《The Berserk Destroyer Volume 1》 Death of a King Quick author note: If you want to create a cover page for me message me. Death of A King I opened my eyes slowly as the revival spell started to work. I stared at my lower half as it reconstructed itself at an unbelievable speed. The pure white bones of my legs got covered in scarlet red muscles and blue veins. Then my bronze colored skin quickly wrapped around them. I can stand. I gripped my broad tightly. I take a long look at my surroundings. The luscious green covered fields are now black with dread. In a short distance I can see a castle covered in a dark purple aura. I felt like a pit formed in my stomach after only glancing at the aura. My heart started to beat loudly as I gazed at the fields. They were burning so fiercely. Even the fire had a dark black color mixed with the red flames. The smoke poisoned the sky as it started to form a thick gray sheet. Even the sun couldn''t shine bright enough to penetrate it. The only few lights that helped prove vision from the dark curtain was from the fire that caused it. The other was the purple colored fortress that was a short distance away from me. I stood 6 feet tall with a broad sword that is slightly taller than me. I coughed lightly as some of the thick smoke reached my lungs. I started to walk toward that fortress. I know what is there. I know he will kill me without hesitation now that he has done it once. He will think the second time will be much easier. It won¡¯t be because I held back. I couldn¡¯t end his life. We weren''t friends but we fought many battles with each other. He saved my life and I saved his more than I could count. After he saved my life once he said that now we are even. I laughed and reminded him I saved him much more than once. He glared at me with his childish face twisted up. I couldn''t help but laugh when he made that face. Now instead of saving my life he ends it. I grasped my sword so tightly I could feel the handle start to bend. The fires were hot but they cannot compare to the anger I am feeling right now. I started to run toward the castle and tripped over a black pile. I regained my stance after a few uncoordinated steps. I could see a white cloth sticking out on the part I tripped on. I go back and kneel toward the black pile and start to slowly wipe it. Black crust fell quickly reveling more white clothing. I notice these clothes. They are the battle uniform angels wear in my army. I swallow the saliva in my mouth before continuing to remove the black muck. A familiar beautiful face appeared. The light oval face had its eyes closed. The bright red hair was tainted by the dark crust. Some of the black crust was still on her face but her beauty wasn¡¯t even dulled in the slightest. I slowly grasped her head in my hands as I brought her closer to me. How could this happen. In all my 21 years of life I have never felt this. My heart felt like it stopped working after I noticed it was Luci. Luci was the best healer in my army. I would have never expected to find her like this. ¡°Wake up.¡± I whispered while shaking her softly. She hung limp in my hands. She was cold. A cold body lay in the field of flames. If I hadn¡¯t trip over her I won¡¯t even have noticed. I shuck her with more force. ¡°Please wake up.¡± I begged. She only grew colder in arms. I lay her down. I toke off her white bracelet. Then I wore it on my wrist. ¡°I will make him pay¡± I said while grimacing. After that I took one long look at her. She wasn¡¯t supposed to die before me. I pull my eyes away from her. I start to walk towards the castle. I saw more several more black piles. I knew who they were. They could only be the rest of my army. I was a general of the best army this world has ever seen. We fought many battles together. We bleed, suffered and cried together. We won and celebrated. The most warriors I have ever lost in a battle never were more than 10. Now I am the only one left. All 10¡¯000 of them are gone. I am the chosen one of [Luke the god of luck]. I am the king of berserkers. What is a king without his men? I take out my licensing plate. The square item fits in the palm of my hand. It also displays useful information about my current status. Lain Level: Max Class: King of the Berserkers Blessing: [Luke¡¯s Grace] Hp: 85%/100% MP: 75%/100% Rage: 100%/100% No. My blessing is still there. My armor has been disintegrated. Only a few pieces are left covering my private parts. Scars surround my body. The old ones on my face are dark. The two jagged scars run from my ears to my nose. My toned and muscular body is still intact. I trained for years in the ancient art of berserk fighting techniques. These techniques only get stronger and faster the more injured I become. Berserkers can outlast most opponents. I had to go fight the one that caused this destruction. I know the one that caused this must be in that fortress. ¡°Don¡¯t worry men. I will avenge all of you.¡± I said out loud knowing that they couldn¡¯t hear me anymore. I still am a man of my word. I wouldn¡¯t let a single one of their deaths been in vain. The corpses of my prized soldiers were buried under the black dirt. Death was their new king. It was time to go fight him again. I started to sprint down the scorched land. I made sure not to disturb my men¡¯s final resting place. I hope I can survive this fight. If I do I will be able to give them a proper burial. ¡°Hehe,¡± I laughed nervously. It will be a miracle even if at full strength I defeat him let alone survive. I was never scared of dying in battle but seeing it so close is a surreal experience. I never expected a permanent death to be so close so soon. I only have been a king for a year. I know it is selfish of me but I truly didn¡¯t want to die yet. I arrived at the gates of the oppressing fortress. I looked closer at the fortress and notice it isn¡¯t purple. It is only covered in a purple aura. I passed the large gates. I was greeted by crudely made stairs. The gray stairs were full of cracks and holes. They had pillars of gray lined up on each opposite side of them. They both were covered in a thick purple aura. The fortress true color must be gray. However with the purple aura surrounding it nobody would be able to tell. I think even an experienced archer wouldn¡¯t be able to tell from a 10 meter distance. I can see someone standing at the top of the steps. It must be him. I approach slowly. The malicious aura on the steps tried hinder my advance. It felt like I was walking foot deep in thick mud. I ignored the sinking feeling. I started to examine him. He had long black hair that reached his shoulders. He had soft looking face with no imperfections that most women would risk their life to take a glimpse at. Tall, strong and a familiar cold look on his face. He had light skin and wore a long dark purple robe. The several runes along this robe lit up randomly in a dull white light. He stud slightly taller than me and had a long dark staff at his side. If I had never meet him before I would have mistaken him for a prince. Brand Level: unknown Blessing: unknown Class: King of Destroyers HP: unknown MP: unknown Destruction: MAX As soon as he saw me he backed off. He walked deeper into the fortress. When I reached the top of the stairs I saw him. He had a twisted smile on his face. The surroundings were open with only a few pillars. It was a garden with a massive castle behind it. The former garden was barren of any life. It was only filled with dirt and a few remains of flower stems. ¡°Didn¡¯t I already kill you once?¡± He said coldly. The light green eyes examined my body. ¡°Your armor was destroyed. Do you really think you have a chance against me without it?¡± He mocked. I am not a miserly man but that armor cost me a fortune. It was akin to me losing all the houses in my kingdom. My small kingdom had at least a few 100,000 houses. [DemiGod] Tier armor isn¡¯t cheap. All 8 pieces were disintegrated. The destroyer class is really overpowered. They get more powerful the more they destroy. Few of them have ever max their destruction before being dealt with. Such a dangerous class is part of the 3 that are immediately executed when they are discovered. I am part of one of the few kingdoms that do not practice this law but most of the known world obeys it. It is unusual for me being not able to see his stats. This only happens when one is significantly weaker than the target. I may have died before but I could at least clearly see what I was dealing with. He must have gotten extreme amount of power from destroying my whole army. No. There shouldn¡¯t be a way to increase an already maxed destruction. Maybe he has some way of concealing it.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°I am more than enough. I am not going to hold back this time.¡± I said while holding my sword in front of me. I am going to have to go all out to have even a small chance of winning. I only can do that if [Luke] gives me the strength. I first infused my blade with rage. A dark red aura covered my sword. It even started to rapidly cover my body. When it covered my legs I prepared to charge. My legs tightened up like a spring and released leaving a massive hole in the ground behind. This wide open space is a perfect field for me. He cannot hide from my sword. I reached him. He still had that twisted smile on his face. I swung at him violently. He stepped back easily avoiding it. ¡°You are going to get hurt if you run around with sharp things. I thought with all of those scars you would have learned by now.¡± Brand said while laughing. ¡°You should choose your last words more wisely.¡±I responded. Brand jumped back after several of my slashes miss him by a hair. ¡°You can¡¯t run from this.¡± I yelled as I activated one of my strongest skills. [Berserk¡¯s Rage] My sword glowed bright red as a light colored magic circle at my feet brief appeared. Then waves of concentrated red rage shoot out from my sword. It reached him swiftly but he reflected it. It started to fly towards a nearby pillar. When they touched the pillar of instantly vaporized. The skill mindlessly dug deeply into the ground leaving a huge crater. ¡°Are you going to pay for that? It wasn¡¯t cheap getting those build.¡± He joked. ¡°Every time you come around things break. Do you think I can afford all of this?¡± A magic circle appeared under him. ¡°Damn it¡± I curse as I realized there wasn¡¯t enough time to evade his attack. [Dark cannon] I feel like I¡¯m about to faint. I tried touching the spot he hit me but my hand went through. A big hole was on my abdomen. He used a basic spell. I didn¡¯t even feel it hit me. Blood poured out of me like I was a human fountain. I struggled to keep my battle stance. ¡°Not like this.¡± I whispered to myself. I can¡¯t be defeated by a basic spell. [Luke¡¯s Red Eyes] My body got enveloped by the blood that was pouring out of me. The deep hole in my abdomen immediately closed. The dark scar tissue kept my insides from falling out. I felt my power increase so much that it was nearly uncontainable. I will surely die when this skill ends but I have no choice but to us it. It increases my power to its full potential but shortly after 10 minutes I die. I only used this skill once before. My body was in such a bad condition it took over ten angels just to revive me. This time however nobody can save me once it ends. I have to end his life before my time is up. I rushed him. He was caught off guard do to my god-like speed. My sword finally reached his body. It made a crushing wound as it smacked into his body. His weird purplish blood started to cover my sword as he flew back. He crashed into one of the few pillars in the garden. That pillar didn¡¯t even slow him down as he still had enough momentum to tumble several more meters. He got up slowly. ¡°Now you are finally doing something that requires me to life more than two...¡± My sword interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. I slashed downward multiple times. Each time my sword struck his body got embedded deeper into the ground. After a brief moment of my restless strikes his body was nearly completely hidden in the ground. A purple light covered his body. I only saw a flash. Next thing I know I am in the air covered in a purple fire. Half the left side of my body is gone with only the bones remaining. The other half is getting consumed by a purple fire. The pain was almost unbearable. Even with my several passive skills that greatly reduce pain. It felt like I was getting my skin and insides ripped out several times. I should have seen this coming. Brand being able to use spells without a chant isn¡¯t abnormal. Thud. I crashed into the ground. My body bounces. I rush to get my sword. During the time I felled my body mostly regenerated. This was because of [Luke¡¯s Red Eyes]. However I could feel my strength declined rapidly. ¡°I don¡¯t have time for any more of your dumb jokes.¡± I tried to say but the bottom part of my jaw was still not fully recovered. I check my body¡¯s condition. I only have 8 more minutes left. I have to end this faster. ¡°You are boring me. Slimes could put up a better fight.¡± He taunted. ¡°I am not going to waste anymore time playing around with you.¡± After he said that a massive purple magic circle enveloped the surroundings. It spread out so far I couldn¡¯t see where it ended. What dangerous spell is that? If I get hit by that I am sure that I will die before I knew it hit me. I take my most powerful stance. I have to interrupt that spell. If he doesn¡¯t finish casting it the strength of it will decrease greatly. I held my sword by the handle with the tip pointed downwards. I ran with all the strength my body could muster. ¡°This world must end. What they have done is unforgivable! I thought you would understand.¡± Brand yelled. ¡°I never said they were right. I think you are going over..¡± I arrived and interrupted his spell. It however wasn¡¯t enough. [Hells Circle] His devastating spell hit me. I got blown away. Only my head remained. I look at the surroundings. It looked worse than the outside of the fortress. The fires rose. Thick smoke started to cover everything. Everything was burning. It felt like I got thrown into hell. I didn¡¯t feel any pain. I only felt a sense of dread. Everything I worked hard for tumbled down. After that brief look even my head started to burn. My eyes melted and poured down my cheeks. Everything started to go black. [Luke¡¯s Order] No. I will not die. Not yet. A divine red flame shields my head. My body recovers. Only my bones can stand the heat of the purple flame. When my flesh tries to regenerate it gets instantly burned off. I cannot see because my eyes can¡¯t recover in the purple flame. The divine flame focuses on my eye sockets as if it heard my thoughts. My eyes can finally fully recover under their protective embrace. I can only see one person in my vision. My instincts are screaming only one word. Kill. I stampede toward him like a wild animal towards raw meat. His eyes widened as I slashed at his left side. The viscous strike took off his right arm. Before he could even blink I took the left one. He looked at me surprised. He must have thought I would never be able to injure him. I must kill him before he gets serious. I swung my sword upwards with the intent to chop him into two. He side stepped the strike. I still got one of his legs. I tried again to chop him but he blasted me with his purple fire. The flames made my bones crack and successfully stopped my attack. I rush in recklessly. I emerged from the flame and caught him off guard. ¡°Die.¡± I shout inaudibly. After strike landed on his chest the purple flames started to die down. My flesh could fully regenerate. I walk closer to him. Only 5 minutes left but I can feel my body grew even weaker. I saw his body violently tremor. Dark purple limbs burst out of his body. I saw his eyes get consumed by a black aura. They were replaced with dark purple eyes. The dark aura was surrounding it. The small purple eyes focused on me. He started to float. I rush him striking every part of his body even the newly formed limbs. They hit making a loud banging noise. Even with such forceful strikes they weren¡¯t even doing any damage. Not even a scratch. It is like I am hitting him with a foam toy. He raises his creepy purple limb. I was sent flying into a faraway pillar. I barely even saw him raise it. Such a monstrous strike left me immobile. I am like a fly getting swatted away. No I am more like a fly getting nuked. A simple slap leaving me paralyzed is overkill. Before my body even has a chance to recover I see a dark spear flying toward me. A loud booming exposition sounds. My eardrums burst leaving me temporally death. My body is completely wrecked by the spear. It blew away most of my limbs and abdomen. Is he still playing around with me? I knew for sure if that spear was fully powered there shouldn¡¯t be even one drop of my blood left. I almost blacked out immediately before a familiar divine voice spoke to me. ¡°Don¡¯t. Use the power I gave you fool.¡± An angry angelic voice sounds. It sounded like two great radio voices gave birth to a godlike baby. That baby grew up to have the smoothest sounding voice ever heard. There is only one I know with such a voice. ¡°I won¡¯t do it Luke. My men¡¯s souls aren¡¯t mine to sacrifice. I can win this with my own strength.¡± I thought. I know I should if I want to stop this destruction. I can¡¯t. If I use my men¡¯s souls they will never exist ever again. They will never be able to be reborn once used. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious you can¡¯t? I don¡¯t recall giving my blessings to an idiot. Fine I won¡¯t let you decide anymore. I will give your men the choice to activate it or not.¡± Luke commanded with an annoyed sounding voice. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± I replied desperately. ¡°I swear if you do that I will end you.¡± He started to cackle loudly. ¡°You dare talk back against a God. So be it. I will not let my father¡¯s world die because of your useless pride.¡± He taunted. ¡°Damn it. I swear on my soul Luke. I will stop at nothing to kill you if you do this to me.¡± I threaten. [Rage and Stat limiter removed] A blinding golden light lilt my surrounds. I can open my eyes. I saw several golden orbs floating into my body. They were absorbed greedily by it. As the more orbs flew into my body the stronger I became. A rage I never felt before surged through out my body. I was sweating endlessly. The sweat instantly evaporates producing steam. I can stand tall. I gripped my sword but it burst into flames. The swords handle was destroyed. The remaining metal of the sword melted into my hand. I felt sick knowing how I had gotten this new power. After I take care of Brand that bastard Luke is next. I wanted to win but not like this. Brand started to cast another spell. This one had even a more massive magic circle. It spread over the battle field and kept on spreading. This is surely a spell that could end the world. The evil energy flowed. It spread out evenly in every part of this massive magic circle. I run forward reaching him in less than a second. He barely noticed my presence but still managed to block my sword. I don¡¯t give him a second chance to react. I thrust my sword several times into his body. He blocked a few strikes. The rest slam into him deeply and made more wounds faster than the malicious purple aura could recover. Every time he heals one I replace it with two more severe wounds. I was preparing to chop of his head but he used the purple flames to propel himself into the air. I jumped after him. He was over 80 meters in the air before I passed him. [Berserker King¡¯s Soul Stealer Rage] I use the skill that would permanently end the souls of my men. I can see them flow out of my body into the twisted metal remains of my sword. An intense gold light blinded my eyes. It felt surprisingly warm. It was like a mothers hug. A best friend¡¯s smile after I told an unfunny joke or lover¡¯s kiss after a rainy day. The way they laugh and smile anyway to make me feel accepted. A warm embracing light that contained all of their lives. It was as in that moment they were still alive. I could see them smiling. The souls are smiling at me. The pain is overwhelming knowing this is the last time. This the last time I can see my army smile. ¡°Please don¡¯t smile at me. I don¡¯t deserve it.¡± I pleaded. I let them all down. How could they not realize this? They are never going to exist again. The final image I see is their mouths moving slowly. Are they trying to tell me something? I know what they are trying to say. I will avenge all of you. [Luke] will pay for this. I don¡¯t care if they decided it amongst themselves. I will have my revenge. They are completely consumed by my sword. I swing down immediately. A huge explosive energy erupted out. The power even hit the part of my arm that was holding the sword. It was consumed by the blinding energy. It smashed into brand. We both fell at a nearly impossible speed. I was hit by the backlash of both [Luke¡¯s Red Eyes] and [Berserker King¡¯s Soul Stealer Rage]. My body is in tatters. I can barely keep my eyes open. My vision starts to tunnel. I can hear brand¡¯s voice. ¡°You are too late. I will die. That doesn¡¯t mean....¡± My hearing dies out. I can see only a tiny circle. It is filled with the dark purple iris of brand¡¯s eyes. The darkness embraces me. I will make you pay for this. The ground started to lift. Everything is illuminated by a purple and white light. Chapter 2 Reincarnation Chapter 2 Reincarnation My eyes started to open. I felt my head pulse a few times. I start to rub it. The pain from the throbbing decreased slightly. I notice there is an unusually small hand rubbing my head. ¡°That¡¯s weird¡± I say out loud as I back away from the small hand. I look down and see it attached to me. ¡°Oh it just my hand.¡± I said out loud again. Wait. My hands weren¡¯t this small. I jump up off of the futon I was laying on. I start to examine my body. Not only my hands are smaller than usual but my whole body seems to have become smaller. Conveniently there is a mirror in this small room. My face hasn¡¯t changed a bit. The jagged scars still are there. What is making my heart jump out of my chest is my age. I look like I am barely 16 years old. I take a few deep breaths. I realize I am completely nude. I search the small room and find a closet. There were a total of 3 common robes in that little closet. A short sword and small staff was in the furthest corner of the closet. They both were a common quality as well. I equipped the green robe in the middle. I also took the staff and the short sword. I am not sure what lies out of this room better be prepared. It becomes obvious to me that I was reborn. However regaining memories after being reborn so late is unusual to say the least. Usually those that are reborn either retain their memories from birth or forget them completely. I have never heard of anyone regaining them so late. I start to look around the small room. There is a desk with a wooden chair. The desk has a license plate and basic magic book on it. The closet is opposite of the desk. There is a poorly made wooden door next to the desk. This must be my room. I wonder if I have the same name. I grabbed the small license plate of the desk and examine it. Lain Level: 1 Class: Mage Blessing: Unknown Hp: 100%/100% Mp: 100%/100% Only level 1? Seriously how weak is this body. At least I have the same name. Wait did I see that wrong. Is my class really mage. Reborn are supposed to have the same class. Why the hell am I a mage? Damn it. I was born a berserker. I will somehow change my class. At the very least I will get berserker as a subclass. I hear a knock at the door. ¡°Hey Lain, we are going to be late hurry up and get your ass out here!¡± I hear a sweet sounding voice outside my door. Since it sounded friendly I decided to open the door. ¡°Are you ready? Let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t want to be late.¡± She said rapidly. I was stunned the way she looked. A light oval face, small nose and thin lips, it looked exactly like Luci. I gazed at her whole body. She has a slim figure covered in brown leather clothes. A short shirt clung to her little body. The leather pants armor looked like they were one size to big. I could still tell how toned her petite legs were through them. The skin exposed skin on her body looked flawless. It was like an artist great work decided to live a frugal life. The two common daggers hung at her sides. They didn¡¯t have any holsters. They hung loosely and looked dull. The bright red hair was shorter than I remembered. It only barely touched her shoulders. Now that I think about it why would an angel have daggers? ¡°Luci,¡± I said unconsciously. ¡°What?¡± She replied in her soothing voice. ¡°It really is you? I can¡¯t believe you are still alive.¡± I whispered. I hugged her on an impulse. The soft feeling of her body confirmed to me that she was real. I was not dreaming? ¡°Of course I am alive. Have you gone crazy living alone?¡± She laughed while hugging me back. I knew it was too good to be true. This isn¡¯t the Luci I knew. The Luci I knew would have gotten.. I sigh inwardly at myself. They aren¡¯t ever coming back. There must be someone messing with me. Haven¡¯t I suffered enough? I need to accept the fact that the Luci I knew would never exist again. I let her go from my embrace. I frowned as those thoughts crossed my mind. I could see her face got a little red. ¡°Lead the way.¡± I said. I wonder where we are going. I followed closely after her. She runs faster than me. I can barely keep up. This body really is too weak. I get a brief look at my surroundings. I see self-made shacks everywhere. They are stacked closely together. Some even are stacked on top of each other. The road we were running on was made of dirt. It was uneven. I am sure that a sturdy cart would fall apart going down this road for too long. The few people that I see have solemn faces as they went about their daily business. There were a few other teenage kids that are running late ahead of us. Where are we living? Even in my former kingdom the slums didn¡¯t look this bad. Even they could afford to build houses. The shacks are a depressing site to say the least. ¡°I know you are weak but if you keep running that so slow I am going to leave you behind!¡± Luci joked. I increased my running speed. I started to breathe loudly as I struggled to keep up. We haven¡¯t even run a few miles and I am already tired. What the hell was this guy doing instead of leveling up? We arrived at the tattered gates of the school. They were full of broken bars. Even a full-grown adult can probably fit through the gap. We passed the gates. Even the school looked worse. There was a small school building in the middle of a large dirt field. The building was falling apart. The small school building was barely bigger than a normal two story house. The earthlike walls contained more dirt than the ground. They also were unstable. I wouldn¡¯t be cautious entering in my old body but since this new one is weak. I am not sure if I will survive if the building collapsed on itself. I enter hoping the worse doesn¡¯t happen. There were no chairs or desks. The students were sitting on the floor or leaning against the wall. Luci goes and leans herself on the wall close to the potential teacher. This can it really be out teacher. He has no common equipment but ones that had to be at least made by a [Complete Blacksmith]. They don¡¯t make even the simple things for cheap. Equipments tiers are usually orders like this: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Demigod and God. A regular [Blacksmith] best work will never exceed an Epic. A [Complete Blacksmith] best work will never exceed a legendary but there worse work will never be lower than an Epic. As for the class above it I am unsure. I heard they were called [Weapon Forger] however I have yet to meet one. They are few in number. I could count on my hands how many were known to exist in the world before I was reborn. The middle-aged man was frowning. There was a bottle next to his side. I got closer to Luci. I stud beside her when a strong smell of alcohol hit my nose. The man in the Epic equipment smelted like he was born in a brewery. He rubbed his hands through his gray hair while using the other to take a big gulp from the bottle beside him. He must be a warrior or soldier. I could tell by his muscular body and the short sword by his side. I am not sure about the status of this kingdom but he must not be a regular soldier. A simple soldier or warrior would never get enough funds by regular means to even contact a [Complete Blacksmith]. Let alone convince them to make Epic armor at an affordable price. ¡°Damn it.¡± The teacher spoke in a masculine voice. ¡°Why do I be here?¡± After he said that he sighed deeply. He finished off the rest of the bottle in one more gulp. That was slightly impressive. That bottle was not small. It had to be at least a gallon or two. ¡°Well¡­.¡± He purposely spoke in a drawn out tone. It was condescending to say to the least. ¡°I am James. Don¡¯t forget my name. I will only be saying it once.¡± ¡°I am sorry. I didn¡¯t hear that. What was your name again?¡± I asked in a questioning tone. I did hear it however I don¡¯t like it when people talk to me like I am stupid. ¡°It is JAMES. It is J-A-M-E-S. James.¡± He repeated exaggerated the parts he spoke with his name in. ¡°You brat. Don¡¯t test me. I am not in the mood. I didn¡¯t come here out of the goodness of my heart.¡± He spoke sternly. He glanced at his empty bottle of alcohol. A slightly disappointed expression stuck on his face. ¡°I made the grave mistake of drinking a rich merchant¡¯s alcohol.¡± James said. A random student raised his hand. He appeared to be a notice soldier. ¡°If it was only alcohol surely that merchant is overacting.¡± The novice soldier said. James laughed loudly. He glanced at the novice soldier with a piercing look. The novice soldier look visibly scared as he took a few steps back. ¡°If only a cart full was considered a little. I only drank 3 of them. I left him a cart but he was furious. Even though was the one that offered me a drink.¡± James gritted his teeth. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it. Let¡¯s get this over with already. What are your questions? Do you guys want to advance your class or do you want to remain as trash the rest of your life.¡± He got a serious look on his face.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. This guy is obviously an idiot. He only offered you a drink not a cart. However he looks serious about teaching us. Despite him being an ass I consider him a person of honor. He takes even his punishment seriously. I have to take this opportunity to learn how to become a berserker. I was born into the class. I never had to learn a class before because I only focused on being a berserker. Why would I ever need a subclass when I was born into such a great class already? Now I will have to learn how to unlock it. If I cannot replace this weak mage class I will at least get it as my subclass. ¡°Hey James. Do you know how to get the class called berserker?¡± I asked. He looked at me with a weird expression on his face. He took a deep breath before speaking slowly. ¡°Brat, Berserker class is for those with an unusual amount of strength. You would have to train for at least a year to get your strength up to par. I can tell by looking at you your strength is not even close to 14. Can you even wield a broadsword?¡± The classed started to stare at me and whisper. I didn¡¯t pay them any mind. ¡°Not yet but I will soon. It will only take me a week at most.¡± I said confidently. ¡°You are a mage. Why not get a class that complements your first one.¡± He said while staring at me. ¡°I want to be a berserker.¡± I said slowly drawing out each word. ¡°Fine. However if you fail to wield a broadsword in a week then you have to buy me a drink. Don¡¯t worry I know you can¡¯t afford much. I will not drink more than a cart full,¡± He sneakered. Does he think I will back down from such an easy challenge? Fine I will take him on. ¡°What happens when I win?¡± I asked. ¡°When you win it will rain fish,¡± He joked. ¡°What do you want if by some chance you get lucky?¡± He questioned. ¡°I want a rare broadsword from you,¡± I said causally. He started to sweat visibly. He stared at me like I was insane. ¡°Do you know how much that would cost me? I wouldn¡¯t be able to drink for a week,¡± He said while staring daggers at me. ¡°You told me there isn¡¯t a chance of me winning. What are you afraid of?¡± I taunted him. He stared at the empty bottle for a long time. After a few minutes of silence he finally spoke. ¡°Okay. I agree to your conditions. It is not like you have a chance of winning anyway,¡± He smiled. That sword is as good as mine. I walked out of the classroom after he agreed. I felt someone grab me from behind. ¡°Luci?¡± I said. She looked at me with a sad look on her face. She crossed her arms. Then she got really close to my face. ¡°Are you crazy? How are you going to be able to afford a cart of liquor? Let¡¯s go back now and apologize. Maybe he will let you off since you woke up crazy this morning.¡± She said while trying to pull me back into the school building. I resisted her pull however even this simple task required a lot of strength. Damn it. How weak have I become to be pushed around by a rogue? ¡°No. I can do this. Don¡¯t you trust me?¡± I said in a low tone. She stopped trying to drag me inside. ¡°I do but this is,¡± She paused. She stood there turning slightly red. The beautiful young face of hers nearly started to fully turn red before she spoke again. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to..to.. I only wanted¡­ Never mind,¡± She said with her voice trembling. ¡°Okay. I will trust you but can you at least tell me how you are going to do this. If you need my help I am here for you,¡± She said with a new look of confidence in her eyes. She put her hand on of my shoulders. ¡°I only need one thing. Do you happen to know any Priests?¡± I asked. I may have a lot of different techniques that improve strength but they are very taxing on the body. This frail body will definitely get injured. I need to increase its recovery. The faster I can recover the more I can improve. ¡°Yes but she cannot heal more than twice in a day,¡± She said while she had her hand on her chin. I was shocked to say the least. I have never heard of even a novice priest not being able to heal more than 10 times a day at least. What could possibly be hindering that priests progress so much? Maybe the priests of this world have declined greatly. ¡°That is fine. Thank you. Have her meet me here near the school building,¡± I said. I started to distance myself from the school building. I will start to train in the simplest technique I remember right away. ¡°Wait. This means you own me a favor,¡± She yelled out. Is she really going to make me do her a favor? Aren¡¯t friends supposed to help each other out? ¡°Of course I will,¡± I replied. I started to take the most basic stance once I got towards the walls surrounding the school building. The school may be small but the area around is large enough for the whole class to train. Our class had about 50 people from what I could tell. I started to train in the 3 step technique that young warriors first learned. The first step is for defense. It requires me to step once to either side. This not only widens my stance to take hits better but it also leads into the second step. The second step is for evading. With a successful use of the second step I can travel a few meters in seconds. The third step is for attacking. Making a successful use of the third step cannot only increase the power of my slashes two times but also be used at the same time as the other steps. It makes it easy to attack and defend at the same time. Of course being a basic sword technique it has multiple weaknesses when facing other stronger techniques however when mastered it still can be used in more advanced sword fights. After a few minutes my hands are already shaking from performing the first step of this skill. I really cannot believe my stamina is so bad. It is like I am practicing in a newborns body. I continue forward ignoring my bodies pleads to stop. The shaking increased greatly after an hour passed. It looked like I was caught in an earthquake. I preserved on. I have to go on until I knew the limit of my current strength. Another hour passed as I performed the first step of the 3-step technique my hands won¡¯t listen to me anymore. I lost my grip and the short sword fell to the ground. I now know I can currently only perform the first step of the technique only for two hours at maximum. I rest for 30 minutes. Now it is time for me to see how long I can perform the second step. The second step technically doesn¡¯t even need me to grip the sword as it is only evasion. However I grip it regardless. I can¡¯t let my sword go in the middle of a real battle. Why would I start now? I forced my hands to grip the handle. They have stop shaking a much since the second step doesn¡¯t require it to hold the sword high. I swiftly used the first step and lead it into the second step. I tried to use as much strength as I could to pull it off however instead of being able to dodge a few meters away I ended up only half a meter. This is it. I used all the strength my legs could muster and only half a meter. I grit my teeth tightly and try it again. The result is even slightly lesser than the one before. No. At this level it will have to do. I will improve it. It will take a bit more time that¡¯s all. After doing a total of 12 dodges from the second step my legs couldn¡¯t take it anymore. I collapsed right on the spot I was standing. I was wheezing loudly. My body ached. I made some progress. I knew now that I have no problems with the accuracy of performing this technique. The result is just many times reduced than if I had the strength of a normal solider. Learned [Blood Pact]-convert your HP into strength Decreases 5% HP every 5 minutes for 20 strength gain Wait. That skill isn¡¯t a normal soldier¡¯s skill. It is a beginner berserker skill. How is this possible I don¡¯t even have the berserker class unlocked yet? Plus this skill is a lot less powerful than my former [Blood Pact]. It will do for now. Now training will be a painful walk in the park. Losing HP hurts in general however through [Blood Pact] the pain is excruciating. I don¡¯t even have my other skills that reduce pain greatly this time around either. I am going to see how I perform now that I have it. [Blood pact] My body gets covered in a light red mist. It is so mute that if I didn¡¯t look closely even I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it. My body feels like there are small swords stabbing all of my pores at once. I rip off part of the sleeve of my robe. I put the cloth in my mouth and bit on it. I don¡¯t want my teeth to be harming each other from my constant clenched jaw. I performed the first and second steps of the technique flawlessly. They were perfect. Even the second step improved by leaps and bounds. I was able to dodge 5 meters to either side. This is a massive improvement from the 3 meters it is supposed make. I started to do the third step. When I attack a brief afterimage of my sword was left. This is amazing. I will be able to hunt monsters soon. After a few successful strikes of the third step I started to mix in second steps. My body danced across the school field with my sword in harmony. I went a bit overboard. My HP got dangerously low. If I haven¡¯t stopped in that moment I might have accidently been killed by myself. It was only a short hour of me practicing with it on. I have to be more careful in the future but it was too fun. I was able to wield a sword again even if it isn¡¯t a broad sword. I waited completely spent for the priest to show up. Every bone in my body was aching. I was sprawled out on the ground. My lungs sucked in as much air as they could with every breath. I could barely move a finger. I closed my eyes for a moment. I could feel somebody touching my face. ¡°Lain wake up,¡± A sweet concerned voice said. I opened up my eyes to see Luci kneeling toward me. I am not a shy guy but her face was a little too close to mine. I sat up quickly. ¡°How long was I sleeping?¡± I questioned. It was starting to get dark out. ¡°What the hell have you been doing? Can you even stand?¡± She said while she scowled. ¡° Tay. Please heal him,¡± She turned to a figure that was standing next to her. A white light enveloped me. It only lasted for a few seconds. I felt better as soon as it started. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said as I stood up quickly. That priest might not be able to heal properly but it is better than nothing. I glance at the girl that healed me. She had white eyes and dark gray hair. She was a little taller than Luci and had a curvy figure. Her face wasn¡¯t as attractive as Luci¡¯s but it wasn¡¯t ugly either. Despite her pure looking appearance she had a busty chest. It was barely contained in the pure white robe she was wearing. The robe looked a bit short for her as it didn¡¯t completely cover her light brown ankles. Her skin was light brown and looked smooth. I stood in front of her before introducing myself. ¡°My name is Lain,¡± ¡°umm¡­ Okay. ni..nice to meet you. I am Tay,¡± She said nervously. She is so polite and shy. I will have her heal me every day I train. I am little curious how she learned how to heal. ¡°Which book did you learn healing from?¡± I asked. ¡°Book?¡± She said while look towards the side. ¡°Only a few are able to get a hold of books with knowledge of how to heal. I was taught by my mother.¡± She explained. That is why. Most classes can learn from masters on how to use skills. Even some can learn skills in combat and training but priests and mages are different. They need skill books. Not only books increase their intelligence massively but it provides a base which they can build on. It is like a bird trying to learn how to fly without wings. ¡°This will not do. If you heal me for this week I will find a way to get you a skill book for your class,¡± I announced. I saw her eyes open wide as her face went blank. After a few moments of silence Luci bud in. ¡°Hey don¡¯t promises you can¡¯t keep. Sorry Tay he has been crazy since this morning,¡± Luci apologized. Tay¡¯s face relaxed. She smiled at Luci. Then she turned to me. ¡°It is okay you don¡¯t have to,¡± Tay declined. ¡°I will heal you anyway.¡± ¡°No. Leave it to me. It won¡¯t take long,¡± I responded. I ran home shortly after waving goodbye to them. I decided to call it a day for now. Tomorrow I have to be up early. Chapter 3 Malicious Rune Chapter 3 Malicious Rune The week goes by like lightening. I woke up on my futon. After stretching my arms high above my head I went to my closet. I was elated to check the results of my training. I don¡¯t know why but I couldn¡¯t fall asleep with my equipment on. I look down slightly embarrassed about new size of my friend. After quickly putting on my clothes I went to check my license plate. Lain Level:1 Class: Mage Blessing: unknown HP: 100%/100% MP: 100%/100% The front of it has my basic information. The back contains my actual rating. Strength: 20 Vitality: 10 Dexterity: 10 Intelligence: unknown Luck: 8 Known Skills [3-step]- Novice [Blood Pact]- Novice [Fireball] ¨C Basic I will have to get Tay that skill book quickly. If she had been able to heal me continuously then I wouldn¡¯t have such weak results. I sigh loudly. At least I can wield a broadsword now but at this strength I don¡¯t think I will be able to hold it up for longer than a few hours. I will have to stick to the short sword if I want to fight monsters. It is not all in vain at least. I have unlocked the berserker skill [Blood pact]. I will be relying on it to boast my weak strength. I started to examine my body. I gained a little muscle. This scrawny body will be back in shape in no time. I wonder why I can¡¯t see my intelligence. It can¡¯t be that high. I glanced at the small magic book on my desk. Especially if all I have been reading is such a low level book. I had taken up a new habit of waking up before daylight. I like to start my day as early as possible. I opened my front door to see it is still dark out. I stretch my legs out before taking a running stance. I sprinted as fast as I could towards the school grounds. I got there after about 15 minutes. I can finally run without losing my breath. I started to do some light training on my [3-step] technique. I improved greatly. I have increased the meters that I could dodge from one-half to 1.5. This may still be only half of what is possible in its full-potential but improving this much in a week is still good. It takes regular soldiers at least half a year to master the [3-step] technique. If I keep advancing at this rate I will master it by next week. After I finished my light training in the school grounds I waited in front of the gates. The sun started to rise. Several students passed by and went into the school. A student stopped in front of me. He has a short sword and was equipped in light leather armor. I could tell he was a soldier. Usually soldiers equip light metal armor but it is unaffordable for students to purchase. So they use the cheap leather armor of rogues until they can afford to purchase it. ¡°I remember you. You are that mage that wanted to become a berserker,¡± the soldier said. ¡°How is that coming along?¡± I am surprised he hadn¡¯t made jokes about me like some of the other students. He looked interested in my progress. ¡°I think I am getting the hang of it. I am Lain. What is your name?¡± I asked. He extended his hand toward me. ¡°I am Russell. If you need any pointers you can ask me,¡± He offered. I shook his hand and noticed it was rough. He must be practicing the sword diligently. I wanted to have a duel with him. Seeing the strength and talent of someone in my generation will be useful. I will be able to tell how much I have to hold back in future fights. I will make them think I am an average talent at first. ¡°I will have to take you up on that offer. Do you know a good place we can spare?¡± I questioned. He looked at me with a blank expression on his face. ¡°Spare? Are you sure? I am not a braggart but I don¡¯t think I can avoid accidently injuring you if I go all out. I will try to go easy on you.¡± Russell said with a hint of concern in his voice. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Please go all out. I want to experience a decent fight,¡± I said. ¡°Okay but I warned you. We can head toward the forest behind the school,¡± He said while pointing behind me. He started to walk toward the forest. I followed behind him. ¡°Also make sure not to get to close to the forest. There are several monsters that can come out at anytime. I once saw slime redder than a fire come out unexpected. Lucky I ran quicker than it could chase,¡± Russell warned. I laughed. ¡°A simple slime is not a thing I would run from,¡± I said. ¡°I thought you were brave but now I can see you are crazy if you think you can kill a red slime,¡± Russell said as he looked at me with his eyes wide. ¡°Let me tell you this. Red slimes are not average. They can use magic. If you get hit by its magic in that basic robe I don¡¯t think you would live. I heard it takes at least 5 experienced soldiers to take it down. Even they wouldn¡¯t come away without any injures,¡± Russell informed. ¡°I will keep that in mind,¡± I replied. Why is he so scared of a basic monster? I don¡¯t remember too far back but I know one thing. Basic monsters were easy to kill. Really it takes that many soldiers. Are they fighting with their eyes closed and hands behind their back? Either he is exaggerating or this kingdom¡¯s soldiers have poor fighting skills. When we stopped walking the school was barely in sight. We were about a mile away from the forest. I looked at it from a distance. The trees extended far into the sky. I could see a lot of activity. The trees rustled even though there was no wind. I saw shadows moving at the base of the trees. Occasionally I would hear a blood curding screams that didn¡¯t sound human. The eerie forest had a life of its own. After school I will have to get a closer look at it. I can¡¯t help but see what they are scared of. Did the monsters get stronger or did this kingdom simply have no talent. He lifted his short sword. We stood only a meter away from each other. ¡°I will let you have the first strike,¡± Russell said. ¡°No need come,¡± I reassured him. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me when you get hurt,¡± As he said that he rushed towards me with his sword held high. He stroke downward. I braced myself. When his sword hit mine I barely felt any pressure behind it. I blocked it easily. After I reflected his sword he lost his footing. I took this chance to swipe at him with the wide side of my short sword. I didn¡¯t want to injure him. When my strike hit he flew half a meter and fell on the ground. The sword fell from his hand as he gripped his side. ¡°Ouch. Why did you hit me so hard,¡± Russell complained. ¡°Sorry,¡± I quickly apologized. I scratched my head. I didn¡¯t hit him that hard at all yet he fell. Maybe he is acting to get me to let my guard down. ¡°Damn. Okay I won¡¯t hold back this time,¡± He shouted as he stood up. His light face turned red. I saw his nostrils flaring. He regained his stance and attacked again. This time he went with a stabbing motion. I dodge it with ease. I didn¡¯t even have to use the second step of my [3-step] technique. He nearly fell again as he went pass me. I wasn¡¯t expecting much but this really it. Maybe in this part of the kingdom they don¡¯t have capable teachers. After he regained his stance he stood there. ¡°Okay I wasn¡¯t planning on using my skills but you have forced me. Try to dodge this,¡± Russell roared as a blue aura covered his sword. [Triple Strike] He approached at me smoothly. I could hear his sword approaching as it made an unusual sound as it swiped through the air at a high speed. I had to use the first step of the [3-step] technique to block it. After blocking one strike a second and third approached instantly. They couldn¡¯t pierce through the defense of my first strike technique. That skills strength was as weak as his other strikes but the speed was unexpected. I can see he must have used it several times to get it at such a speed. Maybe he should think of become a rogue instead of a soldier. I feigned a surprised look.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Okay. I had enough. That skill was really something. I could barely keep up. You win. I don¡¯t think I can take a second one of those,¡± I surrendered. There was nothing more he could show me. I know now how much I have to hold back. He laughed loudly as he holstered his sword. ¡°They don¡¯t call me the best soldier in class for nothing. I can teach you how to do it latter if you want. It only took me 5 months to master,¡± Russell bragged. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t a braggart?¡± I teased. He puffed out his chest and stared at me. ¡°It doesn¡¯t count if I am stating facts,¡± He said confidently. He really is full of himself. I laughed instantly when he said that. ¡°What are you laughing at,¡± He said while looking at me with a confused look on his face. I put away my sword and walked towards him. ¡°Thanks for the offer,¡± I said as I put my hand on his shoulder. He may be weak compared to me but I do like this is guy¡¯s confidence. It wasn¡¯t a blind confidence but one build upon diligence. That hard work might get him to be someone big someday. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to class. I don¡¯t want to be late,¡± I said. He nodded. We both ran back toward the school. Of course I ran slower than him on purpose. He reached it before me. After I walked passed him he waved toward me before walking into the school building. I went back toward the gates. I had to catch James before he starts to teach. I am planning to skip class today and would rather get my broadsword before he goes in. I don¡¯t want to embarrass him in front of all the students. Then again he might be too drunk to care. I decided to wait by the broken gates of the school. ¡°Hey Lain,¡± Luci greeted me while pouting. I wonder why she is frowning. I can see Tay approaching behind her. They both walked up to me. ¡°Did something happen?¡± I asked. Luci walked passed me. She totally ignored my question and walked toward the school building. When I saw her enter the school building I noticed that Tay stayed behind. She was leering at me. It was getting uncomfortable so I tried to make small talk. ¡°Hey Tay, Thanks again for healing me the past days.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡± She replied while shaking her head side to side. The long dark gray hairs of hers end up covering her face. She brushed it out of the way casually and proceeded to start to leer at me again. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± I asked while wiping my face. It may have gotten dirt on it from the spare with Russell. She shook her head from side to side again. I pondered on what it may be. Why is she staring so hard at me? Please tell me already. I glance toward the school building wondering what Luci was doing. Wait. That might be it. ¡°Is there something going on with Luci?¡± I asked. She shook her head up and down. Finally we are getting somewhere. After she brushed the long hair out of her eyes she started to talk. ¡°Luci usually wakes you up,¡± Tay informed me. I chuckled. ¡°I know that what does that have to do with anything?¡± I questioned. I don¡¯t see it as a big deal. So what I wake up earlier now. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to understand.¡± Tay said while sighing. ¡°You know she has been saving up to help you pay for a cart of alcohol.¡± Tay informed me. ¡°Why? I am going to win. There isn¡¯t anything to save up for.¡± I said while looking behind her. Why isn¡¯t James here yet? School should have started 10 minutes ago. Tay stepped into my line of sight. ¡°You should listen when someone is talking to you. I said she is saving up to help you pay off your debt and you stare into the distance,¡± Tay complained. She crossed her arms. It only lifted her breasts. They weren¡¯t overly large but it was definitely bigger than someone her age should have. ¡°If you keep doing that how do you except me to pay attention,¡± I said as I let my eyes take a quick look at her breasts. I averted my eyes to not draw suspicion. ¡°Keep doing what? Don¡¯t you know how much she cares about you,¡± Tay said. She leered at me even more. I guess that is her way of expressing anger but when a girl stares at me for that long I get a different idea. ¡°Of course she cares about me. We grew up together.¡± I said. I was reminded throughout my week of training by envious students how lucky I am for having her as a childhood friend. How is it lucky to have someone nag at you all day? I want her to believe that I will win. Not to save up behind my back. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you call it off before it is too late?¡± Tay questioned. My patience was starting to run low. I accidently glared at her with an evil look in my eye. She flinched and took a few steps back. ¡°I mean you don..n¡¯t ha¡­ve to if you want,¡± She said with a trembling voice. ¡°I just don¡¯t want to see her sad like this.¡± She backed off a few more steps. I could see James finally arriving behind her. He was stumbling along the road with an overly large bottle in one hand and a broad sword in the other. Tay looked at me with a pleading look in her eyes. I walked passed her and whispered. ¡°Just watch me. I won¡¯t lose such an easy task.¡± When James saw me approaching a huge grin broke out on his face. He staggered toward me. I saw him take a large gulp of the bottle in hand. The smell of alcohol was even stronger than ever. He must have drunk more than usual last night. I am considered about him. I am sure even he has his limits. It seems like he can¡¯t go a day without a bottle. He stopped in front of me and started to laugh madly. ¡°Why are you laughing so hard?¡± I asked. He toke a swig of his bottle. ¡°It is because I am about to win the easiest cart of alcohol ever in my life. Did you prepare it yet? It is too late to back out,¡± He said while he had a glint in his eye. ¡°No need to. I haven¡¯t lost.¡± I said calmly. It got irritating listening to him talk. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with already.¡± I said. ¡°Okay you shouldn¡¯t be in such a rush to lose. All you have to do is hold this broadsword for 1 hour. It cannot go below your waist. I bet you won¡¯t even last 5 minutes,¡± He said while chuckling. He handed me the sword. I when I grasped it my feet sunk into the ground. My arm was shaking uncontrollably. I had to use my other arm to grasp it and held it up. My joints had a small dull pain that throbbed every other second. This sword is definitely heaver than it should be. I glared at James. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± He said as he sneered. This drunken bastard made the sword heavier than usual somehow. I tried to examine the sword. When I checked I nearly lost my footing. The sword almost dropped below my waist. I jerked it upward. Afterward I stabilized it the best I could. I was starting to shake again and only 10 minutes passed. If this keeps up I will lose. I can only hold it for 40 minutes at this rate. Time passed slower than a snail. Large beads of sweat build up on my forehead. I felt my legs start to ache. 15, 20, 25 minutes passed. I am reaching my limit. ¡°Damn it,¡± I said through my teeth. My mouth was clamped shut. If I gritted my teeth any harder they would start to crack. 39 minutes passed and I felt my arms getting lower. I tried exerting more strength but I was already at my limit. If this continues I will have to use my [Blood Pact] skill. I want to refrain using it in front of people. I don¡¯t think it is wise to expose that I can use berserker skills as a mage. From a distance he won¡¯t be able to tell how ever when he is this close to me it would be hard to hide. The thin red aura would be noticeable. The sword was almost near my waist when I saw a white light surround me. I felt the pain resigning. The strain on my muscles lessened. Even the dull throbbing in my joints disappeared. I immediately lift the sword high again. I glance behind me to see Tay healing me. A huge smile appeared on my face. I look toward James and see him with his mouth wide open. ¡°That¡¯s cheating,¡± James complained. Without missing a beat Tay replied immediately. ¡°You never said he couldn¡¯t receive healing during the bet.¡± Tay looked me up and down before continuing. ¡°Plus anyone can see that sword is abnormal. Why did he sink into the ground after holding it?¡± Tay interrogated. I could see James start to sweat a little. He rubbed his neck. He tried to take another swig of his drink but sadly only a drop came out. He threw the empty bottle away. ¡°What do you know about swords? I brought this sword today. Why did I not sink when holding it? It is because I am not weak. Clearly Lain is too weak to wield it. That is why he sunk,¡± James explained. Tay and I weren¡¯t buying into his bullshit. Once the hour had fully passed James reluctantly gave me the sword. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t let a cheating punk like you have this. Consider it a gift.¡± James said bitterly as he walked into the school building. I didn¡¯t refute his statement. After Tay and I examined the sword it clearly had an unusual rune on it. From what I can tell it was a basic weight increasing rune. I could tell it was even without my past knowledge. It is even listed in my basic magic book. It has no use in real battles because of its long imprint timing. It takes over 5 hours to imprint it into a weapon or armor. It is usually only used for training. It makes items weight 5 times their original weight. No wonder it was so hard for me to hold onto it. ¡°That scoundrel, we should report him to the knights,¡± Tay shouted angrily. I could see her face flushed in red. ¡°No need. I got my sword. I don¡¯t want unnecessary trouble,¡± I comforted. I don¡¯t think they can do much about it anyways. Plus betting and gambling can be illegal for all I know. I won¡¯t deliver myself to them. They would lock me away. Perhaps even kill me if they are strict. It is better to let that old fool go for now. ¡°What is wrong with you? If I wasn¡¯t here you would have lost. Doesn¡¯t that make you angry? I am telling Luci. She will do something. She wouldn¡¯t let you be bullied by a drunken foul and neither will I,¡± Tay said quickly. She started to talk so rapidly that I barely understood her. I never took her for a vengeful person. It felt great knowing that she got so upset for me. We haven¡¯t even known each other for more than a week. Well as far as I know I haven¡¯t meet her before then. A friend of a friend is also a friend. As we were talking I saw Luci run from the school building. She made a b line towards me. Is she really that mad that I didn¡¯t let her wake me up? When she got near me she was staring into my eyes. ¡°Luci, I can explain. I get up early for..,¡± Before I could finish my sentence she hugged me. I nearly fell over because I wasn¡¯t excepting it. As she clung onto my neck I smelled her nice scent. Her scent had a feminine allure which was as refreshing as freshly made tea. After a few seconds of spinning like a top in each other¡¯s embrace she let go. She had a smile on her face that shined bright. She opened her eyes wide like she saw me for the first time. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it. You really did it.¡± She said excitedly. Tay cleared her throat loudly. I glared at her. She took a few steps back. She then approached and quickly hit behind Luci escaping my glare. I hope she gets the message. Please do not tell her. I don¡¯t want this to get out of hand. Luci seemed to catch on. ¡°Lain stop staring at her. Can¡¯t you see you are scaring her,¡± Luci complained. I scoffed at her remark. ¡°I wasn¡¯t doing anything of the sort. If anything she needs to stop staring at me.¡± I blurted out remembering her white eyes leering at me. Luci playfully hit me on the arm. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t do that. Don¡¯t spread such rumors. Just because you won one bet you think you are on top of the world now?¡± She joked. ¡°Whatever,¡± I said. I am the innocent one. Now that this is over I wanted to go hunt in the forest with my broadsword. This however will be impossible as long as that weight increase rune is on it. The crappy thing about it is even if I somehow am able to wield it won¡¯t even have the extra weight hitting the monster. The monster will feel as if I hit it with a normal broad sword instead of one that weights 5 times the amount. That rune is really useless besides for training. I guess I will use training until I can find a way to dispel the rune. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard as it is a basic one. I still feel the urge to fight a monster. I will go at it with my short sword. I walked toward the forest. Before I knew it I was at the edge of the forest. I was about to walk in when I heard a Luci¡¯s voice. ¡°Lain, Are you crazy,¡± She said in a high pitched tone. She grasped my arm with an iron grip. I could see the fear in her eyes. Chapter 4 Cores Chapter 4 Cores ¡°Where are you going,¡± Luci said in a high pitched voice. The iron grip she had on my arm tightened. I escaped from her grasp rather easily despite it. ¡°Why the hell are you following me?¡± I cursed. How did I not notice her following me? I see Tay running toward us. I can understand Luci being a rogue and all but I didn¡¯t even notice Tay. My senses need some fine tuning. Tay is won¡¯t reach us for at least 5 minutes. She is only a priest after all. I want them to go back to school already. Why are they trying to stop me from getting stronger? I cannot believe that those basic monsters can even defeat me in greater numbers. She scowled. She tried to grab me again but I move back out of her reach. ¡°What is wrong with you? First the reckless betting and now this,¡± Luci said in a low voice. She had her fists balled up. ¡°You really are insane.¡± She yelled. I can see her eyes start to fill up with tears. She drew closer. ¡°You will die at this rate.¡± She whispered. ¡°I was only going to look at their strength. It is no big deal. I can handle a few monsters with my eyes closed,¡± While talking I put my hands in front of my eyes. When I removed them I saw something unexpected. Two rough looking daggers pointed at my throat. I could almost felt the coldness of the steel. ¡°We are going back to school now,¡± Luci demanded. She pressed the daggers against my throat. Her teary eyes betrayed her. I knew she didn¡¯t have the heart to actuality harm me. I slowly lifted my hands toward the daggers. ¡°Don¡¯t move. I swear I will do it,¡± Luci threatened. Her threats fell on deaf ears. I slowly pulled the daggers away from my throat. My heart softened. I started to feel an unexplainable feeling toward Luci. ¡°I am going in. You can¡¯t change my mind,¡± I stated. ¡°I need to...¡± ¡°For what? Why? What good is strength if you are dead,¡± Luci complained while she moved her arms erratically up and down. I walked toward the forest entrance. If I kept arguing with her I will be here all day. ¡°Fine if you are so set on it. Then I am coming with you,¡± Luci demanded. She started to walk ahead of me towards the entrance of the forest. I immediately ran ahead of her. ¡°Sure just stay behind me,¡± I ordered. When I entered the forest Luci stood at the entrance. She must be too scared to follow me in. ¡°I think we are forgetting something,¡± Luci said. She put her hand on her head and rubbed it quickly a few times. I start to think about it too. What could she mean? I do not have perfect memory but I am sure we aren¡¯t forgetting anything. After a few moments of thinking I heard an exhausted voice speak out. ¡°What are you guys doing,¡± Tay yelled out. She took a deep breath in between each word. She placed her hands on her knees while she was next to Luci. I walked back toward her. ¡°We are going to kill a few monsters,¡± I said casually. As I said that she straightened her back quickly. She stared at me with her eyes so wide open it looked like her eyes would fall out the sockets. ¡°And you are trying to take Luci along with you. No. Come on Luci. We are getting out of here now. If he wants to let him but I will not have you die along with him. No way,¡­.¡± Tay was speaking incredibility fast. I could barely understand the first part. She is still rattling on but I can¡¯t comprehend what she is saying. After 5 minutes of this fast talking Luci finally interrupts her. ¡°Tay, Please calm down,¡± Luci said as she grabbed one of Tay¡¯s arms. Tay stopped talking for a moment. I think she did that only to catch her breath again. After she took a few deep breaths she looked like she was going to complain again. Luci spoke first before she could start. ¡°I have to go with him Tay. I don¡¯t agree either but.¡± Luci paused and took a quick glance at me. She had her burrows furrowed and her eyes focused on me. She stared at me silently. I could see her face turn a little red before she started to speak again. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to sleep at night if I knew Lain was out there by himself,¡± Luci said in a low voice. After she said that Tay approached me with a twisted expression on her face. She got really close to me. She purses her lips before speaking. ¡°This is all your fault,¡± She said to me through her teeth. ¡°I swear if you get Luci hurt I won¡¯t forgive you,¡± Tay whispered near my ear. I know she was trying to sound threatening but all I felt was a bit uncomfortable of how close she got toward my face. If she was any closer Luci might misunderstand. I touched her shoulders and slowly push her out of my personal space. ¡°Luci won¡¯t get hurt if she stays behind me,¡± I said in a low voice to Tay. She scowled as she tried to swipe my hands off of her shoulders. I saw that coming however and quickly removed them before she did. With humph she returned to Luci¡¯s side. ¡°Then I will be coming in too,¡± Tay announced. Luci looked shocked but then she hugged Tay while saying ¡®okay¡¯. How come Tay gets a pass to come automatically? I thought Luci would give her the trouble that she gave me when I said I wanted to come. Luci seemed to notice the weird look on my face so she came toward me. ¡°If Tay comes with us she can heal us,¡± Luci said. She can only heal for 3 times a day now. How helpful will that be? Okay maybe I am being a little too harsh. Any amount of healing will help even if it is only 1. Plus if I can help increase her level a bit she might be able to heal more. I have to set some ground rules however. ¡°Okay you can come,¡± I surrendered. ¡°I was going to come anyways. I didn¡¯t need your permission,¡± She said while sticking her tongue out at me. She crossed her arms and looked the other way. I got a little annoyed with her behavior. I must be the mature one. I increased the volume of my voice. ¡°We will need to be clear on one thing. I am the leader of this group. What I say goes. I will be in front at all times. You stay behind me unless you have my permission,¡± After I said the word permission I glared at Tay. When she saw me staring at her she looked away once more. ¡°Tay, you will have to stay directly behind me at least a few meters at all times. Luci you will be to be behind me only a meter. If you want to go in for the kill only do so after I had weakened the monster greatly,¡± I spoke. While I was speaking Luci was nodding her head. ¡°Okay. That is only if you can weaken it. What if you can¡¯t?¡± Tay said. ¡°Then I will distract it long enough for you both. While I do that you must retreat. After you are away from the dangerous situation then I will be running away right behind you,¡± I explained. ¡°No, what if you get hurt,¡± Luci protested. ¡°I won¡¯t get hurt then. It is that simple,¡± I said while chuckling. She playfully hit me on my arm. It didn¡¯t hurt much but she always hits me in the same spot. ¡°You better not,¡± Luci laughed. With that we finally departed into the entrance of the massive forest. Random screams rang out minutes after we entered. They seemed to be coming from the distance. These monsters never rest and battle each other when there are no challengers. Maybe they are stronger than before. I will be able to see soon. We finally hit a clearing. It was only after a few minutes of walking through a dense forest with lots of untamed green plants growing as they pleased. The clearing was massive. I couldn¡¯t see toward the other side. Green slimes roamed about. As they rolled slowly on the ground they left a green trail. The green trail burned the ground slowly. It was short lasting as the ground only produced little smoke before the trail disappeared. Most of the slimes kept some distance from each other. However the ones that didn¡¯t were obviously fighting. I saw two slimes trying to consume on another. I couldn¡¯t tell who was winning because they both looked exactly the same shade of light green. It was clear one of them won after a few minutes. I could see one of the cores dissolve and the other grew larger. The core settled itself in the center of the newly larger mass of a body. These slimes were not small to begin with. They were about 5 feet and had a giant mass of slime as a ¡®body¡¯. I don¡¯t clearly remember the first slime I fought but I can tell these are definitely bigger. This might be a little more challenging than I thought. A bigger slime isn¡¯t much of a problem but my sword is short. If I want to reach the core of those massive slimes then I will have to reduce its mass. If I did it can waste a lot of time. They can pick up the pieces I chop off so it will be a drawn out battle. I want it to end as quickly as possible so we don¡¯t get surrounded by the other slimes.Stolen story; please report. They might be separate from one another but drawing the attention of different slime before finishing the first will be a challenge. They are also not the only monsters in the clearing either. I could see naked green bodies beyond them. They were guarding a wooden gate. The wooden gate was connected to large wooden walls. They were poorly made. Even those poorly made walls were effective at keeping out the slimes from it. I would assume there is a small goblin village inside. The naked green men were goblins but they were extremely ripped. The muscles on their small frames looked like they were going to burst out of their skin any moment. When the hell did goblins get so buff? They must have stolen my training regimen. I will worry about them later for now I will focus on killing slimes. I spot one that is about a ? a mile away from our position. It is not the closest slime to us but it is farther from the other slimes. ¡°We are going after that one first,¡± I said while pointing toward the lone slime. Tay and Luci followed my lead. I ran cautiously carefully not to attract any attention. We arrive a few meters away from the lone slime. I watched our surroundings. It was safe. I draw my short sword. I am getting a sick feeling in my stomach. I grin. I am excited to finally be able to battle again. I must not be reckless and rush in. I know even with its larger body I could probably kill it solo. If I am careless then I might be the one to be consumed. I approached slowly. The slime didn¡¯t move much. I found this weird. They other slimes were rolling and even the ones that were staying in one place vibrated. This one however was almost completely still. It only vibrated once in the time I was watching it. Maybe fighting this one isn¡¯t a good idea. Why is it over here alone in the first place? I was only a meter away it before I started to back off. I was walking away slowly when it started to vibrate. The green color of the slime started to turn red. It suddenly came to life. I heard something coming toward me. I immediately turned and used the first step of the [3-step] skill. A red tentacle crashed into my short sword. Some of the fluid from the red tentacle sprayed onto the arm that was holding the sword. I felt the fluid burning my arm. Instead of wiping it off I had to dodge quickly. I saw another red tentacle emerge from the blood red slime coming toward me. I barely kept up with its speed. I had to use the second step of my [3-step] technique. The two long tentacles finally withdrew back into the red slime. It started to vibrate more violently. ¡°Run Lain, We are retreating now,¡± Luci shouted. ¡°No it is fine; I will say when we retreat. Keep your distance for now. I can handle it,¡± I ordered. I glance back to see Tay already went a distance away even before I spoke. Luci however was still a meter behind me. ¡°I said back up Luci,¡± I yelled. Luci didn¡¯t budge. She had a determined look on her face. She even came a bit closer to me. I sigh loudly and focus my attention back toward the red slime. I saw multiple tentacles sprout out of its body. They weren¡¯t as large as the first two but they were as long. I can see its plan now. It knows I can deal with two of its tentacles so now it is trying to overwhelm me with 12. ¡°Here it comes,¡± I warned. The tentacles shoot out. They were slower than the first two. It looks like this monster has trouble controlling more than 2 at once. I dodge the first 10 that approached me easily. As I side stepped them I charge it a bit closer. I saw the tentacles that I dodged loop around and try to hook me into the main body. Its attacks are completely focused on me. Maybe it isn¡¯t attacking Luci yet because she is still out of its range. Seeing all of my exits blocked off by a thin wall of tentacles I had to cut them off or else be drawn into the main body. I used the third step of the [3-step] skill. My short sword sliced the wall of tentacles like they were paper. The left wall of tentacles fell to the ground. They were eroding the ground but since they were sliced off from the main body it can no longer control it. I run through the opening. As I did the rest of the tentacles retreated back into the red slime. It started to vibrate again. I won¡¯t give it a chance to send out more attacks. I am still not close enough to slice it with my sword. I still have one ranged attack up my sleeve. [Fireball] Up until now I haven¡¯t got around to using it. [Fireball] As I chant the spell to the best of my ability a small ball of fire appears next to my sword less palm. It grew bigger until it was about the size of my palm. I kept on chanting and the longer I did the bigger it grew. It was about the size of a large melon before I stopped chanting. The slime has stopped vibrating. It released twice as many tentacles than before. They were smaller but I won¡¯t underestimate the damage they can do. Varies tentacles rushed toward me from different directions. I wait until they were close. I am not sure how to aim this skill. I released it when they were in front of me. The massive fireball consumed the tentacles. They seemed to evaporate from the heat. The [Fireball] didn¡¯t even stop after destroying most of the tentacles that went after me. It kept going and slammed into the red slime. It left a massive hole in it exposing its core. Seeing this I ran forward as fast as I could. Luci was running behind me. ¡°Attack the core,¡± I ordered. If she is set on fighting with me then might as well attack the core together. When we arrived at the gaping hole in the slime we slashed toward its core. The red slime was fully engrossed in repairing the damage it didn¡¯t even try to attack us with the remaining tentacles. Instead it used to the remaining tentacles to form a thin membrane that covered the core. It was effective at blocking some of the damage our swords were causing. When I slashed at the membrane the speed and strength of my sword reduced greatly. Our swords still managed to do damage. I can see the core starting to crack. When I saw that I started to continuously use the third step of the [3-step] skill. I was running low on mana from continuously using all of my skills. I can see my sword not losing as much strength when penetrating into the protective membrane. After a few minutes of relentlessly assaulting the core the red slime lost its form. It slump over into a pool of acidic red with the broken core floating in the middle. Luci backed away in time not to get soaked in the acid. I wasn¡¯t so lucky. I wanted to make sure it was dead so I stayed behind hitting the core until it fully collapsed. I felt my Hp go really low as the acid burned me every second. I retreated to find Tay. I could survive this damage without her but I didn¡¯t want to walk back to home with all of these burns covering my skin. I limped toward the direction Luci retreated. When I got a few meters away from the pool of acid I sat down. When I tried to sit I immediately stood back up. I could feel some burns on my backside. Some of the acid found its way into my robe. I placed my hand gently on it only to feel a burning sensation from the lightest touch. I winced in pain. I am tired but am forced to stand. ¡°Damn it,¡± I cursed. That slimes acid must be stronger than the others to burn me so badly. The green ones better not be as strong as this one. If they are I will have to find a way to navigate through them to a different area of the forest. Fighting slimes is a pain for most close combat types. I could use [Fireball] against them. When I used it before it only used 15% of my MP. If I go with this strategy I would need Luci to distract them while I channel. I don¡¯t think I could risk her getting hurt. I will find someone to take the damage eventually. After waiting for a moment the burns started to calm down a bit. They still were stinging me nonstop but the pain was less intense. I saw Luci run toward me with Tay. Tay immediately healed me. The white light was soothing as it covered my body. It wasn¡¯t enough to heal the burns completely. They still were stinging me but it was more bearable. I took a seat where I stood. My ass was okay touching the ground. I can rest a bit. I took in a few deep breaths. The annoying burns were keeping me from completely relaxing. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. Tay looked at me with a frown. She was still examining my body. When she touched one of my burns on my arm I flinched. I endured the pain to the best of my ability. I gave her a sharp warning stare. ¡°Next time run away before it dies. Look at these wounds,¡± She said in a concerned voice. She ignored my stare and focused on my body. ¡°Let me worry about that next time. Glad you didn¡¯t run away,¡± I said. I did tell her to back off but who knows. She could have run back to school thinking we were dead. I am glad she stayed back. She still needs to be careful when touching my wounds. Aren¡¯t priests supposed to be gentle? ¡°I would only run away when Luci does. Who cares what happens to an idiot like you,¡± She insulted. However she still examined my body with a concerned look on her face. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t joke around about things like that. You won¡¯t really leave me to die would you,¡± I complained. She stayed silent. I tried to look at her eyes but every time I caught them she looked the other way. I let it got for now. She must be only joking. She can¡¯t be that heartless. I turn my attention back to the slimes corpse. The acidic red pool of fluid was almost completely gone. Once it fully disappears I can check to see if it has dropped anything useful. The core of the slime is valuable. It can be used to make armors more resistant against acid. It can also enchant weapons with a weak acid buff. It could cause the enchanted sword to spray out acid after a certain amount of strikes. The only dangerous thing about enchanting swords with a monsters power is that it is not certain wither it will harm the user or not. Some enchantments don¡¯t discriminate in who they harm when they active. A dark red core the size of a pear sat in the middle of the blood red pool. The pool was almost completely gone after a few more minutes. I got up quickly. I want to see if it was worth it fighting this slime. I approached near the core spot when a figure passed by me. ¡°Luci, I should be the one to check first. I landed the killing blow,¡± I said. I pointed toward the loot she was collecting. She was completely engrossed in examining the dark red core. I could see there were a few pieces of equipment that dropped from the slime. ¡°Luci,¡± I yelled. She finally turned toward me. She ran with the dark red core in her hand. She pushed it into my face. ¡°Do you know what this is,¡± She said excitedly. She was shaking the core up and down. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I lied. Of course I know what it is. ¡°This is the core a red slime. We can get 3 silver for it if we sell in the mid district,¡± Luci informed me practically drooling. She was spinning around with it like it was the best thing in the world. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we got one. We are going to be rich,¡± She bragged. ¡°It is only 3 silver, It can¡¯t possibly be enough to be rich,¡± I said. I am not familiar with how much silver is worth. ¡°What do you mean not that much? We can buy a basic priest book for 30 silver. You got really lucky being able to kill such a monster,¡± Tay interrupted. She was looking at the core with a spark in her eyes. I don¡¯t want to fight red slimes or any slime for that matter. It wasn¡¯t easy taking on that red slime at such a low level. ¡°We could buy a new set of normal daggers for 8 silver, I thought I would have to save up for a year to get it,¡± Luci said with a greedy look in her eyes. ¡°How much can we get a broad sword for?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Why would you want to get a broad sword? Didn¡¯t you already win one,¡± Luci questioned. I looked toward the green slimes in the field. I can¡¯t tell her that sword is useless in combat. ¡°It can up to 16 silver for a normal one,¡± Tay informed. Great it is only double the price daggers. Why is the price so unfair? I was feeling fatigued after hearing the price of the broadswords. I decided it was time to head back. We can continue tomorrow. I wasn¡¯t planning on fighting all day. They agreed. I put Luci in charge of collecting the loot since she was already doing it. After she was done we carefully ran back toward the forest entrance. I made sure we went the safest route. Afterward since school was still in section they went back in. I went home to rest. I wasn¡¯t exhausted from the fight but I decided that going back to school covered in light burns wasn¡¯t a good idea. Chapter 5Stolen Core Chapter 5 Stolen Core I woke up abruptly. I can hear someone banging on my door fiercely. ¡°Wait a second,¡± I said as I stumbled to my closet. I could see the door cracking under the assault. I was naked. ¡®Please door hold out a little longer¡¯ I think to myself. It was in vain. When I got to my closet the door fell down. Tay ran in. ¡°Lain you need to come¡­.. Why are you naked,¡± She was talking normally. Until she saw me naked she screamed loudly. Her head recoiled backward and her eyes opened wide. She pointed toward my private parts. She took a quick glance then focused on my face. ¡°I can be naked in my own house,¡± I said. I was surprised but I tried to keep my voice calm. I talked like I was used to been seeing naked. Inside I was slightly relived it was only Tay. What if it was a robber? I don¡¯t have anything of value here anyway. As I was thinking that I saw her eyes wander down to my exposed friend. She really had to look again. I immediately covered it when I noticed but it was too late. I could see her face blush. She covered her face with her hands but I could see her peeking through the cracks. Is this her first time seeing one? I was starting getting irritated. ¡°Get out,¡± I said sternly. She clumsily ran out. She tried to put the door back up for a few seconds. I could her straining when she tried. She gave up quickly and walked out of sight. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to break in but Luci is in trouble,¡± She yelled from outside. I put my clothes on. I ran outside to see a still blushing Tay with a serious expression on her face. ¡°What happened to her?¡± I said. ¡°I will tell you on the way there,¡± She said as she started to run down the dirt road. It was opposite the direction of the school. I ran after her. I caught up with her pace easily. She was running a little faster than she usually does so it must be important. I could she her eyes focused. ¡°Luci was trying to sell the core we got. She got an offer of 10 silver,¡± Tay explained franticly. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing? That is like 3 times the normal price,¡± I said. Tay breathed in deeply. She sighed before shaking her head. ¡°No, they looked like they were from the mid district. Their equipment and manner of speech are definitely those from the mid district,¡± Tay said in a trembling voice. I could see her shrink when she mentioned the mid district. ¡°What is so bad about people from the mid district,¡± I said while I saw gray stone walls in the distance. ¡°Have you been living under a rock?! There is no way someone from the mid district would want buy cores from us even if we were the only ones with it. Most people here that want to sell something in the mid district have to dress in their best gear. They also have to do their best to talk how they talk. Do you understand? We are the most outer district,¡± Luci shouted while saying the words quickly. She slowed down a bit but I still barely caught all the words. Are the relationships between the districts that bad that they wouldn¡¯t even want to do business with us? What is going on in this kingdom? After this I will have to investigate exactly the current state of affairs in this kingdom. As we got closer to the stone walls I saw a large black gate. I could see a rogue arguing with a few men. The few men looked like soldiers. They had light metal plate armor on. It had a 5 pointed star embedded on each of the metal shoulder plates. They were really tall and had muscles that showed through the light metal armor. Their armor was free of any scratches or blemishes. I don¡¯t think they have experienced many battles. It looked like the armor was only for show. The man in the middle was slightly taller than the rest. He had a confused expression on his face. The rogue had long red hair. The light brown eyes of hers stared at the soldiers with utter distain. She had her hands on the handles of her daggers. I saw her face twisted in an ugly expression. ¡°You promised me 10. You only have given me one silver,¡± Luci complained. ¡°You should be glad I gave you that. Be gone from my sight. Filth like you will be forever living in that god forsaken district,¡± The soldier in the middle said. He had his thick eyebrows furrowed. His first expression of confusion was turning into one of irritation. ¡°First give me back the core than I will be on my way,¡± Luci demanded. The middle soldier stepped forward toward Luci. He stopped about a meter away from her. ¡°What use is this core to trash like you? It is better in our hands. If you want it,¡± The soldier paused as he took the core out. He extended his hand with the core in it. ¡°Come take it from me,¡± The soldier taunted. The two smaller soldiers in the back were chuckling silently. ¡°Aren¡¯t you ashamed?¡± I spoke as I ran in front of the soldier. I stood between Luci and him. He narrowed his eyes on me. ¡°Who are you?¡± He questioned. His eyes narrowed as he was examining me. ¡°Lain,¡± Luci said in a high pitched voice. She released her grip on the handles of her daggers. She had her light brown eyes wide open. I saw her mouth open wide for a few seconds. She made a few steps toward me. ¡°I said who are you?¡± The soldier said impatiently. Luci returned her hands to her dagger¡¯s handles after he spoke. A serious look appeared on her face quickly when she stared at the soldier. It was replaced by a disturbing look. It looked like she drank expired milk. ¡°This guy is trying to take the core without paying the price we agreed too,¡± She complained. The soldier briefly took his attention off of me. He held his hands up and shook then lightly side to side. He plastered an honest looking smile on his face. ¡°I am sure this is a misunderstanding. I know how difficult it is to learn with the state of your districts school. Do you even know how to count the money properly,¡± He said in a calm tone as he light heartily chuckled. This guy¡¯s acting is the only good thing about him. His words and his actions are like yin and yang. Luci drew her daggers out. She was stomping toward the shameless soldier. Luckily Tay was there to hold her back. I don¡¯t want Luci to get hurt fighting this scum. ¡°What did you say asshole. I was trying to be nice and ask politely. Let me go now. Let me teach this ass a lesson,¡± Luci cursed. She was struggling to get away from Tay¡¯s grip. Tay held it firm but I know she can¡¯t hold Luci for long. ¡°I will take care of this,¡± I assured. I felt the wind blow strangely. I immediately jump back. I focused my attention on the direction it blew. I saw the shameless soldier standing in the spot I was at. He tried to sneak attack me. I can¡¯t take my eyes off him. He started to laugh like a mad man. ¡°I am not someone you can take care of easily,¡± He said as he grinned. I looked at him with distain accidentally. I then returned to a calm expression. ¡°I propose we talk this out. I know ten silver is a bit high. How about we bring it down to 5,¡± I said. I tried to contain myself. I wanted to teach him a lesson too but I don¡¯t know the state of affairs. I will try to talk some sense into him. He pondered on my offer for a few seconds. ¡°No. This mongrel has offended me. How about I let you all live for five silver,¡± He said as he pointed at Luci. He pulled out his sword slowly and pointed the tip at me. I followed suit. Words won¡¯t pierce his thick skull. Even my sword might not be sharp enough too. If those other soldiers behind him jump in I will be in trouble. I will have to end him soon. I don¡¯t think it is a good idea to kill him so I will have to try to knock him out.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He rushed toward me. He swiped his sword at my side. I parried it. I jumped to the side. Before I could even breathe he was right beside me. His sword thrust toward my chest. I couldn¡¯t evade it completely. It pierced a few inches into my chest cutting pass the basic robe like air. I gritted my teeth. The pain wasn¡¯t a problem. It was that I was losing blood. I put my hand to try and apply a bit of pressure to stop it from bleeding so much. The blood flowed through the gaps of my fingers. It was trickling out slower. At this rate if I don¡¯t end this fight it will be my life. I started to feel a bit light headed. I saw him stop for a second as he cleaned my blood of his blade. ¡°Filthy outer district blood on my blade, This won¡¯t bring me any glory.¡± He complained as he was focused on wiping my bright red blood off of his blade. ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you bastard,¡± Luci yelled. She was running toward the shameless soldier with both of her hands tightly gripped around her daggers. I could see her eyes turn dark. She yelled a battle cry. It sounded more like a frustrated scream. The cute light brown eyes turned into the eyes of a killer. I looked toward Tay and saw her lying on the ground with a bruised cheek. She couldn¡¯t hold back an enraged Luci. If she tries to fight him that way it won¡¯t turn out well. A rogue should only fight battles they know they can win since they are a bit weaker in ¡®fair¡¯ fights. Not that this one is fair. That soldier must be at least level 3 or 4 for him to be able to injure me this easy. Even if I didn¡¯t forget anything in my past life I still would have a hard time fighting someone a few levels above me. In the later levels it becomes easier but I am still level 1. I will have to combine all my skills to have a chance. Since Luci has him distracted I will use it to my advantage. [Blood Pact] [Fireball] I channeled [Fireball] for a few seconds. I also used [Blood Pact]. The shameless solider stood there and looked at me completely ignoring the enraged Luci that was approaching him. ¡°You think you can kill me with a basic fireball?¡± He said as he laughed loudly. When she finally reached him she tried to stab him. ¡°What a joke,¡± He said as he blocked Luci¡¯s attacks without even looking at her. She was recklessly focusing on an all out attack and not even defending herself. I could see multiple opening in her attacks. I am sure that soldier could too however all he did was block them. He focused on me waiting for my next move. After a minute of channeling [Fireball] I was ready. I aimed it toward my sword. The shameless soldier kicked Luci in the face. She tumbled about two meters away and lied on the ground. She tried to get back up but fell. I saw blood leaking from her lips. She passed out shortly afterward. ¡°Hey boss. Can we have a bit of fun with them before you kill them,¡± The two soldiers that stood near the gate said nearly simultaneously. I could see the lecherous looks on their faces as they pointed toward Luci. ¡°Fine go ahead. If you bring back any diseases this time I will be cutting your pay. You know outer district girls would open their legs even for the slimes in the forest,¡± The shameless soldier said. I was slowly infusing the fireball into my sword. I haven¡¯t done sword enchantments yet but this will be the only way I can deal with all three of them. A sword enchantment can increase a swords grade greatly. It is easier to apply than runes however it comes at a great cost. The enchantment to those that doesn¡¯t have an enchanter class harms both the user and the targets. I definitely won¡¯t be in good shape after this fight. I will have to give it my all. If I am lucky maybe Tay will save me. If not then I might die from the backlash. My sword burned brightly. The raging [Fireball] was completely infused with it. The fire enchanted sword was lighter than a feather. It almost felt as if there was nothing in my palm. If only there wasn¡¯t for the constant searing pain. I felt the skin on my arm cooking like a hamburger on a grill. The shameless soldier wasn¡¯t surprised. He creepily smiled at me. ¡°You think that..¡± My sword interrupted him before he could finish speaking. He blocked it but I could see the fire burning the hand that held his sword. He winched. I applied more strength onto my sword. It burned through his sword. I press the hot sword onto his chest. He let out a blood curling scream as the sword burned through his light armor. It landed on his exposed chest searing his skin off. I saw him foaming from his mouth at this point. He fell to the ground. A small fire was still lit on his chest burning his flesh indiscriminately. I could had let the fire finish him off for good but I already decided not to end their lives unless there was no other choice. Causing a conflict is not the only reason. I really haven¡¯t killed many humans in my pass life. I can count all the people I killed on both hands. There wasn¡¯t much infighting between us at least in my pass. We had a clear enemy which was the monsters and the devils that controlled them. There was little time for bullshit like this. I stomped out the growing fire on the unconscious soldier¡¯s chest. After a few good stomps the fire stopped spreading. It only costed him a few broken bones. Afterwards I looked toward the other two soldiers. One ran through the gates while the other pulled out his sword. He ran toward me. ¡°You are dead. Do you think you can get away with killing Francis?¡± The soldier barked at me. He had a crazy look in his eyes as he charged at me. ¡°He isn¡¯t dead yet,¡± I responded. My response stopped him in his tracks. He looked toward Francis before flipping me off. ¡°You expect me to believe you. Outer district citizens would sell their mothers for a few pieces gold.¡± The soldier insulted. I could see spit fly from his mouth as he spoke. I ignored his comment and went toward Luci. I turned her over so she was facing the sky. While I did this I noticed the soldier run over toward his boss. He checked Francis¡¯s burned body. Then he took out a few bandages and started to wrap his chest up. I turned toward Luci. ¡°Wake up,¡± I said while slapping her face lightly. She groaned. Then she slapped my hand out of her face. ¡°Stop, my head hurts enough already,¡± Luci said as she started to come too. She sat up and gripped her head tightly with both hands. Afterward she started to look around. She saw the severely burned chest of Francis. She looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Did. Did you do that? How?¡± She questioned as she got into my face curiously. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see if Tay is okay first,¡± I said to change the subject. I saw her look down sadly. She slowly picked up her daggers. She then ran toward Tay. ¡°Tay I am sorry,¡± She yelled out dramatically. She was lifted Tay¡¯s head with both of her hands crying. ¡°I am really sorry. I didn¡¯t mean too,¡± She said while sniffling. ¡°Luci she is alright. Come on Tay get up. I know you woke up already,¡± I said. Tay eyes opened briefly. She gave me a death glare before closing them again. Luci was too busy crying to notice. ¡°Luci, how could you do this to me,¡± Tay said ¡®weakly¡¯. Luci started to cry even harder. Snot was leaking out of her nose. ¡°I am sorry. I really am. What can I do to make it up to you,¡± Luci said. Her tearful eyes were looking at the ¡®weak¡¯ Tay. I was getting tired of Tay¡¯s joke. She is going to far now. ¡°Seriously stop it. Tay get up. Now. We got to leave,¡± I said sternly. ¡°How could you say that Lain,¡± Luci looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. Her lips were pursed. ¡°Can¡¯t you see how hurt see is,¡± Luci said. As Luci was starting at me with distain Tay stuck her little pink tongue out. ¡°Whatever, Have fun with the world¡¯s worst actor,¡± I said while walking toward the soldier that was bandaging Francis. The soldier stopped the bandaging and stared at me. He returned his hands to his blade. ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer. I will protect him with my life,¡± The soldier stated in a shaky voice. He couldn¡¯t even hide the fear on his face. I walked toward the burn victim and kneeled down beside him. The soldier backed a few meters away and took a fighting stance. ¡°Stop what are you doing? You already won. There is no need to be excessive.¡± He pleaded. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who wanted to have some fun with my friends? Now you want me to show him some mercy. The guy that tried to kill me?¡± I taunted. I was only buying time as I searched his pockets for the core. I found it shortly. I hid it in my robe. ¡°You won¡¯t get away with this,¡± The soldier said. I flashed him a death glare. He shrunk under it. He even back a few more meters away from his boss. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind. ¡°Oh really. I are you sure I will let you live to talk about it,¡± I said while brandishing my flaming sword. The most of the fire already died down. The sword still glow a bright red despite that. The soldier ran toward the open gate after my threat. The look of terror on his face was hilarious. I was laughing at the dog that ran with his tail between his legs. I laughed so hard that my chest bleeds out more. I looked over toward Luci and Tay. Tay finally got up but she was being supported my Luci as she limped over to me. ¡°Are you too injured to heal me?¡± I said sarcastically. Tay stared daggers at me. [Light Heal] The soothing light stopped the bleeding from my chest but it didn¡¯t fully heal the wound. It is better than nothing but I am slightly disappointed. ¡°Now heal him too,¡± I said as I pointed at the soldier named Francis. She looked at like I was crazy. ¡°Why would I heal him?¡± Tay questioned. ¡°He tried to rip us off and now you want Tay to heal him,¡± Luci said angrily. I could see her steaming over the idea of healing this soldier. ¡°Listen to me. Heal him now,¡± I said sternly. ¡°If you don¡¯t and he dies they might come after us. They know all of our names,¡± I informed. I saw Tay hang her head low. She walked normally toward the soldier. [Light Heal] The light covered the wounded soldier. I saw the burns recede a little. I finally can hear the soldier breathe. I sigh loudly. It looks like he won¡¯t die. Now we are getting far away from this place. ¡°Here, take the core,¡± I said while handing it to Luci. She snatched it out of my hands. ¡°And no more deals with the mid district until I can figure out a better way to do it,¡± I said while staring into her eyes. ¡°Okay,¡± She said as she nodded. I could see she had a sad look in her eyes. She was looking at the blood covered hole in my robe. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It is only a scratch,¡± I said confidently. I patted the hole in my chest to reassure her. I flinched as soon as my hand touched the wound. It really stings with the slightest touch. She didn¡¯t look convinced. ¡°Start running back, I will catch up with both of you.¡± I ordered. Tay grabbed Luci and walked toward the outer district. ¡°Wait why aren¡¯t you coming with us?¡± Luci questioned. ¡°Just go,¡± I yelled. Luci was still reluctant to leave. ¡°Promise me that you will be right behind us,¡± Luci pleaded. Her eyes were collecting water. ¡°When did you become such a cry baby,¡± I teased. ¡°You better be right behind me or else I will come and find you,¡± Luci said. ¡°Fine by me,¡± I said. Luci finally began ran back to the district with Tay. When they got out of my range of site I heard multiple footsteps. They were stomping in unison. I saw over 50 soldiers armed to their teeth. They trampled the ground. I saw what looked like their leader in front. He was an old man with golden armor. The same 5 pointed star his shoulder as the rest of the army of men. He had a wise look. I could tell his body wasn¡¯t in as good as shape as the other soldiers. It looked like he had been through hell. ¡°Cuff him now,¡± The old leader commanded.