《Another World's Trespasser》 Prologue: Unexpected Beginnings ¡°Why is this happening to me!??¡± I tried to run as fast as I can, sucking up air and putting force through my short legs. Desperately running for my life. *BbAaang BbAaang!* Multiple gun shots were fired behind me as I¡¯m trying to keep my speed and escape the impending danger. Phantom industries is supposed to be the most secured research facility in the world. A safe haven for scientists alike and a place for conducting the latest researches in the fields of medicine, agriculture, electronics and ultimately, warfare technology. Currently located at an isolated island off the coast of Pacific ocean. *BooOOOMMM!* The place that where I grew up for the past 10 years is now drowning in a sea of fire and flames, burning all the memories that made me the way I am. ¡°Ack!!¡± A slight numbing pain ran through my left thigh as warm and crimson blood started to flow out of the wound. The only option left for me is to run away and find a safe place to hide, and the only place that I can think of is the abandoned warehouse where I¡¯m currently conducting all of my researches. I continued to run, forgetting the pain from the wound, as adrenaline was pumped into my system. Most likely, some terrorist group caught wind of all the modern weaponry being developed in this island. Acquiring such technology can tilt the balance of power and undoubtedly, make the group invincible. After running for 15 minutes straight, which is too much for an indoor type like me, the two storey building with a giant tesla coil at the top, which may seem out of place, was within my field of vision. I hurriedly entered the ware house and slammed the door in panic, causing a loud sound that reverberated throughout the whole building. The interior of the building is full of machines, wires and all sorts of contraptions that were lined up neatly. And at the middle of those was a device that looks similar to portals seen in games. My whole body was trembling nonstop and my mind was in a mess, after experiencing something so shocking, that I forgot that someone was chasing after me with the intent to kill. *Bang Bang Bang!* Sounds of banging can be heard from the other side of the front door, as I¡¯m trying to think of a way to escape and survive through this nightmare. Then, an idea soon popped out from my head. One of my current projects is focused on creating a teleportation system that can possibly transport a living entity from one place to another instantly. But, it¡¯s still under initial testing and using it recklessly can cause unexpected result that may very well, kill the living thing that is to be transported. A large amount of power is needed to make this thing functional. Even if you combine 10 advanced cold fusion reactor, it can only supply about 3% of electricity needed for it to be operational. ¡°But this thing, made it possible¡± I pointed at the flat circular stone about the size of my palm, with intricate engravings and was giving off a faint bluish light located inside the prototype electric generator. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The void stone if I may call it, is recovered from an oil drilling expedition in the middle of the Bermuda triangle. It seems that an unlimited amount of power is stored in this little thing that I can supply electricity throughout the whole world for at least a millennia. I tapped my way through the keyboard located beside the machine and entered a random coordinate in the console. The portal-like machine started to emit a blinding white light that eventually engulfed the whole interior of the ware house. ¡°WhaaaaaaAAAAAAAA!¡± *VZzzzZOOOMMmmm* A deafening sound can be heard throughout the island and a large pillar of light swallowed the building as a whole. My consciousness soon faded away as I was praying for the machine, not to malfunction at such a crucial time. ************* ¡°Ughh, my head¡± A stinging sensation can be felt in my head, as I slowly opened my eyes to witness something so unexpected. ¡°Eh!? Why am I still here?¡± I¡¯m perfectly sure that the teleportation machine is at least operational even though it¡¯s still a prototype. ¡°WAAaaAHHhhhH!¡± An ear shattering scream can be heard outside the front door of the warehouse that I reflexively cupped my ears with both hands. ¡®Ive got a bad feeling about this¡¯ I murmured as I hurriedly went to the rooftop of the abandoned warehouse. Not knowing that a horrible scene is waiting for me, I took a peek at the edge of the rooftop. *Splatter* The fully equipped soldier that has been chasing me for the past hour was being devoured by a monster, with a body similar to a Minotaur but with the head of a pig. *RoaAoOOOooorR!!* The monster roared happily as if it is enjoying the meal of his life, crushing the flesh and bones of the terrorist into little tiny pieces of meat. ¡°Wha..! Brffk!¡± I desperately tried to hold myself from vomiting out my lunch after witnessing such a horrifying scene that will forever be engraved in my mind. Then soon I realized, as I viewed the current surroundings. A vast and thick forest surrounded the warehouse. The greenery stretched as far as the horizon and a wide mountain range surrounded the whole forest. A breathtaking view that can outshine even the world famous paintings, a paradise which can never be found in the modern day earth is right in front of my eyes. But the thing is¡­. The whole place is littered with hundreds or even thousands of different kinds of monsters participating in the ecosystem with the mindset of ¡°Survival of the fittest¡±. I soon fell on my knees as all hope kept deep inside me is slowly burning away into nothingness. ¡°Where the hell am I?!!¡± I shouted with all my might, refusing to believe the sudden turn of events that will surely change my life. Chapter 1: Survival of the Fittest I think it¡¯s a bit too late, but let me introduce myself. My name is Seth, and I¡¯m 14 years old this year. I don¡¯t really have a surname since I resided inside an orphanage up until I''m 4 years old. The phantom industry decided to adopt me because of the high level of intelligence I possess. All puzzles and problems thrown at me were easily solved without even breaking a sweat. They provided me with all the basic living necessities and taught me all the knowledge and skills needed for me to get started. I dedicated all of my time repaying their kindness and worked hard in order to make them proud of me. But it¡¯s all for naught ¡­¡­ ¡°Damn! Damn! Damn It!!!¡± My fingers moved non-stop, pressing the buttons on the keyboard, trying to restart the machine. But it only responded with a low pitched sound. The bluish radiance previously emitted by the void stone has been lost, making its appearance the same as an ordinary rock. *Sigh* Getting frustrated here won¡¯t get me anywhere ¡­ I recollected my thoughts and began to reanalyze the problem in front of me. The thing that must be prioritized right now is to find a way to survive in this unknown world. And that means finding a stable source of food and water. Well shelter isn¡¯t a problem since the whole warehouse is teleported with me. Currently, the stock of food inside the one and only refrigerator won¡¯t even last me a day or two. And the water system was severed from the mainline after the teleportation incident. I¡¯ve got no choice but to hunt for food and find a lake or something. Then, I dejectedly drooped my shoulders as I suddenly recalled the present situation. How am I supposed to do these things? If it isn¡¯t for those monsters wandering about under broad daylight, this mission would be a walk in the park. I continued throwing complaints for a while, after that I started to collect some tools needed for this mission. And this were the only things that I found useful, after rummaging through all the rooms inside the warehouse. ? A tranquilizer gun A flashlight A Swiss army knife A bag of Potato Chips Hey! Hey! Don¡¯t judge me okay! Doing these kind of things will surely make me hungry along the way. By the way, about half of the contents inside the refrigerator consists of junk foods and the other half, were chemicals used in some of my previous experiments. My main weapon, the tranquilizer gun, was used for subjugating wild animals that were roaming freely back at the island. It can easily put an adult elephant into sleep in only a matter of seconds. But just to make sure, I added a potent neurotoxin in each shots to convert the harmless tranquilizer gun into a deadly weapon capable of killing those monsters. I waited until night came watched as the darkness completely swallowed the whole surroundings. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.It seems that the number of monsters currently roaming around had decreased by about 80% making it the best time to set out and complete my objectives. This substantially improved my survivability and gave me a whole lot of confidence that I inadvertently walked through the front door without even taking any precautions. And suddenly ¡­. I sensed incoming footsteps from the part of the forest situated at the front of the warehouse. My survival instinct kicked in that I found myself hiding behind the bushes without me even noticing it. There I saw two of those pig monsters, inspecting the front of the building. It seems that these creatures are capable of interaction with their own kin, and that means they possess at least a level of intelligence that made them capable of speech. I continued watching their every movements and after a minute of silence ¡­.. *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* ¡°Oh shit!!¡± I frantically tried to stop the alarming sound coming from my mobile phone, but the death flag has long been raised. One of the monsters slowly and carefully approached the source of the alerting sound. With every step the monster makes, my heartbeat increases and my body was refusing to move because of the fear that I¡¯m experiencing. It¡¯s either to kill, or be killed. The only choice left for me was to fight, so I carefully aimed the gun at the center of the monster¡¯s chest. After pulling the trigger, a loud *thud* can be heard from the position of the monster. And there I saw its body convulsing nonstop and foam leaking from its mouth. The other pig monster began to panic after witnessing its comrade¡¯s body, dropping lifelessly onto the ground. Unable to explain the situation in front of it, the monster decided to run away from the impending danger that awaits him. *Sigh* I let out a relieved sigh after escaping certain death yet again and slowly approached the remains of the pig-like monster. Then suddenly, multiple semitransparent windows popped out in front of my vision with a *ding* sound saying: ?Code:
Congratulations you have reached level 2!
Congratulations you have reached level 3!
Congratulations you have reached level 4!
Congratulations you have reached level 5!
¡°Huh? What the hell is this?¡± I made a dumbfounded face after reading the contents of each sign. Chapter 2: Nightmare 5 hours had passed since I stumbled upon that game-like development. I continued hunting and dismantled all the parts that can be used from each remains. There are two variants of monsters that I¡¯ve encountered so far. One is the warrior type pig monster and the other is an archer type pig monster capable of long range attacks. ¡°Well I can at least handle all of them, using hit and run tactics.¡± Every time I successfully kill a single monster, those annoying windows keeps popping out of nowhere. And after reaching level 6, the kill count needed for levelling up increased as well. It¡¯s pretty much the same as those MMORPGS that I¡¯ve played back in my world. Every time you reach a higher level, the amount of XP needed to fill the XP bar also increases. Making it much more difficult to attain the next level. After obtaining my 20th kill, I decided to change my priority on finding a nearby water reservoir. I delved in deeper through the forest and collected herbs along the way. 10 feet tall gigantic ferns, carnivorous plants that fed on medium sized animals, flowers with glow in the dark petals, and all kinds of bizarre looking plants inhabited the grounds of this enchanting forest. Soon, after walking for half an hour. I eventually found a lake in the middle of the forest. Critters similar to rabbits, deers and squirrels peacefully drank water from the lake, a typical scene of nature that I subconsciously floated a relaxed smile in front of my face. I then came back to my senses after being entranced by the scenery and collected a small amount of water for analysis. All of my objectives today have been completed so I think it¡¯s safe to call it a day. ************************************************************************************ *Growl* After returning back home all in one piece, my tummy produced a growling sound that reminded of the sensation of hunger. I sluggishly walked into the makeshift kitchen that I previously set up, and started to cook the ingredients obtained from my journey. Cooking isn¡¯t really my thing, but if the need arises, I think I can cook up a decent meal or two. *Ding!*
You have successfully created Orcish stew!
¡°Eh¡­ Orc?¡± It¡¯ll be a waste of ammo if I used the tranquilizer gun on hunting harmless animals so the only meat that I¡¯ve collected was from the pig monster carcasses. But why haven¡¯t I thought of that? Pig faced + Muscular body = Orc ¡­¡­ Well enough of that, It must¡¯ve been because of hunger that my mind ceased in functioning properly. And From now on, I¡¯m changing the name from pig faced bastards to Orcs OK! After having my fill of homemade goodness, which was unexpectedly delicious, I proceeded to my room and decided to hit the sack. ************************************************************************************ *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *RRrrOOooAAaarrRR!* ¡°Ughh, what now??¡± Sounds of endless banging coupled with loud roars reverberated throughout the night as I¡¯m trying to get some sleep. I hurriedly climbed through the familiar stairs and soon arrived at the rooftop of the warehouse. It¡¯s currently the middle of the day as the sun rests high above the vast blue sky. And in order to find out what was happening outside, I slowly walked to the edge and took a peek at the surrounding area. There I saw about a thousand of orcs, trying to destroy the warehouse using gigantic maces and clubs. It must¡¯ve been one of those orcish scouts that I previously encountered. Informing other comrades and decided to annihilate the newly found threat which was undoubtedly me¡­ Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! My drowsiness immediately vanished as I realized the current situation. Then I muttered: ¡°The foundation won¡¯t last long if this keeps up!¡± Defeating a thousand of them would be impossible! After all, the only weapon that I possess right now is the tranquilizer gun. I¡¯ve got think! Think of something that can be used to live through this nightmare! Something that can wipe them out! Aaaaah! My mind was being consumed by fear as I desperately tried to find a way out of this mess. The slight shaking that can be felt a minute ago, began to intensify after I repeatedly lost my balance. And then I remembered: The most out of place ¡­. Giant Tesla Coil ¡­.. That¡¯s right! The concept of using Tesla coils as defensive structures was pretty common in games. It¡¯s a long shot but there¡¯s no harm in trying right? Thankfully, the backup fusion reactor, which was used for emergencies, located inside the warehouse was left unscathed after the teleportation. So I immediately connected the power cable to the receptacle situated at the back of the machine. *BBbzZzz* The tesla coil started to emit a buzzing sound as I hurriedly returned back inside. *Zap* *Zap* *Zap* Endless torrents of lightning poured onto the surrounding monsters, producing burned corpses with each zapping sound that can be easily heard from my room. My body felt so heavy as I lied on top of my bed. Not even bothering about what was happening outside, I slowly closed my eyes and eventually entered into deep slumber. *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* ¡°Ughh ¡­.. Not again!?¡± Yet again, my sleep was interrupted by the sounds made by those annoying windows. I rubbed my eyes and waited for my eyes to adjust from the light emitted by the window.
Congratulations you have reached level 50!
An amazed expression appeared on my face after rereading the contents of the message again and again. I immediately got up from my bed and decided to inspect the aftermath of the incident. Dead silence enveloped the whole surroundings as I carefully opened the front door. The awful stench of burned corpses entered my nostrils which made me cover my nose with both hands. Every one of them, burned into a crisp, leaving mountains of corpses that emitted smoke that eventually fused with the morning fog, creating a thick layer of smog around the premises of the warehouse. I started in disposing of the bodies using a miniaturized backhoe, which is one of the many inventions inside the warehouse, and the day quickly passed by after finishing the monotonous work of burying each one of them. Afterward, I decided to test out the changes in my body after reaching level 50. But the only things that changed was that my body feels a lot lighter and I could run for 30 minutes straight without breaking a sweat. No super human strength! No ESP powers! No shooting laser beams from my eyes! Nothing! To take my mind of those things, I set out and started hunting monsters. But to my surprise, I can¡¯t find a single one of them even after combing through the whole forest. The monster population in this region dwindled by a large sum because of my idea being too effective. ¡°Ha! Ha! Ha! Haaa! That¡¯s what they get after picking a fight with the almighty me!¡± I let out a maniacal laughter that resounded through the forest, thinking that I¡¯m currently at the top of the food chain. Chapter 3: Ghost Town The days quickly passed by as I continued my usual daily routine of hunting and exploring through the wilderness. Going through this cycle for a whole month made me think if I¡¯m the only person in this world. That idea remained in my head as I wandered about inside the forest. I kept on walking with no destination in mind and soon walked past the boundaries of the forest. The enormous mountain range came into vision and the dense vegetation was soon replaced with a scenery befitting of a barren wasteland. Proceeding with great caution, I eventually stumbled upon hundreds of igloo shaped buildings seemingly made out of clay. With various sizes, every one of them protruded from the side of the mountain. Not a single living thing can be seen as dead silence dominated throughout the whole place. Then I started in searching through all the buildings, hoping to find something that might help me with my current predicament. *Cough* *Cough* Thick layers of dust and cobwebs welcomed me as I began inspecting each and every room within the city. After entering the 10th building, I then realized. No signs of destruction can be seen as all furniture and decorations in each house were neatly arranged in their respective places. It looked like the inhabitants of this place just vanished without a trace, leaving no evidences of struggle or violence. ¡°Ughh¡­ This place gives me the creeps¡± A shiver ran down my spine and cold sweat dripped from my forehead after imagining the consequences that led to the sudden disappearance of all the townsfolk living here. After rummaging throughout the city for at least an hour, the only things that I¡¯ve found so far were different kinds of books, all written in an unknown language. *Sigh* I sighed dejectedly, thinking that all the effort that I¡¯ve put into this was all for nothing. Despite accomplishing nothing, I sluggishly walked through the stone paved roads and the tallest building in the premises of the city soon came to my sight. With an architecture similar to modern day museums, the building seemed out of place from all the primitive looking houses that I¡¯ve previously entered. ¡°Whoa!¡± I leaked out an amazed voice as an unimaginable scene was right in front of me. Ten¡¯s or even hundreds of thousands of books filled the whole building, neatly arranged in bookshelves that somewhat reached as high as the ceiling. A paradise for a typical bookworm like me. But then I remembered. Even if they amount in millions, they¡¯re still useless to me if I can¡¯t even understand a single word in it. Weird symbols were written in all of the pages, as I flipped through some of the books within my reach. Even so, these mountains of books still hold tons of information that may very well help me in my current situation. I can¡¯t waste such an opportunity since going through this journey without even having a bit of knowledge of this world is pretty much the same as suicide. With that, I decided to try in grasping the essence of the language by means of trial and error with a little bit of logic. Although translating written text isn¡¯t really my thing, I slowly but surely understood the meaning of each symbols written in the books. Starting from the ones that looked like books made for children, my fluency in this language increased bit by bit. That I¡¯ve started on translating thicker books, similar to encyclopedias in my world, after studying for a whole week. And here¡¯s what I¡¯ve uncovered so far: Aegoris, the name of the world that I was thrown into, was divided into five opposing nations that continuously waged war with each other for the past 500 years. Roeania Empire ¨C Holds the largest territory among the five. A land dominated by humans that held an everlasting hatred against all other races. Currently in possession of the largest military force in the world that wreaked havoc to the nations that opposed the ideals of the current emperor. Alteria Kingdom ¨C Holds the second largest territory among the five. Humans, elves, dwarves, beast men and all kinds of races inhabited the lands of Alteria. Racial discrimination was banned by King Alfred I, the founder of Alteria Kingdom. Demonic Nation of Eoluth ¨C A massive island separated from the main continent serves as the territory for the Demonic Nation of Eoluth. Beings of demonic origin resides in the premises of the said island. The current status of its government is still unknown. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. United Kingdom of Aiusthia ¨C After successive defeats against the empire, several individual kingdoms decided to unite as a single nation in order to escape certain annihilation from the world¡¯s strongest nation. Wood elves, High Elves, Dark elves and many other variants of elves builds up the majority of its population. Beast man Federation of Zestan ¨C Once scattered throughout the lands of Aegoris, the beast men federation was formed after the Tribal King Zestan defeated all other tribal leaders in a martial arts tournament. He then managed to unite all of the individual beast men tribes in order to oppose the increasing threats of the empire. Despite the fact that war became a common thing in this world, various small countries still chose to keep a neutral stance against the big five. And one of those neutral countries was the academic nation of Sjogren. A small independent country that focused on gathering knowledge throughout Aegoris. Not giving a single thought of joining the war as they viewed it similar to quarrels among immature individuals. ¡°So that explains the number of books all over the city¡± But after that¡­. Multiple questions surfaced from my mind. How did the Orcs ended in this part of Aegoris? Aren¡¯t they from the far Island of Eoluth which was isolated from the whole continent? What caused the disappearance of all the townsfolk in Sjogren? I was becoming more and more confused of the present situation that I subconsciously wrinkled my eyebrows. In order to take my mind off those things, I continued in searching for relevant information and soon stumbled upon a book with a picture drawn on its cover. A design similar to the engravings on the void stone. This is it! The first clue on how and why did I end up in this world. I nervously flipped through the book and carefully read the context in each pages. Forged using the rarest and the highest grade materials, through the hands of an ancient craftsman with god-like skills. The stone of Qasnir (God of Magic), an artifact that was used for summoning heroes from another world. Seven of these stones are currently in possession of the Kingdom Alteria. Monopolizing these so called heroes, the kingdom managed to catch up with the empire in terms of military prowess. Heroes with high aptitude in martial arts, magic, archery and swordsmanship were summoned from another world by performing a special ritual. Using the stones as a medium, the bodies and souls of the heroes could be transported into this world. And that¡¯s the gist of it. Only mere speculations about the mechanism of the ritual can be seen from the remaining pages and the exact truth is still a mystery. The only choice that I¡¯ve right now was to collect more information about the said ritual from the current owner of these artifacts, the Kingdom of Alteria. ¡°Alteria kingdom huh¡± The picture of a medieval kingdom came into my mind as my first destination was set into stone. Afterwards, I started in finding a map that will be essential in reaching my next destination. And to my surprise, I can¡¯t find a single one even after searching nonstop for the past hour. I pushed in deeper through the library and eventually found myself standing in front of a suspicious looking door. As I stepped inside the room on the other side of the door, a separated collection of books came into my vision and a single lamp illuminated the surroundings. Books about warfare strategies, warfare technologies and magic were neatly arranged in different individual shelves. All the things related to war were kept inside this room, never to be touched again by the people of the Sjogren nation. Then I realized: Wait Wait Wait a minute! Magic! Of course a fantasy world can¡¯t be completed without magic! An overwhelming feeling of excitement can be felt as new possibilities can be attained with the knowledge of magic. Following that discovery, I immediately delayed my journey and started on learning magic from the complete set of magical books. Chapter 4: Learning the basics Learning the basics Magic in the world of Aegoria consists of 4 essential processes, all of them must be performed properly for the spell to be successfully casted. ? Magic initiation ¨C As the name implies, the initiation of the magic spell. Can be attained using magical incantations or magical arrays. Advanced spells require a longer time of casting than most basic spells. Magical incantations can be eliminated from the equation if the caster have fully grasped the essence of the magical formula, making voiceless incantations possible for high level magicians. ? Mana input ¨C Involves the injection of an exact amount of mana needed for a particular spell. A person¡¯s mana is set when they are born, which means that the amount of mana is determined through heredity. Higher level spells consumes a lot of mana compared to low level spells. Enchanted items can either reduce mana consumption with each spells or increase the mana pool of the caster. ? Magic formula ¨C The injected mana is then processed using a memorized magic formula. The magic formula is the essence of magic itself. Series of symbols arranged in a systematic manner, magic formulas differs from one type of magic to the other. ? Magic output ¨C The processed mana can then be materialized into its desired form. A medium is needed for the magic to be released and apply its effects. Back then, the hands of the caster is the most commonly used medium for beginners since direct manipulation of mana can be easily accomplished. Two spells can be casted at the same time when two different magical formula, memorized at the same time, are channeled to each hands of the caster. Casting only one specific spell using both hands doubles the spells magical output. Wands and staffs became the mainstream medium for magic output nowadays as it can amplify the effects of most spells. But it needs a considerable amount of skill for it to be controlled properly. There are 6 categories of magic in the world of Aegoria. ? Destruction magic ¨C involves harnessing the energies of fire, frost, wind, and shock. Destruction spells serves as the main offensive weapons for mages, as it has a significant majority of the spells that can cause direct damage. ? Alteration magic ¨C involves the manipulation of the physical world and its natural properties. Alteration spells include the ability to bestow magic armor, detecting entities either by illumination of the area or by magically sensing their presence and the ability to temporarily stun foes (paralysis). ? Conjuration magic ¨C governs raising the dead or summoning creatures through manipulation of spiritual energy. Ethereal weapons can also be summoned using conjuration spells. ? Illusion magic ¨C involves manipulating the mind and senses of the enemy. Illusion magic is an excellent for a caster who wishes to swindle a merchant, sneak undetected, or drive a creature into a frenzy to escape. ? Restoration magic ¨C involves the control and manipulation of life forces. Spells like healing, divine protection and mana shield are under this category of magic. ? Enchanting magic ¨C a type of arcane crafting that allows the user to add certain magical improvements and buffs to weapons and armors. Increasing mastery in each type of magic can result in: ? Decreased casting time ? Decreased mana consumption for each spells ? Increased magic output for that particular type of magic ? Unlocking of special abilities for certain types of spells. ************************************************************************************************************************* Afterwards, I proceeded to the outskirts of town and started in practicing what I¡¯ve learned so far. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Ok! Let¡¯s do this! Full of motivation, I slowly closed my eyes and stretched out my right hand. I then recited the magical incantation. ¡°In the name of Qasnir the God of Magic, let thine worshipper utilize thy power to annihilate my foes!¡± Imagining the flow of mana coursing through my veins, the previously memorized magic formula for the intermediate destruction magic [Fire Ball] flashed through my head. Numerous symbols and numbers floated in my mind as the magic began to take form. I can feel it! I can feel it! I can feel iiiiiittttt! ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. *fart* My face contorted in discomfort as an obnoxious odor reached my nostrils. I then quickly opened my eyes and was surprised with what I¡¯m currently witnessing. An enormous fireball stayed afloat in front of my palm, emitting a bright light that illuminated the surrounding area. ¡°Whoa!¡± I suddenly panicked because of the abnormal sized fire ball in front of me, that I inadvertently released the materialized magic. *BOOOOOOOM!* A nearby 5 meter wide boulder was blasted into smithereens upon contact with the huge fireball. I viewed the scene wide eyed and my mouth agape, unable to discern the cause of the phenomena. The intermediate destruction magic which was supposed to materialize into a baseball sized fireball, instead formed an enormous sphere of scorching hot flames. After repeating the process, using incantations and magical formations, the same outcome kept on happening that I started to doubt if I really learned something from reading those magic books. Did I made a mistake or is there something wrong with me? I questioned myself as I can¡¯t seem to find the source of the problem. And after pondering for a while, a possible reason soon came to my mind as to what had caused it. It must¡¯ve been caused by the stone of Qasnir. As I previously mentioned, an individual summoned from another world through the use of the stone, will undoubtedly possess a high aptitude in skills like magic. And judging from what happened a while ago, it was safe to say that my current stats were ideal for choosing the path of the mage. But then, stopping right in the middle of solving a problem isn¡¯t really my thing. So I continued on analyzing the situation and eventually formulated a plausible conclusion. Apparently, the magic input of spells seems to be automatically adjusted based on the size of the caster¡¯s mana pool. Thus, it cannot be controlled in any way so the only solution that I could think of was minimizing the amount of output by any means necessary. So If I use a finger instead of a hand, the magic output should stabilize theoretically. Right? With that, I decided to put another one of my crazy ideas into work as I stretched my pointer finger and once again, began to recite the magical incantation. ¡°In the name of Qasnir the God of Magic, let thine worshipper utilize thy power to annihilate my foes!¡± A normal sized fireball appeared at the tip of my finger, emitting a faint brilliance similar to how the books described it to be. ¡°Oooh!¡± I let out a surprised voice, as I hadn¡¯t anticipated for it to work in the first place. Working miracles yet again with this handy brain of mine. After discovering another way of manipulating magic ouput through sheer luck. I then decided to move to the next level and that is casting multiple types of magic at a time using each and every one of my fingers. Chapter 5: Sacrifice Following the discovery of casting magic through the use of fingers instead of hands. The possible numbers of spells that can be launched at the same time just increased by 10, which is fairly advantageous compared magicians that can only cast 2 at a time. However, can I really accomplish such a feat? Memorizing 10 different magical formulas at the same time would be impossible for an average person as the vast amount of information involved in it was enough to render the brain dysfunctional due to information overload. But then, I¡¯m not really an average person myself and the level of intelligence that I currently possess were on the same league with the world¡¯s most renowned geniuses. So I continued on practicing for the past 4 hours, not even wasting any time on resting as my new found passion for magic was currently at its peak. After further experimenting with magical output, I successfully minimized the size of spells into marble sized orbs, further enhancing the control in multicasting. Currently, ten magical orbs floated at the tip of my fingers, each of them emitting a different spectra of light. 3 orbs of Intermediate Destruction Magic: Ice spear 3 orbs of Intermediate Destruction Magic: Fire ball 1 orb of Intermediate Destruction Magic: Lightning spark 1 orb of Intermediate Restoration Magic: Mana shield 2 orb of Intermediate Conjuration Magic: Summon Earth Golem Even so, I think I¡¯m at my limit as I couldn¡¯t further increase the number of spells. Adding another magical formation will result in the overlapping of the images floating in my mind. Overwriting the other five in the process and ending up with a single type of spell on all fingers. Rushing through with this wouldn¡¯t get me anywhere since I¡¯ve only learned magic a while ago. Well sooner or later, after earning more experience in using magic, casting 10 different spells at a time shouldn¡¯t just be a pipe dream anymore. By the way, I¡¯m currently using voiceless magic incantations for all five of them as I can¡¯t possibly recite 5 different magical incantation at the same time. I learned it easily thanks to the in depth explanation written on one of those magical books. Well rapping isn¡¯t really my type of hobby¡­. Postponing the original plan of practicing multicasting spells for now, I continued on learning new spells that may be useful to my upcoming journey.
You have successfully learned Intermediate Illusion Magic: Muffle Movement!
You have successfully learned Intermediate Restoration Magic: Greater Healing!
You have successfully learned Intermediate Alteration Magic: Detect Life!
You have successfully learned Advanced Destruction Magic: Lightning Burst!
*********************************************************************************************************************** Pitch black darkness soon enveloped the surrounding and the crescent moon illuminated the forest as I quickly traversed the narrow path leading to the abandoned warehouse. The monster population in this part of the woods seems to have risen substantially since I was immersing myself with all the knowledge that I could get my hands onto from the academic city of Sjogren for the past month. *Gwaaah!* *thud!* Hellish screams and sounds of bodies hitting the ground echoed throughout forest. Corpses of orcs mercilessly killed either by incineration, impalement with ice spears or disintegration into a pile of dust, littered the surrounding area. That¡¯s right, I am currently practicing my newly learned spells on live targets, my sworn enemies the orcs. Combining the destructive power of these three spells decimated the ranks of monsters, not even giving them a second to react. The one sided massacre continued for half an hour until the population of orcs had completely dwindled yet again. ¡°Heeh... what a bunch of weaklings¡± An evil grin surfaced on my face as I was thoroughly enjoying the ruthless slaughtering of those puny monsters who couldn¡¯t even launch a single counter attack at me. I could only see them as pitiable lab rats which were only useful in experiments. Afterwards, I activated the magic ¡°Detect Life¡± which allows the detection of life force, representing it as a faint blue light. Hoping to find more prey, I combed through the forest until I stumbled upon a weird reaction from the casted spell. Multiple presences were detected with the magic Detect life. About ten human shaped light walking side by side can be seen through the thick vegetation inside the forest. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Eh? For real? I approached the source of the signal with nimble movements and concealed my presence by hiding myself on thick bushes that could be seen all over the forest. And there I saw a group of shackled people walking unsteadily through the forest. Led by 4 robed individuals that used Beginner Alteration magic: Illumination that served as their guiding light through the darkness. People of all ages, male and female including little children, shackled together in a group. Tattered clothes and ragged shoes served as their only protection from the cold night. Signs of malnutrition were noticeable from their thin bodies and lifeless expressions could be seen from their faces as if they¡¯ve abandoned all hope. Confusion filled my mind as to what were they doing in this part of Aegoria. But one thing was for sure, they¡¯re walking in the direction of Sjogren! I eagerly followed them while Casting which silenced the sounds of my footsteps, further decreasing the chances of getting detected. A deep irritated voice can be heard from one of the robed individuals. [Let us hasten our pace, the master would be furious if we are even a second late!] The one who seems to be the leader out of the four admonished the other three subordinates who then obediently responded with a nod. Who am I kidding here? Of course I can¡¯t understand a word of what they¡¯re saying! I have successfully learned the language in this world through reading written text but then understanding spoken words was an entirely different thing. Well enough of that, I¡¯ve got to focus on following their tracks without being discovered. The group soon reached the premises of Sjogren, and to my surprise they didn¡¯t even paused their journey and continued to walk through the stone paved roads. A mountain trail soon came into vision as the group immediately reached the far side of the city. This part of town was completely new to me as I focused solely on the houses and buildings located inside the premises of Sjogren. I reluctantly climbed the trail and after ascending the mountain for half an hour: ¡°Haah Haah! My feet are killing me!¡± I desperately breathed in a large amount of air, as I reached the summit of the mountain. Because of my below normal physical capabilities, I soon lost track of the group that I was supposed to be following. *Sigh* Mission Fail ¨C Huh? But then all signs of discontent immediately vanished when I saw a strange looking shrine situated on the top of the mountain. Numerous conspicuous statues adorned the exterior of the building and a huge metal door, with sophisticated engravings on it, served as the only entrance of the building. I carefully peeked through gaps of the gigantic door, the interior was somewhat similar to a throne hall. Gigantic rows of pillars with torches on each dimly illuminated the hall. A throne could be seen at the end of the hall. I think someone was seated on it but I couldn¡¯t see it well as the light didn¡¯t seem to reach that part of the hall. But one thing was seriously out of place and that was the large magic circle engraved on the middle of the floor with 4 robed individuals surrounding it. The four began chanting a ridiculously long magical incantation. Fearful looks surfaced on the faces of the prisoners located in the middle of the magic circle. The children started to cry and the elders tried to calm them down. But all of them couldn¡¯t stop shaking from fear as certain death will soon fall upon them. Is it some sort of sacrificing ritual? The circle began to emit crimson light as the tempo of the chanting began to increase. And the prisoners began to panic as if death was right in front of them. After that, the one seated at the throne suddenly stood up. A robed old man with wrinkled hands, white hair and sunken eyes. An appearance befitting of a grand mage if I may assume. *tap* *tap* tap* Footsteps resounded throughout the hall as the grand mage slowly approached the magic circle. Inaudible conversations were made between the grand mage and the robed priests. With the ritual unexpectedly delayed, the four robed priests slowly turned their heads in my direction. Did they notice me? Cold sweat drenched my whole body as the grand mage slowly began to walk towards the front door. My feet were rooted into the ground and my heart rate increased as each footstep echoed throughout the large hall. He then began to recite a familiar magical incantation with his palms aiming directly at me. This is bad! I immediately jumped back a considerable distance from the door to avoid the incoming spell then ¡­. *whoosh* *BAAAAM!* The released magic sliced through the metal door as if it was butter. A loud sound reverberated through the mountain top as the gigantic door, which was diagonally cut into two, collapsed onto the ground. Chapter 6: Outnumbered Foreword: This chap is one of the longest I''ve made so far, so more grammatical errors may be seen here compared to the others that I have previously made. I will edit them sooner or later, so please enjoy my first battle chap :) A cloud of dust enveloped the entrance of the shrine, after the segmented door suddenly collapsed onto the ground. The expressionless mage followed by his four underlings could then be seen as the surrounding dust began to settle. ¡°So its 5 against 1 huh ¡­.¡± I muttered as I prepared myself for anything that might possibly happen at any given moment. Three out of the four robed priests slowly walked in front of the group and began to chant three different magical incantations. Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal Sword Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal Axe Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal Scythe Weapons emitting ghostly aura made by manipulating spiritual energy, began to materialize at the hands of the three robed priests. Brandishing their semitransparent weapons, the three began to charge straight at me, not even giving a hint of hesitation to kill. In response with their actions, I immediately casted Intermediate Restoration magic: Mana shield using all fingers of my left hand. Producing a 5 layered transparent barrier that enveloped my body from head to toe. *Hack* *Slash* *Thrust* The trio relentlessly attacked me, swinging their weapons with an unbelievable amount of dexterity and strength contrary to their current appearances. Although summoned ethereal weapons assume the appearances of weapons that can deal physical damage such as swords spears and axes, they could only deal magical damage since the primary composition of ethereal matter was spiritual energy combined with mana. Making the mana shield a perfect choice of defense as it can reflect enormous amounts of magical damage in expense of the caster¡¯s mana. But physical attacks are a different story as a simple sword slash can easily penetrate mana shields since normal swords are composed of solid matter instead of mana. Even so, the unending attacks of the trio couldn¡¯t be taken as a joke as I am being slowly pushed back due to the sheer force from each of their blows. I need to retaliate here fast! Deactivating the barrier for a split second, I launched a counter attack with all fingers on my right hand invoking the Intermediate destruction magic: Lightning spark *Zap* *Zap* The medium ranged burst of electricity surged from my fingers and began to flow through the surrounding air. Sensing the incoming attack, the trio immediately retreated back a considerable distance and readied themselves once again to unleash another wave of attacks. I gritted my teeth in frustration as I am currently at a dead end on how to deal with this annoying bunch. Fights against experienced individuals couldn¡¯t be compared to the one sided battles with the orcs since the difference of intelligence between them is too much. Regaining my composure after reanalyzing the situation, I suddenly remembered. ¡°There¡¯s four of them right?¡± *fwoooooooosh* The sound of air being cleaved could be heard as I reflexively turned my head to the source of the noise. An ethereal arrow soared through the air at a tremendous speed from the position of the fourth who seems to have casted the Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal bow and arrow. ¡°Oh Shit!¡± I barely blocked the flying projectile as I redeployed the multilayered mana shield while in a state of panic. The ethereal arrow then dispersed into fine crystals of mana upon contact with the reinforced barrier. Phew that was close! I heaved a breath of relief after surviving through that unexpected attack. The level of teamwork these guys are showing right now was in a whole different level. It may be caused by the years of them working together, enabling them to attack synchronously with body language as their only means of communication. But then it¡¯s really not the right time to praise their skills. Giving me no choice but to go all out, I readied my stance as I have already thought of plan to counterattack, switching the spells on all of my fingers in the process. 10 earth golems materialized from the ground as I finished the casting of the magic. 8 feet tall monsters with bulky bodies seemingly made out of a durable type of stone that can be only be found in the world of Aegoria. ¡°Attack!¡± Gwaaarrghh! After issuing my orders, the golems roared in unison as if expressing their absolute obedience and started to charge at the enemies before them. *Kling* *Klang* Sounds of weapons hitting stone can be heard as the golems took the offensive using their oversized earthen fist and began relentlessly attacking the three.. However, the archer seems to be unaffected by the sudden appearance of the golems and continued to nock arrows, repeatedly releasing arrows with deadly aim and precision. You little prick! I angrily shifted my gaze to the source of the attacks, and once again deactivated the mana shield for a very short period of time. I simultaneously released 5 fireballs aiming at the direction of the fourth. Not expecting an attack from me, the archer was caught off guard by the fire balls and was unable to deploy his mana shield in time causing all 5 fireballs to directly hit his body. For an average magician, switching spells usually takes up half a minute for the substitution to complete. However, with increasing mastery of the arcane arts, a skilled caster could decrease the duration of the switch for as low as 10 seconds. During that 10 seconds, the magician would be left defenseless from all kinds of attacks that may be thrown at him. Rapid switching of spells, which is my specialty, that takes only two to five seconds for it to be completed could only be considered as a special case or in other words a cheat from a gamer¡¯s perspective. Taking advantage of this fact, I have successfully formulated a plan in dealing with this type of enemies. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. *Aaaaarrghh!* The robed man writhed in agony as the flames slowly evaporated all of his body fluids and eventually laid on the ground unmoving. First blood huh ¡­ I¡¯ve done it, staining my hands with the blood of a fellow human being. But I didn¡¯t really felt anything peculiar about it since surviving is my topmost priority right now. And as I¡¯ve said before: It¡¯s either to kill or be killed. Such action was justifiable since it¡¯s a form of self-defense, safeguarding my intrinsic right to life in the process. After successfully cutting the number of enemies, a strong sense of accomplishment could be felt as I repeatedly clenched my fists. I then returned my sight to the ongoing battle between the golems and the 3 remaining robed priests. The effectiveness of the earth golems could be seen as they¡¯re holding up quite well against the trio. Well 10 versus 3 isn¡¯t really that fair of a fight¡­. But there was a major flaw with summoned beings, and that was the limited duration of the spells. It¡¯s only a matter of minutes before the conjuration magic loses its effects. And after a minute or two, the large earthen bodies of the golems began to crumble into tiny marble sized pebbles that eventually fused with the ground where it originally belonged to. With that as a cue, I once again switched spells and began to process the magical formula for the Intermediate Destruction magic: Ice Spear on all of my fingers. ¡°Take this and this and this and thiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssss!¡± I repeatedly screamed in ecstasy as the endless barrage of ice spears rained upon the three, not giving them any room to dodge. I didn¡¯t stop in casting and continually released 10 ice spears with every second that passed. The trio deployed their individual mana shields in time, but the barriers were shattered at the midst of the unending series of attacks. *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* Their bodies dropped lifelessly onto the ground with their corpses pierced with numerous icicle spears making them look like human pin cushions. Only one more to go! I then surveyed the surroundings and found the grand mage just standing there unmoving, watching his underlings ruthlessly killed. What¡¯s up with this old man? Failing to understand such weird behavior, I subconsciously wrinkled my eyebrows with my lips curling up. Then suddenly, the old man stretched both his arms with his mouth opening and closing and started to chant his first spell. Intermediate Conjuration Magic: Summon Undead - allows the resurrection of nearby corpses into undead that will obey every command of the conjurer. The dead body must be at a considerable lower level compared to the caster for the spell to take effect. The corpses of the four robed priests began to rise from the ground, ready to fight another round. Their faces deprived with the color of blood, walking unsteadily with drool leaking from their mouths. *Gwaaaahhh¡­¡­.Uguuhhh* Creepy groans similar from zombies in B rated horror movies could be heard from their mouths. ¡°Tsk¡­..¡± I clicked my tongue in vexation seeing the whole situation repeating all over again. Seriously! All of the work that I¡¯ve put up until this point was all for nothing! If that¡¯s the case then ¡­. I switched all spells yet again to summon my dependable pawns, the earth golems. ¡°Attack!¡± The battle started once again as the opposing forces began to fight to the death. The grand mage remained at his original position and chanting his next spell with an unusually long magical incantation. ¡°In the name of Qasnir the God of Magic, I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand!¡± A miniaturized version of the sun floated in front of his hands, generating a heat haze around him that produced a blurred shimmering effect. Is he trying to finish me off with that? Fear invaded my mind as a direct hit from a spell of that magnitude was enough to reduce my body into nothingness. Shaking my head vigorously, I regained my composure and instructed the summoned beings that were currently on a heated battle against the undead. ¡°Cover me quickly!¡± The golems hurriedly formed a line in front of me after hearing my orders, shielding my body from the beam of incinerating flames that is coming to our direction. Fffshssssssssssssssh! The intense heat slowly melted the bodies of the golem one by one. Turning their large earthen bodies into small chunks of molten magma. ¡°Ohhhhhhhhh!¡± I unintentionally let out an amazed voice as the force created from the spell was so powerful that the ground that it passed through was turned into a pitch black color . Not wasting any time on idling, I started casting my trump card Advanced Destruction magic: Lightning burst using all of my ten fingers to achieve ten times the normal magical output. Waiting for his spell to end, I prayed with all my might that the golems would at least hold up until I finished materializing the magic. Fffffffffffffssssssssssssssshhh After the channeling of the spell had stopped, the whole place was covered by a thick layer of smoke that easily obscured my vision, making me lose sight of the target. And as the smoke began to fade the silhouette of the old man could be seen at the corner of my eyes. There you are you old geezer! ¡°Diiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!¡± With an ear shattering scream, I released the compressed version of lightning burst into the direction of the target. The beam of lightning cruised through the air at break neck speed, spreading shocks of electricity wherever it leads to. The old mage stared wide eyed as he hadn¡¯t predicted such an outcome. He tried to block my ultimate attack by deploying his mana shield but it was all for naught, as the burst of lightning easily penetrated the barrier and disintegrated his body into a pile of ashes. Chapter 7: Princess & knight Foreword: Ugh...!! 2.3k words here .... drained my brain juices in the process... Grammatical errors may be seen frequently here so sorry bout that. Words per sentence keeps decreasing as the chapter goes on. Well enough complaining here... at least its readable right?? Enjoy Reading :)
Congratulations you have reached level 70!
Immersing myself in the glory of my victory, I began jumping up and down in glee, making me look more like kids of my age. ¡°Haah ahahahaa! *Cough* Cough*Cough*¡± My maniacal laughter was interrupted as dust entered my lungs after I repeatedly stomped at the pile of ashes left from the previous battle. After clearing up my throat from the ashes I then noticed something underneath my shoes. Ten tiny objects which glinted in the moonlight. Upon a closer look they were rings seemingly made out of a sturdy material that survived through the intense attack. Let¡¯s see here¡­. With that, I began inspecting each and every one of the rings.
Mithril Ring of Flawless Destruction ¨C Reduces mana consumption of all Destruction class magic by 24%
Mithril Ring of Flawless Conjuration ¨C Reduces mana consumption of all Conjuration class magic by 23%
Mithril Ring of Flawless Alteration ¨C Reduces mana consumption of all Alteration class magic by 23%
Mithril Ring of Flawless Restoration ¨C Reduces mana consumption of all Restoration class magic by 25%
Mithril Ring of Flawless Illusion ¨C Reduces mana consumption of all Illusion class magic by 24%
I stared wide eyed, reading the information written on those information windows. I¡¯ve got to it admit though, these info signs can be really helpful every now and then. 2 of each of these rings were previously equipped by the grand mage on all of his fingers. Making him capable of continuous invoking of high level spells without depleting his mana pool. This could be useful ¡­ With that, I tried to put the rings on my fingers in anticipation as to how will it affect my magic. But the rings were too big for me, well it can¡¯t be helped since it¡¯s made for an adult¡¯s finger not a kid¡¯s. After letting out a discouraged sigh, I decided to stuff the rings in my pocket as it could be used in the future¡­ hopefully. Confirming that the scene is safe I then proceeded to the door less entrance of the shrine and slowly walked to the middle of the hall. As I arrived at the large magical circle located in the middle the figures of the prisoners entered my vision. The Prisoners including the children were staring at me with frightened eyes as if they¡¯re seeing a ghost. Well it¡¯s only natural after witnessing such a spectacle. The wide open entrance of the shrine enabled them to spectate the previous battle as if they¡¯re watching a live boxing match in front of a flat screen TV. Ignoring their expressions I fished out the keys from my pocket, recovered from the body of one of robed priests and started to unlock the shackles that chained the hands and feet of all the prisoners. I then patted my lab coat, searching through all the pockets and eventually found a note pad and a pen. That¡¯s right, the only way for me to communicate to them is through written language. After scribbling through the notepad with swift movements, I then showed the contents in front of the crowd. Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t kill you people Seeing the words written on the paper, the adults from the group softened their gazes and relaxed their once tense bodies. I urged the man who seems to be the leader to write a reply on the notepad, and he meekly wrote the message he wanted to express to their savior. How can there be such a powerful little kid? Wha?! Who are you calling a little kid? Veins popped out from my forehead and my face contorted in anger as I reread the contents of the paper over and over again. Hey! Hey! Is that the best thing to say towards the one who just saved their lives unconditionally! I furiously turned back the pages of the notepad to my previous message and added a line on it. Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t kill you people Unless provoked¡­. The crowd gasped in fear after scrutinizing the contents of the notepad with their slouched backs. Noticing my change in expression coupled with the message, they eventually realized the insolent behavior they¡¯re showing in front of their savior. They began to prostrate themselves before me as if wanting to express their sincerest apology. The children who were confused on what the elders were doing, just imitated their actions unknowingly. Ughhh maybe I¡¯ve gone too far... Realizing the consequences of my exaggerated reaction towards them, I began writing my next message as I flipped the pages on the note pad. Alright! I accept your apologies! So can you guys please stop kowtowing in front of me! On the other hand, I would be most grateful if you people could lend me a hand on transporting the loots to my home where it¡¯s safe. After scanning through the reply written on the paper, they obediently nodded and started carrying all the things of considerable value located inside the shrine. Including books and maps that could possibly provide more information with this world. Elders and children enthusiastically carried their shares with smiles plastered on their faces. With that, I led the group out of the shrine with them silently following my back. We descended through the mountain trail, passed through Sjogren and were currently in the middle of the pitch black forest. Signs of vigilance can be seen on their faces, but there are no monsters at the moment since I wiped them all out a while ago. Half an hour had passed, we soon reached the premises of the ware house. After surveying the surrounding area I then instructed them to build camps near the ware house where it¡¯s currently the safest place in this region. Thus, I began to cook at the makeshift kitchen and started to prepare a large amount of food enough for ten to fifteen individuals. *Growl* After smelling the fragrance of the served dishes in front of them, their tummies let out a loud growl. Seemingly embarrassed of it, their cheeks flushed red that I unconsciously released a slight chuckle. After filling up their bellies with my homemade dishes, I began questioning the adults within the group on why and what led them to these parts of Aegoria. And here¡¯s the info that I¡¯ve gotten from them: A long time ago the elder mage of Sjogren, in pursuit of the path of immortality chose to sacrifice all the inhabitants of the city in order to lengthen his own life span. Offering lives to the Abyssal prince of life and death Nixruer, the cult didn¡¯t stop with the rituals and resorted to the abduction of people for sacrifice. The endless ritual eventually distorted the space surrounding Sjogren resulting to the spawning of orcs of demonic origin ¡­ This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Therefore turning the city of Sjogren into a wasteland, a place of exile for notorious criminals, refugees and political outcasts. Well that really cleared a lot of confusion that lingered inside my head¡­ But I¡¯ve got to say it¡­ that old man is one heck of a villain. Hence to acquire more information I ordered them to write all of their names, race, status and previous occupations on the pages of the notepad. Half are humans, the other half was composed of elves and beast men. Upon a closer look at them, one could easily notice the pointy elven ears, dog ears and cat ears located at the side of their heads. Most of them are refugees from the neighboring country of Estad, an agricultural nation located between the borders of Sjogren and Roeania Empire. Estad was utterly destroyed since skirmishes were often conducted within its territory, getting caught in between large military forces with no means of self-protection. The majority of humans were farmers. While the elves and beast men were primarily slaves bought from the Empire. I skimmed through the pieces of paper and eventually noticed something unusual at the occupation part. A princess and her knight¡­ Knight Geraint Holme Princess Catherine Alder Clemence I frowned after reading such ridiculous info and began to ponder on how and why a princess and her knight would be in here. Maybe they¡¯ve gone whacko after all those terrible experiences¡­ I sympathized with their current situation, thinking that the harsh and awful treatment given to them by the priests led them to the verge of insanity. Deciding to ignore such preposterous matter, I continued in instructing the group on what they would do here. I taught them that if a horde of orcs comes here. They were to get inside the warehouse and operate the tesla coil and warned them over and over not to touch anything besides the tesla coil. They can continue living here since there is an abundant amount of food and water. Furthermore the fact that it¡¯s a place known for its hazardous environment makes it safer to them as bandits and armies won¡¯t make a blunder of coming here unknowingly. Lastly I told them about my upcoming journey to Alteria Kingdom. And with that they¡¯re dismissed. As I was readying myself on packing, someone swiftly snatched the note pad and pen from both my hands. A haughty teenage girl wearing a soiled dress, underneath her shriveled blonde hair was a pair of ruby eyes and an above average alluring face. A body fitting for a girl in the middle of puberty as a slight lump can be seen on her chest. A meek, dark haired teenage boy dressed in noble clothes could be seen behind her, trembling with his aquamarine eyes darting all over the place. He can be easily mistaken as a girl because of his delicate appearance. Are they the crazy duo? The girl hurriedly scribbled at the paper as if time was of the essence. We will come with you! I snatched back the notepad with a face full of displeasure and began to write my reply. Why would I bring you guys with me? She then seized the notepad again in a forceful manner. We know the direction to Alteria Kingdom better than those outdated maps! Now that I¡¯ve thought of it, the maps that we recovered from the shrine accumulated a lot of dust and seemed kind of old. Someone who knows the way maybe somewhat helpful instead of relying on outdated directions from the maps. After pondering for a while on what to answer the pair, I began to write my reply to them. I may consider it, on one condition¡­ You teach me how to speak your language. Making the best out of this situation, I decided to give consent to their request. The girl happily nodded with a brilliant smile emanating from her face. The boy behind sighed in relief, relaxing his tensed body. With that, the duo will be tagging along the way. Judging from their looks they seem pretty normal to me, and not of mental incapacity. Afterwards, I resumed in packing of all the things needed¡­.. Books, money, preserved food, extra clothing and decided to hit the sack, feeling all of the fatigue that accumulated in my body. *************************************************************************************** The morning light illuminated the interior of my room as I slowly opened my eyes. The hustle and bustle of the crowd can be heard outside the warehouse, as they are currently tasked on hunting for their own food. I slowly got up from the bed, stretching both arms up in the air coupled with a lazy yawn. With that, I walked to the bathroom and started to wash my face, fixed my hair and wore my clothes. Then I rechecked the contents of my backpack, making sure that nothing important was forgotten. Everything is set! After confirming all of the things needed for the journey, I then proceeded to the front door of the entrance. As I slowly opened the door, the smell of the lush greenery entered my nostrils and the sight of the makeshift tents of different sizes entered my vision. The people cheerfully greeted me with radiant smiles as I slowly walked through the crowd. I let out a wry smile, witnessing the revival of the once lifeless prisoners. It was a surprisingly fast recovery from that nightmare. Following that, I began scanning the premises trying to find the whacko pair. But to my surprise, I couldn¡¯t seem to find no matter where I look. I then asked the crowd on where did the self-proclaimed princess and knight have gone to. They pointed at the direction of the forest. Trailing the direction previously given to me, I began to walk inside the thick forest. *Kling *clang* clunk* Sounds of weapons clashing could be heard from the dense vegetation inside the forest. Following the source of the sounds I eventually found the pair wielding swords against a single orc. Oh are they practicing? Journeying with me will undoubtedly bring danger to them, so it would be helpful if they can at least protect themselves from enemies. The girl brandished the rusty sword with an almost perfect stance, parrying and dodging all of the orcs attacks. Pretty impressive for a self-proclaimed princess... In contrast with the princess the boy was trembling non-stop, holding the sword wrongly with an awkward stance. Realizing that it couldn¡¯t possibly defeat the princess, the orc decided to change target with the harmless boy. ¡°Ugaaaah!¡± Letting out a battle cry that reflected its current desperation, the orc began to charge straight towards the boy holding its mace high up in the air. ¡°Eeeeeek!¡± Witnessing such a horrific scene the boy shrieked in fear, falling on his butt with his trembling intensified. Oh no! This isn¡¯t going to be a pleasant sight! The princess on the rescue! Moving swiftly with fast footwork the princess slashed the orc with consecutive strikes. ¡°Hyaah Hyaah!¡± The Deep wounds inflicted on its body eventually killed the orc with a *thud*. I repeatedly face palmed myself leaving a red mark on my skin after witnessing such a surreal spectacle. Eh? Why is the princess the one doing the protecting?? My head ached, thinking about the future travelling with this bunch. Chapter 8: Departure Foreword: The messages written in bold letters are supposedly written in paper ok! Im getting tired of writing it again and again so keep that in mind. And sorry for the slow releases guys I don''t really have much free time writing because of school and all. Without further ado, I present to you another chapter of AWT.... enjoy reading :) All members of the makeshift tent village gathered behind the warehouse, giving us words of farewell. [Good luck in your journey and be safe little ones!] I couldn¡¯t understand their words but I think they¡¯re wishing us good luck on our journey. Before we could start our adventure, the leader of the group hurriedly walked in front of us, urging us to wear some handcrafted necklaces made out of wood. It seems that these are charms especially made for travelers, wishing them good luck. I let out a wry smile after seeing the current appearance of Mr. Leader. The buffed up tranquilzer gun hung on his back making him look more like a hunter instead of a farmer. That¡¯s right, I gave him the gun as it could be more useful for them. I taught him how to maintain and operate the tranquilizer gun. Furthermore the fact that he¡¯s a farmer, means that he can fully utilize that weapon using his vast knowledge about plants, particularly poisonous ones. Princess waved them goodbye, replying with incomprehensible words that made the children smile. The knight flashed a refreshing smile that made the pubescent females from the group scream in joy. Well at least he has a notable skill and that is wooing the ladies. By the way we switched the clothes of the whacko pair with the villager¡¯s. Transforming their looks from an eye-catching royalty to a common villager. Nodding my head at them, as to affirm that everything was set, we started our journey at last. Walking in the direction opposite of Sjogren we pushed deeper through the forest, walking through the straight path that was previously used by the robed priests. Do you really know the way? I questioned her after a while as I couldn¡¯t stay composed. Of course I remember the way we¡¯ve gone through before¡­ But then I couldn¡¯t stop worrying here. Giving a teenage girl the role of the lead isn¡¯t really the best thing to do. The uneasiness inside me just wouldn¡¯t disappear no matter what I do. To take my mind off those things I started to read books for Advanced level magic taken out from my backpack.
You have successfully learned Advanced Conjuration Magic: Summon owl sentry
You have successfully learned Advanced Alteration Magic: Bestow Magical Armor
The knight and the princess took the lead, guiding the way as I follow suit. After walking for 15 minutes we eventually encountered a new type of monster. I took out the bestiary that I¡¯ve acquired from the shrine and searched the pages about the monster right in front of us. Trolls - large, brutish and dumb creatures that resembles a disproportionately giant human. Often these creatures have exaggerated facial structures, such as jutting lower jaws and protruding brows, similar to the stereotypical image of a Neanderthal. Primary weapons are large clubs, maces and other blunt weapons. Kind of similar to orcs but they¡¯re way too big compared to those bastards. The princess took the initiative of pressing the offensive as she began to charge towards the troll without any hint of hesitation. Taking control of the fight, she easily dodged and parried the attacks of the troll using her rust covered sword. The troll¡¯s attacks weren¡¯t really that special, swinging its club in a slow manner that makes it easy to dodge. But the thing was its hideous appearance, the princess didn¡¯t even flinch after fighting with it in close proximity. Meanwhile...The knight just stood there cheering the princess by saying words of encouragement. Ughh... I hugged my head in disappointment after witnessing this comic act one again. Just watching this scene makes me dizzy for some reason. I eventually grew tired of this routine. Ignoring their ridiculous act of reverse princess and knight, I continued reading books to occupy myself while casting the newly learned Advanced Conjuration magic Summon Owl sentry. An Owl shaped familiar flew high above me. Giving me a bird¡¯s eye view of the surrounding area while continuing to learn magic from the books.
You have successfully learned Advanced Destruction Magic: Sonic blades
You have successfully learned Advanced Alteration Magic: Quagmire
You have successfully learned Advanced Alteration Magic: Telekinesis
So ESP powers are categorized as Alteration magic huh¡­ Well it makes sense¡­ Immersing myself with studying magic, they continued on fighting monsters we encountered with only the princess doing all the work. I occasionally provided support by casting and the newly learned . After killing their 20th monster I inquired about something by showing a message written on a piece of paper in front of the person in question. What level are you now princess? She tilted her head in confusion after reading the contents of the paper. Ignoring her expression I continued on writing messages on the pieces of paper. Don¡¯t you get experience after killing monsters? And those windows that pops out every time you level up? Her face contorted into deeper confusion as she narrowed her eyes into slits with her eyebrows furrowed. ¡­¡­. And after pondering for a while, her eyes widened as if realizing something. She then grabbed the pen and notepad from my hand and began to write her reply. Do you mean our current status? Uh huh..? Unable to understand her answer, I gave her a vague reply while slightly nodding my head. We wouldn¡¯t know unless we go to an adventurer¡¯s guild and avail the service of status update. The religious shrines can also perform status update but it¡¯s exclusive for soldiers only and not for the ordinary people. Status huh ¡­ now that I¡¯ve thought of it I only know my level and not the status... But then something is weird.. So they don¡¯t have the pop out signs? Well I can at least assume for now that this RPG like system are only exclusive for summoned heroes... As we continued walking straight through the forest, the trees eventually cleared up. Changing the scenery into a land littered with stones and bushes, similar to the area that surrounded Sjogren, a vast barren wasteland. The sun¡¯s blinding radiance could be seen clearly as the canopy of the trees disappeared. Walking slowly full of vigilance, we eventually found a circular platform made out of stone at the middle of the wasteland. A huge magic circle with sophisticated design and symbols was engraved on the whole platform. A waypoint? Well it looks like one. It was described on a book about alteration magic since teleportation is categorized as an alteration magic. I hurriedly opened my back pack, bringing out the book in the process. Let¡¯s see here ¡­ Waypoints serves as save points for adventurers as they can instantaneously teleport on these circular platforms by invoking the spell written on a scroll of paper. Each individual waypoints have different magical arrays and are changed regularly as to avoid the misuse of teleportation scrolls. Waypoint teleportation scrolls can only be bought from merchants permitted by the government that owns it. So it¡¯s really a waypoint used for teleportation huh. This could be useful if it was operational¡­ Thus, I decided to fix it by any means necessary as it can be used as an emergency countermeasure for dangerous situations that we may possibly encounter in the future. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I retraced the magical array by invoking the advanced destruction magic: Sonic blade. Using the high pressured wind as a chisel, I¡¯ve successfully inscribed a custom made magical circle, which I previously created when I was studying magic in Sjogren, on the surface of the circular platform. Following that, I injected an enormous amount of mana on the magic circle for it to start functioning. Work work work pleaseeeee... The circle began to emit a faint bluish light after the continuous administration of mana. ¡°Wow!¡± Princess clapped her hand in amazement after witnessing something new. While the knight ,seemingly curious of the waypoint, began to inspect the platform from different angles. Ignoring their actions I looked up in the sky and noticed that the sun was about to set. With that, we decided to halt our journey and began to set camp. Makeshift tents made out of pieces of cloth woven together with thick branches of wood that served as the foundation. I used Novice Destruction Magic flames on a pile of wood to create a bonfire. We then cooperated in making dinner by cooking the preserved meats of orcs from our luggages. We tried cooking the trolls¡¯ meat but it tasted so bad that the knight vomitted out all of the food he ate after just a single bite. After filling our tummies with orcish meat we prepared the sleeping bags made out of cloth stuffed with layers of warm and soft wool that shielded us from the coldness of the night. But before that, I called the princess as its time to learn the verbal language. The knight not giving a thing about the present location, slept soundly ¡­ maybe he got too tired watching? Well... it¡¯s not really teaching since I only instructed her to pronounce every possible syllable that I could think of. Incorporating those syllables into words, I successfully grasped the language bit by bit. It¡¯s relatively easy compared to when I was studying the written language. Not having a single clue about it gave me a serious headache back then. ¡°Ehrm¡­ehrm¡± I cleared my throat preparing to speak my first words in front of the princess. ¡°What is your name again?¡± Caught off guard by the words that I have just said, the princess stared at me wide eyed with her mouth agape. ¡°Sorry I tend to forget names really easily as my mind constantly frees up space for more important information¡­¡± I hurriedly interjected my reason, feigning ignorance from the fact that I categorized her name as unimportant. The Princess¡¯ face soon contorted in displeasure after realizing the reasons behind my actions. ¡°It¡¯s Catherine¡­ Ca-the-ri-ne!¡± Catherine shouted her words with her face beet red full of anger. I reflexively averted my gaze from the ill-tempered princess that I unknowingly set my sights on the knight that was sleeping soundly like a baby. Noticing my actions she pressed even further at me, pointing her finger at the sleeping knight. ¡°And his name is Geraint! Ge-ra-i-nt!¡± ¡°Alright alright I get it sheesh!¡± I nervously backed away from the princess as her face got too near to me. People may see me as a mature individual, but I¡¯m not really used to girls. I lived in isolation from the whole world as I was doing my best on conducting researches, not really giving any importance to my social needs. After quarreling for about half an hour we decided to hit the sack since going on about this was nothing but a waste of time. The next day passed by quickly since there seems to be no monsters in this part of the region, letting us journey through the land without much interference. We continued travelling through the waste land and eventually reached the far ends of this region. A wide mountain range stood before us after walking nonstop for a full 5 hours. Is it a dead end? The two continued walking straight not minding my presence as if they¡¯re too focused on the job assigned to them. As we moved closer towards the base of the mountain, a path appearing to be drilled through the large mass of rock soon entered my sight, we then proceeded through the cave like entrance. Rows of stalactites adorned the ceiling while the floor of the cave was littered with preforming stalagmites, signifying the passage of time inside the manmade cave. Then after walking for a while, something that bugged me since beginning of our journey, suddenly crossed my mind. ¡°Ughm¡­ so why exactly are the both of you here in this part Aegoria? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be at a palace seeping tea or something¡± Catherine abruptly ceased her steps. Getting too immersed with the scenery inside the cave, I unknowingly passed her as I continued walking. I halted my steps and turned back to see the face of the princess. Stream of tears flowing down her flushed cheeks. Clenching her fist in anger with her shoulders trembling. Geraint worriedly waved both his hands in front of Catherine, trying to calm her down in the process. The overflowing emotions that she kept deep inside her burst out after I said that line. Eh? Did I say something terrible just now? She then inhaled and exhaled as to relax her breathing and wiped off the tears that flooded her beautiful face with the sleeve of her clothes. Her lips previously trembling started to open and close as she began to tell her story. Long story short¡­ The royal palace of alteria was currently at a turmoil as the king of old age was too weak to properly govern his kingdom. Two opposing factions fought for the throne, the faction of the late queen and the faction of the only concubine of the king. The late queen¡¯s faction suffered a great blow after the queen herself died from an unknown disease. Following that the faction of the concubine began conducting conspiracies and eventually succeeded in the banishing of all the members of the opposing faction. A slight prick in my chest can be felt as I imagined the situation they¡¯ve gone through till now. Forcibly exiled from her very home, separated from her friends and loved ones with only the cowardly knight by her side. Delving in deeper with this matter is inappropriate since Its really not my business. But then she is a royalty of the Kingdom of Alteria, if I can help her usurp the throne maybe I can have unlimited access to their archives that contained all the information about the stone of Qasnir. It is a possibility but then deciding recklessly with important things like this will end up with bad results so let¡¯s just watch from the sidelines for now. Letting the events flow naturally without interfering too much. Silence enveloped out group as we continued our travel without us interacting in any way. After passing through the cave, a grass field that spanned through the horizon came into our vision as the fresh wind blew against our faces. But then something is unusual from this almost perfect scenery and that is the ruins of a once prosperous city that lied at the middle of the greenery. So this is Estad huh¡­ We proceeded to the ruins and began to inspect the premises of Estad. It¡¯s the exact opposite of Sjogren as destruction littered the surrounding area. Almost all of the houses were burned into a black charred color with smoke still coming from it. Noticing that the sun is about to set once again, we decided to halt our journey and began to set up camp once again. An awkward atmosphere floated between us three as we continued to ignore each other¡¯s presences. In order to escape from this suffocating environment, I decided to take a walk around ¡­. Hoping that the unpleasant atmosphere would soon die down. Destruction, destruction and destruction was the only thing that I could see after circling once through Estad and I soon became bored of it. Taking my time on walking, I eventually saw the smoke coming from the bonfire that I previously made. But then something unexpected happened when I returned to the camp. I couldn¡¯t seem to find the two no matter where I look. Where are they? Anxiety invaded my mind as I imagined what might happened to Catherine and Geraint during my absence. ¡°Catherine! Geraint! Where are you guys?¡± I shouted with all my might hoping that they might hear it and reply back, but it was all for naught as dead silence re-enveloped the whole surroundings. Hoping to find the pair I casted the alteration magic and was surprised with what I¡¯m currently witnessing. Multiple signals from life forms with numbers of about 10 surrounded the camp. ¡°What the he¡­¡± A numbing pain can be felt from my neck as my consciousness slowly faded away. Chapter 9: Taken Foreword: Guys! Im really sorry for the late release! Im pretty busy at the moment because of the upcoming finals exam in school. Furthermore, the fact that I don''t have my own PC.. means that I cant always write during my free time. And that''s it, I don''t think I can update my work regularly so I apologize for the inconvenience........... Well Enough of the reasons here ... Please enjoy chapter 9 of AWT .... Happy reading :) A soft sensation can be felt from my back as I was lying down comfortably. Feeling that my sleepiness is slowly fading away, I slowly opened my eyes, permitting my pupils to adjust to the light. Where am I? Where the hell is this place? I questioned myself as I saw an unfamiliar scenery. A single wooden pole that supported a large tent made up of fine woven cloth, illuminated by numerous lamps. Not wasting any time idling, I slowly lifted my upper body from the fluffy sleeping bag that was situated at the middle of the tent and began to reminisce the events that happened up until today. The only thing that I remember... I was looking for Catherine and Geraint... And some people surrounded me... Ack! ¡­ After moving my head from side to side as to survey the interior of the tent, a slight pricking pain can be felt from my neck that I reflexively massaged it with my right hand. That¡¯s right, something or someone attacked me that I ended up losing consciousness¡­ ¡°So your awake lad....¡± A deep and gentle voice called out to me as I was immersing myself in my thoughts. Feeling slightly nervous from the sudden sound, I slowly turned my head to the source and was surprised with what I saw. A big muscular man clad in pitch black full metal plate was seated on a chair located on the far side of the tent. Brown hair with a fearless look on his face that resembles a gallant knight. He was writing some sort of documents using a quill and ink with his helmet laid on top of the table. ¡°Seriously... Kids these days have a knack of adventures at such a young age...¡± Not bothering with my presence, he continued to write on the pieces of paper with swift and precise movements while throwing words of belittlement in front of my face. Excuse me? Is he lecturing me as If I was a poor little kid? Disliking the treatment that I was presently receiving, I gave him a look of hostility for the next couple of minutes. And soon gave up after reassessing the situation that I was currently in. Calm down¡­ Calm down, getting angry here won¡¯t help me in any way¡­ ¡°Uhmm... Where exactly am I and who are you??¡± I immediately inquired him of the most important information that would enlighten me in my current predicament. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. In response to my previous question, the black knight just gave me a sympathizing look as if he was seeing a hopeless child. Hey¡­ hey¡­ hey! I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve done something that would get me arrested right? This isn¡¯t fair, due process is needed for the issuance of a warrant of arrest! Jumping into conclusions after seeing the expression of the knight, I went hysterical as soon as I got up from the bed, thinking that I was arrested for no valid reason. ¡°Calm down kid! ... Oh right! Lad my name is Horzak Beulford the commanding officer of the empire¡¯s Crimson army and were currently in the military outpost just outside the border between the Empire and Estad.¡± As if calming a kid throwing a tantrum, the knight immediately got up from his seat with a wry smile plastered on his face, and made his way in front of me. So were still near in Estad huh¡­ Noticing that giving additional about the current situation gives a calming effect on me, the knight continued to explain in a manner of speaking as if he was talking to an innocent little kid. ¡°Wandering in the premises of a battlefield is dangerous lad...Well send you immediately to your parents after we¡¯re done with here.¡± What the heck so the war in Estad is still going on? Not having a bit of latest information about the world will surely kill me if this goes on! After hearing the brief explanation from the knight, I was once again deep in thought and soon realized something was off with his trail of thought. ¡°Wait wait a minute! I¡¯m not from the empire! I¡¯m ughh a traveler ¡­ yes! A traveler! I deliberately made up an obvious lie, hoping that it would get me out of trouble, with my eyes darting all over the place. ¡°Heh¡­ Sure sure kid! And my hobby is flower arrangement! Listen here kiddo! You should be thankful that the scouts recovered you from Estad. They were originally assigned to track down beast men spies and accidentally stumbled upon your little camping game by sheer luck. They thought you we¡¯re a beast man after seeing this thing worn on your head.¡± Ignoring his words of mockery I changed my line of sight to his right hand, holding a familiar hat made out of cotton fabric that seemingly resemble cat ears. I widened my eyes in astonishment and quickly snatched the hat from the armor clad hand without hesitation. That''s! Professor Hansen''s¡­ As I was reminiscing the memories from the previous world, I unconsciously hugged the hat tightly with both hands in front of my chest. Noticing my actions, the knight softened his posture and gave me an affectionate look. As if looking at an adorable cute little animal. Grrrrrr¡­ Stop looking at me like that! Or else¡­! Furious of his continuous attitude of belittlement over me, I intentionally sneered at him with my tongue sticking out. In response to my childish behavior, the knight let out a brilliant smile befitting of a father that is fascinated at the sight of his own children. ¡­¡­¡­¡­. Enough! Enough of this! Let¡¯s get to the point here! Shaking my head vigorously, as to regain my composure. I redirected the conversation to the previous topic of me getting captured by his scouts. ¡°So is it just me? Didn¡¯t you capture my companions?¡± ¡°Huh? What companions are you talking about now?¡± I furrowed my eyebrows and my face contorted in confusion as to why doesn¡¯t he know the whereabouts of the other two. Not wasting any second, I began to describe the appearances of the two. From the color of their hairs, height, facial features, body build and even their corresponding attitudes. But then¡­ The knight just shrugged both his arms after hearing my descriptions with his head turning side by side, as if saying that he doesn¡¯t know anyone with those kind of appearances. ¡°Unfortunately kid we didn¡¯t find anyone besides you.... but judging from the luggage left from the camp there we¡¯re 3 of you right?¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I looked down disappointedly and gritted my teeth in vexation after hearing the words that I didn¡¯t want to hear from him. It¡¯s all my fault from being so careless! If I didn¡¯t left them alone, maybe I would¡¯ve done something to protect them¡­ My shoulders trembled and I tightly clenched my fist. Frustration welled deep inside me as I was blaming myself for the disappearance of the hopeless princess and knight pair. ¡°But then¡­ there is a high possibility that they¡¯re captured by beast men...¡± Possibility¡­ Hearing his words that gave me a small light of hope, I wiped off the worried look from my face and looked up to him with anticipation. ¡°You should stay here till we¡¯re ready to depart ... The beast men seems to be making moves in this part of Aegoria so it will be more dangerous outside....¡± Who would want to stay here doing nothing! I need to find a way to save my companions as fast as possible! Finishing with that line, he slowly walked to the entrance of the camp with his armor emitting clanking noise with his every step. So the beast men huh¡­ The best course of action here is to persuade those scouts to help me find the location of the two since they¡¯re the experts in this kind of missions ¡­ But then¡­ how can I possibly persuade that nonchalant bastard in loaning his troops to a 14 year old kid? I remained there standing, contemplating on how I can find the two as soon as possible since each passing day are crucial if they could survive or not. VwoooooooooooooooooooomMM¡­.! Suddenly a loud sound of a horn reverberated throughout the outpost, which made me come back to reality after thinking deeply for the past minutes. Huh? Is there an emergency? Followed by the ear shattering sound of the horn, signs of commotion can be heard from the people outside the tent... Curiosity took over me as I walked to the entrance and slowly opened the curtain that served as the door of the tent. Woah! Sounds of hammer pounding on steel and the smell of food being cooked welcomed me as I proceeded to the direction of the crowd. Numerous tents were set up all over the grasslands embedded with a symbol of a crimson phoenix. Being new to this kind of environment, I asked a mister that was carrying crates of fruits and vegetables. Sweat dripped down from his forehead as he was repeating the same task over and over again, moving the crates from one of the tents to the roofed carts driven by horses. ¡°Uhmm Mister what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Haaah¡­ listen here kid I¡¯m kind of busy here as you can see.¡± The mister breathed out a large amount of air, signifying his tiredness, and evaded my question with a wave of his right hand. Not backing down, I looked up to him expectantly, pleading like child wanting a new toy from his mother. ¡°*Sigh* Alright¡­alright! Jeez stop looking at me like that! The commander is announcing our mission so the soldiers are ordered to assemble at the bottom of this hill.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± After getting information from the mister I continued walking and eventually stopped at the edge of the hill where the outpost was currently located and saw something unbelievable. There I saw tens of thousands of soldiers were neatly lined up on the grass fields. Different types of soldiers. Swordsmen, spearmen, archers and horsemen were separated by groups. The spearmen were approximately 5000, the swordsmen 2000, archers 2000, and the cavalry 1000. The spearmen at the front, the swordsmen at the middle and the archers at the far back that enabled them to shootout arrows from a safe distance. While the cavalry are on standby at the furthest position from the frontlines. The symbol of the crimson phoenix adorned the numerous banners attached to the spears of the spearmen. Am I in a movie or something? I repeatedly rubbed my eyes, refusing to believe the reality in front of me. And soon noticed someone familiar walking through the crowd. The commander Horzak Beulford clad in pitch black armor with his helmet under one his left arm and an enormous Great sword sheathed on his back, walked with authority in front of the army. He raised his right hand, signaling the soldiers in front of him to shut their mouths. Noticing the gesture of the commander, the noise from the crowd immediately disappeared. ¡°Listen up soldiers of the empire!¡± Commander Horzak shouted with all his might, gathering the attention of all the soldiers in the field that numbered by at least ten thousand. Hearing the words of the commanding officer, all of the soldiers stood straight as if to show respect. ¡°The savage beast men are trying to invade our homes in front of our very eyes! And we are the main forces tasked to prevent that from happening!¡± The soldiers began to murmur to themselves after hearing the mission that they¡¯ll fulfill for the next days. ¡°This is a great opportunity for new recruits and it¡¯s also the perfect time to teach those uncivilized bastards who they¡¯re going against with...!¡± Almost all soldiers nodded in affirmation after commander Horzak continued in the debriefing of the mission. ¡°So who wants to seek vengeance from the people who disgraced the first emperor?¡± Using the history of the empire to fuel hatred to the hearts of the soldiers, commander Horzak had successfully raised the morale of the Crimson army. ¡°Uwaahhhhh!¡± The soldiers let out fearless screams that reflected their undying dedication in the task assigned to them. ¡°Now let us set off and bring back victory!¡± Horzak finished his speech with that line and proceeded to the direction of the outpost. ¡°Uwahhhh!¡± Pumped up because of the speech given by the commander, the soldiers screamed once again. Afterwards, they began to inspect their weapons and armor and sparred with their fellow soldiers as to reassess if they are ready for the battle... So it¡¯s an all-out war against the beastmen huh¡­ Thinking that sticking close with the army may provide me with more clues of the whereabouts of Catherine and Geraint, I decided to follow them by sneaking in the wagon full of fruits and vegetables that were transported by the sweat drenched man that I was talking with earlier. That¡¯s right, the goods transported in this wagon will be used as rations for the upcoming war between the empire and the beast men. I concealed myself behind the crates and waited until the army reaches its destination¡­ Chapter 10: Battlefield Foreword: Hello guys, as you can see I can only update this work once a week because of my hectic schedule, maybe during my two week vacation from school I can release faster, but then I don''t want to make promises here..... Im squeezing all the free time here so I would appreciate it if you guys can wait patiently.... And that''s it, I present to you chap 10 of AWT... Enjoy :) *Klak Klak Klak* The sound of hooves coupled with the creaking of the wooden wheel of the wagon was the only thing that I was hearing as the wagon travelled through the wide grasslands. *Yawn* Arent we there yet? 3 hours have passed since I boarded the wagon. The inside of the wagon is quite packed, with all the ration crates piled into pillars, making it hard to move freely inside it. Only a faint light could be seen as the entrance of the wagon located at the end, was covered by a thick layer of cloth, concealing the contents of the wagon from the outside world. Eventually, the monotonous sound that I was hearing got me bored and eventually got me dozing off, wanting to sleep for at least the next few hours. *Klak Klak-------* Suddenly¡­ The wagon stopped in its tracks, ending the sound that had been bugging me for the whole time. Finally¡­ Thinking that I finally reached the destination, I began to stretch my limbs that were numbed by the uncomfortable position that I took inside the wagon. Creating cracking sounds as I exerted force through the muscles and tendons of my arms and legs. But just to be sure here¡­ Leisurely exiting the wagon would undoubtedly get me into trouble since I was only hitching a ride with no permission whatsoever, so I decided to take a peek of what was happening outside¡­ After stretching the pointer finger on my right hand as to invoke the spell that I chose, an owl shaped familiar materialized from thin air with a ghostly presence that was pretty common in most conjuration spells. But then, it looks like a normal owl to me with two wings and feathers all over its body. It began to flap its wings as I directed it to and soon took flight after receiving enough mana from me. As I said before, all summoned beings requires continuous injection of mana for it to keep its form and perform its corresponding use for the mage who casted it. Confirming that everything was set, I started to open the curtain with nimble movements, creating a small sized entrance just enough for the summoned owl to pass through. The owl shaped familiar began to ascend as it got out of the wagon with its wings flapping just like a normal bird would do, making it unsuspicious from anyone who witnesses its flight. After the owl disappeared from the edge of my vision as I was watching from the small opening of the curtain, I closed both my eyes and began to concentrate on the flow of magic that connected me with my familiar. The vision of the owl was transmitted to my head, giving me real-time overview of the surrounding area. The Empire¡¯s crimson army followed by the supporting personnel which consists of cooks, black smiths, healers and many other people stopped at the fields just beside the ruins of Sjogren. They began to set up a makeshift camp which prioritized practicality over comfort, unloading the contents of numerous wagons that transported all the necessities needed for the upcoming war. Afterwards, I instructed the owl familiar, through mere thoughts, to soar at a higher altitude and proceed to the direction of the main force of the army. And there I saw, the crimson army adopting the same formation that I saw earlier. About ten thousand fully armored and lightly armored soldiers stood their ground, facing their opponents with unwavering determination. The opposing forces can also be seen from here¡­ A legion of half human half beast soldiers equipped with armor made out of monster skin with weapons made out of crudely forged iron adorned with bones of animals. Crossbows made out of flexible wood served as their long range weaponry and their cavalry consisted of lance wielding beast men riding mounts that seemed to resemble ostriches but somehow oversized. I can easily identify such creatures but then, the bestiary was confiscated from me after I was captured. Numbering by about 50 thousand troops, they would easily outnumber the crimson army whom soldiers only numbered 10 thousand. ¡°Whoa so many!¡± After witnessing such a surreal spectacle, I let out an amazed voice. Such events were nonexistent back at my home world. Well¡­ small scale confrontations between armed groups were commonplace, especially in the Middle East. But then battles of this magnitude could only be seen in movies that used computer graphics to create a scene where thousands or even millions of soldiers clash for the sake of victory. But then¡­ something was peculiar with the sight of the beast men army. The formation of the beast men were somewhat unorganized with no segregation of ranks whatsoever. They just moved as a single mass of soldiers throughout the battlefield, similar to an army of ants that used their sheer number to defeat the enemies before them. Both sides stopped their march with 300 meters of empty land separating them. As soon as they stopped their march they started to throw death gazes at each other, as if telling each other that they¡¯ll do anything to win this battle. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡°Archers Ready!!!¡± Not wasting any time idling, the leader of the archers at the far back shouted with all his might. Issuing an order to his subordinates to ready their longbows similar to the English long bow used during the medieval ages. Each and every one of the archers after retrieving an arrow from the quiver situated at their backs, started to knock arrow stretching the string of their bow to its limits, aiming at the direction of the beast men with their bows held at a 45 degree angle. ¡°Fireeeeee!!¡± Hearing the orders of the commanding officer, the archers harmoniously released the arrows from their bows, creating a storm of deadly projectiles that flew through the air. *Fwoooooooooooosh* Such sounds were heard as the arrows sliced through the wind that blew above the lands of Estad. Oh shit I¡¯m going to get hit! Realizing that the current position of the owl was inside flight path of the arrows, I frantically instructed the familiar to soar even higher than before. Flapping its wings vigorously as if death was certain, it soon reached the cotton like clouds, successfully evading the wave of arrows released by the 2000 archers of the crimson army. Phew that was close. Getting pierced by 2 thousand arrows was no less than a living nightmare. Even though my life wasn¡¯t really in danger, I reflexively heaved a sigh of relief after surviving through it. Meanwhile¡­The released arrows swiftly flew across the battlefield and eventually rained upon the frontlines of the beast men which consists mainly of warrior type soldiers equipped with swords, maces, clubs, shields and bucklers. ¡°Ugahh!¡± They desperately tried to shield themselves using iron shields and wooden bucklers but a lot of them didn¡¯t succeed as the piercing force is too much. Letting out cries of agony as the 2 thousand arrows pierced through their bodies. The attack easily decimated about 10% of the beast men soldiers, causing the ones who survived to panic after seeing their comrades dropping lifelessly onto the ground. ¡°Archers Ready!!!¡± ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. ¡°Fire!!¡± The leader once again issued the same order, causing another wave of arrows to rain upon the beast men, not giving them any time to recover from the previous attack. *Fwooooooooosh* Noticing another the incoming attack the beast men began to compress, connecting their bucklers and shields as to form a single reinforced barrier from the barrage of arrows. *Pap pap pap pap* Sounds of projectiles hitting the barrier could be heard as the arrows reached its targets. Compared to the previous attack, they somehow managed to devise a plan to counter the relentless barrage of attacks and reduced the casualties by a large sum. They learned how to defend after suffering from the same kind of attack in the nick of time. Confirming that releasing another wave wasn¡¯t going to be effective, the archers began to withdraw their bows and decided to rest for the moment. Right after that, an ear shattering silence enveloped the whole bat field coupled with the faint breeze and the hot sun that illuminated the whole surroundings. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The suffocating stench of fresh blood diffused through the air, making the soldiers from both sides to cover their mouths for a brief period of time. Frustration can be seen from the faces of the beast men as they suffered a lot of casualties without even putting up a fight against the empire. ¡°T### f####g ###ps i#l k##l t### ###!!!¡± Furious of the current situation, leader of the beast men began to shout incomprehensible words with saliva spraying from his mouth. A bulky beast man, his body covered with thick muscles and a fearless look could be seen from his eyes. He wore a helmet that covered his hair, adorned with two humongous horns on top of it. An armor made up of thick monster leather with portions of it covered with crude iron was fitted into his large body. Truly a terrifying appearance that deviated from the look of a normal beast man. He continued to shout for about five minutes as to snap out his subordinates from the fear of death and to fuel anger into the hearts of the beast men which could substantially heighten morale. Then suddenly¡­ The large mass of beast men soldiers began to separate into two parts as to make way for the incoming troops previously situated at the back of the army. It¡¯s the cavalry¡­ consisting of beast men riding a sort of creature pretty similar to an ostrich but double the size with its limbs thicker. Most of them were equipped with swords, spears and maces but some were using the crossbows as their primary weapon. Light armor made from the thick monster leather, which prioritized speed over defense, served as their primary equipment. ¡°Uwahhhh!¡± After brandishing their weapons high up in the air, they began to charge straight through the grass fields and into the front of the crimson army while issuing a fearless battle cry. *Tlot tlot tlot tlot* The thundering sound of limbs hammering through the ground could then be heard as the ostrich like creatures ran at breakneck speed towards the ranks of the crimson army. ¡°Spearmen ready yourselves!¡± In response with the move of the enemies, commander Hordzak issued his command, ordering the troops at the very front of the army to ready themselves from the incoming wave of beast men cavalry. ¡°Humm!¡± The spearmen at the front let out a sound as to affirm and started to ready their spears by thrusting it forward, making any reckless charges lead to impalement. ¡°waaahH!¡± *BAAaaM BAaAaaaM* Followed by the momentum of their charge, the cavalry collided with the spearmen producing sounds of metal and flesh crashing together. Most of the cavalry we''re impaled with the metal tipped spears after this reckless move. ¡°Aaaargh¡± The high speed collision successfully disrupted the well-formed rank in the frontline, causing the whole formation to be flawed as the cavalry broke through the spearmen and were currently situated between the ranks of the spearmen and the swordsmen. ¡°Attack!!!¡± An ear shattering sound from the pitch black knight, commander Hordzak reverberated throughout the crimson army, as to not let this opportunity to slip by. ¡°Uwaaaahhh¡± After hearing the orders of the commander, the swordsmen from behind provided support to suppress the cavalry by sandwiching the enemies with the cooperation of the spearmen at the front. *Shing* *Clang* *Cling* *Clang* The battle started immediately, with all the swordsmen unsheathing their swords and began to fight the ostrich mounted beast men. Numerous battle cries could be heard that drowned the grasslands but after a while, the ear shattering silence reclaimed its place as the battle quickly ended in about ten minutes. ¡°HuurraaaaH!¡± The first and second lines were reformed after a while as the cavalry was almost completely decimated, while the soldiers of the empire voiced out shouts of joy and celebration. Judging from the strategy of the beast men it was safe to say that they were unexperienced in wide scale battles such as this. Mr. Leader there must¡¯ve been a total amateur in commanding a large army, leading to their demise in this merciless battlefield. Dead bodies of beast men, humans and mounts littered the lands with the stench of blood even stronger than before, giving no choice to the crimson army but to dispose of it as fast as possible. The supporting personnel made their way to the scene and began to drag the dead bodies to a considerable distance from the battleground. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Meanwhile¡­. At the far back of the formation, commander Hordzak continued to conduct his plans. It seems that his next move was to mobilize the cavalry, not letting the few beast men cavalry, who escaped from the previous battle, retreat to other side of the battlefield. The empire¡¯s cavalry which consisted of knights wearing full plate armor up to the face wielding long lances began to advance forward with the swordsmen and spearmen making way for them. Oh wait a minute... so the commander is going with them...? I could see it clearly from above, the commander¡¯s armor stands out a lot with its pitch black hue. Riding a pitch black horse which was bulkier than most horses in the cavalry, it was also fully armored with plates of steel all over its body. *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* With commander Hordzak leading, the thundering sound of the hooves of all 2000 cavalry resounded through the surrounding area. Not letting the remaining enemy cavalry to retreat, they slaughtered them by thrusting their lances forward, impaling the bodies of the remaining enemies. ¡°Ugahhhhh!¡± Faint screams of agony could be heard as the last beast men cavalry fell from his mount and lied onto ground lifelessly with a puddle of crimson blood beneath it. The beast men from the other side, gnashed their teeth in fury as they witnessed the slaughter of their comrades while commander Hordzak and company continued to advance to the side of the beast men with the whole army following, seemingly wanted to end the fight quickly. Not fazed by their opponents, the beast men stood their ground showing their fearless demeanor in front of the charging forces of the crimson army. ¡°#####o## ##si### ###wW!!¡± Mr. Amateur commander frantically began to issue his next order with his mouth open and closing at a fast rate causing his saliva to spray out from it. Recognizing his large voice that reverberated through their ears, the beast men army began to separate again making way for an enormous entity that easily outsized the tall soldiers in terms of size. An enormous beast that looks like a combination of lion and a jaguar about the size of a mini bus with purple fur covered its whole body. Shackled in enormous metal chains that was handled by about 20 muscular beast men. *Kling* *Klang* *Kling* *Klang* It is then released in front of the army, producing sounds of metal hitting the ground after the shackles that restrained its four limbs were unlocked by the 20 beast men caretakers. After all the chains were removed, the beast stretched its limbs similar to what cats would do after waking up from sleep. *Thud Thud Thud Thud ---------* The crimson army suddenly stopped at its tracks after witnessing the appearance of the enormous beast, seemingly taking precautions of what it would do next. Is it going to attack or not? Then suddenly, the beast began to change its posture, lowering all of its limbs as if readying to pounce the enemies in front it. ¡°ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrr!!!!!!¡± ¡°UwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahHH! It didn¡¯t pounce at them, instead it released an eardrum shattering noise that would surely impair the hearing sense of all people suffering from it. But then, it¡¯s not really just a sound, it was coupled by a powerful shockwave that blew off everything from its path. The soldiers situated at the middle row of the formation was blown off from the ground, just like dried leaves being blown off by an afternoon breeze. Making them release voices filled with fear and confusion as to why would such a thing be possible. About 25% of the army were unable to continue fighting after the shockwave. But the shockwave didn¡¯t disappear after that, it continued to travel straight towards the makeshift camps at the far back where I was currently situated. Oh hell no!! ¡°Uwaaaaaaaah¡± The large surface area of the wagon caught the incoming shockwave, causing it to roll for about ten times, making me dizzy in the process¡­ Announcement!!! To those who read this ff who are wondering why is it not updating for the past few weeks. All I can say is, I was very busy back then. The finals exams got me occupied for the whole 2 weeks and I cant really write a new chap. But do not worry guys... I will never drop this ff until it ends. To be honest, I am currently writing an entry fo the magic writing competition. A sidestory for AWT, to be exact but I don''t really know if I can make it to the deadline. This sidestory will at least be 8k to 10k words so I will e busy for the moment. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. *Sigh* enough with the reasons..... Ill post once its done so please be patient for the meantime. Thank you very much for reading! Toodles~ Rewriting I''m very sorry for those who have waited for so long, for the next chapter I mean. Life''s been busy and I needed to take a break from writing. And about the story I will be re-writing this one from the beginning, and many things will be subjected to changes. BUT STILL I will stick with the main story line and focus more with character development instead of OPing the MC.. hopefully.. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Feel free to visit the new fic page: http://royalroadl.com/fiction/3164 Some may find the story much more slower here, In fact I''ve been practicing quite a bit and managed to get a little better at writing. (lol)