《Unfortunate Hero》 Chapter 1: The beginning to a long and lengthy exciting adventurous life Author''s Note time: Hey dudes, first story. I''ll try to get the first couple chapters out this week just to set the tone. Don''t expect anything great. First time writing, and also I don''t have spell check. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: The beginning to a long and lengthy exciting adventurous life John grunts. He finds the light shining on his closed eyelids to be overbearing. Slowly opening them he finds a landscape he has never seen before. "Where am I?" He says outloud. The grass is a dull blue green and spreads out across the rolling hills as far as he can see in front of him. The light was so bright and overbearing, because instead of one there are two suns. One a bright large yellow, and the other a dull small red. Looking like eternal partners they light the world with their brilliance. The air smells fresh and clean. Far removed from the nearest city. As John turns around to see even more of the new world he ses a faint outcropping of trees over a few hills. He continues to observe but only founds more hills and the blue green grass. "Not a road in sight." John sighs. Glad that no one is around to catch him talking to himself he heads for the outcropping of trees. As he begins walking he notices the equipment he is a wearing. A plain sword on his left waist hanging on by a belt. A tough leather armor jacket form fitted to his upper buddy. Black pants made from a tough but breathable fabric. Boots. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. *Clank* *Clank* The sword swings back and forth as he leisurely walks. His boots crunch in the grass. His pants make a swishing noise. Finally he makes it. "Shaaaade..." John moans. Leaning against the nearest tree John ponders over the next course of action. His eyes glance over the horizon, obstructed by hills. "The best course of action would be to find a source of water, I can''t expect to make it far with no roads and these suns. My best bet would to be to stay under the cover of trees and then head out when the suns go down. Although maybe I should instead.." John mutters to himself. Deliberating over his next move, John fails to notice the predatory presence watching him. What feels and looks like a black gust of wind whooshes past him. "What?" John says, "Guaaakk" *Cough* *Cough* Blood falls from his mouth, as his hands come to his neck. A scarlet fountain goes down his front. Eyes bulging, John attemps to turn to his left to see what had flown by earlier. A gigantic black cat stands 20 feet away. Poised as a death god, fangs glaring. It cautiously begins to walk over. Radiating strength and grace. The black cat growls as it stops, it''s tail slowly swishing back and forth. The cat is eager to feed. John falls to the ground, unable to stop the bleeding from his neck. Gurgling on his own blood, life slowly fades from his eye. John stops moving. A minute goes by. The cat feeds. Chapter 2: Well maybe this time for sure Author''s Note: I changed it. I did the thing. Chapter 2: Well maybe this time for sure ----------------------------------------------------------------- John opens his eyes. The glaring pain immediately forces him to stop. His eyes hurt as if they have never seen light before. "Err Mweh blegh" John opens his mouth. What the hell, he thinks to himself. And then it dons on him. The soul crushing truth of the situation. The mind numbing realization of what has come to pass. John died. And he has been reborn. A baby. He is a baby. He feels his tiny body move about as he struggles with his new identity. His hearing is muffled, his eyesight blurry, his mouth tastes of...he doesn''t want to know what his mouth tastes of. Giving up, he fades to sleep. John wakes up in the arms of a gigantic woman. Unable to stop himself he cries in shock. "Oh little girl don''t be afraid, Mama is going to look after you." His new mother exclaims softly. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.Despair fills John''s heart. A girl. I''m a girl. Resignation soons takes place. Surely time would make it so he grows accustom to this new body. A new face enters his vision, a man''s. His father''s. Her father. His mind begins to practice the transition. "You''re so beautiful aren''t you princess, you''re daddy''s little angel." Her father beams with happiness. "Cake." Her mother says, "You''re name will be Cake" Cake?! she thinks to herself, feeling tired she again closes her eyes. Time passes and a disturbing cycle of sleeping and eating commence. And then Cake notices a change. No matter how much she sleeps, or how much she eats she always feels tired. Even for a baby. She makes less noise to conserve her strength. Begins to sleep more. Begins to eat less. She opens her eyes to see her parents looking over her. Tears streaming down both their faces. She doesn''t understand. Cake closes her eyes once more. They don''t open. Chapter 3: Third time is the charm Author''s Note: So hopefully by now you guys might get the drift of where this story is going. Too bad no spoilers. Hahaha. Chapter 3: Third time is the charm ----------------------------------------------------------------- Again the bright glaring light. Again the giants looming over. Again the cycle of eating and sleeping. At least this time Gale makes it through. He is 5. And more importantly to him, he is a he. He has finally made it to an age where he can speak to his parents to learn about the world he is in and potentially why he is here. The world is name Prytania, and he is on the Continent Algiers, part of the Austerlitz kingdom. It''s hard to tell the geography because the maps he has access to are so bad. That''s right, his parents are poor. Pig farmers far removed from the nearest city. Protected by a feudal lord they haven''t seen but pay taxes to. The nearest town is 10 miles away and is named Foucher. It''s where his parents go to sell pigs and buy bread and other essentials. Gale has found his parent''s to be ignorant. Uneducated and unknowing about the ways of the world. But surprisingly they were both adventures or so they claimed. Years pass on, Gale learns to care for the pigs, how to castrate, how to give birth. None of these on his list of things to do. His dream is to travel, to be an adventurer and fight monsters and make his way to the city to become certified and recieve his adventure card. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Upon asking his parents it seems that they didn''t make it too far, and his father confessed that he was only a lvl 25 swordsmand, while his mother didn''t even have a class. Gale immediately begins to inquire about levels and classes. "Well it like this," His father explains "A class can be given by anyone who is over level 20 to anyone else. Now, the catch though is that I have to train you in a few of mine techniques. I got lucky and had my grand pappy teach me and I''ll teach you like I taught you''re older brother. It''s a tradition to have young men and woman go on an adventure when they turn 16. It''s help them find who they are what they want to become. I just wanted to be by your mother''s side" "Please teach me dad," Gale pleads "I have a thirst for adventure." "That''s what I''m afraid of." His father mutters. Shortly afterwards he begins his training. Still maintaing all his chores and work around the farm he begins to grasp the sword. After a few years and at the age of 14, Gale finally feels it. "I''m a swordsman!" He exclaims. The information is right there in his head, he has become a level 5 swordsman. "Hey dad, how many levels are there?" He asks "Dunno son, highest I''ve ever heard of was 56 by that old man Tidus in town, but you''d probably get a better idea if you make it to the adventurers guild." His father told him "Yeah I''ll do that, that''ll be the first goal for my adventure. The adventurer''s guild!" Chapter 4: Adventure time Author''s Note: I realized that my chapters might be a bit too short, but I was just excited to get my story out there. Also I don''t like dragging on and on about needless details. I will however make an effort to make longer chapters...when I feel like it. Chapter 4: Adventure time ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gale woke up early. He had hardly slept. This was the day, the day he had been waiting for. Today was Gale''s 16th birthday. The day he would finally embark on the adventure that he had been waiting for. Done playing with wooden swords and endless training and being scratched by pigs, today he would finally leave his home. "Arrrrgh" Gale yawned. His eyes, adjusted to the gloom of his shared bedroom, fell upon his sleeping younger sister. A soft smile comes to his lips. His life had been hard for the past 16 years. Not because he wasn''t loved, not because his family didn''t care for him, not because his family beat him or mistreated him. None of these things happened, his family was loving, and nice, and full of happiness. They were at peace with their place in the world and didn''t strive to rise from their station. That''s what made it hard. They didn''t understand him. They didn''t understand why someone would want to take on the risks of the world, they didn''t understand why he wouldn''t be satisfied with his place in life, they didn''t understand him. A young man who coldly looked at the world like it had turned against him. A young man who refused to call his family by name, but instead by their relation. While his memories of his past lives were hazy, he understood that this world could take him at any second and any bonds he made with his family could be immediately broken. What was the point for caring for a family when, like his last life, it could go away in a blink of an eye. That was until his sister was born. Cynthia came into the world shining like the brightest star. That never happened of course, it was more screaming and gross liquids but that''s what his mind remembered it as. She was wonderful, a delight, a small bundle of joy, and she was now 3 years old and loved her brother dearly. This scared him. He had already died twice in this world. The only way he knew it was the same one was by the two suns in the sky. But he felt nothing good would come of trying to keep his loved ones in his heart. What would be the point if after 1000''s of years he shared a bloodline with everyone. Did family mean anything after this. These were the thoughts that haunted his sleep. He had decided to forego all family relations. And merely enjoy people for who they were. But his sister was his world. Gale sighs, and then softly mutters "I''ll just try and go back to sleep until the sun comes up. It''s not like I''ll be leaving before then anyway." The sun rises. His sister jumps on her older brother. "Big brother! Wake up! Wake up! It''s your birthday" Cynthia squeals. "I''m up, I''m up." Gale groans. After a helping meal of breakfast in the from of a bacon and potato based soup, his father looks him the eyes. "Son it''s that time. Happy birthday to you, now lets go out to the shed." His father speaks Outside and by the shed his father slowly opens the door, revealing sheers and other tools a pig farmer might use. Rummaging around near the floor he pulls out a lengthy box. Opening it, a simple double edged sword and scabbard are inside. His father opens his mouth, "Here you go lad, can''t be sending you off with just your two fists. It''s a dangerous world out there and I''d rather not have you go, but I know that I can''t stop you. So take this sword and my blessing and stay safe. If your mother was still here, I know she''d be proud of the man you''ve become. So when will you be leaving?" Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Gale stutters, "S-s-soon father. I plan to leave immediately." "I figured as much" His father shakes his head, "You never wanted to stick around. Well say your goodbyes to your sister and be on your way. The nearest city is about 200 miles away in the opposite direction of Foucher, and is called Austeria. There you will find the adventurers guild. The way is dangerous but stick with the road and you should be safe. I know you''ll become a great adventurer." Gale nods his head and proceeds to go inside. He finds his sister at the table, eyes bright as she attempts to spoon the soup into her mouth "Brother!" She exclaims. "Hello Cynthia, I''m going to be leaving now. I''m not sure if you will remember me when I come back, or if I will come back. I love you." Gale speaks, his eyes watering. "Brother?!" Cynthia looks at him questioning, not understanding the implications of the words spoken. But knowing her brother is sad. "Good bye Cynthia." Her brother says and then turns around. Heading out the door. Gale walks with sense of purpose. Sword by his side, a knife strapped to his chest. His clothing is simple. A belt around his waist holding a few bags. A shirt and pants. Boots. *Clank* *Clank* His sword rattles as he walks. Gale shivers. He heads to the main road that leads out of town. Going west, away from the town of Foucher and through the forest. He doesn''t look back. He doesn''t say good bye to anyone else. The road continues on towards a forest. Gale''s eyes are alert. Watching the trees and what''s beyond them, he doesn''t slow down but he proceeds with caution. At the edge of the forest he stops. Quickly observing his surroundings. He loosens the sword in it''s sheathe. Taking in a deep breathe in and then exhaling out, Gale walks under the shade of the trees. He continues on for an hour or so until the sound of a breaking twig alerts him. To his right are a pair of glowing yellow eyes. *Shiiiiing* Gale draws his sword and turns towards the presence, keeping the yellow eyed beast in his eyesight while scanning around him. He senses it, from his right. A blur. In a wirlwind of motion Gale stops, his right foot forward towards what had been the blur. His sword infront of him and aimed slightly up. It''s red with blood. Immediately after the yellow eyed beast runs forward, taking the appearance of a large grey wolf. "AAaahhh!" Gale yells, thrusting his sword towards the open maw of the wolf. The sword goes through the roof of the wolf''s mouth and out the top of it''s head. The momentum makes gale stagger back and he and the dead wolf come to the ground. Struggling, Gale pushes the wolf off of him and scampers to his feet. Breathing heavily he waits. Alert, but tired. After 10 minutes go by and no more attacks he begins to calm down. Pulling out the hunting knife he had on his chest. "The claws should go for a decent price, and hopefully it will have a monster core." He tells himself. He lays eyes on the other beast, it was another wolf. This one smaller but a darker grey. Cut from it''s mouth down it''s throat towards it''s shoulder. Too make sure he stabs through the eyeball. The wolf spasms. "Tricky bastards." He mutters. Finished with harvesting any worthwile loot, 4 claws and 1 monster core. He continues on. Chapter 5: Are we there yet? Author''s Note: This is pretty fun. I find myself stopping what I''m doing some times to write down quick notes or the future plot of the story. I''m really enjoying transforming my ideas into words. But I am rather dissapointed at how I convey them. I guess that''s what practice is for. Chapter 5: Are we there yet? ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10 days. It''s been 10 long and awful days. Gale had figured that 200 miles would go by quickly. Working it out in his head if just walked 10 miles a day he''d be there in 20 days. If he walked 20 miles a day he''d be there in 10 days. Simple. He hadn''t expected to be ambushed what seemed every 50 feet by monsters every day and night. Now he may have been exagerrating, but the quantity of monsters that have attacked him was impressive. When Gale had slain the two wolves with out a scratch he had assumed that the journey to the city would have challenges, but he could overcome them. He was on a road, a normal road through the countryside, how often would monster''s attack him. After the victory over the wolves and harvesting the spoils he had continued to walk along the road. Not even 10 minutes later he had been amushed by a gang of goblins. Small green people shaped monsters, they wore a ragtag ensemble of equipment consisting of broken swords, axes, and armour that was falling apart. Screaming a warcry that sounded like screeching metal they ran out of the trees bordering the road and attacked. After a long and furious battle, Gale had won. But he was injured, small cuts and scratches from the many stabs and slashes given by the 5 goblins. Due to their diminitive size and their lack of weapon training, they did not pose a huge threat to him. However their numbers were a problem, and they had worn through Gale''s defense. Panting, Gale again waited at the ready before hunting for monster cores. This time another monster charged out from the trees. It was just another goblin, not sure if it was because it had been waiting for a chance to strike, or if it had been relieving itself, the goblin finally took it''s move. Leaping out of the trees, the goblin landed on the road 20 feet from Gale. Firmly grasping it''s dagger, the goblin stared at Gale, it''s body tensing. Releasing like an arrow from a bow, it sprung forward. It aimed to shove it''s dagger in Gale''s stomach with a vicious stab. Running quickly it covered the distance from it''s enemy. Gale swiped with his sword. He then took a step to the side for the goblin''s body to keep moving, it''s head having been seperated and spinning in the air. Gale had learned from his previous encounter that stabbing straight at something wouldn''t stop something in it''s tracks. After some time had gone by and nothing seemed to want to attack him immediately. Gale inspected his body. There was no serious wounds, but he did have a fairly deep gash on his back. Taking out some herbs from his bag, he crunched them in his hand. Afterwards he applied it to the wound and the various others around his body. His face scrunched from the stinging sensation. But the herbs proved their worth as his wounds began to close. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "You would think with medicine made from these it would be impossible for infant mortality rate to be so high." Gale shook his head. After making sure that there were no other wounds he again harvested the monster cores. Looting the goblins, he found a satchel that had the same herbs he had just used as well as another plant that would cure light poison. "How useful, can''t be stingy with healing in this world." Preparations complete he again continued on his journey. A mile down the road he made another encounter. Again reaching victory he healed, looted, and moved on. 2 miles down the road he made another encounter, again winning, healing, looting and moving on. 10 days. 10 awful days of that vicious cycle. His clothes were stained from the blood of his many enemies. Orcs, goblins, wolves, boars, horned rabbits, kobolds, skeletons... The list goes on. His body felt stonger, his blows quicker, his resilience increasing, but his mental fortitude was reaching the brink. "How much longer can I do this, I''ve only gone maybe 50 miles." The constant state of readiness was wearing on him. The neverending battles, the surprise ambushes, the attacks in the dark, all had slowly but resolutely worn on him. Despair filled his eyes. "This was only supposed to be the beginning, how can it be this hard. I''ve never heard of anyone else having as much problems as me." Gale cried out. *ArrOOOOoooooM*...*ArrOOOOooooooM* "That''s the sound of a horn. Where is it coming from?" Gale starts scanning around him, trying to find the source of the noise. To the north across a plain, he see something. "Please don''t be something that wants to kill me, please don''t be something that wants to kill." In the distance a cloud of dirt and dust is moving towards him. *ArrrOOOoooooM*...*ArrOOoooooooM* The cloud begins to become larger. The sound of a stampede becoming louder. *AAARRRRROOOOOOOOOOoooooommmm*...*AAAARRRRROOOOOOOooooooommmmm* The shape of riders on top of various beasts comes into view. "I hate this place so much." Gale curses. A group of 40 goblins riding on wolves, large dogs, boars, and a weird insect thing in front. In the lead on a horse is sitting a hobgoblin. The band is wearing equipment in much better quality then the 6 he had killed at the beginning of his journey. The leader has a warhorn in left hand. Seeing the lone wanderer on the road, the leader begins to cackle and draws its longsword. Waving it in the air he points at Gale. The rest of the band start to roar. "Please just let me be born in a city next time." Gale draws his scimitar, his earlier sword having been broken 3 days ago. The scimitar a gift from a skeleton who''s skull he caved in. Breathing softly he readies himself. Chapter 6: Starting Over Author''s Note: So I''ve had a few people already bring up that the gender bender tag is useless or misleading, considering I killed her off in 300 words. And that''s fair, but I plan to do more later on in the genre. That being said, it will probably take a bit to get there. So just keep following, or don''t. I''m not a cop. Chapter 6: Starting Over ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gale opens his eyes to see a young woman looking down on him. Her face filled with worry as she looks down. She had blue eyes, short brown hair that goes to her chin, a fair complexion, and a small mouth. Gale internally sighs, "Why is this world so cruel. I''m sick of dying." The woman opens her mouth, "Hey are you going to get up or just lay there?" "What?" Gale responds. "I said, are you going to get up or just lay there? We don''t have time to babysit you, you know." The girl furrows her eyebrows. Stunned, Gale looks around, and notices that he''s still in his 16-year-old body. He also notices 4 other people standing around him, 3 males and 1 female. All wearing various equipment denoting their jobs and classes. "Ah sorry, I just....what happened?" He responds while slowly sitting up. "Well you fainted. That horde of goblin riders came up to you, and when they arrived you just crumpled." The girl is trying to hold back from laughing, "The hobgoblin was so surprised he didn''t know what to do, and luckily that gave us the opportunity to attack." Gale''s face grows hot, he hears the snickers coming from some of the adventurers and again looks more carefully at his surroundings. Carnage. Beasts and goblins were strown about, with stalagmites erupting from the ground here and there protruding from the bodies of multiple monsters. Patches of charred earth and blackened bodies litter the battlefield. Arms, legs, heads, torsos, random body parts are all around. It was evident from what took place that this party was powerful. Gale commences to examine the party more closer. The female over him is wearing white robes and has a staff in her right hand, a priestess or light mage no doubt. The other female short spiky red hair, yellow eyes, and a dark complexion. She has on tan-colored shorts over white tights with a leather jerkin over a white blouse. A rapier by her side, she stands with her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised as if evaluating him. Of the three males, one has on a light leather armour, consisting of riveted plates of steel or iron around the chest and stomach. He also has tough leather pants and boots and a gigantic sword on his back. He has dark brown almost black straight hair that goes to his shoulder, dark brown/black eyes and a slightly tanned face. He stands off to the side keeping an eye on the surroundings. The next male is wearing a dark green robe with a wooden staff at his side. He has a bored expression on his face, he looks youthful, Gale''s age or a bit older. He has a wide-brimmed hat that comes to a point, but the point is at a 90 degree angle facing behind him due to a bend in his hat. He has bright green eyes, with light brown, short curly hair. He leans on his staff with both hands, looking disinterested in what''s going on around him. The last male is dress in black scaly armour, that seems to have been taken from some draconic beast. His helmet is in his arms, with a shield of the same material as his full body armour on his back. Between the shield and his back is the hilt of a sword. The man is handsome, with close-cropped blond hair and steel-blue eyes. He has a sharp impressive face. The handsome man speaks, "Well we''re off now, good luck." "Wait" Gale shouts, as the party gets ready to leave, "Take me with you!" "You don''t even know where we''re going, idiot." The woman with the spiky red hair says with contempt. "Uhh...I''m trying to go to Austeria to join the adventure''s guild." Gale tries to salvage the situation. "Hmmmm...well we''re going in the same direction, so it shouldn''t be a big deal for you to come along, my name is Seth, the priestess is Holly, our fencer is Ruby, the warrior is Cal, and the summoner is Will." Each member of the party nods their heads when their name is called. "We''ll be leaving immediately it should only take us 10 days to get to the city." "My name is Gale, and I give my sincerest thanks for rescuing me." Without another word, Seth dawns his helmet and turns to the west. Following his lead, the res of the party settles their equipment and starts off. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings."Hey hold on, can I take that hobgoblin''s sword before we head out, it''ll only take a second." Gale asks. Nobody responds as they continue walking. Quickly, Gale runs over to the body of the hobgoblin and takes his longsword, scabbard and belt. Fastening the sword to his back he hastens over to the party to continue his journey. 5 days later. "I''ve never been attacked this many times while going down this road." Ruby exclaims The entire party is breathing hard after another encounter. While the party was powerful and capable of taking on many monsters. The frequency of attacks was something that they were not prepared for. "Based off our current speed we won''t make it to Austeria for another 8 days." Seth replies. "I just don''t get it, monsters usually stay from roads, and especially from adventurer parties." Ruby continues. "Bah, don''t worry about it. Just think of it as more experience. Besides at least we got to see what the kid was worth. I assumed he would just piss himself and pass out again." The warrior Cal laughs. Gale is standing to the side wiping off his longsword with a piece of bloody cloth. Looking up he smiles and shrugs his shoulders. "I thought I was gonna die that time, this is a bit different." He laughs. The party nods, they had seen how he handled himself in battle now and treated him much better than that first day. The way he calmly handled his opponents and the way he swung his sword spoke about much experience and training. The party had loosened up to him, thinking he wasn''t just a fainting pile of flesh, but at least now a decent shield made of meat. "Oh crap," Gale ponders, "It''s me. I''m the one that is somehow attracting these monsters. I knew it wasn''t normal to be attacked that much when I left my village." Gale maintains his calm facade, while on the inside he worries that the party will blame him and leave him behind. At this point he knows that if they leave and if he has to travel by himself he will surely die. "Well let''s slow down." Seth proclaims, "We''ll make our new target to get there in 12 days and plan that the current attack rate of our party maintains what it is now. This way we''ll at least get there safely and not get burnt out and make mistakes in battle. Also we could use the experience, so let''s look at this as a blessing." And so for 11 days the party continues to fight, rest and walk. A slow methodical journey that produced many monster cores as valuable experience. In the middle of the 11th day on the horizon they see the towers of the city of Austeria. "Finally.." The party says all at once before looking at each and laughing. "We should make it there by tomorrow morning. We''ll continue on today until the sun is about to go down and then we''ll rest up until tomorrow." Seth instructs. "Finally...finally...finally!" Gale mentally yells in excitement, "I''m almost there, I''m so close I can feel it. Just one more day. One more day!" The following morning the party makes their way to the gates. "At least this close to the city we didn''t have to worry about monsters as much as before." Will says. "True, but it was good to be cautious anyway." Seth replies. "I can''t wait to turn this quest in." Ruby says, "I''ll be an A class adventurer at last." The party closes in on the gate to see an armoured guards standing by. The five seasoned adventurers pull out a card from seemingly nowhere, and present it to the guard. "You five, let''s see....B class adventurer''s huh. Alright you five are good to go in. You there, the one with no A.S. card, that''ll be 1 silver to enter." Reaching in his pouch, Gale pulls out a silver piece that he had looted from a monster earlier. Taking the silver piece the guard nods and lets the party through. "The city of Austeria..." Gale breathes out his eyes filled with excitement and wonder. The city was extravagant. Huge buildings every, overflowing with shops and restaurants and inns, and you name it. Towards the center of the city was a huge square building with the mark of a sword overlaid on a shield. Nearby was a gigantic cathedral, and in the middle the outline of towers coming from a gigantic castle could be seen. "Woah." Gale manages to say. "Haha, welcome to Austeria Gale. We''re headed to the guild right now so just follow us mmmk?" Holly winks. "Thanks." Gale blushes. With that the party zig zags through the crowded streets on the way to the square building. Chapter 7: Adventurer Card Author''s Note: Alright I spent a bit of time today learning how to do tables. Because I feel that that''s just the royal road way. Let me know if there are things you guys can think of anything to improve them let me know. Jeez how many times can I manage to write adventurer in this chapter... EDIT: Thanks to ArchmageNaoki for pointing out my many mistakes. ;P I appreciate it. Chapter 7: Adventurer Card ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gale followed the party down the winding streets, dodging busy bodies all around. At the same time he could not stop looking at everything going on around him. Mages, wizards, shamans, sorcerers and other magical entities had shops selling magical goods, potions, and other items, and others were just going on about their business walking to whatever destination they had in mind. He saw a man wearing a crown that had a fire that seemed to constantly hover just above the man''s head, buying chickens from a portly woman in grey robe. He saw a knight clad in shiny plate armour haggling with a store owner over the price of a mace he was selling. He saw a woman with a long bow on her back walking around, except flying above her was a snake with wings. No one batted an eye at these odd occurrences. Everyone seemed to accept that this was perfectly natural and no one paid it any mind. "Hey Holly," Gale began to ask, "why are there so many interesting characters roaming about? I''ve never seen so many different types of people." "Oh, that''s because Austeria is an adventurer''s city. Unlike other cities that merely have a guild hall in them, this city grew up around the guild hall. So a majority of the residents are made up of either active adventurers, retired adventures, or the families of adventurers. This city really caters to our needs and is a perfect place to have a base. Careful though. A house is not cheap." Holly explained. "Do you not know anything Gale?" Ruby sneered. "I mean, I thought I did. Obviously I have a lot to learn." Gale responded with a defeated tone in his voice. "Don''t worry about it buddy, we''re already here at the guild." Will consoled him. Looking up, Gale''s eyes were filled with the sight of a gigantic square stone building. It was fairly non descriptive except for a few windows here and there, and a gigantic symbol of a sword inlaid on a shield. As he made his way to the bottom he saw a pair of large wooden doors opened up, with people coming and going. Making their way inside, a lofty interior at least 40 feet high with a comfortable lobby greeted them. To the right through a door was a glimpse of a tavern filled with long tables and a bar, to his left was what appeared to be training grounds filled with dummies and wooden weapons, in front of Gale was a long counter. Behind the counter were an assortment of guild officials talking to adventures at booths. The party proceeded to an open counter to the right, currently being manned by a pale woman with green hair. As they walked forward, Gale glanced to his right and saw a set of stairs just where the counter ended at the wall, occupied by a single guard. To the left was another smaller counter with the word''s Adventurer''s Store in big letters written above. A lone burly man sat behind the counter. Curious, Gale was about to ask what the stairs lead to when the woman with green hair began to speak. "Welcome back you guys! I''m guessing by the fact that you are all alive you completed the quest? Let''s see what was it now..." The green-haired woman took Seth''s adventure card and summoned a magical circle, "ah that''s right, subjugating the goblin horde. Oooooh it was your guy''s first A class quest. Mmhmm now lets see. Give me all your adventure cards." The party, excluding Gale, all suddenly had their adventure cards in their hands and laid them in front of her. "Ok let''s just verify this and this...mmhmm....mmmhmm...Oh!...mmhmm...interesting...ok! You guys are all set, and meet the minimum requirements. Congratulations on becoming A class Adventurers!" The green-haired woman beamed. Five magical circles a foot in circumference appeared, one for each card. The circles pulsated and then began spinning while shrinking rapidly. Each disappearing into a different card. The adventure cards began to glow. After a few seconds the glow faded. Before each card was red and now had become a copper color. The party all broke out into smiles congratulating each other. While Gale looked extremely confused. ''I have no idea what''s going on.'' Gale thought. The green-haired woman began to speak again, "Ok! Now that you are all A class adventurers, you now have access to the second floor as well special perks and quests that the helpers upstairs will tell you about. Make sure you take advantage of everything the city and the guild now have to offer. Congratulations one more time, and have a great day!" The party minus Gale began to walk towards the stairwell to the right. Presenting their new and improved guild cards they disappeared up the stairs. "They didn''t even say bye..." Gale mumbled. "Ok! Now how may I help you, stranger?" The green-haired woman asked. "Uh hi, yes, I''d like to register to become an adventurer." Gale spoke. "Oh! Not a problem! 5 gold is the initiation fee, afterwards we will magically imprint an A.S card, or Guild Card to your soul." The green-haired woman spoke. "I thought they were called an adventurer''s card?" "Oh, they''re call many things, adventurer''s card, guild card, A.S. card, status plate, job sheet, the list goes on, but it doesn''t matter because they all mean the same thing. Now that''ll be 5 gold." The green-haired woman smiled. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Oh ok, well what about-" Gale begins to ask. "5 gold." The green-haired woman responds, her smile starting to fade. "Yeah about that, I don''t have that much on me right now," The woman begins to open her mouth, her eyebrows furrowing, "But I do have things I can sell to make it to 5 gold." Gale hurriedly spits out. "Ok! The store is right over there to your left, or my right." The green-haired woman smiles, "But don''t come back until you can pay, Ok?" "Yes ma''am." Gale turns away and speed walks to the store. Fishing out his 3 bags of loot on his belt. Approaching the counter he opens his mouth to speak to the burly man from before. "Buying or selling?" The burly man barks out before Gale can speak. "Uh, buy-selling. I mean selling. I''m selling stuff. Umm...the things in here. I''m selling these things, but not the bags. Well maybe 2 of the bags. But I need at least one." Gale stammers. The burly eyes him, "Well put it on the counter." Gale places all three bags on the counter. The burly man deftly opens them and spills their contents about. Quickly sorting through, the burly man makes 3 small piles. "I''ll pay 4 gold and 15 silver for this pile," he points to the one with the larger and shinier monster cores. "1 gold and 13 silver for this pile," he points to the pile with smaller, less shiny monster cores, "and 12 copper for this junk." He points to the pile with monster claws, bits of bone, and other general body parts of monsters. "Ah yeah that''s fine. Well maybe we can come to an agreement on the price, how about instead of 4 gold and -" Gale begins to talk. "I don''t haggle," the burly man barks, "you can take it or leave it, and get the hell out." "Yes sir, pleasure doing business sir." Gale speaks. "Sounds like a deal." The burly man speaks while scooping up the materials, "Listen kid, don''t bother with that junk you tried to pawn earlier. The real money is in the monster cores. Cause even if you can make a necklace out of wolves teeth, it''s the cores they use to enchant it to give the user strength. They don''t serve much of a purpose beside aesthetics. What''s your name kid?" "Gale, sir. Thank you for your advice." "No problem, now unless you kill a whole dragon, and drag its corpse here, or put it into an interspatial ring, monster body parts aren''t worth a whole lot. You''d need a professional to skin and get the materials to make any decent equipment for ya and the quantity you need is too much for you right now. By the way, my name''s Dave, and if you get any more things you need to sell I''m always here." Dave says while holding out a closed fist. Opening his hand, and placing it underneath, Gale catches the gold and silver pieces. "Thank you very much sir." Gale says before turning around and heading back to the green-haired woman. Approaching the counter, Gale gingerly places 5 gold on the counter top. "Ok! Now that you have paid the initiation fee. You''re welcome to become an adventurer. Hold out your hand please. " The green-haired woman smiles while putting the gold away. Gale holds out his left hand. The woman takes ahold of it with both her hands and then two magical circles appear. One directly above the back of her hand that she has on top of his, and the second right in front of his chest. The two circles begin to shine and rectangle appears at his chest level. The circle above his hand spins and shrinks, heading towards their two hands. Gale feels a slight tingle on the back of left hand. At the same time the rectangle pulsates once, before the glow begins to fade. An ugly yellow card is floating in front of him. "Ok! Please take your guild card and verify that the information is correct. If you need any assistance or have any questions don''t hesitate to ask. By the way, my name is Alisha, and congratulations on becoming an F class adventurer." Gale inspects his guild card, on the front are a few things, his name, adventurer rank, job class, level, as well as mastered, and available jobs. On the back are all the abilities he knows.
ADVENTURER CARD
Name: GaleAdventurer Rank: F
Current Job: SwordsmanCurrent Level: 36
Mastered JobsAvailable Jobs
NoneSwordsman: Lvl 36
ABILITIES
ActivePassiveSkill
NonePerseveranceBeginner Swordmanship Lvl 5
Unfortunate Hero
"Wait...what the.." Gale says in shock. Chapter 8: Abilities Author''s Note: I got the itch I guess. I told myself multiple times only one chapter a day. But I feel bad because what was supposed to be just one chapter has turned into 3. I also find myself writing more and more for each chapter. A good thing? I dunno. Chapter 8: Abilities ---------------------------------------------------------------- "What is this?" Gale asks. "Hmmm? What are you talking about?" Alisha leans forward. "This ability. Unfortunate Hero.... how do I find out what they do or what they mean?" Gale asks, a panic-stricken look on his face. "Ooooh, I''ve never heard of that one, and you can say I''ve been around the block." Alisha winks, "All you have to do is focus on the ability and more information should appear in your mind. If you are having trouble, try yelling the name out and making a pose." Gale squints his eyes, "I''m not falling for that last bit." "Well it was worth a try." Alisha giggles. Gale begins to concentrate on the abilities listed on his guild card. ''Unfortunate Hero'' He thinks over and over again.
Unfortunate Hero
Passive ability. Grants the user with the power to reincarnate on this material world. The user will retain all abilities they have learned or acquired, and their effects. The user will also retain all jobs that have been acquired, but the level will reset to 1 unless the job was mastered. The user will remember less of their previous lives the more they die, with shorter lives causing more memory loss. The user will also suffer from attracting powerful monsters, calamities and misfortune. This ability is permanent and can not be removed.
"What? What? No. No. This can''t...I can''t...why? Why me?" Gale mumbles close to tears. ''Who could I have possibly pissed off for this terrible ability. I mean I''ll be able to master every class and gain every ability, but who knows how long it''ll take. How long I will have to suffer. How many times I will die before I''m even able to put my skills to the test. And what are these calamities. The monsters, I have already encountered, although those were just regular ones in big numbers...but I guess for my level they must have been pretty strong. Oh no, the stronger I get the more difficult my life will be.'' Gale stands there, slowly giving up on ever being happy or normal. He slowly sinks down to the floor, curled into a hunched over fetal position. His hands coming up to his eyes as tears start to fall down. The realization of a cursed eternity dawning on him. ''The worst part is I''m punished for dying too fast or early in my life, but living longer gets harder and harder. I''ll continuously have to train for many lives, but I''ll forget everything if I die as a baby too many times in a row. At least my abilities will stay with me.'' Gale miserably thinks to himself. "Oh, I must say, this is the most amusing reaction I''ve seen after giving someone their guild card. Having two passive abilities is pretty rare though for a newbie." Alisha leans over the counter to peer down at Gale. "What''s the difference?" Gale asks. "Hmmm?" Alisha replies. "The difference. The difference between abilities. What''s different between an active ability, or a skill ability or a passive ability?" Gale tries to keep his voice steady as he stands back up. "Oh, I''m glad you asked." Alisha smiles, "Ok! So as you said earlier the three types of abilities are active, passive and skill. Active abilities are abilities you....activate!. These can be things like spells, or attacks, or even crafting. For instance the ability Sword Slash. When activated, the next time you swing your sword it''ll emit a razor-sharp light that can slice foes from a distance. There are many types of active abilities and they can be bought here and other places in the form of scrolls as well as trained to you by people who know the ability, and also by meeting certain conditions such as defeating a certain monster, or completing a dungeon, or even by getting to a milestone in your job." Alisha continues, "Ok! So next up are passive abilities! These abilities are constantly going on in the background, and are always activated. These are considered more useful than most active abilities because they increase your basic strength. The abilities are also much harder to get, and can only be acquired through rare means. Completing very difficult dungeons, defeating terrifying enemies, meeting rare requirements, being born with it, mastering a skill ability and the last way is by mastering a job. This is why such an emphasis is placed on mastering a job. Not to be good at it, it''s for the benefits completing a job gives you, because it''s the most reliable way of recieving a passive ability. Furthermore the rarer the job, the more powerful the passive ability. For instance the job warrior, when mastered gives the ability Increased Strength, which doubles your strength, while a certain job when mastered gives you Herculean Strength, which multiplies your strength by a hundred." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Alisha stops to see if Gale is paying attention. Satisfied, she continues, "And lastly we have skill abilities. This category is unlike the other two. It''s not abilities that help you, but more of a benchmark of how good you are at something. For instance you''re swordsmanship is beginner level 5, which means you haven''t been wielding a sword for long and don''t comprehend how to use it better. However, as your comprehension increases, so too will your skill. When mastered, as stated earlier an ability related to your skill will be earned." Alisha finishes her lecture and looks at Gale, "Ok! Any questions?" "Yeah. Why couldn''t you tell me what class gives Herculean Strength, also could you give me more details on abilities you know about? And how can I increase my swordsmanship?" Gale asks. "I couldn''t tell you, because you aren''t qualified to know. Information isn''t cheap, especially when it comes to abilities, furthermore as a rank F adventurer the guild won''t want to spend resources on someone they feel is unworthy. All you are allowed to know are some of the F rank or basic classes, and F rank abilities. The only reason I even told you about Herculean Strength is because I saw a new ability on your guild card. If you want a booklet with details on rank F jobs and abilities, the cost will be 1 gold coin. Also about your shoddy swordsmanship, you can increase it by going to the training area over there and be taught by an instructor. The beginner levels are free, we don''t want new adventurers to die so quickly, but once you hit intermediate the cost will be 1 silver a day." "You guys are a bunch of extortionist." Gale mutters. "Hmmm?" sounds Alisha, her eyes flashing with a dangerous glint. "Um, I said, where can I pick up quests to complete, I''d also like to know where I can find party members, and lastly where I can get a place to sleep?" Gale quickly responds. "Ok! To pick up quests just ask any guild helper at the counter, we will verify your rank and then find appropriate quests for you, of which you can choose. Some quests will require a party and we may group you with random people, but we try to keep the party balance in mind. You can also head over to the tavern, or just let us know you are looking for a party and we''ll tell adventurer''s of the same rank that you are searching. As for sleep, go to the tavern. There are rooms upstairs, which are seperated from the rest of the upstair areas. You can also go to inns in the city, but I wouldn''t recommend it." Alisha responds. "Thank you that was very helpful." Gale responds, "I guess I''ll go get a room for the night and then come back tomorrow to pick up a quest." "I would recommend staying for a while and increasing your swordsmanship to an adequate level before attempting any quests. You seem like you attract trouble." Alisha smiles, "Also make sure to check your other abilities before you forget. Have a great day!" ''Oh right, hmmm. Perseverance. Beginner Swordsmanship.'' Gale concentrates.
Perseverance
Passive ability. This ability was gained by experiencing extreme hardship or strife. It allows the user to bear through extreme mental circumstances, and increases mental fortitude. You will be effected less by mental magic and illusions, and can train harder and longer. This ability also decreases the chance of mental instability.
Beginner Swordsmanship
Skill Ability. Level 5 This ability is a measure of how skillful you are with a blade. You have understood the basics of sticking the pointy end towards your enemy and are less likely to kill yourself swinging a sword around.
''Oh come on! I''m not stupid. I know how to use a freaking sword'' He curses to himself. Chapter 9: Learning How To Use A Sword Author''s Note: Been busy all day writing the guideline for the next ark and got so pumped I forgot about the actual story. Haha I guess that happens though. I''m open to any advice that other people have. I''ve always suffered from putting commas too many times and in the wrong places, but that''s where I want people to pause so I dunno. Also I downloaded the emulator for Boktai 2 and the nostalgia is real. Edit: Thanks again to ArchmageNaoki for spotting all my mistakes. I''ll write a chapter or two tonight for you to go over. Haha. Chapter 9: Learning How To Use A Sword ---------------------------------------------------------------- Gale had spent the night in a room he had on the third floor for 45 copper a night. naturally he had decided on spending the rest of his money to stay there for 3 months. Like Alisha had said, he had to better his swordsmanship skills before he could stand a chance on even the most basic quests. Waking up early the next morning, he headed down to the tavern to grab some breakfast. The cost of meals was luckily included in his stay. "Hey there newbie, what can I get ya''?" Wendy said with a wink. Wendy was the daughter of the retired adventures who ran the place, the father working in the kitchen, while the mother was a shrewd businesswoman who was in charge of everything else. Wendy worked there to help out as a waitress, but at the age of 16 like everyone else she would go out in the world to find her place. "I''ll take the morning special." Gale responded with a smile. "Not a problem, coming right up!" She responds. As Wendy walks away, Gale contemplates everything he had suddenly learned yesterday. ''With Unfortunate Hero, I have no choice but to learn as many abilities as possible. While I think mastering many jobs might come easily, I should at least try to buy some active abilities, as well as work on my swordsmanship skill ability. I also need to try to survive as long as possible so that my next life can be better off, and doesn''t try to just settle down somewhere. The only places that could be even remotely safe would be large cities from the monsters and calamities. If I make my problem everyone else''s problem, then someone will have to be able to fix it.'' Gale smiles to himself, and then after a moment the smile slowly fades. ''Being here is a risk to everyone. Is my life and existence really that important that I have to put a whole city in danger just to live. No it is, if I don''t become stronger and give my future selves a fighting chance I''m dooming every where I will walk for who knows how many years to come. Sharing my burden with a capable city is more than reasonable in the long run.'' He rationalizes. "Here you go hot stuff, oops I meant here''s some hot stuff for you. Today''s special is quail eggs with hollandaise sauce and a side of ham. Let me know if you need anything." Wendy places down the steaming plate. Gale doesn''t waste any time and devours the plate, burning his tongue and the roof of his mouth in the process. Finishing his meal, he compliments his waitress and the food and gets up to leave. Heading through the door he makes his way across the lobby to the training area. Inside he sees maybe 10 people hacking away at dummies with various weapons as a man with a bald head wearing a green tunic watching over them. "Keep hitting you animals!" The bald man yells at the 10 young adventurers. Walking towards the bald man, Gale feels apprehensive. ''What if he just yells at me and I don''t even learn anything for like ten years,'' Gale thinks, ''Then I''ll be a failure.'' He says to himself. "Ah, what? Whatever." he says to himself, and then louder, "Excuse me sir, I''m looking to improve my swordsmanship, and Alisha said you would be able to help." "Ay lad, your swordsmanship you want to increase huh? What level are ya at?" The bald man asks. "Beginner level 5 sir." Gale responds. "Hey not bad! At least I don''t have to waste time trying to get you to even pick the ability up. Go ahead and hit that dummy by the wall a few hundred times. Pick a wooden sword you like along the wall." The bald man smiles "Yes sir." Gale replies before heading towards the wall. Looking at the different wooden weapons on display, he picks outs a regular wooden sword and walks over to a random target dummy. Brandishing the weapon in his right hand he begins to strike the dummy. The loud sound of a dummy being smacked rang out. The noise consisted of random whacks, with no consistency or quality. Then slowly, it began to take shape. Turning into a methodical continuous melody of strikes. *Whap*...*Whap*...*WHAP*...*Whap*...*Whap* Sweat began to bead around Gale''s face and body. Disregarding everything he else he focused on hitting the target. Correcting every strike that felt wrong or misplaced. He strikes began to quicken, and become more powerful. After an hour of this, the bald man yelled, "Alright lad, you can stop." Letting the sword fall to his side without dropping it, he brought his other hand up to wipe his forehead. Sweat was pooling around him. ''I shouldn''t have dressed in all my equipment. Next time I''ll just wear a shirt and trousers. It''s not like I was going anywhere else today anyway.'' "Hey lad, come over here." The bald man instructs. Walking over to the bald man, Gale is about to return the wooden sword when, "Hey you''re going to be needing that sword there lad." The bald man yells again. "Not bad lad, you make quick progress. I can see that you have potential to master swordsmanship, which is more than I can say for other adventurers. But don''t get ahead of yourself, there are plenty of swordmasters out there in the world, and plenty of people with potential die everyday before they meet their goal. While you can still make progress beating at a wooden dummy all day, you''ll improve more quickly if you have a sparring partner." The bald man instructs after Gale walks up to him. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Pulling out a wooden spear from nowhere, the bald man walks to an area of the training field with Gale following. Approaching a circle about 30 feet in diameter, the bald man sticks his spear in the ground. Crossing his arms he looks at Gale. "When you''re able to land one strike on me, I''ll tell you my name. Now get your sword ready lad, because you''re about to receive a beating. The lesson for today is how to fight an opponent with a longer reach than you." Gale grips his wooden sword. Bringing it up he faces the man. A whirlwind of action takes shape in front of his eyes, and before he knows it, he''s staring at the ceiling. The bald man had retrieved his spear from the ground, and spinning it in his hands, appeared to strike Gale''s head. When Gale blinked instead of reacting, the bald man twisted the spear, instead placing the end to the side of Gale''s left foot. Immediately following, he swipes to the right, taking Gale''s feet from beneath him. "Oh lad, that''s a nasty habit I''m going to have to break you of. Always keep your eyes open in combat." The bald man instructs, a look of disappointment in his eyes. Gale grits his teeth and stands up. As he brings his sword up one more time, he prepares himself. Again the spear comes, aiming for his left eye. Gale moves his head to the side and shuts his eyes. Again he''s on the floor. Like this the cycle continues all day. On the seventh day of training, he manages to keep his eyes open. On the 3rd week he learns the instructor''s name is Joshua. After two months have gone by he breaks into intermediate swordsmanship. "Hey not bad lad, looks like you finally broke through. Now that you meet the minimum level, you should go get a quest to fight some monsters. It''s nice fighting humans, but real experience and danger sharpen your skills. Also vital points change based off what creature you''re fighting." Joshua instructs. "Thanks Joshua, you''ve been a great help." Gale responds. Pausing for a moment he asks a question, "Hey Joshua, how come you haven''t been sparring with anyone else?" "Oh that''s easy lad, no one else has gotten to the point of the beginner stage of the weapon they use to even attempt to fight me. No point in just beating down someone every day if they won''t learn anything." Gale laughs, "Well lad, get a move on." "Thanks again Joshua." Gale says, before he turns away. Finding Alisha, Gale walks over to her counter. "Oh! Hello there Gale, I was wondering when you were finally going to make it over here. Your funds should be almost dry so you''ll need to start taking quests. Too bad, you still have to get to intermediate swordsmanship before you can go out you know." Alisha smiles. Gale brandishes his adventure card, flipping it over and presents it to her.
ABILITIES
ActivePassiveSkill
NonePerserveranceIntermediate Swordmanship Lvl 1
Unfortunate Hero
"Ok! Looks like you actually managed." Alisha responds with feigned shock in her voice, "Let''s see what kind of quest should we give you. Hmmmm. Ooooh I know. Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Nope. Mmhmm. Ok! I have three available quests for you that I think you would like. The first involves you being part of a party to guard a merchant traveling between cities, the second one involves solo hunting a Colossal Bear that devastated a village, and the last is going with a party and hunting a hundred dire wolves that have been plaguing the surrounding area." "I''ll take the one with the wolves." Gale responds. "Ok! Good choice, you would have died if you had picked the other two." Alisha laughs, "And we don''t want that to happen. It''ll take a while to get the number of people needed for this quest, so come back in about 3 days. After that we''ll have the party organized and ready to head out. Anything else I can help with today." Gale clenches his fist tightly, "No Alisha that will be all, but I have to ask. Why even bother telling me about the other two quests if you know I''ll die if I take them." "Ok! That''s easy! To see if you have a good head on your shoulders, it''s the first test an adventurer gets. Making sure they know their limits. I wouldn''t have had you accept the job, and instead you would have been prohibited from asking for a new quest for a week." She replies while smiling. Breathing out slowly Gale releases his anger and then says, "Well thanks Alisha. I guess I''ll go back to my room then." "Ok! Have a good one!" She responds. Making his way back to his room in the tavern. Gale decides to go over what Joshua taught him. A form of meditation, where you visualize striking and fighting your opponent. Since he had no money right now, he couldn''t do anything in the city. He couldn''t drink down at the tavern. He couldn''t train anymore in the training area. ''This is all I can do.'' He says to himself while sitting cross-legged on his bed. ''Visualize an enemy. Visualize and enemy. Visualize an enemy...'' He starts reciting. Slowly an enemy takes shape and he begins to do battle in his head. Not stopping except to eat, drink, sleep and relieve himself. 3 days go by quickly. Chapter 10: Big Bad Wolf Author''s Note: Ugh long day at work, and a long one tomorrow. Well a promise is a promise after all. My schedule for the next two days has me working long hours from morning, so most likely releases will be done in the late evening central time. Not gonna lie, this chapter was like pulling teeth, so I had a little fun. Tried to channel my inner teenager. Chapter 10: Big Bad Wolf ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gale wakes up early and puts his equipment together. He''s wearing basic leather armour on his chest, with pants made of a thick canvas like fabric. On his back is a long sword he looted from a hobgoblin, to his left hanging off of his belt is a scimitar he received from a skeleton. Also on his belt are a few pouches carrying herbs and other medicines. Three empty sacks are also tied on. Strapped to his chest, are 3 throwing knives. Boots. After grabbing a quick breakfast, Gale makes his way to Alisha. "Ok! You''re awfully early." Alisha greets him, " I don''t think anyone else is around, but when they do I''ll make sure to introduce you. These adventurer''s have a little bit more experience then you, but don''t be too alarmed. They are still fairly new." "Not a problem." Gale responds. A few hours pass with Gale awkwardly standing there like a teenager. Mostly because he is a teenager, and spent 2 hours looking very awkward. Adjusting his equipment, pulling out his throwing knives, making eye contact with people and then quickly averting his gaze, failing epically at going for a casual look, putting his hands through his hair to try to give it a certain look, and walking towards Alisha whenever a group would go over, in the hopes that it was his future party members. They weren''t. Finally, "Go sit down! I''ll call your name when they get here, you''re freaking everyone out." Alisha yells out. "Right, yeah, sorry. Umm. Where should I sit?" Gale turns a bright red. "Anywhere that looks like a seat, ok?" Alisha forces a pained smile. Gale walks away at a very casual pace. So casual that no one could have possibly noticed how awkward he had been and was still being. At least this is what he forced himself to believe. In reality a great many helpers and adventurers were holding on to their mouths to avoid laughing and snickering. Gale takes a seat in an empty chair in the lobby. Another 2 hours go by until Alisha walks over, "Hey Gale, allow me to introduce you to your party members. This is Kyle," she points to a short teenage boy wearing wizard clothing with a robe covering his face, "this is Stephanie," she points to knight wearing full plate body armour, "this is Jeffrey," she points towards a young man wearing white robes with a staff in hand, "and this is Claudia." She points towards a teenage girl with a shortbow and quiver on her back. "Hey, nice to meet you. I hope we didn''t leave you waiting here long." Jeffrey says holding out his hand. "Oh no, not at all," Gale stands up and grabs his hand, delivering a handshake, "It''s not a big deal." Alisha stares at Gale, a restrained smile touching her lips. "Ok! Now that I''ve introduced you guys, it''s time we go over the quest details. This is an F ranked quest. The task being to kill one hundred dire wolves to limit the sudden increase in population that has been plaguing the area. The time limit is 3 months. The area you all will be working in, is the field to the east of Austeria. Currently, human occupation is low. Other monsters you might run into include goblins, boars, and kobolds, but you never know what might show up! My advice is for you guys to take it easy, you all have plenty of time to complete this, so try to come back in one piece. Ok! Any questions?" "I think that''s plenty of information Alisha, thank you." Jeffrey states, "Now we just have to get together and work out strategies." After Alisha walks away, the party sticks around for a while going over what their roles will be and giving a more in-depth introduction. Coming to an agreement, the party heads out to buy necessary supplies, agreeing to meet at the west gate in one hour. ''Might as well just walk there and wait, this time I''ll play it cool for sure.'' Gale thinks to himself as he heads towards the west gate. Meeting up at the west gate the party sets out. The game plan is to try to kill 3 wolves a day and get the quest over with before the end of the second month. Claudia will be drawing one or two wolves over at a time by hitting them with an arrow from a distance. Stephanie will act as a shield for the party, protecting the magic users from harm. Kyle will be casting ice magic to bind the wolves in place. Gale will be the damage dealer, and the secondary defense in case anything gets past Stephanie. Jeffrey will be the field tactician and healer of the party. "Remember the most important thing is to keep me safe," Jeffrey warns. "It''s fine if you guys get hit, but I can heal you. If I die most likely everyone dies. Now let''s get going, we''ll hunt until an hour from sunset and come back to the city to sleep and then we''ll meet back here at sunrise to start over." Everything went as planned for the first 4 days. The party set up and the plan they had concocted was working perfectly. It allowed them to hunt 2 wolves on the first day, 4 wolves on the second, 8 on the third and 6 on the fourth. The party was way ahead of schedule and morale was high. On the 5th day they were battered by more than 20 wolves. Luckily they stayed with their formation and were able to kill half of them before running back to the city. Healing up, they went back out again on the 6th day, with the same result. What made matters worse was that they couldn''t loot the right ears of the most recent kills, and so they couldn''t prove how many they had killed. This continued for another 10 days with them meeting their quota, but only able to prove that they had killed 53 wolves. On the 17th day, while they were successfully finishing off a group of three wolves. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. *AAAAAAWWWwwwwwoooooooooooo* "What. Was. That." Stephanie stammers out, beginning to hyperventilate. Making their way towards them was a huge dire wolf at least 6 feet tall with glowing red eyes. Surrounding him are a small pack of regular dire wolves, about 7 in all. "It''s a Dire Wolf Lord," Jeffrey spits out, his face ashen, "We won''t be able to run away, we''ll have to go by the same strategy as before. This time though, Kyle hit him with a big spell. Your ice binding magic won''t work long enough to be useful. Stephanie you''re going to have to be our shield, I''ll heal you as much as possible. Gale, aim for the vitals when you have the opportunity, you should be familiar with them by now. Stephanie, try to get its eyes, if that seems too hard go for its feet and legs. We need to blind him or at least slow him down. If he summons any more wolves, we''re screwed. If that happens, Kyle you''ll have to torch them all, so save your mana after the big blow." Jeffrey instructs. Resolve enters each party member''s face. Gale takes his scimitar and scabbard off of his belt, and throws it to the side. Grabbing some herbs from his pouch, he crushes them and shoves them into his mouth. Making a slight bulge appear in his left cheek. ''If I put healing herbs in my mouth, my recovery rate should increase while I''m in battle so I won''t have to worry about small injuries. I have to make sure to go back and thank Joshua for giving me this tip.'' Gale thinks. The giant wolf growls in their direction, before loping towards them, the pack running around him. Kyle finishes his incantation, and a large red magic circle appears. A large wall of flaming pillars appear all around the place the wolves were. Various howling and whimpers are heard as the wolves are roasted inside. A black shadow is seen through the fire and gets bigger and bigger until it takes shape. The Dire Wolf Lord dives through, emerging on the other side of the flames, it''s eyes glowing in hatred. Stopping it looks at the party, a growl emitting from its teeth. 3 Arrows whiz by, one hitting the Wolf in its left eye, another one hitting its front left paw, and the last one hastily dodged as it goes by the other eye. "Gale, focus on its blind spot!" Jeffrey commands. "We''re not going to let the bastard get reinforcements! Lets go!" The party rushes forward, Claudia steadily firing arrows, aiming for its other paws and good eye to keep it preoccupied. The wolf dodges them except for a few that hit off the mark. One protruding from its right shoulder, with another going into its left ribs. "Claudia change of plans, conserve arrows and just go for shots with sure hits. It''s not gonna let us hit its other eye or legs easily." Jeffrey yells. Coming into close range of the wolf, the party is stopped when the wolf crashed forward. Acting as the primary line of defense, Stephanie uses her shield to cushion the blow, and is almost swept away. Two long tracks of broken dirt are left where she slid on her feet from the impact. Gale rushed to the left side of the wolf as soon as it attacked, and wielding his long sword stabs towards the lung area. He made sure to position the blade so it would go between the ribs. Making contact, the blade slips in about 4 inches. The Dire Wolf Lord howls, and moves its head to bite at Gale. Withdrawing his sword, Gale leaps back, narrowing avoiding the large teeth. Stephanie takes the chance created to stab her short sword into the wolf''s right paw, sinking it to its hilt so it stabs into the ground, effectively pinning it to the earth for a moment. She then jumps back, while 3 more arrows whiz over her head. Giving off a yelp, the wolf turns to face Stephanie only to have three arrows hit it''s snout, left eye and forehead. Unfortunately the one that hit the forehead glances off and only leave a shallow cut. Taking its right paw the wolf attempts to swipe at what''s giving it pain on its face. Gale takes his long sword one more time, and gets closer to the left side of the wolf. Readying the blade again, he stabs ferociously into the wolf''s side. Burying the sword halfway down the blade between its ribs into it''s lung area. Pulling the sword out with gush of blood Gale jumps backwards. The wolf in great pain tries to snap at its left side blindly, but doesn''t connect to anything. It''s movements becoming slow and more unsteady, another 3 arrows find their way into the wolf''s throat. Wheezing through blood from its lungs and throat, the wolf looks at the adventurer party and whimpers. It slowly eases its way to the ground Gale walks forward, and placing both hands on his sword, points it towards the sky. In a swift and powerful motion he brings the sword down, freeing the head of the wolf from its body. "I can''t believe that worked." Jeffrey states. After finishing up the remaining wolves and collecting proof as well as beast cores. The party finishes the quest in 10 more days. The party then heads back to the guild to collect payment. After proving that the Dire Wolf Lord was present, the quest got upgraded to a rank D quest, and every adventurer except Gale ranked up. Supposedly due to it being his first mission. 2 years go by with Gale joining many parties and completing many adventures. He spent money earned on a few items, notably an interspatial ring that was soul bound, an enchanted sword that emits dark energy, and a small house in the city. Everything else he used regularly was either acquired through quests, or wasn''t special. He also spent a majority of his money on acquiring basic abilities, and increasing his swordsmanship. When not adventuring, Gale would spend his time in visual meditation. Always training he slowly became stronger. Waking up early, he heads towards the guild to meet his usual party members to embark on a new quest.