《Helena's Plane》


 Chapter 1: Meeting Helena and Pauls life so far

    Author''s note: As you can see in the description, this is my first attempt at writing a novel. After finishing chapter 7 as of today, I have to say that I am not really happy with the way the first chapter turned out. There are some references to Paul''s former life later, but I would shorten that part considerably if I rewrote chapter 1 now. I will probably edit it in the future, but decided against it for now. My advise for you: you may skip most of the middle part of this chapter and only read the first and last section. Then go back to it if you want to know about Paul''s past later on, but you will understand what is going on either way.


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    The place where Paul woke up was pure-white. He would have called it a room, but he could not determine whether there were any walls around him, or a ceiling. There were no shadows and the ground had no discernable texture. Paul was lying on his back and blinked his eyes, quickly adjusting to the bright light.


    The floor was neither hard nor soft, it felt like lying on a rather hard mattress. He didn¡¯t know how he got here. He sat up and looked down on his body. He was wearing his usual high-end ¡°leisure clothes¡± he always wore at home.


    He stood up and took a few steps. The floor felt harder as before when he was lying down on it. He was not feeling fatigued or drowsy, although he must have passed out somewhere and just got up. The temperature was oddly comfortable and there was no wind. His steps didn¡¯t make a noise, although his movements caused his clothes to rub against each other and he could hear that perfectly fine.


    Despite this strange surroundings, he didn¡¯t feel nervous or confused, although he seriously wondered how he got to this place. Looking around gave no new information, everything was empty. The white surroundings didn¡¯t cause any strain on his eyes, although he vaguely remembered how uncomfortable bright surfaces were in the snowy mountains on a skiing vacation before.


    Before he could spend much time wondering about this place, he was interrupted.


    ¡°Hello Paul¡±, a soft, female voice said behind him.


    He turned around and saw a young woman in a white robe standing a few metres behind him, a place where there was nothing just a few seconds before. The fabric of her robe was the same bright white than the rest of his surroundings and blended in with the floor and the background. She had long, wavy, blonde hair that fell freely over her shoulders and she was around the same height as himself.


    He could see that she was pretty, perhaps the prettiest woman he had ever seen in person, but when he focused on her face he could not discern her facial features. It was like his vision has gone bad and became rather blurry.


    Although she just popped out of nowhere, Paul did not feel startled or uncomfortable in her presence.


    ¡°Hello, would you mind telling me where I am?¡± Paul asked in an equally relaxed tone.


    ¡°Haha, when I tell you that this is definitely not a dream, I¡¯m sure you can come up with the solution yourself¡± she answered.


    ¡°Ohh, this must be a sub-program then, where you can load various modules. Can you conjure endless weapon-rags or a woman in a red-dress here?¡± Paul said in jest.


    ¡°Funny¡­ but no. In fact¡­¡± the woman answered hesitantly, her smile turning slightly bitter and her tone turning a bit sad.


    ¡°Yea, I already guessed as much. I must be dead then, huh¡­¡±


    ¡°Sadly, that¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°So, are you God? And how did I die?¡± Paul asked. In fact, he already assumed that much. He must be either dead or in a critical condition in a coma somewhere. Although he always thought that death would be the end of his existence. Kind of like before he was born, just endless nothingness. But in this place, he felt like everything the young woman said was nothing but the truth.


    ¡°I am not the ¡°God¡± you probably think of. In fact, the ¡°One God¡± most humans believe in does not exist. I am not a human either. You can call me Helena. As to how you died¡­¡± he hesitated and blushed slightly, ¡°¡­let¡¯s just say it is not important at the moment. But you have certainly departed from your world.¡±


    ¡°OK, but why am I here? Are you here to send me to the afterlife or something?¡± Paul¡¯s mind was calm, but he could not understand the situation.


    ¡°Not entirely wrong. See, the situation is a bit complicated, but at the same time it really isn`t. I am sure you have a lot of questions, so let me just explain enough for you to understand.


    There are a lot of planes like the one you lived in, the universe with the planet Earth in it. There are also many entities like myself. We normally don¡¯t interfere with the planes, let alone the individuals living in them. But we do like to observe them most of the time.¡±


    ¡°Ha, so it is really that clich¨¦ of earth and the people just being entertainment for some higher being?!¡± Paul couldn¡¯t help but interject.


    ¡°Let us just say that this is correct, although I would not want to belittle the human race¡± Helena said, looking slightly embarrassed. ¡°The point is, I have spent a lot of time watching over your life. I really came to like you over last few decades, you know? I may have even meddled with your life sometimes, so let me apologize if I caused you any inconveniences, hehe¡­¡± Helena looked slightly embarrassed and giggled awkwardly, putting one hand on the back of her head.


    ¡°Hmm? I thought you guys don¡¯t interfere with individuals?¡± Paul was a bit confused, but not too much. Up to here, somehow everything made sense to him. He was sure that his calm feelings were not normal, but he also knew that he was not dreaming. Helena must be a celestial being with some sort of mind-control power.


    ¡°Yes, I said that, and for the most part this is true. Entities like me, Gods if you like, don¡¯t intervene in most of the planes after their creation. We just want to observe how things play out. But it is not forbidden to participate in the affairs of the mortals, as long as it feels ¡°natural¡±. For example, taking on a human form and participate somewhat is OK. Some Gods fight in wars as normal footsoldiers, some engage in more carnal adventures or support their favourite mortals in various ways. As long as other Gods don¡¯t notice your activities, you can pretty much do as you like. Performing a miracle is not allowed, but secretly guiding the hands a surgeon performing a complicated surgery is within the scope of what we are allowed to do.¡±


    ¡°So you are somewhat my guardian angel. In that case, thank you for your guidance¡± Paul said with a smile.


    ¡°I like to think of myself that way, but honestly, I had some selfish reasons myself.¡± Helena said, smiling brightly ¡°For starters, I liked your personality. But most importantly, I really like to play human video games.¡±


    Earlier that day:


    Paul was lying on his comfortable, king-sized bed and thinking about his life. With his 30th birthday rapidly approaching, he wondered if he would regret how he was spending his days after he got even older. He wasn¡¯t worried about his future, in fact, he was ¡°set for life¡±, so in case nothing drastic happened, he would never have to worry about working anymore. And if a nuclear war broke out, or a giant meteor was about to hit earth, there would be no point in worrying anyway.


    Paul was the eldest son of a lower- to middle-class family. He had above-average looks, especially his facial features were what you would call ¡°handsome¡±. He did not work out a lot, so he felt slightly embarrassed for his rather skinny body, but that wasn¡¯t anything of a mayor deficit.


    What Paul recognized as one of biggest weaknesses, strangely, was that he was pretty smart. He wasn¡¯t a genius, but a professional test during his adolescence determined that he had an IQ of nearly 130. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have a perfect memory or any of those cheat-skills, but he could talk well, calculate quickly and come up with pretty accurate assumptions if he spend a short while thinking about anything.


    You may wonder why he saw that as a flaw, but it made his life harder than you would have thought. Without the need for studying, he never learned how to cram or seriously work for anything. His teachers always liked him. He actually made their job easier by actively participating in class. He didn¡¯t do that out of ulterior motives, in fact he just couldn¡¯t stand the painful look on his teachers¡¯ faces whenever they asked a question and no one bothered to raise their hand to answer. He was easily bored as well, so if the lessons didn¡¯t progress, he would feel bad for himself.


    On the other hand, he couldn¡¯t be bothered to do any homework. He either came up with things on the spot, wrote a couple of sentences down during the short break before class or, in rare cases, just copied some of the stuff of the people next to him or his friends. Sometimes he just didn¡¯t do anything and just let others read their homework out loud while pretending to have done his. Because of his active participation during the other parts of class and probably out of luck, his teachers never asked him to read out his homework.


    Paul spent most of his free time either with his friends, or in front of his computer. He was basically lazy as hell. He thought that he would have probably gotten in major trouble if he wasn¡¯t, because he had a tendency to hang out with ¡°bad¡± people. But in the end, he couldn¡¯t be bothered to party all night, do hard drugs or get overly violent towards others. But because he was nice to look at, smart and generally friendly, he wasn¡¯t pressured into anything and even sometimes prevented misfortune by good judgement.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave, that guy behaves suspicious. He is probably an undercover cop and not actually selling drugs.¡± As it turned out, the next day an acquaintance was arrested at the same spot, likely by that exact person.


    ¡°Better don¡¯t antagonize that fella, I think he belongs to some dangerous people. Look how he is walking all over the place like he owns it. He is either really stupid or has some powerful backup.¡± A short time after that, a group of people who was hanging out at the place earlier got into a fight with that guy. He left, and came back afterwards with 10 shady looking guys and one of the smaller group was nearly killed in the resulting fight.


    Due to those and similar events, his judgement was respected and if Paul didn¡¯t like something, the others would mostly listen to him. He was no good Samaritan either, so he didn¡¯t interfere when one of his friends starting using steroids, or another beat someone else up over nothing or wanted to try some dangerous drugs.


    Paul got some valuable street-smarts during his time hanging out with those guys, and he actually treasured those times, at least he was rarely bored. He also treasured the fact that he got out of the group without any trouble as well and actually kept contact with a few people, although one of them was currently in jail.


    Of course, he never brought his friends to his home. His room in his parents¡¯ house was rather large, and littered with various accessories from his earlier hobbies. A wooden sword from the time he got into martial arts and joined a kendo-club, several book-shelves from different genres which now only gathered dust and boxes with scrap electronics, parts of model-planes, a pile of books on ¡°how to code¡± and other topics. His hobbies came and went, he even spent a year learning how to ride and train horses while dating a girl whose parents owned a horse-ranch near the city. What all of those hobbies had in common was, that after Paul got overly absorbed in them and quickly conquered a mediocre skill-level in them, he lost interest after some achievements and went on to the next thing.


    The only thing he truly loved with a passion was playing videogames. He spent hours on end grinding experience and loot in his favourite RPGs, raided the most difficult dungeons with his MMO-friends, spent days building giant cities and played through difficult adventure-games in single weekends.


    He even considered a career as a game-reviewer at some point in his life, but felt it too troublesome to actually pursue it.


    His parents were caring and understanding, up to the point to not bothering him too much even if he spent his free days locked up in his room, shouting at his guild-mates over teamspeak and doing nothing but playing games. He never had actual trouble at school, had some sort of social life (he never told them any of the more worrying stories about his buddies) and his younger sisters on the other hand needed more attention. He did not need much maintenance from a parent-perspective.


    All in all, he had a good and rather privileged life.


    In the end, he got his higher school-degree with above-average scores and went on to university. He chose business-engineering, because he couldn¡¯t really settle on anything specific and thought that this was a good mix of economic and technical matters.


    But this was where he realized his shortcomings; homework was mostly collected and the regular exams couldn¡¯t be passed without a minimum degree of studying.


    So, after joining university and realizing that he might fail big time there, it was the first time Paul felt something like despair. But he just shoved the thought away for the time being and continued attending classes. He even got himself to study for a couple weekends and evenings, but that didn¡¯t really last long. After a month he went back to playing games, mostly different multiplayer RPGs, sometimes with long-time friends and sometimes with random people, or a mix of those.


    After the first semester, he even started skipping classes regularly to extend his game-time. As his parents both worked, no one really noticed. But Paul was aware of the fact that his current trajectory would lead to failure in the long-term, but not finding the energy to really do anything about it, the only thing he changed was buying a moderate amount of lottery-tickets whenever he had some money left. Being smart, he knew that the chance to win was nearly non-existent, but he felt that if he didn¡¯t even do that, he would be depressed.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    He continued his life like that for nearly two years. Paul was in his early twenties by now, had conquered a ton of dungeons in plenty of games with his guilds and friends. He had started watching anime and occasionally read some manga online, mostly because it was readily available at the click of button and provided welcome distraction whenever he sat down to study. Of course, he was also on the failing end of the student-spectrum, but he still hoped


    that everything would just work out in the end, like it somehow always did.


    After spending most of the weekend crawled up in a new 25-man dungeon with his guild and figuring out the boss-encounters only interrupted by a ¡°break¡± with a handful of friends playing a small-scale old-school D&D RPG with multiplayer functionality, he went to bed on a Sunday with his laptop to watch some anime. After a couple episodes, he remembered to check the lottery drawing and visited the website.


    The numbers he saw were oddly familiar and his heart started beating fast. He went to fetch the lottery ticket from his desk and double-checked the numbers.


    All of them matched! He actually never expected this to happen, although it was somehow his only plan for the future. With shaky hands, he called the number on the back of the ticket to get in touch with the lottery-company and after a short phone call, it was confirmed that he really won the jackpot of 28 million euro.


    Paul decided not to tell anyone of his huge winnings. In the end, it would only cause him trouble, caused by jealousy and people trying to take advantage.


    He visited the lottery company the next day and had the funds transferred to his bank account, apart from a small ¡°down-payment¡± of 10.000 EUR that he took with him in cash.


    That day, he finally realized his true passion in life! With teary eyes from happiness, he decided that he would never do anything productive.


    Paul immediately decided to quit his studies, naturally. He thought about attending a few classes that suit his tastes, just to gain some knowledge, but in the end he would never go. He stayed enrolled, because most universities were actually free as long as you had a school-degree. He still wanted to be invited to extra-curricular parties and events.


    The only thing he bought was a new, top of the notch computer. He also got a credit-card (he even got one made out of metal with virtually no limit), and he bought some clothes, but nothing that aroused suspicion from his family.


    The only shopping spree he went on was online. He subscribed to a bunch of adult websites and indulged himself in the most perverted scenes he could access. This was the life he always dreamt of!


    No worries, no responsibilities, no plans for the future!


    He got a respected financial and tax consultant and acquired some assets over the next few weeks. Some real estate, stocks, company shares and, on his own request, some physical gold bars worth a few million that were stored in a save deposit a major bank.


    He also bought a condo in a nearby city for himself to live in. He mostly settled on that particular one because it was new and had access to a high speed cable connection that was several times faster than what his internet service provider could offer at his parents¡¯ house.


    He had his new place equipped with some modern and robust furniture and appliances, so he could move there whenever he decided to.


    After a month of preparations, he told his parents that he had won a lot of money. He only told them that he won several millions and that he had already taken care of a solid investment plan. Paul also gave his parents one million euro, so they could pay the debt for the house, set up savings for his little sisters and live a more comfortable lifestyle without having to worry about money anymore.


    Of course, he would give them more money if they ever seriously needed it, but he was confident that they would be more than happy with what he gave them already.


    From that day onwards, Paul spent his life in absolute bliss. And that meant, he didn¡¯t leave his place for weeks on end and only played games, online and offline. He picked up and dropped several hobbies over the years, but they were nothing to brag about. Porn addiction, prostitutes, travelling (nowhere troublesome, but he went to most European countries and even Japan once), he even got a pilot license for small planes.


    He always took care to not spend too much money on any of those things, in the end the most important thing for him was to avoid working. He also bought some equipment for working out at home, so his health wouldn¡¯t deteriorate too much.


    The only times he got serious were the few occasions when a new mmorpg was released and he spent days on end grinding up to the highest level and then spending time in small or large scale group dungeons battling boss monsters.


    In the end, more than 7 years passed by without anything noteworthy happening. Paul was occasionally dating some girl, but he never got serious. In the end he always broke up with the girls before he risked to lose any of his game-time.


    Having reminisced about his life long enough, Paul finally got out of bed. He came to the conclusion that everything was fine. His family was doing ok, his health was ok and as long as new games were released he never got too bored with his life. If he could spend the next 50 years like that, he would have led the happiest life he could imagine. He also had some hopes for virtual reality porn, so maybe there would come a time when he wouldn¡¯t have to leave his house or spent money on hookers ever again.


    Paul did a minimum job of washing himself, grabbed a banana and a drink from the kitchen and powered up his computer¡­


    ¡°Basically, I stumbled upon those games thanks to watching you. Don¡¯t misunderstand, Gods usually don¡¯t limit themselves to watching a single person. When I started observing you, I found that you played an awful lot of videogames when you got the chance, and to be honest, at first I was not really impressed. But I decided to keep watching you play, and I found it to be strangely fascinating. Normally, watching someone else indulge in entertainment is plain boring, but I found you played with such a passion and skill that it was really fun.


    After a while you started playing games with a lot of other people and that was the first time I decided to personally interfere with a human on Earth. I took over one of the others humans you were playing with at that moment and actually had a lot of fun.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I hope you didn¡¯t cause too many wipes for us.¡± Paul said, half joking. Helena blushed and looked down at the floor.


    ¡°Uhh, to be honest, it didn¡¯t go too well. One of the other partymembers even kicked me out of the group after a while. The player whose body I took over didn¡¯t notice that it was not himself controlling his body at the time, but I felt slightly bad for tarnishing his reputation among you guys.


    After that, I created myself an avatar, both physical on earth and online, and played using my own computer and online accounts. Over the years I got a pretty good grasp on how those games work, and played with you a lot. In fact, over the last 5 years I mostly spend time either playing with you or watching you secretly. My online handle was Lena6077 most of the time¡± Helena said, slightly happy and embarrassed at the same time.


    Paul was still feeling unnaturally calm, but he didn¡¯t really think bad of her. Of course he remembered playing with Lena, and she was actually one of the better companions he had over the years. Although he couldn¡¯t really avoid to picture her like a creepy stalker, watching him with binoculars and building a shrine for him in her closet, with one of his used toothbrushes and pictures she secretly shot of him.


    ¡°To wrap things up, you somehow died and now I want you to be reincarnated in the plane I created together with some other Gods. I would feel bad about losing my favourite gamer for good.¡±


    ¡°A plane you created, huh¡­.¡± Paul couldn`t really imagine what she had in store for him, and felt kind of scared at the prospect of becoming some stalker-goddess¡¯s personal pet.


    ¡°Don`t worry, it will be very exciting¡± Helena said with a beaming smile, Paul could not help but wonder if she could read his thoughts as well and become slightly flustered.


    ¡°Myself and some other Gods with similar tastes created the plane modelled after our favourite games. And because you are my favourite human, I will make sure to give you some ¡°buffs¡± to make it worth your while. Think of it as a reward for entertaining me so much before, and also as an investment of mine into the future, so I can take that fun to the next level.¡±


    ¡°So, what do you have planned for me then, I`m curious now¡± Paul felt less scared after hearing those words. He already accepted that his former life was over, and he didn¡¯t really feel any regret. Of course, that might have been because of the calming effect of the space he was in right now, or some mind-control magic Helena used, but he was not really attached to his former life on Earth. He basically only lived for video games, so if his next life would be exactly like that, he had no worries.


    ¡°Hehe, glad to hear that¡± Helena said happily. If she really created that world herself, she must feel proud of the place she was going to send him


    ¡°First, the world is roughly similar to Earth. See, space and time does not really apply when it comes to Gods and the planes. The plane is already several billion years old from a physical perspective, and human civilization has existed for several tens of thousands of years.


    The main difference is that whereas the Earthen Universe is a plane where only the laws of physics apply, the plane you will be sent to also has the concepts of magic and gods.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you will take an active role there?¡± Paul asked.


    ¡°No, the gods we are talking about are different from us Gods. They do have their own personality and are immortal to a certain extent, but they don¡¯t have the same powers as for example I have. The gods of the plane each have their own domain and limited powers in that domain. They can grant blessings over people or the land, perform minor miracles for devout followers or communicate with an oracle to a certain extent, things like that. They also have to answer to the creating Gods, like myself, so they won`t be able to mess things up, even if they wanted.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. You mentioned magic and buffs you will grant me¡­¡±


    ¡°Hehe, yes. The magic is basically what you expect from your typical fantasy world. Pyromaniac-Mages, Necromancers, Priests, all that kind of magic. Enchanted and cursed items and materials as well. Also, magical beasts of course. Without dragons, catgirls and dungeons full of dragons and slimes, it wouldn¡¯t be fun, would it?¡±


    Paul couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    ¡°Regarding the extras you have, let me explain a bit further. After some consideration, we decided to implement a level, stat and skill system. That means you will be able to gain experience and level up, as well as every other creature on the planet. Levels are not everything though. Statpoints are gained by performing specific actions over a longer period of time for normal creatures and people. A farmer will have a higher number of strength and endurance points, because of physical labour. A mage will have high intelligence and wisdom because of extensive studies. Skills are mostly learned while levelling up though, and there will be a certain amount of stats gained as well. So you can use the levels for a basic estimate of strength. There is also a certain penalty for children and adolescents, so a toddler at level 1 is considerably weaker than an adult at the same level.


    You will be able to allocate the stats and learn certain skills yourself, for everyone else it is done automatically depending on their lifestyle and recent activities. You still have to learn some basics for every skill yourself, so you won`t be able to fly at level two for example.


    There are also some special skills and permanent buffs that you and others can only gain from magic items or by performing certain actions¡± Helena explained everything while looking somewhat like a teacher.


    ¡°OK, I think I get the basic concept. Sounds pretty elaborate. Is that my only advantage, that I can somewhat specialize my stats?¡± Paul asked.


    ¡°Thank you, we were thinking about it really hard, you know. We want a world that looks organic from the outside but can be ¡°played¡± by people like you. And don¡¯t worry, you have several advantages. First, you will gain skill points more frequently via level ups and you have a slight bonus to mastering skills. One of your main advantages is, that you have a HUD, an augmented reality view. You will be able to see health, names and levels of creatures, you have a ¡°minimap¡± for your immediate surroundings and get written notifications for most events. Others mostly ¡°feel¡± those kind of information in case they have relevant skills. There are some other features of the HUD and menu, once you gain access to specific skills.


    That is not the main advantage, although it is very powerful¡­¡± Helena gave an ominous smile.


    ¡°The suspense is killing me¡± Paul said, half sarcasticly. He was seriously interested though.


    ¡°One word: Respawn.¡±

 Chapter 2: Entering the world

    Chapter 2


    ¡°Haha, yes, that is really nice!¡± Paul was smiling brightly. If he did not need to worry about dying, then this new life will be amazing.


    ¡°To be honest. It was a hot topic for debate. As I was the one who instigated the whole idea of this plane, I could convince the others in the end. There are some penalties though. First, it will take 12 hours for you to be able to respawn. Secondly, your original body including everything you were wearing will stay behind. And last but not least, it will arouse a lot of suspicion. The inhabitants of this plane are superstitious, and they have good reason to be so, with all the gods, demons and evil necromancers.


    While the revival of a freshly deceased is possible with powerful holy magic or the miracle of a god, it is highly unusual and normally comes with penalties. That said, we won¡¯t interfere if you cause a ruckus, but expect your popularity to drop if you spawn naked in a village with your dead clone a couple hundred metres down the road.¡±


    ¡°I will manage somehow. Can¡¯t I just claim to have a special blessing by one of the gods?¡±


    ¡°The gods are not necessarily friendly towards you. The only god who would do this kind of revival would be Seirim, and he is usually associated with demons and the undead. But magic would probably be a good excuse, I expect you to manage somehow.¡± Helena said with a sheepish grin.


    ¡°Well then, any more advise? And how will I be reborn? As a baby? Or as I am now?¡±


    ¡°Neither. As a special present, I will give you the opportunity to alter you appearance. You can do so before you arrive at your new ¡°home¡±. You will start as a human male in his early twenties, otherwise you are free to alter your appearance.


    And I will get in touch with you again along your journey, so you will get the opportunity to talk to me again. I feel like I have already given you enough information for you to go around, so don¡¯t worry about the small details. It will be fun to watch you figuring things out for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, if you say so, I will believe you. To be honest, I am excited to visit the world that you created with so much effort¡± Paul was convinced that a little flattery towards the god who had obviously near absolute power could only help him in the future.


    ¡°I am looking forward to your adventure. Please have fun and experience a lot.¡±


    ¡°I will try to make worth watching me. And one last thing¡± Paul hesitated for a moment ¡°Thank you, Helena.¡±


    Helena blushed a little and smiled brightly ¡°You are welcome, Paul¡±.


    Shortly afterwards the light in the space Paul was in became brighter and when he closed his eyes and opened them again quickly afterwards, Helena had disappeared.


    ¡°Ok, then what now, I¡¯m still in this strange room¡­¡± Paul was muttering to himself, when suddenly he lost all sensation in his body. Then his vision floated backwards, like switching between first person and third person view in a game and he was staring at his own back from roughly two metres distance.


    ¡°Oh, nice. You can never that part of yourself in the mirror.¡± When he started wondering how he could move in this ¡°spiritform¡± his position shifted slightly to the side, in the direction he tried to move.


    ¡°So, it just works by thought.¡± It was slightly awkward to concentrate moving around, but Paul quickly got the hang of it. After a minute of floating around in various directions, it became natural for him. There were no muscles involved and therefore the movements were not tiresome or anything.


    He positioned himself in front of his body.


    ¡°I am slightly satisfied with my looks though, I guess there is nothing I want to change too badly.¡± When he concentrated on a birthmark in his face and imagined it disappearing, it actually vanished.


    ¡°Nice. So, I will just do a few minor adjustments.¡± He imagined his skin smoother, his hair growing a bit more orderly and his haircolor a bit brighter. He was originally very dark blonde, so he just adjusted is to bit slightly fairer.


    ¡°Hmm, if I go around fighting, I might want some broader shoulders as well to make me more intimidating¡­¡± In the end he adjusted everything apart from his general facial appearance. When he imagined his clothes gone, they disappeared and he continued removing birthmarks, broadening his chest and enlarging his male parts to an impressive size.


    ¡°Hehe, perhaps I can use my thing in a fight, so no need to be considerate.¡± Paul was satisfied after about an hour of adjustments to his body.


    ¡°OK, so how do I leave now¡­¡± While thinking, his vision suddenly floated back into his body and he lost consciousness.


    When he awoke, he was in a forest near a clearing. The trees looked healthy and the grass and weeds on the clearing were thick and green. He could hear birds chirping and it was an overall idyllic place. There was just one problem.


    ¡°Why the hell am I naked?¡± Paul stood up and brushed the dirt from his buttcheeks.


    ¡°I should have thought about putting my clothes back on my body after doing the adjustments¡­¡± Paul hung his head down. Then he took a closer look around. He could not see very far into the forest and there was no sign of civilization around.


    ¡°I might as well check out the menu first. Open menu!¡± Paul exclaimed and waited. Nothing happened. He remembered when he floated around earlier and modified his body. He imagined a generic menu floating in front of him. Nothing happened.


    ¡°It has to work like this somehow. Open HUD! Inventory! Character Screen!¡± After trying several ¡°commands¡±, with no apparent effect, he went back to using thoughts. This time he imagined text showing up directly on his vision. He intensified his thoughts and exclaimed ¡°Menu¡± in his thoughts, without showing anything.


    Suddenly white letters and numbers showed up in his vision, on a transparent, dark blue background.


    There were several different menu points, and he was currently on the ¡°Character¡± tab. The others were ¡°Skills¡±, ¡°Spells¡±, ¡°Log¡±, ¡°Notes¡± and ¡°Interface¡±.


    The character screen showed a lot of information.


    Name: Paul


    Adult Human Male


    Level: 1


    Experience: 0 / 0%


    Strength: 10


    Endurance: 10


    Agility: 10


    Intelligence: 10


    Wisdom: 10


    Luck: 0


    Health: 50


    Mana: 50


    Stamina: 50


    The other screens on tabs were mostly empty, although he could add notes by thought control. He added and deleted a ¡°Test¡± note, then opened the interface tab.


    He could add and adjust several panels onto his vision. He added a minimap and turned on the markers for enemies of all levels. Nothing showed up. Then he included creatures of all levels. A few yellow dots showed up on the right side of the radar.


    He closed the menu again with his thoughts after also toggling the health, mana and stamina bars on the HUD and moving them to the far left of his vision.


    He turned his head to the right and the yellow dots moved to the upper part of the minimap.


    ¡°So it depends the direction I¡¯m looking at¡­¡± Paul was a bit disappointed. If it was fixed he could have used the map for navigation.


    ¡°Have to check out the menu again later¡± Perhaps he just missed the option, navigating the menu with his thoughts was still a bit awkward for him. ¡°For now, lets check out those critters.¡±


    He approached the dots on minimap. Estimating from the speed he was moving, it looked like the map showed about 100 meters of his surroundings. The creatures seemed to be on the far end of the clearing. When he was 20 meters in front of them, Paul stopped and took a closer look at the spot where he expected them to be. After a minute on of the dots moved and Paul spotted a cute brown bunny in the tall grass.


    ¡°Seems like those bunnies will be my first prey then¡± He slowly approached the bunny and when he was about 10 meters in front of them, he stepped on a sharp stone.


    ¡°Ow, damn!¡± Paul couldn¡¯t help but cry out. The bunnies ran away from him and only stopped after gaining a considerable distance.


    ¡°This will be harder than I thought¡­¡± Paul wondered checked the log and the stone actually dealt 1 point of damage to him.


    ¡°Great¡± he sighed and looked around if he could use something to cover his soles with. He did not. Not like someone conveniently left some shoes behind for him to use. Even if he found something like bark, he had neither tools nor the skill to manufacture anything usable.


    The only thing he did find was a sturdy stick about 1 meter in length. At least he didn¡¯t have to strangle the bunnies with his bare hands now.


    He picked up the stick, swung it around and examined it. It was not very heavy, but looked sturdy enough. Paul wondered if he could deal some damage with it. Suddenly a text showed up.


    [Long Stick


    Damage: 1


    Durability: 4/6


    Blunt weapon


    A dry, long stick. Looks like it breaks when used a few times.


    Cannot be repaired.]


    ¡°This has to be the worst starter gear ever, I wonder if I can even kill anything with this¡± Paul felt down, because his starting conditions were as bad as this.


    ¡°I was secretly hoping that I could accidentally kill a bunch of dragons with a secret spell during the first 5 minutes and level up 300 times while gaining treasures, but the respawn skill should have been a hint that I would most likely be killed again and again by some wild rabbits before I level up once.¡± Paul was sulking, but he picked himself up again quickly.


    ¡°No point in crying about a minor thing like this, time to earn experience points and loot¡± he took a few steps towards where the bunnies fled, stepped into a small hole hidden in the grass and fell flat. He hurt his foot and landed on another sharp rock with his chest.


    After wincing and cursing for a while he stood up again and brushed the dirt off his body.  He got some scratches from sharp grass on his thighs and overly large genitalia, and the rock he landed on even drew some blood on his chest.


    He checked the log and discovered that he lost 5 health from this stunt. He had lost 12% of his health by now, while walking less than 100 meters. Being killed by rabbits actually looked like an honourable death compared to being killed by just walking.


    Paul decided to not chase after the bunnies and just tried to get out of the forest. He grabbed the stick and used it as a cane to somewhat support the foot he had injured was hurting with every step he took. He was careful not to step on anything else. Luckily, once he was out of the grass, it was actually easy to avoid any further injuries and started walking while trying to maintain a steady direction.


    He wanted to check out the menu again, but he was sure that he would step in or on something as soon as he didn¡¯t take care where he was walking, so he would do so while taking a break later.


    After about an hour of careful walking, Paul arrived at a small creek. He put his hands into the water and splashed some of it onto the small wound on his chest that the sharp rock left during his mishap in the clearing earlier.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ cold¡­ and stings¡­¡± Paul was not very pleased with the current development. Judging from his experiences in games, he had expected to hunt rats and mice in a basement while wearing rags and wielding a rusty dagger. But stumbling through a forest, buck naked, wielding a splintering stick and possibly meeting ¡°death by walking clumsily¡± before even meeting his first enemy¡­ he was seriously considering shouting to the heavens for Helena¡¯s aid. Not that she would likely help.


    After cleaning himself and drinking, Paul sat down on the soft forest floor and opened the menu again.


    He opened the ¡°interface¡± tab and took a closer look.


    ¡°Seems like there actually are some options I overlooked earlier¡­¡± The interface screen was filled with checkboxes and information, so there were numerous options he saw only after scrolling down on the screen.


    He disabled the option to rotate the minimap, so that the top was pointing north all the time. In the center of the map a small arrow indicated the direction he was facing currently. Seemed like he was walking towards the east. He also zoomed out the map as far as possible, which seemed to only extend to 200 meters and toggled the option to show the terrain as well. After adjusting the transparency and size, he was finally satisfied with the result.


    ¡°It would have been great to have an actual map, but this way I will at least not walk in circles.¡±


    After getting ready to continue his journey, Paul noticed a small red dot further downstream. It only showed up after zooming out and seemed to be around 150 meters ahead. He carefully approached the enemy, while checking the minimap.


    After about 100 meters he spotted a small fox near the creek. It was feasting on the carcass of another small animal and seemingly had not noticed Paul yet.


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    As he had a little experience with controlling the menu and opening the item information, Paul concentrated on watching the fox while thinking ¡°Enemy Info¡±. A small window popped up in the top of his vision.


    [Fox


    Level 1]


    There was also a full, red health bar underneath the indicator.


    ¡°Seems like a better enemy that the bunnies, and if it is hostile, it should not run away either¡± Paul thought. He could not really give chase barefoot anyway, and he was not really afraid of dying either. He hoped to avoid injury and pain, but after half limping through the forest for quite some time now, the prospect of respawning with two healthy feet did not seem dreadful at all.


    He had actually recovered two of the lost six healthpoints after his rest earlier, but his foot was still not healed.


    Carefully approaching the fox he stayed behind trees to avoid its line of sight. The fox was currently facing away from him and he could see its position at the minimap, but Paul wanted to get as much as an advantage as possible.


    He readied his ¡°weapon¡± and was closing in on the small animal, trying to avoid making noise. When he was only 10 meters away from it, he took cover behind the last tree that was large enough to conceal his body. Paul took a glimpse at the fox, it was still eating the corpse of what seemed to be a bunny.


    When he took a step outside his cover, the fox suddently turned his head towards him. Both Paul and the fox froze.


    The animal had blood on its face and seemed to decide whether or not to fight or flee.


    Paul then took a step towards it and the fox seemed to have decided to fight for now. It ran towards Paul, closing the distance in no time. Paul, anticipating the attack, swung the stick towards the fox before it could lunge at him. The move was nowhere near perfect and only grazed it, but he could see a small portion of its life vanishing.


    The fox jumped first to the left and then at Paul, biting him in the calf.


    ¡°Oww¡­ damn bastard, die!¡± Paul was in agony and he saw his health plummeting by another 10%.


    He grabbed the stick with both hands and tried stabbing the fox, that was on the ground and still biting into his leg, seemingly trying to rip a good chunk out of it.


    He didn¡¯t land a good hit, but it was enough to bring to fox¡¯s health down to about two thirds.


    The fox seemed to just get angrier and tightened his grip on Paul¡¯s leg. Paul swung the stick against the fox like a golf club, hitting it full force in the ribs. The fox lost its grip on Paul, who was pretty pissed off by now.


    ¡°Stupid fox, go die already!¡± He swung the stick again and landed another good hit that flung the fox against a nearby tree.


    A [confused] message popped up underneath the fox¡¯s infobar on Paul¡¯s screen and it had lost about 80% of its health.


    Paul didn¡¯t hesitate and swung the stick over his head, landing another blow to the fox. It was enough do completely drain it health, and it collapsed on the spot. The small red dot on the minimap vanished.


    Looking at his leg, Paul found the wound the fox left to be bleeding, with small chunks of his skin protruding from his leg. If the fox had had more time, he surely would have taken a good bite out of him.


    ¡°I will sooo get rabies from this¡± Paul said, limping towards the creek. He cleaned his hands and the wound, then pressed both his hands against the wound to put pressure on it. He was not really skilled in first aid, but he was sure that the pressure should be enough to stop the bleeding after some time. If he really died, he would surely be able to recover from any wounds and illnesses, so right now he was more curious about the mechanics in this world. Although the pain was somewhat clouding his thoughts.


    He opened the menu and checked his character stats


    Experience: 5, 5%


    He took a look at the combat log.


    You dealt 2 damage to fox.


    Fox bit you for 5 damage.


    You dealt 2 damage to fox.


    Fox dealt 3 damage to you.


    You are now [bleeding].


    You dealt 4 damage to fox.


    Fox dealt 3 damage to you.


    You are bleeding for 1 damage.


    You dealt 4 damage to fox.


    Fox took 1 damage from environment.


    Fox is [confused].


    You are bleeding for 1 damage.


    You dealt 6 damage to fox. *crit*


    Fox died.


    You gain 5 experience.


    You are bleeding for 1 damage.


    You are no longer [bleeding].


    Skimming through the log, it looked like bleeding had stopped. He lessened his grip on his leg and observed the rather gruesome looking wound. A bit of blood was still trickling down, but it looked to be ok for now.


    Paul was rather pleased with his combat capabilities, but after the fight he was left with only about 60% of his health. Looking at the dead fox, it was only about the size of a large cat. Considering the damage he took earlier, the fox had taken more than 30% of his health. Paul was sure that he would succumb rather sooner than later to some critter.


    He then stood up and picked up the dead fox by its tail. Some blood was trickling out of its mouth, but otherwise the carcass looked fine.


    ¡°Store¡± Paul imagined the dead fox vanishing into some sort of imaginary inventory. Nothing happened. After about a minute trying to somehow put the dead fox away into his inventory, Paul gave up. The menu didn¡¯t show an inventory tab, so he had already expected as much.


    It was still inconvenient. Not wanting to give up his spoils, he carried the fox in his left hand while holding the stick, which had lost 2 of its remaining 4 durability, in his right hand. Paul wandered downstream, ignoring the pain his feet and legs caused him.


    After about half an hour of walking, the forest cleared up and he was overlooking a hilly grassland with the stream winding through it.


    ¡°Great, I hope I wont step on too many things that are hiding in the grass.¡± Paul took another quick break, cleaning his wounds and drinking from the clear stream.


    Observing the minimap, he saw a few yellow dots and a single red dot not too far from him.


    He had recovered some of his health, but it was still at 40/50.


    The enemy this time was a small snake at level 1, sunbathing near the stream. Paul approached it carefully and landed a blow on its neck, immediately sending the snake into a [confused] state. Another carefully aimed blow later, the snake had already lost most of its health. The next blow broke his stick, and Paul killed the [unconscious] snake by kicking its head.


    Paul earned another 5 XP, and only lost 1 health point this time due to the kick with his injured foot.


    He picked up a fist sized rock from the stream and the snake carcass. He then went on the find more animals. He took care where he stepped and hunted some bunnies. The bunnies did not fight back, but ran away as soon as they noticed him. An hour of hunting and three dead bunnies later, Paul decided to go further downstream.


    Carrying around a bunch of dead animals was definitely not a nice experience. And the wounds on his body hurt. The bunnies only yielded 3 XP each, so he was still at 22%.


    He killed two more snakes along the way and finally arrived at a small river in which the creek ended. What excited him, was the fact that there was a small path next to the river, and some small boulders had been dumped into the creek as a makeshift bridge, so it was definitely used as by humans, or at least somewhat civilized demi-humans.


    He did not know how large the world was, but assuming it was ¡°earth-like¡± and not densely populated, he wondered if there was anyone near him. The sight of the path, which indicated a nearby settlement, excited him.


    ¡°Finally a chance to get shoes¡± Paul hoped that he would meet someone, preferably an adult and a male, who could provide him with some sort of pants before he was confronted by a large group of people.


    Paul decided to follow the path downstream, carrying the bundle of dead animals in front of him. After walking for about an hour he rested near the river.


    Skimming through the combat log, he wondered how he should proceed. He had no currency, no clothes and no information regarding the people living here. He did not even know if they spoke the same language as him. If this had been a ¡°normal¡± situation, Paul would have despaired. But after meeting the goddess Helena, and waking up in this world with the weird menu and combat log, he was sure that the respawn system was really in place for him. There was no reason to not believe Helena. In fact, he was even a bit curious about dying, and considered doing so on purpose several times. But he had no good means for committing suicide apart from drowning himself in the river or being bitten by a snake, and both options were not really tempting.


    ¡°Oyy, who are you, boy?¡±


    Paul turned around. There was a man around 30 standing in front of him. He was wearing brown clothes made of leather and cloth, and carrying bow and quiver with a handful of arrows over his shoulders.


    On his belt were a large knife and a medium-sized sack that did not look particularly heavy. Paul assumed he was some kind of hunter.


    ¡°Hello good man. My name is Paul. I was robbed by a group of highwaymen who kidnapped me afterwards. I was able to flee, but have been wandering through the forest for several days now. Please, I am in dire need of help.¡± Paul tried to sound desperate and helpless, which was not too hard because those feelings were true for the most part.


    ¡°Hmm, bloody bandits. Has been a while that there were any of those fellas near the village. You look better than I would expect from someone lost in the forest for a few days though. You must be somewhat capable. Where are you from?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I am not sure. Before the bandits showed up, I awoke in near the road. I was carrying a small purse and some simple clothes, but I honestly cannot remember how I got there. I barely remembered my name, but all other memories are very hazy at best. Would you be able to help me out? I am willing to compensate you by working for you or the village you come from.¡± Paul already came up with this story while wandering around earlier. He had no idea of the surrounding settlements, let alone territories. Everything he could have said would arouse as much suspicion as just claiming to not remember anything. And in a world with magic and gods, it seems like as good as an excuse as anything else, and limiting the amount of lies he had to tell to a bare minimum seemed less bothersome.


    The hunter looked a bit troubled, but not angry or aggressive. ¡°Seems like you had it rough. I come from a small village nearby, we are barely scraping by with the hunting, foraging and small amount of farming we can do. We could need any help we can get to be honest. You look capable enough.¡± He had obviously noticed the pile of dead animals next to Paul. ¡°In exchange for handing over the small game you hunted, I will bring you towards the village. We should be able to help you somewhat.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, your words have given me some hope again. May I ask your name?¡±


    ¡°My name is Marcus. Let me just tell you that there is not much to be gained in the village. It is mostly a gathering of simple shacks. We are proud of what he have built up for ourselves, but robbers won¡¯t be able to find anything of value.¡±


    ¡°I swear I am not a robber of any kind. I am just glad to be around some decent people. I managed to hunt some small animals by chance, but I honestly had no idea what to do with them. I do not even have a tool of any sort with me. I gladly will part with them in exchange for your support.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, ok. Just follow me then. I was on my way to the forest to hunt a bit, but it seems there is no immediate need now.¡±


    Paul stood up to gather the carcasses and Marcus must have noticed the huge member swinging freely between Paul¡¯s legs. He looked slightly shocked and a bit embarrassed, then looked away and fumbled around his belt and took out a large piece of cloth and a string from the bag.


    ¡°Here, take this cloth and string to cover yourself up a bit. I¡¯m sure that you don¡¯t want to scare the children and maidens in the village.¡± That he specifically mentioned the ¡°maidens¡± made Paul wonder if Marcus¡¯ concern was solely out of common decency, but he was glad anyway. The cloth was large enough to cover his chest down to his knees, so he didn¡¯t look like a complete savage.


    ¡°¡­although it looks like I¡¯m wearing a dress¡­¡± Paul muttered to himself. He planned to get some decent clothes as soon as possible.


    Paul and Marcus gathered the dead animals and  then headed off towards the village.

 Chapter 3: The first Hunt

    They talked a bit while walking, and Paul learned that the village was really small. There was just about a dozen simple houses and a few fields. The village belonged to the land of a minor noble who didn¡¯t even bother to collect taxes from them. There was no commerce apart from trades among the surrounding villages. The most notable person was in fact Marcus, who acted as the hunter, elder and doctor. Although his medicinal expertise was limited to applying bandages and knowing where to find some common herbs with healing properties.


    Paul used the opportunity to look at Marcus¡¯ info.


    [Marcus the Hunter


    Human


    Level 13]


    So Marcus was level 13. Paul didn¡¯t have any reference, so he had no idea if level 13 is really strong or average, but Marcus must have hunted quite a lot to reach such a level.


    When they arrived at the settlement, Paul was not impressed by its scope. As Marcus has said before, it was a very poor village.


    There was no defensive perimeter, all of the houses looked like they would crumble sooner than later and could barely keep the rain out. The handful of people that could be seen had very simple and mostly dirty clothes. The most impressive aspect of the village were the fields were corn and vegetables were grown, but they were small in scope, although they looked healthy.


    A small farm on Earth would exceed the whole village by many times.


    ¡°You have a nice settlement here¡± Paul complimented Marcus ¡°Just seeing this gives me hope again. Please let me stay here for a while. I will make sure to repay you to my best ability¡±


    Paul had already decided. He may have been lazy during his last life, but here in this world hard work would result in hard experience and stats. He would do his best to earn experience, learn skills and raise stats. Helena had already told him that stats could be gained by manual labour, so he resolved to go as far as necessary to become strong.


    The fight with the fox and his miserable performance while travelling through the forest had already shown him that he was not yet prepared to fend for himself. He was sure that a single wolf would be able to kill him over and over if he wasn¡¯t careful.


    ¡°My house is the one over there, let¡¯s bring the animals inside and let me take a look and that injury on your leg first.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±


    Marcus boiled some water and cloth in a pot, then washed the wound, applied some herbs and bandaged in. He also looked at the scratch on Paul¡¯s chest and foot, but decided they were healing fine after just some cleaning.


    Marcus also gave Paul a small loaf of dark bread, which he devoured quickly. Paul had said that he was out in the woods for several days, so Marcus must have thought that he was starving, but Paul was already quite hungry.


    He provided Paul with a pair of pants and a shirt, both made of course linen. Paul noticed the lack of foot protection, but decided to keep it for himself for now. Any clothing is better than being naked.


    ¡°Seeing as you already managed fine hunting some small game and surviving out in the forest by yourself, I must say I am slightly impressed. The snakes are not really suitable for food, but the skins are sought after, and those rabbits are surely quick and hard to catch in the grasslands.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your praise, my skills are certainly lacking.¡±


    ¡°See, what our village is certainly lacking at the moment are tools. We need a plow and various tools for carpentry.


    Unfortunately, we cannot provide for any of those ourselves. They are not very expensive, but with the limited capabilities of our settlement we have nearly no way to produce anything worth trading.


    The only way for us to get items worth at least a few coppers, is hunting and tanning. Therefore, I want you to support me with hunting. The villagers here are good people, but they are not really suited for this work. I have tried to train some other people to become hunters, but the majority of the people here are more suitable for farming. After one of the young men was killed by a bear last fall, no one has come forward to learn hunting from me and people stay near the village all the time.¡±


    ¡°I look forward learning from you. I am willing to help in the fields when there is a need, but I myself think I would be more suitable supporting you hunting, if I may say so myself¡± Paul said.


    ¡°No need to speak so politely. I plan to have you support our settlement from now on, so think of this place as your home. I will introduce you to everyone in the evening, so let me show you how to work with the carcasses you brought for now. Help me carry them outside¡±


    Marcus grabbed two knives, a bucket and the fox corpse, while Paul grabbed the remaining carcasses. Then they sat down behind Marcus¡¯ house.


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s start with those snakes. The snake skins can be used as water bladders in emergency situations, but they are mostly used for clothing. The leather is quite tricky to tan and process, so they fetch quite a few copper, but all in all it is a common type of snake. They are quite poisonous and hard to spot in tall grass, so it is a good achievement that you were able to hunt 3 of them in such a short time.¡±


    He cut off the head of one snake and threw it in the bucked, and then quickly peeled the skin off the snake.


    He handed Paul a knife and one of the remaining snakes. Paul then copied the cut Marcus made earlier and also peeled the leather off the snake. It looked easy when Marcus did it, but it was a bit tricky. He managed to skin the snake after a few minutes.


    Marcus then skinned the fox and a bunny, while Paul watched. He left Paul to skin one of the bunnies, while he skilfully skinned all the remaining carcasses. He then gutted the skinned animals and gave them to one of the women in the village to cook them for later. He only kept the snakes.


    They took the skins and the snakes and went to the river.


    ¡°I will show you how to process those skins now, first, we need to clean them properly.¡± He gave a bunny-skin to Paul and took the fox-skin himself. They sat down next to the river and scraped off the remaining fat from the skins while properly cleaning them. Marcus then made a small fire and started roasting the snakes, while Paul continued to wash the skins. They hung the wet skins over a tanning rack nearby and sat down to eat the grilled snake.


    ¡°There is not much meat on those snakes, and a lot of bones. But meat is meat, although it is not very popular to eat snakes.¡±


    When they were finished, it was already early afternoon.


    They left the skins to dry and Marcus told Paul, that he had to check on several traps he laid out in the nearby forest. They walked about half an hour down the road and then into the forest. Marcus had laid out some snare traps made from string, but most of them were empty. One of them actually caught a bunny.


    ¡°Go ahead and kill it, I will then show you how to lay out a trap. I suggest just snapping its neck¡± Marcus said.


    Paul grabbed the panicking bunny and held it in his hands. He grabbed the bunny by its head and twisted it, until it snapped. The whole process was rather cruel, because the bunny was quite cute, but Paul was determined to progress and he had already killed several of the critters earlier by himself. He checked the menu and noticed that the captured bunny yielded the same 3 XP as the ones he hunted earlier. This time it was much easier though.


    Marcus showed Paul how to tie and prepare a snare trap, before they checked the remaining traps.


    After they checked all of the traps (all of them were empty), Paul noticed a red dot on the edge of the minimap. He looked in the direction of the dot, but could not spot anything.


    ¡°Wait, I think I heard something from over there.¡± Paul alerted Marcus.


    ¡°Hmm? I didn¡¯t hear anything¡± Marcus was not convinced.


    ¡°I am sure that some animal is nearby. Please, let us check it out¡±


    ¡°OK, I let you have your way. Let us not waste too much time though, I am starting to get hungry¡± Marcus looked a bit annoyed,


    but for now he was coming along. He had his bow and arrows with him, and both of them were armed with a knife. So Paul was confident that they should be able to hunt a fox at least, without suffering too much injury.


    They approached the red dot carefully, while Marcus was following behind Paul. None of them spoke a word and listened carefully to their surroundings. Then the red dot moved and there was a rustling noise. Marcus heard it as well and had a determined look on his face. He prepared his bow and an arrow and they proceeded to sneak towards the noise.


    The rustling sound came from behind some large shrubbery. Marcus signalled Paul to flank the bush and lure the animal out. When Paul started sneaking towards the bush, Marcus aimed the bow towards the bush.


    Paul got ready, he still could not see or hear whatever what behind the bush. Only rustling and digging noises. Whatever it was, it was not a fox, but something larger.


    He held his knife in front of him and circled around the bush towards whatever animal there was.


    A wolf! It had a level of 8 and was half buried in a hole it was vigorously digging. It must have followed some small animal and was trying to dig it out of whatever hole it crawled. The wolf had not yet noticed him, and Paul wondered whether he should run or fight. He decided against running. Marcus was far enough to be not the immediate target and could probably handle himself. And if he himself got killed and had to respawn, he did not care too much.


    He glanced down at the knife he had in his hand:


    [Short knife


    Damage: 4-5


    Durability: 18/20


    Dagger


    Mostly used as a tool, but with a sturdy blade, pointed end and reasonably sharp.]


    It was definitely better than the stick he used before. Paul decided to act before he lost the advantage of the surprise attack. He took a few steps towards the wolf and jammed the blade into the wolves back using both hands. He hit it next to the spine.


    You stabbed the wolf for 18 damage. *sneak attack*


    He pulled the knife out immediately. The wolf howled loud and jumped back to get out of the hole. Paul kicked the wolf as hard as he could to throw it off-balance. He wanted to land another stab and retreat towards Marcus, so he could fire an arrow at the wolf.


    You hit the wolf for 1 damage.


    The attack was not very effective¡­ Paul decided to retreat early, because the wolf was already ready to attack him, and he felt like he would definitely die if he lunged towards him to attack with his knife.


    Paul took a few stabs back while focussing on the animal. Marcus should already see him, and after a few more steps have a good view of the wolf, which was slowly following Paul.


    At that moment the wolf jumped up towards Paul. He was prepared to attack it as soon as it made a move, but at the moment it actually jumped at him, he felt too intimidated to actually do anything but hold his arms up to stop the wolf from biting down into his throat as best as he could.


    He had lost a few hp just from being pushed to the ground.


    Paul stumbled backwards and fell onto the ground, the wolf pinning him down. As soon as the hit the ground, the wolf winced and Paul managed to shove him back a bit and crawl out under it.


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    When he robbed backwards over the ground to gain some distance, he saw an arrow stuck in the side of the wolf. Immediately afterwards a second arrow hit the wolf, close to where the first one hit.


    Paul looked over to Marcus, who was already drawing out the third arrow from his quiver. The wolf was momentarily startled and looked for the yet to be seen attacker.


    When it turned around towards Marcus, he fired the arrow, which hit the wolf in the shoulder. It winced again, but was obviously getting ready to attack him.


    Paul hesitated, wondering if he should just let Marcus handle it. He was more experienced and better prepared than Paul, but then decided against it. The wolf had barely one third of its life left, and Paul had already decided to learn some skills in Marcus¡¯ village. If Marcus got injured during the hunt, not only would the villagers resent Paul, he would also lose the most capable teacher.


    He crawled forward and stabbed the wolf¡¯s neck.


    You stabbed the wolf for 10 damage. *crit*


    Wolf is [enraged].


    The wolf twisted its head around and bit Paul into his right arm, the knife got stuck inside the wolf and Paul screamed out in pain.


    Wolf bit you for 12 damage.


    You are [bleeding].


    You are bleeding for 1 damage.


    At that moment another arrow hit the wolf from the side.


    The wolf lost most of its strength of the bite and let go of his arm. It was still alive and ready to kill Paul, trying to tear out his throat.


    Paul blocked the wolf with his injured right arm and grabbed the knife that was still stuck in its neck his left hand, twisting it around.


    You stabbed the wolf for 5 damage.


    Wolf bit you for 10 damage.


    You are bleeding for 2 damage.


    Paul had barely 10 health points left and his right arm felt like it would come off any second now.


    The wolf only had a tiny bit of health left itself. Then another arrow hit the wolf in the neck.


    At that moment the wolf lost all of its strength, as its health plummeted completely to zero.


    Wolf has died.


    You gained 50 XP.


    You gained one point of endurance for taking a large amount of damage while fighting a strong enemy.


    You are bleeding for 1 damage.


    When the wolf collapsed, Marcus came running towards Paul.


    ¡°Hold still for a second¡± Marcus took out a large piece of cloth from his belt and wrapped it tightly around Paul¡¯s arm. The [bleeding] stopped.


    ¡°Honestly, you are really an idiot. A brave idiot, but still.¡± Marcus showed mixed emotions. ¡°Can you walk? We should leave the forest as soon as we can. Wolfs hunt in packs, who knows when the friends of that beast come around.¡±


    ¡°Yea, don¡¯t worry¡± Paul got up. He looked at his right arm. The bandage was already soaked in blood, but he was no longer loosing health points. Now that the adrenaline was slowly leaving his system, he felt pain in his back and neck from being pushed down by the wolf, but walking should be somewhat ok for him.


    ¡°I will take care of the wolf carcass, can¡¯t just leave it here after that fight, can we? Here, take a hold of my bow and quiver.¡±


    Paul noticed that the quiver was empty. Had he not dealt some attacks to the wolf himself, or if Marcus had missed just one shot, this would have ended badly. Possibly for both of them.


    Marcus flung the large canine over his shoulders and they hurried out of the forest. Barely ten minutes later had they reached the edge of the forest and another twenty minutes later they were at the bank of the river.


    Marcus put down the dead wolf and turned towards Paul.


    ¡°Really boy, that was a bit too close for my liking. We nearly died there¡± He scolded Paul, but couldn¡¯t hide a faint smile.


    ¡°You had an impressive aim with your bow, and fast too¡­. Thank you, Marcus. I bit off a little more than I could chew.¡±


    ¡°You can say that loud. Anyway, let me take a look at that injury again. I just stopped the bleeding, but it needs a little more


    care than that much to heal properly, you know? Don¡¯t want to lose a promising hunter over a poorly treated wound¡± Marcus was obviously less angry that he wanted to admit.


    ¡°Alright, I will let you look at it.¡±


    Paul held up his arm and Marcus removed the cloth. It looked so gruesome that Paul nearly puked and had to look away. Marcus looked slightly worried as well.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ don¡¯t worry, it will heal just fine. Probably.¡±


    Paul couldn¡¯t image this healing just fine, even with proper care in a real hospital. Marcus grabbed a few herbs from his pouch, put them on the wound and wrapped a clean cloth around it. He then carefully pulled the arrows out of the wolf and put them into the quiver.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back home as quickly as we can.¡± Marcus said, picking up the wolf.


    They walked back to the settlement, while Marcus told Paul how he was a soldier for the local lord when he was younger. He got sent to several monster extermination parties and even a feud between several higher ranking nobles, one of which got support from the local noble. He had obviously plenty of combat experience.


    Paul thought about it. If someone who has trained over many years, someone who fought a lot of monsters and wild animals only reached a level of 13, then levelling up seems to be really hard.


    On the other hand, as far as he could tell, the concept of levels is not known to the people. So naturally, one would rather try to avoid combat and live a peaceful instead of killing a lot of creatures just to gain xp. The fight against the wolf had shown him that he still had to learn a lot before he could even think about roaming around alone.


    When they arrived at the village, people greeted them. It was already evening and the farmers and their families had gathered in the central square, sitting on some benches around an open air fire place.


    The successful wolf hunt was obviously something unusual and people were curious about sudden appearance of Paul.


    Some women brought out food and everyone prepared to eat. Before the small feast started, Marcus spoke up and introduced Paul.


    ¡°Listen everyone. During my hunt earlier today I picked up this young guy. He has travelled into these lands and was robbed by bandits before getting lost in the forest. Instead of despairing, he went around and hunted a several days worth of game with his bare hands. He was so kind to offer to join us for the time being and I have high hopes for him. Please welcome our newest resident, Paul.¡±


    He obviously left out my invented amnesia, but I did not think about it too much. Marcus then told the story about how we hunted the wolf (slightly embellished) while I was enjoying the food. Knowing that the meat was caught by me earlier felt quite special and filled me secretly with pride.


    The other villagers were quite simple people. Their levels ranged from 4 to 9 for the adults and they were overall quite young.


    The oldest couple was in their forties. The children had levels from 1 to 2 and one young boy around 13 had a level of 3.


    Apart from the farmers there was one man around Marcus age who was a woodcutter and carpenter. He was responsible for firewood and repairs to the buildings, and the construction of furniture. Judging from the state of the houses, he obviously wasn¡¯t a prodigy of carpentry.


    After the gathering was ended, Marcus and Paul went to the river. Marcus brought some boiled rags and hot water, and then properly treated Paul¡¯s wound. When that was done, Marcus showed Paul how to treat the skins. They were dried properly by now, and he pulled out some ground bark in a basket. He rubbed the material into the skins and let Paul practise on one of the bunny skins. His right arm was mostly unusable, so it took him as long to prepare one skin as Marcus needed for all the remaining ones. Marcus then hung the skins over the tanning rack and they went inside his house.


    Paul spoke up to Marcus ¡°Hey, I noticed that you did not mention that I lost my memories earlier. Is there something I need to be concerned about?¡±


    Marcus showed some uneasiness in his face ¡°You know, in my times at the castle, I heard all sorts of gossip and stories. In general, if your mind is affected by some magic, it is rarely a good sign. Sometimes it is a curse, sometimes a mage used some forbidden magic and there were even stories about gods meddling with mortals in similar way. Some decades ago, a lord mindcontrolled a bunch of mercenaries into committing various atrocities in an area not too far from here. Several of those goons were memory-wiped afterwards. It was a really bad episode in the local history.


    You are obviously too young to have anything to do with it, and most villagers here have not experienced that time themselves, but it left a bad aftertaste. I am sure the villagers here won¡¯t ask too many questions about your past anyway. These kind of new and small villages tend to draw people who want to leave behind something, so if you don¡¯t want to talk about your past, people won¡¯t ask.¡±


    ¡°Good to know, then I will not worry. Thank you for accepting me here in your village.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it is not MY village anyway. And I guess you already noticed, but these folks here are really happy if they get a helping hand, especially from someone courageous and able like yourself.


    Paul spent some time asking Marcus about the region, and Marcus was happy to answer all his questions. The local lord lived in a small town called Prozor, about a day walking distance away from the settlement. Marcus was well known among the villages in the surroundings, because he often traded furs and sometimes joined some other hunters to bring down an especially troublesome beast, like a bear or a bunch of wolves. The settlement was just known as ¡°Marcus¡¯ Place¡±, because it was so small and relatively new that no one bothered to give it a proper name.


    There were some goblin tribes on the far end of the forest on the other side of the river, but they never came here. They caused some trouble for some villages in their area, but as the terrain was not easily passable, the distance would be at least three days walking and with the river as a natural barrier, most of the villagers had not even seen a goblin in their lives.


    The lord had some ¡°beastkin¡± servants, and Paul wondered if these were the rumoured catgirls, but he did not ask yet. Instead he asked about magic beasts around the area.


    ¡°Here in the surround forests we have mostly regular beasts. Wolves, foxes and sometimes a bear or two. There is a small mountain not too far from here to the south. There are some abandoned mines around the area, and gods know what lives in there. Might even be trolls. There are also some huge snakes in the forests near the mountain, rumour has it that they were somewhat interbred with a dragon a long time ago, but I never saw them myself and don¡¯t really believe it. Perhaps somehow magical, but I don¡¯t think a dragon would breed with a common snake.¡±


    Before going to sleep, Paul fiddled around with the menu. It was convenient that he could control it via thoughts and could do so without being noticed.


    He already had 84 XP, with only 16 XP missing for his first level up. He planned to level up tomorrow, and thought about what kind of class he should focus on.

 Chapter 4: Level Two

    Chapter 4:


    After the exciting day Paul slept like a log and the next morning Marcus woke him up early. They had a breakfast consisting of dark bread, dried meat and herbal tea.


    Marcus then skinned, gutted and butchered the wolf, before distributing the most of the meat amongst the settlers.


    They went to the river and inspected the skins they left out yesterday. Paul scraped and brushed off the tanning material while Marcus cleaned the wolf skin.


    Marcus then taught Paul about the final step of the tanning process. ¡°In order to get good quality furs and leather, one needs to beat and stretch the skins into shape in the end.¡± They went back to Marcus place, where Marcus placed one of the bunny skins on a sturdy workbench and beat down uneven parts while stretching the skin until he was satisfied with the result.


    Paul tried to imitate him, but his right arm was nearly unusable. Marcus noticed his agony and took over. He told Paul about various hunting techniques while finishing the tanning process.


    Paul learned some basics on how to approach prey without being noticed, how to track certain prey, where best to set traps and which bait works on certain monsters. He diligently wrote everything down with the help of his menu function for future reference. It was really convenient to write using your thoughts.


    Around lunchtime, Marcus was finished processing the animal skins and a pile of furs and leathers was laying on top the workbench.


    ¡°Paul sit over there and lift your feet.¡± Marcus used a straight stick to measure his feet. He then used one of the larger bunny leathers to skilfully cut out two soles, and cut the remaining fur scraps into straps to hold them in place. After making sure the measurements were right, he used some thick leather he already had to make thick and sturdy soles and sew everything together into a pair of neat looking sandals. He obviously had some experience working with the material, and everything looked pretty durable, although they were made in less than an hour.


    ¡°Wah, I thought I would walk around barefoot for a long time after all¡± Paul exclaimed, he felt like he could cry from joy. It was only for a day, but walking around barefooted was really annoying, let alone painful. He had seen most of the farmers walk around without any shoes, so he assumed that using them was not very common and he had to get used to walking around barefoot.


    ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Paul took a few steps in his new sandals. They were very comfortable, although they were just sandals. He inspected them.


    [Sturdy Fur Sandals


    Defense: 3


    Durable: 25/25


    Leather Armor (Feet)


    Skillfully made, open shoes. Common materials were used during production. They protect the feet and do not hinder movement in any way.]


    For lunch, Marcus made a stew using the meat he had kept from the wolf and after treating the injury on Pauls arm, they headed out checking the traps.


    The injury looked like it would take some time to heal and seriously hindered Paul¡¯s progress. He could not really use his dominant arm for any strenuous tasks. On top of that, his health stayed at 45/55 ever since he got up in the morning. His other minor injuries had completely healed by now and did not bother him anymore, although the bite from the fox was still wrapped under a bandage and looked like it would leave a small scar.


    Still, he was determined to raise his level today. They discovered one bunny and one fox in the traps and Marcus gave Paul hints on how to quickly end them. The lecture and leatherworking earlier had provided Paul with 4 xp, and the two small animals gave another 8 xp combined. Only 6 xp now until his first level gain.


    While heading back through the grass covered hills between the forest and the river, he found a red dot on his minimap. When he told Marcus to take a small detour to check it out, Marcus obliged without asking questions. Finding the wolf must have convinced him to just rely on Paul¡¯s instinct.


    They discovered a snake in the grass. Marcus had told Paul earlier that hunting snakes can be done safely by carrying a long branch with a ¡°Y¡± shaped end, and then pinning the snake down by the neck before cutting its head. He had also told Paul to bury the snakes head in the ground, so people walking barefoot wont step on it and poison themselves. Paul swore to himself to always do that, to protect the poor, barefooted travellers.


    They did not bring that kind of stick though, and could not find one after searching the vicinity. Marcus then shot an arrow into the snake from above, providing the same effect of hindering the snake¡¯s movement. Paul then killed the snake by dropping a small rock on its skull. As it was a combined effort, Paul only got 3 xp.


    After hunting another snake along the way, this time with the method Marcus had recommended, Paul finally got the [Level Up] notification. He checked and had received 5 Statpoints and 2 Skillpoints, but decided to allocate the points after returning to the settlement.


    Paul again helped skinning the animals and opened the menu while cleaning the bunny fur.


    After getting more used to controlling the menu with his thoughts, he had found out that he could get additional information to most of his stats.


    Basically, the stats all had a general effect on his body.  Unlike in video games, he still had to utilize that effect to get results. Agility for example gave him the ability to move with more precision and increases his reaction speed, therefore increases his chance to dodge. If he did not actively move out of the way, he would still be hit though. The same applied for all the other stats, apart from luck. Luck could influence external things, for example a flying arrow might only graze him instead of hitting him directly. Unfortunately, luck could not be raised with stat-points.


    He then checked the skills tab. A message popped up:


    [Congratulations for acquiring your first skill points. A basic understanding of skills has to be acquired in the world before you can learn it.


    After learning a skill, you can raise the skill-level either by applying the skill and widen your understanding by training and studying, or spend more skill-points. On higher skill-levels the effects of training and spending points decrease.]


    When he was level 1, the tab was empty, but after levelling up, a number of skills had shown up, all of them were greyed out.


    [Leatherworking]


    Crafting Skill: Ability to obtain and process hides and skins of creatures, also supplements production of items made from leather, fur and chitin. Results are influenced by agility.


    [Resilience]


    Passive: Determines durability of the body and natural defence. Lowers perceived pain. Higher skill-levels provide additional HP.


    [Blunt weapons]


    Weapon skill: Ability to handle blunt weapons, like maces, clubs and stones.


    [Daggers]


    Weapon skill: Ability to handle daggers and knifes.


    [Sense Surroundings]


    Passive: Ability to perceive creatures and terrain around you. Widens range of minimap. Higher skill-levels will add additional information.


    [Healer]


    Active: Ability to treat injuries and abnormal status-effects. Includes bandaging, wound-treatment and nursery of patients. Higher skill-levels provide additional information on negative status effects and possible treatments.


    Paul thought about those options. While all of them seemed to be useful, for now he wanted skills that he could continuously train. While the skill to widen his minimap radius looked intriguing, he had no idea how he could improve it through training. He would probably pick it up later.


    The weapon skills did not seem to be very useful for now. He was never a fan of blunt weapons, and had the disadvantage of requiring the attacker to be very close to the enemy. Training it would be a pain.


    The only skill that interested him was the crafting skill. He spent most of the time in the village helping Marcus with tanning, so he expected it to be easily trained for now. After running around naked in the woods, the prospect of being able to make his own clothing was rather tempting as well.


    Paul decided to spend one skill point for [Leatherworking]. He may have used the other one for the Healer skill, but decided against it. He had already formed a plan last night, and it was better to acquire a combat related skill to help him on his way to level two.


    He then spent 4 of his stat points on agility and the remaining one on endurance.


    Name: Paul


    Adult Human Male


    Level: 2


    Experience: 2 / 1%


    Strength: 10


    Endurance: 12


    Agility: 14


    Intelligence: 10


    Wisdom: 10


    Luck: 0


    Health: 50/60


    Mana: 50


    Stamina: 60


    After spending half an hour cleaning the skins, his [Leatherworking] skill rose to beginner level 1, 3%.


    Paul was slightly disappointed, but he felt a slight change in the easy of handling the skin. By raising his agility, the movements of his hands became more precise and he could somehow fell a connection to the hide, ¡°sensing¡± when a spot was clean enough and where to focus more of his attention.


    It was still early in the afternoon, and Paul wanted to prepare some things. He asked Marcus to introduce him to the carpenter.


    ¡°You are already a member of our community, no need to be so formal. You can just talk to Ray.¡± Marcus told him, but came along anyway. Raymond was around Marcus¡¯ age, probably in his early thirties. He was rather tall and muscular, even compared to the overall fit farmers. After Marcus briefly introduced them to each other, he went off to his home.


    ¡°I would like to make a spear, could you help me with it?¡± Paul quickly came to the point.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Ray seemed to agree ¡°I thought you wanted to ask for help in building your own house, but there is no way I could do that right away. Marcus also seems to be fine keeping you around at his place.


    Making a wooden spear does not take that much time, so I am fine with that much. Unfortunately, we have no one capable of working with metals here, so I can tell you right away that the result will be a bit disappointing.¡±


    Paul did not care about it too much, the spear he was going to make was only meant as a temporary weapon anyway.


    Ray grabbed a saw, small axe and a knife, attached them to his belt and they went off to the nearby woods together.


    ¡°Would you be ok with me doing most of the work myself and giving me guidance? I know that my skill will be lacking, but I want to acquire as much knowledge as possible to help out with various tasks in the village.¡± Paul asked Raymond.


    ¡°Heh, I like that attitude. I still have a lot of work to do in the village, so I will take over if you take too long, but for let¡¯s see how much you can handle yourself.¡±


    Ray then told Marcus that they would search for a young tree. A large branch could work as well, but for best results fresh and straight wood is needed.


    After 15 minutes they had found a tree that was suitable according to Ray. He handed Paul the saw and told him where and how to cut it.


    The trunk was rather thin and the saw was the right tool for the job, so after a short time the tree fell to the ground. Ray then told Paul to saw the larger branches off, while Ray was cutting away smaller branches on the other end.


    They brought the slender trunk back to the settlement and Ray instructed Paul how to use several different tools to cut away from the trunk until it formed into a suitable staff of around 2 meters length. He then skilfully smoothened the surface himself while Paul watched. He then handed Paul a sturdy knife and told him to carve the pointy end while he produced some boards.


    When Paul was satisfied with his result, Ray inspected the spear. It already looked fine, but Ray told Paul that the end needs to be hardened with heat to make it more durable. He started a small fire a short walk away from the village and instructed Paul until the spear was finished.


    Paul inspected the result:


    [Wooden Spear


    Damage: 5


    Durability: 12


    Spear-type Weapon


    A wooden spear. It is slightly bent and the surface is not perfectly smooth, but is made from suitable wood and will not break easily.]


    It was good enough for Paul. When he inspected his skills, he had unlocked the [Carpentry] skill as he had hoped, although he did not want to spend any points on it for now.


    He thanked Ray and went back to Marcus.


    ¡°So you want to use a spear, huh? I am not against it of course, but I won¡¯t be able to give you any training on it. I have never picked one up myself.¡± Marcus did not seem impressed by Paul¡¯s weapon choice.


    ¡°After the close encounter with the wolf, I decided to switch to a weapon that I could use from a greater distance¡± Paul justified his choice. He would have preferred a sword himself, but there was no way to get one in this village. The spear also had the advantage that he could produce one himself if he had to.


    ¡°Marcus, I know that I have only spent a bit more than a day here in this village and under your guidance, but I have decided that I want to go hunting alone tonight. I promise to return as soon as possible.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Marcus looked shocked


    ¡°As I said, I want to go out hunting. And I need to do so alone. Please understand¡±


    ¡°I know I cannot stop you, but I cannot say I am not disappointed. And you are still wounded. I know you did not want others to notice, but that injury on your arm is quite severe. To be honest, I cannot imagine you surviving a night in the forest all alone. Especially as there is no need to do so.¡± Marcus could not understand Paul, and it was an expected reaction.


    ¡°Please do not worry, I have no plan on dying before repaying you for your help so far. We don¡¯t know each other for too long, but I came to trust you. There is a good reason why I want to leave for the forest alone. I will tell you, but I ask you to keep it a secret for now.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I can promise that much¡±


    ¡°When I was wondering alone in the forest, I could feel a presence watching over me. After I got injured on the first day, I meditated at night and prayed for help, and the next morning my wound was healed.


    I could not feel that presence here in the village or while hunting with you, so I will leave for the forest alone tonight and in the hope that it will help me recover faster.¡± Paul could lie without losing eye-contact or becoming flustered. Marcus seemed to buy it.


    ¡°Hmm, that sounds unusual, but stranger things have happened. If the goddess of the nature has found a liking in you, it would also explain how you could spot animals so easily.¡± He was making strange connections by himself, but Paul did not stop him.


    ¡°Ok, do what you think you have to do. But know that I do not think you are a burden, even with your injury. You can assist me while hunting and cleaning animal skins, and help with odd jobs around the village until you have recovered your strength normally.¡±


    ¡°I am thankful that you think that way, but I want to try out my method. I promise to return under any circumstances.¡±


    Paul ate dinner with the other villagers, lent a bag and a piece of bread from Marcus and then went on his way. He found that he had gained the [Deception] for his elaborate lie and wondered if he should spent a skillpoint on it soon. He left the village and walked towards the small creek he had wandered along yesterday and arrived while it was still bright.


    He left the path and followed the creek until he reached the edge of the forest. He then undressed and put all his belongings into the bag, before hanging it on a branch of a tree. He only kept the spear and even took of the bandages.


    Paul¡¯s plan was to die in the forest. He had thought about cutting his wrist or getting bit by snake, but he was neither suicidal, nor did he want to die as slow death by poison. Leaving his body out in the grasslands was a bad idea as well, he wanted to die somewhere where his body would stay hidden so long that it would be unrecognizable by the time it was found, if ever.


    Naked Paul grabbed his spear and wandered along the creek. He kept his eyes on the minimap, looking for hostile creatures. He found one a few hundred meters into the forest. It was a level 1 fox.


    ¡°Not really planning to die from such an insignificant enemy. Here I come!¡± The fox before did not run from him, so Paul did not try to sneak up it this time. He charged towards the fox (of course he stepped on a pointy branch and hurt his foot) and stabbed at the fox with his spear.


    The attack was rather clumsy and the fox was quick. Paul missed completely. The fox used this chance and jumped towards Paul, scratching and biting his thigh.


    Fox bit you for 3 damage.


    Fox scratched you for 1 damage.


    Paul dropped the spear and grabbed the fox before it would start to attack his exposed genitalia. He planned to die, but the thought of having his penis bitten off by a wild animal was dreadful beyond compare.


    He threw the relatively light fox against the thick trunk of a large tree with all his strength.


    Fox took 3 damage from environment.


    Fox is [confused]


    Paul was satisfied. Before the fox could recover, he grabbed its tail and swung the fox in a circle over his head, before swinging it against the trunk. He then repeated it again.


    Fox took 5 damage from environment.


    Fox is [dazed].


    Fox took 5 damage from environment.


    Fox is [unconscious].


    Paul dropped the fox on the floor and picked up his spear, killing the fox with a stab to the neck.


    He checked the skills tab and had acquired [Spear-type Weapons: Weapon skill. Ability to handle spears, polearms and similar weapons]


    He spent his remaining skillpoint on learning it. He would prefer a sword as he had practised kendo for some time, but with no way to get one soon he decided that a spear would be a good alternative. Historically, spear users had an advantage over sword wielders and he could even use it as a walking stick, so there was nothing wrong with fighting with a spear.


    He picked up the carcass and went back to the creek, then continued walking alongside of it into the forest. He wanted to retrieve the spear if possible.


    It was getting pretty dark quickly, and Paul focused on the minimap while following the creek. He had heard a wolf howling from deeper within the forest and quickened his steps.


    After about an hour of wandering and injuring both of his feet along the way, a couple of red dots showed up on the edge of his radar. Paul smiled.


    ¡°Hey fuckers, come and get me!¡± he shouted in the direction of the animals. He stabbed the spear into the ground, dropped the fox carcass a few meters away and took a few steps towards the red dots on the minimap, which had stopped moving. He then heard rustling in the underbrush.


    When he heard the sounds several predators running towards him, he tried to make out their shapes in the darkness, but could not see anything.


    The last thing he felt was something jumping at him and toppling him over, shortly before a sharp pain his throat. He quickly lost consciousness from the pain and blood loss.

 Chapter 5: Daily Routine

    Author''s note: Chapter length is pretty inconsistent so far, I am still figuring things out for myself. I also feel kind of sorry for everyone who read the overly long and so far pointless backstory of our MC in Chapter 1.


    If anyone wants to add a suggestion for what should happen, feel free to send some. I still have many ideas and something like a "storyline" for the immediate future, but additional inspiration cannot hurt I guess.


    Chapter 5:


    Paul¡¯s vision floated out of his body, like when he adjusted his appearance before coming to this world. The major difference to that time was, that he could now clearly see in the dark as if it was day, but everything was lacking colour.


    He saw that it was indeed a pack of wolves that was roaming around the forest, and the largest of them was busy taking bites out of his upper body, while the others were waiting nearby. The sight of his body being eaten was pretty terrifying, so Paul hovered back towards the creek.


    Paul then flew up a few meters in the air to take a look over the forest. Unfortunately, there was a huge wall of fog about 200 meters in front of him in every direction, so he could not see very far.


    After flying all the way to this unnatural border, he confirmed that he could not pass through the fog.


    ¡°I was hoping to get a good view of the area, but it seems that wont be happening¡­ at least I died pretty quickly and wasn¡¯t eaten alive. Now I just hope that Helena didn¡¯t trick me and I can actually revive. I really don¡¯t want to be haunting this part of the forest for all eternity.¡± Paul thought so in jest, but the prospect of such a future was more terrifying than he initially imagined. He decided that there was no reason to doubt the words of the goddess though, so he put trust in his ability to respawn later.


    He stayed away from the wolves eating his body and opened up the menu to pass some time. Helena had said something about 12 hours he had to wait, so there was probably quite some time left to pass.


    Paul checked all the stat and skill descriptions again, but there was nothing new for him to discover. Apart from the spear skill he had gained nothing new, and offering himself up to the wolves had not granted him any special bonus or title. The combat log just showed a large crit done by a wolf, followed by the [bleeding] and [unconscious] debuffs. A few points of damage later he was dead.


    After reading through the menu, he flew up and down the approximately 400 meters of creek, lowering his altitude until he was literally flowing through the water. He tried flying through some trees, which was possible. He then flew down into the ground, but it was just darkness.


    Paul became bored really quickly. He briefly checked, and the wolves were still feasting on his corpse.


    ¡°That 12 hour penalty is really no joke¡± Paul thought. ¡°I was kind of hoping that Helena would come and strike up a conversation. But it hasn¡¯t even been 48 hours after I arrived here yet.¡±


    Paul tried to dive into the ground and get some sleep, but for some reason he was not feeling tired at all and knew that this won¡¯t work either.


    He then opened the note function of the menu and started writing a ¡°to do¡± list.


    Grind diligently


    Level Up a lot


    Become overpowered


    Earn fame and riches


    Find cat girl tribe


    The list turned out to be rather short and useless.


    Paul flew around the small stretch of the forest, looking at leaves, trees and grass, followed a beetle around and then decided to dive into the darkness of the ground and tried to meditate and just think of nothing.


    He had already tried every possible command and thought regarding time compression, and was convinced that he just had to endure the 12 hours. For a person like Paul, who was addicted to entertainment, it felt like true torture.


    Finally, when he got out of the ground again, the forest was shown in colour again, which indicated that it had become morning already. The wolves had left, and there was not much left of Paul¡¯s body. A leg was completely missing and nowhere to be found, and every bodypart was damaged. Even his face was mauled beyond recognition.


    ¡°Not necessarily a bad thing.¡± Paul had decided to somehow hide the corpse, but if it was found there should not be any problem.


    His spear was still stuck into the ground, but the dead fox was gone.


    After what felt like an eternity of aimlessly hovering around, inspecting various types of bark up-close and briefly thinking about the meaning of life, a window popped up.


    [You may now respawn. Please select a location.


    (Location where you last rested) (Initial Spawn Point) (Current location)]


    The options were ok. The last place where he rested was probably the village, the initial spawn point must be the clearing deeper within the forest. Paul hovered to a safe distance above the ground and chose (Current location).


    He could feel the cool morning breeze and got goose bumps from the slight cold. He then went over to his body and half-heartedly dragged it behind a couple trees and covered it with branches and dirt while gagging a few times. It was still fresh, but he could swear that the arm he was dragging it by would come off he pulled on it any further and he wanted to avoid looking at the gruesome remains as best as he could.


    He made sure to wash all of the blood off in the creek before grabbing his spear and walking downstream again to fetch his belongings.


    As he had expected, all his injuries were gone without a trace. He even felt well rested and sated, just like after he had come to this world. His stats were exactly the same as before, down to the experience points. Apart from the cruel 12 hour wait, respawning seemed to have no repercussions.


    He hurried back to the place where he had stashed his things and got dressed. Now it was time to serious! He hunted 5 snakes and a bunny with his spear and stashed the corpses inside the bag. When the sun was starting to rise high and he got hungry, he started walking back to the settlement. He ate the bread on his way and when he got back, he was greeted by a delighted Marcus near the entrance of the village.


    ¡°Oh boy, good to see you again. I was really worried that we would never see you again.¡± Marcus seemed so happy that Paul was worried he might start hugging him.


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    ¡°Yea, it went well. And it even worked out as I had hoped. Plus I brought some spoils¡± Paul said quickly, to steer the conversation elsewhere.


    ¡°So your injuries got better? That¡¯s good to hear¡± Marcus seemed to not expect much.


    ¡°Yes, or rather, I got completely healed. I still don¡¯t know much about whose blessing I have, but it seems quite powerful¡± Paul said while showing Marcus his completely healthy arm.


    ¡°What? That¡¯s even more impressing than the healing the apprentice priest from the temple in Prozor performed last year.¡± Marcus was slightly shocked but still smiling.


    ¡°More importantly, I brought a bunch of snakes and a bunny, so I would like to go skin them. It would be nice if you could watch over me while doing so and give me tips on how to improve.¡±


    Paul showed Marcus the contents of his bag, and they went to the place behind Marcus¡¯ house. While Paul was skinning and gutting the carcasses, Marcus pointed out several minor mistakes he made. Then they went to the tanning place at the river, where the training was continued. The wolf fur had been treated by Marcus already and was hanging over the tanning rack. After removing the tanning material from it they went into the house and Marcus taught Paul the process of beating and stretching the fur for the final step.


    With his arm healed, the leatherworking skill and the additional points in agility, processing the skins felt a lot easier than the days before. Marcus looked satisfied as well. They spent most of the afternoon producing leather and hides, and Pauls skill even rose to beginner level 2.


    They went on a hunting trip and checked Marcus¡¯ snares, while Paul looked for additional prey on the minimap. When they returned back to the settlement, they brought back 3 bunnies, a snake and even a fox.


    Paul got into a routine of processing skins in the morning, hunting after lunch and leatherworking again in the evening. When he had some spare time, he helped out Ray in his workshop and collecting, mostly moving logs or doing the first steps of cutting down wood, before Ray took over for the final steps.


    On the fourth day he rose to Level 3 after finishing the treating of a bunny fur.


    He had not learned any new skills, so he learned the [Resilience] and [Healer] skills he had already unlocked. He was slightly injured on several occasions, either by foxes or while working in the village, so he would have enough opportunities to raise those skills.


    Marcus, satisfied with Paul¡¯s progress, started teaching him about trapping and where to find helpful herbs, not only for healing but also for food, while they went out hunting. Paul noticed that on rare occasions the small animals came in slightly larger varieties, had a level of 2 and yielded twice the experience.


    When the durability of his spear went down, he asked Ray to repair it, which lowered the maximum durability a bit. The pile of treated animal skins in Marcus¡¯ house was steadily rising and Paul could see Marcus look happy whenever he was looking at it.


    Paul had started to write a diary with the note function of the menu, but it was not very interesting. Apart from Marcus killing a deer and helping Ray with the construction of a small shack next to Marcus home to store the skins, nothing noteworthy happened.


    Ten days after his arrival Paul reached level 4. He had acquired one point of agility while wielding his spear and a point of strength on a particularly busy day carrying logs for Ray.


    Paul distributed his stat points, learned the [Sense surroundings] and [Trapping] Skills, and looked at the results with satisfaction showing on his face.


    Name: Paul


    Adult Human Male


    Level: 4


    Experience: 6 / 1%


    Strength: 12


    Endurance: 15


    Agility: 21


    Intelligence: 10


    Wisdom: 10


    Luck: 0


    Health: 75


    Mana: 50


    Stamina: 75


    Skills:


    [Leatherworking] Beginner Level 4, 31%


    [Spear-type Weapons] Beginner Level 3, 25%


    [Resilience] Beginner Level 2, 45%


    [Sense Surroundings] Beginner Level 2, 20%


    [Healer] Beginner Level 1, 85%


    [Trapping] Beginner Level 2, 64%


    The trapping skill allowed him to not only efficiently lay traps but also see the snares on his minimap. On higher levels it was supposed to show better hidden traps laid out by third parties.


    The sense skill that widened his minimap range only did so at a rather insignificant rate, about 10m per level, which meant at level 2 he could now ¡°see¡± about 220 meters on his radar. It improved whenever Paul engaged into combat after finding a creature on the map and hunting it down, so it naturally improved without paying too much attention.


    Paul was determined to learn magic at some point, but according to Marcus the only magician he knew of was the court wizard in Prozor, and it didn¡¯t seem like he was taking apprentices. Paul planned to allocate some points into intelligence soon. He was hoping that apart from raising his mana, he would gain some more advantages like better memory or faster improvement of his crafting skills.


    There were many things that Paul did not quite understand when it came to the stats. While strength was pretty straight forward and he had already noticed the benefits of higher agility, the endurance and especially the health system seemed a bit mysterious. The injury on his arm came with a more or less permanent reduction of 10 HP and hindered him in a way you would expect from a serious injury to your dominant arm.


    He imagined the effect of a spear through the heart or an axe blow to the neck to be the same, whether one had 50 or 500 health, so he wondered if higher health meant a higher necessary force before the skin and tissue was penetrated. He also wondered if he really could die by continuously stepping on sharp stones, but was not really tempted to try it out.


    Paul was sure to figure it out along the way. So far the world seemed pretty similar to Earth, he had yet to encounter any magic or strange animals or races, even if he had heard of those things from Marcus.

 Chapter 6: The Neighbouring Village

    Chapter 6:


    ¡°Urgh, progress has been slow¡­¡± Paul was mumbling to himself. It was the 14th day after he had arrived in this world. He had reached level 4 after 10 days, but made only small progress since then.


    ¡°25% with 201 XP, that means I need around 800 XP to reach level 5¡± Paul was calculating. So far, the XP required for each level up was twice of what he needed for the last one. He was not limited to defeating enemies. Paul also got small amounts of experience when Marcus taught him about hunting or while he was getting tanning practice, helping Ray with carpentry or laying traps. The last few days were just repetitions of things he had already done several times before though, and the amount of XP he had gained from non-combat tasks was miniscule. He did not gain any stat points either. ¡°At this rate, it will take me all year just to catch up to the stronger farmers.¡±


    He did not want to complain about his current situation, but he felt like he was stuck in the tutorial or starting region of some old-school rpg game, killing rats all day and with no loot in sight. The people in the settlement were nice to him, especially Marcus, who had taught him a lot. Helping Ray with repairs on several occasions had won him a lot of thanks of the other families in the village and the amount of game Marcus was able to catch must have gone up considerably compared to before. This was mostly due to Paul¡¯s minimap, because he was able to locate animals quickly. Marcus was already used to the fact that every time Paul said there was something nearby, it was true. Spending his days as a simple villager was not what Paul had in mind though.


    ¡°Normally, I should have conveniently stumbled over a hidden beginner dungeon, found some magic artifact, unlocked a hidden class and met my arch-enemy by now. I wonder if I did anything wrong¡­¡± Paul hung his head.


    In the evening he approached Marcus. ¡°I would like to learn some archery from you¡± there were not many people in the village who could teach him about things. Apart from farming and cooking he could not expect to learn anything worthwhile from the other villagers. Paul had planned to learn archery anyway after he had gained some skill points from level 5, but he felt like it would help to start now. He did feel slightly bad because Marcus had already taught him various things, in fact nearly everything he learned so far was due to Marcus.


    ¡°Hmm, I already thought about it myself of course. The problem is that there is no fletcher around here, and my skills in producing arrows and bows are sub-par at best. I only have my own bow and a handful of good arrows¡± Marcus seemed a bit reluctant to teach Paul a skill that he would probably not be able to put to good use any time soon.


    ¡°I see¡­ Would you mind teaching me anyway? Even if the equipment I have to use is bad, your skills with the bow are impressive, and I think being able to hunt small game from a distance will really help in increasing my hunting efficiency. And learning from someone who has already mastered my skill seems like too good an opportunity to pass.¡±


    Marcus¡¯ face brightened while Paul was praising him. While hunting the wolf, his rate of fire and accuracy was impressive, even an amateur like Paul could feel that his skill was more than average.


    ¡°If you put it like that, I guess I cannot refuse. Let us go see Ray, he should be able to help us out a bit.¡±


    They went to see Ray. Paul would need a bow and some arrows for training. He could not carelessly use Marcus¡¯ equipment, especially the arrows Marcus was using seemed hard to acquire.


    He helped the two with the wood for the bow and carving some arrows. A few days later Marcus held a rather crude looking short-bow in his hand and gave it to Paul.


    ¡°This thing is nowhere near as good as the bow I am using, but I guess there is no helping it. The arrows Ray made are slightly bent as well, but no need to tell him that, I am sure he is aware. Considering that fletchery is new for him as well, they turned out OK. I never had to learn it myself, so whatever I produce would be even worse.¡±


    Paul inspected the bow and arrows:


    [Crude short-bow


    Damage 2


    Durability 10/10


    Bow


    The work of someone not accustomed to the craft. Cannot shoot arrows with much force, which affects range and accuracy.]


    [Bent arrow


    Crudely made arrow. The tip is made of stone and the shaft is slightly bent. Will probably not fly straight and is likely to shatter if it hits a hard surface.]


    The gear was really bad, but considering the time spent making it and the limited skills and resources, it was OK for practice purposes.


    Marcus had set up something like a scarecrow made of straw and wood a few dozen meters next to the fields outside the village.


    He only had three of the crude arrows and shot them at the target from a distance of about 15 meters while Paul was watching him. He had already seen him use his bow on several occasions, but Paul wanted to learn as good as possible. He was not sure if he could actually acquire a skill just by training, but at least experience points could be gained by absorbing knowledge.


    All of the arrows hit the target and Paul went to retrieve them before picking up the bow himself. Marcus corrected his stance and gave him tips on how to aim. When Paul was shooting, he missed with all three arrows. Luckily, they didn¡¯t travel very far and he could find them in the flat terrain and short grass rather easily. After a few more shots under Marcus¡¯ supervision, he was able to hit the target and continued training by himself.


    As expected, practicing a new skill gained him a few experience points, around 40 by the end of the day. He added archery training to his daily routine and was able to reach level 5 by the end of day 18.


    Paul did not learn the weapon proficiency for bows by himself, so he spent a skill point on it, as well as [Carpentry]. Advancing an acquired skill seemed to yield better results in terms of experience progression.


    He spent his days processing skins and hunting with Marcus, both actively and with trapping, helping out Ray with woodworks around the village and practicing his skills with the bow.


    Advancing to level 6 took him another 14 days, and he gained a point in both strength and agility along the way. He was even able to hunt a couple of bunnies with the bow by now, although he lost two arrows that he mistakenly shot against trees which broke them. He had started making arrows himself to advance his carpentry skill, so it was no big loss.


    He did not unlock the [Fletchery] skill, but he was not sure if he should learn it anyway even if he got it. Paul had spent 5 stat points on intelligence and distributed the 5 points from level 6 among strength and agility, but saved the skill points for later. He was satisfied with the skills he had so far for later use. He did not know when he would gain another level and did not want to waste time practicing a skill he had not learned anymore.


    On day 40 Marcus approached him. ¡°Thanks to your help we have stored up quite a bit of furs and leather, so we should make preparations to get them to the town soon. I want to buy tools for the farmers before the harvesting season starts in a few months, so sooner is better than later.¡±


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    The next village was a couple hours away by foot, so transporting the furs there would take some effort. Paul apparently knew someone there who would pick them and the products up there and transport them to the town of Prozor by cart.


    After preparing some rations in the form of smoked meat and bread, they went on their way to the neighboring village. Two of the farmers helped them carrying the furs and leathers. The journey was uneventful, and by lunchtime they arrived. The village was a lot bigger then Marcus¡¯ settlement, although it could not be considered large by any means. There was a crude looking wooden stockade built around the center of the village, around 1.5 meters high. Roughly two dozen wooden buildings could be seen inside the palisades.


    There were some healthy looking fields and a few barns around the village, overall it looked rather idyllic.


    The group was greeted by a guard looking to be in his late 20s at the entrance. He was holding a wooden spear with a metal tip and wearing a sturdy but worn looking leather armor. Paul focused on him, reading his info.


    [Benjamin


    Human


    Level 12]


    ¡°Hey Marcus, good to see you. It has been a while¡± he said.


    ¡°Hi Benny, nice to see you as well. I guess it is good that I was not called over for a while, normally you only call for me if there is some monster subjugation to be done.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, well¡­ that might be true. Luckily it has been rather quiet lately. But you know you are always welcome here. Old man Vic has asked me if I had seen you lately, I guess you should pay him a visit.¡±


    ¡°I had planned to do so anyway, have to catch up on the latest news and Victor always seems to know what is going on around the area. I was going to spend the night here before heading over to Prozor, leu¡¯s meets again later.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, I¡¯m on guard duty until the evening. I will be looking for you afterwards.¡±


    They went into the village. Marcus was rather popular and had some brief conversations with several of the inhabitants. After arriving at the largest building near the village center Marcus told everyone to drop the furs near the entrance.


    ¡°Rest assured, no one will steal our things around here¡± Marcus spoke to Paul, the other two did not seem to mind anyway. The farmers excused themselves to visit some acquaintances before heading back to the settlement, while Marcus headed inside the house, signaling Paul to follow him.


    Inside they were greeted by a man in his late 40s, who had light gray and balding hair and a bushy beard.


    ¡°Marcus, good to see you. I was already worried after not hearing from you for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Hello Vic, well, no news is good news I think. We are doing rather fine for ourselves. Let me introduce you to our newest resident, Paul. He has joined us around a month ago and seems to be quite talented as a hunter, although he is still inexperienced. I have high hopes for him.¡±


    Paul did not know about the local customs, but as Victor extended his hand, Paul took it while slightly bowing, which seemed to be enough to satisfy protocol. Paul checked the old man¡¯s status window.


    [Victor the Elder


    Human


    Level 10]


    ¡°Nice to meet you, and it is good to see that Marcus has found someone to assist him. I remember you complaining quite a bit that no one was willing to help you after the incident last year¡± he said that last thing addressing Marcus. Vic must have meant the incident of one of the villagers getting killed by a bear.


    ¡°Yes, but let¡¯s not talk about this anymore. It was a rather sad episode.¡± It was obviously a painful memory for Marcus.


    They sat down at a table while drinking some tea Victor prepared. The elder and Marcus exchanged some trivial information, there had been a marriage, some illnesses and the lord was said to have had an affair with one of the townswomen.


    ¡°There have been goblin hunting parties spotted near the edge of the forest. So far there have not been any major incidents, but some people are getting worried. The goblins have never crossed the river so far, but we know how troublesome they are for the people further north.


    I have heard that the soldiers in the Prozor have been tasked to keep an eye out for unusual activity and there has been talk of a subjugation expedition before the winter¡± Victor had a worried look on his face. ¡°I fear that many young men from out village will join them if the time comes. They don¡¯t know how fearsome goblins can be.¡±


    ¡°Are they really so dangerous?¡± the goblins Paul knew from video games were mostly beginner monsters and not really that much of a threat.


    ¡°Well, it is true that they are rather weak physically. But they always show up in large numbers, some practise simple magic and because of their constant fighting, they know how to handle themselves in a fight. Most men here have never seen battle and have only fought weak forest beasts at best¡± Victor explained.


    There was also talk of a bandit group occasionally robbing merchants, but the attacks were rare and seemingly random and they never approached the villages, so not much was known about them.


    After spending some time chatting with the elder, a man entered the house. He was around Marcus¡¯ age and sporting some neat looking leather armor and had a dagger tugged into his belt.


    [Jonas


    Human


    Level 11]


    ¡°Marcus! I heard you came to the village and came looking for you right away. Hello elder!¡± he greeted Marcus before addressing Vic, whose house he had entered.


    The elder nodded and signaled him to join them at the table. Apparently Jonas was one of Marcus¡¯ old military buddies before they had both settled down as civilians and only occasionally joined up for monster subjugation, usually followed by heavy drinking.


    All three left the elder¡¯s house and carried the leathers and furs to Jonas¡¯ barn. A small wagon was parked there, already loaded with some local products. They loaded Marcus¡¯ and Paul¡¯s belongings on the wagon as well.


    The two old friends went to Jonas¡¯ house, where a bottle of mead was opened and quickly emptied over talk of the good old times. A while later the guard Benny showed up as well, who obviously belonged to the party before, too. It turned into a proper drinking bout and Paul was caught up as well. He was never a heavy drinker, and his ¡°fresh¡± body seemed to be lacking the poison resistance or mental fortitude or whatever determined the alcohol resistance in this world.


    In the end Paul threw up all of the alcohol and then some in front of Jonas¡¯ house and was carried into the backroom by the laughing drinking buddies.


    The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was the shouting of some agitated woman, who was obviously Benny¡¯s spouse, who then dragged her husband out of the house.

 Chapter 7: Road to Prozor

    Road to Prozor


    Early in the next morning, Paul woke up. Marcus was snoring on a bedroll next to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not made for drinking, neither in this world nor in the last one¡± Paul was still feeling drowsy. ¡°Good thing I threw up most of what I drank yesterday.¡±


    He went out of the house to fetch some water from the community well to wash himself and get the lingering bad taste out of his mouth. When he came back, Marcus and Jonas were already up as well, both looking as lively as ever. The group went to the barn, where Jonas attached the cart to a rather small but strong looking horse.


    They left the village in the direction of Prozor. While the path to Marcus¡¯ settlement was nothing more than a trail, the road to leading to Prozor was actually worthy of the name, with gravel along most of the way and only few bumpy parts.


    Jonas was sitting on the driver¡¯s seat, while Marcus and Paul were sitting on the back of the cart. The ride was expected to take nearly all day, so they would arrive in the evening.


    Around noon a carriage drawn by two horses caught up to them.


    ¡°Make way, you are blocking the road¡± the driver started shouting from afar.


    ¡°Even if you say that, if we pull over here, we will be stuck in the ditch. Wait a few minutes¡± Jonas replied.


    The other carriage slowed down behind them. ¡°Hurry up, we are on the important trade business and don¡¯t have time to waste.¡± Jonas did not make any effort to speed up, but pulled over at the next opportunity to let the other driver pass by.


    When they took over, Paul took a good look. It was a fancy looking carriage. While he could not look inside, the roof was packed with textiles and small boxes, and a person looking like a mercenary armed with a crossbow was standing on the back and looking down on Marcus¡¯ group, narrowing his eyes like he was suspecting them of something bad.


    The carriage sped up again and was out of sight a short while after. Paul and Marcus ate some of the food they brought along and Paul let himself fall back on the pile of furs, planning to catch some sleep while he had nothing better to do.


    He had not yet fallen asleep, when Jonas suddenly spoke up ¡°Oy, guys, attention! This doesn¡¯t look good.¡±


    Paul immediately sat up straight and turned around. The carriage that overtook them earlier was standing on a part of the road where the surrounding hills formed at small gauge about a hundred meters in front of them. He could not really see past the carriage, but it seemed something was blocking its way. What made the situation even more suspicious was that people were standing on top of the small hill and some were behind the carriage. The group was definitely too large to have come out of the carriage alone.


    ¡°Bandits?¡± Paul was a bit nervous. Even if he died, he could respawn, but that did not apply to Marcus or Jonas. He took hold of his spear, that was laying on the carriage next to they intended to sell. Marcus lightly grabbed him by the shoulder. A quick look at the minimap showed that there were red dots surround the carriage, with a few yellow dots mixed in.


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to say, but be wary. Maybe they are just helping each other to clear the road of some rubble or something.¡± Paul could see Marcus holding his bow ready, but out of sight of whoever was in front.


    The people surrounding the carriage had spotted the approaching cart and one of them was waving to them while slowly walking up to them.


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely bandits. There is someone laying on the ground next to carriage.¡± Jonas slowed down the cart.


    ¡°Hey, you over there. Slowly drive up to here. No use in turning around now, we will catch up to you in no time.¡± The person who was waving before shouted towards them.


    ¡°Hmpf, bloody bastards. Let¡¯s hope they are just some idiots trying to collect some toll here¡± Jonas slowly drove the wagon towards the carriage. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you jump off the wagon and run into the forest. I doubt they will be able to catch up to you that way¡±


    ¡°No way, I couldn¡¯t abandon the furs I spent the last months collecting¡± Marcus was having an angry expression. Paul could not remember seeing that kind of face on Marcus before. Paul also did not think that Marcus was ready to just abandon his friend, furs or not. ¡°Hey, how many of those guys are sporting bows or ranged weapons?¡±


    ¡°Looks like the two on the hill are holding onto bows, and I see a couple of swords and a spear. Five, perhaps 6 of them in total¡± Jonas was speaking with a low voice, but clearly understandable.


    ¡°OK, I will take care of the archers if things go south, make sure to stop early and let them approach. Paul, if the situation gets bad, think you can fight. Don¡¯t take risks, but I don¡¯t think Jonas and I can deal with so many by ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Sure, those guys don¡¯t look to strong by the way. And as far as I can tell, there is 6 of them¡± Paul had checked the info of the bandits he could see and their levels were ranging between 6 and 8. He could see six red dots on the minimap and two yellow ones. Assuming that one of the yellow dots was the driver of the carriage and the other one whoever was inside the carriage, the guard with the crossbow must either be the person of the ground and dead or he joined the bandits. The latter seemed unlikely.


    Jonas stopped the cart around 20 meters before they reached the carriage.


    ¡°Hey, what are you stopping for? Pull up¡± The bandit approaching them looked angry and pulled a short sword from his belt. ¡°Nah, doesn¡¯t matter. Guys, take out the driver.¡±


    When he said that, the other bandits turned their attention to Jonas and one of the archers raised his bow. At that moment Marcus jumped off the cart and immediately afterwards an arrow was flying towards the enemy archer, hitting him dead center in the throat. At that signal, Jonas made an impressive looking backroll from the driver¡¯s seat, which ended in a less impressive looking belly flop on the contents of the cart, after rolling to the side, hiding from the view of the other archer.


    The archer had dropped to his knees, holding clutching his throat. The guy next to him shot an arrow towards Jonas¡¯ cart, narrowly missing the horse and hitting the driver¡¯s seat where Jonas was sitting a moment ago.


    ¡°What the fuck?! Attack those idiots, no captives!¡± The bandit with the short sword was shouting now. Paul had taken cover behind the cart and pulled his spear out. According to the radar, two of the guys surrounding the carriage approached the cart, the supposed leader following behind them.


    Marcus shot another arrow, and one of the red dots on the hill disappeared.


    The three bandits moved rapidly towards the cart and Paul was waiting for them to come closer. When they were just a few meters from the cart, Paul stood up, wielding his spear.


    ¡°You take care of that bloke, I will take care of the asshole shooting arrows.¡± The leader jumped on the driver¡¯s seat, intending to walk over the cart, and the other two approached Paul from the side.


    The leader either didn¡¯t count correctly, had forgotten about Jonas or just assumed he was a helpless peasant, but he carelessly jumped over the place where Jonas was cowering on the wagon. Jonas grabbed him by the foot, resulting in the bandit falling flat. The impact was soft because of the furs, but Jonas immediately followed with stabbing his dagger into the guy¡¯s groin.


    The resulting scream indicated a ¡°critical hit¡± to the man¡¯s genitals and Paul flinched. He didn¡¯t get distracted enough though, and stabbed his spear towards the first bandit who had come for him and was now barely in range. The scream from his leader made him look to the side and Paul managed to stab him in the upper thigh.


    You have stabbed Rick for 6 damage.


    Marcus stood up again and shot an arrow at the man behind the guy who was obviously named Rick. The arrow hit into the attacker¡¯s right shoulder and he dropped the spear he was wielding.


    Jonas was fighting with their leader on top of the wagon, who had dropped his short sword and was trying to defend himself from Jonas¡¯ dagger while bleeding profusely from his groin.


    Paul pulled back his spear and stabbed the kneeling assailant in the chest. The attack was somewhat softened by the leather armor the bandit was wearing, and Paul immediately followed up with an attack to the man¡¯s unprotected neck.


    You have stabbed Rick for 30 damage. *crit*


    Rick is [bleeding].


    Rick is [unconscious].


    Rick is bleeding for 5 damage.


    The bandit behind the now soon to be dead Rick was making a complicated face while holding his shoulder, not knowing how to react. He was now unarmed, injured and surprised by the unexpected strength of their supposed victims.


    Paul took the opportunity and rammed his spear into the man¡¯s stomach with as much force as he could muster. He didn¡¯t bother pulling it out again and instead let it go, followed up with a kick to the bandit¡¯s chest.


    You have stabbed Simon for 10 damage.


    You have dealt 3 damage to Simon.


    Simon is [confused].


    Paul took a step forward and picked up the spear ¡°Simon¡± had dropped. It was slightly heavier than Paul¡¯s wooden spear and had a plain, sturdy looking iron tip. Definitely a good trade. He heard a gurgling sound and looked towards Jonas, who had impaled his dagger into the leader¡¯s throat.


    Paul then stabbed Rick in the neck with his new spear.


    Rick is bleeding for 5 damage.


    You have stabbed Rick for 15 damage.


    Rick has died.


    You have gained 80 XP.


    Nice! Paul was pleased. Not only had he gotten a nice weapon, but also experience worth more than a dozen snakes or foxes.


    ¡°There is still one left near the carriage¡± Paul said after checking his minimap. One of the archers was still alive, but both were laying on the ground, so he was probably incapacitated. But there was another read dot on the road near the two yellow dots. Simon, who had a spear sticking in his belly, was laying on the ground and did not move, but still had around a third of his health left.


    ¡°Hey, help me throw that guy off my furs, he is bleeding all over the place!¡± Marcus was talking to Jonas while grabbing the dead bandit leader¡¯s arms and pulling him off the cart.


    ¡°I will go and check out the remaining bandit at the carriage, would be nice if one of you could lent me some support when you are done.¡± Paul was blinded by XP and loot and hurried towards the enemy.


    He stepped over the dead guard, who was laying on the road next to his crossbow with an arrow sticking out of his head and found a young bandit pointing a sword at two men sitting on the ground next to the carriage. One was the driver, who had taken an arrow to his thigh and was holding the wound with both his hands. The other one was a man in his late 30s, wearing colourful clothes and looked pale. He must be the merchant owning the carriage.


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    ¡°Who are you? What happened to the others?¡± The boy was looking confused and lowered his sword.


    Paul took another step towards him and swung the blunt end of spear towards his head.


    Smack!


    You hit Darryl for 5 damage.


    Darryl is [confused].


    The young bandit fell to the ground, loosing hold of his sword.


    ¡°Wait! Please, don¡¯t kill me! I did not want all of this!¡± His eyes were teary, perhaps from the blow he had received.


    Paul did not wait for him to recover and stabbed him in his unprotected chest.


    You have stabbed Darryl for 20 damage. *crit*


    Darryl is [bleeding].


    Darryl is bleeding for 3 damage.


    Darryl is [scared].


    The bandit had nearly lost half of his health and Paul noticed that the red dot on the radar had turned yellow. Paul pulled back his spear and stabbed again, aiming for the boy¡¯s heart.


    You have stabbed Darryl for 10 damage.


    Darryl is [unconscious].


    Paul did not pull back his spear, but pushed as hard as he could, grabbing the spear with both of his


    hands.


    Darryl is bleeding for 3 damage.


    You stabbed Darryl for 55 damage. *fatal crit*


    Darryl has died.


    You have gained 65 XP.


    He had penetrated the ribcage and stabbed the bandit in the chest. Paul pulled his spear out. The bandit on top of the hill was still alive, indicated by the red dot.


    He climbed up the slope and found one of the bandit archers laying on the ground with an arrow sticking out of his eye, the other one was holding the arrow sticking out of his throat with both hands and breathing with gurgling sounds. According to the interface he only had around 10% health left. Paul quickly and forcefully stabbed him into the chest with the spear.


    You have stabbed Ryan for 11 damage.


    Ryan has died.


    You have gained 40 XP.


    Less XP because it was only an assisted kill. Still, around 8 foxes worth of experience.


    Paul climbed down the hill again. Marcus had caught up with him and was talking to the merchant while carefully extracting the arrow from the driver¡¯s leg.


    The bandit with the spear in his belly was still alive, according to the radar, so Paul hurried back to the cart. Jonas was rummaging through the dead bandits belongings. He looked a bit flustered when he saw Paul approaching, like he had been caught doing something bad.


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t mind you checking for loot. There are two dead archers on top of the hill, better check them as well. I will take care of the cart.¡±


    ¡°¡­ OK. Marcus doesn¡¯t like it, I can tell you that much.¡±


    ¡°He is still talking to the robbed merchant, if you hurry he won¡¯t notice.¡±


    ¡°OK, I¡¯m off then. Watch out, the guy on the left is still kicking.¡± Jonas hurried off towards the carriage, but staying out of Marcus¡¯ sight. Paul approached the half-dead bandit. He had an idea.


    ¡°Hey, Simon. Don¡¯t fall asleep.¡± He had checked the info on the bandit. He still had around a third of his health left and was [confused], but conscious. Paul supported the bandit¡¯s neck with his arm and started talking.


    ¡°Let me help you. I will take you to your friends, tell me where we can find them.¡±


    ¡°¡­help me?... where are the others?...¡± He had obviously lost a lot of blood and was not recognizing Paul as the guy who had stabbed him earlier.


    ¡°They are already on their way. Darryl told me to take care of you. Where should I take you.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Darryl¡­ he is a good boy¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, a good boy. Where is your hide-out?¡± Paul was still talking in a soft voice, but was pressing the issue. He had no idea how long Simon would hold out.


    ¡°¡­Prozor¡­ an hour to the east of Prozor¡­ in an old mine in the hills¡­.¡±


    ¡°Good, I will take you there now. How many of your friends are in the camp?¡±


    ¡°¡­Darryl, nearly threw up¡­ you know¡­ couldn¡¯t see blood¡± Simon was faintly smiling, but the pain was showing on his face.


    ¡°How many are there?¡±


    Simon didn¡¯t answer and closed his eyes.


    Simon is bleeding for 3 damage.


    Simon is [unconscious].


    ¡°Useless¡­¡± Paul dropped Simon¡¯s head to the ground and stood up. He positioned the tip of his spear at his throat and pushed down while closing his eyes.


    You stabbed Simon for 20 damage. *crit*


    Simon has died.


    You have gained 80 XP.


    Neat! Even though Marcus had shot him with an arrow, Paul had gained what seemed like full XP for the kill. And he had gained useful information. His experience had risen by a large amount just from the short fight. He had noticed that after level 4, the XP required to level up had not risen by twice as much as before, but only to around 150%.


    While in thought, Marcus called him over and he hurried towards the carriage.


    ¡°You hurt or something? Seems like those bandits threw a small tree onto the road to block them and killed the guard before anyone realized what was happening. Shot the driver as well and killed one the horses.


    I agreed to help escort them to Prozor. We will need to report to the guards there.¡± Marcus spoke to Paul.


    ¡°Need to collect the bounty as well.¡± Jonas said. Seems like he had checked the corpses for valuables already. ¡°Hey, merchant guy. You don¡¯t have a problem with us storing those dead bandits in your carriage, right? Think of it as a payment. But we won¡¯t share the bounty. All you did was getting robbed.¡±


    Jonas took advantage of the still shocked merchant. Marcus didn¡¯t look very pleased, but did not interject either.


    The group then hurried to clear up the road. They dragged the tree up the hill to make way for the carriage, pulled the dead horse to the side of the road and carried the dead bandits and the guard to the carriage. The merchant and the driver both sat on the driver¡¯s seat, the rich guy probably didn¡¯t want to ride in the back with a bunch of corpses.


    Jonas collected the weapons separately and stashed them in the back of the cart.


    They then drove off to Prozor. They were all on edge because they did not know if there were remaining bandits on the lookout for their missing friends. Paul did not tell the others about the hidden camp. He planned to go there alone as soon as possible and try to kill them off. If he did not manage to do so, he would still have the chance to report the location to the city guard in hope of a reward.


    On their way Paul looked over the bandits¡¯ weapons.


    [Iron Sword


    Damage 8-10


    Durability 20/24


    One-handed sword


    A standard sword made of iron, often issued to soldiers and guards. The blade is a bit dull.]


    [Short Sword


    Damage 6-8


    Durability 19/20


    One-handed sword


    A short sword. Short enough to be easily concealed and can be wielded easily, even by amateurs.]


    [Hunting Bow


    Damage 6


    Durability 20/22


    Bow


    A simple, but well-made composite bow, made of wood, bone and leather. Often wielded by professional hunters. Despite its relatively small size, it has a good range.]


    There was also a good amount of iron-tipped arrows and two quivers. Marcus saw Paul looking at the loot.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, after we have dropped them off with the guard we can probably keep most of the stuff. If not, we will get at least a good amount of silver for the bounty. Buying you a decent bow should not be a problem.¡± Marcus obviously didn¡¯t plan to keep any of the items for himself, unless they were officially offered as part of the bounty. Considering that both Marcus and Jonas were somewhat veterans of Prozor, Paul did not worry too much. If this was a game, he would have equipped the best items already though.


    They arrived in Prozor rather late. The sun was already starting to set, although it was still bright enough to see.


    The carriage stopped in front of the gate and Jonas stopped the cart behind them as well. Marcus then first talked to the merchant and the driver before talking to the guards. Shortly afterwards the gate was opened and they drove inside the town.


    Paul could not see too much of the town from the outside, because it was surrounded by a stone wall around 2.5 meters high. The street was paved with cobblestones and wide enough for two carriages to ride next to each other. They parked both the carriage and the cart next to a large building which was supposedly an inn, and waited for the captain of the guard to show up.


    He was an old acquaintance of Marcus, and judging from the conversation Paul assumed they were treating each other respectfully. They had thrown away some of the bloodsoaked furs on top of the pile on their way, and Paul was resting and occasionally observing the soldiers.


    The captain was level 16, the guards at the gate were both level 11 and the guards inside the town were anywhere between level 8 and level 13. Paul had also seen some of the normal townspeople passing by, all of them were level 8 and below.


    The guards loaded the bodies onto a separate cart and collected all of the bandits¡¯ weapons. Paul looked at Marcus while holding his newly acquired spear.  ¡°We will hand everything over to the guard for now, tomorrow we can collect the bounty and some of their belongings.¡±


    Paul handed over the spear, even though he didn¡¯t want to.


    They would move towards a cheaper inn at the other end of the town while the merchant had already made arrangements with the innkeeper at their current location. Marcus looked into a small bag with coins, it was obviously the compensation he had received from the merchant for escorting him to Prozor.


    When they were about to set off, a man in similar clothes as the merchant hurried to the carriage and greeted the merchant who was nearly robbed earlier. He had two young men following him, carrying buckets and cleaning utensils. They were obviously about to clean the carriage from the blood.


    While driving off, Paul noticed a detail on one of the servants. He had not noticed earlier because of the guy¡¯s dark hair, but there was a dark tail sticking out of the back of his pants, and on closer inspection he could see two bushy ears poking out of his hair.


    Cat people! Paul could not help but smile.

 Chapter 8: Exploring the Town

    Chapter 8: Exploring the Town


    The group arrived at a shoddy looking inn. Marcus went to speak with the inn keeper, while Paul and Jonas brought the cart to a guarded warehouse nearby while leaving the horse at the stable attached to the inn.


    Jonas handed Paul a small coinpurse ¡°It¡¯s not much, those bandits were poor folks. I will sell what little jewellery they had tomorrow, but have this. It¡¯s a little short of 5 silver coins.¡± The bag was quite heavy for its size, so Paul assumed that it must be split into smaller currency. He would look into the bag later and try to figure out how the currency is split in this world. Paul was hoping that they used the metric system and not some weird fantasy system.


    He stashed the money in the larger bag on his belt and they entered the inn.


    Marcus had rented a room that conveniently had three beds. From what Paul could see the place was a bit dirty and there was a community room on the first floor with a fireplace, some tables and chairs and there was warm dinner and breakfast included in the room''s rental fee.


    They sat down at one of the tables and Marcus pulled out the small coin pouch he had received from the merchant. Inside were 15 silver coins, the payment for escorting the merchant.


    It seemed like although the merchant was still in shock when the negotiation was made, he was still clearheaded enough to keep his money to himself. He had not added a bonus for rescuing him, but only agreed to pay a reasonable amount for forming a convoy, but would have tripled the amount if they had encountered more bandits.


    Considering that they had killed the bandits in self-defence anyway and were headed to Prozor as well, one couldn¡¯t complain about receiving only a relatively small compensation, not that Paul had any idea of how much 15 silver coins were worth.


    Marcus gave 5 coins to Jonas and Paul agreed on Marcus keeping the remaining amount. They came here to buy things for the settlement and he was hoping to get some of the bandits¡¯ gear tomorrow, so he had no immediate need for money anyway. Plus he had around 5 silver already.


    They stew with stale bread and went upstairs. The food could not compare to the cooking he had received back in the village, but considering the appearance of the inn, Paul had not expected much.


    The room they entered was small and cramped with the three beds. Everyone went to bed, and Paul was laying in his bed while thinking while checking his stats in the menu.


    Name: Paul


    Adult Human Male


    Level: 6


    Experience: 848 / 47%


    Strength: 15


    Endurance: 15


    Agility: 25


    Intelligence: 15


    Wisdom: 10


    Luck: 0


    Health: 75


    Mana: 75


    Stamina: 75


    Skills:


    [Carpentry] Beginner Level 2, 78%


    [Leatherworking] Beginner Level 5, 75%


    [Spear-type Weapons] Beginner Level 5, 40%


    [Bows] Beginner Level 3, 29%


    [Resilience] Beginner Level 3, 22%


    [Sense Surroundings] Beginner Level 3, 71%


    [Healer] Beginner Level 2, 10%


    [Trapping] Beginner Level 4, 38%


    Paul still had 2 skill points saved up, but regretted taking up carpentry. Leatherworking was his highest skill by now and would probably help him earn money along the way, but carpentry did not look very useful to him. It was one of the few things he could train on in the settlement, but after fighting the bandits today and getting a bunch of experience from a short fight, he was reluctant to go back to grinding for a few points by continuously doing tedious labour.


    Thinking about the fight, he remembered the face of that young bandit Darryl. Paul did not really want to admit it, but he could have arrested the boy without killing him. At the time he just saw him as quick experience points, but he had taken a life. The other bandits died fighting, or were on the brink of death anyway, but that Darryl boy had actually begged for his life. The yellow dot on the radar was undeniable proof that Paul had taken a human life, not in self-defence, but for his own gain.


    Paul tried to shake off the thought. If he had the opportunity he would try to ask Helena for forgiveness¡­ she was something like the executive god of this world, so Paul was hoping for absolution from her. It was her fault anyway for him to be in this situation, so she should take at least part of the responsibility.


    While listening to Jonas annoyingly snoring away on the other end of the room, Paul fell asleep after some time.


    The next morning the group went off to the guards¡¯ headquarters after a disappointing breakfast.


    Some of the guards stationed there recognized and greeted Marcus and Jonas. After being escorted to a room on the far end of the building, they met with the captain who was present yesterday.


    The bounty for each bandit was 5 silver, plus a bonus of another 10 because a known bandit leader was among them. Luckily they were spared of being confronted with the corpses. They were told that each one of them could pick two pieces of the equipment, the rest was to be auctioned off and distributed among the known prior victims or their families.


    Paul took the spear he had wielded earlier and one of the bows. The bow came with a quiver, but without arrows. Marcus took the other bow and a sword. Jonas took another sword and the bandit leader¡¯s leather armour.


    Paul had thought about taking the armour himself instead of the spear and now slightly regretted his choice. He had no idea how much things were worth, but he would ask Jonas later to sell him the armour.


    [Black Sturdy Leather Armour


    Defence 10


    Durability 28/30


    Leather Armour (chest)


    A piece of armour made by a skilled craftsman. The used material is sturdy and has been properly treated. The outside is dyed black. Inside one can see bloodstains that are soaked inside the leather and cannot be washed off.]


    The captain gave Marcus 3 large silver coins and 10 smaller ones. Paul was slightly relieved. It didn¡¯t look like the currency system was hard to grasp. Marcus gave Jonas a large coin and three small ones and was about to give Paul the same amount, but Paul told him to hold onto it for now.


    They left the place and headed back to the inn. The plan for today was selling the leather and furs. On the way Paul asked Jonas if he wanted to keep or sell the armour. Jonas thought about it for a short while, then told him he would probably sell it. The armour he was wearing was of the same quality and probably had some sentimental value, so Paul had expected as much.


    If they sold the furs to a local tailor or armourer working with leather, he could get a price for the armour there, and Paul asked him to give him an option to buy it for himself if the price was reasonable.


    They stashed their newly acquired equipment at the inn, because carrying weapons in town made the guards nervous and was something that was generally frowned upon.


    Paul and Marcus went to visit a few shops dealing handling leather while Jonas went to a general store he regularly dealt with to make a deal for the pottery and other products from his village.


    They met again for lunch. The town had a lively market square and some stands sold skewered meat and vegetables, freshly baked bread and other warm food. They ate small portions from several different places while Marcus was paying for Paul¡¯s meals and checking out the market stalls. The food was only a few copper coins per portion and Paul estimated that what lunch he had amounted to than 10 in total. Assuming one silver was worth 100 copper, one month worth of basic food should cost around 3 silver coins.


    Paul asked Marcus how much the inn cost and learned that Marcus had paid 1 silver coin for two nights in the room they shared. The rooms in the more expensive inn were said to cost around 2 silver per night per person.


    They had scheduled to meet a storeowner specializing in leather equipment in the early afternoon at the inn, so they left the market without buying anything for now.


    The buyer offered them 30 silver for the products they brought. Paul felt disappointed, considering that they had spent over a month collecting them with two people. Marcus seemed to be OK with the price and accepted.


    The merchant was offering 5 silver for the armour, but after a bit of haggling done by Jonas, he raised his offer to 7 silver. Jonas refused the merchant¡¯s offer after Paul nodded to him, signalling that he would be OK with the price. Paul wondered if they should have left the price negotiations to for the furs and leathers to Jonas as well, but decided not to say anything.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The bandit encounter had netted them a bunch of seemingly valuable equipment plus 65 silver, including the merchant¡¯s escort fee and the money Jonas secretly looted from the bodies, so honest and hard work didn¡¯t seem to be the way to go if you wanted to earn money in this world.


    After the merchant had left, Marcus confirmed the budget to be close to 65 silver coins after paying Jonas for the armour. Judging from his happy expression, it was way more than he had initially expected.


    The rest of the day was spent haggling for tools and other necessities that could not be produced in the villages directly. Because they purchased together to have a better position, Jonas was responsible for negotiating, which put Paul at ease.


    They bought a plough, a couple of scythes and sickles, hammers, saws and other iron products as well as some simple textiles which would be made into clothes by the villagers themself.


    Marcus also bought a few dozen arrows from a fletcher and some high quality sinews for bows. They also purchased some salt and spices after confirming that there was enough money left. All in all Marcus share of the purchases cost them 50 silver.


    They managed to procure everything they had planned to buy plus some extras, so after storing their purchases in the cart, Marcus asked if they should leave today instead of tomorrow, but considering that they had been attacked by bandits just a day earlier travelling by night didn¡¯t seem favourable, and Jonas (as well as Paul) wanted to stay in town and enjoy themselves for the evening.


    Marcus conceded and they went to the central plaza near the market square. There was a tavern on one end of the plaza and a few food stalls scattered around, with people enjoying the nice weather outside. Most of the townspeople seemed well dressed and fed compared to the villagers Paul had seen before, and there were quite a few servants walking around as well.


    Paul did not know if they were slaves or just paid workers, but it did not matter much for him right now. He was not on an agenda to bring democracy and human rights to this world, and he had neither money nor interest in buying or owning slaves either.


    After eating some small dishes at the food stalls they sat down at a table outside the tavern. The building was rather large and obviously was a popular gathering spot for the townsfolk. Jonas got three mugs of beer from inside while Paul was silently observing the other guests.


    The audience was mixed among young and old people and there were a few couples as well. One table had a group of only women chatting among themselves, while young men gathered on the surrounding tables who could be seen occasionally stealing glances at them. There was a healthy guard presence on the plaza and especially near the tavern, so one could expect the environment to be reasonably safe to enjoy yourself. Paul had an eye on the small bag he was carrying on his belt in any case.


    While observing the small crowd, he started to wonder how he should go on exploring and living in this world. While his original plan was to steadily grow stronger in Marcus¡¯ settlement, he was now felt reluctant to do so.


    While he was of course thankful for the support he had received so far, his opportunities and potential growth directions were severely limited in the small community.


    Unless he settled to become an archer/hunter like Marcus, he could only become a farmer and learn basic carpentry on the side. All of that sounded uninteresting to Marcus, and most importantly, incredibly boring. What use would his immortality have, if he only fought against small forest animals? Why live in a world of magic and only limit yourself to hunting with a bow and spear?


    Looking over towards Marcus who was looking contempt and happy with how the trading trip had gone so far, Paul was wondering how he could break it to him that he had to leave the village for at least a while. The thought of having a place to call ¡°home¡± there was nice, but Paul felt like it was more suited to be like a vacation home for him. Spending an indefinite time doing the same routine seemed dreadful to him, who got quickly bored with everything he started so far.


    Paul definitely did not want to go back to the settlement right now. Having no immediate alternative plans made it harder for him to explain it to Marcus though. He had no savings apart from the few coins he got from Jonas earlier, and he could not even explain to Marcus how he got that.


    Like having sensed his mood, Marcus spoke up ¡°Paul, what do think of the town?¡±


    ¡°It looks interesting. The people here look happy for the most part and the crowd is diverse¡± Paul gave him an honest answer.


    ¡°I think so as well. Personally, I was always most happy when I could roam around the countryside by myself and large crowds make me nervous, but I can see the appeal of the city¡±


    ¡°I think I have lived in a larger town myself before. I still don¡¯t remember anything of my life before I was attacked by the bandits and meeting you, but I feel rather comfortable around here¡­.¡± Paul decided to at least plant the seed now and go back to the village, levelling up in peace but leave next spring or so. So what Marcus said next came was a big surprise for him.


    ¡°I think it would be best if you stayed here for a while¡± Marcus said.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Paul was half shocked.


    ¡°I thought that you must be from a town myself when we first met. Your way of speaking was way too polite and your manners too good for a simple villager. I think spending some time here might help you regain some of your memories.¡±


    ¡°What about the village? Didn¡¯t you say you want someone to help you hunting?¡± Now that Marcus had suggested that he Paul should leave the village, Paul felt rejected.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t get me wrong. Hunting with you was nice, and having someone who would actually listen to my lectures and stories was refreshing. But we have reached the goal of purchasing all the equipment that we need to comfortably prosper for a while and it was definitely thanks to your help that we could do so in the short amount of time you spent with us.


    I¡¯m not throwing you out, I just feel like it would be better for you to spend some time around different people in a more sophisticated environment. Who knows, perhaps you are some sort of magician or the lost son of a noble or something. If I just keep you in the village, I would feel bad about it.¡±


    ¡°I understand¡­ but I don¡¯t have any money or even a place to work around here. I would just end up homeless in no time¡± Paul, who was wondering how to break the same suggestion to Marcus just a few minutes earlier, now felt a change of heart.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There is still some money left and there is nothing I want to spend it on. It should be enough to last you at least ten days around here. It¡¯s basically your money anyway. All I¡¯m asking is that you use it to spend some time here. If I sell the sword and bow I got from those bandits I will even walk away with more money than I came with.¡±


    ¡°If you put it that way, I don¡¯t know how I could refuse¡± Paul was smiling now. He wanted to stay here, so why was he hesitating after getting the offer?


    ¡°If things don¡¯t work out, talk to the merchant we escorted on the way here. I spoke to him yesterday, and he will leave again in 10 days. He offered to take you back to Jonas¡¯ village at least.


    Just come back and help with the harvest at least, and stay for the winter if you like to.¡±


    At that moment Jonas came back carrying mugs with mead. He had met a group of old acquaintances of him and Marcus who were still active with the town guard and who were now joining them at the table.


    Befriending some of the guards was definitely not a bad idea, now that he had decided to stay for a while, so they drank together (Paul was careful this time) and shared some stories. Marcus gave an especially lively impression of Paul who nearly decapitated a giant wolf with nothing but a knife, but at that time Paul was already drunk enough to not care about correcting him.

 Chapter 9: Exploring some more

    Author''s note: Hey, it''s me again. I don''t expect another chapter for at least the next 12 hours, but I can''t promise anything ; ) Currently my writing speed is rather fast, if I may say so myself.


    Thanks to the people who have subscribed or even farvorited my humble work, I appreciate it. It is kinda thrilling to see the views-counter go up as well, so thank you everyone who is currently reading my story, even the anonymous leechers (was one myself not too long ago, so yea... no offence intended)


    I would be Really happy to get some feedback on the story to be honest. I am writing this only for fun, so I will continue to do so either way, but I am questioning some of my decisions.


    What do you think about about the rather (overly) realistic approach regarding wounds, regeneration etc.?


    No cheat inventory, good thing or not?


    Slow progress (<< intended)? Too slow? Unbearably so?


    Anyone found major holes in the "story"/world-system?


    If anyone would give me their opinion it could help me out a lot. Of course I dont promise or even intend to please individual readers, but creating something is completely new to me and I feel a bit lost tbh. Perhaps so close to the trees that I cannot see the forest anymore.


    Chapter 9: Exploring some more


    The next day Marcus and Jonas headed back early in the morning. Marcus had left Paul 10 silver coins and advised him to stay at the inn they were previously staying at. He had arranged with the innkeeper to give Paul a small room with one bed for 10 nights at a rate of 3 silver.


    Setting aside a generous amount of two silver coins for meals he was left with 5 silver as spending money, plus money he had secretly received from Jonas. It was in fact 4 silver and 50 copper plus a dirty copper ring, but it was enough.


    Paul was excited at first, thinking that Jonas might have left him with a magical artefact by mistake, but after inspecting the ring several times and wearing it while observing his stats, it turned out to be a regular dirty copper ring.


    After saying goodbye to the others at the town gate. Paul headed to the market square. He aimlessly wandered around the stalls until noon to get a better feeling for the products, but only purchased a small whetstone and some oiled, course linen that could be used as kindling.


    They had passed by a store that was selling rather fancy looking items, and only rich people and servants seemed to frequent it. As they had no business there, he had not entered with Marcus, but now Paul wanted to see if he could find some items that were magical or interesting literature.


    Paul had found out while he could obviously speak the local language, he could also read the letters. They looked like a mix of Latin and Korean symbols, so he was worried at first, but when he glanced over the notices posted at the central plaza, he found that the words were just popping up in his head while he read the symbols. It felt strange at first, but it was no different than before, so he got used to it rather quickly. Paul was confident that he could write in the language if he tried to, and confirmed so by drawing some symbols in the dirt, but he was fine with the English menu and notes as well.


    After entering the store, he walked around browsing through the goods. Most of the items were behind glass and neatly sorted on shelves. There were gilded pottery and ceramics, silver tableware and heavy looking, fine robes. But there were also books and tools used for magic, some jewellery and, in the vitrine next to the store owner¡¯s desk, a few items that looked like magic items.


    The store owner was keeping an eye on him ever since he entered. He couldn¡¯t really hold it against him, Paul¡¯s attire didn¡¯t match the other customers in their expensive outfits or the servants who mostly walked up straight to the desk to pick up an order or deliver payment. The store was not very frequented to begin with, so when there were no other customers around Paul spoke to the owner.


    ¡°Hello good Sir, would you mind answering me a few short questions?¡±


    ¡°Good day, what kind of questions do you have?¡± the owner was polite in his words, but showed an annoyed expression.


    ¡°I was interested in the items you are showing in this vitrine, and might be tempted to buy or borrow one of the books you have¡±


    ¡°First, I don¡¯t lend out books, especially not to suspicious looking strangers. Go to a library if you want that kind of service¡± he was clearly not expecting Paul to buy anything. Paul kept a friendly smile, for now he was mostly interested in the kind of items that were available and especially the price range.


    The store owner gave him a quick rundown of the prices. The prices of the books started at 30 silver for general topics, like travelling diaries of faraway places, a description of different magical beasts or cookbooks aimed at servants. Books dealing with magic were all priced above one gold, and those were only descriptions of the different schools of magic and their affiliated gods, or works on how to identify magic items and how those items are used.


    Actual tomes for learning spells could only be purchased on order and the distribution was regulated, so only after being acknowledged by the magic association could one buy them. The price was dependent on the work and the owner did not go as far as telling Paul.


    At also told him that the magic academy as well as the magic association¡¯s headquarter was in the capital, and that there was no library around apart from the lord¡¯s private one, but only a few merchants and distinguished citizen had access to it. The magic association had branches were they sold magic scrolls, but he didn¡¯t say anything about the price or range of available spells.


    The magic items on display were basic things, but extremely expensive as well.


    The least expensive item was an ignition rod that could be used to start a fire and cost 1 gold and 50 silver. It was basically a lighter that ran on the user¡¯s mana, but everyone could use it, magician or not. There were similar items that produced cold air or a crystal ball that supposedly changed colour depending on the weather within the next 24 hours, but nothing really impressive.


    There was also a ring that increased the wearer¡¯s stamina and a necklace that increased mana, but both cost over 10 gold and judging from the looks of them, there were not high grade. Paul was bothered by the fact that the item description from the menu did not show a lot of useful information.


    When he focused on the stamina-ring, the information was very basic.


    [Green-gemmed Band


    Ring


    Shows traces of magic. Base material is silver.]


    He was expecting to get proper values, but it did not seem to be this way. He showed his own copper ring to the owner, and asked him for his professional opinion. The man took the ring, put on a pair of glasses and examined it.


    ¡°This is just a plain copper ring. And filthy on top of it. The design is somewhat OK, so I¡¯ll pay you 5 copper coins.¡± He exclaimed after a short while.


    ¡°No, thank you then. It has some sentimental value, so I rather keep it for that price.¡± Paul was hoping for a reaction, but the store owner just shrugged and handed him back the ring. Paul decided to properly clean it and sell it at the next opportunity. At least he had a rough estimate on the price now.


    After thanking the owner for the information he got and promising to come back and buy something in the future, he left the store. The store owner looked as annoyed as in the beginning, but at least he didn¡¯t insult him or anything.


    Paul wanted to buy a map somewhere, but he had forgotten to ask the store owner about it. They were probably as ridiculously priced as all the other items anyway. After taking a stroll around the parts of town he had not yet seen, he went back to the inn. Prozor itself was not very large, Paul estimated the population to be around 15 or 20 thousand at best. There was a guarded quarter on top of a hill were the lords castle was supposed to be, but the guards had looked at him strangely when he approached, so he just smiled at them and passed by. He had no business there anyway for now.


    The eastern side of the city had the river as a natural border, and there was a small harbour as well. The river wasn¡¯t that large though, perhaps 25 meters across, so naturally the harbour was rather small as well. There was nothing of note, so he left after a quick look around.


    He did not find an adventurers¡¯ guild or quest board or anything clich¨¦ like that and the tavern looked to be only frequented by drunkards at this time of the day.


    He went to his room at the inn, put on his new armour, picked up his weapons and left. Marcus had left him with 10 arrows, so he should be fine for now. He had also bought a loaf of dark bread at the market as emergency rations, although he did not plan to leave the city for very long.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Paul¡¯s goal was to walk around the vicinity of the town to get a feeling for the area. So close to town he did not expect any troublesome monsters or bandit to show up, and he should be able to even handle a wolf or two.


    In fact, meeting a lonely robber seemed like a good way to gain some quick experience and loot, but he didn¡¯t expect to get that lucky.


    He left the village through the southern gate, where he had entered two days ago. He spoke to the guard if there are any rumours or if there were any rules regarding hunting. He did not want to be arrested as a poacher.


    He learned that the area to the southwest was mostly farmland, and everything north to the town was in fact the private hunting ground of the lord. He could hunt freely along the road to the south, where he came from, or cross the river to the east and try his luck there. There was talk about goblins on the other side of the river though. The closest recent sighting was about a day away by foot, so it was still nowhere near the town.


    Paul decided to go east. There was a large wooden bridge around twenty minutes walking distance from the town.


    A group of guards was stationed here, but they looked mostly bored. One of the guards greeted him, it was one of Marcus¡¯ old friends with whom he had drunk yesterday. Paul learned that they were stationed there only to look out for goblins, but they had not seen any and no one seriously believed that goblins would come this far. There was a rumour that some bandits had made camp not too far from the town, but the search parties haven¡¯t found anything suspicious, apart from deserted rafts along the river, which may or may not have been used by bandits to cross it.


    The guard seemed to welcome the opportunity to chat, so Paul made some small talk and crossed the bridge after getting twenty minutes worth of useless information.


    Simon the dying bandit had told Paul that the hide out was located in an abandoned mine in the hills not too far, so he was tempted to check it out. He wanted to confirm any if there were any monsters along the way though, and did want to come up with a plan first. While the minimap gave him a tactical advantage, he did not expect to be able to face an unknown number of enemies head on on their home turf.


    Paul climbed up a nearby hill and overlooked the landscape. It was a bit hilly, but he could see a few larger hills surrounded by forest a distance to the East. He suspected that this was where the hideout was located. There were also some more, larger hills to the North-East and what looked like a huge and dense forest to the South-east.  The landscape was overall rather hilly, so most of what he could see was not that far away. The area between the bridge and the forest/hills to the East was covered by high grass with patches of large shrubbery and groups of trees.


    He decided to just head straight to the place where he thought the hideout was located. If there was a lookout on top of the hill he would be spotted either way, so he could as well just zigzag there from this direction, pretending to be a hunter looking for game.


    He doubted that the bandits would dispatch a large force to intercept a lone hunter in broad daylight, so relying on the minimap for an early warning, he headed out.


    Occasionally there would be a bird flying over him, resulting in a fast moving yellow dot on the radar, but he was already used to it. He only found one hostile animal while in half an hour and it turned out to be a regular level 1 snake. He killed it with his spear, but just left the corpse behind.


    After another half an hour of walking, he reached the edge of the forest surrounding the hills. He had deliberately taken detours to not arouse suspicion in case of an unseen observer. He had killed another snake, but nothing else noteworthy happened along the way. There were occasionally some yellow dots on the radar, but Paul did not bother to check them out.


    While sticking to the edge of the forest, Paul walked north. He did not want to meet Bandits or even actively search for the hideout right now. He would do some basic surveillance of the surroundings and head back when it started to get dark.


    The forest was dense for the most part, so Paul looked for signs of people passing through, like suspiciously broken twigs, trails or grass that was unnaturally bent in a certain direction, but he did not find anything. After an hour of walking, he started walking south, indicating that he had reached the end of the forest. He then went into the forest, heading back west. So close to the trees he could not see the hills anymore, but he suspected that he should come across the foot of the hill if he headed straight west through the forest from here.


    The dense parts of the forest slowed him down considerably, so while it had taken him an hour on the forest edge to walk the distance, it had now taken him more than an hour to reach the hill, which was situated near the centre. There was nothing suspicious on the radar.


    ¡°Should have guessed so. If there was a mine here at some point, there would be a road or something like that leading to it. Even if it was old, there should be at least a trace of it left¡±


    Paul was muttering to himself. While not planned to find any sign of the hideout, he had secretly hoped to stumble over a clue or something.


    ¡°How high is this hill? One hundred meters and then some?¡± Paul was wondering. Considering the 230 meter range of the minimap, he was hoping to be able to spot the bandits below the ground if he came close to the mine. The guard had said that there were search parties before, so they had probably looked around this area. The hideout was probably located within the mine, otherwise they should have been able to locate them.


    ¡°I hope that they would attack anyone on sight. If they show up as neutral on the map, there is a chance I will miss them.¡±


    Paul decided to stick to his initial plan and head back to the town. He was considering climbing the hill, but the sun was already setting and he was not prepared to camp outside or walk back through a pitch black forest.


    He headed back out of the forest and decided to go back a little to the south, to cover a bit more ground today. Perhaps there was something that would give him an idea on how to defeat the bandits once he found them.


    It was starting to get dark by now, but he should have around half an hour of light left before night came. While wondering about trivial things, like how large a bug should have to be to show up on the radar, he suddenly noticed a red dot on the edge of the minimap. Then another one showed up, and another one. The enemies were more than 200 meters away, with a slope blocking the view.


    Paul approached them for a bit, then waited behind the slope.


    The dots were moving in a straight line at a constant speed, and they came from the West, heading to the East. Considering that they came from the location of the suspected hideout, it was nearly certain that they were bandits heading towards the river.


    Paul carefully looked over the slope, making sure to stay hidden in the grass. When he focused on the place where he suspected the bandits, he noticed movement in the tall grass. There was a group of people walking slowly. Now that he had a visual on them, he carefully started following them, making sure to stay hidden behind shrubbery or slopes. He made sure to look back several times, but could not see anyone following.


    Paul suspected the group to be perhaps a search party for the bandits they had killed two days earlier, or, if he was lucky, a group that was about to sell loot in town or buy supplies. In that case, he could expect some valuables if he could take them down.


    While trying to come up with a plan, Paul realized how ill prepared he was. He had planned to buy a dyed cloak after he had scouted the surroundings, to give him some camouflage. He had also not yet shot a single arrow with his new bow, so he had no idea about range or handling. It was getting gradually darker now, and he had no idea about the particulars of the terrain, let alone the bandits¡¯ target destination.


    On the other hand, the darkness would negate the missing camouflage, as well as the unknown range of the bow. At a close distance, handling did not really matter much, and he was confident about the force of the bow. Light armour should not be a big problem, or so he assumed.


    If it was dark, the minimap would give him a bigger advantage as well. If he let the bandits escape now, he could not be sure if he could find them again. Worst case, they would somehow find out that their friends are dead and get reinforcements, then Paul would have to face a larger group.


    While thinking so, he started to hurry and close the distance. He had already decided to take them down some time ago.

 Chapter 10: Encounter in the Dark

    Author''s Note: Chapter 10 is here! Omedetou Gozaimasu! *clapclapclap* Watch out for our MC getting an amazing superpower. Or not? Don''t worry, he will still move towards OP-ness at the speed of a large boulder in a plain field.


    Chapter 10: Encounter in the Dark


    Paul followed the bandits until they reached the river. It was already getting quite dark, so he had dared to get as close as 50 meters. From time to time Paul could hear them talking, but he could not make out what they were talking about.


    He was already only following them only by looking at the minimap and avoiding any obstacles. Hunting with Marcus had taught him various techniques to sneak up on prey, but those were mostly suited for the forest and he had not used them in the dark.


    The bandits were zigzagging close to the riverside, apparently looking for something. Doing so in the dark seemed kind of silly to Paul though. The three people had some distance between them, probably to cover a wider area. That also had the effect of them speaking a bit louder than before, so Paul started to understand some parts of their conversation. He was now only 20 meters away from them, slowly following and trying not to make any sounds.


    ¡°I told you that they had taken the raft from here¡­ It¡¯s much closer. If they had taken the other one we would have already found it by now¡±


    ¡°Shut up! You weren¡¯t even present when they hid it the last time. Just because it was at this spot before does not mean it has to be here now¡±


    ¡°If they used this it and came back with it, shouldn¡¯t it be downstream anyway? I mean, the river would have taken them further on the way to the other side and then again back¡­¡±


    ¡°See? Let¡¯s continue searching for now. It¡¯s not like you have any other important business to do. The prisoners will still be there when we come back, probably. This is just a reconnaissance mission. No danger whatsoever¡±


    ¡°Yea, fine. Still, I don¡¯t think it would be such a big deal to just look for the damn rafts while there is still some light? I mean, doesn¡¯t *looking* involve being able to see shit?¡±


    ¡°I already told you to just be quiet. No point arguing about it. We will do our job properly and head back in the morning.¡±


    Paul had gotten some decent information while listening to them. For one, they were in fact looking for the raiding party. It also doesn¡¯t look like there would be any other bandits coming, so it was just the three. And they did not expect combat, so they were probably lightly armed.


    They also planned to stay outside until morning, but Paul did not plan to follow them for long. The longer he followed, the higher the chance to be found out. And if they headed into a stretch of forest, it would be harder to sneak around. It was already pretty dark, but it was worse in the forest, and there dry sticks and obviously trees all around, so sneaking was a lot harder if you couldn¡¯t see where you¡¯re going.


    Paul could barely make out two silhouettes in the dark, but he knew where the third one was from the minimap. He silently took out an arrow and prepared his bow. He snuck up to the bandit closest to the left, away from the water until he was approximately 15 meters away from him, ducked down into the grass, then aimed. Due to the constant bickering and chatter he could sneak up comfortably.


    He aligned the arrow with what he thought was the bandit, sent a short prayer to Helena and released the arrow. The bow did not make much of a sound, but the arrow missed the bandit splendidly.


    ¡°Wow! What the hell was that? Did you hear that?¡± The bandit froze and started shouting.


    Fortunately Paul was still hidden for now, so he just prepared a second arrow, and took out a third one while he was at it.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear shit. Don¡¯t try to scare us just so you can go back to the base, you wont find the entrance anyway in the darkness.¡±


    ¡°No, seriously. I swear something flew by right next to my head. I could even feel the wind. ¡­must have been the biggest bug ever.¡±


    Paul had an idea. It could either work well or not at all, but it was worth a try. He opened the interface menu and set the minimap setting back to ¡°rotate with view¡±. He then held the bow in straight front of him and looked down the arrow. In theory, if the enemy was exactly ¡°north¡± of him on the radar, he shouldn¡¯t be able to miss at this distance. Of course, this would not work with a difference in height, but right now the terrain was level and he wasn¡¯t hunting gnomes.


    Paul didn¡¯t wait for the bandit to move much further away and shot again.


    You hit Michael for 10 damage.


    ¡°Ugh, fuck, I was bitten¡± the bandit started shouting wildly. ¡°Fuck, no! It¡¯s an arrow¡±


    Paul immediately followed with another shot, using the minimap for guidance.


    ¡°Urgh¡± the bandit dropped to the ground not shouting anymore.


    You hit Michael for 20 damage.


    Michael is [bleeding]


    Michael is [confused].


    Michael is [scared].


    Michael is bleeding for 5 damage.


    Seemed like the second hit was much more effective. ¡°Michael¡± was not dead, but as long as he was out of combat for now, it was good enough.


    The bandit in the middle was not far away either, so Paul just used the same method again and shot.


    No message in the log.


    ¡°Where are you, asshole. Michael, are you OK? Say something¡±


    Paul took aim again, this time a little lower, carefully aligning the radar with the arrow.


    ¡°Aaaah, fuck!!¡± He heard the bandit drop to his knees. ¡°He¡¯s behind us!¡±


    You hit Ryan for 15 damage.


    Ryan is [bleeding].


    Ryan is bleeding for 5 damage.


    Michael is bleeding for 5 damage.


    The third bandit did not say anything, but walked towards Paul¡¯s position. He heard the metallic sound of a sword drawn out of its sheath.


    Paul did not move away after confirming that the third bandit¡¯s direction was slightly off, he was suspecting Paul to be further away. Paul quietly readied his spear after tucking away the bow.


    The unharmed bandit was about 5 meters away from him and obviously sneaking. Without the radar, Paul would not have been able to locate him. He lowered the range of the minimap to the lowest setting and used the same method he used with the bow before. When the bandit was just a meter away, he thrust his spear forward into the direction he was looking. A hit!


    You stabbed Oleg for 15 damage.


    Oleg is [bleeding].


    Oleg is [confused].


    ¡°Argh¡± a rustling sound later Oleg fell to the ground. Having hit all three enemies in the dark, Paul decided to finish Oleg first, as he was closest. He stabbed his spear into the dark where he expected the enemy to be. Miss!


    At the same moment, something hit his shin.


    Oleg hit you for 5 damage. *graze*


    You are [bleeding].


    You are bleeding for 1 damage.


    Ryan is bleeding for 5 damage.


    Michael is bleeding for 5 damage.


    Paul tried not to cry out. Oleg must have swung a sledgehammer or cleaver while swinging wildly into the direction the first attack came from.


    Paul retreated a bit and stabbed again with his spear. He hit something hard. Either armour or bone, Paul could not tell.


    You stabbed Oleg for 10 damage.


    Oleg is bleeding for 3 damage.


    You have stopped [bleeding].


    Silently praising his own regenerative powers. Paul silently stepped to the side, circling Oleg, who was still stabbing and swinging at an invisible enemy.


    ¡°Oleg! Michael! What the fuck is going on?!¡± Ryan seemed to be disoriented. He could not be blamed, the situation was surreal.


    Paul grabbed the spear with both hands and thrust it forward as hard as he could.


    You stabbed Oleg for 30 damage. *crit*


    Oleg is [unconscious].


    Ryan is bleeding for 5 damage.


    Michael is bleeding for 5 damage.


    Michael is [unconscious].


    Oleg is bleeding for 3 damage.


    Michael and Ryan were bleeding profusely. While Michael was already out and just bleeding to death, Ryan was still kicking and shouting.


    ¡°Asshole! Coward! Don¡¯t think you can fuck with us and go unpunished!¡±


    Paul was thankful for his shouting, it made it easy for him to locate Ryan and masked his own approach at the same time.


    ¡°Did you run away?! Ha! We will find you, and then we will skin you! And the same goes for-urgh!¡±


    You have hit Ryan for 40 damage. *fatal crit*


    Ryan has died.


    You have gained 80 XP.


    Paul had aimed for where the noise came from and thrust down hard. Easy as stealing candy from a baby. Except that no one would steel drooled on candy from a baby.


    Paul finished off Michael, then Oleg. It was more a formality because they would have bled to death anyway.


    Oleg has died.


    You have gained 80 XP.


    For successfully overpowering a group of enemies in near total darkness, only trusting your 6th sense, you have gained the skill [Night Vision].


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Superneat! Paul had at some point expected to gain a title Bunny-Butcherer or Snake-Killer while hunting with Marcus, but this was actually an achievement that felt like he had earned it, yet it was totally unexpected.


    [Night Vision: Beginner Level 1, 0%]


    Active: Ability to gain better vision in dark environments at the expense of mana. At higher levels, effects becomes stronger and mana consumption is reduced.


    He had also acquired the [Sneak] skill, which was basically silent movement. He wondered why it took so long for him to get it, but allocated one of his two remaining skill points to learn it. It seemed useful in a variety of situations.


    Paul could have sworn he heard his overpowered-ness rise while reading the description.


    Paul activated the skill and closed the menu. He felt a strange sensation in his eyes as he looked around. He saw nothing. Looking at the sky, he could see the stars, so his vision was still there, but the ground was nearly black. Looking at the interface, he saw a small bar saying [Night Vision] underneath his health and stamina bar, indicating that the skill was in fact active.


    He stared at the spot where he expected late Oleg¡¯s remains. Pitch black.


    ¡°Fuck! I finally gained a good skill and it is bugged!¡±


    He carefully fumbled around in the dark, searching for whatever weapon Oleg had hit him with. He found Oleg¡¯s extended arm, and we he followed it with his hand, he found the grip of a weapon nearby. Picking it up, he was disappointed again.


    So damn light! Paul confirmed it to be a very short sword, or a large dagger, depending on the perspective. He didn¡¯t bother checking the info for now and continued searching Oleg for valuables. He did not find any rings or a necklace, but his hands became sticky somehow. He went down towards Oleg¡¯s belt, searching for a purse or similar. The only thing attached to the belt was the sheath for the sword.


    He fumbled around in the dark until he had opened the belt and removed it. After some more fumbling, he was able to put the sword in the sheath and fastened the belt around his own waist, avoiding having to carry it around.


    Only having the minimap and his memory to rely on, it took him quite some time finding Michael¡¯s corpse. Michael had a small purse with some coins and a dagger attached to his belt. He started getting a headache from the terrible loot and his useless new skill. Trying to avoid fumbling around again, he just took the money out of the coin purse to put it into his own pouch. At least that was the plan, because when he tried to open his pouch, half the coins slipped from his hand into the tall grass. Compared to his somewhat epic fight earlier, this was total slapstick. Paul¡¯s headache got worse. He unfastened the sheathed dagger and tucked it into his belt.


    After finding the last deceased bandit and searching halfway through Ryan¡¯s belongings he felt like his head was splitting open from the headache. At least it had gotten a tiny bit brighter and he was able to distinguish between grass and corpse, as long as he knew that there was a corpse. The problem was the headache, which had gotten so bad that he could not even concentrate anymore.


    His health was still full, although he was gradually loosing stamina now. He also saw that the [Night Vision] was still running. He opened the [Menu] to close it, which was quite tricky with the splitting headache. After disabling the skill, he checked the character screen and found that his mana had gotten down to 1/75. To pain was likely a side effect of mana depletion. It also did not stop after disabling the skill, but Paul did not care at this point. He crawled a few meters away from the dead bandits, lay down into the grass and closed his eyes.


    He only woke up hours later. He immediately got up and looked around. He was still next to the river with a bunch of bandits nearby. He was lucky, because the sky was already getting bright and it would not be long and the sun would rise. He was finally able to take a proper look at the ¡°battlefield¡±.


    Michael had an arrow sticking out of his grown. ¡°Looks like a bad case of morning wood¡± Paul said to himself before chuckling from his own bad joke. Paul stopped smiling after remembering that had deliberately enlarged that ¡°target area¡± when adjusting his new body. No wonder the poor guy was out after being hit like that in the dark.


    The arrow that penetrated Ryan was sticking out of his upper thigh. Considering Ryan had bled as much as Michael, it had probably ruptured a major blood vessel.


    Paul crawled over to Michael¡¯s body and looked through the grass. He had dropped some coins there, and tried to find them. He noticed a lot of blood on his hands and looked down on his body.


    Paul felt like he was going to get a headache again. He had touched all over the bodies while searching for loot, and had unknowingly smeared blood all over himself. Luckily his armour was black, so the stains did not show. He cursed his own stupidity and went back to search for loot again.


    He did find a few copper coins and a small silver coin after a few minutes, and tucked them away. The armour Michael was wearing looked good enough, so he unfastened the straps and took it off him. It was inferior to the black armour he was already wearing, but should fetch a couple silver coins, especially as it was nearly free of blood stains.


    After confirming that there was nothing else to be had from dead Michael, he went to look through Ryan¡¯s things. He found that Ryan actually had a sword and he was wearing a thin, black cloak. The cloak was probably full of blood as well, but it could not easily be seen because of the colour. The dead bandit had nothing else of note on him.


    Paul checked the last body and found that apart from the sword he had already taken, the badit had worn an iron plate that was strapped to his chest and only covered the area over his heart. He considered leaving it behind, but decided against it. Unfortunately, the arrows that missed were nowhere to be found, and the ones that hit were crusted in blood. He decided to leave them behind.


    The sun was starting to rise and he assumed that the bandit party was soon to be missed by their friends. He decided on a somewhat risky cause of action. He dragged the dead bandits to the river, undid his belts, quiver, shoes, armour and everything else that was not soaked in blood, then stepped into the water. He then walked a few meters into the river and confirmed that he was far enough from the bridge to be out of sight. One after the other, he pulled the bandits into the water and sunk them.


    The bodies were still fresh, so they did not float. If the other bandits came looking, they might overlook the spot here. It had not much meaning, but in the end he did want to wash himself anyway and with the bodies missing, the others bandits might assume that the search party ran into a guard patrol or something, or simply deserted.


    He collected his stuff and quickly walked along the river, towards the bridge. He had wrapped his spoils into the cloak and was hoping that he would not be searched. He had considered telling the guards about the bandits and collecting the bounty. He was afraid of becoming a suspect himself though. Last time, there were several witnesses, including a merchant. A known bandit was among the corpses, and it happened on a frequented road.


    This time, there were only three lightly armed guys and everything happened in the wilderness. One of them had an arrow shot into the back. Add no other witnesses, and the story might be twisted around so that Paul comes under suspicion of being a bandit himself or in league with them somehow.


    It might be paranoia, but he did not want to take chances.


    He approached the bridge from behind a slope and stashed his spoils, still wrapped in the cape, in a hard to see location. Unless you knew they were there, you would probably not find them. He only kept the dagger for now. He then passed over the bridge and greeted the guard, who was on duty again. He told a brief story about a failed hunt and went into the city.


    After washing himself properly at the inn and bandaging his leg, he looked over his current belongings. His clothes looked terrible. There were lots of washed out but clearly visible bloodstains all over his shirt, and grass stains, blood and a cut on his pants.


    He had checked his purse and found that he had picked up two small silver coins, several big copper coins and some small ones. Together with his previous funds, he had 13 small silver coins, 9 big copper coins and around 20 small ones.


    His spear and bow were actually quite OK, but he was down to 5 arrows.


    He grabbed the newly acquired dagger and his money, had a quick breakfast downstairs and then headed to the market square.

 Chapter 11: Raiding Preparations

    Chapter 11: Raiding Preparations


    At the market square, he visited a merchant stall that mostly dealt with leather products. With help from the merchant, he found was he was looking for.


    A pair of pants, made of sturdy linen, with lots of leather reinforcements. And the base colour was black, so they matched his armour and would not show bloodstains easily. They did in fact only have little protective value, because the material was relatively soft, but what they lacked in defence, they made up in badass value.


    The price was reasonable, and after some haggling Paul paid 2 silver and 50 copper for them, after agreeing to buy a pair of matching boots for another 1 silver and 50 copper. He then went to a tailors stall and bought a linen shirt and a hooded woollen cloak, which was waterproof to a degree, at least according to the guy who sold it. Paul did not want to look like a poor man¡¯s dark knight, so he opted for the dark brown variant. Altogether, he spent 6 silver on clothes, but quality wise it felt like a good deal.


    He went to the armour smith and bought a pair of shin guards that he could comfortably wear under his pants. After trading in the dagger, he only paid 1 silver for them. Some other protective gear may have been more practical but after his most recent injury, they ended up on his shopping list.


    He also bought a large linen bag and a big backpack, which was more like a square basket with straps. But it was large enough to transport a small person in it and relatively cheap. He also bought a water bag. The bags and straps were relatively cheap, he paid 60 copper for all of it.


    Paul also spent 30 coppers on rations. A bit of dried meat, cheese and dark bread. They were only meant for emergencies, as he did not plan to journey far away.


    The last stop on his shopping trip was the fletcher, were he bought a dozen arrows for 4 silver coins. The arrows were so expensive that he wanted to cry, but after even after haggling the merchant did not concede. At least they had a high quality, but he still felt like he was robbed. Paul now regretted not having retrieved his arrows earlier.


    He then went back to the inn. It was still before lunch when he entered his room. He closed the window blinds and darkened the rum further by hanging his blanket over them.


    He then activated the [Night Vision] skill. It barely made difference, if any. But his decreasing mana pool and slowly increasing skill level showed that it was working. He had activated the skill outside, but his vision became slightly blurry and even after 5 minutes there was no increase in his skill.


    The room was not completely dark to begin with, so he could still make out most of the things in the room. He took out his whetstone and started sharpening his spear and knife in the dark room.


    When he started getting the first signs of a headache, he deactivated the skill and checked his mana.


    It was still at 15/75, so it seemed that mana depletion started to have an effect at 20% and below.


    Regeneration was painfully slow, so he decided to go out and eat lunch instead of idling in his room. Emptying 80% of his mana took less than 10 minutes, regenerating took at least 4 times as long.


    He went back to his room after he had regenerated all of his mana, and restarted the procedure.


    While taking a break he washed his clothes in the backyard, or spent time strolling around the market square. He tried to raise his sneaking skill by moving as silently as possible across the room, but progress was slow if no one around cared if he was loud or not. Each time his mana pool was full, he activated his [Night Vision] and tried to make out details in the dark.


    After his skill hit level 3, it started making a notable difference. It was still nowhere near being able to read or make out finer details, but he could actually make out the small gaps on the floor between the wooden planks, while he could not see them with his normal vision.


    While taking his strolls outside, he was disappointed that after seeing the male cat person on his first day, no other mystic races crossed his path. No elves, fairies or beast-kin were seen within town. Even the blacksmiths were all humans, not dwarves. He wanted to ask someone about it, but no one came to mind.


    It was late afternoon when he went out of the city and back to the spot where he had stashed the swords and armour in the morning. He packed everything into his new ¡°backpack basket¡± and went back after taking a short stroll to the place where the fight with the bandits had occurred. He checked for fresh footprints and other signs of recent activity, but could not make out anything. Paul assumed that the bandits had no idea that the search party had been killed off as well.


    He then went back to the city and stashed the items in his room. He planned to take the short sword with him. It was fairly inconspicuous, light and easy to wield, even though he did not have the [Swords] skill. After training his [Night Vision] again, he sharpened the short sword, put it on his belt and went out of the city, heading towards the hills in the East.


    He had seen the direction the three bandits had taken last night, so he could now make a more precise guess as to where the mine was located. From the bridge, he headed straight towards the hills, without any detours or other conception. After 40 min, he was near the forest edge. He stashed his backpack near a dead tree that could be easily remembered and snuck into the forest. From here on, he tried to move as silently and hidden as possible. It was still bright, but under the canopy it was dark enough to train his [Night Vision] skill.


    Paul assumed that the bandits would probably send another search party. If he could further thin out their numbers, there was no negative side to it. He went deeper into the forest and finally found a path leading in the direction of a large hill in the centre of the area. It was no more than a trail in an area that was especially densely overgrown, but with his experience so far, he could make out clear signs of regular travel.


    Paul tried to go around the vegetation to avoid having to travel on the trail directly, but it was a pain and riddled with detours. If the vegetation was a dense everywhere around the place, it was no wonder that the town guard did not bother checking this place on their search for the hideout.


    Paul gave up on finding an alternative route for now, he might be able to climb the hill and descent on the other side, but he would be less hidden than if he just followed the trail by himself. At least the likelihood of someone approaching from an unexpected direction was small.


    He went to the start of the trail and followed it through the deep part of the forest. After 15 minutes, he finally saw some red dots on the radar. There were only two and they were not moving away from their position. Either guards at the entrance or lookouts on the way to the hideout, Paul concluded. Either way, he was close now.


    Paul decided to stick to the initial plan. He retreated for now, and went back to where he found the start of the path and then hid himself around 40 meters away behind some shrubbery.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    If he had some effective way of doing so, he would have trapped the area, but he doubted that the bandits would fall for a simple snare. Humans were a difficult prey after all. Paul frowned as his own thoughts and was reminded of when he killed the young bandit that had begged for his life. Paul would not hesitate to kill someone in self-defence, young or old, male or female. As long as they wanted to attack him, he would take them out.


    Of course he was broadening the meaning of self-defence here. He was practically a home-invader and planning to strike first. But he was invading bandits and had the moral advantage of being able to determine via the minimap if someone would attack on sight or not, at least he would not lose sleep over it that way. Probably.


    He shook of the thoughts and started practising his [Night Vision], which was still only at beginner level 3, 25%, so level 4 was far away. When his mana went down to 50%, he cancelled [Night Vision] to regenerate his mana reserves. During the break, he picked up an old piece of a broken branch, basically a dry stick. He started carving it to raise his carpentry level.


    He wanted to carve something like a figurine. With no experience in sculpting, he ended up just sharpening one end and removing the remaining dead bark from the wood. It did not raise his carpentry level either. He turned on [Night Vision], to take a look and saw small insects crawling around the wood. Paul then quickly threw the sharpened stick as far into the forest as he could while cancelling [Night Vision] again.


    He regretted ever learning carpentry. Now that he could buy things in the town, he suspected it never being useful again.


    ¡°What can I do out here? How do people cope with camping?¡± Paul had heard of professional snipers who lay in wait hidden for days, not even standing up to pee, only waiting for one good opportunity to shoot. ¡°Definitely no job for me.¡±


    He checked his notes and the diary. Today was day 46 in this world. [Bought a nice leather outfit and a cape. Have not figured out how to wear the quiver over the cape correctly, looks weird. Carved a stick. Carpentry sucks.]


    He was hoping he had something to write down regarding the bandit hideout later, but for now there was not much use to it.


    He looked over his stats and skills.


    Level 6


    Experience 1105, 61%


    ¡­


    [Carpentry] Beginner Level 2, 78%


    [Leatherworking] Beginner Level 5, 75%


    [Spear-type Weapons] Beginner Level 5, 55%


    [Bows] Beginner Level 3, 48%


    [Resilience] Beginner Level 3, 28%


    [Sense Surroundings] Beginner Level 3, 79%


    [Healer] Beginner Level 2, 15%


    [Night Vision] Beginner Level 3, 29%


    [Trapping] Beginner Level 4, 38%


    [Sneak] Beginner Level 1, 2%


    His experience and combat skills made good progress after the fight yesterday. And the new [Night Vision] skill was easy to train, but the advantage it provided was barely noticeable at best for now.


    If Paul was careless, he would get a bad headache from the mana depletion, so it could even be a bit dangerous.


    Paul thought over his plan for attacking the bandit patrol he was expecting to come out soon. Calling it a plan was a long stretch, he would just rely on his skills and the minimap again. Attack in the dark, first with a bow, then with a spear. Sneak around in between. He hoped for enough loot to make up for any arrows he would lose. The end.


    It was still bright enough for some light to be breaking through the canopy, and in fact it looked beautiful when Paul took a closer look. The forest floor was already covered in dark shadows though. With the [Night Vision] he could at least make out the trees, which would be important if he planned to shoot arrows around in the dark.


    Finally, a red dot appeared on the radar, then another one and another one. All together there were 6 dots moving in a line along the trail. Paul gulped. He should have expected a larger group, and in fact he should feel lucky that it was only six. He was waiting in a position they would probably not pass by if they moved towards the river, so Paul could just let them pass by and wait for another opportunity. Perhaps they would split up at some point. But the forest was already dark, he was around 50 meters away and there were a lot of hiding places around, so he should be able to flee if he felt at a disadvantage either way.


    Paul decided to stay and fight. If he fled all the time, it would be of no use. He had stashed away some of the gear he found yesterday and his old clothes, so he wouldn¡¯t even have to run around naked for long if he died here.


    While Paul was motivating himself, the group of bandits got closer to the end of the trail. He waited for them to come out, bow and arrow readied.


    Then Paul saw something, and smiled. There was a faint light coming from the dense forest, slowly brightening. When the first bandit came out, it was confirmed: they were carrying torches.


    Now Paul was confident he could win. When the first three bandits were in view, Paul picked up out a target. A bandit, wearing a bow. He was not wearing armour, so no matter how he hit him, it would probably take him out. The first bandit was carrying a torch, the following two were not.


    Bandit #4 came into view and was also carrying a torch.


    Paul was about to shoot the archer, when he reconsidered. If he attacked now, the bandits would certainly run back and get reinforcements, or barricade themselves in the mine. He might be able to kill a few off, but that¡¯s it. Afterwards the situation would be much more disadvantageous.


    He lowered the bow. That has been a close call, he nearly did something stupid. Well, the worst case would be to tell the guards where the hideout is, but he would not get experience and would not be able to loot the place by himself.


    He let the bandits pass, then followed them from a distance of about 80 meters. He was wearing his cloak and did not use any lights, so the bandits should not be able to see him. He concentrated on being walking quietly and a quick check told him that this was enough to raise the [Sneak] skill, although he was not perfectly silent.


    The bad lighting conditions made it harder for him to follow, but the bandits were talking among themselves and rather noisy, so it was not a problem.


    After they had walked for about 10 minutes with Paul following at a steady distance, he decided to catch up. He tried not to alert them to his presence and got as close as 50 meters, then 40 meters.


    He could see the bandits through the trees from time to time. When they came to an area that was somewhat less blocked by trees, Paul decided to start his attack. He hid himself behind some shrubbery, laid down his spear next to him and readied his bow. This time, he did not really care who he took out. It was getting darker rapidly, so he had a definite advantage. Just wounding the enemy would be enough for now.


    Paul shot his arrow at the bandit walking at the rear.

 Chapter 12: Sneak Attack

    Author''s note: Heya, thanks to everyone following the story. I know it''s lacking, but I''m trying my best and I have a lot of fun writing. I don''t really understand why chapter 7 has less views than chapter 8, but let''s leave it at that. ^^


    Chapter 12: Sneak Attack


    ¡°Argh, fuck!¡± The arrow hit the bandit walking in the back in his shoulder from the back.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on there?¡±


    ¡°Arrow! Someone shot Zac from behind¡±


    You hit Zac for 18 damage. *sneak attack*


    Zac is [confused].


    Jordan is [confused].


    Vincent is [confused].


    Apparently the attack came unexpected enough that several of the bandits got confused from the sudden shouting. Paul shot another arrow, picking one of the bandits at random.


    You hit Jordan for 40 damage. *crit*


    Jordan is [unconscious].


    He hit one bandit who was looking around into the darkness straight in the head. He dropped to the floor like a puppet. The bandits started scattering and hid behind the trees. It didn¡¯t seem like they knew how to react to the sudden attack out of nowhere. Paul heard them nervously arguing among themselves.


    One of the bandits seemed to have guessed the direction of the attack incorrectly and leaned to a tree while being illuminated by the light from the torches, in plain sight of Paul. Paul shot at him.


    You hit Aidan for 10 damage.


    Aidan is [bleeding].


    Aidan is bleeding for 3 damage.


    ¡°I¡¯m hit¡± the bandit cryed out and cowered on the floor, out of Paul¡¯s sight. One of the bandits was smart enough to drop the torch he was carrying on the ground, and the surrounding wood and leaves started to burn, creating smoke. How irresponsible.


    Paul could not find see another of the bandits right now, so he readied his bow and waited. According to the minimap all of them were still hiding around the place of the initial attack.


    Paul then saw one of the bandits slowly crouching towards the downed Jordan. He released the arrow and it penetrated deep into the bandit¡¯s stomach from the side.


    You hit Justice for 20 damage.


    Justice is [bleeding].


    Justice is [confused].


    Justice is bleeding for 5 damage.


    Good hit. Justice struck Paul as a superbly inappropriate name for a bandit.


    ¡°Aaahh¡­¡± Justice let out a high pitched cry before collapsing on the floor, hands holding the area where the arrow had struck. Paul could make out some long hair when the hood the bandit was wearing came off. Seemed like Justice was actually a girl.


    ¡°Asshole! Come out and fight like a man!¡± One of the bandits started shouting in Paul¡¯s direction.


    Then an arrow struck a tree a few meters next to Paul. Someone was taking shots at him, but seemingly without knowing his exact location.


    Paul didn¡¯t want to stress his luck. The first stage of the attack went well. He picked up his spear, activated [Night Vision] and snuck a bit back, then circled around the group of bandits and got closer again. In less than a minute he had changed location.


    He deactivated [Night Vision] again to conserve mana. The bandit he had hit earlier, Aidan, was still cowering on the floor and visible in the torch light. He now had the [scared] debuff as well and had already lost a third of his health. One shot later he was [unconscious] and near death. The others seemingly failed to even notice.


    With three bandits left, Paul decided to wait before engaging in melee. He wasn¡¯t that confident of his fighting skills. Then one of the red dots started to fall back from the group. He steadily moved towards the direction facing away from Paul¡¯s initial position. Paul spotted the guy and shot an arrow at him, but hit a tree next to him.


    The bandit froze in his tracks and jumped behind the tree. One of the others seemed to have heard the impact and guessed Paul¡¯s position from the position of the arrow.


    ¡°He is over there! Come out asshole, you have nowhere to hide!¡± a blatant lie, there were plenty of places to hide and Paul had no intention of coming out. The two other dots moved a little and one of moving in a zigzag route towards him. Then another arrow flew by close to Paul.


    Paul slowly snuck back away, away from the bandits, then a little to the side. When he was a dozen meters away, he observed his minimap. The one bandit who was sneaking away earlier had started to move again. He was probably thinking about deserting, but had not finally decided yet and just wanted to get a bit of a distance.


    The bandit who shot at him earlier was still close to his wounded companions, while the one that shouted was slowly approaching Paul¡¯s position. He was still a good 30 meters away, but Paul didn¡¯t like it. He fell back a bit further into the darkness and waited. If the one guy ran away it might cause a problem, but so far it looked he would run out of the forest.


    The guy who had come looking for Paul was silently quietly moving around the area, but Paul did not see him. After a few minutes the guy walked back to his friends in a straight line, he had probably given up the search. Aidan had passed away, yielding Paul 65 XP.


    The archer was had moved to the same spot as the Justice girl and was probably trying to stop the bleeding. Justice had fallen [unconscious] and was periodically loosing health. The last bandit had joined the others again.


    Paul decided to circle around the bandits, back to his initial position. He could see the archer kneeling next to the female bandit, pressing his hands against the wound and talking to the guy with the arrow in his shoulder. The last bandit was standing a few meters behind them and had picked up a torch, the other torch was nowhere to be seen and had probably been snuffed or died.


    Those bandits were in a bad situation, without the light from the torch they could not see a thing, so they kept it burning even though it gave away their position. It was of course perfect for Paul, so he pulled another arrow out from his quiver. The most dangerous foe was probably the one who decided to actively search for him, so he shot an arrow at him, trying to hit his legs.


    He did not have as much luck as before, and the arrow passed by the bandit. It was technically not a ¡°miss¡± though.


    You hit Justice for 15 damage.


    Justice has died.


    You have gained 65 XP.


    Whoops. All of the bandits looked at the arrow, then into Paul¡¯s direction. The archer kneeling next to the girl stood up and shouted towards Paul. ¡°You bastard! Fucking Coward!¡± He drew a dagger from his belt and started running towards Paul. Not good.


    ¡°Oy! Wait up!¡± The guy with the arrow followed him, the last one dropped the torch and ran in the opposite direction. Seemed like he finally lost what little courage he had remaining.


    Paul quickly shouldered his bow and held his bow ready. He also activated [Night Vision]. The better vision did not really let him see in the dark, but he could make out shapes and it made a difference. His enemies were definitely at a disadvantage.


    The archer ran towards Paul, wildly swinging his dagger at branches. He bumped against a tree he had not noticed and nearly lost his balance a few times from the uneven terrain, but he got the direction right and continued to charge forward. The other bandit was obviously more careful, but followed with a sword in his hand.


    Paul took a step to the side, so the dagger-swinging archer was charging straight at him, and thrust his spear forward as hard as he could as soon as he got into his reach. The momentum from the charge and the perfect angle resulted in a spectacularly effective hit to the bandit¡¯s chest.


    You stabbed Sam for 70 damage. *fatal crit*


    Sam has died.


    You have gained 80 XP.


    The spear penetrated so deep into the bandit¡¯s chest that Paul had to let it go. The other bandit stopped after hearing Sam crying out and the sound of his body falling to the ground. Paul stepped a few meters to the side and readied his bow once again. This time he actually hit the bandit in the leg.


    You hit Zac for 10 damage.


    ¡°Argh¡­¡± Zac fell on his knee. Paul considered trying to take him alive and interrogate him, but he expected his chances to gain information to be slim. He was basically the bad guy right now and had attacked them unprovoked.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Hey, bandit. Give up and I will spare your life¡± Paul decided to try anyway.


    ¡°What!? Who are you?¡± The bandit Zac was obviously in pain. He had no debuff, but could not stand up.


    ¡°I can kill you right now. Drop your weapon and give up¡± Paul was already pointing an arrow at him, but Zac could not see him in the dark.


    ¡°If you want to kill me so badly, just do it already, asshole. Urg¡­¡± Zac was trying to stand up.


    Paul had considered knocking him out, but did not know how to do so without getting dangerously close. Darkness or not, Zac looked strong and had a sword. If he hit Paul, it would seriously injure him, and so far had come out of this fight unharmed.


    Paul took quietly a few steps forward and shot Zac in the head from up close. ¡°I will grant your wish then¡­¡±


    You hit Zac for 50 damage. *fatal crit*


    Zac has died.


    You have gained 80 XP.


    Paul then walked over to the place where the other dead bandits where. Two were already dead and the third one, Jordan, had an arrow stuck in his head and was slowly loosing health. It didn¡¯t look like he would recover without surgery or magic and even then, brain damage was probably not an easy the injury to cure. Paul decided to leave him there for now and picked up the torch that was still burning.


    He started to search the bodies for loot, which he stuffed into the large bag he bought earlier. This time he made sure to recover his arrows as well. Some arrowheads were slightly bent or chipped, but he should be able to use them again.


    The dead Justice was wearing some nice looking leather pants. They were reinforced at several placed and even had metal kneecaps. He pulled the dead girl over and saw that she was rather pretty, even as a corpse. No wonder the archer got so angry after Paul killed her off. He then tried to pull off the pants and noticed that the girl had obviously not been wearing anything underneath.


    Paul was feeling a weird temptation and decided to put the pants back on to her. He certainly did not want to be known as the ¡°Necrophilia Ninja¡± or something. After making sure she was neatly dressed, he went on to search the other bandits.


    The spoils were OK. The armour Zac had been wearing was punctured from the arrow to his shoulder and there was some blood on it, but it was overall in good condition. One of the bandits was wearing leather armguards, which fitted Paul nicely. He also found a necklace, probably made out of copper, two coin purses, a deck of unfamiliar playing cards and a bag with what looked like very hard cookies. One of the bandits had been wearing a rucksack with what looked like camping utensils: a large waterproof sheet, a few thin blankets and what Paul assumed were a steel and flint stone to start a fire.


    From the looks of it, they were dispatched as a raiding party.


    The weapons and equipment was worse than from the time they encountered the bandits on the road to Prozor: one long sword, two short swords, a spear and a bow that was not as good as Paul¡¯s. He also found a few knives and daggers on the belts of the bandits.


    All of the bandits were wearing leather cuirasses, but while they were sturdy, they were inferior to the armour they took from the highwaymen. The swordman guy Zac actually had the only comparable armour.


    [Leather Cuirass


    Defence 5


    Durability 18/20


    Leather Armour (chest)


    Thin armour protecting the chest and back. Made of sturdy leather. Has some blood on it.]


    [Leather Armour


    Defence 8 (-1)


    Durability 18/25


    Leather Armour (chest)


    Decently made armour. Well used but not well maintained. Is a little worn out. Has been punctured by an arrow. The inside of the armour has soaked up blood around the puncture.]


    Paul packed up everything usable inside of the bag. All of the bandits were wearing simple clothes and furs or leather wrapped around their feet for shoes.


    After looking through the combat log, Paul determined the name of the deserted bandit to be Vincent. His name showed up when he got [confused] in the very beginning, but did not show up again later on.


    He dragged the dead corpses to a spot surrounded by shrubbery a dozen meters away and threw one of the blankets over them. If someone went looking for them, they would be found, but he wanted to at least lower the chances a bit.


    The torch he was carrying seemed like it would die soon, so he wandered out of the forest, to bring his spoils to the dead tree were he had left the other things earlier. It was completely dark when he got out of the forest. He found the place with [Night Vision] and started sorting the items. He put all the short swords, daggers, belts and knives into the basket, except for the sturdiest looking knife.


    He also put the rucksack and other small items into the basket.


    He rolled the large weapons, the remaining knife and the bag with cookies up in the large waterproof sheet, as well as all of the armour.


    He still had no idea how to explain how those items came into his possession without telling the guards that he was hunting bandits. It was not necessarily a bad thing to do so, but Paul still wanted to clear the bandits¡¯ hideout alone did not want to trigger a new search effort by the town guard.


    Paul shouldered the full and heavy basket and headed back to the town. He could make camp outside, but why not use his paid-for room at the inn?


    After crossing the bridge, Paul he talked to the familiar guard.


    ¡°Heya Frank. Still bored?¡±


    ¡°Hi Paul. Yes, nothing happening here. I wonder how long the lord will keep us stationed here.¡±


    ¡°I got this deck of playing cards from at the market this morning. He threw it in to sweeten the deal, but I don¡¯t have anyone to play with. Wanna have it?¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you. I can take it off your hands, but it wouldn¡¯t look good if I encouraged the others here to play while on duty. Have to stay a good role-model for the younger fellas¡± Frank, the guard, said the last sentence with a proud undertone, but took the set of cards at the same time.


    ¡°By the way, there was a person running past me in the dark earlier, headed in this direction. Did someone come through here? Struck me as a little strange, did something happen?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ there were a few people hunting in the plains, like every day, but most of them returned while it was still bright. Now that you mention it, there was one guy looking kinda pale who came through here after the sun set. Wouldn¡¯t have paid any attention, but he wasn¡¯t wearing a bow like most hunters, only a short sword. A little odd, but not too unusual.¡±


    ¡°OK, it¡¯s none of my business anyway. I¡¯m just probably still nervous because of those bandits who tried to rob us when I travelled here with Marcus, but if you say it is nothing unusual, I feel relieved. You have more a better eye for those things than I have¡±


    ¡°Take care anyway. There have been no reports of bandit activity on the other side of the river, but that does not mean it¡¯s safe. Always watch your back. If you see anything suspicious, make sure to report it¡± Frank said so to Paul. It did not sound like he suspected Paul of doing anything, it was probably just well-meant concern.


    ¡°And if you ever want to work for the guard, just go see the captain at the headquarters. Marcus and Jonas are still known here, and I can feel you are suited for the job. It¡¯s not very thrilling to be honest, but most of the time it is pretty safe and you get a stable income.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ thanks for the offer. I will keep it in mind for the future, but I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m good enough for the job yet, compared to guys like you, Jonas or Marcus.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry, the instructor will whip you into shape. Honestly, if you can hold a sword at the right end and can follow orders, I don¡¯t see why they would turn you down.¡±


    ¡°I will think about it. See you then, I¡¯ll head back to town. Thanks for keeping Prozor safe!¡± Paul had no intention of joining the guard. Standing around all day doing nothing was a dreadful thought for him.


    After entering the inn, he saw a lone guy sitting in the community room, short sword strapped to his belt and eating the trademark bland stew.


    [Vincent


    Human


    Level 8]

 Chapter 13: Informant

    Author''s note: The end of the "bandit arc" is close. If anyone has a suggestion for a small intermission or "filler chapter" (like the ever-popular visit at the hot springs), tell me and I will seriously consider adding it.


    Chapter 13: Informant


    Paul hurried upstairs and stashed the backpack in his room, then went down and requested his dinner from the innkeeper.


    Vincent was still sitting at the table with his stew in front of him and staring off into space. He was a young man in his twenties, a little older than Paul in his current body. Paul approached him and spoke up in a friendly tone.


    ¡°Good evening! Mind if I take a seat at your table?¡± When Vincent did not respond immediately, Paul placed his bowl on the table, on the opposite side of Vincent, and quickly took a seat. ¡°Have not seen you here before. New resident? My name is Paul¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m Vin, and sorry, but I¡¯m not in the mood for talking¡± Vincent took a brief look at the smiling Paul, then got back to staring into his stew.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, you must be tired from the journey. Didn¡¯t mean to intrude. I¡¯m just a poor traveller, so I thought you we could get to know each other over a mug of mead or something. My treat¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t swing that way¡± Vincent replied without looking up.


    Paul was embarrassed ¡°Heh? No no no, I just mean share some stories.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡±, Vin didn¡¯t look up. Paul did not know if that sound meant yes or no to the mead, but at least he was not hostile. Considering that he had just lost all of his companions to an unseen attacker, his behaviour seemed pretty much understandable.


    Paul decided not to initiate any more talking for now and quietly ate his stew. He finished even before Vincent, although he was not especially hurrying.


    ¡°Alright, I will go to my room then. Perhaps we¡¯ll see each other again tomorrow. My invitation still stands. Night!¡± Paul stood up.


    ¡°¡­yea¡± Vin¡¯s reply came late.


    Back in his room, Paul finally checked the contents of the bandits¡¯ coin purses. Combined, they contained coins worth 6 silver. He then compared the quality of the swords to the one he was carrying as a back-up weapon, but they weren¡¯t much different to each other, so he decided to just keep the one he was already using.


    At some point, he would go to the market and try to sell the items. With a little luck and care, he might be able to get some information from Vincent as well. Considering he basically abandoned the bandits in the forest and then rented a room here instead of returning, the chances were good that he would be interested in their demise.


    Paul wrapped everything in a blanket and shoved it under his bed, then practised his [Night Vision] skill before falling asleep.


    The next morning, he got up as soon as he could manage. He had breakfast in the community room and supplemented it with cheese he had bought on the market. He ate slowly, waiting for Vin to show up.


    After a while, Vincent came down the stairs. Paul decided to take the initiative and called him over. ¡°Good morning, Vin! Come join me, I have something to talk about.¡±


    Vincent¡¯s face had a little more colour than last night. He didn¡¯t answer, but joined Paul after picking up some bread.


    ¡°Good to see you are looking fitter than yesterday, you looked pretty worn out last night.¡±


    ¡°Oy, don¡¯t say things that others might misunderstand.¡± Vincent started talking. He was indeed less meek than last night.


    ¡°Sorry, of course I just meant you looked tired. So tell me, are you from the area here.¡±


    ¡°Yea, you could say that. I have not been to Prozor very often though, so I can¡¯t be your guide. I¡¯m from a village to the south-west.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not looking for a guide¡± Paul decided to be blunt. He had considered befriending the guy and waiting for him to drop some information, perhaps under the influence of alcohol. This approach was taking far too long though and might not yield the results he wanted, and perhaps Vin would leave town altogether.


    ¡°Let me get to the point. I saw you coming from the forest to the east yesterday, so I think you may have some information I want.¡±


    Paul could have sworn that he saw the colour vanishing from Vin¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ahhh, the look on your face tells me I am right. Don¡¯t worry, this can be a situation where both of us profit. But perhaps we should talk about the details somewhere else, yes?¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ look, I really don¡¯t know what you are talking about¡­¡± Vin was definitely a worse liar than Paul.


    ¡°You cannot fool me, Vincent. If you don¡¯t want to help me out, I can also talk to the guard¡­ or maybe your ¡°old friends¡± in the mine?¡±


    ¡°Shhh, keep your voice down, man! ¡­Look, you said your name was Paul, right? I don¡¯t know what you want from me, or how I could help you, but I¡¯m sure we can figure something out, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can help me¡± Paul realized that he needed to phrase things more carefully after Vin¡¯s look got even more worried than before and quickly added ¡°I just want you to tell me a few things.¡±


    They left the inn together and walked around town. First, Paul wanted to confirm if his suspicions about Vin were right. When there were no other people within earshot, Paul started to question Vin ¡°So, tell me why you ran away from your friends first.¡±


    ¡°Because they were bad people. I¡¯m sure you already know that. I mean, I was prepared from some of the things when I joined, but it got worse over time. Recently, they started taking prisoners, and I mean, just for entertainment¡­ I never understood how the leader could allow that¡­¡± Vin fell silent.


    ¡°Hmm, I see¡­ Then tell me, how large is the group?¡±


    ¡°There are around two dozen people, including those that are currently out in the field. I was part of a group about to head out, but we were attacked in the forest. When we left, there were 6, or no, 7, people left at the base, plus some prisoners. As far as I know, there was a party working south of Prozor, and two nights ago three guys left the base but didn¡¯t show up the next morning, even though they should have. Including the remainders of my group, it is likely that some people have returned to base by now.¡±


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    ¡°Good, that wasn¡¯t too hard, was it? Let me treat you to a meal then, I saw you didn¡¯t finish your breakfast earlier.¡±


    They went to the market square together. Even though Paul had been a little forceful earlier, Vin didn¡¯t seem to hold it against him. While eating some skewered meat, he even told Paul about his former life. It wasn¡¯t too eventful. He was farming out in the fields and then went to Prozor to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Which was why he mostly stayed indoors after he joined the bandits, taking care of the equipment.


    He was approached by a group of young men at the tavern one night, and, impressed by the money they were throwing around, soon was caught up in the banditry business.


    ¡°So, what are your plans from here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually not too sure. I took all of my meagre savings with me when we left base yesterday, so I can survive for some time I guess. I¡¯m sure the group has contacts here in Prozor, so I want to leave as soon as I can. I should probably get back to home village and see how my folks are doing and go back to farming. I honestly just want to get away from all this as quickly as possible.¡±


    To Paul Vincent seemed like a decent guy who just got involved with the wrong people. In fact, if things were different, Paul would probably have made similar decisions, so he couldn¡¯t really blame him. The things he told him so far matched up with Pauls encounters with the bandits, and he felt that Vin was telling him the truth.


    ¡°Hmm, if things don¡¯t work out like you think, you might consider joining a settlement downstream. It¡¯s a bit more than a day from here, a few hours behind the next village from here. Their leader is called Marcus, and he was a former guard here, so better don¡¯t brag about your banditry past. They won¡¯t ask if you don¡¯t want to tell, that much I already know. It is basically just a few fields and shacks, but they are nice people and will certainly welcome someone with a bit of skills.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I will certainly consider it.¡± Vin was smiling.


    They went back to the inn and Paul urged Vin to stay in his room as much as possible for a few days. He even gave him his remaining cheese and dried meat so he didn¡¯t have to leave for lunch. Paul was planning to kill off the last bandits in the mine, and when word of their demise spread in town the bandits¡¯ contacts should lay low as well. Until then he didn¡¯t want Vin to take any unnecessary risks. If Vin was targeted, Paul¡¯s life, or worse, the loot he had stashed in his room, might be in danger as well.


    Paul did some preparations for the upcoming raid on the bandits¡¯ hideout. He packed the rucksack and linen-bag into the large basket-backpack, and filled up his water bag. He also packed the black cloak. It was crusted with blood, but Paul would need it later.


    Preparations were over quickly, so talked to Vin for a while and headed out for lunch. He bought a brush and soap as well as a torch for a few copper coins, then headed back to the inn and cleaned his equipment, the copper ring and necklace to kill some time until dinner.


    When the sun was slowly setting, he


    He considered telling Frank at the bridge about the bandits, but decided not to, so he just made a minimum amount of small talk. Frank seemed to be tired after spending the better part of the night breaking in the deck of cards with some of the other guards after they went back to barracks. Paul told Frank that he planned to camp outside for the night, then headed straight to the forest surrounding the hills in the East.


    Paul stashed the bag pack at the beginning of the hidden trail he had discovered yesterday, lit the torch and went into the deep part of the forest.


    According to Vincent, the mine was a bit further away from the small trail than he had thought, and there were lookouts stationed between the trail and the entrance to the hideout. The part of the forest behind the trail was surrounded by hills and the bandits had mostly cleared it of trees, for firewood and to give the lookouts a better view, so a hidden approach was nearly impossible. Luckily, Vin had given Paul some helpful information. Paul switched into the blood-soaked black cloak and put on the hood. Unlike yesterday, only one red dot showed up on the edge of the radar.


    Paul raised the torch straight above his head while approaching the position of the lookout and the dot switched to yellow. When he was around 50 meters away, Paul shouted out ¡°I have brought gold and jewels¡±. This was not a declaration of his loot, but a parole the bandits had come up with. Paul thought it was pretty silly, but it proved effective, as the red dot on the radar stayed as yellow for now.


    ¡°Oy, man. You¡¯re alone?¡± The lookout asked loudly. Paul walked up to him without saying anything.


    He observed the minimap, but the guard seemed to stay unaware and his indicator stayed yellow. Paul tightened his grip on the spear and without giving the bandit a chance to recognize him as a stranger, stabbed him in the chest as soon as he got close enough. The attack came so unexpected that it counted as a *sneak attack* and Paul quickly finished him off.


    He wasn¡¯t feeling guilty about it. The guard was only ¡°friendly¡± because of the deception, not because he had surrendered.


    He had a rough idea where the entrance to the mine was situated because of the information he had received from Vincent. A few dozen meters further, dots started showing up on the minimap. Paul counted 7 red dots and a couple yellow dots in between.

 Chapter 14: Into the Mine

    Author''s note: WARNING! This chapter contains some graphic sexual descriptions, not suited for minors or people with a faint heart. Neither the author nor the MC do condone unconsensual sex or violence towards helpless captives, but bandits don''t seem to care. The "Mature" tag is there for a reason!


    Chapter 14: Into the Mine


    The entrance to the mine looked dilapidated. Rocks were laying on the ground and a beam was half-blocking the entrance, with nothing but darkness behind it. It looked like the whole thing could collapse at any moment. On closer inspection though, Paul saw that the beam was deliberately put there and had not come down from the ceiling.


    Paul stepped over the rubble, and the torch was illuminating the mineshaft. The shaft was about 2 meters high and wide, and leading into the hill at a small downwards angle. As soon as he stepped inside, the minimap showed the interior of the mine. Convenient.


    The initial shaft went in a straight line for about 50 or 60 meters, and then branched at a T-intersection. To the left was a room with three yellow dots in them, but nothing else showed up on the radar in that direction. To the right were several shafts branching off the main shaft and a few rooms. The first one had two red dots in them, which were not moving. A bit deeper into the mine was another room with two red dots and a yellow one, then a third room with two red dots moving, which were sometimes moving across the room.


    The last enemy appeared rather deep within the mine.


    Paul stealthily moved into the mine, a few meters into it, he decided to kill the torch and continue with only [Night Vision].


    He turned right at the intersection, he would check on the yellow dots to the left later. The main shaft had no illumination. The first room was a barrack, with bedrolls spread around on the floor. Two bandits were sleeping there, perhaps the guards on day shift. Paul did not want to take any risks and finished both off with *sneak attacks* and *fatal crits* before they could even wake up. Easy XP. Paul was getting very close to level 7 now.


    So far the mine was shrouded in darkness, but down the main shaft Paul could see some lights coming out of two rooms with people inside. He waited in the barracks to refill his mana and observe the movements of the bandits within the mine. There were only 5 enemies remaining and Paul realized how lucky he had been. A few days ago there must have been around 15 enemies here, and his mission would have become terribly hard, or even impossible. All of the bandits stayed in the rooms they were in, so Paul went ahead after a couple of minutes.


    He could hear male bandit moaning from behind a heavy curtain in the next room and some wet sounds that gave away what was going on there. He took a glance at the minimap, and confirmed that the two red dots in the room were very close to each other, with the yellow one a bit away. From the looks of it, two bandits were having sex in front of a prisoner. That was just weird, what a bunch of perverts.


    Paul suppressed his welling up curiosity and decided to skip the room for now, instead heading towards the next room. He wanted to avoid having to fight 4 enemies at once, and the two in that room seemed pretty occupied at the moment.


    The next room had no doors and Paul could see crates with equipment on top of them, a few shelves, large sacks and miscellaneous other items. It seemed to be the storeroom slash armoury.


    From around the corner, he could hear a grinding noise and two voices.


    ¡°It¡¯s really nice with fewer people around. Especially Zac and Jordan, they were always snoring so loudly that I nearly forgot how it felt to get a good night of sleep¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that there is less cooking to be done. Look forward to getting a bigger portion of meat tonight, there is lots left¡± the second voice belonged to a female. Paul thought about what to do. The red dots indicated that they would be hostile to him and probably attack on sight. He couldn¡¯t really blame them, he would first attack a stranger in his house as well and ask questions later.


    He could not determine their information without getting a direct look at them, so he had no idea how strong the enemies were, not that levels were an absolute measure. Paul decided to just go ahead and attack. If possible, he would capture them. It would be discrimination if he killed male bandits in their sleeps without regrets and then go out of his way to capture another one alive just because she happened to be a girl. Yes, that was right. Equal treatment for all of them.


    Holding his spear with both hands, Paul stepped into the room. He was still wearing the black cloak, hood over his head. They should at least be hesitating for a few seconds.


    Around the corner, he could see a several items lined up on a table. Daggers, short swords, a wooden shield and a few pieces of what appeared to be leather armour. A person with long, brown hair tied together into a ponytail was sitting on a stool, facing away from Paul and holding something on her knees. Opposite of her was a young man with short hair, also sitting on a stool, sharpening a short sword with a handheld whetstone.


    The young man looked up at Paul with a puzzled expression ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The woman turned her head towards Paul, and Paul swung the blunt end of his spear to the back of her head if all of his strength. Smack!


    You hit Elisabeth for 10 damage.


    Elisabeth is [dazed].


    The young woman let out a small cry and fell off the stool and onto the ground.


    The man stood up and wielded the sword he was sharpening a moment ago. From the looks of it, he wasn¡¯t wearing any armour.


    Paul still had his spear raised from the swing earlier, so he stabbed the blunt end of the spear into the centre of the man¡¯s chest.


    You hit Brian for 5 damage.


    ¡°Urgh¡± the bandit stumbled a few steps backwards, kicking away the stool he was sitting on and nearly losing his balance. Paul took a step towards him and stabbed his spear against his head in a similar attack.


    The bandit fell backwards and hit his head against a crate.


    You hit Brian for 10 damage.


    Brian is [dazed].


    Brian took 20 damage from environment.


    Brian is [bleeding].


    Brian is [unconscious].


    Brian is bleeding for 2 damage.


    The bandit had lost half of his health and lay rested against the crate, blood slowly trickling down his neck.


    Paul took a look at the girl now. She was holding both her hands against the back of her head and moaning in pain from the blow earlier. Paul could have easily taken her out. While wondering what to do with her, she looked up at him.


    ¡°What the-¡° she started speaking.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make a sound. If you make a wrong move, I will kill you. Nod if you understand¡± Paul quickly turned around his spear and pointed the tip close to her face.


    Elizabeth is [confused].


    Elizabeth is [scared].


    She meekly nodded and her red dot turned yellow on the radar.


    [Elizabeth


    Human


    Level 6]


    She had the [confused] and [scared] debuff, but was no longer [dazed]. Paul took a quick look around the room. The leather armour and a rag she was holding earlier were laying on the ground next to her. Her buddy Brian was still out. The minimap showed that the other enemies in the mine were still behaving as before, so no one seemed to have noticed.


    ¡°Keep your hands on your head, else you will regret it¡± Paul picked up the rag. It was oily and smelled, the girl had used it to polish and maintain the armour. There was some thin rope on a nearby shelf, and Paul picked grabbed it as well.


    ¡°Sit up, keep your hands on your head¡± Paul grabbed her by the elbow and lifted her of the ground. Elizabeth listened so far. She looked up at him with teary eyes. Paul was not sure if it was from the blow, or fear, or a mix of both.


    He held the rag in front of her face ¡°Open your mouth. If you listen, I won¡¯t hurt you¡± Paul immediately felt bad about his phrasing, but the female bandit obeyed. He shoved the rag into her mouth, then used the rope to first tie the girl¡¯s hands behind her back, then cut off a separate piece of rope and wrapped it around her face, so she couldn¡¯t spit out the rag anymore.


    ¡°Take care not to swallow the cloth, you will suffocate¡±


    He also tied the girl¡¯s knees feet together. She was now only [scared] and a few tears had run down her cheeks. While Paul was tying her up, memories of Japanese pay-sites and nights with some of the more pricey prostitutes came to mind, but Paul shook off those thoughts. There was a lot of rope to work with and Paul made good use of his experience with tying up (willing) girls, but stopped himself before it got too erotic.


    He added [Find brothel in Prozor] to his to-do list, then tied up the still unconscious Brian as well. He wrapped a bandage around the guy¡¯s head to stop the bleeding and used a large piece of cloth to gag him instead of sticking it into his mouth. He didn¡¯t want to kill the guy after going through the trouble of tying him up.


    ¡°If I hear a sound coming from this room, I will come back and kill you both¡± Paul told the girl. He removed all sharp objects from within reach and put them on the far end of the table, to not give his captives any ideas.


    He decided to go back to the room he had passed by earlier, to finish off the two bandits in there. After arresting two of them now, he would not feel too bad over just kill those two, but he decided to try to avoid it anyway.


    Paul quietly approached the room. There were still unmistakable noises coming out from behind the heavy curtain, and Paul quietly shoved it to the side to take a better look. At that moment a male voice spoke out, and Paul was startled because he thought it was directed at him.


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    ¡°Ahhh, I can¡¯t get enough of your bitch pussy. Princess over there is good, too, but there is nothing better than beating an annoying bitch into submission. Ain¡¯t that right, Slave?¡±


    There was only angry moaning coming as a response. Paul stuck his head through the gap in the curtain and a mix of cold sweat, urine and other smells assaulted his nose.


    A rather large and somewhat chubby guy was kneeling on the ground, with what looked like a woman in a doggy-style position in front of him. Paul could only see the lower part of the person on the receiving end of the scene. The guy was violently thrusting himself inside the girl, while holding onto her hips.


    On the far end of the room there was a slender woman, laying on a narrow table. Her arms and legs were bound together with the rope running underneath the table, effectively exposing every part of her naked body. The light the single lamp in the room gave off wasn¡¯t enough to make out many details, but the girl looked definitely pretty, or would have if she wasn¡¯t staring vacantly off in space with dead eyes.


    The image of the dead bandit Justice came to Paul¡¯s mind. This was not sexy at all. Paul would proudly accept the label of a pervert with a sadistic streak, but rape was major turn-off and unacceptable to him.


    Paul immediately lost any intention to spare the bandits. He slipped into the room, knife in hand, and unceremoniously slit the fat and naked bandit¡¯s throat from behind. He fell to the floor, clutching his hands around his throat, trying to hold in the blood he was now rapidly losing.


    You slashed Moody for 30 damage *sneak attack*


    Moody is [bleeding].


    Moody is bleeding for 15 damage.


    While the cut itself didn¡¯t cause that much damage, the bleeding was tremendously effective. Paul decided to let the bandit just bleed to death. He would be a goner very soon. Paul involuntarily smiled when he saw the well-below-average sized member of the guy on the floor. He turned his attention towards the woman that had the bandit¡¯s attention before.


    She was marked as a red dot, but clearly was a prisoner here. Here feet were tied together, and her knees were spread apart by what looked like an oversized pair of handcuffs with a straight rod between them, a spreader bar. Those guys sure had elaborate bondage gear available.


    Her hands were tied behind her back and her upper body was pressed down onto the floor.


    Even in the dim light, Paul could make out a lot of bruises and thin lines all over her lower body and back. The restraints looked definitely painful and were not applied professionally.


    What struck Paul the most though, was the bushy and long tail coming out of the girls back. It was mostly grey, with dark accents. Walking around the woman, Paul found the hair on her head to have the same colour, with two pointy ears sticking out on top of her head.


    The girl was gagged and blindfolded, the teeth visible over the gag were pointy, like a canine¡¯s. She was making a low, growling noise while slightly squirming in her restraint. A wolf girl!


    [Kana


    Wolf-Kin


    Level 11]


    Her health was a bit lowered, but only by around ten percent.


    Paul first took off the blindfold. One of her eyes was bruised and lid was slightly swollen, but her yellowish-green eyes were staring at Paul with murderous intent and reflecting the light. Definitely scary. Her radar indicator was still red, so Paul decided to talk to her before removing any of her restraints.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not one of the bad guys, so please calm down. I will remove your gag now, so please don¡¯t bite me, OK?¡± The girl was still looking hostile, but Paul decided to go ahead and carefully untied the cloth gagging her. He then unfastened the shackles on the spreader bar and removed it. She had stopped growling, but was still considered an enemy according to the radar. With now only her feet and hands tied, Paul helped her sit up.


    ¡°Listen, it is not safe yet, so I can¡¯t let you run around on your own.¡± Paul took out his woollen cloak and covered the girl up with it. He stole a quick glance at the front part of her body, and saw that it was in no better shape than what he had seen earlier. His eyes lingered for a second on her large and extremely shapely breasts, but he immediately pulled himself together and looked her in the eyes.


    ¡°I will come back here in a few minutes, please be patient until then. We will get you and your friend over there out of here soon¡±


    The wolf girl kept silent, but seemed to agree. Paul¡¯s motivation for not untying her right now was only the red indicator, he definitely wanted to avoid a fight with her.


    By the time he stood up, the bleeding bandit had taken his last breath.


    Moody is bleeding for 15 damage.


    Moody has died.


    You have gained 80 XP.


    At the same time a [Level Up] message popped up. Paul decided to spend the points later, there was only one enemy remaining, most likely the leader. Before he left the room, he cut loose the other girl¡¯s restraints and put her down next to the wolf girl. She didn¡¯t give much of a reaction, but looked at him with vacant eyes. Paul decided to cover her up with the black cloak he was currently wearing, although he felt bad because it was covered in crusted blood, even if it wasn¡¯t visible.


    On his way deeper into the mine, Paul took a quick glance into the room with his ¡°prisoners¡±.


    Brian was still knocked out and Elizabeth was sitting on the floor, head hanging low. She didn¡¯t even notice Paul.


    He then took a closer look at his target on the minimap. The last bandit was at the end of one of the narrower mineshafts, in what seemed to be a room or cave.


    Paul grabbed his spear and silently snuck down the dark corridor.


    At the end of it there was another heavy curtain, with faint light shining out from underneath it. The enemy was on the far end of the room behind it. Paul carefully approached the curtain and tried to look underneath it. He had to lay down on the floor and carefully lift up the curtain to take a peek into the room. There were several large burning candles spread across the room, and Paul could make out a bookshelf and a bed on one side. A person in a dark robe was sitting at a table, facing away from him.


    [Rosalie the Bandit-Witch


    Human


    Level 14]


    Paul sat up again. He had a bad feeling about this. He had not yet encountered a magic wielder, so he did not know what to expect. According to his vast gaming experience, casters were weak against physical attacks, but he did not want to take any chances and decided to stay as far away from that woman as he could.


    He lay down his spear and silently readied his bow. It seemed like a valid approach to him. Bow drawn, he stepped into the room and nearly let go of the arrow in surprise.


    The woman who had been sitting at her desk a few seconds ago, was standing now and facing him, arm extended towards his direction. She seemed to be whispering something.


    Paul quickly took aim and shot the arrow towards her.


    Rosalie hit you with a spell.


    You are [charmed].


    You hit Rosalie for 30 damage. *crit*


    Rosalie is [bleeding].


    Rosalie is bleeding for 5 damage.


    The arrow had hit the woman in the chest and she fell on her knees while crying out in pain.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Paul realized his mistake too late. He had attacked the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and she was crying out in pain because of him. Paul quickly rushed over to her, dropping his bow to the floor.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Paul muttered while bowing down towards the woman. The arrow had penetrated deep into her chest, close to the heart. Rosalie was looking at him with angry, beautiful eyes.


    It seemed like she was trying to say something to him, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she started coughing and blood was dribbling out of her mouth.


    Paul felt tears running down his face. Rosalie was cringing in pain and clutching her chest, and Paul helped her gently to lay down on the floor. He would do everything he could to safe her, even if it cost his own life.


    ¡°Please let me help you¡± Paul bent over and pulled out the arrow from her chest.


    Rosalie has taken 5 damage.


    Rosalie is bleeding for 8 damage.


    The bleeding intensified.


    ¡°*cough*¡­ass¡­hole¡­¡± Rosalie was speaking with her angel-like voice to him. Paul pressed his hands on the wound and pushed to keep the blood from flowing out of his beloved¡¯s body.


    Rosalie is bleeding for 8 damage.


    Paul could see the life fading from her. Rosalie¡¯s face with the cute, crooked nose lovely scar over her crimson lips was quickly drained of its colour. Her adorable, wrinkly eyes were losing focus.


    Rosalie is [unconscious].


    Rosalie is bleeding for 8 damage.


    Rosalie has died.


    You have gained 100 XP.


    You are no longer [charmed].


    Paul snapped back to normal and realized what he was doing. That was definitely weird. The woman he was looking down upon was a really ugly hag. Paul had obviously been extremely lucky. He wiped off the blood of his hands with the robe the woman was wearing as best as he could, then sat back and took a look across the room. Due to the candles and the lamp on the table it was better lit that the rest of the dark mine. There were a few books on the shelf, a wooden closet and a medium sized chest next to the simple bed.

 Chapter 15: Still in the Mine

    Author''s note: Couldn''t come up with a fitting title, feel free to suggest a better one for this chapter. I also read through some older chapters and found a bunch of embarrassing typos, missing words etc. >.< Nearly as cringy as the botched first chapter. I will probably edit them once I somewhat wrap up the current arc. I do have an awesome (imho) title for the next chapter btw.


    Chapter 15: Still in the Mine


    Paul decided to conduct a quick search of the room. First, he checked the corpse of the witch and found a silver necklace with a blue stone and a plain silver ring on her.


    There were a few silver and copper coins on the table and Paul collected them into his own bag, along with the jewellery. The documents on the table looked like a ledger and some notes, but nothing that looked interesting on first glance.


    He then went to the chest and opened it. At first, he was disappointed, because there wasn¡¯t much in it, but he took out the items and arranged them on the bed. There was a silver dagger in a sheath, wrapped in soft leather. The handle had an intricate silver design of a rose on a shield, and the sheath had a matching crest on it.


    There was also a golden ring with a similar crest, but it was even more detailed and mirrored compared to the one on the dagger. Although he had never seen one before, Paul assumed that it was noble¡¯s seal.


    There was also a small coin bag with a few gold coins and a several large silver coins in it. Jackpot! He removed most of the coins and put them in his own pocket, then collected the books from the bookshelf. There were only a handful, and most had no description on the cover. He would check them out later.


    The closet was mostly empty, except for a few spare robes and simple clothes that didn¡¯t seem to have any magical properties. He took two robes with him. Paul looked for any hidden stashes, but couldn¡¯t find anything noteworthy or suspicious.


    He did not expect to have a more opportunities for looting after freeing the prisoners, so he went back to the bandits he captured earlier. Brian was still not moving, but the interface told him that he was still alive and not losing health anymore. He would probably have a bad concussion though.


    Elisabeth looked up at Paul when she heard him entering the room. Paul first the books he was carrying into a medium-sized leather bag, then sat down next to the female bandit and removed the rope and cloth gagging her. Even if she screamed, no one would come. She kept silent though, and was still [scared].


    ¡°So, let me tell you first that you two are the only lucky survivors of your gang. There is no one else left¡± Paul waved knife that still had some blood on it in front of her. The bandit looked scared, but more like she was afraid of the knife than by the fact that the other bandits had died.


    ¡°What I want you to tell me, is if there are any valuables hidden around this place. Before you answer, know that your life depends on whether or not you are helpful to me.¡±


    Paul had no intention to hurt the terrified girl any more than he already had, but he rather put on an act now than prove a point if she decided to defy him.


    After a few seconds, the girl started talking ¡°Please, I will tell you everything I know. Just¡­ please don¡¯t hurt me.¡±


    ¡°As I said, it depends on what you can tell me. So better think hard. Even if it is something you think is unimportant, I want to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ you want money, right. Most of the money is collected by our leader, Rosalie. She keeps track of everyone¡¯s belongings and if you need your money, you can talk to her and she will give it to you.¡±


    It struck Paul as a rather smart system. The leader was acting as a bank, so the bandits wouldn¡¯t be able to steal from each other. If someone was killed or captured, the money would stay with the group. Paul wondered if he had already found the stash, or if there was more hidden in the leader¡¯s room. The coins he had found were definitely more than just a few, considering the size of the coins and everything he learned so far, he estimated to have around 400 or 500 small silver coins worth of money in his bag.


    ¡°Everything else is basically stashed here in this room, but it is mostly equipment and food. Some of the members of our group might have secretly hidden some valuables around the area, but I don¡¯t know where. I have all my money with Rosalie¡± Elizabeth seemed to be eager to tell him what she knew.


    Paul patted her on the head. ¡°Good girl. See, that wasn¡¯t so hard, was it? What do you know about the bandits¡¯ contacts in Prozor?¡±


    Elizabeth looked puzzled ¡°I know that sometimes items were sold and bought in the town nearby, but I never left the forest after I joined. That¡¯s all I know, I swear.¡± She started crying.


    Paul patted her on the head once again. ¡°It¡¯s OK. Just wait here for a bit, I will be back soon. And I won¡¯t hurt or kill you or your friend over there if you continue to behave. If he wakes up, make sure to tell him.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will.¡± The scared bandit was definitely submissive. Paul thought about training her as a pet later, but after being reminded of the terrible state of the girls in the dungeon, he dismissed the thought, grabbed the two robes and went to the girls next door.


    The wolf girl had seemingly calmed down after Paul freed the other girl, and was now indicated by a yellow dot on the radar. She looked up at Paul when he entered the room.


    ¡°I¡¯m back. There are no more enemies around, so it is safe now. I have also brought clothes for you.¡±


    ¡°Untie me, so I can take care of the young mistress¡± the wolf-kin spoke to Paul. Paul cut the rope on her wrists, then the rope on her feet. He handed her both robes.


    ¡°Please wear those. I¡¯m sorry for not freeing you earlier, but I was afraid you might walk around and get hurt needlessly.¡±


    ¡°¡­I can take care of myself¡­¡± The wolf girl spoke. Paul was tactful enough not to remind her that she was captured and incarcerated by the same guys earlier. Judging from her sad looks, she seemed to have remembered that fact by herself.


    ¡°Let me introduce myself again, my name is Paul. May I ask your name?¡± he already knew that her name was Kana, but it would have been rude and suspicious not to ask first. He also knew that the other girl was called Charlotte Rosenheim, a rare case of a person with a surname. Her level was a ridiculously low 4, but she was still rather young, 18 at the very best.


    The wolf girl had first carefully dressed the other girl with one of the robes, then stood up and spoke to Paul in a polite tone, ¡°My name is Kana, a bound servant of the honourable house of Rosenheim¡±


    Paul was didn¡¯t know where to look, because Kana faced him while still completely naked. While wondering if beast-kin in general were not concerned about wearing clothes or if this particular girl just had a nudist streak, he noticed a small tattoo around her belly button. It was about 10 cm in diameter and looked somewhat like a magic circle you would expect in an anime or fantasy game, but without a pentagram in the middle.


    Beneath the circle was the name Rosenheim written in the common letters of this world.


    ¡°I thank you very much for releasing the young mistress and this servant¡± Kana continued.


    ¡°Ahh, no problem. But please, you can wear the robe I gave you. I don¡¯t want you to catch a cold¡±


    Kana got dressed and picked up the young noblewoman with ease. Paul had carried the girl over earlier, so he knew she was light, but the wolf girl carried her like it was nothing. Paul was impressed and glad that he didn¡¯t carelessly free her while she was still hostile.


    ¡°I want to leave this place as soon as possible, Mr Paul. Did you also free the master? He should have been somewhere nearby.¡±


    ¡°No, but I think I saw something like a prison earlier. Do you want to follow me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please lead the way¡±


    Paul picked up the lamp sitting on the table. He took a brief moment to look at the wolf girl Kana again. Apart from the black eye, she also had a split lip and a thin red scar running across her forehead. It gave her a kind of scary air, but she was still beautiful. She was only a bit older than the girl she was carrying, in her late teens or early twenties, but looked several times more mature.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Paul held open the curtain, so Kana could step into the main mineshaft. Paul went towards the part of the mine where the three yellow dots were shown on the minimap. There was a room with a sturdy looking wooden door that was locked with a metal bar. Paul signalled the wolf girl to wait, then knocked against the door.


    ¡°Hello? Anyone inside? I will open the door now¡± Paul pulled back the metal bar and opened the door.


    He was greeted with a terrible smell. Inside the room were three men. One was lying on the floor, his leg and torso wrapped with dirty bandages, another one was sitting next to him, with a bandage wrapped around his head, covering one eye.


    A third man was sitting down, leaning on the opposite wall and looking at him with an angry expression. His name was Herbert Rosenheim, Level 9 Human. He was middle aged.


    All of the men were somewhat dirty, but the clothes of the older man looked expensive. While the other two seemed to have been wounded in battle, the older man looked like he was on the receiving end of a light beating, but otherwise unharmed.


    ¡°Hello, my name is Paul. I guess you are the ¡°master¡± Kana was speaking of.¡±


    At the mention of the wolf girl¡¯s name, the man¡¯s expression changed. He stood up and approached Paul. ¡°Have you found my daughter? Those beasts have taken her somewhere, but wouldn¡¯t let me see her or even speak to her since we came here.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes¡­ Your daughter is right here in the hallway. She doesn¡¯t seem to have any major wounds, but I guess you should see for yourself. Please step outside¡±


    Paul took a step back and the man came out of the cell. At his sight, Kana lowered her head, looking at the floor. The man made an angry expression for a second while looking at the wolf girl, but then focused on his daughter, who was carried by Kana in a princess-carry.


    ¡°Oh, Charlotte, what have they done to you?¡± He rushed over to his daughter and stroked her hair, tear welling up in his eyes. The girl was looking back at him was a somewhat dull expression, but seemed to recognize him. She did not show any expression, but it seemed like she wanted to say something, but then didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Mr Paul, those savages have captured me and my daughter on the way to Prozor. My name is Herbert Rosenheim, a baron serving under Sir Callum Webster, Earl of Prozor. I would like to leave this hellish place as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I understand your wish, but although the town is not very far from here, we are within a deep forest and it is currently night time. Given that both your daughter and what I assume are your servants are in no shape to travel, I advise you to spend the night here¡± Paul took a glimpse into the dirty cell ¡°although you should change rooms. Please allow me to prepare a more suited place¡±


    He thought about the options. He could lead the group to Prozor right away, but it would be more convenient to travel tomorrow morning. Paul was sure that there would be no more bandits coming, so it was safe for now.


    ¡°Well, I will respect your advice then.¡±


    ¡°I already have a place in mind, but¡­ given the circumstances, let me clean it up first. I will be back right away¡± The baron nodded, and after leaving him with the lamp, Paul headed towards the Rosalie¡¯s room. He took the ledger and stashed it in his bag. He didn¡¯t want anyone to ask for the money later.


    Paul carried the dead and surprisingly light witch towards the barracks, put the corpse in a corner and picked up several of the bedrolls.


    He then called for the baron and his entourage and led them to the larger and more comfortable room. The baron¡¯s daughter was laid down onto the bed, while the relatively lightly injured servant prepared the bedrolls.


    Paul went to the storeroom to bring his captives over to the prison-room and pick up some clean bandages for the baron¡¯s guards. Elizabeth looked at him with pleading eyes after being hit by the smell, so Paul did at least put the bucket with the human waste out in the hallway. He had also untied her feet, so he thought she should feel grateful.


    While Paul went back to Rosalie¡¯s room, he could hear the baron shouting.


    When Paul entered, he saw Kana kneeing on the floor with her head lowered. Her hands were trembling, even though they were resting on her thighs.


    From where Paul picked up the conversation, it seemed like Kana was his house¡¯s maid, but her main duty was serving as his daughter¡¯s bodyguard. After realizing the miserable state of the young noblewoman, he lost it. Paul could somewhat understand his anger, although he had no children of his own. The baron mostly wanted to vent his anger on someone and the woman in charge of his daughter¡¯s protection, who then failed to protect her, was in a vulnerable position.


    ¡°I never should have let a stupid dog take care of my precious Charlotte. You can be glad if I just throw you into a kennel and lose the key.¡± The baron looked like he would retort to physical punishment next, so Paul decided to provide some distraction.


    ¡°Dear Sir, sorry to interject. I have come across some items that I believe are rightfully yours.¡±


    He pulled out the dagger and the ring with the seal and handed them to the baron.


    ¡°Yes, those belong to my house. You have my thanks yet again.¡±


    Paul didn¡¯t remember to have been thanked before, but he didn¡¯t say anything. The baron had been through a lot.


    ¡°I also found some coins next to it, I believe those may be yours as well.¡± He handed him the coin pouch that Paul had mostly emptied before. There was a little less than 1 gold in silver coins left. It would have been a fortune to Paul just 24 hours before, but now he had several times as much stowed away in his own pocket.


    The baron emptied the pouch into his hand and looked disappointed, but didn¡¯t say anything. Paul had a feeling that there was still a treasure around somewhere. He should have made the baron and his entourage stay in the barracks and thoroughly searched this room once more.


    ¡°Dear Mr Paul, I feel embarrassed that I have nothing to reward you with¡± the baron slightly bowed his head. Paul took a look at the money the baron was still holding in his hand. The baron then continued. ¡°You have done much for my family in this situation. Please know that I will ask the Earl to reward you in my stead when we get arrive in town.¡±


    Paul nodded. Refusing a reward would have been the righteous thing, but a reward from the Earl was tempting. Paul wanted to go to the capital at some point soon, so having the gratitude of some minor noble from a small town would be more or less meaningless, a physical reward would be more helpful.


    ¡°I just regret that the culprits of this crime have met an easy death¡± Paul felt like the baron would soon go back to punishing the poor wolf girl, so he decided to leave him with a different target.


    ¡°I do have taken two of the bandits as captives. I will hand them over to the town guard, so I am sure they will get a just punishment.¡±


    ¡°What?! Where are those bastards?¡± The baron¡¯s way of speaking felt unbefitting for a noble, but Paul did not care.


    ¡°They are in the prison room. I am sure the Earl will let you decide partake in deciding the punishment. Although I have not met him personally. I have to say that one of the prisoners is currently unconscious, so questioning them might be fruitless.¡±


    The baron¡¯s expression was looking a little softer now. ¡°Mr Paul, I have to say you have handled this matter splendidly, although I am deeply disappointed in this dog over there.¡± Kana had been motionless until now, but was visibly tensing up when she was mentioned again.


    ¡°She has been nothing but a disgrace in this whole matter. What would you say, Mr Paul¡± the baron seemed to have come to a conclusion, and had a slight, evil grin on his face ¡°could you make use of her? I don¡¯t want her around my family anymore.¡±

 Chapter 16: Spoils and Wolf

    Chapter 16: Spoils and Wolf


    Paul had to work hard to not break into a beaming smile and hug the baron at this proposal. Sure, the girl had been through a lot, but having a loyal permanent party member would be amazing, and a sexy animal girl on top of that was more than he could have wished for.


    In fact, it was really more than he could have wished for. Paul was sure there were a bunch of strings attached.


    ¡°Sir Rosenheim, I really appreciate your offer, but aren¡¯t beast-kin servants incredibly rare? Are you sure you just want to give your precious servant away to a stranger?¡±


    ¡°Mr Paul, please do not worry about this. The fact that they are rare does not make them better servants. They are loyal if they are bound to a master, but in the wild they are little more than feral beasts. This dog¡¯s only value to my family has been as a guard for my daughter, but as you can see it has utterly failed at the job. In fact, selling the beast now would only tarnish my reputation¡±


    Paul was hesitating on the outside, but was thinking on how to properly accept the ¡°gift¡±. The baron was clearly furious at the poor girl, so Paul felt like leaving her with them would make him a bad person.


    ¡°If it is your wish, I will accept your reward with gratitude. I will treat her with utmost care¡±


    ¡°I feel like leaving the beast with an honourable person like you might be too good for it. Dog, stand.¡± Kana stood up, then looked towards the direction of Paul with a worried expression. He smiled at her, making sure to express a warm, gentle feeling instead of a lewd or perverted one.


    The baron opened her robe, exposing her front. Kana looked down, and the Baron looked unimpressed by the numerous bruises and wounds she had been inflicted with. He then placed his hand on the tattoo on Kana¡¯s belly.


    ¡°I, Sir Hubert Rosenheim, hereby transfer ownership of this creature to the honourable Mr Paul. I do so voluntarily and as the rightful representative of the House of Rosenheim.¡±


    He then signalled Paul to step closer. ¡°Place your hand on the seal to finish the transfer of ownership.¡± When the baron removed his hand, Paul saw that the tattoo was emitting a faint glow. He then placed his right hand on the seal.


    Paul felt a hot sensation for a second, then removed his hand when Kana looked up. He took a closer look at the tattoo and saw that the word ¡°Rosenheim¡± had changed to ¡°Paul¡±. The nobles¡¯ name definitely had a more impressive ring to it.


    While he was looking at the tattoo, a message popped up [New options are available. Please refer to the Main Menu for further information.] Before Paul could check it out, the baron spoke up.


    ¡°Now, please do me a favour and get your new servant out of my sight for tonight. Feel free to properly train her to your liking.¡± The baron was stepping away and sat down on the bed, next to his daughter. It seemed like the whole matter with his servant was now settled for him.


    ¡°Yes, thank you again for your generous gift. Kana, please come with me.¡±


    The baron just waved his hand, without looking up from his daughter.


    Paul then fetched two bedrolls from the barracks and went to the storeroom with his new wolf girl.


    ¡°Feel free to rest for a bit. There should also be food around in this room, so take whatever you like.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master. I would like something to eat¡±


    While Kana was looking over the shelves, Paul opened up the [Menu].


    [You have unlocked the Party Tab. Followers can be registered under certain conditions: they must be loyal to the party leader, they must be present and willing to follow the leader¡¯s commands. Followers with a much higher level than the leader can only be registered if bound with appropriate magic.]


    He then opened the new [Party] tab.


    [Do you want to register Kana as a party member?]


    Paul chose [Yes]. A bar showed up, displaying Kana¡¯s name first, followed by her health, mana and stamina values. It also showed an experience bar. What made Paul smile was the fact that there was a button called [Summon], although it was greyed out right now. She was probably too close to him right now, or perhaps there was a cooldown or something like that. She also showed up as a green dot on his minimap now.


    Paul didn¡¯t regret his decision to attack the bandits by himself for one second. He got a bunch of experience, a lot of money, some books that perhaps allowed him to learn magic and his own wolf girl slave. He couldn¡¯t stop smiling.


    ¡°Master has a strange look on his face¡± when he closed the Menu and opened his eyes, Kana¡¯s face was right in front of his. It looked a bit scary, because of the injuries, but at the same time Paul was thinking that she looked incredibly adorable. He held in the urge to pat her on the head.


    ¡°I found food, Master. Is it OK to eat now?¡± Kana held up a large lump of raw meat from an indiscernible source.


    ¡°Sure, you must be hungry. I don¡¯t know where those bandits did their cooking, but we can go outside and make a fire to roast the meat¡±


    ¡°No need, it smells fresh. If Master allows, I want to eat it.¡±


    ¡°¡­sure. And no need to address me so formally. I¡¯m fine with the whole Master thing, but you can also just address me in the first person.¡±


    Kana tilted her head to the side. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t understand what Master means.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s OK, don¡¯t worry about it. We can sort that out later. Just go ahead and eat your¡­ food¡±


    Kana nodded and dug her fangs into the meat, ripping out a large chunk with her teeth. Watching her was not really pleasant. She didn¡¯t bite off the meat, she rather was tearing it apart.


    Paul went over to the leather bag he had stashed the book in and took the first one out.


    [A used book


    Wrapped in leather and without a title.]


    He was hoping to get more useful information. Paul would probably have to actually read them to find out about their contents.


    He sat down on a bedroll close to Kana and put the lamp on a shelf nearby. It wasn¡¯t bright, but coupled with [Night Vision] he was able to read the contents of the book.


    He skimmed through the contents. There were several descriptions of magic materials like gemstones, metals, monster parts and rare plants and their uses. There was also a section describing different magic seals and spells that could be coupled with materials. After looking over most of the pages, it seemed to be a book to determine the effects of magic equipment and items. It didn¡¯t contain any information how to cast the described spells or methods to create items on your own.


    He started getting a headache from mana depletion and cancelled [Night Vision]. When he looked at Kana, she had finished eating and was licking her bloodied fingers clean.


    ¡°Kana, please stop that. It is unhealthy and it honestly looks disgusting. I¡¯ll fetch a bowl of water and a towel.¡± There was a barrel with water in a corner of the room. The bandits probably had to bring water in from outside, so they stored some in the store room. After Kana told him that it smelled OK, he put some of it in a bucket and placed it on the floor. There were some clean clothes in a wooden closet, and he took out a linen shirt because he didn¡¯t find a towel. When he came back to Kana, she was drinking out of the barrel.


    Paul decided to just ignore it. Her behaviour was definitely not suited for a noble¡¯s court, but to Paul it seemed charming. That¡¯s exactly how animal girls should behave. He sent a silent prayer to Helena for creating this wonderful world.


    After washing her face and hands, Paul wanted to tell Kana to show him her wounds so he could bandage and clean them, but he had no hot water and it was too dark for a correct assessment of her health. She had in fact recovered a point of health after eating, and she didn¡¯t look troubled or in pain, so telling her to undress would just be sexual harassment at this point.


    ¡°Kana, let¡¯s sleep for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Kana laid obediently laid down on the bedroll. Paul wanted to rub her belly but didn¡¯t.


    While looking at the adorable wolf girl, Paul wondered how the baron could have just given her away. If he had a change of heart tomorrow, Paul would never give her back. He would rather get himself killed and then summon Kana to Marcus¡¯ village than transfer the magic ownership again.


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    Paul and Kana were woken by the servant with the bandage over his head while he was looking for water early in the morning. They had just slept a few hours, but Paul wanted to get back to the village, and the sooner he brought the baron there the less likely it was that he would try to get Kana back from Paul.


    Paul told Kana select the clothes and equipment she liked the most from the storeroom, and went to see the baron. Sir Rosenheim had already gotten up and was outside, near the entrance of the mine.


    Considering that he was locked in a room smelling like a really, really dirty toilet for several days at least, it felt natural that he was catching some fresh air.


    Paul didn¡¯t bring up the topic of the wolf servant and instead suggested to leave for Prozor soon. Paul would scout the area first to make sure that it was safe, then come back and lead them to town. Of course Paul¡¯s intention of leaving alone first was to stash the books at the dead tree near the forest. He took his backpack with him on the way. He had wanted to loot the place, but the bulky equipment was pretty much worthless compared to the coins he had found. He rather let the guard carry it back to town and was hoping for a share.


    After returning, he met with Kana and the others. Kana had changed into a pair of rather tight brown leather pants that ended a bit below the knee and had only little defensive value and a plain leather cuirass. That was all. Paul didn¡¯t scold her, but he was close. He took her back to the store room and decided on the equipment for her.


    Not only were the two pieces revealing to the point that one could read Paul¡¯s name underneath her belly button, it was also a wasted opportunity to grab some extra gear.


    He had her change into a light brown linen shirt that covered her stomach and shoulders, slightly baggy leather pants that went down to the ankles and picked out plain but sturdy looking shoes, that were basically cut furs with straps. He also found some leather bracers. He let Kana use the cuirass she chose earlier, one reason was that he didn¡¯t want to dismiss her choices entirely, the other was that there actually were no better armours. Paul also gave her his woollen cape to wear.


    He also gave her the wooden shield and a short sword. Kana rapidly swung the sword up and down, cutting the air. To Paul it looked like the sword had no weight at all.


    ¡°Master, I don¡¯t prefer this weapon. It is not suited for people of my age.¡± She basically said it was a toy in her eyes.


    ¡°Please just hold on to it for now. I will get you a real sword later¡± Paul felt a bit down because the short sword he was wearing was even lighter.


    He also quietly stashed away the tight leather pants, because he secretly thought they looked good on Kana.


    They went back to the others afterwards. The plan was to leave the wounded servants at the mine, while Paul would bring the baron and his daughter to Prozor. Kana wanted to come with them, but Paul insisted that she was to stay behind to watch over the wounded and the prisoners. He mostly wanted to keep her away from Baron Rosenheim. She accepted and sat in front of the prison door.


    Paul gave her a quick and gentle head-patting and promised to come back as soon as possible.


    Charlotte could in fact walk on her own, at least for a while, but Paul offered to carry her on his back and the baron agreed. After everyone ate a bit, they headed off.


    The girl was still wearing the robe Paul gave her last night. Paul could not help but notice that the legs he was holding while carrying her were bare. He tried not to think about whether or not Charlotte was wearing anything underneath the robe and ended up thinking about it all the way back to Prozor.


    When they arrived at the bridge, he briefly greeted Frank and gave him a quick explanation of what happened.


    Frank insisted on informing the guard captain, and escorted them to the town guard headquarter.


    ¡°So, you are saying you stumbled over the bandit hideout by chance that we haven¡¯t been able to locate for months and singlehandedly wiped them all out?¡± The guard captain didn¡¯t seem to buy the story, even though it was not entirely false.


    ¡°Ahh, it is a bit more complicated. I met a group of foreign hunters while out in the field to the east. They told me that they were attacked by a group of people in the woods, but defeated them.


    They left towards the east, but told me where the fight had happened. I just went to look for it, and must have gone into the forest too far when I found the mine. I was able to overwhelm two of the bandits, so I am sure they can tell you more about what went on there if you interrogate them.¡±


    The guard captain seemed to be reluctant to buy Paul¡¯s lie, but didn¡¯t say anything. Paul once again regretted not having learned the [Deception] skill.


    The baron butted in and told the captain that he was sure Paul was an honourable man. He also suggested that the town guard should be thankful that their work is already done and they would just have to investigate the place. Paul was not sure if that was really helpful to him. The baron also made sure to confirm that the punishment of the captured bandits was not to be decided on before he had consulted over the matter with the lord.


    ¡°There are still the baron¡¯s wounded servants who need support to get to Prozor. So I would kindly ask for you to send some men. I will gladly lead them to the place.¡±


    The captain then sent a squad of 6 men with Paul to investigate the place and help bring back the baron¡¯s men, the captives and whatever evidence they could find. They were basically told to loot the place of everything valuable.


    Paul was to report to the headquarters again the next day. He was hoping that he would get a reward and not be arrested.


    Paul led the guards to the mine, gave them a quick tour through the complex and also told them to look for a secret stash of coins. He did not really want to go back and look for it himself any time soon.


    Paul took Kana, said goodbye to the baron¡¯s men and left the place. On the way they picked the books and his backpack and Paul had Kana switch the short sword with a regular one. She looked more satisfied with the weight and reach. Paul also had her change into a better piece of armour, but had already decided to buy her a nice piece of new armour back in town.


    Paul had Kana wear the hood, to draw less attention to her while going into town. After a brief talk to the innkeeper, he agreed to let them stay in room with two beds for another ten days for 4 small silver coins. It was not the best deal, considering that he had about half of the days of his initial rent left, but after gaining a large amount of money in a short time, Paul didn¡¯t want to haggle over a few copper coins.


    He moved all of his stuff to the new room, then went to see Vincent while telling Kana to wait in his room.


    He didn¡¯t want the two to meet. While he thought that Vin was not a really bad guy inside, he just wanted him to leave as soon as possible. Without Vin¡¯s help things would have been harder. If he chose to go to Marcus¡¯ settlement that would be good, if not, Paul would not miss him either.


    Paul informed Vin that the bandits were gone, and advised him to leave the village soon. He told him that Elizabeth and Brian were brought in as prisoners, so he might be identified by them or one of the secret contacts if he was careless.


    Vin was sceptical at first, but after hearing the details he thanked Paul until he got annoyed by it. When Paul mentioned that he had brought the wolf girl with him Vin looked genuinely happy, so Paul decided not to think too hard about it anymore.


    Afterwards he went out for lunch with Kana, who drew some unwanted attention with her savage way of eating and they spend some time strolling the market square until afternoon.

 Chapter 17: Companion Care

    Author''s note: This chapter has taken me longer to write than any other so far. Unfortunately, it does not mean it is good, or that I''m satisfied with the result. It is a bit longer than usual though, and there is some development at the end of the chapter as a reward for powering through the awkward dialogues before that.


    Chapter 17: Companion Care


    Paul wanted to get to know Kana better. Ever since they came to town, she seemed distanced and only responded when Paul initiated a conversation. Even then, she only said as much as necessary and spoke in a formal tone, while lowering her head. In the mine, she also had a polite way of speaking, but voiced her opinion a few times without being asked.


    Paul told Kana to pick out some new clothes, but she only said that she did not really care about what she was wearing, as long as it is easy to move in. He just bought a few short sleeved shirts and some underpants for her.


    On that note, he could not find a bra. Paul wondered if women used a different method before they were invented, but his knowledge on female underwear in medieval fantasy-worlds was lacking. Kana did not seem to care and her breasts were defying gravity anyway, but he would get her a comfortable custom chest armour before leaving town.


    On several occasions, Paul looked at Kana and found her in thought and with a sad expression on her face. He had been delighted with the fact that he had gained an animal girl servant, but for Kana it must have been hard. She was abused by the bandits and then been seriously scolded by the head of the family she served. In the end she had been given away to some stranger for what Paul had to assume was meant as punishment. The baron had even encouraged Paul to not treat her too nicely. Kana must be deeply worried, on top of being traumatized.


    Paul decided to take action to show Kana he cared for her. He asked around for the temple. Paul had heard from Marcus that there was someone here who could use healing magic, so he wanted to visit with Kana as soon as possible. He had been referred to a shopkeeper who was dealing with herbs, balms and potions, but the magic solution seemed more tempting.


    Even though he had been wandering around town a lot, he had not come across any structure that struck him as a ¡°temple¡±.


    After following the directions he got from one of the food stall owners, Paul and Kana ended up in front of a building that looked more like a warehouse. While wondering if he got it wrong, Paul saw a small group of people including a young boy leaving the place, and an elderly woman entering. He decided to just follow, this was probably not a normal warehouse.


    When they went inside, they were greeted by an unexpected sight.


    The front outside of the building was plain looking, but interior walls were painted in white colour, giving a bright and nice flair. The far end had several large windows underneath the high ceiling, decorated with thin, yellow curtains, dying the place in a warm light.


    Under the windows was a pedestal of about 2 square meters with a statue of a woman on top. She had long, wavy hair, and was smiling down on and embracing a few children with one arm, while extending her other arm to an adult person kneeling on the ground below her. Compared to the other people around her, she was a giant, easily 3 meters high, with enormous breasts. The statue itself was not that large though, perhaps a bit smaller than Paul, if it was standing on the floor and not the pedestal. In front of the pedestal was a line of different candles, all lit and several flowers and coins (mostly copper coins) mixed in between.


    Looking around the place, Paul found it to be lacking the usual pomp and general impressiveness he was used to see in churches and religious places on Earth. Nothing was gilded, there was no delicate artwork or expensive looking materials. On closer inspection, even the statue was only bright white because it had been painted over.


    There were a few benches to the sides of the room, where a handful of people were sitting and praying or quietly chatting among themselves.


    The elderly woman had walked over to a middle-aged man standing next to the statue, who was wearing a simple white robe with the sash and hems dyed blue.


    [Francis the Devout


    Human


    Level 9]


    Paul decided to wait until the elderly woman had finished her business with the Francis guy. While waiting, he wondered what the conditions for gaining an additional title were, like ¡°the Devout¡± were. Marcus the Hunter, Victor the Elder, Rosalie the Bandit-Witch and Francis the Devout seemed to be leaders or respected people of some sort, so perhaps that was the requirement.


    He observed Kana for a bit, who was curiously looking around the place. He thought she was interested in this place, but when she focused at the white wall close to her, Paul found out that she was following a large fly that was flying around the room with her eyes. Paul was glad to see her not looking depressed.


    The elderly woman walked away from the priest, and Paul took the chance and approached him.


    ¡°Hello, good sir. My name is Paul, and this is my friend Kana. We are wondering what kind of services your temple offers¡±


    ¡°Good day, child of the goddess. I am Francis, priest of the goddess Urnera. We offer spiritual guidance and spread the wisdom and blessings of Urnera at her temple. Do you know already know about the goddess?¡±


    ¡°I do not know much, please enlighten me¡± Paul was a bit afraid of getting to hear an elaborate back-story about some goddess Helena and her friends came up with for fun, but for the sake of Kana¡¯s health, he was prepared.


    ¡°Urnera, who bestows the blessing of fertility, is a friend of all life, and wishes for it to prosper and procreate. Since the ancient times she has been responsible for keeping the population of all intelligent species stable. As the other gods seem to acknowledge her valuable contribution to the world, her followers are seldom the target of their scorn or pranks. She is said to be beautiful and wise¡­¡±


    Paul was already bored, but tried to keep a friendly face and even nodded from time to time. The priest went on to explain how all people in the world are considered to be a children of her and that she does not favour war and destruction.


    When he started to tell stories of her various deeds, Paul spoke up.


    ¡°Thank you for the valuable information. I understand that the goddess is friendly and wise. I also came to inquire about a method of healing my companion. She has recently been through a horrible experience, and it left her wounded and scarred.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ it is true that I have ways of bestowing various blessings in the name of god. Yet, bestowing a powerful blessing that comes close to a miracle, like rapidly closing wounds, leaves me very exhausted and often with a terrible headache, so afterwards I cannot provide guidance to other people.¡±


    He was obviously about to ask for compensation.


    ¡°I see. I will compensate your temple in that case. How much would be a fair price? As you can see, her wounds on the outside are not critical, but many. Please know that I am only a poor traveller.¡±


    ¡°I will have to take a look at the wounds first. I cannot treat an injured body as a whole, and divine magic has to be applied to all affected areas individually.¡±


    That sounded like a pain. Healing magic in this world was definitely underwhelming to Paul. Or this guy was just not skilled enough. Paul was also hoping that the priest was not just trying to see Kana naked. A follower of the goddess of fertility was bound to be interested in ¡°procreation¡±.


    ¡°Please do so then. The sooner, the better. The wounds are all over her body, so I would feel uneasy to tell my friend to undress here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, follow me into the back of the temple¡± Paul, Kana and the priest went to a backroom. It was mostly empty, apart from a bench and the sunlight was falling into the room from a window leading to the backyard.


    Paul told Kana to show her injuries to the priest. Francis had a painful expression on his face when he saw the many bruises and small scars crisscrossing over the various parts of her body, telling the story of her ordeal. He was not a complete pervert at the very least.


    Paul saw the priest touch Kana¡¯s fluffy tail, but it was just a quick stroke and he didn¡¯t touch her anywhere inappropriately. Paul decided to ignore it, a healthy fascination with animal girls was more than understandable to him.


    ¡°I am afraid that treatment of these wounds, even while they are small in scale individually, will require a large amount of divine magic. My abilities are certainly too lacking to cure her in one session. And even then, I cannot promise there will be no scars remaining. And I cannot do anything about already healed scars.¡±


    Those last words struck Paul as a bit odd. He took a step towards Kana, who was just standing there like it was normal to be on display and took a closer look. Paul had only seen her body in the dim light within the mines, but now in daylight he saw that there were some old scars underneath the fresh injuries. She must have received a severe whipping a while back, as there were several long, white marks on her back, starting from her shoulders running down to her upper thighs.


    There was also a small scar on her left shoulder and her upper right arm, which looked like cuts.


    ¡°Well, I care a lot about Kana, so I ask you to give it your best effort. I am prepared to provide fair compensation¡±


    ¡°Very well, I will do so then. The treatment costs 30 silver coins per session.¡±


    That was definitely a huge amount of money, compared to the expected result and the effort on the priest¡¯s end. Paul gulped, but decided to at least give it a try.


    ¡°OK, please do so then. Please start the treatment as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I can do so right now. And you may come back in the evening again. Where should I begin with the process?¡±


    Paul thought about it for a short while, but the answer came easily. ¡°Please start with her face, she is a young woman after all. Below the neck, focus on injuries that may leave scars. We have the time to let bruises and scratches heal naturally.¡±


    ¡°Very well, but let me repeat that I cannot promise a perfect restoration.¡±


    The priest went to work. He extended his hands towards her face until he lightly touched her, then whispered some words, too low for Paul to hear. When he removed his hands, the bruise around Kana¡¯s eye and the split lip had disappeared, and the scar on her forehead had become skin coloured and very fine. It didn¡¯t look too bad.


    The priest then repeated this process on her shoulders. When he laid this hands on her left breast, Paul had mixed feelings about it, but the priest didn¡¯t have a strange look on his face, so Paul just ignored those feelings.


    After he had healed these areas, the priest looked exhausted and sat down on the bench.


    ¡°I am sorry, but this is as much as I can do for now. Please come back again in a few hours if you wish for further treatment.¡±


    Paul thanked the priest and gave him the 30 silver coins he had asked for before he and Kana left the temple. The treatment wasn¡¯t too effective, but Paul was prepared to spend some money on Kana¡¯s recovery, although it felt like a rip off.


    ¡°That priest sure makes of lot of money, I wonder how it spends it. The place doesn¡¯t look like it cost very much¡­¡± Paul muttered, more to himself, but Kana did hear it.


    ¡°Master, I do not think these small injuries will prevent me from my duties. Moving hurts a bit right now, but I can work.¡±


    Kana said so while bowing her head. Paul patted her on her lowered head.


    ¡°What are you saying? I¡¯m sure you are tough and all, but I have to take care of you as best as I can. And treating your injuries sure has a high priority, even if it is somewhat expensive.¡±


    Paul knew that objectively speaking, it was pretty much wasted money. Kana had not lost that much HP in the first place, and her wounds would recover by themselves. Paul just felt like he wanted to remove the visible signs of what had happened to her by the hands of the bandits as quickly and thoroughly as possible.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    After a few minutes of walking, Paul noticed that Kana was looking sadly at the floor again, seemingly in thought. Seeing his wolf girl this depressed made Paul sad as well. Noticing that Paul was looking at her, Kana raised her head and put on a neutral expression.


    Paul thought that she must have been affected by the whole ordeal. She was basically raped and tortured for several days at least. Paul felt anger welling up every time he thought about it.


    He was also seriously worried about disappointing Kana¡¯s expectations. He had some money now, so they would not starve and could stay at the inn, but living with the baron even as a servant must have been a more privileged life than what he could offer her right now.


    He sat down on a low wall to the side of the street and told Kana to join him. ¡°Hey Kana, we only met each other yesterday and I somehow ended up being your Master, are you OK with how it turned out for you? Aren¡¯t you sad that you have to live with someone you don¡¯t even know and who is not a noble or anything?¡±


    Kana looked down at the floor again. Paul felt a bit bad for deliberately confronting her with it, but the sooner he made sure what was troubling her, the more likely it was that he could address it properly.


    Kana did not speak for a long time. It looked like she was thinking about it though, so Paul decided to wait.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it¡­.¡± Kana finally said something.


    ¡°Hmm? Kana, I know that the baron made me your master, but you don¡¯t have to hold in your thoughts or feelings. If you want to talk about anything, I will listen to it. I might be asking too much, considering you barely know me, but I will do everything I can so you can have a good life, even with me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t deserve that much¡± Kana said so without hesitating.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that like you mean it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Master wants me to do for him, but I know I will be a disappointment. I really can¡¯t do anything¡± Kana seemed to be on the verge of crying now. ¡°I feel bad that Master plans to spend so much effort me, without knowing how useless I am.¡±


    ¡°Kana¡­¡± Paul was a bit surprised. When he met Kana yesterday, she had made the impression of a proud but defeated warrior or something along those lines. He didn¡¯t think she had an inferiority complex.


    ¡°I was never good at the things other servants do. I cannot clean well, I get easily distracted and I often break things. No matter how long I am trained or how often I am punished, I always fail at the tasks I am trusted with. I am afraid I will make master sad.¡± Now Kana actually had a tear running down her pretty face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry over something like that. Even if you fail at things, I will be happy to just have you around. I will not get angry or sad if you break anything, I promise. I don¡¯t know what you have been doing for the Rosenheims, but I am sure you will be very useful for me.¡± Paul was smiling at Kana. A clumsy maid has her own charm, for Paul this was a minor problem.


    ¡°The only real task I have been given by my former masters was to protect the young mistress, and I failed at the first opportunity.¡± Kana was legitimately crying now. A woman passing by looked at Paul with an angry expression.


    Paul decided not to say any more. He had said what he wanted to say, so he would just show Kana that he meant it. He gently rubbed her head.


    ¡°It¡¯s OK. Let¡¯s just head back to the inn for now.¡± Kana wiped away her tears and nodded. She was still looking sad, but for Paul considered this a success. He had an idea of what troubled her and could try to fix it.


    Back at the inn, Paul decided to read through the books he took from the mine. He still had not spent his stat points from the last level up, mostly because he wanted to figure out if he could learn and practise magic with the books. If he could, he would spend points on intelligence and wisdom, if not, he would strengthen his physical abilities.


    He thought about a meaningful task he could entrust Kana with. ¡°Kana, can you read?¡±


    She looked dejectedly and shook her head. ¡°I never managed to remember more than a few letters. I am sorry¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s OK, I feel bad for carelessly asking. Is there anything you would like to do? You can just lay down and rest for a while if you want.¡±


    ¡°The only thing I can do is lifting heavy items. Master can punish me for being so useless.¡±


    ¡°Please, Kana¡­. How could I punish you for that?¡± Paul was fine with Kana just sleeping for a bit.


    Kana was thinking for a while, then spoke ¡°Master could not give me meat, make me sleep on the floor, take away my clothes, hit- ¡°


    ¡°Kana¡± Paul interrupted.


    ¡°Yes, Master?¡±


    ¡°Stop giving me suggestions for punishments, please. Just rest for a while, I will check what these books are about.¡±


    Paul then lay down on the bed with the books. He had taken 6 of them from the witch. One was labelled as ¡°Royal Decrees issued in 3230 AK¡± and seemed to be exactly what it said on the label. Paul put that book to the side, together with the one he had already identified as dealing with magic items.


    The next book he opened started with a description of herbs and plants, where to commonly find them and what effects they had. Paul recognized some of the herbs Marcus had shown him. The list was very extensive.


    The latter half of the book dealt with the production of different potions, tinctures and salves. Apart from listing those with healing abilities, there were also some with the potential to temporarily increase or restore magical powers, or enhance strength, vision and different kinds of other buffs. For the more potent ones exotic ingredients were needed, like blood from a wyvern, scales from a black Lamia or elemental ashes. Some pages had annotations, perhaps written by the bandit-witch.


    He didn¡¯t see any alchemical components or tools in the mine and wondered if there was a hidden lab somewhere, but he would investigate that later. Perhaps the town guard would find it.


    He put away the book and opened the next one, it was rather thin. It started with the history of the different schools of magic. Paul was intrigued. He skimmed over the part explaining which god was associated to which magic. Half of the book was dealing with this kind of lore, including anecdotes of how the gods had supposedly used magic against each other before they had decided that it would be better to only use it on mortals, and then ended up teaching it to their favourites amongst them.


    The last part of the book was actually dealing with how to chant magic spells. Finally! Paul started to pay closer attention. Apparently magic spells were written in the ancient language of the gods, which consisted of very complicated and numerous letters. There were said to be over 2000 different letters, and those were only the known ones. Copying the letters was a hard job and prone to mistakes, which was one of the reasons why magic tomes were rare and valuable.


    The other reason was that learning how to pronounce them was very difficult to say the least, and the meaning behind most of the words has been lost a long a time ago, if it had ever been known. Many of the students at the magic academy failed correctly chant a single spell consisting of only three or four letters after one year of studies. More than half of the students dropped out of the academy without learning how to chant.


    Paul was starting to feel depressed. Studying had never been his strong point. Sure, he was quite smart, but if something was tedious, he was prone to just drop it and move on to the next thing. Studying for years without even a guarantee of success was definitely out of the question.


    ¡°How disappointing¡­ Can¡¯t it just be something like Latin? Why has it to be Chinese?¡± He was asking the book.


    Kana sat up on the bed, rubbing her eyes. ¡°Master, has something happened?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ sorry, Kana. I was just talking to myself. I did not mean to wake you up.¡± Paul looked at Kana and smiled. Her short, grey hair was messed up on the side she had been sleeping on, and she was looking incredibly cute. Even more so than before, because the injuries on her face had been healed.


    ¡°Did Master read something good?¡±


    ¡°Actually no, quite the opposite. I found out that magic is very hard to learn and I will not be able to use it anytime soon, perhaps never. But I guess I will just have to work hard to become an amazing archer¡± Paul felt like he had lost a very important thing, but he didn¡¯t want to show Kana how he felt and smiled at her again.


    Paul then continued to read the book. There were said to be rare cases of gods bestowing the ability knowledge of certain spells to their followers, and centuries ago there were even people learning the meaning behind some of the words. There were no known cases in recent times though.


    The book also said that spreading magic scriptures was prohibited and under the control of the magic association. It didn¡¯t talk about teaching how to chant, but it seemed that it was too hard to even think about the possibility.


    Paul wondered if he should ask the Earl of Prozor to let Paul study for a bit under the court wizard, as a reward for fighting the bandits. Paul could then decide if it was worth to give the magic academy a shot. He immediately dismissed the thought.


    He already had been given Kana as compensation, so he couldn¡¯t just ask for something unreasonable that was bound to fail anyway.


    Paul then continued reading. The next page had an example spell on it. At the bottom of the page there were three large symbols, which reminded Paul of squared magic circles. They made up a fourth of the page in height, and easily needed that space because of the delicate symbols each of them was constructed of. They were not kidding when they were talking about complicated letters.


    The first paragraph on the page explained the basic form and common themes those symbols had. It went on to say that the symbols underneath where the ¡°Magic Candle¡± spell, a popular spell amongst beginning students that would conjure a small glowing ball flying above the caster, illuminating the surroundings.


    The symbols actually meant Flying Starlight though and Paul wondered why they gave the spell such a bland name when the meaning was much more poetic.


    Paul had already starting reading the next page when he discovered the major thing that had just happened.


    How the heck did he know what the symbols meant? Paul went back to the page before. He was already so used to the fact that he just ¡°naturally¡± spoke the regional language and could even read the letters that he hadn¡¯t even thought about the possibility of knowing other languages as well.


    Apparently the god¡¯s language was among those he had just been gifted with when he came to the world. When looking at the symbols the meaning popped up in his head, similar to the common language. Paul lay down the book and stood up from the bed.


    He struck a cool magician-like pose (at least he himself considered it to be cool) and then said the spell, ¡°Flying Starlight!¡± Paul had just spoken normal words and nothing happened.


    He then tried whispering the spell like the priest had done before, while imagining that he was talking to Helena. ¡°flying starlight¡± Paul whispered, but it was just the common language again. He had talked to Helena in English for all he knew, so it was a somewhat expected result.


    Paul picked up the book again. He looked at the letters, and then tried reading them out loud, without thinking about their meaning. Much trying to read a word backwards.


    ¡°¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ¡± he whispered strange, hissing sounds. The whisper reverberated unpleasantly in Paul¡¯s head.


    At that moment, Paul¡¯s mana bar was drained by more than one third and a brightly glowing, small light formed in front of his forehead, then flew upwards. When Paul looked up, he saw the light slowly circling above him, about 50 cm above his head.


    [Spell: Flying Starlight has been registered]

 A Poll and Editing

    Heya,


    first, thanks for following the story so far. I might repeat myself, but I''m doing this only for fun, and just seeing that people actually seem to read the stuff I come up with adds to this.


    The poll I will be adding to this post is mostly to get a better feeling for what others might like and I won''t promise to stick to the results. Please vote anyway.


    At the end of the post you find more details on what I thought when deciding on the poll''s options.


    The second part is on the topic of editing the chapters I have released so far.


    I have written it down as I thought it up and released nearly all of the chapters without spending much checking for errors. That means there are a lot of typos, missing words, repeated phrases and the like. Basically a cringe-fest.


    Over the next few days I will go through the chapters and try to get rid of most of those avoidable things. I might change a few paragraphs, but names, people, events and such things will stay the same. There won''t be a need to go back and re-read it once I''m done. Just don''t expect a lot of new content over the next few days.


    Option A: You want more details! Long monologues, more information regarding the skills, a detailed character sheet every second chapter, even if nothing much has changed. The combat log should be even longer and you want a detailed description of every fight against every snake.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Option B: The boring option. You are fine with the progression speed so far. You can expect a bit more details regarding the locations though.


    Option C: You are OK with slow progression, but a bit more stuff happening would be good. More dialogues could be summed up in short paragraphs just giving the important content. Locations can be briefly described and it would be better to wrap up fights without telling how the MC defeated each enemy.


    Option D: You just want a montage. (random examples coming up, not spoilers: ) A year of studying at the magic academy in two chapters? More than enough! Building an impregnable settlement from scratch in a few sentences? Yes! Meeting new companions every other chapter and moving on without any tedious backstory? Just naming them "Cleric A" and "Fallen Knight B" would be OK with you!


    Option E: more of a joke option, but feel free to choose it.


    Well, thats about it. As always, feel free to just reply to the threat with your thoughts or send me a message.

 Chapter 18: Studying the Books

    Author''s note: Sorry for not making any visible progress over the last days. Editing is still going on, but I''m doing so in Word (autocorrect ftw) and I want to update everything, including Chapter 1, in one go. Then there is also RealLife stuff. I wrote this (slightly shorter than usual) chapter in between. Next chapter will include a character sheet of Paul again, after a long time.


    Chapter 18: Studying the Books


    Kana, who apparently had not gone back to sleep after Paul had accidentally woken her up, sat up again and was watching the flying light curiously.


    ¡°Master, is that magic? I thought it was very hard and complicated¡± she had a slightly puzzled expression, but didn¡¯t let the light out of her sight for even a tiny moment.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s magic. It looks like I have some kind of cheat skill and can learn it more easily than others."


    ¡°Very impressive. Master must be a genius¡± Kana closed her eyes and lowered her head towards Paul.


    ¡°Would be great if it was true, but I have to admit it was not that hard¡± while saying so, Paul opened the [Menu] to take a look at his newly acquired spell.


    When he opened the ¡°Spells¡± tab, a message popped up.


    [You have memorized your first spell. Spells can be renamed and sorted. Default naming is original spell-meaning and default order is by seniority of acquisition.]


    Paul closed the info box and looked at the spell description.


    [Flying Star-Light. Creates a small light made of condensed mana that floats above the caster and illuminates the surroundings. Spell cost: 30 MP]


    30 mana points were two fifths of Paul¡¯s current mana pool, so casting it twice in a row means getting a headache. Paul was not very impressed by his own capabilities. He had to focus on improving his casting capabilities from now on. Having this impressing learning ability and not being able to cast spells properly would be a waste.


    While wondering whether to spend more points into intelligence or rather improve wisdom as well, Paul remembered the jewellery he took from the dead witch. He took them out of his bag and examined them closely.


    [Gemmed Silver-Necklace


    Necklace


    Base material is silver. The pendant has a small blue gemstone in its centre. Seems to radiate a small amount of magic.]


    [Complex Silver-Ring


    Ring


    Made of several thin silver strings, intricately woven into each other. Shows traces of magic.]


    When Paul put on the ring, his intelligence stat rose by one. Not that much, but compared to his base value, it was 7.5%, or 5 MP. Still slightly underwhelming.


    For the necklace, discerning its effect was less easy. His stats did not change while wearing it. Paul thought about the book dealing with enchanted items, but using it would cost a lot of time. He could do that later, so Paul took off the necklace for now.


    First, he would check the contents of the other books, hoping they were filled to the brim with magic spells.


    He had two books left to check. One was very thick, the other one was quite the opposite and clad in leather.


    He opened the thick book. After reading the introduction, he was disappointed. It seemed to be a work on court manners and etiquette, aimed at young noble women, high-class servants and teachers. Skimming through it, it seemed to cover every topic, like dress-codes, table manners, popular dances and what should be considered an appropriate gift for different types of occasions and recipients.


    Not a single shred of valuable information. If Paul had to impersonate a noble or if he ever got a title, he might give it a read, but reading it now would be a waste of time.


    While skimming over the pages, the light above his head dissolved. It had been there for about 15 minutes, which was also roughly the time it took Paul to regenerate his mana. A useful spell, at least to a certain extent. Using it with other people around would draw too much attention, especially in a hostile environment.


    Paul tossed the etiquette book aside and opened the last one. The pages were thick and made of a sturdy material, the ink was of a very dark, violet colour.


    The first few pages contained information and lore regarding one of the gods, Kohmjir. His appearance was not clear, as he seemed to be changing it often, but he appeared to be a male god.


    He liked playing tricks on people and gods alike, sometimes those were rather cruel, but sometimes they were just amusing. Kohmjir¡¯s motives were never clear though and he was called the Trickster God. He had some popularity among shadier people like fraudsters and spies, but also among young people because of the comedic value of the tales associated to him and the powerful love blessings he and his priests sometimes used.


    After a couple of pages Paul finally found what he was looking for, a spell written in the gods¡¯ language. The spell consisted of five letters, which meant ¡°Fall in love with me like crazy¡±. The description on the opposite page said that the spell (called ¡°Lover¡¯s Charm¡±) had an immediate effect on the target, evoking very strong romantic feelings and trust towards the caster. It kept full effect only for a few hours and vanished after a day, but would strengthen lingering, natural romantic feelings. It could be overwritten by other types of spells manipulating emotions, by spells neutralizing magic effects or by openly hostile acts of the caster against the target. The death of the caster would also cancel the charming effect prematurely. The description also mentioned that the target could be any type of creature, but that strong beings, humans and creatures alike, were less likely to fall under the effect, or would snap out of it quickly.


    It was obvious that this was the spell the witch used on Paul. It was a powerful spell, and Paul was once again thankful for the lucky hit he delivered at that critical moment.


    Paul thought about the possibility to use it on Kana to test it out, but decided to try something else first. It would become a problem if he had to actually cast spells first to learn them, especially for things like fire bolts or other destructive magic.


    Paul focused on the complex letters, like he had done before and read them out in his mind. He felt a short but intense headache, but nothing else happened. The pain vanished as quickly as it came.


    He apologized to Kana in his mind, but he was sure she wouldn¡¯t mind much. He also swore to himself that he would not take advantage of the situation, at least not for a day. If she would still have feelings for him afterwards, he might¡­ Paul stopped himself from fantasizing and extended his hand towards Kana, then read the spell out loud.


    ¡°¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ ¡ñ¡ñ¡±


    The headache came and went again, this time more intense than before. Paul checked his mana, but he had not lost any. He noticed a message in his log.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    [Failed to cast spell. Insufficient mana.]


    Paul checked the spells tab and the charming spell had not been added. This was bad. If Paul couldn¡¯t learn the spells he could not use right away, there was no point in hurrying to get his hands on tomes he could not keep indefinitely.


    He continued reading the small book. Apart from the love magic, there was a second spell. It meant, ¡°I am friendly and mean no harm¡± and consisted of five symbols, like the love spell.


    According to the description it was a spell with a comparable effect to the Lover¡¯s Charm spell, but was considerably weaker in effect. If used on an enemy, the target would ignore the caster most of the time, or might even be helpful to a certain extent, for example by giving directions. It could also be used on reluctant servants to temporarily raise loyalty and obedience, or on already friendly soldiers to make them carry out commands which would be considered dangerous.


    It was quite unsuspicious to use and in many cases the target would not even notice that it had been under the effect, making it popular amongst spies. The drawback was a short effect, ranging from 30 minutes to a few hours at best and it would be cancelled if the caster behaved highly suspicious, like committing illegal acts. Its weak effect made it less strenuous on the caster. It could be cast several times in a row by experienced magicians.


    Paul tried to memorize the spell without casting it again.


    [Spell: I am Friendly and mean no Harm has been registered]


    Good. Paul checked the spell description.


    [I am Friendly and mean no Harm. Makes the caster appear friendly in the targets eyes. Trust and loyalty of allies will be raised. Spell cost: 50 MP]


    Kana was sitting on her bed and had pulled out her sword, polishing the metal. His new spell seemed harmless enough, so Paul decided to try it on her.


    When he activated the spell from the [Menu], the letters showed up in his vision. He extended his arm towards the wolf girl and chanted the spell.


    ¡°¡ñ ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ ¡ñ¡± his mana was reduced by a large amount.


    Kana looked up towards Paul, with an expectant look.


    ¡°Kana, do you feel strange or anything?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m feeling well. It looked like Master wanted to say something to me, but then he didn¡¯t¡±


    The effect of her binding spell were already very strong, so a slight raise in loyalty should not make any difference. Paul felt bad for using his unsuspecting servant as a guinea pig.


    ¡°Good. Don¡¯t mind me, just continue what you were doing. I also have a whetstone for sharpening your sword, feel free to use it if you like.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Kana bowed her head, then went back to maintaining her blade.


    After confirming that there were no more spells in the small spell book, Paul put it aside. He considered bringing the necklace to the merchant dealing with magic items, but was worried to appear too suspicious. He had visited him looking like a beggar before, and the necklace was taken from a criminal.


    Paul took a closer look at the necklace again. There were small runes engraved on the back of the pendant, and the stone looked like it was glowing whenever a bit of light shone upon it. He took out the book dealing with item enchantments and started reading, looking for clues to identify the effect by himself.


    The book was lengthy and moderately interesting, so time passed quickly. Paul decided to take Kana out for lunch and perhaps visit the temple again for another treatment. He had Kana switch into a more comfortable outfit, including the tight leather pants, and made her wear a cloak with hood, so she didn¡¯t stand out too much.


    After letting the wolf girl eat as much skewered meat as she wanted, while getting strange looks from the stall owner because he ordered them as raw as possible, they headed towards the temple.


    The priest was there, but he refused to do another healing session right away. He had been called by the lord to treat a noble, so he was exhausted and still had to take care of other visitors of the temple. Paul thought that he was probably called to treat the young noblewoman Charlotte, but considering the cause of her injuries he didn¡¯t ask how it went.


    Paul and Kana went back to the inn. He gave Kana some simple tasks involving cleaning and maintaining the loot he had brought back to the inn. Paul wanted to help her raise her self-esteem, and there wasn¡¯t much she could do wrong with those tasks. While Kana was busy, he went back to reading the book on magic items and their production.


    He had already figured out the meaning of most of the runes, and was trying to identify the exact nature of the stone. The spell that had been cast on the necklace did not leave a specific mark, but the combination of runes, materials and the design limited the available enchantments to only a handful.


    It had already gotten dark outside, and the Flying Star-Light spell came in handy. Finally, Paul figured out that the specific makeup of the necklace and combination of runes limited the spells to simple magic regeneration spells. As it didn¡¯t raise his wisdom stat directly, Paul deduced that it probably enhanced the effect of his base stats, like mana regeneration +20%.


    While coming to this conclusion, Paul unlocked a skill, [Enchantment Understanding]. It looked useful, so Paul invested one of his three remaining stat points.


    The book on enchantments had also a section explaining more dangerous forms of items. There were some which were cursed, for example robbing the wearer of their ability to recover from injuries and fatigue or driving them into madness over time. Some transformed physical strength into mental capabilities or vice versa. Luckily, most curses could be perceived rather easily if one paid attention. The book described it as a negative or even dreadful aura coming from the item. Paul would thoroughly check everything he found from now on and not carelessly trying everything on to check for status changes.


    After spending a skill point on [Enchantment Understanding], the item descriptions changed slightly.


    [Gemmed Silver-Necklace


    Necklace


    Base material is silver. The pendant has a small blue gemstone in its centre. The enchantment slightly supports the wearer¡¯s ability to regenerate mana.]


    [Complex Silver-Ring


    Ring


    Made of several thin silver strings, intricately woven into each other. Magically enhances the wearer¡¯s intelligence by a very small amount.]


    Paul had a minor headache, not from mana depletion, but from staying up all night reading and concentrating, so he quickly fell asleep after figuring out the enchantment.

 Chapter 19: Meeting the Lord

    Author''s note: Heya, it has been a while. Not gonna lie, editing hasn''t made much progress. I switched from immediately releasing chapters to first finishing a couple of them and then releasing, in case i want to go back and change something. I will probably publish a few chapters in short succession and then not publish for a few days from now on, but I feel like this method will be beneficial to the story overall. You will get another chapter later today.


    Chapter 19: Meeting the Lord


    The next morning, Paul woke up early, besides having gone to bed late. Kana was already up but just waiting in bed, probably to not disturb him in his sleep with any activity.


    Paul was somewhat excited, because he would meet with the captain of the town guard today and probably receive a reward.


    He had already decided to spend his stat points on intelligence. Wisdom might come in handy as well, but for now he wanted to be able to memorize spells more than regenerating mana quickly.


    Besides that, he wasn¡¯t even absolutely sure how the whole mana thing worked. Intelligence seemed to raise his mana pool by 5 MP, so it was pretty straightforward and a safe bet to enhance his capabilities.


    After spending the points, Paul looked over his stats.


    Name: Paul


    Adult Human Male


    Level: 7


    Experience: 265 / 10%


    Strength: 15


    Endurance: 16


    Agility: 25


    Intelligence: 21 (+1)


    Wisdom: 10


    Luck: 0


    Health: 80


    Mana: 105


    Stamina: 80


    Some of Paul¡¯s skills had also taken a step forward, so he was pleased when he looked over them.


    [Carpentry] Beginner Level 2, 82%


    [Leatherworking] Beginner Level 5, 75%


    [Spear-type Weapons] Beginner Level 6, 21%


    [Bows] Beginner Level 4, 74%


    [Resilience] Beginner Level 3, 30%


    [Sense Surroundings] Beginner Level 4, 9%


    [Healer] Beginner Level 2, 39%


    [Night Vision] Beginner Level 4, 19%


    [Trapping] Beginner Level 4, 38%


    [Sneak] Beginner Level 3, 20%


    [Enchantment Understanding] Beginner Level 1, 50%


    The only thing that was bugging him somewhat was the carpentry skill, which felt like a wasted skill point. Well, he still had two points left, so it was not like he had anything else to spend it on right away, but alchemy seemed to be better. Once he had access to a library, made friends with a proficient craftsman or both, more useful skills should be within reach.


    The first thing Paul did after raising his intellect, was memorize the charm spell. He managed to do so now and found out that the cost was a whopping 100 MP per cast. He would probably get a terrible migraine just from casting it a single time, so its usefulness was pretty limited for now.


    Paul told Kana to fetch a bowl of hot water from the inn keeper to wash herself properly, and dressed himself for the day. Given that they had met the guard captain yesterday morning, he wanted to go there straight after breakfast.


    On their way to the guard headquarters, they stopped at a stall to get some additional protein (very bloody) for Kana.


    ¡°After finishing the initial stages of the investigation, the picture so far is pretty clear. The testimony of the subjects rescued from the bandit¡¯s hideout, as well as the interrogation of the prisoners, has indeed painted you in the light the person responsible for the destruction of the band of bandits. Any parts of your own testimony that cannot be proven will be taken as fact for now. We are currently looking out for any contacts the organization had amongst the citizens of our town. So far, you are not considered to be in league with the criminal organisation in any form.¡±


    The words from the captain relieved Paul, although they sounded like he had just been acquitted of a crime.


    The captain continued. ¡°For your impressive accomplishments, the Town of Prozor will reward you handsomely. Especially the leader, a wanted rogue wizard, had a considerable bounty on her head. A messenger has already been sent to inform the magic association of her death, as well as of the name of the person responsible. Please take this as a monetary reward, I am sure you will find its content to your liking.¡± He handed Paul a small bag, containing most likely several coins. Paul decided to check the contents as soon as he was done with the formalities here.


    ¡°Note that any items you took from the hide out that are not crucial to our investigation can stay in your possession. If you have taken anything else of note, come forward now and there will be no repercussions.¡±


    Paul still had the pages taken from the ledger in his bag. Given that he had no use for them and that he was sure that the money he took was from the baron, he had already thought about handing them over. Now seemed to be a good opportunity.


    ¡°Yes, please take these. I found them on the bandit¡¯s leader and tried to make sense of them, but they seem to be coded. I simply kept them by mistake. I hope they will be useful to your investigators.¡± Paul handed over the pages. The captain did not show any emotion, which was a good thing in Paul¡¯s eyes. He did not seem to trust Paul very much anyway.


    ¡°Mr Paul, the Earl has informed me that he would like to speak to you in person. Please visit the lord¡¯s castle later today. The guards stationed there have already been informed. For now, you are excused after some answering some questions from our lead investigators.¡±


    Paul and Kana followed two important but tired looking guards to a table. The two men asked some questions, for example the information he had received from the prisoners when he had captured them. It was over in less than an hour.


    He checked the contents of the coin purse. A whopping 6 gold coins. Even if he went on a shopping spree now, he could explain where the money came from. He had also received official permission to keep everything he had looted, so Paul was pleased with the outcome. The audience with the lord was a welcome bonus on top of that.


    After returning to the inn and collecting the items Kana had cleaned and maintained before, the two headed to the market place. Paul let Kana carry everything, because she seemed to be happy to be of use to him. He was wondering if it was just an effect of the binding spell or if it was out of her own mentality, but the result was the same.


    Paul bought a lot of items that he perceived useful in case he left the town to travel someplace else. He had not made any concrete plans, but there were several points of interest. The magic association and the academy were definitely among them, but he was also interested in finding and defeating monsters or criminals in the wild to raise his and perhaps also Kana¡¯s level quickly.


    It was hard to decide on a course of action without any solid information or at least some good leads.


    Paul commissioned a good piece of chest armour for Kana at one of the more renowned blacksmiths. He also bought a pair of bracers and leg protectors made of iron for her, as well as a reinforced shield. The sword she already had was as good as any in the shop, so he did not replace it.


    There was no point in buying her a helmet, because it would not fit properly because of her ears. Paul decided to try and make her a cute individual helmet made of leather and fur by himself.


    He also bought a set of nice looking ¡°town clothes¡± for himself. Kana was adorable as she was, so dressing her up in normal clothes already left a good enough impression.


    After having lunch, they headed to the inn, stowed away their purchases and went to the guarded quarter located around the lord¡¯s castle.


    Paul decided to take a detour and do some sightseeing before heading to the Earl. The quarter was not too big, walking in a circle within the walls took about half an hour. Most houses, or better mansions, were secluded by fences, hedges and gates. There were many people dressed in servants¡¯ clothes hurrying along the streets or tending to the gardens.


    The only businesses of note were a nice looking restaurant and a tailor. Some inhabitants seemed to do business from within their residences, indicated by signs on the walls. There was a place advertising high quality training for servants and an architect, also a merchant specialized in the acquisition of exotic goods, whatever that meant. He had no public store, so it seemed somewhat mysterious to Paul.


    After satisfying his curiosity, he headed to the caste with Kana. The castle was not that impressive, but looked solid and practical. The size was fitting for a somewhat small place like Prozor. There was only one higher tower of about 4 storeys, a bit separated from the rest of the place. The main building itself was two storeys high and made of what looked like granite. Due to the tall ceilings and pointed roof it was taller than any other building with two floors.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    The guards let them pass after Paul stated his business, and they were led to a neat looking, large room and served tea. Kana was standing behind him at first, but Paul told her to take a seat next to him. The servants at the castle did not show any reaction to this.


    After a while, a man seemingly in his late forties and dressed in very expensive looking clothes entered the room, followed by another, rather skinny and generally unimpressive man.


    [Callum Webster, Earl of Prozor


    Human


    Level 14]


    After formally greeting him, Paul had to tell his life story. It was over quickly, because he kept to the story he had told Marcus before, so it only covered a span of not even two months.


    The Earl made a kind but curious impression to Paul. He inquired about the Paul¡¯s impression of the settlements he had visited, the people he had met and even spoke directly to Kana, even though Paul had introduced her as his servant. It seemed to Paul like he was genuinely interested in the information he got from the two, which was a bit different from what he got through official reports. It struck Paul as quite reasonable.


    Of course Paul also had to tell the story about the bandit hideout, although he tried to keep it to a minimum and somewhat downplayed it. The Earl showed his admiration and thanks nonetheless.


    Paul learned that the Earl had been studying at the magic academy when he was younger, but only with moderate success. Afterwards he had joined Prozor¡¯s armed forces as their commander in the field and led them on some subjugation quests and against a rebellion on the outer skirts of the province.


    His extensive experience seemed to explain his rather high level to Paul.


    After both sides had sated their curiosity, the Earl told the man that had entered together with him to speak. He had introduced him as his councillor and it seemed like there were some small issues that Paul could help with. Before the Earl left, he asked Paul if there was a request he had after dealing with the bandits, although he understood that Paul had already received a reward from the captain.


    ¡°Thank you for your kind offer. If it is not too much to ask, I have one small request. I have heard that the castle¡¯s library is quite impressive and open to certain members of the public. I would very much like to use the opportunity and get permission to read the books you have in your collection.¡±


    The Earl agreed to Paul¡¯s request, and instructed his councillor to arrange someone to bring Paul to the library later and instruct the guards to let him pass through unhindered in the future.


    After the Earl left, the councillor informed Paul of several small matters in the surrounding countryside that needed attention.


    There was a small village to the west that had reported some villagers missing over the last months. In addition there were several strange late night attacks on people who were outside said village, but without any stolen items. Most of the victims just fainted and could not remember the attacker and were found in a weakened state the next day. A small group of investigators had already checked the area, but could not find anything out of the ordinary. As there had been no confirmed casualties, the priority was rather low.


    Another matter were unidentified creatures in some of the abandoned mineshafts in the mountainside to the south. Paul vaguely remembered Marcus telling him about it after he arrived in this world, so he asked for a few more details. Apparently there was a small mining village called Steinnes close to the mountain. The mines produced mostly copper and iron, but the production fell over the last year. When asked, the village elder reported that the miners were afraid of strange noises that could be heard deep within the mountains. Reluctant to expose themselves to unknown danger, they avoided digging any deeper into the mountain and stuck to the areas that they felt were relatively save, but weren¡¯t necessarily rich in ores.


    A reconnaissance mission would already be enough, if the threat is known, a force would be dispatched from Prozor.


    There was also a spider infestation in a forest to the north, but Paul quickly declined. Spiders weren¡¯t really his thing. At least not unless he learned an effective spell to burn down the entire forest from a safe distance.


    Above all, there was the lingering threat from the goblin tribes to the north-east, whose raiding parties seemed to get closer and closer to Prozor and the surrounding villages. Historically, the goblins were a problem the villages and nobles of that area, but if they caused problems to Prozor and its connected settlements, the Earl would not hesitate to build a subjugation force. At this point, any information would be valuable and if the time came, Paul would be asked to join the force on a temporary basis.


    The threats were too vague to dispatch considerable manpower to each of the incidents, so asking passing adventurers to look into it seemed like a reasonable response. Even if Paul didn¡¯t do anything, there would be no harm done.


    After the councillor told Paul about the ¡°quests¡±, he led him and Kana to the library. It was a large room on the lower floor of the castle. The walls were lined with bookshelves that were higher than a person, but not as high to require ladders to reach the upper shelves. Paul noticed that many of the bookshelves were filled with fiction and poetry. Only about half was actually valuable information. In the centre of the room was a large table with several comfortable chairs, to allow for reading. Paul was informed that he was not allowed to lend out any of the books, unless he got explicit permission.


    For now, just having access was good enough for Paul. He had the possibility to make notes using the [Menu] function, so there should be no problem.


    Unfortunately, there was no librarian who could guide him to any works of special interest, so Paul would have to look for interesting books by himself.


    The councillor then excused himself and Paul and Kana were left in the library. Paul decided to spend a few days here, to get a better grasp of the situation, but did not expect to find anything overly interesting. The most interesting item was already on open display: a large map of the surrounding kingdoms was hung on the far end of the room.


    Paul stepped closer and took a look.


    Prozor belonged to a kingdom called Britus and was located east of the centre of said kingdom. The capital was called Kirkwall and located to the Northwest, at the coast. Judging from the distance to the small village south of Prozor, where Jonas lived and only indicated by a single small hut, the distance to the capital was about 10 times as far. Considering that it only took them around hours at a faster walking pace to cross that distance, Paul deduced that the kingdom itself wasn¡¯t very large.


    There were several other towns like Prozor and scattered throughout the Britus Kingdom. One between Prozor and Kirkwall, the capital, was called Howe. Paul decided to make Howe his next destination after he wrapped things up in this area.


    After glancing over the books Paul and Kana left the castle again. They visited the temple for another healing session for Kana, and ate at the inn. Paul had tried to get the priest to show him the tome of healing spell he used, but only learned that the priest had been taught at a monastery dedicated to Urnera and several other gods. Apparently, there were magic users outside the magic academy.


    Later in his room, Paul trained his [Night Vision] skill by focusing on Kana in the darkness. Only because it was a more interesting sight than the floorboards, not because she had stripped down to only a shirt and her underpants and was laying defenceless her bed, without even bothering to use a blanket (it was summer and pretty warm).


    Paul thought that it must be pretty dull for her at the moment. He had no house that required work done by servants, and just walking around with him, only occasionally carrying something for Paul, must be rather boring.


    After nearly exhausting his mana pool twice, Paul went to sleep.

 Chapter 20: Treatment Session

    Author''s note: Second and probably last chapter for today. The characters will be heading into the second arc very soon, which is under the vague topic of "questing around prozor".


    Also, this chapter gets a bit sexual and very awkward. Sorry, but I''m basically a semi-professional pervert myself, expect my characters to live up to that standard. ; )


    Chapter 20: Treatment Session


    The next few days weren¡¯t very eventful. Paul spent most of his time in the library, trying to read up on the particularities of this world. He had asked Kana if there was any activity she would prefer over just sitting beside him, but she didn¡¯t come up with anything. Asking the guards to let her train with them seemed like a good idea, but the captain tried to make both of them join their ranks when he asked him, so he refrained from getting anywhere near the guard HQ for now. Kana at least didn¡¯t look too bored, so he just made sure to buy her lots of meat when they took a break.


    During one of the breaks he tried to get information about the previous nobles Kana served before and her life so far. Apart from the fact that she was a servant since early childhood, Kana seemed very reluctant to tell him any details. Apparently the binding spell she was under prevented her from disclosing any secrets once her ¡°owner¡± changed, so Paul could not blame her.


    Kana had changed the house she served under several times, she remembered 6 different places. According to her, she always performed unsatisfactory in one way or another and was handed over to someone else, either sold or as a present. Beastkin servants were more common among the noble courts, but wolfkin people were somewhat rare. The most common among the maids were feline races as they were suited for delicate tasks and had an overall calm nature. As the whole topic of her previous performances seemed to pain Kana, Paul dropped the topic quickly.


    The books gave Paul a lot of general information, but not much he could use right away. The Britus Kingdom was located in the north-western part of the continent, surrounded by other human kingdoms. After centuries of sporadic wars, most of the human kingdoms had banned the beastkin peoples from their lands, unless they were bound servants or had a rare special permission.


    The closest dwarven kingdom was located at the southern end of the continent. Beyond the sea to the south was the ¡°animal continent¡±, as Paul dubbed it. There was a time when beastkin people had their own territory on the now predominantly human continent, but that was centuries ago.


    The elves had either a continent or a large island to the west of the human territory, but there were no reliable maps and the rare reports differed regarding to the scale of the area.


    Humans had means of flying, but the elves were very reclusive and did not allow any trespassers near their territory. Magical barriers prevented any attempts of reconnaissance and even the ocean around their territory was so dangerous, that sailing around their lands was virtually impossible. If that was just a natural occurrence or a result of elven magic was not clear.


    Regarding the possibility to fly, there were several different approaches. One was taming magical beasts. Dragons seemed to be untameable, even if raised from infant age. But there were gryphons and similar flying beasts that were utilized by some armies. Some magicians had means to fly as well, but it was a difficult and therefore rare spell and could only be utilized for short periods of time.


    The most usable means of flying were magic vehicles, similar to airships. The construction was very expensive though, and even then specialized magicians were needed to make the airship move. The airships were also prone to attacks from flying beasts. After several famous losses due to dragon attacks, which resulted in the deaths of high ranking nobles and military commanders, airships were considered too vulnerable and expensive for common use.


    In the end, most travel was done by conventional means. Sailing along the shores of the oceans was relatively safe, as was travel by horse or coach.


    To Paul, it seemed like this world was the typical fantasy realm. There were pockets of different fantastical monsters littered all around the countryside. Goblins, trolls, giant spiders, even giants and fairies could be found throughout the continent. Paul had wondered how they did not go extinct over the years, but there was one reason as to why this did not happen: the gods.


    Whenever there was a drastic decline in a species, it was ¡°blessed¡± with abnormally high birth rates, or a new nest or tribe ¡°spawned¡± somewhere. Kingdoms that dedicated a lot of resources to fight a specific enemy suffered through plagues or droughts, weakening them to a state where they stopped their efforts.


    The gods seemed to particularly value stability and balance. If a town or region built a temple for a certain deity, it was no rare occurrence that other deities started harassing the followers. Therefore cults and shrines for all gods were tolerated to a certain extent, even for the less ¡°good¡± ones. This also explained why the temple for Urnera in Prozor was so bland. A fancy building was bound to attract the attention of a jealous god.


    After spending three days studying history and general information on technology and the various magical races, Paul felt like he had enough knowledge to at least pass as native inhabitant of this world.


    In fact, the vast amount of basic information and his commitment to his studies raised both his intelligence and wisdom stat by one point at the end of day three.


    When Paul arrived at the inn that evening, Kana was in their room and maintaining the weapons and armour they had looted from the bandits¡¯ hideout. Paul had collected the remaining items hidden under the dead tree in the plains as well, so the room resembled some sort of armoury at this point, with different weapons and pieces of armour scattered around.


    ¡°Hey, Kana. The way you are holding that whetstone is dangerous. You will hurt your fingers again.¡±


    Kana was not only clumsy with her movements, she seemed to forget things he taught her pretty quickly. After she had cut herself while sharpening half of the time, and dulling the blade instead of sharpening it the other half, Paul had spent a full hour showing her how to hold and move the whetstone in order to achieve good and safe results. It wasn¡¯t even that hard of a technique in the first place.


    ¡°I am sorry, Master. My skills are lacking, please don¡¯t despise me.¡± Kana stopped sharpening the short sword and hung her head. The fresh bandage on one of her fingers indicated that the warning came too late again.


    ¡°No, it was my fault for letting you do this unsupervised. I guess I have to find something else for you to do.¡± Paul closed his eyes and started massaging his eyes and nose with one hand while thinking. He felt like some headache was approaching. The days spent in the library were strenuous for him, and worrying about his servant was not something he wanted to add to that.


    ¡°Wahh, Master, please don¡¯t look so sad. Please train me and punish me until I get right. Yes? Please?¡±


    Paul opened his eyes looked at Kana, who was looking back at him with teary eyes and a worried expression. He wasn¡¯t really mad at her in the first place.


    ¡°Stupid girl, as if you would learn that easily. And don¡¯t sneak in requests for punishment all the time, what would you do if I really started spanking you¡± He flicked her nose after teasing her.


    Kana¡¯s reaction was a bit more extreme than he had expected. She grabbed her nose with both hands and clenched her eyes, then fell back onto the bed she was sitting on and started rolling around with tears coming through her clenched eyelids.


    ¡°Ow, my nose... That really hurt! Nnnnng¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oy, be careful! There are sharp things on the bed, don¡¯t roll around like that!¡± Paul grabbed Kana by the shoulders to prevent her from stabbing herself accidentally.


    ¡°Nnnnng¡­ my nose is really sensitive¡­ Master is a first class bully, for going straight for my weakest point.¡± Thinking about it, Kana was faintly related to canines, known for their sensitive smelling organs. Paul just flicked her nose as a joke, but it seemed like it was more effective than he had intended.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know it would really hurt. I just wanted to tease you a bit, because you ask me to punish you at least twice a day¡­¡±


    Kana opened her eyes, but continued rubbing her nose. There were still tears running down from the corner of her eyes.


    ¡°If Master says so, I will believe it. I won¡¯t refuse any kind of punishment, so feel free to do as you like¡­¡± Kana said the last part in a soft voice, and then looked to the side in a shy manner. With Paul still pinning her down by the shoulders, the situation got strangely sexual. Paul quickly released Kana and stood up straight.


    ¡°¡­ Listen, Kana. I don¡¯t want to abuse my authority over you, it would make me feel bad. I¡¯m not sure how much of your personality is dictated by that strange binding spell and punishing you for something you are naturally bad at feels just wrong, no matter how I look at it. So, could you please stop requesting punishments at every opportunity?¡±


    ¡°But, Master¡­ I¡¯m very confident that I can at least receive every punishment Master can think of. It is my best ability¡± Kana exclaimed so without any shame, her eyes sparkling. She even made a fist next to her face, emphasizing how much she meant it.


    ¡°That¡¯s an ability for weirdoes, don¡¯t say something like that with such a proud expression! You make me want to flick your nose again¡­¡±


    ¡°Please go ahead then¡± Kana closed her eyes and stuck out her nose. Paul flicked her on the forehead and went to bed.


    The next morning Paul went to the market with Kana in tow. He had decided to buy some items for Marcus¡¯ settlement, as he planned to visit him on his way to the mining town. Paul bought a large batch of rope, a big box of nails and a large roll of sturdy linen cloth that could be made into clothes. He also bought a few lamps and a small barrel of lamp oil.


    Paul had already found someone with a horse and two wheeled cart who had agreed to drive him, Kana and the items to the settlement for a fee of only ten silver coins. After buying all the items, deducting the fee and rent for the next month, Paul still had over 8 gold coins left. He still had to pay for Kana¡¯s custom armour, but as it was made partly with standard items, it would cost less than one gold.


    He and Kana brought all their items to the driver, a middle-aged man by the name of Rudolph, then went back to the market square. Today Paul wanted to finally visit the merchant specialized in producing potions and other herbal cures. While they were out in the field, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make use of the healing services provided by the priest, and Paul wanted to avoid getting killed again just to stay in fighting condition in case of injuries. He also wanted to make sure Kana stayed healthy.


    The merchant had a large stall on the market square. Paul had passed by on several occasions, but today he stopped and took a close look. The merchant did not only sell salves, potions and tinctures, but also a variety of raw ingredients. Dried herbs, monster horns, and powders of different origin.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Hello, dear customer. What kind of ailment plagues you? I have everything you need to cure fatigue, the cold, sleeplessness, depression, inflammation or headaches. I also have salves against rashes, scars or insect bites. If you need it, I have a new oil that will repel pests if distributed in a room. It smells a bit, but it is really effective I am told.¡± The merchant then spoke with a low voice, shielding his mouth with one hand. ¡°And of course I have specialized treatments for every sort of disease that you or your woman may have caught during nightly adventures.¡±


    ¡°Ah, thank you for the offer. I am looking for potions that can be used to heal physical injuries. I am on my way to a potentially dangerous expedition and want something in case I or my companion get injured.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, let me see. I have several potent healing potions that are popular among the adventurer type. Unfortunately, I cannot produce them easily here in town, so they are mostly imported from outside. That means they are somewhat costly. Nothing much in comparison to the huge benefit they will bring in case you get injured of course.¡± While speaking, the merchant took out a box that contained halve a dozen small bottles. The flasks contained a clear, red liquid.


    ¡°¡­hmmm, at least they look like health potions¡­¡± Paul muttered to himself. The description he got from the [Menu] was vague as always. According to the herb/alchemy book he got, healing potions could be produced using certain herbs and monster blood. Even human blood was an option, but if human blood was used, the effect would only be marginal at best. ¡°How much do they cost? And what kind of beast blood was used for their production?¡±


    ¡°Ahhh, someone who is well informed¡± the merchant made a frowning face for a split second, but went back to a bright smile quickly ¡°The main ingredient is goblin blood, with fresh quality herbs foraged in the area. The manufacturer is a skilled alchemist, nearly as well versed in the art as myself. I can guarantee their effectiveness. The price is 10 silver per bottle, if you buy all of them, I throw one in for free and you get the protective box on top, so it is 50 silver for the whole set of six.¡±


    Paul thought about the information in the book. Goblin blood was listed as a possible ingredient. More potent than human blood, because of the inherent magic affinity of goblins, but less potent than other monsters or beasts. It was a beginner-tier potion so to say. Given the lack of alternatives, Paul decided to buy all of them.


    ¡°If you throw in a batch of the scar-removing salve, I will buy the whole set.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ this way I will almost make a loss¡± the merchant was clearly exaggerating, given his ill-hidden smile ¡°but if you agree to buy a mortar and pestle together with the salve, I can barely make a profit. You will need one to prepare the salve anyway.¡± Paul nodded, if he decided to dabble in alchemy himself, such a set would come in handy. The merchant looked happy now.


    Paul was advised that the salve will irritate the skin, causing a burning sensation that was very uncomfortable. Given that the salve was supposed to lessen or remove even old scars, a certain amount of irritation was to be expected. And as he planned to use it on Kana, Paul wasn¡¯t too concerned about the effect. If he labelled it as a punishment, her masochistic streak would probably cause her to enjoy it in the end.


    Back at the inn, Paul poured the content of one of the potion flasks into a clean bowl.


    ¡°Kana, please remove the bandage on your right hand and show me the cut from the sword.¡±


    Kana held his hand out to Paul. The cut from yesterday was still clearly visible. Paul then used a clean, wet cloth to clean the wound and remove the dried blood. Afterwards, he made Kana hold the wound into the bowl with the potion. Healing potions could be used externally as well as be consumed, with the effect being stronger if applied directly to the wound.


    After the wound was soaked in the potion, Paul inspected it again. The cut has already started to reduce in size and deepness, it looked just like a scratch by now. Satisfied with the effect, Paul continued cleaning the other wounds on Kana¡¯s hands. The clumsy wolf girl had managed to hurt herself quite a bit while maintaining the equipment.


    When all of the wounds were properly treated, he told Kana to drink the remaining potion from the bowl. Ten minutes later the wounds were all closed and apart from the skin looking somewhat rosy for now, it didn¡¯t seem like there would be any lasting scars.


    ¡°It seems like those potions are really working. Perhaps throwing all that money at the priest in the temple was a bit of a waste. Let¡¯s test the salve as well.¡±


    Paul thoroughly crushed a few of the herbs he got from the merchant in the mortar and then mixed them with a white salve like he had been instructed.


    ¡°Please roll up your shirt, Kana, so I can reach your back. Let¡¯s try it out there first.¡±


    The wolf girl sat on the bed, her back turned towards Paul, and struggled lifting up her shirt and holding it in place. In the end she just pulled the whole shirt up over her head, effectively covering her head with it, her arms caught up in an awkward position in front of her face. As she wasn¡¯t wearing any sort of underwear, her upper torso was fully naked now. With her arms and head entangled in the shirt, she was in a very defenceless position, a bit too defenceless for Paul to go on unaffected.


    ¡°OK, that doesn¡¯t really work, please undress and lie down on the bed.¡± Looking at Kana¡¯s back, Paul felt anger welling up. Her otherwise perfect body was a mess of interlining scars and old bruises. There were fine, long lines that were caused by a whip or cane of some sort, as well as wider, uneven scars and some spots that looked like burn marks.


    Paul once again thought that the bandits were let off too easily for what they did to his precious servant.


    Kana had complied with his request and was laying on the bed, face down.


    ¡°According to the merchant, this is going to feel uncomfortable. I will only use a little bit for now, so tell me if it gets too painful.¡±


    ¡°OK, Master can just do as he pleases¡± Kana had her eyes closed and a calm expression on her face.


    Ignoring her comment, Paul took a wooden spatula and distributed a little bit of the salve over one of the wider scars. After finishing, he observed Kana¡¯s expression. Her face was a bit flushed and she was clenching her eyes. The skin underneath the salve began to redden.


    ¡°Everything OK? We need to leave it like that for at least 15 minutes, so tell me if it¡¯s too painful to use more.¡±


    ¡°No, please continue, Master¡± Kana said. Her voice didn¡¯t show too much pain, so Paul continued to apply more of the salve onto her back. Out of curiosity, he put a bit on the back of his left hand. After five seconds, it started to burn and the skin turned bright red, and five seconds later, it felt like boiling water had been poured onto his skin. Paul quickly grabbed the wet cloth and wiped the cream off. The burning sensation decreased quickly, but it was still painful.


    ¡°Oy, are you sure I should continue? We can do it a little bit at a time.¡±


    Kana was clenching her eyes and panting by now, her hands balled into fists. ¡°No, please continue. Don¡¯t stop, Master.¡±


    Resisting the urge to flick her nose again, Paul quickly applied the rest of the salve to the scarred parts of her back. When he was finished, he took a look at her face again. Kana was panting through her clenched teeth, and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. Taking pity, Paul started stroking her head. ¡°If it¡¯s too hard, tell me and I will wash it off. I already checked, the burning stops quickly once you remove the salve.¡±


    ¡°Nnnng¡­ no¡­ it¡¯s good, I¡¯m fine.¡± Kana opened her eyes and looked at Paul, her face beet red. Paul looked to the side, then said ¡°Well¡­ if you say so. You still have more than 10 minutes ahead of you, so if it gets too hard-¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m good. Thank you. Master can go ahead and apply the salve to other parts of my body as well.¡±


    ¡°I refuse. Let us check if it works first. And please stop wagging your tail¡­¡±


    Paul just sat next to the girl and continued to slightly stroke her hair. Kana¡¯s breathing calmed down after a couple of minutes and she had a slightly happy expression on her face. Her face was still red and she was a bit glossy from sweating.


    He had no watch or any other means of accurately measuring the time, so Paul just estimated when the 15 minutes were up. As Kana didn¡¯t look very distressed, he waited a bit longer just to be sure. Putting her through the experience twice just because he didn¡¯t let the salve work long enough would be crueller than waiting 5 minutes longer, at least in Paul¡¯s eyes.


    Paul used a fresh cloth and warm water to wash the salve off. The skin over the scars came off as well, at least the outermost layer. Underneath was a fresh layer of pink skin. When he was finished, Paul took a closer look at Kana¡¯s back. The scars had been replaced by pink skin and all but the deepest and oldest ones were no longer visible at all. The salve was really powerful.


    ¡°Hey, I have finished washing your back, how does it feel? Still burning?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ it didn¡¯t burn that badly, but it has stopped completely now. The skin is a bit ticklish though¡± Kana was saying so while running her hands over her shoulder and the parts of her back she could reach. ¡°Does Master think the medicine has worked?¡±


    ¡°It looks like it did. It will probably take a couple of days for the skin to turn back to normal, but it already looks a lot better than before.¡±


    ¡°Good. Please use the remaining salve on my body then, Master.¡± Kana¡¯s cheeks, which had gone back to a normal colour, started to turn red again.


    A very exciting half an hour later, Paul had used up all of the salve he had prepared beforehand. Kana¡¯s upper body was now covered in pink, fresh skin and Paul was nearing his limit.


    When the wolf girl pulled her pants, including her underwear, down to her knees and started wagging her tail again, he excused himself and left the room.


    Outside, he adjusted his pants. He started to seriously regret enlarging his packet the way he did, it was virtually impossible for him to hide anything. He couldn¡¯t even walk inconspicuously in his current state.


    He tried thinking about a reason to leave, but could not come up with anything. Instead he went back into the room, the situation should have resolved itself with Kana dressing herself again ¨C or so he had thought, regretting his decision immediately while closing the door again.


    ¡°That girl¡­¡± Paul said to himself, while he heard rumbling behind the closed door to his room.


    Seconds later Kana opened the door, falling to her knees when she saw Paul still standing in the hallway. ¡°Wahhh¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Master. I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! Please don¡¯t abandon me!¡±


    ¡°Huh? I won¡¯t abandon you for being a hopeless pervert, you won¡¯t get away that easily. First, dress yourself, you will get arrested if you walk out of the room like that. And wash your hands, properly! Do that first! And you are banned from ever touching that salve again¡± Paul wondered if flicking her nose twice would suffice as a punishment.

 Chapter 21: Visiting Marcus

    Author''s note: The next two chapters are a bit shorter (around 5k words combined). Second one for today will be up in a few hours and will finally have some action again.


    Chapter 21: Visiting Marcus


    Paul¡¯s inquiry with the innkeeper left him a bit depressed. Apparently there was a certain establishment in Prozor, but there was a serious problem with it.


    ¡°You see, we are not sure if it is because of the goddess Urnera¡¯s blessing, or if some other god is pranking us, or if it is just bad luck, but every girl in child bearing age working there gets pregnant without fail, like, immediately. No contraception potion or magic seems to be working. So the only girls currently working there are either old hags or less¡­ female¡­¡± The innkeeper told Paul so, with an unhappy face.


    No matter how sexually frustrated Paul was, old women or guys were definitely not in his strike zone. It would definitely take another week or two living with his perverted servant before he would consider going there. At least a couple more days.


    Paul decided to visit the library a last time before his trip to the mining settlement. He had seen a certain book that he had disregarded at first, but he wanted to give an idea he had a try at least.


    Sitting at the desk in the library, Paul opened ¡°Adamantine to Zinc ¨C A collection of Dwarven Knowledge on Mining, Metals and Ores¡±. The title was pretty much conclusive, it was a work on mining and processing different types of ores. Given that there was a mining town under the jurisdiction of the lord, finding a book dealing with the topic in his collection was no surprise.


    So far Paul had learned most of skills by getting taught by someone with the skill, or by himself just randomly doing things. After gaining the [Enchantment Understanding] skill after studying and looking at the enchanted items, he now planned to get a mining skill. Paul hoped to get a good skill to make money, and the faster and easier the better. Leatherworking was more of a survival skill, and he had initially planned to produce enchanted items or create potions to sell, but both crafts required certain spells or rare materials, or both and he had access to neither.


    So, just going for raw and expensive materials was Paul¡¯s next best idea. First, he utilized a method he had nearly perfected over the last few days. Opening his note function, he started reading through the book at a fast pace, while creating a note containing all the information. As the [Menu] could write down the words he was thinking, he didn¡¯t need to understand the content and just make sure to read the words correctly to not add any mistakes to his ¡°mental copy¡± of the book.


    Paul already had a few works on different types of monsters among his notes. Luckily, the current book did not contain any sketches or maps, and was based on descriptions only. After he had copied the book, which took him nearly two hours, he went back to the passages dealing with geology and how to spot and distinguish between ores.


    After spending another two hours with the relevant section and making a bunch of notes, physical this time, Paul went to see the counsellor and inform him that he planned to go Steinnes, the mining town. The counsellor gave Paul a short letter bearing the Earl¡¯s seal, introducing Paul as an official investigator and assuring him of any support he might need during his stay in the town.


    Afterwards Paul went to the inn to get Kana and go out to have dinner. The atmosphere was a bit awkward at first, but Paul decided to not mention the earlier ¡°incident¡±. Before visiting the food stalls, they made a stop at the armour smith. The armour he had commissioned for Kana was ready and he had her try it on.


    It was nowhere near a full plate mail, but that was not the intention anyway. It was basically a flexible leather armour that was reinforced with chainmail and steel plates at the front and back, as well as shoulder guards and plates protecting the upper arms. It was plain but very sturdy.


    [Steel Reinforced Armour (female)


    Defence 20


    Durability 50/50


    Iron/Steel Armour (chest)


    An armour piece created by a skilled craftsman. It protects the wearer¡¯s upper body from most cutting weapons and arrows. It has been fitted to comfortably accommodate a female wearer.]


    Kana, now wearing the chest armour, together with a pair of chain gloves, iron shin and knee guards, gave off the intimidating vibe of a skilled mercenary. Her gorgeous, smiling face, animal ears and wagging tail somewhat contradicted that feeling, but Paul was happy with the result nonetheless. He had the smith strap a small iron buckler to her left arm as well and then haggled him down to one gold piece for the whole set. Given that it was for the protection of his only companion, it was a steal.


    After feasting on small dishes from various food stalls, Paul and Kana went back to the inn. They planned to leave early tomorrow, so after packing two new backpacks, they went to bed early. Paul decided not to spy on Kana in the dark today, he didn¡¯t want to see something outrageous again.


    Very early in the morning, it was still dark outside, Rudolph the driver came to the inn with his horse and cart. Paul and Kana loaded most of the weapons and leather armour onto the cart, before the small group set off towards the small settlements to the south. They would stop at Jonas¡¯ settlement for the night and then go to Marcus¡¯ settlement the next day.


    It was an uneventful journey, given that the bandits had been thoroughly crushed just a couple of days earlier. The cart was rather small but full of items, so Paul and Kana had to jump off the cart and walk whenever the road got too rough. Because the sole horse couldn¡¯t manage the load all by itself under less ideal conditions and putting unnecessary strain on the horse would only result in unplanned breaks.


    They arrived at Jonas¡¯ village late in the evening. Paul spoke to Victor, the elder of the village, and arranged for a place to sleep. The three ended up sharing a barn, together with the horse. It did not really matter though, because they were tired from the journey and fell asleep within minutes.


    In the morning they met Jonas and had breakfast together. Paul introduced Kana and gave a quick comprehension of the bandit adventure, only focussing on the abandoned mine. Paul felt generous, so he let Jonas choose one of the short swords he had looted from the bandits before they departed towards Marcus¡¯ village.


    They arrived shortly before lunchtime. After greeting some of the settlers and talking to Ray, Marcus arrived from his daily trip checking the traps. He was carrying a few bunnies and had a beaming smile on his face after spotting Paul. After a bit too strong hug and some brief words, Paul showed him the items he had brought with him.


    ¡°Things happened, and I came into the possession of a bunch of armour and weapons. The armour has been somewhat cleaned, but you should probably clean them again. And a third time just to be sure. Use them as you wish, but I had the idea of having them distributed among the villagers, to bolster your defences.


    I also brought a lot of things I thought might be useful, I hope you find them to your liking as well.¡±


    Marcus accepted the items, but had a somewhat troubled expression. He probably had not expected to get anything in return from Paul, let alone so quickly after leaving him in Prozor. In the end he was glad though. The settlement had enough to eat right now, but was very poor otherwise. The items Marcus had bought were the bare necessities and Paul¡¯s items were at least two or three times as much. Together with the newly acquired tools, they will bring the settlement a much needed boost in comfort and security.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Ahh, no need to look so troubled, Marcus. You helped me out when I had literally nothing, without you I would have been killed by a fox sooner or later. And I will be counting on you in case I need a place to stay for a while. Let me introduce my new companion, Kana, and then let us have dinner together.¡±


    After lunch, Paul told Marcus of his bandit adventure while helping him tanning the bunnies and other hides by the river. Paul also handed Marcus a small coin pouch containing two gold coins worth of silver and copper coins. He did not know much about this world and in case he had to lay low for some reason or another, Paul was planning to go to this place here. Being able to request some support from Marcus was half the reason for his generosity. The other half was genuine gratefulness for the help and hospitality he had received before.


    Paul also handed Marcus a strongbox containing the books he had collected so far. He had not wanted to leave them at the inn, especially the magic book, as it was a restricted item that could get him into trouble if it was found in his possession. Paul had made notes of the relevant parts in the enchantment and alchemy book, and even diligently copied the drawings of the local herbs in case he wanted to go collect some. Carrying the heavy book around and risking losing it didn¡¯t seem worth the trouble.


    In the afternoon Paul went out hunting with Marcus, leaving Kana in the settlement. She was popular among the children and younger people, who had not come into contact with beastkin people yet and Kana seemed to enjoy playing around with them. Being a servant her whole life, Paul wanted her to have some fun for once. Considering the powerful binding spell, he wasn¡¯t sure if Kana could be herself as long as Paul was around.


    Two dead foxes and three killed snakes later Paul and Marcus decided to call it a day. Hunting in the forest was just like before, but after hunting more dangerous pray, namely bandits, it felt kind of dull for Paul.


    ¡°I nearly forgot how good you were at finding those hidden bastards¡± Marcus said so on their way back, holding up one of the dead snakes. ¡°If you ever feel like settling down with us, I guess I could retire from hunting altogether. I mean, please settle down here as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I will keep that in mind, but for now I want to explore the world. You were a soldier yourself before, right? I want to see some action myself before I go for a quiet life.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I have seen and done some things I rather would not have experienced though. Nothing wrong with seeing the world, but don¡¯t forget that rebels and even bandits are just people.¡±


    Bandits are people, huh? Paul remembered his first encounter with the bandits and the young guy who did not want to get killed. Paul already knew this, but a red dot on the minimap did not indicate ¡®ultimate evil¡¯. The two bandits he captured were red dots before, the bandit Vincent, who became his informant afterwards was a red dot at some point, and even Kana had a red indicator when he first met her. He looked at one of the dead foxes and wondered if he could tame one and keep it as a pet perhaps.


    But the world system encouraged killing others to get stronger. It was so subtle, especially at later stages, that it was not a known fact among the people. He had found no mention of the concept of experience points or levels in the books at the lord¡¯s library. Without the [Menu] and the combat log, Paul would probably not know about it as well.


    There was some experience to be gained by performing regular tasks, studying and training, but without active combat and finishing off living beings with a level of their own, it would probably take half a year or more to gain a level. Paul pushed the thought away for now. So far he had only hunted the bandits and they were a bunch of murderous rapists, right? No harm done.


    To change the topic, Paul decided to tell Marcus about his immediate plans.


    ¡°Steinnes, hmm? I only know about the huge snakes living in the surrounding areas, everything else is just rumours. And even the snakes are something I have not seen with my own eyes. But the village itself is said to be one of the nicer ones. Has some skilled craftsmen and gets food directly on orders from the lord. But I only visited it once myself, it has nothing you can¡¯t get in Prozor as far as I¡¯m concerned.¡±


    The information was more or less useless, but Paul thanked Marcus anyway. Back at the settlement, he found Kana still surrounded by children. She still looked energetic, but a little stressed as well. When she spotted Paul, she smiled at him.


    ¡°Heya Kana, everything OK? Had fun playing with the young ones?¡±


    ¡°Master! I guess it was fine, but the children were mean. The boy over there pulled my tail and the small girl pinched my nose when I picked her up, it made me cry¡± The boy looked guilty after hearing it. It was probably like pulling a girl¡¯s hair to get her attention because he liked her. At least that was Paul¡¯s motivation when he was a kid, so he couldn¡¯t be mad at the boy. And the girl was just about two years old, so she didn¡¯t mean any harm. Probably.


    Paul rubbed Kana¡¯s hair. ¡°You¡¯ve been a good girl, sorry for leaving you behind. I just wanted you to enjoy yourself without me being around.¡±


    ¡°I always have fun with Master around.¡± Kana cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brows, like he had said something incomprehensible. The binding spell probably had some sort of positive reinforcement or something, Paul thought.


    After a short discussion with Rudolph, the driver, they decided to spend the night here. It didn¡¯t look like Marcus would let them go anyway. Rudolph said that he could make it back to Prozor in one trip with the cart empty on the way back, so it was no problem for him.


    Rudolph would sleep at Ray¡¯s place and Marcus insisted that Paul and Kana stayed at his place. Kana could have stayed with another family, but Paul asked her and she wanted to keep him company. Marcus somehow didn¡¯t look too happy about that, but his mood lightened after Paul assured him that nothing troublesome would be happening during the night.


    Paul had spent some time in Prozor to acquire a considerable collection of survival gear and camping supplies. Most of the items were distributed among two large backpacks he had bought for himself and Kana, with the most essential items stored in belts. The idea was to be able to drop the heavy bags in case of a fight or having to flee, without risking losing everything in case someone stole their bags.


    Paul had opted for his trusted hunting bow, his spear and the light short sword. He still hadn¡¯t learned the sword skill, but with his real life experience and his good agility stat he should be able to deliver a fair amount of damage anyway.


    Kana had her long sword, the shield and also a large knife that doubled as a tool and a backup weapon.


    After doing a last check of the essential items while chatting with Marcus, they all went to bed.

 Chapter 22: Wolfkin vs. Wolf

    Chapter 22: Wolfkin vs. Wolf


    Early in the morning, the group departed from Marcus¡¯ settlement. Paul had to promise to come visit again soon, but he had planned to do so anyway.


    They rode on Rudolph¡¯s cart until they reached Jonas¡¯ village, then split up. While Rudolph went back to Prozor taking the northern road, Paul and Kana took the western road. Travelling to Steinnes was said to take a day by foot, so they would probably have to camp or travel through the night anyway, so they were not that much in a hurry.


    The road itself was rather well-maintained and suited for travelling by carriage, so on foot it was a more or less pleasant walk. First, they passed by the fields and pastures surrounding the village, then a few plains. About an hour later the road was completely surrounded by forest. A large percentage of the trees were of the needle variant and there was quite a bit of shrubbery mixed in between, so you couldn¡¯t see further into the forest than a dozen metres at best.


    While walking, Paul was on the lookout for herbs and plants that he might be able to use for alchemical or medicinal purposes. He had also shown the sketches of the leaves and grasses to Kana, so she could help him finding some, but it didn¡¯t even take half an hour and she started pointing out plants that had nothing to do with what he was looking for.


    He praised her anyway, but told her to be on the lookout for anything potentially dangerous from now on.


    His own efforts were less than satisfactory. He only found a plant that was said to help alleviate fever when made into a tea and one plant that was used to disinfect wounds by crushing the leaves and using it underneath a bandage. Not really bad, but nothing impressive. He plucked the plants including the roots, as advised in the book. Then he put them away in a linen bag he had attached to his belt.


    ¡°Hey Kana, lets walk a bit into the forest and then parallel to the road. I can¡¯t find anything worthwhile next to the road.¡± Paul said so while drawing his short sword and hacking a path through a bit of shrubbery. He could keep track of the road with the minimap, so there was no danger of getting lost.


    Unfortunately, the forest was too dense. Half an hour later they were back on the road, just a few hundred metres further down the road from where they started. It was so dark, that Paul had to use his [Night Vision] skill just to not scratch himself on random twigs and bushes all the time. He involuntarily shuddered a bit when Kana removed a spider from his hair.


    ¡°The crafting mechanics in this world are sure broken¡± He gave up on collecting herbs for now.


    After a while, Paul noticed a red dot on the border of the minimap. It was a few hundred meters inside the forest, so anything large wouldn¡¯t be able to get through the dense forest quickly. A boar or a wolf should not be anything of a problem for the two of them, so Paul ignored it after informing Kana that she should be on guard. The dot just followed them, sometimes vanishing from the map then reappearing a few minutes later.


    ¡°Kana, I already wondered but forgot to ask. You are a wolfkin, right? Do you have some special connection to wild wolves? Can you communicate with them? Maybe make one your companion?¡± A wolf as a party member would sure be bad ass. Or maybe a couple of them. Paul would have them hunt for bunnies and snakes without killing them, then drop them in front of Paul so he could easily farm experience. Paul smiled at the thought of an easy life.


    Kana¡¯s reaction was a bit strange. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure about talking to them. But the catkin and dogkin servants were always popular among the regular cats and dogs, so maybe they would not attack me outright? Making one of them my companion¡­ if Master really wants it, I¡¯m not against it, I suppose.¡± She looked like she was slightly blushing while saying the last part, but Paul wasn¡¯t sure because of the bad lighting. She was probably thinking something strange again.


    Paul sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s just walk on. If we meet some wolves, let¡¯s see how it plays out.¡±


    After a while they came to a small clearing next to road. There was a burnt out fireplace and a couple of rocks and a tree trunk arranged around it, as a makeshift resting side. Paul was hungry and Kana looked happy when he suggested to have lunch there. Paul had not seen the enemy on the radar for at least 15 minutes, so it was probably safe enough. Or so he thought.


    After Paul took out a loaf of bread and some cheese, Kana was already chewing on a large piece of dried meat, the dot reappeared and was bee lining towards them.


    Then a second dot and a third one appeared. And a fourth and fifth one.


    ¡°Urgh, Kana, stop eating for a minute. There are enemies approaching.¡± Kana looked a bit confused for a second, but when she saw Paul ready his bow and stand up on one of the rocks, she stopped eating and drew her sword.


    ¡°There are five of them and the way they are moving through that thick forest, they have to be beasts of some sort. I take a wild guess and say wolves. I guess you can try to get closer to them sooner as expected¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master¡± Kana had a battle ready stance and a serious expression on her face.


    The dots were moving a lot faster than the single one before. ¡°Here they come, we should be able to see them any second now¡±


    The treeline was about two dozen meters away from them. Paul should be able to shoot at least a few arrows at them before he would switch to his spear and engage in melee.


    First there was some rustling, then some movement in the bushes and then they saw them. Wolves, as expected.


    [Alpha Wolf


    Level 12]


    What a ridiculously high level, Paul thought. The first wolf that stepped through the bushes was a lot larger than the one he had encountered with Marcus. It was probably heavier than Paul. The wolf looked over the both of them, then started growling at Paul, ignoring Kana.


    It definitely didn¡¯t look like it was going to negotiate first.


    ¡°Kana stay close to me. I will start shooting.¡± Paul shot his arrow at the wolf, aiming for its head.


    You shot Alpha Wolf for 15 damage.


    The arrow flew past its head and hit it in the shoulder. Paul immediately drew another arrow and took aim. The large wolf didn¡¯t seem to attack and let out a loud howl.


    Paul looked at Kana. He didn¡¯t know if she could ¡°understand¡± anything the wolf was communicating with its cry, but her expression got even more serious. That was a more or less normal reaction in front a wounded beast though.


    Paul shot the next arrow at the wolf. To Paul it looked like the wolf was trying to dodge, as the arrow hit it in the right leg, a bit underneath the previous arrow. Perhaps his aim was just bad.


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    When the arrow hit, there was more rustling in the bushes and the other wolves jumped out. Not wasting any time, they started charging towards Paul. Paul didn¡¯t hesitate himself and shot an arrow at the one that seemed like it would reach him first. From his alleviated position, he hit the wolf straight between the shoulder blades.


    You hit Wolf for 25 damage. *crit*


    Wolf is now [bleeding].


    The wolf staggered and fell, but was immediately overtaken by the remaining three, which rapidly closed the distance. Their leader was barking and howling in the background, but didn¡¯t seem to join them.


    Paul tossed his bow to the side and grabbed his spear that he had stuck into the ground next to him. Kana was standing ready to his right side. Paul pointed his spear at the wolf in front, which was now just a few meters before him. He had the full attention of all the wolves, none of them seemed to be going for Kana.


    When the wolf jumped towards Paul, he stabbed his spear forwards, impaling the wolf just underneath its head and then used the momentum to throw the wolf to the left. It worked rather well and the wolf went flying. The other two wolves jumped at him at nearly the same time and Paul had just enough time to hold his spear in front of him, preventing the wolves from biting him.


    He couldn¡¯t keep his balance though and fell backwards off the rock he was standing on, with the wolves now on top of him. He was barely managing to hold them off enough so they couldn¡¯t rip his throat out. The wolves made a frightening expression and kept barking at Paul, sending spit and drool flying into his face.


    Kana reacted quickly and brought her sword down onto the right wolf with full force. The blow nearly decapitated it, and the spit flying towards Paul was replaced with a torrent of blood. He got some into his mouth and even his nose.


    Kana hit Wolf for 70 damage. *fatal crit*


    Wolf has died.


    Kana followed with a kick against the left wolf¡¯s neck, which sent him rolling over the ground. Paul shoved the dead wolf off him and quickly got up. He wiped some off the blood off his face before getting into a fighting stance.


    It was not a second too early. The wolf he had sent flying earlier was about to attack him and the one kicked by Kana got up again almost immediately. Even the one with the arrow sticking from his back was slowly approaching. Only the alpha wolf was still waiting near the treeline.


    ¡°Kana, finish off the one with the arrow to the right. I¡¯ll hold these off¡­ nnngh!¡± While speaking, the wolf started attacking him. Paul smacked it with the spear, only grazing it with the pointed end, but followed with a kick to its chest, where he had stabbed it earlier. The wolf jumped back a meter or so, yelping.


    Paul could not relax though, the other wolf that had been kicked away was about to jump at him. Paul just threw his spear towards it. Whether it was due to his agility stat, his spear skill or both, the spear flew true towards the wolf and hit it straight in the shoulder just as it was jumping off the ground. The jump became an awkward tumble forwards, stopping the attack for now.


    As Paul was about to draw his sword, the other wolf lunged at him. All he could do was stop the charge with his left arm, which the wolf happily bit down on while both of them toppled towards the ground once again, with the wolf pinning Paul down with its weigh. Luckily, Paul was wearing bracers to protect its underarm, but it still felt like his bones would snap any second from the immense jaw strength and the ripping motions the wolf made.


    Due to being pinned down, he could not reach his sword or knife, so Paul punched the wolf in the eye with his right hand. This only seemed to make it even angrier. Paul then drew an arrow out of his quiver and tried stabbing the wolf into the eye with it.


    You hit Wolf for 3 damage.


    Kana hit Wolf for 30 damage.


    Wolf is now [unconscious].


    You hit Wolf for 2 damage.


    Paul could not hit the wolf in the eye like he had planned, but the attacks with the arrow seemed to irritate it enough to make it slightly loosen its grip on his arm.


    ¡°Master!¡± Paul heard Kana approach and looked towards her. She was holding her sword up, ready to swing at the wolf currently trying to chew through his arm.


    Paul lowered the arm holding the arrow to not get it caught up in the attack and pushed the wolf away from him as far as he could, which wasn¡¯t very far.


    ¡°Hyaa!¡± He heard Kana shout, then felt a stinging sensation in his face and saw stars for a brief moment.


    Kana¡¯s clumsiness was no joke. She had grazed his cheek with the tip of her sword. The wolf was hit though, and his arm was still in one piece. The swing had struck the wolf straight in the face above the eye and actually severed its right ear together with a large part of its scalp, which was now dangling off to the side, only connected by a thin thread of fur.


    Naturally, the wolf had lost its grip on Paul¡¯s arm in the process. Paul ignored the pain in his face and the warm taste of fresh blood in his mouth and went after the now gravely injured wolf while drawing his knife. Still on his knees, he started stabbing the wolf into the neck and chest until the combat confirmed that it was dead.


    When he looked up, he saw Kana pinning down the remaining wolf with her foot while stabbing it with her sword. Paul¡¯s spear was still impaled into its shoulder.


    Seeing its last pack member die, the large alpha wolf charged at Paul, barking angrily. This was bad. Paul was still on his knees, only holding his knife. The weight of that large beast alone could probably crush his chest if he got pinned underneath it. The wolf was closing the distance rapidly and Paul braced himself for the unavoidable impact.


    Just before the wolf lunged at him, he saw Kana rushing at the wolf from the side, followed by her tackling the wolf mid-air with her armoured shoulder. It made a terrible cracking sound on impact and Kana and the wolf rolled off to the side. Kana then pinned the wolf down with her knee while punching it in the face, aiming for the nose. After a few blows the wolf stopped fighting and only whimpered.


    ¡°Master, I have subdued this one. Do you still want me to try to make it my companion? Although I think it will take some time before it gets into the mood.¡±


    Paul realized that Kana had probably misunderstood something along the way. He was slightly afraid to confirm it though and had no energy left for correcting or scolding her anyway. ¡°No, I have changed my mind. Just finish it off.¡±


    Paul stood up and drew his sword while walking over to the unconscious wolf that he had shot with an arrow before. While he killed it, Kana stabbed the alpha wolf to death with her knife.

 Chapter 23: Arriving in Steinnes

    Author''s note: I felt like this chapter is finished anyway, so have fun reading it. On that note: the last few chapters had a pretty consistent length of around 2500 words each (which i consider on the lower end word-wise), but I dont really go for a specific length. Pure coincidence.


    Chapter 23: Arriving in Steinnes


    Paul pulled his spear out of the wolf and picked up Kana¡¯s sword, which she had dropped nearby. He sat down next to one of the rocks and leaned his back against it.


    ¡°Kana, you alright? Got hurt anywhere?¡±


    ¡°No, Master. Just some scratches-¡­. Wahh, Master is bleeding from his face!?¡± Kana started shouting mid-sentence.


    ¡°Yeah, someone nearly decapitated me with a sword blow¡­ hey, don¡¯t look so worried! Do I really look that bad now?!¡± Paul felt the wound on his cheek with his fingers. It was several centimeters long and pretty deep. It had completely perforated the skin and blood was flowing freely down his face and even into his mouth from the inside. Due to the adrenaline it only started hurting now.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I just wanted to help Master¡± Kana, who had gotten close to inspect the wound, looked like she was about to cry.


    ¡°I know, I know. You actually saved me there. Just try not to hit me along with the enemy next time.¡± Paul reached out to rub Kana¡¯s head, but noticing the large amount of blood on his hand, it became an awkward patting with his underarm.


    At first Paul wanted to just bandage the wounds, but noticing the large bruise on his left arm that started to hurt like it was broken and remembering swallowing a decent amount of wolf blood, he decided to use one of the health potions instead. He rubbed some of the potion onto Kanas bruised hand that got slightly injured while punching the wolf, then did the same to his external wounds and drank the remaining liquid.


    After treating the cut in his face, it closed rather quickly, but not completely. It was still an open wound, so he crushed some of the herbs he had collected and wrapped a bandage around his head to prevent infection. The pain in his arm stopped as well.


    Paul had lost 18 of his 80 HP during the fight, and after using the potion for treatment, he was back to 76/80 HP. Kana was as full health.


    He then went to pull the arrows out of the wolves. The two he had shot into the leader were broken now, probably during its fight with Kana.


    ¡°Let¡¯s make camp here for now. It¡¯s still early, but I don¡¯t really feel like travelling on. I also want to skin the wolves. Could you collect some dry wood for a campfire, Kana?¡±


    The wolf girl went off to fetch some wood, and Paul went to work, starting with the alpha wolf. After skinning it, he started butchering it for some meat. When Kana returned, he made a fire and left her with the meat to roast it while he went to skin the remaining wolves.


    There was no water source, so he just scraped off the fat and blood from the hides as best as he could using his knife. The wolf meat was stringy and tough, but Kana ate it while smiling happily.


    Both of them were covered in blood, especially Paul, but he could not help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Without Kana, Paul would have utterly lost against the wolves, but the fight went very well, even amazingly so. Kana was a bit clumsy, even in a fight, but her strength was something else.


    When they were done eating and Paul had wrapped the hides into a package with some rope, it was already starting to get dark. With his night vision and Kana¡¯s wolf senses it should be possible to travel through the darkness, but he wanted to avoid having to camp in the middle of the road, so he made a makeshift shelter with the tarp, some sticks and a bit of rope.


    One of them would sleep while the other one would keep an eye out for any danger. Paul felt fatigued from the short fight and his work skinning the beasts, so he went to sleep first.


    Kana sat right next to him, dutifully keeping her eyes open. When he woke up a few hours later it was surprisingly dark around him. He could Kana breathing next to him and he activated his [Night Vision] skill. The girl had laid herself down next to him on the bedroll and Paul could feel the warmth radiating from her body. Her tail was resting against his legs.


    It looked like she had neglected her guard duty, but Paul felt like he wanted to hug her from behind. Kana was still wearing her armour though, so it would not be a very satisfying experience and Paul refrained from doing so.


    When tried to quietly get up, Kana turned around.


    ¡°Oh, Master is awake?¡± At first it looked like she had been awake and just laid down, but the way her eyes were blinking away the sleep told Paul otherwise.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you supposed to stay up and guard the camp?¡±


    ¡°Ahh, I did, but nothing happened. Master looked so comfortable, so I just laid down for a bit. But I would probably wake up if anything comes close, so no need to worry.¡±


    Ignoring the worrying word ¡°probably¡± in her sentence, Paul decided that she was basically correct. Sleeping dogs also woke up easily, so if something like a bear or a group of bandits approached there would should be at least time to wake him up.


    Checking the minimap, Paul confirmed that there was no immediate danger nearby.


    ¡°Yeah, you are right. You can take off the armour if you want. It will probably at least a few hours until sunrise, so get some proper sleep. I will stay up.¡± Paul tried to climb over Kana.


    ¡°Hnn, I will take off the armour, but stay here Master. I will get cold alone.¡± Likely due to being sleepy, Kana was bolder than she was before. Paul decided that was OK. He helped Kana take off the heavy chest piece, then lay down on the bedroll again, making sure to leave enough space for the girl.


    It was indeed a bit chilly, so he got closer to Kana and pulled her a bit closer with his arm. They were basically spooning now. Kana snuggled up to him and her butt rubbed against Paul¡¯s crotch, giving an immediate reaction, or rather, erection. She didn¡¯t seem to mind though.


    Paul had never been really worried about being rejected by Kana if he had made an advance. The reason why he tried to avoid doing anything sexual with her were basically two things: the main reason was, that she was his precious party member and he wanted to keep the relationship somewhat professional. They would be fighting together, working together and living together, if things got weird between them, it would hurt him in more than one way.


    The second reason was the strange binding spell she was under. Paul could not discern how much power it had over her. Did she feel compelled to fulfil every one of his orders? Did it completely supress her own feelings, or could she still feel them but just not act on them? Compared to her previous ¡°owners¡±, Paul was probably among the nicer ones, but was that enough for her to truly accept him?


    Those thoughts aside, Paul was more and more convinced that making a move on her would most likely be fine though. She definitely had urges of her own, that much he had found out already. Her ¡°M¡± nature was perhaps a bit strengthened by the spell, but he did not think that it was result of only the spell. He sure wouldn¡¯t have to worry about soiling her, her [hentai] skill level seemed to have maxed out a long time ago.


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    Paul pulled the girl a bit closer to him. Whatever he would do with her, he would not start it right now. There was a pile of dead wolves on the other side of the clearing and both of them were soaked in grime and blood. He laid his head down on the bedroll and went back to sleep.


    They woke up early. The forest was still pretty dark, but Paul could see the sky starting to turn bright above the canopy.


    After packing up their things and eating some more roasted wolf for breakfast, they started walking towards Steinnes again. The road forked once, but there was a sign pointing into the correct direction. Otherwise nothing noteworthy happened. They didn¡¯t stop for lunch and just ate while walking.


    It was early afternoon when they exited the forest. There was a small river running along the treeline with a wooden bridge crossing over it. Behind the river the forest had been cleared and fences indicated that the land was used as pastures.


    Paul considered properly washing the hides, but rising smoke behind one of the hills meant that they were in the immediate proximity of the village, so checking it out first wouldn¡¯t hurt. In the backdrop Paul could see a rather large mountain, with several hills around it. The mountain wasn¡¯t high enough to have snow on its top during summer, but it was definitely not a hill.


    Fifteen minutes later they were standing on top of the slope and looked down at Steinnes. It was definitely a lot smaller than Prozor, but a metropolis compared to Marcus¡¯ or even Jonas¡¯ settlement. There was a wall around the settlement that was partly made of stone, partly of logs, about two and a half meters high. The gate was flanked by wooden guard towers on either side.


    Roughly estimating the size, Paul guessed that there were about two hundred huts and buildings inside the walls, maybe a bit more. Smoke was rising from several chimneys. The roofs were mostly made of wood, but some even had proper ceramic tiles.


    Paul and Kana approached the gate and were greeted by the guards, or rather stopped.


    ¡°Traveller! State your business in Steinnes!¡±


    ¡°My name is Paul, I have been sent by the lord of Prozor to investigate the occurrences at the mines. This is my companion Kana.¡± Paul fished the letter he had received from the counsellor out of his pocket and showed it to the guard.


    ¡°What happened to you on the road? You look highly suspicious for an official investigator.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ well, we ran into a pack of wolves¡± Paul pointed at the pack of hides Kana was carrying ¡°I got showered in a bit of blood when my companion decapitated one that was pinning me down. But there is no need to worry, this is mostly wolf blood, I was not really injured myself.¡±


    The guard did not look even a tiny bit worried about Paul¡¯s health in the first place. He was rather looking for an excuse to not let him into the village.


    ¡°Hmpf¡­ OK, I will let you into the village under the premise of reporting to the mayor before evening. But I advise you to check into the inn first and wash yourself. You are attracting flies already.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, I will do just that then. Where is the inn?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s right over there, the larger building down the road. The innkeeper will tell you where to find the mayor. Now be on your way, you are blocking the gate.¡±


    Paul looked behind him, but there was no one waiting. He shrugged it off and walked towards the inn, pulling Kana with him, who did a terrible job at hiding her anger over the guard¡¯s arrogance.


    The inn was a relatively nice place, at least compared to the one they were staying in at Prozor. The owner was a middle-aged, balding and slightly obese man with a red face. He looked a little troubled when Paul walked in, but after Paul explained the situation he lightened up a bit.


    ¡°Normally, there is no problem with sudden guests, but due to ¡­ an incident, some of the residents are staying at the inn right now. There is only a single-bed room available right now. Of course, I won¡¯t charge you for two people, just the regular rate for one person.¡±


    The charge was three large copper coins per night, without food. For one more large copper coin you could get breakfast and a bowl of hot water in the morning. It was an acceptable price, so Paul paid for two nights, including the breakfast for two people and gave the inn-keeper one small silver coin in total.


    After sharing a bedroll just the night before, Paul didn¡¯t really feel bad about the situation. He hadn¡¯t made up his mind about whether or not to make a move on Kana, but sharing a bed shouldn¡¯t cause trouble either way.


    The inn-keeper offered Paul to bring a bowl of warm water to the room at no cost and Paul gladly accepted. The comment made by the guard that Paul was already attracting insects, was most likely not a joke.


    After washing himself thoroughly and getting most of the dirt off his and Kana¡¯s armour and clothes, Paul changed into his spare shirt. The room was small but nice, with a large window towards the street. It even had a small door to a similarly small balcony, from where Paul looked over the town once again. The room was only on the second floor, so the view was not too good, but it felt refreshing to watch down on the busy street below after the long walk through the eerily quiet forest.


    Paul asked the inn-keeper for directions to the mayor and a leather worker. He wanted to get rid of the hides before they started to rot.


    They went to the leather merchant first. The store was near the general market area, so it wanted to go there anyway. After some negotiation Paul only got two small silver coins for all the hides, but as they were slightly hacked up and not even properly cleaned, he didn¡¯t expect much in the first place. That amount of money should roughly cover the costs during his stay, so it was fine with him.


    There were some people offering different food, but before they could eat Paul had to report to the mayor.


    The administrative building was conveniently placed near the market square, so they hadn¡¯t had to walk far. Not that the village was very large in the first place. It was one of the houses with ceramic roof tiles.


    Properly washed and without the dirty bandage in his face, Paul got a warmer welcome from the clerk sitting at the front desk than he had received from the guard at the gate. Kana had left her chest armour at the inn and was looking gorgeous as always, so the pair gave off a rather nice first impression.


    After showing the letter from the castle to the young woman, Paul was led to the mayor¡¯s office on the second floor. It was plain but comfortable, with a map of the surrounding area at the wall. There were some markers on the map, which seemed to indicate metal deposits and exploration shafts.


    The mayor, a man in his late thirties with thick, black hair, was sitting at his large desk.


    After a short introduction, Paul and Kana sat down on the chairs in front of the desk, and the mayor started explaining the situation.

 Chapter 24: A Night Out

    Author''s note: I decided to split up the chapter. It was a monster, mostly because I went a little overboard on what happened later. I am still not really happy with the result, so chapter 25 will come later. Let''s just say it''s some... anicipated(?) content.


    Also, I have whipped up a simple cover for the novel. Let me know what you think, either using the poll or in the comments below.


    Chapter 24: A Night Out


    ¡°Basically, there are strange occurrences in the mines, which frighten the workers and reduce productivity. Don¡¯t get me wrong, the whole area around Steinnes has seen mining for centuries. Cave-ins and occasional monster infestations are nothing new. Sometimes workers dig into an unmapped and long abandoned mine-shaft.


    This time it is all a bit stranger than usual though. There are sounds vibrating over hundreds of meters of shafts, seemingly out of nowhere and coming from changing directions. At first it was a rare occurrence, but as of late it has become a nearly constant situation. Naturally, the miners refuse to dig straight into the area the sounds seem to be coming from. God knows what it is, that¡¯s lurking deep within the mountain.


    So far, only the iron mine in the mountain is effected, but as we are pulling mostly lead out of the copper mines these days, the lord has not been happy lately.¡±


    As long as Paul could find out what it was that caused the disturbances, the lord would send a detachment to tackle the culprit. The mayor arranged for a representative of the mining office to come to the inn tomorrow, who would guide Paul and Kana to the affected areas and give a more detailed report.


    After leaving the administration building, the two went to the market square to grab something to eat. Prices were cheap and Paul let Kana stuff herself with a huge amount of fried chicken. He had to watch out though, because Kana was sometimes biting through the bones, which started splintering. He learned that it was best not to give a dog chicken bones, which apparently also applied to girls faintly related to wolves.


    Looking around, Paul was searching for something interesting to do. The village was rather small and the only thing noteworthy was the brimming mining and ore smelting industry. He wanted to learn more about ores and mining techniques, but that could wait until tomorrow when he would actually get a chance to visit the mines.


    Reading through the notes on the [Menu] would occupy him for some time, but he had nothing to do for Kana, who was right now sitting next to him on the bench, rubbing her full belly while sporting a blissful smile and enjoying the last rays of sunlight.


    He was looking over towards the liveliest place on the marketplace, the local tavern. It was a pretty large building for such a small town, two stories high and occupying half of the northern area of the market place, with at least a dozen tables on the outside.


    Groups of dirty looking men and some women were flocking towards it, and most of the tables outside were already occupied. It was probably the time when the miners came back to the village after a hard day of work.


    ¡°Hey Kana, want to grab a beer or mead or whatever they are serving here?¡± Paul asked while still observing the tavern.


    ¡°Ohhh, that sounds fun, Master!¡± Kana¡¯s response was very energetic, considering her relaxed posture just a second before. When Paul looked over to her, she had moved over to him and was looking back at Paul with sparkling eyes. Thinking about it, she was a servant her whole life. If she ever got out into town, she was probably on guard duty or something, so chances were that she had rarely or never the opportunity to drink.


    ¡°Have you ever had alcohol before? I mean, I am not sure if servants even drink that often.¡±


    Kana was slightly blushing. ¡°Well¡­ there were some occasions when servants were allowed to drink, but I was always banned because I had broken something or messed up. So, I never had the chance.¡± She said so while pouting. ¡°But I have not broken anything that belongs to Master, so it should be fine now, right?¡± Her expression lightened up again.


    Well, if he ignored the sword blow to his face, as well as the blades she had dulled and scratched, or the cuts and bruises she inflicted on herself just by doing easy tasks, she was basically correct. Not that Paul was such a petty person who would ban her from having fun in the first place.


    ¡°OK, it¡¯s decided then. Let¡¯s head over to the tavern. I¡¯m in charge of the intake though, I don¡¯t want you to overdo it.¡± He remembered his first drinking bout. It was a terrible, terrible near-death experience.


    They went inside the tavern and sat down at a table near the door. The inside of the tavern was still rather empty, only a quarter of the seats were occupied. A young waitress came to their table to take their order. Turns out the local specialty was wine made from grapes grown on the slopes of the hill. A pint of wine cost 3 small copper coins, a pint of mead cost 5 copper and there were also some small dishes served as snacks. They also had some high volume liquor, but Paul wanted to start with something easy. He ordered two pints of mead and a plate of skewered pork and vegetables.


    The beverage was served in ceramic mugs. Kana curiously stared into the mug, but there wasn¡¯t much to be seen, as Paul imitated her movements. She took a whiff, the beverage had a sweet fragrance to it. She then took a big gulp and swallowed.


    ¡°Bleh, it tastes awful.¡± She said so while clenching her eyes and making a sour face.


    ¡°I guess it is an acquired taste. Drinking is not so much about the taste, more about the effect it has on you. Drink a little more and you will notice. Oy, don¡¯t overdo it!¡±


    Kana was busy gulping down the content of the whole mug.


    ¡°Pfua¡­ if you drink fast, it¡¯s not so bad...¡± Kana said while placing the, now empty, mug back on the table with a loud thump. Seeing Kana finishing her mug overly quickly, Paul drank half of his as well. He couldn¡¯t lose to his servant after all. Downing it in one go was still too much, it packed quite a bit of punch.


    ¡°Want another one? Don¡¯t drink it all up immediately though, it takes a while before you fell the alcohol take effect. Here, have some skewers first.¡±


    The pork was fatty and dripping with oil, with big slices of onion and something like bell pepper in between the pieces of meat. They looked pretty delicious. Paul took one for himself and started eating.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can eat right now¡­ Master, I¡¯m starting to feel all tingly.¡± Kana¡¯s cheeks were already starting to redden.


    ¡°You should not have drunk all of it at once, but one mug is not that much. So don¡¯t worry. Just take it slow for the next one. You also ate a lot, so there should not be any problem. Eating while drinking makes the buzz a little more pleasant, so try to eat one of the skewers, they are pretty good.¡±


    Kana picked up one of the skewers with her right hand, removed the meat at the tip with the left hand and put it in her mouth. She then pointed the skewer at Paul. ¡°Master has to eat the vegetables, I don¡¯t have any room for those.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t act drunk already. OK, I will eat the vegetables, give me the skewer.¡± Paul pulled the skewer from the food, dropping the pork and vegetables onto the plate. He then did the same to the other ones and put the pointy metal skewers to the side. Having Kana handle those was always a bit risky, if she got drunk it could become outright dangerous to both of them.


    He then finished his own mug of mead and ordered two new ones from the waitress.


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    After some, Kana was sitting with across Paul with a red face.


    ¡°Drinking is soooo fun, I¡¯m feeling all light and tingly. Master, let me have one more drink.¡± Paul let her have one, but decided that this would be the last for today. He wanted to be careful, he had no idea about her limit. He also ordered another batch of skewers.


    Over time, Kana¡¯s cheeks became gradually redder and her speech more and more slurred.


    ¡°Mashter, it¡¯s hot here¡­¡± She said so halfway during the second mug of mead.


    ¡°It¡¯s true that it is warm in here, but we are right next to the door, it¡¯s not that bad. And if you start undressing here, I will seriously hit you.¡± Paul wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Kana was a ¡°drunk stripper¡±. In fact, he would be more surprised if she wasn¡¯t.


    Kana bent over and rested her face on the table to demonstrate how unbearable it was for her. When Paul checked her status, she had full health and stamina, but also an [intoxicated] debuff. He himself had an [intoxicated (minor)] debuff, as well as most other people in the tavern. There were some other with the regular debuff like Kana, but everyone was seemingly fine.


    ¡°Pleass Mashta, I melt¡­. Jusht the pants. Or shirt¡­ one is ok....¡± Kana said, not bothering to lift up her head.


    ¡°You can unbutton the lower half of your shirt, but nothing else. You sure won¡¯t melt from this much. You¡¯re not a snowman¡±


    Kana lifted up her head, looking at Paul with blurry eyes. ¡°Wooaa, shnowmen are shure scary¡± Paul had no idea what she was talking about, but as this was a fantasy world, everything seemed possible.


    He reached out and patted her on the head. She started smiling with closed eyes.


    ¡°Mashuta, I¡¯m dizzy...¡±


    ¡°OK, let¡¯s go outside. Finish the meat, I¡¯ve already eaten all the vegetables. You can leave the remaining drink behind.¡±


    Kana shovelled all the meat into her mouth, then gulped it down with the remaining mead in her mug. Paul frowned slightly. Sure, that much shouldn¡¯t hurt though. Paul paid the bill and went around the table to pick up Kana.


    He helped Kana stand up. At first she seemed good, but that image faltered as soon as she took a wobbly step forward. ¡°The ground is all mushy¡­¡± Paul supported Kana and they left the tavern.


    ¡°Mashuta, I need to pee¡­¡± They weren¡¯t even half-way across the market square when Kana said so.


    ¡°You should have gone at the tavern then. We will be at the inn in a few minutes, just hold it in until then.¡±


    ¡°Nnnn, I can¡¯t.¡± Kana said with a pained voice, clenching her legs together. ¡°Itsh coming out¡­¡±


    ¡°Idiot¡­ come.¡± Paul pulled Kana by the arm and behind one of the now deserted food stalls. They were just a hundred meters away from the tavern, but due to the lack of lighting and the loud laughter from the tavern guests, they were practically invisible.


    ¡°Pull down your pants then. Here, I¡¯ll help.¡± Paul pulled Kana¡¯s pants down to her knees, with her just helping a little bit. Kana then squatted down and looked like she wanted to immediately relieve herself.


    ¡°Hey, if you do it like that, you could have just peed into your pants while walking.¡± Her crotch was hovering directly over her pulled down pants. If she peed like that, she would just get it all over her clothes. ¡°Push your butt out more. Here, hold my hand, so you don¡¯t fall over.¡±


    Kana complied, a moment later Paul heard liquid hitting the ground and saw a dark spot slowly spreading underneath his companion¡¯s butt. It formed a small stream, running underneath the deserted food stall. Paul was silently praying that no one was watching them.


    He couldn¡¯t remember giving her so much to drink, it took her forever to finish. At least she wasn¡¯t joking when she said she couldn¡¯t hold it in.


    Finally the stream turned into a little trickle and died down. Paul helped Kana stand up, but she made no move to pull up her pants again. Paul first pulled up her underpants, then her leather pants.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave here, I don¡¯t want to have to explain this to anyone.¡±


    ¡°Hnnn¡­¡± Kana held onto Pauls shoulder and they moved off towards the main road. Just a couple steps onto the road, Kana grabbed Paul¡¯s arm and stopped walking. ¡°Master, wait¡­¡±


    ¡°Come, it¡¯s not far. A few minutes and we can rest in the comfortable bed¡± Paul was a bit annoyed by now. The village was so small, and yet they moved at snail speed towards the inn.


    Kana help up her right hand, signalling Paul to wait. Her expression looked serious, different from before. Although it was dark, Paul sensed a change in Kana¡¯s behaviour. She was clearly tensing up.


    He checked his minimap, but there were no enemies in sight.


    When he was about to ask her about the problem, it happened.


    ¡°Uahh¡­ *cough*¡± Kana threw up in the middle of the road.


    ¡°Oh, really now? Come on¡± Paul grabbed Kana¡¯s arm and quickly pulled her into a side street. Leaning against the wall of a house, she threw up everything she had in her stomach.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­. sorry¡­.Mas-¡° *cough* Kana was apologizing in between vomiting attacks. Paul just silently stood next to her and rubbed her head, but making sure not to get caught in the back-splash.


    Ten minutes later Kana was still gagging occasionally, but nothing came out anymore. Paul pulled her further down the alley and sat her onto a conveniently placed crate, where she slumped down, head between her legs.


    ¡°Leave me behind¡­ I will just die here¡± Kana had given up.


    ¡°You won¡¯t die from a few mugs of alcohol. Although I have to say, your tolerance is really bad.¡± Paul was rubbing her back. ¡°Come, get on my back, I will carry you.¡± Paul pulled Kana up. Seeing that she had vomit on the front of her shirt, he changed his plan though. ¡°No, I will just carry you like a princess.¡±


    Paul picked up the drunk, vomit-covered princess who had a bit of pee on the back of her pants and carried her towards the inn. His 15 points in strength surely helped, the task wasn¡¯t half as hard as he had imagined. It cost him quite a bit of stamina, but they reached the inn in a couple of minutes. Before he could bring her inside the inn, he had to clean her up though.


    He carried Kana into the backyard and sat her down onto the floor.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling terrible¡­¡± The girl went from kneeling into a face on the floor, butt in the air position. The tip of her bushy tail was nearly touching the back of her head.


    ¡°Just be patient for a second, you will feel better soon.¡± Paul picked up a bucket and filled it with water from a large barrel next to the inn. ¡°Turn around¡±


    ¡°Hnnn¡­¡± Kana just fell to the side. Luckily, the ground behind the inn was paved with stone tiles.


    *splash* Half of the content of the bucket hit Kana straight into the face. Paul emptied the remaining water over her chest. Kana thrashed around on the floor, suddenly full of energy again.


    ¡°Pffff¡­ Master, don¡¯t¡­.¡± *cough* Paul just went to refill the bucket. After another ¡°shower¡±, Kana was sitting up again, dripping wet. ¡°Moa¡­. Master is a meanie¡­¡± She was pouting. Paul checked her status. Throwing up the remaining alcohol and being showered in cold water had brought her [intoxicated] debuff down to (minor), and she was speaking properly again.


    ¡°Sorry for that, but I couldn¡¯t really bring you into the inn like that. I will get some dry clothes for you.¡±


    Paul went inside and brought Kana¡¯s spare shirt and underpants. He also brought a towel.

 Not a Chapter, but a Map

    First, let me apologize for taking so long to publish chapter 25. It''s basically done, but I don''t like it. I will try to publish it some time during the weekend, latest on Monday.


    Second, I made a map (or rather, I polished it so it can be read by people other than myself). It is still super-alpha and puts you at risk of eye-problems because of the weird colours I used, but it might help you understand how I imagined the world. The map is not kanon yet and especially scaling might change. The small X south-east of Prozor is the location of the bandit-mine.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The central continent (Human/Dwarven Kingdoms) is roughly the size of Western Europe.


    Here is a link to a larger-sized version: >>Click<<</a>


    I will update this thread if I make any changes to the map/create a better version.

 Chapter 25: A Night at the Inn

    Author''s note: This was the most difficult chapter to write until now. By far. I still don''t really like it, but I''m not gonna list all the reasons. I went overboard on the details. After writing two thirds, I actually considered writing in a spontaneous dragon attack to just end it. I didn''t though and you may or may not regret this decision.


    Anyway, please participate in the (multiple choice) poll after reading the chapter or leave a comment. Depending on the results, it may encourage me to add more stuff like this, or give me an excuse not to if people ask for it in the future. By the way, I consider the content to be pretty much vanilla from a "D/s" M/S" or "SM" kink-POV.


    To make it clear: overly descriptive adult stuff below. there is nothing important otherwise, feel free to skip this chapter if you dont want to read on.


    Embrace the cringe!


    Chapter 25: A Night at the Inn


    Outside, Kana was still sitting on the floor in a puddle of water. Paul helped her stand up. Seeing her wet clothes cling tightly to her perfect chest and hips, he couldn¡¯t help but pull her towards him. Using his left arm wrapped around her, he pressed her chest into his. Paul could feel her breasts pressing against him and the wetness from her shirt slowly soaking into his own. He applied a bit more pressure.


    ¡°Nnng¡­¡± Kana let out a cute sound. She was a bit smaller than Paul, so she had to look up to him. Her eyes had a green shade, glistening in the dark. Paul just looked down into her eyes, observing her reaction. When she started searching around his thighs with her hands, Paul dropped the towel onto her face that he still had in his right hand. He then started to rub her head dry, but still tightly holding onto her with his left arm.


    When he was done, he let go of her. ¡°Get out of your wet clothes¡± Kana hesitated for a second, looking up into Pauls eyes, but then took a step back and unbuttoned her shirt. It was a bit hard for her to peel out of it, given how wet it was, but Paul just quietly watched her.


    ¡°Raise your arms, I will dry you up.¡± Kana obediently raised her arms after dropping the wet shirt onto the ground, now standing in a perfect ¡°T¡± position, presenting her gravity defying, large breasts.


    Paul took a moment to admire the view, then started to rub Kana dry. He started with her arms, then moved on to her shoulders, before he went down to her chest.


    He wiped a strand of her still moist hair out of her face with his left hand, before resting it on the back of her neck. He then used the towel to scrub her breasts. He used a little more force than necessary and the towel was nothing like the fluffy things you get in a modern hotel. It was basically several layers of linen cloth sewn together and rather course on the skin.


    After rubbing them off, and then scrubbing them some more just for fun, Kana was already slightly panting. Paul used his left hand to lightly pinch her left nipple, which made her let out a cute, small yelp, followed by her slightly biting down on her lower lip.


    Paul liked the reaction he got, so he let go of her nipple, before pinching again, this time with both hands on both sides, also a bit harder.


    Kana just quietly moaned and bit down harder onto her lip. Paul let go of her breasts and dried the remaining part of her upper front. He moved behind her and reached his left around her, cupping her right breast with his hand. Holding her in place, he then rubbed her back dry.


    ¡°Get out of your pants¡± Paul said so while moving back in front of her. Kana pulled down her pants, including her underwear and stepped out of them. She then stood straight, arms to the sides, legs spread further than necessary and looked at Paul with an expectant look.


    He once again took a good look at his now fully naked wolf girl servant.


    Her legs were just as perfect as the rest of her body and not wet at all. As she was wearing the leather pants when he ¡°showered¡± her, it was no surprise actually. Having her undress completely was more for Paul¡¯s amusement - and Kana¡¯s as well, probably.


    Under the faint light of the stars and the moon he could only barely notice the small patch of fuzzy, silvery pubic hair above her crotch. Luckily, her wolf genes did not result in a fur there, it was actually a lot less hair than one could expect from a semi-medieval fantasy world with no waxing saloons.


    Paul moved a step closer to Kana and used the now wet towel to brush over her hips, his free left arm resting on her hip.


    He then held the towel down between her legs and wiped her pussy with it. Kana did not flinch in the slightest from Paul touching her most intimate place. Lastly, he brought the towel behind her back, wrapped it around the base of her tail and pulled it upwards until he reached the tip of her tail.


    When he let go, Kana wagged her tail from left to right, lightly hitting her own upper thighs in the process. At the end, the original fluffiness of her tail was partly restored, although it was still slightly moist. Paul tossed the towel to the side, having no more use for it now.


    He brought his right hand back between her still spread legs, cupping her sex with his palm. Hot! Compared to the other parts of her skin, which had been slightly chilly, her vagina was practically steaming. Paul used his middle finger to trace between her slightly parted, minimal pussy lips, embedding it only so slightly between them.


    As he had already expected, she was practically dripping wet. And this was definitely not the effect of the shower earlier. When he reached the knob at the end of the tiny valley between her labia, he rubbed her a little in a circular motion, finally bringing a slight response from Kana. She bit her lower lip again to prevent herself from making any sounds and closed her eyes, but that was all.


    Paul removed his finger, only to flick her clit immediately afterwards, producing a slightly wet sound. She bit her lip a bit harder, but nothing else.


    He then plunged his finger into her sex, all the way to the base. There was no resistance, due to the abundant lubrication. Paul added his index finger next to his middle finger and started rubbing her button with his thumb. This caused Kana to clench down on his finger. The walls inside her vagina relaxed, then clenched down on his fingers again.


    ¡°Did you cum already?¡± Paul wasn¡¯t sure how familiar Kana was with that kind of terminology, but she definitely should understand the concept.


    ¡°A little. I¡¯m sorry, was I not supposed to, Master?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s alright for today.¡± Paul was not really into orgasm control, but it added to the submission, so he decided to make use of it as long as it did not spoil his own fun or became bothersome. ¡°Let¡¯s make a rule then. You are allowed to orgasm with me, but not by yourself. Just playing a little with yourself when you are alone is OK though.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Kana said so while pushing her groin into his hand.


    Paul was curious if this rule will have a noticeable effect on her behaviour. He had no idea how often, if at all, Kana did masturbate by herself. He was aware that she knew of the concept at least.


    While thinking so, Paul continued to finger his servant¡¯s genitalia. When her breathing became more ragged than before, he pushed his ring finger into her as well. With three fingers inside her, it was already feeling pretty full. It did not take long before her vagina started contracting again, this time much more violently than before.


    ¡°Master, I think I need to pee again.¡± Kana said so while breathing heavily.


    ¡°If you pee here, I will make you lick it up.¡± Paul answered bluntly. Apart from himself most likely getting caught in it, it would be a problem if anyone else noticed.


    Kana hesitated for a moment, then said ¡°I will do so if Master wants it. Can I pee now?¡±


    Paul thought for a moment, then refused. This was the first time he did anything sexual with her, so it was better to not give her any weird ideas about his preferences. Things would probably escalate over time anyway.


    Paul removed his fingers from her crotch. They glistened in the faint light and there were strings of juice spanning between them.


    ¡°Open your mouth.¡± Kana wordlessly complied and Paul inserted his fingers into her warm mouth. Understanding his intentions, Kana immediately closed her lips around them and started to suck, using her tongue. She was either a natural or had been trained before. Probably a bit of both.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.Paul removed his fingers from her mouth, then said ¡°Get dressed, collect your clothes and get into our room. And use the toilet, I don¡¯t want you to make a mess in our bed later.¡±


    ¡°Wooa, yes, Master!¡± Kana eagerly responded, probably because Paul had implied that the fun would continue upstairs.


    A few minutes later they were back in their room. Kana¡¯s wet clothes were hanging on the balcony and an oil lamp was painting the room with a slightly flickering, orange light.


    ¡°So, I hope you agree that peeing and throwing up in the middle of the village demands some sort of punishment.¡± Paul said so while standing next to Kana, who was sitting on the bed, still dressed in the shirt and underpants that she had put on again.


    ¡°Yes, Master. Definitely. If I may make a suggestion, a- Woaah!¡± Paul had pulled down his pants and Kana was staring at the massive erection that had sprung free. Her eyes were wide open and her expression looked a bit troubled.


    Glancing down at his enormous dick, Paul couldn¡¯t help but feel sympathy with her. The ridiculous size of his boner was enough to make any virgin faint. It wouldn¡¯t look out of place on a small horse.


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m fine using this to punish you. Get out of your shirt and lay down.¡± After helping Kana out of her top, he pushed her onto the bed and then quickly pulled off her underpants. Holding them against the light, he could see that they were already sporting a wet spot, even though she had just put them on a few minutes before. Well, at least he didn¡¯t have to worry about having not enough lubrication available.


    Paul got on the bed himself and pulled Kana into position by her legs. Kana was now kneeling between her spread legs, Kana was resting on her back. Paul pushed the pillow under her butt, to raise her crotch a bit higher. Perfect!


    He then spread her labia apart with his left hand and rested the tip of his dick against the entrance with his right. The size difference was ridiculous. It looked like he was about to shove a beer can through a needle ear.


    ¡°OK, then. It will probably hurt in the beginning and¡­  I hope a little less later on. Try to relax.¡± Holding Kana by her thighs, Paul started pushing. Too tight! Kana balled her hands into fists, clenching the bed sheet. When he looked down, he saw that while his cock head had half-way disappeared inside her, her outer pussy lips had as well. While Kana was panting through her clenched teeth, she didn¡¯t show a pained expression.


    Well, he wouldn¡¯t get further in like that, so Paul pulled out again. There was a bit of foamy slime on the tip of his dick, showing that her snatch was basically willing to accept him.


    On his second attempt, this time with Kana¡¯s help spreading her vagina using both hands, Paul managed to overcome the initial resistance and embed the first few centimetres of his dick in her. This produced a small yelp from the wolf girl and she let go of her pussy lips, letting her head fall back onto the bed and clenching the sheets once more.


    Paul then proceeded to slowly push himself further into her, feeling every fold and ripple along the way. It was almost painfully tight to Paul, so he could only imagine the effect it had on Kana. He had to pull back several times, followed by forcing himself a little further in afterwards. Every centimetre seemed to produce a small yelp or whimper from the wolf girl, but every time he hesitated, Kana sought eye contact and gave him an encouraging and terribly lewd look.


    She was definitely enjoying herself despite the obvious pain. Several times along the way Paul could feel her insides clenching down on him, as if to stop him momentarily, only to relax more than before. Finally Paul bottomed out. He could feel the slightly harder bump that indicated his dick had reached her cervix.


    Not wanting to cause any unnecessary damage, this was as far as Paul was willing to go, even though he still had a good quarter of his dick outside of her.


    He pulled back a bit and jammed home again, producing a loud moan from Kana, who started biting her lip again afterwards. Paul fell into a slow pistoning motion and quickly picked up speed. It was awesome. He wasn¡¯t sure if this was due to the unusual tightness, larger dick-size or penned up lust, but this may be the best sex he ever had.


    Kana raised her upper body, supported on her elbows, and looked down on the spot where she and Paul where connected, while panting heavily.


    She had tears forming in the corners of her eyes and every time Paul put slightly more force into fucking her, she let out a cute, but pained moan. It did not take long for her to have one violent orgasm though, sending her upper body back onto the mattress. She then grabbed both her breasts and started massaging them, rubbing her own nipples and occasionally pinching them.


    Paul decided to just ignore whatever she was doing and focus on his own enjoyment. Kana was clearly lost in her own world by now, not that she had been of any help after the initial penetration, she was pretty much passive the whole time.


    After just a couple of minutes more, Paul felt his own orgasm approaching. He leaned forwards a bit more and grabbed her by the back of her neck with his right hand, supporting his weight with his left arm. He just wanted her attention.


    Kana looked up into his eyes, with Paul looking back. He felt a sudden urge to violently kiss her on the mouth, but held himself back and just picked up his speed. Kana seemed to sense what was about to happen and slightly raised her hips.


    Finally, Paul came. He could feel his dick swelling up, stretching her already suffering pussy even more.


    ¡°Nnnnng¡­. Ahhhww!¡± Kana could not hold her voice in, even though she tried. Not able to stop himself, Paul pushed himself into her as far as he could manage and then released what felt like a torrent of cum inside her. It took him a good amount of time until his orgasm finally calmed down and all of his strength to not just collapse on top of her.


    He collected whatever was left of his energy and pulled out of her. Not only a large amount of his cum and her juices came out alongside his cock, there was also a fair amount of blood mixed in.


    Paul then collapsed onto the bed next to Kana.


    He had disabled the UI during the intercourse, but a quick through the combat log revealed the amount of damage he had caused.


    You have hit Kana for 3 damage.


    Kana is now [bleeding].


    You have hit Kana for 2 damage.


    Kana is [bleeding] for 1 damage.


    You have hit Kana for 2 damage.


    Kana is [bleeding] for 1 damage.


    Kana is [bleeding] for 1 damage.


    Kana is no longer [bleeding].


    You have hit Kana for 4 damage.


    Overall, she had lost less than 10 percent of her life and the bleeding had already stopped, at least she wasn¡¯t losing any health anymore.


    Paul considered having her drink a potion, but decided against it. First, it would probably revert her back to the original state, meaning that this would occur every time he decided to fuck her from now on. The second reason was that he could not bring himself to burn through his precious health potions outside of an emergency. If she got an infection or didn¡¯t recover the health it would be a different matter, but for now he would just let her heal naturally.


    Kana had scooped up some of the juices with her hand and had noticed the blood as well. She did not look concerned though and just licked her fingers clean.


    She then said ¡°Master broke my coochie¡­ I should use the medicine to not get scars inside¡­ right?¡±


    Paul wanted to give her a spanking for saying something stupid like that. The merchant had not said that it wasn¡¯t to be used on overly sensitive areas, but given the immense pain it caused no normal person would be tempted to try it out anyway. Considering that spanking her would probably lead to more sex and that he had caused enough damage for one day, he just refused her. The medicine was still at the inn in Prozor either way.


    After he sent Kana off to turn off the lamp, she jumped back onto the bed and hugged Paul tightly. An unusually bold move. Paul just rubbed her head for a while.


    ¡°Let¡¯s sleep, we have to work tomorrow. Good night¡±


    ¡°Mnn, good night, Master!¡±