to move he snake off of him, but it felt like he was trying to move while under an avalanche or landslide. The snake didn¡¯t budge and he couldn¡¯t use his muscles to their proper extent in the position he was put in.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The wolves didn¡¯t sit idly by either as they jumped up and bit into his feet which were free of the constraints. They couldn¡¯t break through the scales but the pressure of the bite still caused Rex pain and the added weight he had to support was extremely taxing on his one arm. He moved his tail towards the snake¡¯s head in front of him. The snake attempted to move away from it, but his tail moved almost like a snake itself, getting behind the creature¡¯s head in one movement and wrapping around it. Rex was sort of impressed with his tail as he clenched it down around the snake, to hear a crack, the tail was much more useful than he gave it credit for with its impressive length and strength. He could immediately feel the muscles of the snake around him relax somewhat, but it still wasn¡¯t letting go. With three wolves biting into his legs he could barely hold himself up, let alone pull himself onto the branch. As he freed his right arm completely now that that gap it created was able to be widened, some of the strain of his arm traveled upwards towards the freed half with a slight adjustment to the way he held himself up. His tail traveled down this time and smacked the wolves that were biting onto him. Really. He would give it more credit from now on. If it wasn¡¯t for it he would have most likely died there.


    The wolves that were barely hanging on as they were, were easily forced to let go and Rex took that chance pulling himself up and out of their reach again, along with the snake. A minute later, the snake disappeared and he let out a sigh of relief he didn¡¯t know he had. He sat onto the branch, resting his back on the tree. He rested a bit there, trying to catch his breath, until a moment later when he felt a small bite on his neck. Smashing his palm into the location he felt the splatter of one of the flower monsters. ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sakes!¡± he exclaimed. He looked down at the wolves and considered for a brief moment, jumping down and taking out his aggression on them, but he sighed and decided otherwise, remembering why he was here in the first place. He didn¡¯t know how many floors the labyrinth had, but no matter how you looked at it, wasting time and effort here wasn¡¯t wise.


    He prepared to head out, but stopped as another white ball of mana formed next to him. ¡®There was a delay?¡¯ He touched his neck to find nothing there. ¡®No. This thing was just the last I needed to get it I guess.¡¯ He shrugged and put his hand in the mana. Taking it out he had another small gem in his hand. It was slightly bigger than the last one, but it was obviously a different gem as well, being red unlike the previous white one. He wondered if he would be able to even find these in his bag without unloading the whole thing with how small they were. But he threw this one inside as well. He didn¡¯t have time to worry about small stuff like that for now. He was only a few minutes away from his goal.


    Tying the bag back around his torso, Rex tightened it and jumped to another branch. Then again, grabbing another branch and using it to swing himself, before jumping to another. Like that he continued forward through the trees, keeping an eye out for any of the snakes still hiding in them. Thankfully the snakes were much easier to spot than the blossom monsters and even easier to avoid once knowing where they are. He actually felt one bite him twice, but he was vigilant about his vulnerable areas and none managed to bite him there. Even the ones that tried to bite his scales where just squished almost immediately after. It seemed like not only the wolves, but nothing in this labyrinth was used to anything with as high a defense as his. He attributed that to the labyrinth¡¯s youth and the creatures¡¯ inexperience.


    Eventually, though it had taken more than anticipated due to not walking there, he made it to the tree. He didn¡¯t even need to circle it to find the large hole carved into the tree¡¯s bark. Though another thing he noticed immediately were the two corpses at the front. Jumping down from the tree he examined the two humans. They both wore leather but all of their other equipment and supplies were gone, most likely taken by the group so they wouldn¡¯t be wasted. Looking at them closely both of them had their eyes rolled back and their mouths were open in a horrific expression. The most obvious of their damage, though were their slit throats. Rex considered betrayal for a moment. Perhaps they wanted to turn back, just like the ones at he entrance, but insisted too strongly, earning them a knife in the back. Or throat. It was possible but there were also signs of poisoning. So perhaps they were bitten and carried in hope they would survive, only to be given up o and put out of their miseries?


    Rex didn¡¯t know and he couldn¡¯t be sure. The only thing he did know is that the group had proceeded down to the next floor. Rex opted to do the same. Leaving the two dead men behind he entered the hole in the tree. To his left was a staircase which he started going down. It seemed like it would be a spiral staircase this time, unlike the last straight one. After some time to descend he came to the exit. What revealed itself past the small room carved into the trunk of the tree that proceeded much deeper underground than it should have, was darkness. Even with his vision he could barely even see. There were only small forms of illumination In the form of mushrooms, but these ones were different. They were smaller and glowed fainter. Thee tunnel in front of him was made out of dirt, small bits of roots or stones peeked out of some of the sides and the whole thing was quite constraining, allowing room for at most two people to walk side by side, and even then they would be almost, if not brushing against the walls to do it. That large group¡­ they would have trouble in here¡­


    Rex though didn¡¯t mind. He stepped forward. Even if it was dark, to him it was much less so than to a human. He proceeded down the path until coming to a fork, with three ways to go. He simply continued forward, until after a few more moments of walking, he saw the silhouette of something in the darkness. Walking towards him, causing him to get on guard. As it walked into the illumination of a mushroom, Rex got a better look. It looked like it was completely made out of thick roots tangled around each other. Its legs and arms inhumanly thin and long, and its body sickeningly slender. Its head alone was strangely oversized with the roots it was made out of being the only part of its body to have thorns and being strangely distanced from one another. As they twisted and closed up Rex saw a glimmer of red from within them. As Rex looked astonished at the humanoid figure that was as inhuman as he could have possibly imagined, the creature stopped walking. And as it raised its hands, Rex prepared for combat.

 Chapter 17: Victory

    As Rex got into a combat-ready position, the humanoid root creature raised its hands and brought them down as they stretched, turning into what Rex could only describe as whip limbs. Of course, in this narrow hallway there was no way that a whip would be effective... was what the drakin thought but it quickly became evident that the creature could manipulate its elongated limbs with much more proficiency and efficiency than anyone using a whip. Seeing this, Rex hugged one of the walls with his back to it, dodging the attack, the willowy limbs smashing into the floor instead with a clear, audible snap. The strength behind them was clearly nothing to scoff at. The creature immediately started another attack, this time a horizontal one with both arms. Rex dropped prone to the ground, causing the attack to miss him and once more snap against the wall.


    This time Rex didn¡¯t wait as he instantly sprung up into a sprinting stance and rushed toward it. In answer the creature sent another attack forward, crossing its arms in an X. Rex wondered for a moment if he should attempt to break through it with force, but instantly decided against it. He would not come out unscathed and such tactics wouldn¡¯t affect a monster psychologically. Maybe a normal one, but not one of a labyrinth. Instead he sent himself sprawling to the ground without stopping his momentum, sliding under the attack before springing back up to running again. He had to be thankful to his current body for allowing him to do something like that without much training. The creature attempted another attack, with one horizontal and one vertical arm, but it was easily dodged by Rex jumping to the side of the vertical one, at the same time as over the other. As he landed he jumped again, this time forward, latching onto the creature by grabbing the roots it was formed of with one claw, raising the other and slashing down at the roots with it.


    The sharp claw left a scratch on the root, Rex had planned to completely tear through, giving him pause. Taking advantage of the moment, the creature¡¯s thorny head widened as the roots untwist, causing it to open up, almost like a jaw. As the creature opened its ¡°mouth¡±, lunging toward Rex¡¯ own head, causing him to snap out of his surprise. Instead of Rex¡¯ head the creature suddenly had his tail slam into its face which it bit into nonetheless, closing its head around it. Rex grunted at the pain caused by the pressure put on the tail alone as the thorns of the creature aren¡¯t sharp enough to break through his scales. He shivered for a moment as he thought about what would have been if he couldn¡¯t cover his hands and feet in scales or if his scales weren¡¯t as unreasonably hardy as they were. At the very least he wouldn¡¯t have his feet by now, considering the wolves that had bitten into them on the previous floor.0


    Now with the creature¡¯s close-range attack method disabled Rex grabbed onto it again. Instead of trying to slash at the roots he firmly dug his lower claws into the ground and pulled the roots apart, bending them through strength, under the first was another layer. And another. The creature struggled but its thin limbs didn¡¯t have the strength to do anything to him in close range, resulting in rhem beating his back with no avail, unable to put any strength into the attacks11. After pulling apart several layers a gem the size of a child¡¯s fist was revealed within it. Rex plunged his claws into the creature one last time, wincing at the pain in his tail as the creature tried harder and harder to crush it. His claws grabbed the gem which seemed to be connected through thinner, smaller roots to the ones that made up the creature¡¯s body. He pulled at it with all his might, the small roots snapping one by one, as the object was pulled out of the creature and its movement suddenly stopped.


    The creature¡¯s body suddenly went limp, falling backwards, the only thing stopping it, Rex¡¯ tail which held up its body through its clenched head. He approached the body, keeping it half-lifted with his tail and pulled apart the thorny roots, releasing himself from its constraints. And as he let go the body of the creature fell to the ground, causing Rex to sigh in relief. He brought his attention to the gem in his hands, which cracked, breaking into pieces and then again, until it just turned into dust. ¡®A core...¡¯ he had hears of creatures that were born with these. He wondered idly if there were safe ways to extract them without them falling apart. If that was the case they would be able to act similarly to labyrinth cores in function albeit not as effectively. He was sure he wouldn¡¯t have been the first to think of this and for all he knew there was even more than one method available, or maybe them breaking like that was just because these were labyrinth creatures. He¡¯d look into it afterwards.


    He turned his attention to the disappearing corpse of the root creature. As soon as the last part of it disappeared a white ball of concentrated mana materialized, causing Rex¡¯s eyes to widen. He got a reward from only one creature? Then these must have been sort of elites. A creature the labyrinth created at a greater cost than others. No wonder it was so strong. Rex put his hand in the orb of mana and took out... a throwing knife? It was just like his own. Was it because he¡¯d lost two on the previous floor?


    It didn¡¯t take the white-scaled boy long to reach another fork in the road, but only looking down to the left was enough to confirm one of his theories, as there were two human corpses lying on the ground of the path. The first thing standing out was that their heads were mangled to the point of being unrecognizable. Upon closer inspection one of them had a hammer next to him. A hammer that went along with the equipment and build of one of the corpses perfectly pointing to it belonging to the leader of the party. That was bad. Without him the others might decide to turn back. He would have to hurry and clear the labyrinth in that case. As he couldn¡¯t allow them returning here with guild staff and catching him in the process. He tried to determine the identity of the other man as well, but failed. He was most likely not one Rex had kept a close eye on before they had entered the labyrinth.


    Their equipment was left behind which meant the others probably ran, but nothing from it seemed very useful to Rex and his bag was already full enough as it was. He did take their coin though and they both had a good amount of it as well. He wasn¡¯t one to make the same mistake twice... if... he cared enough to give it his attention. He opted to leave everything else behind and ran forward. Even weapons would do nothing but slow him down against the root-formed monstrosities of this floor.


    As he ran through the floor, mapping out the labyrinth-like design worthy of the name of the creature that designed it, he encountered a few more of the monsters but opted to either go in a different direction to them or dodging their attacks and knocking them to the ground before running past them. While their defences were impressive, just knocking them down posed little difficulty.


    Still. Rex would stop occasionally to rest. Or rather to wait, to observe. It seemed to him almost like the creatures in these tunnels were actually looking for him. It reminded him of how the wolves pushed him into a snake trap on the previous floor. The labyrinth seemed to be working against him. Was it afraid of him? Did it feel threatened? It wasn¡¯t impossible. Despite the creatures acting on instinct to the point of putting normal animals to shame, it was possible for labyrinths to feel a threat based on instinct alone. After all these creatures had no intelligence. He was about to move again when a creature suddenly rounded a corner further down the corridor. Of course he had made sure to stop in a place where there were multiple ways of escape. The creature though, gave him pause from doing so.


    Unlike the common, slender, humanoid figures Rex encountered previously, this one walked on four legs... and it was bulky, slow. That was the problem though. It was bulky. Given how much effort it had taken for the boy to take out the core of a normal root monster, this one would take forever, not to mention more roots meant enhanced offense as well. The drakin watched as the creature took a few steps towards him before running into another hallway going as far away as possible whilst looking for his goal. He continued running, evading the large creatures while finding some leeway in the humanoid ones which could be dealt with easily enough.


    The longer he spent on this floor the more often he felt like he was encountering the creatures. He had ran past two more corpses a few minutes ago, not stopping to check them, not wanting to be discovered. Now, though, 0 he had made it. With a few pants he stared at the large door in front of him. It wasn¡¯t as large or as magnificent as the front of the labyrinth, but it was still beautifully carved out of wood with the image of a tree¡¯s crown and a beautiful woman sitting in it, like almost a part of it.


    Rex walked up to the door and pushed it open to reveal a room with a single small tree in the middle of it. Though what was more interesting was the seven corpses surrounding it. ¡®So the group hadn¡¯t withdrawn after all.¡¯ Concluded Rex as he entered the room, making a mental note of how the dead men didn¡¯t seem to have any external wounds at first glance, yet a few were bleeding from their eyes and ears, most at least from their mouth.


    As he stepped fully within the room, the door closed behind him. The tree in the room waved slightly as if by a non-existent wind, then its bark started shifting and all but two branches retracting. Rex attempted to take advantage as he leaped forward only to suddenly be pushed back, as a loud noise akin to a woman¡¯s voice screaming sounded out through the room and a green wave of energy manifested around the shifting tree moving outwards away from it, knocking into its enemy.


    Rex could feel the energy shake him. Not just literally as he looked down to find his right hand was as well. He couldn¡¯t tell what caused it but he clenched his fist strongly, seeming to fix it by force. When he looked up again what he saw was no longer a tree, but the form of a woman, formed out of wood and bark. Her arms and legs, incredibly thin and ending in sharp points, though her legs didn¡¯t touch the ground as she floated some centimetres off of it. She didn¡¯t have a mouth and her eyes and nose were only carved to make her face look more humanly, at least so it seemed to Rex.


    Rex breathed in deep and let out a sigh. He didn¡¯t know if he should be happy or not. On the bright side he found the current guardian of the labyrinth. Since the labyrinth was supposed to be quite young he doubted it would have more than one so this was essentially the last obstacle that stood between him and the core, between him and paying his debt to Ann, his teacher. A bit of an unfair trade it was, but his gratitude was there and he could think not of skipping out on it. ¡®That¡¯s right¡¯ he reaffirmed his resolve.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    He had a debt to pay. Another shackle to break. What was anything in front of that? The country would hunt him? Let it. He was bound not to this petty country. The guild would expel him? Let them. They would be the ones to miss out. A guardian capable of magic that bypassed outward defences would stand in his way? It would die. He had chosen his name on a whim, something he thought of in the moment to appease and old hag that would have no doubt named him something against his will. But now? Now he had grown to like it. That¡¯s right. He was Rex. Rex Tyranno. And Rex Tyranno always paid his debts.


    Rex grinned facing the woman. She raised an arm pointing the sharp point towards him. It was at that moment Rex felt a fluctuation in the mana around that point and jumped sideways to evade. What he saw as he did so was a green bolt of energy, almost like lightning leave the point of the arm and strike the wall behind where Rex was standing. The wall didn¡¯t seem damaged, but Rex knew. This monster focused on internal attacks rather than external. To a mass of dirt and rock the difference was not that great but to a creature with a hard outside and squishy insides like him even one of the attacks might have been deadly.


    He landed on the ground just as the creature fixed its aim on him again. Again he felt the fluctuations of mana and jumped away, his timing marginally better this time, no longer caught by surprise. As the green lightning struck the wall behind him again, he landed once more. Evading the corpses of the previous challengers he ran forward towards the wooden woman, not stopping as she pointed her arm at him, he instead picked a corpse up by its neck and as he felt the fluctuations he threw it forward, letting the lightning hit it in his place.


    Still the body didn¡¯t slow its momentum even as the lightning hit it, showing the lack of force in the attack, and just like that it was thrown on top of the woman who desperately attempted to throw it off, finding some difficulty with her arms not formed for something like that, lacking fingers at all. In the second it took her to throw the body off Rex had already gotten to her side. He clenched his fist and with all his strength struck her with it, sending splinters flying from her protective layer.


    Not stopping there, he struck again. This time in the stomach. Then again, hitting in the same spot. The guardian staggered with each of his hits, looking like it felt the pain of his heavy blows. He hadn¡¯t thought it would be this easy but perhaps he had overestimated his enemy. As a dent formed in her abdomen he stuck his claws inside, digging them under her bark and pulled, trying to take off that layer of protection from a larger area. It was then that the creature let out a noise for the second time.


    Again a wail of a woman echoed out of it as Rex felt the fluctuating mana all around him, it wasn¡¯t that the mana was being used by her but it was reacting to what she was doing. Rex quickly got his hand out and tried to jump backwards but it wasn¡¯t enough. Another wave of green energy came crashing into him mid-jump. Much stronger than the last one. Rather than just knock him back it pushed him along it until it pressed him to the room wall. Each moment it touched him was pure agony to Rex as he felt his insides scream in pain. His muscles stretched, his heart rate increased rapidly, his organs felt like they were being torn apart. Finally he was released as the wave passed him completely and went into the wall behind him. What it left behind though was severe damage Rex could have never expected.


    He cursed in his mind, as much as he wanted to curse out loud his voice wouldn¡¯t come out. He fell to the ground, on his knees, though barely even keeping that up. His muscles were still retching from the attack, but as he looked at the guardian it didn¡¯t seem to be doing fine either. He felt some of the mana in the air entering it, very slowly but it was noticeable. The woman herself seemed to be having trouble maintaining herself afloat as her feet were now barely any distance from the ground looking almost to be touching it. At that moment they both knew. The first one to recover would win. Knowing that Rex started trying to force his limbs to move. At first he received no reaction, but after a moment his fingers slightly twitched causing him to scream hoarsely out in pain. Moving felt like he was turning the particular muscles he used to flames.


    A


    He clenched his teeth as he moved the his clawed toes, then the feet themselves. He moved one leg and one arm , using them to push himself up into a standing position. The wooden woman raised a pointed arm towards him but Rex felt no fluctuation of mana. The moment he did would likely be his end. As he currently was he couldn¡¯t react on time to jump out of the way. Nor could he throw a corpse forwards fast enough for it to matter. He took a step forward. And another. He established a slow rhythm as he changed which muscles supported his body and which were used to move the leg forward, thus changing which part of them were bathed in a pain unlike any he had felt since coming here.


    How many times did he think of giving up? How many times did he think to just stop? Yet his body, it didn¡¯t obey. His mind. It didn¡¯t obey. His heart. It refused! At that point he himself had no idea why but the pain had become next to nothing. The pathetic part of himself, asking him to give up was gone. And the arm of the woman was shaking as it faced his walk towards her. As he reached her he pushed the arm out of the way and dug his claws under her bark again. Then he placed another hand on her to hold her in place and pulled. Crack! One piece of bark came off and he dug his claws under another. Crack! Another came off. Crack! Another followed. As almost her entire front torso became uncovered Rex looked towards the writhing creature in agony and felt for the mana around them. Slipping his claws into the centre of her chest where it was converging. The woman twitched strongly once more and then stopped moving.


    Rex pulled his claws out of her and she fell to the ground, her body beginning to disintegrate. Rex waited as his muscles slowly started screaming again, only to have him forcefully shut them up. He coughed a few times only to find the taste of iron in his mouth and some crimson on the palm, he covered his mouth with. This only caused him to frown. He needed to leave. Just as he turned towards the door on the other side of the room from where he came in, a green glow caught his eye and he turned to find another ball of mana form out of the body of the guardian. Musing for a moment , he put his hand inside. What he was holding when he took it out was a hammer made out of bark and wood with some roots wrapping around it, carved and decorated all-naturally


    . It wasn¡¯t big. He could easily hold it in one hand. But the two blunt sides used for hitting were almost disproportionately large compared to the rest of the hammer. The handle itself was a bit big for him but he guessed that when he had fully grown it would be perfect. The weight as well was perfect for him as it was. Not too much, not too little. A magic weapon, no doubt. It was too unique to be a random reward. Rex was satisfied.


    Keeping the hammer in one hand, he approached the door leading no doubt to the core room. Pushing it open he found a room made on all sides of wood, not of planks or logs, but almost as if it was carved into a tree itself. At the middle stood a table rising out of the ground and made out of roots, in the middle of t resting a single fist-sized green gem. Rex placed one hand on it and immediately felt an agony similar, but unlike what he was already feeling. He felt the mana around the gem fluctuate but even as he let go, the feeling didn¡¯t stop. The difference from the past pain was this one was deeper. Not in his body but in his being.


    He felt something invade him. When had he felt that before? When he was being reincarnated. He remembered. But no. That was different. This was different. That had been even deeper. At this realisation, Rex grinned. In that case if he was able to resist that there was no reason he couldn¡¯t this. That being said no matter how he concentrated on the force it would keep thrashing around inside him, rummaging around until he felt a different energy rise up and consume the one from the gem. He felt it. His own mana rising up. But. But it wasn¡¯t stopping! It was rising out of his body and dispersing into the air, all of it leaking out of him, every bit making him feel slightly weaker. He fell to his knees panting between the effort to stay standing and the effort to control his mana. He closed his eyes and focused. What was he to do? He couldn¡¯t keep his mana inside of him. Yet the more left, the weaker he felt.


    He had to do something. If he couldn¡¯t keep the mana inside him, then he would do something with it! Around his body a thin sheet of mana formed, closely fitting his form, he felt the mana try to escape him again so he had the sheet constantly rotate around him. As he did so he felt it become much simpler to maintain. Not only that but it blocked his mana from escaping him again. As it did he refocused on his mana again and gathered it in the spot it had been leaking out of the whole time. Then he tensed his inner self up and it no longer moved. It was hard to keep up at first but he quickly felt it becoming natural. Before he knew it whether the mana was released or not was just a small feeling away. A fraction of a second, if even that.


    Panting, with drops of sweat falling from him to the floor, he grinned. He felt almost liberated, reborn. He found some humour in expressing it like that and combined with the hysteric laugh of his own survival he also laughed at that. The pain on his insides was weaker now. He felt his mana inside him clearly and even could see the thin sheet surrounding him. He still needed some concentration to keep it active but not much. He put a foot on the ground and once more stood up, grinning at the green gem on the table. He once more placed a hand on it. Again he felt the mana fluctuate but this time he felt and saw more. From the gem itself mana was released and it clashed with the sheet that now covered him. The sheet held up though. It was obvious this wasn¡¯t something the core was very capable in as the drakin picked it up in the hand that didn¡¯t carry the hammer, keeping it out of the sheet and threw it in his bag, filling up the last of its space.


    Like that he stepped out of the room of the core. Many bodies lay dead in the room of the guardian, her own nowhere to be found. Rex gripped the hammer stronger. He opened the door he came into the guardian¡¯s room through and stepped out into the dark tunnels again. Slowly walking forwards due to the remaining pain in his body and his heavy fatigue. He felt some of the mana in the air enter both him and the gem on its own, replenishing them, becoming their own. Rex¡¯s shield didn¡¯t block it as it lacked any intentions whatsoever.


    The monsters of the labyrinth seemed almost frozen. Rex had completely avoided them before but now there was no need to. Before long they themselves would collapse and disappear along with all the plants and life that had bloomed within this cave. Rex found his way to the second floor rather easily, though anything but quickly. It had taken him a few hours. There he passed by the place where he had lost his throwing knives, picking them back up, adding up to nine And again it took him a few more hours to get back up to the first. By that time the plants on the first floor had dried up despite the small creek on the side of the cave. They were no longer alive and had started completely disappearing. Even the glowing mushrooms barely even glowed anymore, making it hard for Rex to make out the way forward.


    Eventually though he stood in front of where the large door he had entered through, it being no longer there, only a hole to a large but dead cave. Just as he left the cave so too did several men come out of the foliage of the forest, meeting him head on. Some were suddenly struck with fear, others with confusion. As always Rex couldn¡¯t read the expression of the man at the helm, using a sword as a cane to move forward, despite his limp. The old man, who had served him at the counter of the guild house so many times before, stood, blocking his way.

 Chapter 18: Reunion and Departure

    Rex smiled wryly at his current circumstances, though he frowned slightly mentally ¡®Shit. How? The group hadn¡¯t retreated. They were-¡® his own thought was interrupted by a realisation which would cause his eyes to open wide if he didn¡¯t need to control his expression right now. He had found two bodies right before the third floor, then two more a little after entering it, two again a little before the guardian room and seven inside. Thirteen bodies in total. He would slap himself right now if he didn¡¯t have a possibly hostile audience. That added up to thirteen bodies. The group had eighteen members.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Called out the old man before he could think anymore ¡°We heard there¡¯s a labyrinth around here. D¡¯you maybe know what that¡¯s about?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re in the right place. Just a bit on the late side.¡± Rex answered, nonchalantly pointing a thumb to the cave behind him. There was no point in lying. It was obvious they were aware of the situation to an extent. If not everyone then the old man that seemed to be the leader was, and that was bad enough. Rex wasn¡¯t going to lie. Fighting his way out of the situation would be difficult. Incredibly so. He had no confidence in being able to do so at all. His condition in the hours that he¡¯d spent coming out of the labyrinth had improved, but that was just a change from ¡°nearly dead¡± to ¡°barely able to keep himself standing from exhaustion¡±.


    ¡°Oh? So this one just looks like a normal cave huh? Hey! I thought you said there¡¯s a door!¡± he yelled at two members of the group behind him.


    ¡°There was We swear!¡± one of them answered. The other pointed at Rex and shoutedq ¡°This guy! He must¡¯ve followed the group and then stole the rewards when they were exhausted. Look at that hammer! Its probably a magical item!¡± Everyone¡¯s gazes suddenly locked onto it like hungry wolves. Rex had yet to strap the hammer to his belt or put on a cloak. It was always in his hand. He was unwilling to let his guard down while walking through the labyrinth.


    ¡°Is that true?¡± the old man asked again, turning to Rex.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t insult me like that. I beat the guardian myself fair and square after the other lot¡¯d taken their go.¡± The drakin answered with a half-smile.


    ¡°I see. And the core? How was it?¡±


    ¡°I think it tried to kill me multiple times. Its probably dead by now though.¡± Everyone got on their guards. Obviously negotiations didn¡¯t seem to be going well. Though Rex still didn¡¯t know. The old man was unreadable. Rex decided. He would bet on the old man being a true adventurer.


    ¡°Did you know that the unauthorized killing of a labyrinth is forbidden by the law?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I see. Can I ask why?¡±


    Rex hesitated in answering for a moment, thinking carefully how to word it ¡°A promise.¡±


    The old man also paused for a moment, then closed his eyes ¡°I hope that promise is worth it. I want you to know that as citizens of this country we have a duty to report you. Everyone! We¡¯re going back!¡± He turned around


    ¡°Wait, wait! What? You¡¯re kidding right? He¡¯s right there! We should apprehend him!¡± One of his companions shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to remind you that adventurers are not allowed to have serious fights with one another. Keep your fists shiny for your next tavern brawla, Host.¡±


    ¡°But-!¡± he tried to retaliate only to be interrupted.


    ¡°I¡¯d also like to remind everyone here that clearing labyrinths is strictly allowed by the guild and in the case that a country¡¯s laws contradict those of the guild, guild members should not act against each other and should inform appropriate authorities of the circumstances.¡± The old man recited surprising many people. Rex himself hadn¡¯t known that¡¯s how rules worked. He had thought that the guild also wouldn¡¯t allow the clearance of labyrinths.


    ¡°Oh. But!¡± the old man suddenly remembered something, turning to Rex once more ¡°Did you kill any of the group in there? ¡° he asked Rex.


    ¡°No. They all died from the labyrinth itself. Two were poisoned and put out of their misery on the second floor. Four died on the third in unknown to me circumstances. It wasn¡¯t human work though. Their heads were crushed and mangled beyond recognition. The other seven died in the guardian room.¡±


    ¡°I see... did you retrieve any of their cards?¡±


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°A few of you go confirm that! I¡¯ll have your report at the guild. If what he¡¯s saying is true the labyrinth poses no threat.¡± The one addressed as Host earlier and two others moved inside the cave, torches at the ready. It was dark outside so several members of the group already carried light. ¡°The rest of you are free to go. And just so you know in future, Rex. Retrieving the cards of dead member is rewarded. The higher ranked, the better the reward.¡± Rex simply nodded. He still couldn¡¯t believe he would just be let go.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be going before the country gets on my ass.¡± Rex said, turning and starting to walk away.


    ¡°One last thing.¡± The old man called out ¡°When you lie about your race at least make it believable.¡±


    Rex froze for a moment. Then proceeded to walk away without saying anything. If he were to go back to the road and follow it, it would take a day or two to reach Ann¡¯s village. So he decided to cut through the forest for a large shortcut. Like that, considering he was already quite deep in the forest, another few hours and he would be at the village. He had already ran the marathon. Now all he needed was to bring the trophy home. Just a bit longer. Like that, constantly forcing himself to proceed forward, he made his way through the forest.


    It was an hour or so of walking later when he suddenly felt a pain in his thigh, looking down he saw an arrow had bounced off of his scales. The pain was only because of the shock to his already damaged insides the impact caused. Still even then he was almost too tired to make note of it. No. He almost relished in it. The pain kept him awake. He felt another, this time on his back. It was then that he realised finally he was in danger. His left hand took out a knife from his pouch and concentrated as much as he could. He heard this time the string of the bow being pulled back, immediately sending the knife flying in its direction, he soon heard a scream and a fall.


    He walked over tiredly through the foliage to see a man running away , holding his shoulder. Taking another knife out, he threw it and hit the man straight in the back of the head, causing him to fall limp. He heard the creak of a branch above him and his tail rose, swatting the man falling towards him with a knife, out of the air, causing him to hit a tree. The last thing the man saw with his left eye was the tip of a knife that immediately pierced it, killing him.


    Rex retrieved and cleaned his knives off with the tools he¡¯d bought from the blacksmith in Fyric. He also took the men¡¯s coins, thinking they might make a good gift for Ann. He certainly wouldn¡¯t need them where he was going. After he was done he proceeded forward. The last member of the group left his hiding place well after he was gone. The plan was supposed to be simple. He stared at the bodies of his comrades in disbelief before collapsing to the ground, his body fine, but his spirit shattered.


    Rex didn¡¯t receive anymore interruptions. By the time he left the forest the sun had risen and the mark of twenty four hours since he had woken up passed. Normally that wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him as he could stay awake for multiple days without tiring, but this time he had gone through too much in this one day. He started following the road, after two hours he arrived at the village, passing through it, quite a few people remembered him and greeted him, but all he could afford in greeting were small gestures like a nod of his head or a raise of his hand. When he arrived at Ann¡¯s hut he knocked on the door and upon hearing Maya¡¯s voice answering to wait just a moment. His legs gave way and his consciousness faded.


    When he opened his eyes again he saw a familiar ceiling. He had slept here for two months before.


    ¡°Ah! Masteeer! He¡¯s awake!¡± he heard from next to him. Turning his head he saw Maya, the fellow student of Ann. Though she had been taught for much longer and much more.


    ¡°Hey.¡± He greeted as he stood his body up. He was mostly naked which wasn¡¯t too surprising, considering he probably received medical attention, as much as Ann and her apprentice could give.


    ¡°H-hi again...¡± the girl answered back as Ann entered the room., barely fitting together with the other two. The room really wasn¡¯t the biggest with only a single bed and some space to the side of it.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake. Good. You scared the life out of us.¡± The old woman said, though she couldn¡¯t stop her smile from showing.


    ¡°How long was I out for?¡±


    ¡°About a day. You must¡¯ve really been tired huh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah... did you rummage through my bag already?¡±


    ¡°Huh? No we really haven¡¯t.¡± She pointed to the side of the bed where his bag was left, confusedly. Though that confusion quickly turned into anticipation as she thought about the hammer he had carried. She should have rummaged through it.


    Rex leaned to it and picked it up, opening the strings and taking out the green labyrinth core. ¡°Request complete.¡± He told her with a smile. Ann instantly snatched it out of his hands, causing his smile to widen slightly. She examined it in wonder, but then turned to Rex again.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°How did you get this so fast?¡± she asked, her wonder turning into worry.


    ¡°I came across a new labyrinth and cleared it.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone know?¡± Ann asked him, causing him to pause and nod grimly.


    ¡°Shit...¡±


    ¡°Master, language!¡± Maya scolded.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry. How long do you think you have until they look for you here?¡±


    This gave Rex pause as he hadn¡¯t thought about it. It had been a day since he¡¯d collapsed. Considering by the time he reached the village, the others had also reached the town. He must have already been reported. If that was the case then.


    ¡°Probably another day or two at most.¡±


    ¡°You need to leave again...?¡± Maya asked sadly.


    ¡°Probably...¡±


    Ann sighed. She now slightly regretted sending him on the job. But it couldn¡¯t be helped. One way or another she needed the core. And that was most likely her last opportunity to find it.


    ¡°I prepared some things for you for when you came back. Give me a moment.¡± Ann left the room and came back with a bundle of adult-sized clothes.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those a bit large for me?¡±


    ¡°Just put them on. You¡¯ll see.¡± She handed him the bundle.


    They were quite well-made clothes and seemed like they would be comfortable. There was even underwear there, specially made for him, but the size was still wrong. Ann urged Maya to leave and he was left alone in the room to change. Deciding that there must be more to the clothes than it seemed, Rex undid the more draconic transformations to his body, then replaced the underwear he was wearing with the pair Ann had brought, which then fit perfectly to him. ¡®So that was it¡¯ At least he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about clothing size anymore until these ones became unusable. He put on the rest of the clothes which fit to him comfortably just like the underwear and left the room, taking some stuff from his bag with him.


    Ann, seeing him leave the room smiled and asked ¡°How do you like it?"


    ¡°Its great. I finally don¡¯t need to worry about outgrowing my clothes. Now I¡¯m worried about damaging them though.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. It also has self-repair and self-cleaning.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s... really useful. Could you put that on something else as well?¡±


    ¡°Something else? Like that thing you¡¯re holding?¡±


    Rex smiled and unfolded his cloak, handing it to her.


    ¡°Hmm... Normally I would need a few days to finish this at the very least but with the core I might be able to finish it today. I¡¯m not sure. It depends on how much mana the core has in it.¡±


    Hearing the word mana Rex remembered unlocking his own. Looking down, he realised that the sheet he had put around himself wasn¡¯t active. He fixed that immediately, knowing how useful it was against the gem.


    ¡°Then could you try?¡±


    Ann giggled slightly ¡°Of course. Its the least I could do after you got me this. Also here.¡± She grabbed a large backpack off the ground and threw it to him. ¡°Your bag¡¯s sort of small so you can use that instead.¡±


    Rex wondered for a moment if he wanted to use this. It would be a bigger pain to move with during combat until he grew up. That being said where he was going he might need the space. ¡°Thanks.¡± He decided he would take it. It was sturdier and larger than his own.


    ¡°Do you know what these are by the way?¡± He opened his other hand to reveal the small white and slightly bigger green gem. Ann took the two and looked at them closely.


    ¡°Hmm... Where¡¯d you get these?¡±


    ¡°Rewards from the labyrinth.¡±


    ¡°They just look like normal gems to me. Could probably fetch a few coins at a jeweller.¡±


    ¡°Huh... I¡¯ll keep them then. Have any Beast Lands currency around here?¡±


    ¡°I have a few bits around left over from my travels. Maya could you look for them?¡±


    ¡°Alright...¡± the young girl said, slightly disheartened. She had been looking forward to Rex coming back yet here he was and they were already rushing to prepare for his next departure.


    As she started looking around, Ann went into a separate room with the cloak and core, closing and locking the door behind her. Rex himself transferred his belongings from his bag into the new backpack and looked for his new hammer. Finding it next to the door, he strapped it to his belt and went over to help Maya, who was rummaging through a chest of junk.


    A few minutes of rummaging through the chest later they found a coin pouch in it. Maya took it to the table and took out the coins. There were quite a few small, round and copper ones, a few square iron ones and two hexagonal silver ones.


    ¡°These are bits. The copper ones are worth the least. A hundred of them make up one iron. Then ten iron make up a silver, ten silver a gold and a hundred gold a jade one.¡±


    ¡°Great. At least I won¡¯t be broke there.¡± He picked up the coins and put them in the purse, before exchanging it with his own.


    ¡°So... you¡¯ll be heading to the Beast Lands...?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He answered simply.


    ¡°Are you going to come back again...?¡±


    ¡°Hard to say. If I do, it won¡¯t be anytime soon.¡±


    Maya looked down, dejected. Rex had been her only friend in a village where there were no kids her age. Not that Rex was her age of course, and she knew that, but since she was more mature than usual and shared many interests with him, she got along with him better than anyone else in the village except Ann herself. Rex of course knew that, but he couldn¡¯t really stay. That would be bad both for him and Maya and Ann, not to even mention the rest of the village. In the first place he doubted the villagers would hide him. He had just slightly helped around during the two months of his stay here. He didn¡¯t consider himself a part of the village by any stretch. But even if they did help, the consequences for when that was uncovered would be dire.


    Maya of course understood that as well, maybe she was twelve and maybe she looked even younger, but she was more intelligent than any normal child her age would be. She understood that Rex was a criminal and that the country would be looking for him, that if anyone protected him they would be just as much criminal as him and punished for it. But that didn¡¯t stop her from being sad and frustrated.


    The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. It was only near night that Ann came out of her room with the cloak, seeming more happy with it than the one that would be using it, thanking Rex again profusely for the core. She had also decided to hide it, though even Rex didn¡¯t know where that had been. The dinner was sombre as all three were aware it was most likely the last they would have together and after it Maya went home, to the house she lived alone in in the village. It was then that Ann brought something up to Rex.


    ¡°Hey... Rex.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Mumbled Rex back at her.


    ¡°Would you perhaps take Maya with you tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Rex raised his voice in disbelief. ¡°Are you serious? Just getting there will be deadly and you know the treatment of humans there can be as bad as for beastmen here don¡¯t you?¡± Ann nodded ¡°Then why?¡±


    ¡°Having her spend her life here isn¡¯t going to be good for her. She needs to go out and see the world just as I did at her age. I¡¯ve armed her with the knowledge. Now she needs someone who can help her. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a better person for that than you.¡±


    ¡°You know I dislike babysitting.¡± Rex narrowed his eyes at her.


    ¡°Hah! I wonder who¡¯ll be babying who. Don¡¯t worry. The girl might not be a great fighter, but she knows much more about the world than you. I¡¯ve made sure she knows a whole lot. That knowledge will surely be useful for you.¡±


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case I can¡¯t guarantee her safety!¡±


    ¡°Rex are you... afraid?¡± Rex froze ¡°Are you afraid of losing...?¡± No answer came ¡°You remember don¡¯t you?¡± Rex had initially hidden behind the convenient excuse of partial amnesia. ¡°What do you remember?¡±


    Rex didn¡¯t say anything for a few moments, then sighed ¡°I have to apologize to you... I never lost any memories in the first place. It was just impossible for me to explain some things at first and... with time it only got harder.¡±


    Ann was surprised, but didn¡¯t say anything. Rex sighed again and explained. Everything. Though he kept many details of his previous life hidden, he mentioned he had been old and died, he had explained the dark space he had found himself in afterwards and his birth from the egg. How he found them around a week after that while trying to find his way to civilisation.


    ¡°Another world...¡± Ann mumbled ¡°And you were born from an egg?¡± Rex nodded in confirmation ¡°Then you¡¯re not a drakin. No. Not at all... a dragon. You¡¯re a real dragon...¡± She laughed slightly at the unbelievable mess of a situation. ¡°I know little about how dragons work but your parents. They must have sensed something different about you and abandoned your egg in that forest. The beasts. They must have stayed clear due to their residual scent. If they were dragons then even the smallest of smells would have caused them to stay completely clear. ¡°


    ¡°I look more like a drakin than a dragon.¡±


    ¡°There is no ¡°look like a dragon¡±. I mean there is, but not truly. Dragons are all born and raised with unique forms. It just so happens that instead of your horns, head and tail being a unique draconic shape you look human. Its possible that was affected because of your memories of your past life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s... still. I¡¯m way weaker than what I imagine a dragon would be.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re like three-four months old, Rex! And you already single-handedly cleared a labyrinth, even if young. Can you imagine a human baby walking in there and doing that? Memories of past life or not? Or a drakin one at that?!¡±


    This caused Rex to shut up. It was true. Even a drakin wouldn¡¯t be capable of it... a dragon... he was an actual dragon... Ann sighed.


    ¡°You still sure you want Maya with me...?¡±


    ¡°Am I sure?! You¡¯re a walking, talking natural disaster to us humans! If you can¡¯t protect her no one can!¡± Rex¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What¡¯re you looking like that for?! You think just cause you changed from drakin to dragon I¡¯d be bothered?! For someone who was an old man you sure are an idiot.¡± Ann smiled and started laughing.


    Now it was once again Rex¡¯s turn to sigh. The two had done that a lot tonight.


    ¡°Reincarnation though huh...? And that dark space... even I can¡¯t tell you anything about that. Your best bet is to pursue the knowledge of the gods.¡± The now-dragon raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°I didn¡¯t say it was a fair bet. What of Maya though? I still haven¡¯t heard your answer.¡±


    ¡°You know what... fine. I¡¯ll take her.¡±


    ¡°Brilliant! I¡¯ll prepare a pack for her as well!¡±


    ¡°You do that. I¡¯m going to sleep.¡±


    ¡°What? Already? You usually stay up days on end.¡±


    ¡°I still haven¡¯t fully recovered! Now excuse me.¡± Rex ended as he went into ¡°his¡± room. He laid down on his bed and with a small smile, he dozed off.


    In the morning he woke up again, feeling much better. He picked up his cloak and backpack, putting his hammer on his waist again. He reactivated the sheet of mana around him again and left his room. Ann and Maya were already eating breakfast with the young girl seeming excited, though also somewhat reluctant. Rex guessed they had already talked.


    ¡°Hey Rex!¡± Ann greeted first ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind that I told Maya everything we talked about yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Everything?¡± Rex felt his eye twitch


    ¡°Everything.¡± The old woman¡¯s grin widened.


    The breakfast was spent with Rex answering various questions about his previous world or his physiology as a dragon. Maya seemed enthralled with how Rex could transform his hands and feet into claws and spread his scales. After eating everyone went outside, Rex putting on a pair of boots that were apparently enchanted as well. He pulled his cloak out and threw it on. Then the backpack under it. It was a bit uncomfortable wearing it with the cloak, but that was just because he was unused to it. Maya threw on a backpack of her own and looked up at Ann, who smiled and patted her on the head.


    ¡°Alright, you two. I wish you good travels.¡±


    Ann and Maya had apparently already talked about the whole thing. Maya herself wanted to see the world, but she was still sad leaving her teacher behind. She looked at Ann again and her expression hardened for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you proud, Master. Thank you for everything until now.¡±


    Ann nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you again. In this life or another. Someday.¡± Rex said before turning away and walking towards the blue forest, one the boy had affectionately named Nocturnalis. Back to his birth place. Maya followed after him.


    As the two went out of sight Ann had a sad smile on. She was happy for her apprentice, but she sure would miss the two kids. Wait no. One of them wasn¡¯t a child. Right. ¡®Well. At least I have plenty to practice with now with that core the boy brought me.¡¯ With that thought she went back into her hut where she had decided she would live ¡®til the last of her days.

 Chapter 19: Growing Resolve

    Rex walked with Maya through a familiar part of the forest. As they reached the stream Rex had spent most of his time in the forest following, they started heading up it. The whole time though, Maya looked apprehensive. Rex himself understood the reason and wouldn¡¯t speak of it. He knew Maya was a strong girl and she would eventually come to terms with how she might never see Ann again, but the separation was too sudden. The young girl¡¯s heart didn¡¯t have time to ready itself and Rex was sure it didn¡¯t even comprehend it. Her mind surely did. She was smart after all. But everything had yet to click into place.


    Rex decided not to worry too much about the girl for now. She needed time. For now. He needed to worry about himself as he had already proven well enough that the scar of losing his sister hadn¡¯t healed even with as many decades as it had been. Time heals all wounds didn¡¯t seem to apply here. He needed to fix it. He couldn¡¯t afford to be scared anymore. He knew... He knew. In the world loss is unavoidable. He couldn¡¯t let himself be crippled every time he would lose something dear. Because he now knew he couldn¡¯t avoid growing fond. Such was the weakness of the human heart. Such was his weakness. He clenched his teeth as he glanced sideways at the young girl. He would protect her. Yes. But he wouldn¡¯t be able to do so forever. He¡¯d give her a few days to calm down. Then he¡¯d have to teach her to fend for herself. In exchange she would teach him more about this world.


    He felt an itch on his forehead which was the perfect excuse to change his thoughts. As he scratched it he wondered how much time it would take to pass the forest. He would need to be careful going through this time. Maya might have to learn to sleep while being carried. No. That would be dangerous too. If something attacked while she was asleep Rex would have limited options in dealing with it. A solution to the problem... if they slept at night they would be attacked. Rex had no doubt. To correct that... they needed to either sleep during the morning or be knowledgeable in setting traps. And while Rex may have been an unparalleled strategist in his life, hunting and wilderness survival... weren¡¯t his specialties, to put it kindly.


    He had practiced throwing knives before as a hobby. His great talent in calculation, which ironically betrayed him in the dungeon in simple counting, he grumbled as he remembered the embarrassing mishap, and the great strength of his body, allowed him to pick up how to use a bow decently in no time at all. He knew a few traps he could set up for catching animals as well, just from random memory. But setting an alarm system around a camp... that was... not going to happen. Damn. He should have seen if Tristain was willing to teach him. Ah! He was such an idiot! No, no, no. He calmed himself down. It would have been awkward to ask Tristain for that. He was employed by him after all. Yes. It was that the situation just didn¡¯t allow him to ask such things after one of their party members had died. It was definitely not that it had completely slipped Rex¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± suddenly Maya asked.


    ¡°Huh? Yeah. Why?¡±


    ¡°Your expression was changing around like crazy...¡±


    ¡®Shit! Since when did my face get so lax?!¡¯


    Rex cleared his throat ¡°I was just thinking about some things. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Alright... if you say so.¡±


    Rex would keep a closer attention to what sort of faces he was making while thinking. How many days would it take to cross the forest anyway? It had taken him a week to get to the human lands, but he later found out he was closer to the northern border than anything and he had been taking the time to hide and sleep each night, also spending half of his days to search the forest around his previous sleeping spot. That and spending two days on the goblins. He calculated that they would probably need about five or so days if they kept a good pace. It could take over a week if they spent a lot of time to rest, but it was a more realistic time. He doubted that Maya would be physically able to walk for a whole day through the forest. No doubt even half of that was pushing it.


    That became evident as a few hours of walking later, the girl was sweating and panting already. They decided they would stop for a break. It was a bit early for lunch but they ate anyway. Rex still had some smoked jerky in his backpack which they both munched on, though Maya had admittedly more trouble chewing the tough meat and neither of them was too fond of the taste. Sighing, Rex made a quick round around their resting place and found a tree with his favourite cherry-like fruits on it.


    Gathering a bunch of them he brought a number for Maya, who happily munched on the deliciously sweet pink fruit. Rex did the same himself. These fruit were delicacies after all. He was surprised he couldn¡¯t find much of them in a human market despite there being trees with them so close to the edge of the forest. Out of curiosity he asked Maya if she knew why.


    ¡°Ah. That¡¯s probably because people are afraid. This forest is often treated as cursed. People consider spending the night in here suicide and while there are people who have survived they aren¡¯t ones to return willingly. Most people that are willing to enter the forest are combat-able men and those kinds have much better ways of earning money than selling some rare fruit at a market.¡±


    ¡°What about using slaves?¡±


    ¡°Our country isn¡¯t big on slaves, Rex. Have you seen one slave during your stay in Fyric?¡±


    Rex thought for a moment ¡°You¡¯re right. I didn¡¯t. But isn¡¯t that rare? I thought slaves were fairly common in most human countries.¡±


    ¡°Other than in the Ash Empire you mean?¡±


    Rex nodded


    ¡°Well. Yeah. But Hurria is against that.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re on better terms with the beastmen then?¡±


    ¡°God no. In our cases they¡¯re usually just sentenced to death instead.¡± She looked ashamed to say that. The young girl had never understood the beef between humans and beastmen. Unlike her though, most people hadn¡¯t spent half their lives learning different cultures from around the world. Rex himself sighed. He told Maya he¡¯d heard enough and thanked her for the information. Then they resumed their rest. Rex decided to try meditating again. For the first time since he had unlocked his mana.


    Positioning himself in a cross-legged position and closing his mind off to outside influences, Rex quickly and clearly sensed his mana this time. He could even sense sort of properties from it. His mana felt in the first place very mouldable. Like it could change its own properties with ease. It also felt influential, for lack of a better word, and it would easily separate from his body. On the other hand, his mana felt like it would have a hard time moulding something else. It also felt like it would be hard, though not as much to use it to make something stronger or to materialise something physical from it. This was all instinctual to Rex. If he had to describe it, no doubt he would fail to put it into words. Yet. As he experimented he couldn¡¯t cause any effect to happen. He was just limited to control for now, for whatever reason. Perhaps it was lack of practice or perhaps there was something he was missing. But for now. He meditated on the shield he always maintained around himself.


    The shield itself didn¡¯t waste any mana at all. If anything, while he could feel mana leaking out of Maya by default he could feel none leaking out of himself. His mana was completely under his control. Now that he thought about it. The trees and grass in the forest didn¡¯t leak mana either. Did plants act differently? He meditated on his shield for some time, while trying to understand the workings of his mana, but had little success. When he opened his eyes he saw Maya staring at him.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Hoe does it feel...?¡±


    Rex didn¡¯t quite understand the question ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Being a mage.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call myself a mage yet. I haven¡¯t figured out how to use magic.¡±


    ¡°But you can use mana right? How does that feel?¡±


    ¡°...Like a whole new world has opened up to me. Like a third eye I¡¯ve had all my life but never noticed has opened up and allows me to see so much more.¡±


    ¡°Must be nice...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find out how eventually as well.¡±


    ¡°Can you teach me? You understood it right?¡±


    ¡°No... mine was... forced out of me. I think I almost died when that happened. If I wasn¡¯t advanced enough to control my own mana well enough, or if I had been unable to keep a cool head... I¡¯m not sure if I would¡¯ve survived. I probably wouldn¡¯t have.¡±


    Maya looked at the ground dejectedly.


    ¡°Keep meditating. Focus on your inner self. Eventually you¡¯ll feel your own mana. Then its up to you to unlock it. Just don¡¯t do something dangerous.¡±


    ¡°...I got it.¡± She looked up with a determined expression, which Rex nodded to. They spent a few more moments resting before resuming their journey. They walked again ¡®til evening, Maya again getting tired. While Rex was confident she would adapt to the situation mentally in a few days, the physical aspect would most likely have to wait. As they set up a camp, if you could call it that, considering they didn¡¯t even have a fire going, Rex scratched his forehead again while Maya covered herself in a cloth sheet to keep the cold away and prepared to sleep. In this forest, building a fire was impossible. Why? Was it too damp? Or was there magic that prevented it? No. It was much more fundamental. The trees and grass wouldn¡¯t burn. And they were tough. Even to Rex, who could only break the smallest of branches.


    Rex stayed up all night. He didn¡¯t meditate as that would defeat the purpose of being a lookout, but he still practiced controlling his mana. He didn¡¯t try anything drastic since he didn¡¯t want to risk alerting the local wildlife to their presence if he miraculously succeeded, which he did not.. Thankfully. They were attacked by nothing that night all the way until Maya woke in the morning. After breakfast they gathered their belongings and set off again, spending another day travelling in a similar fashion. Maya joined Rex in meditation during their breaks this time. She had always admired the idea of becoming a mage so she couldn¡¯t resist trying, especially after seeing Rex achieve her dream in only a few months.


    It was at the end of the day when they made camp again did Rex smell a familiar, yet foul smell in the air.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± He groaned ¡°We¡¯ve entered goblin territory.¡±


    ¡°Goblins? Here?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But don¡¯t think just because its ¡°their territory¡± we¡¯re safe from other beasts. I highly doubt it.¡±


    ¡°Why would they mark their territory if they can¡¯t defend it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s... a good question. Now that I think about it wasn¡¯t marked last time I came here. Only the small area around their cave was. And even that was done in reservation. Like they were afraid a monster would smell it out.¡±


    ¡°Maybe their clan expanded?¡±


    ¡°In only a few months?:


    ¡°Goblins might not seem like it but they are magic creatures. A goblin can grow up to my size in only a few days though they would then be very limited in growth afterwards. Until they became hobgoblins.¡±


    ¡°How do hobgoblins happen again?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t really know. People have theorised before that it might have something to do with goblins accumulating mana in their bodies or that its just another growth spurt that goblins endure like their first one, and the time it happens at simply varies between goblins.¡±


    ¡°I see... Maybe they can defend their territory after all then. Still. I¡¯ll stay awake. Even if we don¡¯t have to worry about beasts and I still doubt that, we still have goblins to deal with now.¡±


    Maya simply nodded. Afterwards they had dinner. Despite the smell completely ruining Rex¡¯s appetite he forced the food down and meditated to escape from it. Unfortunately that only lasted until Maya fell asleep, after which he was left alone with the smell for the rest of that night. He was ready to cry and beg Maya to move on during the night the whole time. That night again though, they encountered no opposition.


    The territory of the goblins did extend to the creak but it didn¡¯t cover much of it. The two travellers quickly left its boundaries the next day, causing Rex to feel frustrated that he could have avoided that whole night by just travelling a bit more, yet only a few minutes later would a group of goblins pass through the foliage to come face to face with them. This was the first threat Rex had encountered ever since Maya joined him. He needed to protect her. He drew his hammer, but didn¡¯t attack. Instead he told Maya to shut her ears and let out a battle shout that almost shook the surroundings in its intensity towards the goblins. This immediately spelled trouble for the group of small green and brown men. Rather than fighting at that point they all understood they held no chance of victory against a creature that could let out such intense pressure. Their legs felt weak, but they knew what they had to do. They all immediately fled.


    Rex sighed in relief after they were long gone and turned back to Maya, who looked at him, startled.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a better way to handle that?¡±


    ¡°The highest chance of surviving a fight comes from avoiding the fight in the first place.¡±


    ¡°No I get that, but wasn¡¯t there a better way of avoiding it?¡±


    ¡°Goblins are easy to scare. So that¡¯s what popped into my head.¡± He would never admit it, but he panicked. There were better ways to show off his strength. Striking a tree with his hammer could¡¯ve done. Or just defeating them in combat. Goblins didn¡¯t pose a threat to him. This was it. His fear. He was terrified of being unable to protect Maya so he panicked. He clenched his teeth. ¡°I¡¯ll try to handle it better next time.¡±


    ¡°...Okay.¡± Maya decided to be satisfied with that and they proceeded forward.


    The day was spent in walking with limited breaks once again. The breaks were only more frequent today, as the pain in Maya¡¯s legs was catching up to her over the days, making it even harder to walk. As they were taking another rest and Rex was meditating he decided something and opened his eyes.


    ¡°Maya, tomorrow we¡¯ll be resting all day.¡±


    ¡°What? Isn¡¯t that bad? What if a pursuit from the country catches up? This isn¡¯t the time to be worried about how tired I am.¡±


    ¡°No that¡¯s not it. We¡¯re deep enough in the forest that a pursuit won¡¯t come, but I¡¯m starting to grow tired. If I don¡¯t rest tomorrow I won¡¯t be able to stay awake during the night, so I¡¯ll sleep during the day when its safe.¡±


    ¡°Oh... I guess that¡¯s fine then...¡± Maya replied unenthusiastically. Though that was only to hide her fear. So tomorrow was the first time she would be completely alone. She hadn¡¯t realised until now exactly how much of a reassurance mentally, Rex¡¯s constant presence had been. He was strong. Beyond measure. With him she almost felt like she was taking a normal stroll even if this forest was a place most humans wouldn¡¯t step in even if they were paid.


    Rex didn¡¯t say more on the topic for the rest of the day and simply acted as lookout for the rest of the night. He only fell asleep a good hour after Maya had woken up. Now she was by herself. Suddenly she felt that way. Even with Rex right there, even he seemed vulnerable while he slept, which didn¡¯t reassure her at all. What should she do? She didn¡¯t know. Meditate? No, no, no. That was terrifying. What if something snuck up on her while she did? She knew there were predators during the day here as well and they were sometimes more dangerous than even the night-time hunters Rex had named the forest for.


    It was terrifying. Being alone was terrifying. She remembered she had a time where she felt like this in the past. She remembered. It was when her parents died. When they both fell sick and she couldn¡¯t do anything for them. Would that happen again? Would she be left all alone? Would Rex leave her all alone too? No! She shook her head. She wouldn¡¯t allow that! Wasn¡¯t that why she studied like there was no tomorrow for all of those years? So next time she wouldn¡¯t be helpless? Why was she sitting there and hugging her knees? Weren¡¯t there things to do? She stood up and opened her pack, taking out some alchemy equipment. Making a circle around where Rex was resting, she gathered some herbs. They were good quality. As expected of something from deeper in the forest. They were so much better than the scraps she had gathered for Ann and herself at the edge of the forest.


    She prepared all the ingredients and took some out of her pack as well, some she crushed with a mortar and pestle, other she boiled with water. She prepared them all in different ways according to what she knew and after that she started mixing them together. By the time Rex woke up, 4 dark red vials of liquid sat in front of her and the equipment was cleaned up and packed back up. Rex cocked his head.


    ¡°Um. Next time you need to go to sleep, please take one of these. They¡¯ll keep you up, though I don¡¯t know how much it would be for you.¡±


    ¡°You knew of a useful potion like that? Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier?¡±


    ¡°It just didn¡¯t Pop into my head.¡±


    Rex burst out laughing ¡°Wow! Alright. Next time I¡¯ll drink one of those. There aren¡¯t any side effects?¡± Maya shook her head. Side effects would only occur if the one mixing the potions didn¡¯t do it correctly, but she had. All of her life, she had probably been preparing for this. She definitely wouldn¡¯t allow herself to be useless. To just be a burden.


    ¡°Um. Since there¡¯s still a few hours before the sun sets would you like to make a bit of progress today after all?¡± Maya asked, her feet having gotten some rest, though admittedly not nearly enough.


    ¡°Sure. If you¡¯re up for it.¡±


    Maya confirmed and they once more gathered their belongings and left behind their resting place. They both carried two of the potions in case something happened to one of the packs. And though their time of day was limited, Maya walked the furthest she ever had in one go.

 Update

    So a few of you might be thinking. "Ah fuck he disappeared again right after he started posting chapters again.". And to those of you who did I''m fucking sorry please don''t hurt me.


    On the brighter side I didn''t disappear because I lost interest in the story or because my life went to shit again. I''m actually planning out the next arc. So sorry for the delay. Might take a while. But i''m not a skilled writer by any means so where other people use experience and/or talent to write I have to make up for that with the basic concept of time.


    Now for another thing. I mentioned in a previous chapter I might be interested in doing a more casual-like story than this one. One that isn''t planned out as much or structured as well and one I can just write if I ever feel like doing so but also don''t feel like getting involved with serious 2 arcs ahead plannings out of my story. And I would like to know how many of you are interested in that yourselves. Its probably gonna be a litRPG. Then again maybe not. I''ve always wanted to do something with tables but have found my foresight lacking in coming up with a system. But since this''ll be a lighter story I wouldn''t really mind as much I guess. Really. If anything if you''re interested in seeing it go ahead and write what you ARE interested in seeing in the comments. Hell maybe write what you''re interested in seeing for THIS fiction. Maybe it''ll give me ideas or maybe I can answer some questions people have. Leave a comment. DO IT!This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ... Ahem. Anyway thanks for reading and uh. Til next time.

 Another Update

    Ahem. Greetings all my readers. So here''s another update from me. For those who have given up hope of this story, fear not, I have not given up on it at all. I''m just STILL working on the arc. I might be a bit too much of a perfectionist when it comes to this story because I can never be satisfied. But this time I''ve taken away from uploading has taught me a few things.


    First of all I''m actually working on a side story along with this one. And I mostly realised this from writing it, but... I much prefer writing something complete before posting. Because that gives me the ability to go back and rewrite older chapters all I want without having to tell people "Oh I had to make this, this and this correction here, here and here. Honestly you''re better off going to reread the chapter."


    Now that doesn''t mean that I''m never gonna post again or something. And it doesn''t mean I''m gonna finish the WHOLE of Tyrant before posting again either. I''ll probably do that for this other side story since I haven''t posted anything of it yet anyway. So I might as well just finish it before posting it. (Probably gonna take... what? A year? Two? No big deal right?)


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    What I''m going to do with Tyrant is I''m going to write it arc by arc from now on. And I have to apologize. Because that means you''re going to have to wait quite a while. Because writing a whole arc TAKES a while. Especially when writing two stories at once. And while the two stories are similar. They''re basically just going to another world with the protagonist being the most interesting character I can muster. There''s a lot of differences between them that might seem minor to a reader, but are enormous to a writer. Like the perspective, just to give an example. I doubt there''s much of a concious difference people place on perspective when reading something. But the difference between third and first perspective is ENORMOUS when writing.


    Anyway. Enough with the excuses and justifications and all that. Basically. You''re going to have to wait a while longer for anything to come out. In exchange once it DOES It''ll be a chapter every day and it''ll be a much more complete and wholesome reading experience since I''ll be designing the arc from start to finish, probably editing the whole thing many, many times over. As an example. My side story has twenty chapters written right now. I''ve done full edits of the thing from start to finish about six times. Of course each time with more chapters than the last. In fact today again, I''m doing one.


    Finally, I''ll make sure to do my best to make every arc of the story be full of subtle reminders for the story, perhaps inserted in character interaction, or perhaps thoughts or the narration. I''ll try my best to remind previous readers about the story and characters without making it obnoxious for new ones, basically.


    That is all. Thanks for reading.