《Silent wrath》


 Chapter 3 – New places

    A bit shorter but here''s another chapter. Enjoy!


    ---


    Chapter 3 ¨C New places


    ''Huh, what happened?... I''m not dead...'' A youth thought, lying on the ground. It was Kai.


    ''Seems I was teleported...'' he stood up.


    ''Well... Am I free of those obnoxious brats now?''


    The room was lit, so he could see what was in the surroundings. It was a surprising sight ¨C there were some men in armor down on the ground, blood oozing out, presumed dead or dying.


    "Grrraaarrgghhhh!" A loud roar came from behind.


    A giant, 5 meter minotaur with a large wound on its chest was standing there, holding a similarly gigantic bloody axe in two hands.


    ''Hmm, I guess these people were just fighting that minotaur, but he came out victorious.''


    However, for the minotaur the battle was not yet over, seeing a new presumed opponent suddenly appearing in front of him. But since he was greatly wounded, he wanted to finish it quickly. Thus, he charged at Kai, swinging down his axe and causing the floor to explode into pieces at impact. He covered a 5 meter distance and finished the movement in a mere half a second.


    However, to the minotaurs surprise, there was no corpse there. Did the person also explode into pieces? In the next moment he realized what had happened, as he felt something land on top of its head. Looking up, he saw that person, smiling. Next, that person''s fist came down and the minotaurs life was no more.


    "Hnnnngghhhh! Damn it!" Kai was having trouble getting his hand out of the minotaur''s crushed skull.


    Soon freed, he looked around the battlefield.


    ''10 dead, huh... No, wait, there was some movement there.''


    Kai went towards a presumably still living person to see their condition.


    "Hello! You alive?" Kai asked, seeing a female knight with broken armor and an open wound on her stomach.


    "Hnnggrr, khak! Khak!" coughing blood, the person couldn''t make any understandable sound.


    "Ahm, I''m sorry, I don''t understand..."


    Kai chuckled for a moment. But joking aside, he crouched down and held his hand above the woman''s body.


    "Healing," a restoration spell. The wound closed in mere seconds, leaving no scar tissue in the end. The woman''s expression eased up visibly, though she didn''t wake up.


    ''Sleeping soundly in a place like this... Well, she did lose a lot of blood. Now, what to do?...''


    As Kai looked around,he saw there was some kind of a chest, a treasure chest. This was probably some sort of boss room, with the minotaur being the boss. And the now dead humans there were probably adventurers.


    He went to check it out. He first inspected it, looking traps. Though he could only look for obvious ones since he was rather careless in regards to hidden secrets and traps. Well, luckily there was nothing.


    It took some strength to open the chest but he managed, and as he opened it, a golden glow welcomed him. Gold coins, jewelry, valuable trinkets, many expensive things were stored there. However, Kai was not at all impressed.


    ''Hmm, these are unfamiliar coins, not belonging to the Kingdom of Freydal at least. Should take a few of those, maybe a gem or two... Hm? What''s this?''


    Kai found something like a gem but different. It was actually a magic crystal, as Kai thought when he remembered some lecture about magic crystals. So the decided to take the single one there, too.


    Now, since there was nothing of interest there anymore, it was time to leave. Luckily, probably because this was the final room, there was only one exit, which meant that that should lead back the way the adventurers had come from, i.e. back outside.


    Unbeknownst to Kai this room was actually just a final room on this level. The secret entrance to the next floor was hidden, and he didn''t care to look for one either way.


    Kai heaved the female adventurer onto his back and started heading whereever the path lead.


    Again, perhaps luck was on his side, he only needed to walk for about an hour to reach outside. That also included making a few circles through the hallways because in the rooms there were many doors, which caused him to end up at the same place a few times. Then again, there were no monsters left alive, only their rapidly decaying corpses that the adventurers had left.


    ''Aah, fresh air!...''


    The air was hot and humid, the sun shined brightly through the the leaves of the tall trees ¨C Kai was in a jungle. He looked back to see where he came out from ¨C it was a temple pyramid, the Mesoamerican kind. It was covered in foilage and fairly inconspicious, probably even unnoticable at a distance where it would just seem like a mound.


    ''Is this just a dungeon, and not a labyrinth?''


    Kai quickly found the adventurer''s camp near the entrance and decided to take a break there. The adventurers had left their supplies and travelling gear there before venturing into the dungeon. They probably hadn''t expected to meet their end so soon.


    Kai laid the woman in a tent and took a seat near the fireplace himself.


    ''So, what now? Since I have no idea where I am, the options are limited. There are no trails leading here, so this should be fairly off from any civilization. Just taking straight off somewhere would eventually lead me somewhere, but it''s too troublesome... So, I guess I''ll just have to wait for the woman to wake up... Now, is there any food here?''


    Kai started munching on some dried meat he found in one of the bags. It was horrible. Well, that''s just because he was used to the food served at the palace, which was definitely high-grade. In truth, the meat was considered average by most adventurers except the picky ones, and was a staple sold at every city, town and any place that adventurers might visit.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    There was nothing to do, so Kai laid down and stared at the sky for hours.


    Finally in the evening when the sun was slowly setting and it was getting dark did the female adventurer wake up.


    "Oh, good morning, or should I say, good evening," Kai greeted her when he saw her sit up.


    "Huh, ah, what happened? This place is?..." she stuttered some words out.


    "It''s your camp outside the dungeon. I just happened to come across this place and find you..."


    "Come across? What about the minotaur?"


    "Oh, umm, he was basically already dead when I found you."


    "And, what about my comrades?" she asked, her voice slightly quivering.


    "Ehh, unfortunately it was too late for them, they were already dead."


    "I see..." The woman hung her head. It seemed like she was crying, but no tears were seen. Adventurers had to accept the likely possibility of death of themselves and their friends when they went exploring unknown places.


    She sat down next to the fireplace, which Kai had lit when it started to get darker.


    "Still, you saved my life and for that I''m grateful. Thank you!" the woman said with a serious but relaxed expression.


    "Ah, yeah... Well, as for the introductions, my name is Hoshino Kai, nice to meet you."


    "Oh, I am Sophie Cleon, ...an adventurer. Nice to meet you."


    "Well, Sophie, could you please tell me where is this place?"


    "Yeah, but... How did you get here, if you don''t know where this is?"


    "Ah, well, actually I was teleported from another labyrinth."


    "Teleported!?"


    "Yeah, as we were exploring a labyrinth, we found a hidden room, and in there was some sort of trap and... As a result I''m here."


    "Hm, that''s interesting... Well, though I''m not absolutely sure, this is probably an ancient Olec outpost. We''re currently in the northern part of Endreal forest south-west of the Empire of Walhaven."


    "Uhuh, that''s quite far..." Kai looked into the corner of his eyes, trying to imagine his location in the world.


    "Far? Where were you teleported from?"


    "Hm? Though I didn''t mean in that sense, but still, I was teleported from the Kingdom of Freydal."


    "That far!? Wow... Was the labyrinth you were exploring a special one?"


    "No, just a normal one, actually a low level one even."


    Anyway, as they discussed the causes for the teleportation they didn''t reach any definite conclusion. Sophie presented some plausible theories, considering the connection with this Olec outpost and history of Olec Empire, a little unfitting for a mere adventurer. She must have a decent education to be that knowledgeable.


    "Now, I must say, I''m indebted to you with my life. Is there any way I could repay you?" Sophie suddenly said.


    "Oh, I don''t really care though, but..." while eyeing Sophie intently, "With your body?" he said softly.


    Sophie was actually quite beautiful. If not for the slightly dirty armor and a bit rugged clothes that masked her figure, one would immediately be captivated by her beauty. She had deep green eyes and long wavy blonde hair, and even a bit style could be seen from the combination of the armor pieces.


    "Yes, certainly. I will dutifully protect and serve you," Sophie answered immediately with a straight face. Kai''s intent had been misunderstood.


    "..." A smile crept up on Kai''s face, tilting his head and eyeing Sophie intensely again.


    Seeing that, Sophie got confused for a moment, but then a deep red blush appeared on her face, "Oh, uhm, you meant!... No, sorry, I don''t know... I..." she started stuttering and fretting.


    "Heh, I was surprised by your sudden response, too. I actually said it as a joke. I really don''t care about you repaying me or something," Kai explained with a relaxed smile.


    "Ah, is that so..." she sighed in relief.


    "However, if you want to..." he added, hinting at that meaning.


    "Eh!? I-, I CAN''T DO THAT!" She yelled, her face brightening up again.


    "Pft-huahahahaa, yes, yes," Kai just laughed at her shy but cute behaviour, "Anyway, we should get rest for now. Tomorrow I''d like to ask of you that you''d lead us towards some civilization, if that''s okay?"


    "Ah, yeah, sure... I''ll stay on guard for now."


    "Then, wake me up when it''s my shift if I don''t myself, okay?" Kai winked at her before heading to sleep. Sophie just turned her gaze away at that.


    The night was calm. There weren''t any attacks by wild beasts or roaming monsters, so they both got good sleep.


    Also, Kai woke up himself when it was about time for his shift at guarding the camp. Then, when Sophie passed him to go to the tent, she could hear some repressed laughter "fufufuu", so she had a little trouble falling asleep, worrying about a different kind of an attack while she''s sleeping.


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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

    Chapter 1 ¨C Introduction


    ''Oh, what''s this?''


    The scenery had suddenly changed. Just a moment ago this youth, Kai, had been at his home, but now was in a totally unfamiliar room. It didn''t even seem to be of the same era, from modern information age to this seemingly medieval era.


    It was a large room made of pure stone, intricate pillars surrounding the heightened platform in the center, on which Kai was currently standing. Sun was shining down from straight above the head, through a colorful patterned circular window, and concentrated rigth onto the stage.


    "Ooh-- Great companship of heroes! Please, you must help us, a great evil is upon us!" someone said, their desperate echo drawing attention right away..


    Now looking at it, there were also some other people present, maybe around 20 or so at first glance, but none of them were familiar. No, actually there was one familiar face, but the other didn''t seem to notice Kai.


    The group of people, who were obviously not locals, seemed to consist of people around high-school age like Kai and up to around 25 years old. And before the group stood a priest-looking person, the one who had just spoken.


    Of course, this sudden appearance at a new place can be scary, but since there wasn''t any imminent threat, everyone was just confused.


    The priest was kneeling and bowing his head to the group, and keeping quiet. It took a few seconds until one of the strangers regained his composure and managed to speak.


    "Please, there''s no need bow like that... Rather, it would be very helpful if you first explained this situation to us..." He was probably a college student and looked fairly charismatic.


    "Of course, but first please follow me to the resting place, the summoning must have given a bit of a shock. You can rest there and will be served food as well, I will explain everything there."


    Though this situation was a bit unbelievable and they were hesitant, but they felt like they had no choice, seeing knights in armor standing at the edges of the current room. At the same time, the kind words of the priest were appealing enough to trust him the most out of the other strangers.


    The summoned group quietly followed. When they started walking Kai happened to bump into that acquintance of his.


    "Oh! Kai-kun, you''re also here!?"


    "Yeah, hello, Tsukimoto-san. What a coincidence meeting you here..."


    "Ee, I see you''re still as carefree as ever... You have any idea what''s going on?"


    "Nope, not a clue," Kai was freely smiling as he said it.


    - - -


    A bit later, when everyone had taken seats in what seemed like a conference room, tables and chairs near the walls pointing towards the center and one open end, where the priest was standing. A variety of snacks were also served, some of which looked totally unfamiliar, by women dressed in nun robes.


    "Now then, as this was probably quite an abrupt incident for you and you''re probably confused, I will now explain everything, and please, if you have any questions, feel free to ask... I am the head priest Vlaim. This is the world of Luavheim, a different place from the one you were summoned, although we couldn''t choose between which world to summon from, only according to potential."


    "Then, is this some sort of fantasy world, and we were summoned across here from our own?" a boy curiously asked.


    "That is correct," the priest calmly continued, "Those summoned, you people here, are the chosen ones and have great potential beyond those who live here. People like you are known as Great Heroes here."


    "But, for what purpose are we here?" one of the adults asked.


    "That is, as prophesy has foretold, in the recent years the demon nation has increased its activities, and soon they will wage war on this whole world, bringing destruction everywhere. However, the same prophesy says that heroes from another world will appear and defeat the demon king leading the forces, bringing peace for at least another millenia."


    "Are you telling us to go to war? We aren''t some warriors!" a grown woman, who was visibly panicked, burst out.


    "Please, there is nothing to worry about, I will explain some more... As I said you heroes have great potential, meaning that you have a much greater growth rate, your skills gain experince faster and you rank up easier. But at the same time, as to not expose you to real danger, you will be trained by instructors and accompanied by knights when you go exploring..."


    "Ah, could you please explain the ''skills'' and ''rank''? What are they?" the same boy calmly asked.


    "Hm? Ah yes, I''ve heard that not all worlds have the system for this. Then, first is that everything contains mana and it is also everywhere in the surroundings. Mana is the medium of using magic. Skills are basically techniques that use mana to generate an effect, and the more you use a skill, the more proficient you became at it. At the same time, a rank is assigned to a class, which you will also receive later on. A class is basically an affinity towards certain groups of skill masteries, for example, a warrior''s skills are mostly close combat related, swordmanship, dueling, and so on. And a rank is the total level of mastery of your skills."


    Really, a fantasy world, almost like a game.


    "Now, this would be enough for now," the priest continued, "Currently we''re at the temple of Passagus, if you could please follow me, I''ll lead you to the palace grounds nearby. At the palace you will be given rooms where you''ll be staying at."


    Well, as there wasn''t much point to not listening to him, everyone just followed.


    It seemed to be evening as the sun was quite low. As they exited the temple, which was fairly grand from the inside already, an even more incredible sight welcomed them. A huge castle with many towers, intricate architecture, and around them there were more buildings and walls. They were probably inside some sort of fort.


    Entering the castle they stopped in the luxurios foyer, then the priest spoke again, "Tomorrow you''ll be having an audience with the king, but for today please rest. If you have any questions feel free to ask, but tomorrow you''ll understand this world better anyway. And if you have any requests, you are also free to make them to any of the servants here."


    Another big group of people appeared. With a quick glance there seemed to be about 20 maid-looking people and as much knights.


    "They will lead you to your respective rooms. If you want to look around you can, but it would be a better time tomorrow. Now, please..."


    And that was it. They were first lead to a long corridor where there were many doors. Those were rooms for guests which were now given to everyone, to each a separate room, and a knight and a maid appointed to each one.


    Kai wasn''t interested in staying in his room, so, wasting no time, after seeing it he bravely turned around and went sightseeing the castle. From the door the knight and maid appointed to him started following immediately.


    Kai was humming a tune for awhile, but soon stopped and turned to ask,


    "It''s a bit distracting with you following so close by, are we prisoners or something?"


    "Not at all. We''re just appointed to serve and help if you have any requests or questions, you''re free to explore the castle as you wish," the maid''s voice was unhesitating, as if the answer had been thoroughly practiced before.


    "I see... Well, might I know your name then, please?"


    She was taken aback by this, expecting some kind of different question, still,


    "Yes, my name is Lia, 57th maid of the royal palace."


    "And, this Mr Knight here?" Kai asked, looking at the man in armor.


    He took a moment until he replied,


    "Kust, knight of the special division of the royal guard."


    "Well, nice to make your acquintance, my name is Kai, just a student..." with a polite smile Kai said.


    Kai just walked around, looked out the windows into the courtyard and just merrily enjoyed the sights. He tried chatting with the two following him, to their surprise asking about simple things such as daily life at the palace and such, nothing about this world or how the situation was. Though they had answers prepared for such questions, they weren''t needed. Actually, the simple topics were rather relaxing compared to serious ones which would have to be explained extensively.


    From time to time Kai talked a little about life on Earth and his own life and activities. He was quite talkative and easygoing, not something one would expect from someone thrown into a foreign world.  Still, all this helped the three to get to know each other.


    When it had gotten dark Kai returned to his room. Having nothing to do, as soon as he laid on the bed and thought of falling asleep, he did exactly that.


    - - -


    Early morning.


    Having fallen asleep early Kai woke up just before dawn. Again, since he was alone he got bored passingly inspecting the room. There wasn''t much there ¨C it was just a guest room, but since it was in a palace it was still fairly extravagant.


    He exited the room, and there stood a knight. It wasn''t Kust, but someone else.


    "Morning!" Kai greeted him.


    The knight jerked and turned to Kai, looking at him wide-eyed, he had not expected the person to wake up that early. He was actually just a guard on night shift, Kai''s personal bodyguard and maid would come a bit later. Since the guard couldn''t leave, Kai assured him,


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement."I''ll just go to the garden and enjoy the morning, when the others start to wake up I''ll come back."


    And so he did.


    A large garden. Bushes, flowers, trees, a canopy. The air was fresh and cool, the plants were covered in morning dew. Kai was just sitting quietly on a bench, feeling the surroundings and listening to the occasional bird song.


    "Kai-sama, there you are!"


    Kai opened his eyes to the sudden voice. He had been sitting there for awhile now and the maid was looking for him.


    "Oh, good morning," Kai greeted her with a smile.


    "Yes, good morning. But, please refrain from walking around without an escort."


    "What? Is there a problem?"


    "Not at all, but it''s just regulations that require us to accompany the guests."


    "Right..."


    "Well, breakfast will be served in fifteen minutes. If you would please follow me, I''ll lead you to the dining room."


    When Kai arrived just on time, the others were already there.


    "Ah, Kai-kun, where did you disappear to yesterday?! I had to be all alone in this huge place..."


    There was one spoke up as Kai was walking towards a free seat.


    Her name was Miyako Tsukimoto. They had been classmates for some time until Kai transferred to another school for his third year. They got along fairly well and were on quite good terms, maybe it''d be suitable to call them friends even.


    "Well, good morning," Kai first greeted her with a polite smile, "Anyway, I just went out sightseeing. I just wanted to know what kind of place we''re at."


    Miyako''s looks were well above average, she was actually quite beautiful, and in addition had a good personality. If not idolised, then she was definitely looked up to. At least, that was definitely the case in the class back in second year of high school. She had black hair and fair skin, and deep blue eyes that accentuated her gentle smile.


    Kai almost went to sit at a free spot further away, but when Miyako tugged his sleeve he decided to sit next to her.


    The head priest, Vlaim was also there to accompany them, as he was currently the one closest to them and the main person who explained things.


    It was a feast, perhaps unsuitable for a morning. A few weren''t used to eating heavily in the morning, but on the other hand Kai was eating hungrily, chugging down quite a large amount of food.


    After the meal the head priest began speaking,


    "In an hour you will be having an audience with the king, you''ll be introduced, and after that it''s time to receive your class and rank evaluation."


    There were some murmurs. Compared to the day before, everyone was more relaxed and could think calmly. Thus the woman from the day before, now also unafraid, had to ask,


    "Well, although you explained yesterday why we''re here, is there any way to return to our own world?"


    The priest stilled his gaze forward, closed his eyes, took an unaudible deep breath, and then started explaining with an appropriate expression,


    "It certainly is possible, however, unfortunately not immediately. For your summoning a vast amount of mana and magic crystals were consumed, in addition there''s a need for communicating with the gods also. It will take some time until everything is prepared, so until then it''s a good idea to make yourselves comfortable here."


    "That is to say, we''re still requested to fight these demons, as you said before?"


    The priest smiled politely, "There''s no need to worry. While that is true, our nation''s soldiers will always accompany you and you won''t be exposed to any real threat."


    And thus they arrived in front of the king. The throne room was what one might expect from a ruler of a country ¨C scupltures, decorations and paintings on the wall, knights standing next to intircately engraved pillars, and finally the gilded throne. Noone was used to seeing such grandiose display, as they were looking around in awe. However, from the side one could notice that Kai''s reaction was much more refrained.


    "My king, this is the group of great heroes that has arrived to fight against the coming evil," the head priest introduced them as he kneeled, "Heroes, this is king Reginald III of the Kingdom of Freydal."


    "I welcome you, great heroes, to my magnificient kingdom," his clear voice boomed throughout the chamber, "Though you may have arrived here abruptly, if you help the kingdom you will most certainly be rewarded greatly. Still, you are guests of my kingdom and will nevertheless be treated appropriately."


    And that was basically all ¨C a meeting with the king. The ''visitors'' saw who the king was and the king just welcomed them as guests. His curt welcoming words were comforting and warm, instilling calm, however, there was also a hint of barely noticeable rigidity in them for whatever unknown reason.


    Then some sort of orb was brought and put on a pedestal, together with a big bunch of what seemed to be some sort of tablets.


    "Now you will receive your class and rank," the priest turned towards the group, "They are both not forcefully appointed, but actually this orb here will read your soul essence and then, and according to your affinities and personality, a suitable class is given."


    As he explained he lead them to it.


    "And these crystal tablets are a recording of your class, rank, your skills, and more different things. Let me demonstrate."


    He took one into his hand and after a moment it slightly lit up. Turning it and showing it to the group, this was displayed there,


    -Name - Vlaim


    -Race - Human


    -Age - 52


    -Class ¨C Priest of light


    -Rank ¨C Expert 3


    Some ''ooh''s could be heard. The tablet was very interesting. Though from the surroundings and architecture this seemed to be medieval age, the tablet was almost like a tablet PC from modern era.


    "As you can see, these five are the main pieces of information that are usually displayed. These 5 are important in everyday life for adventurers and people doing quests in general. Now, please one by one grab a tablet and place your hand on the orb. It takes 3 seconds to evaluate, after which the tablet records the information and can display it."


    The first one to try was the boy who had interestedly been asking questions earlier. Everything went smoothly, the orb shined for a second, then the tablet displayed its contents,


    -Name ¨C Tim Honda


    -Race ¨C Human


    -Age ¨C 17


    -Class ¨C Guardian (Overseer)


    -Rank ¨C Intermediate 5


    "..." seeing the display Vlaim was surprised speechless, "Well, this is quite extraordinary... But, it''s just fitting for a great hero such as yourself."


    Those were words of praise. Hearing that, some of the others also wanted to see, and as they did, they got really excited.


    Thus, one by one they were getting their classes assigned. There was much chatting and excitement at this game-like setting. The people seemed to be adapting fairly well.


    The people who were strangers just the day before, were now getting along pretty well. It''s just how it is when you''re in the same situation ¨C suddenly appearing in another world to be requested to go to war ¨C so it was easy to begin socializing.


    And finally, the last person to acquire his assessment was Kai.


    "..." Kai was intently looking at his tablet after the process, ''I made a mistake...''.


    "Is there something wrong?"


    "Well, there are just question marks..."


    "Please, let me see..." as the priest inspected it, he was surprised. Behind every point really were just question marks, even the name wasn''t displayed, "Umm, please try again, there must be some kind of mistake."


    "Hm, sure...", ''Now, let''s try doing it correctly...''


    After the unexpected second try, the tablet showed the data as it should.


    -Name ¨C Kai Hoshino


    -Race ¨C Human


    -Age ¨C 17


    -Class ¨C The Supporter


    -Rank ¨C 0


    "..." Now the priest narrowed his eyes and looked at it in silence.


    "Is there something wrong?" Kai asked with a joyful voice, unfazed by the priest''s changed demeanour.


    "Umm, well... No, nothing''s wrong," however, his face that was surprised a moment before, now showed disappointment, even though he tried to hide it.


    "Hey, Kai-kun, how was it?" the one who showed interest was Miyako, "Here, this was how it went for me."


    -Name ¨C Miyako Tsukimoto


    -Race ¨C Human


    -Age ¨C 17


    -Class ¨C Elementalist


    -Rank ¨C Intermediate 1


    Hers was also comparably high-spec from everyone else. By rank she was actually 3rd, everyone else being in the beginner ranks, which, after being explained later, was the expected result. Immediately being intermediate was quite rare.


    "Oh, Tsukimoto-san... Well, though my rank says 0, I don''t really know what it means though..."


    "Hmm, well, we''ll know later, nothing to it right now," Miyako said freely. She, too, as the situation had proved to be harmless, at least for now, was excited about the magical setting of the place.


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 Chapter 2 – His own path

    Chapter 2 ¨C His own path


    A month has passed by.


    After everyone had received their classes, the class and ranking system was explained. In addition, how this world works ¨C the basics of mana and magic, skills, leveling and such.


    The daily activities consisted of some lectures about the world ¨C geography, politics etc ¨C and training their skills.


    Using skills gave proficiency, which made it easier to use and increased its effect. As a rank-up was difficult to obtain, most time was used on practicing and leveling the skills. During the whole time most only gained one, a few two levels of rank.


    The only exception was Kai, whose tablet still showed rank 0.


    Soon after the second day when Kai had shown no progress, small amounts of ridicule began. It was mostly by some students around his age. They were probably getting arrogant. It was probably somewhat of their nature perhaps, to look down on others who''re doing worse than themselves, to make themselves feel better in return.


    "Hey, Kai, if you''re lazying around you won''t gain any levels, you know," a guy mocked him as Kai was staring into empty space.


    By the way, the people who had been summoned weren''t all Japanese, there were people from other nations also. Actually, Kai, Miyako and one other guy were the only three Japanese people. As for how they understood each other, magic was probably involved, which also enabled them to understand this world''s spoken language.


    Now, as it happens, a supporter class is basically one that gives buffs, however, the problem with Kai is that his rank is 0, not even beginner 1, but 0.


    Now, though a class shows what affinities you have, it''s just that. It doesn''t mean that you can''t learn any other skills. And from this comes the problem ¨C beginner level buffs can be learned by almost everybody, buffing yourself is even innate to experienced fighters. In addition, buffing oneself has a stronger effect than buffing someone else, it''s due to distance. Thus, having such a low rank Kai''s buffs would effectively be useless.


    The ending of the first month represented that it was time for their first exploration of a labyrinth. Since it will happen the next day, everyone was given a day off for resting.


    Kai was just in the garden relaxing.


    He looked for a spot and laid down on the grass, staring at the sky quietly. Like that he laid there for hours.


    "Oh, Kai-kun, here you are!"


    ''Miyako again... She just happens to be capable of running into me everywhere...'' Kai thought.


    "Yeah, what''s up?" managing a kind smile, Kai turned to her.


    "Oh, don''t give me that. So often you just disappear and go missing for hours. One time it might cause problems, you know..."


    "Yeah, but thankfully I have a capable lookout, right," with an innocent smile Kai looked at her.


    "What?..." Miyako''s face slightly blushed red for just a short moment, "Anyway, come on, it''s time for dinner."


    "Yes, mom..."


    "Hey!"


    Seeing Kai and Miyako together again was not a pretty sight for a certain someone. For that person it actually caused something more than annoyance, specifically anger, directed towards Kai.


    ''How dare that lowlife chat happily with Miyako. He should know his place!...''


    In a month''s time, when people spend time together, do group activities, in this case training, together, it''s completely natural that bonds would be formed. So, in this case also, it wouldn''t be surprising if someone got well acquinted, even became friends with Miyako. However, as it is, jealousy, no matter how ugly, is also a natural feeling.


    Some time later in the evening.


    There was a knock on the door. Opening the door, a familiar friendly face greeted Kai.


    "Hello, Kai-kun, I hope I''m not bothering you."


    Kai returned a polite smile, "Not at all, what is it this late in the evening, Tsukimoto-san?"


    "Well, nothing much... I just wanted to talk about tomorrow a little. You know, tomorrow we''ll finally be leaving the city to go adventuring..."


    "Yeah, I can talk, but maybe you''d like to come inside? Standing here at the doorway might get a little uncomfortable."


    "Ah, sure," but as Miyako entered, she realised what she just did.


    ''Oohh, I just entered a boy''s room alone this late. What are these clothes! I''m wearing such light clothes! How could I be so careless... I hope...'' she thought. Unconciously she had already also sat down on his bed, while Kai took a chair for himself.


    It was, after all, his private room in the palace.


    "So, what was it? Going adventuring... Are you nervous?" Kai tilted his head as he leaned on the backrest..


    "It''s not that... well, maybe a little bit, but actually I''m more worried... about you..."


    She was somewhat of a mother figure, looking out for other''s safety in a caring manner. This was certainly a quality which had a strong impact on her ability to form friendly relationships with other people.


    "Me!? Heh, what''s there to worry about, I''ll be okay," with an exaggererated shrug, Kai waved his hand as if to say ''what are you on about?''.


    "But! Your rank is still 0. You listened to the lectures and have seen the abilities of others, not even mentioning those of the instructors, they are all much higher level than you."


    "Yes, yes. But that is just that, a level, real combat skills are something else. Still, we''ll also be accompanied by the knights anyway, the trip is just to get combat experience against monsters, right?"


    "Yes, I know... But somehow still I can''t quite calm down..." her voice was low, but she wasn''t exactly afraid, she was thinking.


    "Then, what to do?"


    Miyako looked down for a moment, then raised her face and with a resolute expression she declared, "I''ll protect you!"


    First wide-eyed, then pondering in silence as he stared into Miyako''s unswerving eyes, finally a faint smirk ran across Kai''s face, before he responded,


    "Oh, a girl protecting a man?" he stood up from the chair and started taking slow steps towards her, "It''s an interesting proposition, however, there''s something else that''s necessary for it, you know."


    Kai sat down next to Miyako, leaned towards her, and gently said,


    "It''s trust."


    Her heart was racing from Kai coming so close to her, and also by his sudden change of behaviour, and his soft voice next to her ears.


    Kai was slowly leaning closer and closer, almost kissing her. She nudged herself from the shock and fell a little backwards, but thankfully managing to support herself with her arms before being completely laid down. However, still it was almost as if she was accepting him. Kai didn''t stop.


    But everything stopped when Kai''s hand touched her inner thigh. *Slap* That touch had shocked Miyako awake from the daze and she slapped him.


    "This was not what I came here for, I was just... You idiot!" Miyako ran out of the room teary-eyed.


    ''My, my... Did my teasing go too far?''


    And thus morning arrived.


    Most preparations for the trip were done by the accompanying knights the day before, thus there wasn''t much for the ''heroes'' to prepare.


    Breakfast was eaten, and then everyone gathered in the courtyard.


    "I will now explain what kind of labyrinth we''ll be exploring this time," the captain of the knights started speaking, "First, it''s just a common labyrinth found most often and thus has already been mostly mapped. However, as you know, because monsters tend to reappear after being killed, the insides of the labyrinth are never totally safe. Still, as this one is relatively low-level, it''s a good starting place to get your first experience fighting monsters and perhaps even a demon. Now, any questions?"


    There were none. Actually, what the captain explained had already been taught during lectures, but just for safety he reminded them the basics of what a labyrinth is.


    "Now then, we''ll head to the stables where the carriages have been prepared. They will take us to the outpost just outside the labyrinth."


    Thus they set out.


    It was a relatively long and tiresome trip. Although the labyrinth wasn''t that far, but since the carriages weren''t as fast as cars, it took around half a day. It meant sitting quietly in a carriage for hours. Well, it wasn''t that quiet as chatting between the passngers naturally occurred. Luckily there were stone roads and they were well maintained, so the ride was smooth.


    The outpost was next to the entrance of the underground labyrinth. They left most supplies there, since they''ll be coming back later and stay the night there.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings."Now, for today we''ll only explore the first floor and take it easy, tomorrow we can delve deeper and see more," the captain stated.


    Aboveground was something like a mound with an entrance going into it, a cave. There was nothing there.


    Further into it a crypt appeared.


    "That''s the entrance to the lower first level. From there on it''ll be the real deal, stay on guard."


    They set up a battle formation they had practiced many times.


    In the vanguard were melee fighters, i.e. those whose class was close combat oriented, also accompanied by a few knights and their captain.


    The middle guard consisted mostly of ranged damage dealers, basically archers and magic users, and also a few knights if some monster got through the front.


    Finally, in the rear guard were those specialized in support. In addition there were a few ranged attackers, and a summoner. And to mention a few knights also.


    Kai was in the last group, and even there furthest in the back.


    The first clash was with some hideous bugs. However, they were neutralized very quickly.


    "Good,  you managed to stay calm and deal with them efficiently. Continue like we''ve practiced, and everything will go well."


    And so they went on. It wasn''t actually a maze, but the corridors still split up multiple times. Going one way they would reach a room. The rooms usually had the highest amount and density of monsters, but since they were also fairly large, everyone could partake in the fights and fulfill their role.


    Well, everyone except Kai. The others doubted his abilities, saying he''s a low rank and that he''d just get in the way, they didn''t let him away from his spot. He was basically leeching off others.


    There''s another thing in the system besides class and rank. It was something similar to traditional levels. While it couldn''t be displayed, if one killed a monster, they gained "experience points" that were different from skill proficiency.


    It was something like this ¨C every living being has innate vitality and mana, when one kills another, those essences are scattered into the surroundings and can be absorbed by whoever''s present.


    Absorbing condensed vitality and mana can enhance ones body, their vitality and physical abilities. It increases health, mana, and stats, so to say. Actually, mana is always everywhere in the air but in too low of concentration to have an effect normally, when one ran out of their own mana by casting spells for example, they''d slowly replenish it from the air.


    So, while Kai couldn''t really use his skills, he gained slight amounts of "experience" from the monsters killed. He was in a party of sorts with shared experience, to put into game terms.


    Still, since the group was quite large and the monsters relatively weak, the increase in stats wasn''t actually noticeable. Only at the end of the day did some notice that they felt somewhat stronger.


    Today''s campaign ended uneventfully. Not that it was bad, it''s just that everything went just according to plan ¨C getting their first experience battling monsters, seeing what a labyrinth actually is, and so on.


    Some time in the outpost, evening.


    "Haha, you did well today, Hoshino."


    "Pft, yeah, continue being useless tomorrow too, yeah."


    Two kids, as Kai saw them at least, they were actually around his age and a year younger, mocked him for his performance during the day, but as usual, he just ignored them.


    "What are you doing, always letting them ridicule you like that?"


    "Tsukimoto-san...  Those insults are not worth troubling myself for."


    "It''s not about that, if you keep letting others make fun of you like that, it''ll escalate and some day it''ll come back at you. You''ll miss something that you otherwise would have wanted."


    "Hmm, well, if you say so. I guess I''ll try to be more aggressive from, say, tomorrow on..."


    "Aggressive... is not necessary. Just respond in a way that they''d lose interest."


    "Yeah, sure..."


    The next day.


    After morning practices they set out once again towards the labyrinth. Only, this day they''d venture deeper into the ground.


    It was a relatively small labyrinth, only going 25 floors underground. The whole trip was supposed to last a week. On the first day they only got into the first level, today they''d planned to go until the 5th, and so on the next days they''d try to go even deeper. The final destination would be the deepest level, however, it all depended on how well they do.


    So, during the course of the day they slowly battled their way to the 5th floor.


    Taking breaks as needed, checking their equipment, eating when hungry, they finally achieved their objective, now it was only left to finish the last one of the day.


    By the way, they had almost cleared the first floor the day before, so because of that there weren''t any mobs there today. The spawn rate of monsters varies, but for a relatively easy dungeon as this the respawn rate was usually around a week.


    As for the kinds of monsters they met, they were mostly different crawlers, that is, bugs again. On the 4th floor they met their first humanoid monsters. It was a lizard-like monster, however, it was dealt with fairly quickly as it barely had any armor, only some cloth covering it, and barely any scales. It was something more like an amphibian, a disgusting human frog.


    Now, after reaching the 5th floor.


    "Seems you''re doing quite well. We might increase the pace tomorrow and actually completely finish the labyrinth on time," the knight captain addressed the group.


    Fighting their way through rooms with monster, they cleared the floor with a steady pace.


    It was time for a break. Few started to eat, some just sat down to rest, and some, those whose role was support, were relatively okay, which also included the knights.


    "Hm? What are these carvings?" A woman, who once had been awfully shaken by being thrown into an unknown world, now calmly said while walking along the wall of the room. She was a cook by the way.


    "What are you talking about?" the captain was curious, "There shouldn''t be any markings here..."


    Then again, though the labyrinth has been cleared multiple times and mapped, the previous visitors were mostly careless and only cared about clearing the place, so they rarely were interested in inspecting some walls.


    Then, as she touched a marking, the wall began to dimly glow, but soon the glow disappeared.


    "Hm? This might be some magical wall... Seems safe, try flowing mana into it," the captain said.


    As she did, the wall glowed brighter. Then, some creaking could be heard, and after a moment the wall started to move. It was actually a thick stone door that opened a way to some unknown place.


    "A hidden room? Should we explore it?"


    "Sure, why not, we can take it." The group discussed.


    So they went on.


    It was a long hallway, winding and probably going over and under the other corridors.


    Finally they arrived at a room. However, it was empty, there were no monsters there.


    The only notable thing was a pedestal in the middle, and again some mysterious carvings on the wall and the pedestal.


    "Can anyone understand what these mean?"


    Noone could.


    Then, might as well try touching it.


    However, it was something that they shouldn''t have done. As it was touched, it started violently flashing in different colors, lighting over everyone multiple times. They backed away, but it didn''t stop.


    "Leave now!" the captain shouted.


    Everyone started panickedly exiting into the hallway. There was pushing, and in the commotion a person tripped. As the few last got out, they looked back and saw Kai on the ground.


    "Kai!"


    Just as he was getting up, the orb shined brightly and a blue sphere started to expand out of it. In just a moment it filled the whole room, trapping Kai inside. A second later everything besides the pedestal was dissolved into particles and disappeared.


    "NOOO!"


    And such was the group''s and Miyako''s last sight of Kai for a long time. At some point, that is, when they had returned to the castle, he was announced dead by, presumably, disintegration.


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 Chapter 4 – Strong opponents?

    Surprisingly, for me writing the fight scenes was quite enjoyable and easy [th_084_.gif] . I hope that you will find it enjoyable to read as well.


    ---


    Chapter 4 ¨C Strong opponents?


    Morning air was cool and fresh compared to the humid air in the afternoon. Birds were chirping along as dawn was breaking. The forest got livelier by the second, as many small animals got to their daily activities.


    Then, there was a camp, a few tents, and person, sitting beside the smoldering fire. As he stared at the embers, some small shuffling was heard from one of the tents, there was movement.


    "Morning! Did you have a nice sleep?" Kai greeted Sophie as she got out of the tent. They both had 2 shifts at guard duty, thus the last one now was Kai''s.


    "Ehm, yeah... Good morning," Sophie greeted back with a rested expression.


    "Actually, I got to thinking," Kai started speaking after having eaten breakfast, "since I''m not in a hurry anywhere, that might as well explore the labyrinth here. You said that there should be more to it than just the treasure room, right? What are you going to do?"


    "Ah, yes, I''ll follow you, of course. I must repay my debt to you."


    With a troubled smile, he tried to politely refuse, which was more due to her diligence in insisting that she should repay her debt, rather than coming along from complete free will, but Sophie still insisted.


    "Okay then, we''ll go together," Kai resigned to her persistence.


    "Ah, but, this is quite a high level labyrinth. Our group of 10 was annihilated at the first floor boss."


    "Eeh, there''s no problem. I want to go deeper," Kai stated strongly.


    "Then, may I ask what class and rank you are? So that we could make a battle plan according to our strengths. By the way, my class is-," there was a slight pause, in which Sophie put some consideration into her words, "Wind Knight, and my rank is advanced 3."


    "Ooh, that is quite incredible!"


    "No, well, the leader of our group was the highest and rank expert 1, but now even he is dead..."


    "Well, I am The Supporter, and my rank is zero," Kai said unexpectedly proudly.


    Sophie was dumbfounded, but managed a polite smile and said, "...Um, I don''t mean to be rude, but... A rank 0 supporter?"


    "It''s THE Supporter, I must emphasize. Is there a problem?"


    "How do I say this... I think it''s really not a good idea to venture into the labyrinth with just us, the monsters are strong there, not to mention the boss..."


    "*sigh, Then I guess I''ll have to go alone..." Though he sighed, his tone was resolute.


    "Agh, I can''t let you do that, I''m coming along."


    "Great!" Kai smiled happily, which made Sophie feel a bit weird.


    And thus the two soon started heading back to the boss room.


    On the way Sophie explained what kind of monsters they found on the first floor and what kind to expect on the next levels, though she wasn''t totally sure. As for the monsters, they were strong hobgoblins and their evolved variant, 1st degree ogres.


    They quickly reached the final room.


    "Now, to search for the entrance? How good are you at that?" Kai asked.


    "Not good, I must say."


    "Is that so..." Kai responded dejectedly, "Guess we''ll just have to search thoroughly..."


    It took another half an hour to find the not-actually-that-hidden entrance. The two were just unlucky in starting in the wrong place and the room was also quite large. Still, finding the entrance was rewarding.


    As a stone block moved out of the way, it revealed some stairs leading directly down. There were many different ways of moving between floors, such as wind tunnels, jump platforms, local teleportation, but of course, also the most common one ¨C normal stairs.


    Going down the set of stairs, as they entered the next room, they were immediately faced with a minotaur. One floor''s boss is the next one''s common foe? Actually, the one they faced now was much weaker than the boss variant, however, still stronger than the ogres on the previous floor.


    Sophie was the vanguard and Kai would be the support ¨C was the plan that she proposed, but Kai was uncomfortable with it. He insisted that he can actually fight, too, but nevertheless the first battle ended without him getting any action.


    "Okay okay, if you so want to fight, I won''t stop you. When you''re in trouble, I''ll help..." Kai was the one who actually said that, "you blood crazed woman..." he silently muttered.


    And so it did go ¨C only Sophie was fighting when they reached a new room with monsters. It took time but slowly she managed to clear them. However, fatigue soon set in.


    "Now then, tag out?" Kai asked joyfully.


    "No, I can go on, just let me take a small break..."


    "Argh, WHY ARE YOU SO OBSTINATE!" Kai yelled out, shocking Sophie. He then continued with a calmer voice, "Trust me, my self-applied buffs are quite good, I can handle myself going against these enemies."


    Sophie remained silent, but eventually nodded in acceptance.


    "Very well, now then..."


    When Sophie had rested they went on with Kai now leading the way.


    In the hallway they met a patrol of 5 medium armored ogres wielding maces and spiked clubs.


    Whereas Sophie would have confronted them at a distance one by one, using her buckler and sword effectively, Kai dived right inbetween the group. Seeing the reckless action she wanted to join in into the fight, but then she saw what the basis for Kai''s confidence was.


    The ogres were also momentarily dazed by Kai running so near to them that they didn''t react right away. That was a mistake.


    Kai jumped up towards the 3 meter high ogre and kneed him in the face, causing him to fall over. The power behind the strike surprised both the ogre and Sophie. Compared to the weight of ogres Kai was tiny, but still managed to push an ogre over. In the next moment Kai jump-kicked another ogre in the back of the head, making it run face first hard into the ground.


    By now, 2 seconds since the beginning of the battle, the other ogres started reacting. Though Kai had managed to incapacitate two very quickly, they were actually quite strong.


    Kai was surrounded by three, so 2 swinged their clubs at him while the third stood waiting for him to step into its range. However, Kai stayed put and dodged the first club coming from above, and then jumped over the second one coming from the side.


    The second ogre had an opening at its side and Kai perfectly took it. He stepped into range and delivered a crushing blow.  Amazingly, the ogre''s ribs cracked from Kai''s punch. But he wasn''t done so he kicked the back of the knee so hard that the leg swung from under it and the ogre fell down. And then just in time Kai dodged the second strike coming from the other ogre again.


    ''I should end this quicker, they are boring opponents'' Kai thought.


    Even faster now Kai ran up to ogre recovering from its overswing and jumped and kneed it in the face, and then also elbowed the top of the head. Even then, rather than falling down, Kai grabbed onto the ogre''s head. Because the ogres were in rage due to some puny human messing around with them, the third ogre with the mace wildly swung it towards Kai. However, Kai just turned himself over to the ogre''s back so the mace ran into its face.


    ''One dead.''


    With swift movements Kai positioned himself near one of the ogre''s that started getting up. Then, another wild swing caused a friendly attack on the ogre''s side.


    ''Two dead.''


    In a blink of an eye Kai was next to the still standing ogre. The ogre tried hitting him, but Kai effortlessly dodged. A battlecry could be heard, after which the ogre died. Kai had rammed his knee into the incoming ogre''s chest so hard that the sternum was crushed and the heart stopped.


    ''Three dead.''


    The very first ogre that had been knocked down was now getting up. However, Kai didn''t give it any chance to recover, running towards and jumping on its head. Kai stomped on its face, and stomped again, and again, and a few times more until there was no reaction anymore. And finally, the last ogre, the one who was knocked unconcious second. Kai walked towards it, picked it by the head, and turned it round right round.


    "Fhuuu, finally all five dead..." Kai exhaled in relaxation.


    It didn''t even take a minute to finish off 5 relatively strong and resilient ogres. Sophie was looking at this sight in awe and fear. Kai''s battlefrenzy ended momentarily, then he noticed Sophie''s stare.


    "Umm, what is it?" he asked innocently. He didn''t miss her flinching slightly when he took a step towards her.


    "Ah, well..." The last two kills were gruesome ¨C the stomping on the head until it was crushed and then casually breaking a neck. Still, she managed to compose herself.


    "I mean, that was amazing... You were incredible..."


    "Heh, thank you," Kai said with a sly smile.


    "But, how is such power possible? You said you were a supporter, a rank 0 even?"


    "THE Supporter, again, and I also said that my buffs are good. That''s just how good they are."


    "Yeah, but... I guess I''ll just have to accept it."


    "Exactly. Now, shall we go on?"


    They now decided to fight together to make the battles even faster. By comparison, against a group of 5 ogres, Sophie took up to 5 minutes fighting them individually, Kai dealt with a group in up to a minute by diving right into them and fighting skillfully, and now together they took around 30 seconds.


    Their battle plan was like this ¨C Kai ran right between the opponents, caused confusion and attacked them there, and Sophie stayed at one side out of the ring attacking those at the edge. If an ogre turned towards Kai then Sophie could stab its back, and if one turned towards Sophie then Kai could strike the back of its head. The plan was fairly reckless, relying on Kai''s ability to dodge the strikes, but still they managed to do it.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.Thus they started clearing the floor at a very quick pace.


    2 hours later.


    The two were taking a break before entering the presumed boss room.


    "So, we finally have reached the final room on the second floor..." Kai said.


    "Yes, we managed to clear the floor very quickly. I''m amazed by the speed we defeat the monsters with... But a boss monster is much stronger than the common ones on the same level, I suggest we first try to obserse the opponent rather than run into the fight right away."


    "Well, I''m okay with that..." Kai accepted.


    When break time was over, they headed towards the entrance.


    What greeted them was a room much bigger than most there, and a single monster. However, it was a 6 meter tall demonic minotaur ¨C pitch black skin with glowing red lines running over it like a tattoo, and its armor was infused together with its skin and many spikes protruded out from it. A terrible beast.


    The two tried to observe its movements and behaviour before battle, however, the opponent didn''t care for such things. This time the minotaur was the first one to charge into battle. Wielding its equally terrifying greatsword, it leaned over and made an insane dash. It was just ridiculous how much stronger the boss was.


    The two tried to dodge. The result was ¨C Kai was slower to react but faster and managed to get out of its way, but Sophie wasn''t so lucky, though she was quicker to react, she couldn''t move fast enough and was grazed by its tackle causing her to smash against the wall.


    In a moment Sophie had been incapacitated and the fighting power halved. Well, actually it wasn''t like that. From the earlier fights it was already clear that Kai was stronger and more skillful than Sophie. But how much stronger actually?


    Seeing that one was thrown aside, the minotaur turned its attention towards Kai. Now he started to approach slowly. Both sides were observing their opponent calmly. However, the one to feel threatened was not Kai but the minotaur. The more the latter observed Kai, the more he started to feel some irrational fear. He couldn''t understand why, to him Kai just looked like a tiny helpless human without any armor or a weapon. He would soon find out the reason for his fear.


    The fight started with the minotaur making a sharp horizontal swing with its sword. Kai evaded backwards, however the swing was immediately followed by a thrust. It was fast, but somehow Kai managed to redirect and evade it by turning his body.


    He now had a chance to close the distance between them to get into reach himself. But the minotaur was skillful, he efficiently retracted the sword and blocked Kai''s advance. Kai dodged another slash that followed immediately from the guard.


    ''Eghh-, he''s quite strong...'' "Power of the Elite!" Kai called out.


    His movements got immediately quicker. He dashed towards the minotaur so fast that there was barely a minimum of response. Kai got under the half of a guard and slipped to the back of the minotaur. In the next moment it felt sharp pain in its leg and fell down on one knee. The minotaur was too high and Kai had decided to reduce its mobility, thus he had kicked and broken the knee.


    The minotaur turned and swinged his sword, but Kai moved together with him so the blade never reached. He was still behind its back. Unfortunately the minotaur was still too high to make direct strikes to the head. So Kai just ran up its back and now stood above its head.


    ''Heh, easy.''


    Swinging his hands the minotaur tried to get Kai off, but he was persistent and stayed mounted. When there was an opening, Kai grabbed the head, swinged himself up and kneed the face as he came down. Then grabbed the neck with his legs and started pounding its face.


    The punches were so incredibly heavy that the minotaur slightly panicked and wildly swinged towards its own face. Kai felt it coming and dodged and... the minotaur facepalmed. While it was dazed, Kai wasted no time and got back on its head. He grabbed one of its horns and with a crushing blow broke it at its base.


    The pain was immense so the minotaur tried to shake Kai off very vigorously. It was also time to try to finish this, so before falling, Kai rammed the broken horn into one of its eyes. Unfortunately while he was falling the minotaur got a lucky hit with one of its wild swings and Kai got blown aside.


    By now Sophie had regained conciousness from the initial shock and looked to see what was happening. The first thing she saw was Kai getting slammed by one of the minotaur''s swings. Worry and fear overwhelmed her, but then she saw the condition the enemy was in ¨C staggering with a broken knee and a horn in its eye. Perhaps the situation wasn''t that hopeless. She was reassured when she saw Kai casually standing up.


    Kai thought what to do and then saw the greatsword, which had been dropped, when its eye was struck, on the ground. He ran towards it. Though the minotaur noticed and understood his intention, he failed to grab it in time. That was because Kai used a momentary boost to speed up, almost disappearing from vision.


    The sword was heavy, but this was an advantage as Kai made a circular swing. The minotaur was blinded by its side and couldn''t see the attack coming, thus taking blow to its torso. However, the protection of the armor and skin infused together mitigated the force, so only slash wound was left. Though that too was dangerous, the combination of the weight and circular movement would normally cleave a body in half.


    Then, when the minotaur braced for another attack, he couldn''t see Kai anymore. It was too late for anything as Kai had jumped and now came down from above with the sword. The sword cut through the defense and ran deep into its body. The minotaur fell down, leaving Kai standing there gloriously.


    "Oh, you okay?" Kai asked when he saw Sophie standing up.


    "Ah, yeah, so-so..." she answered, but from her expression it was clear she was in pain.


    "Then, let me heal you..."


    "You know healing spells too?" Sophie was surprised.


    "Ehh, how do you think I saved you the first time? You had a big wound that time too."


    "Eh? B-but I had no scars or internal damage, I thought I was just knocked unconcious. How high is your healing skill level even?" she asked in disbelief.


    "That time you slept for hours because you had lost a lot of blood. As for the skill level-"


    But before Kai could say anything else, another unexpected thing happened.


    "LOOK OUT!" Sophie pushed Kai aside and then took blow from the sudden sword. She flew away a few meters.


    Kai looked in surprise, ''D''awww...''. Then turned around, "Round 2?" he said, tilting his head.


    Before him stood the same minotaur, however, his body was covered in flames and even more spikes were coming out of its body, giving it an even more demonic look than before. This was a rare skill ''demon form'', which sometimes those with demon blood in them had.


    Kai looked back over Sophie. She had lost her arm and had a gaping wound in her torso.


    "Actually-" Kai started to say something but was interrupted by the minotaur''s slash. The attack was much faster than before ¨C the demon form enhanced the monster''s abilities by nearly twofold. However, it was as if the sword just passed through smoke. Kai dashed towards the minotaur so fast that he had left an afterimage, then appeared right next to it striking its chest with the momentum.


    A skill was used ¨C great force was concentrated into the fist, on impact it was transmitted right into the body where it then expanded outward from a single point. The result was great internal damage. The minotaur fell down motionlessly again.


    From Sophie''s perspective.


    She tried to save Kai, but in return was struck herself. Tremendous pain was felt as she took the blow and was thrown aside. The pain was something she had never felt before. She tried to move, but couldn''t. Her arm felt weird, and her side was painful and cold.


    Someone said something, it was probably Kai. Did he already defeat the monster? But he could not be seen. The minotaur still cried out, guess it was still alive.


    But then, silence... Did Kai die? Is she going to die here, alone, in such a dark and cold place away from everything dear to her? Many of her friends had already died the day before. Tears started flowing from her eyes.


    ''I don''t want to die. I don''t want to die!''


    When a shadow appeared above her, she thought that that was it. However, nothing happened, so she tried to make out what the shadow was. The image cleared and she saw Kai, standing right next to her.


    Her mind was already blank, but she felt faintly happy meeting his gaze one last time. However, his eyes were oh so cold, oh so icy blue, just like the endless skies. In the next moment darkness enveloped her.


    However, it was not death.


    After who knows how long, it felt like an eternity, she felt some warmth, she could feel her body. Suddenly opening her eyes, she was welcomed by a familiar sight.


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 Chapter 5 – Thrown about

    Chapter 5 ¨C Thrown about


    "Good morning, or should I say, good evening!"


    Again, the same greeting. Kai was sitting and staring into the fireplace when Sophie got out of the tent.


    "...I''m alive?"


    "Yep," Kai just smiled, "totally fine."


    "What happened? What was it... the monster got up again after being defeated, and then I... should have died..."


    "Not really, though you were on the verge of death. Well, the minotaur did get up again, but then... kind of just fell down limp again, maybe his heart exploded or something... heh-."


    "That''s what happened, huh..."


    "Yeah, then I just had to heal you and carry you back again. You sure were in a terrible condition there."


    "Ah, yeah, I think I lost an arm there, but..."


    "Oh, you did, but with my healing it was but a flesh wound," Kai said freely.


    "What! But, my arm''s totally fine right now, there''s no scar or anything! Isn''t that master rank healing?"


    "Ah, calm down... Yeah, I guess my healing is master rank then," Kai made a simple smile.


    "*fhuuu, How can you admit it so easily..." ''Well, I don''t really know much about him...'' Sophie pondered.


    "Anyway, we''ll return tomorrow, for now get some rest."


    "Return?" Sophie asked.


    "Yeah, of course. I looked at a similar location as on the first floor and found the entrance to the next level, so I want to see what''s even more down. Ah, what will you do?"


    "...I''ll come too. You saved my life yet again. I am truly, truly grateful. There''s no other way except to follow and protect you with my life to repay my debt... Though, I fear I might be too incompetent..." Sophie said dejectedly.


    "Well, though I don''t care about the ''debt'', I appreciate the company, let''s just look at it like that."


    Hearing those words, Sophie was truly grateful to Kai''s carefree but kind attitude. At the same time she felt a weird sensation in her chest, though at this point she was oblivious to it.


    "Ah, was there also a treasure chest there? Did you find anything?"


    "Hm, yeah, but it was the same as on the first floor. There was just some coins and some junk, but I did find another magic crystal there," Kai answered.


    "Junk!? Those valuables are worth years of easy lifestyle, you know! ...I shouldn''t really be surprised by your attitude, huh? Anyway, a magic crystal also?"


    Kai showed Sophie the two magic crystals. He himself had no idea about their utility or value.


    "Hmm, I can''t identify these either. They could be a rare or unique kind or something, though." Sophie wasn''t sure about them either.


    They ate and soon it was time to head to sleep.


    Though there didn''t seem to be any hostile beings in the vicinity, and the night before too there had been no animals even, they still had one be on guard duty. Just in case.


    This night, when it was Sophie''s turn and Kai went to sleep, he said some parting words.


    "Look out for a possible wolf''s attack."


    "Huh? ...oh!"


    Sophie was quite vigilant as she was guarding the place, however, her attention was directed towards a somewhat of a wrong place.


    The next morning.


    Kai woke up fresh, and luckily Sophie got a good rest too. They ate breakfast.


    "Now, the battle plan for the next boss," Kai started speaking, "...I guess it''s the same as last one? We were just unlucky then, now we can expect such a charge."


    "Even when we expect it, I''m afraid I might not be able to evade even then... I''m sorry."


    "Eeh, then, right at the entrance we''ll split up and I''ll try to aggro it. That might work."


    However, some things were left untold. Sophie was actually quite afraid of going to the next floor. The monsters there will be stronger and more intelligent, and imagining the strength of the third floor''s boss was terrifying.


    After sitting and letting the food digest a little, they set off.


    The first level was empty, as was the second floor. Usually the spawn rate of monsters was slower as their strength got higher. More difficult labyrinths were harder to clear, but they were reinhabitated slower as well. Though they didn''t know, this place, the Olec outpost was a single instance. The monsters hadn''t spawned there, but actually directly made it their home.


    Reaching the end of the second floor, they immediately found the entrance to the next one. It opened just like the previous one, revealing a set of stairs leading down. The two prepared themselves for whatever might lurk down there.


    However, what they found... No, they didn''t find anything. The room was empty.


    They walked around the dimly lit room. Unlike everywhere else, there weren''t any torches there. The room was illuminated by some glowing crystals etched into the ceiling. Still, the room was big and it took some time to explore it. There weren''t even any paths to other areas.


    Perhaps there was a hidden entrance somewhere? But before they got to investigate, they noticed something in the middle of the room. Was it there before? It shouldn''t have. As they got nearer, Kai suddenly stopped, making Sophie halt in her steps as well.


    "Aw hell, this looks familiar..." Kai muttered.


    "What is it?" Sophie asked, she hadn''t seen something like this before.


    "It''s the same as the thing that teleported me here."


    As Kai finished his sentence, the orb on the pedestal lit up. It shouldn''t have activated! Can it sense the intentions of those present, so before they could escape it activated itself?


    The two started running towards the stairs, however they were too far. The sphere from the orb quickly filled the whole room. If they had another moment or two, they could have made it out. The orb shined brightly, and the next moment Kai and Sophie were gone from the room.


    - - -


    The two were floating. At least, it seemed like that. The scenery around them was quickly changing, or they were thrown about.


    "What''s going on!?" Sophie asked slightly panicked. She had never actually experienced teleportation before.


    "I don''t know. Maybe the device was broken or something... I have a bad feeling about this, we must get out of here."


    "But how?"


    "Ee..." Kai tried something and he almost got pulled into one of the scenes, "Seems we just have to think and want to go to the place before us and we''ll be sucked in... I think... Anyway, grab onto me!"


    Sophie took Kai''s hand. He observed the images, but many of them were a bit unsuitable, for example, the inside of an active volcano.


    Then,


    "There!" Sophie cried out.


    Kai concentrated on the scene right away, and before it moved to another one, they had disappeared from this place also.


    - - -


    The two appeared above a grassland and were dropped on the ground.


    "...I guess we made it," Kai said looking around, "By the way, what place is this?"


    "Ee, this should be somewhere around the Lazure Kingdom capital... At least, that''s what I recognized from that scene. I hope we''re at the right place..."


    The grassland stretched far and wide on one side, and on the other there was a hill. Judging that on the hill they''d get a better viewpoint, they decided to climb up there.


    "Whoa--..." Kai was awestruck.


    In the distance he spotted a huge majestic city ¨C white walls and many towers, a planned city structure could be understood, and in the middle a great palace. It was the the capital Lazure. As a side note, the capitals of most kingdoms and empires were also named the same as the nation, or rather, the nation was named after its greatest city.


    It was noon, and the capital seemed to be a days walk away, or perhaps they might actually make it by evening if they hurried. They thought about it and decided to pick up the pace and start heading towards it.


    All the belongings they had in the labyrinth had been teleported with them, however, this didn''t include the things outside of it. This meant that they currently only had the supplies which they had taken into the labyrinth. This included only a bit of food and water to drink, but nothing to make camp with. Thus they''d need to make to the city by night if they wanted a good place to sleep at. Well, jogging lightly wasn''t much of a problem anyway.


    7 hours later.


    The sun was setting and it was getting slightly darker minute by minute, but the two were still a fair distance away. Luckily, since their pace had been steady and there hadn''t been any interruptions, they were fairly close, maybe 2 hours away. Meaning, they''d arrive late in the evening before nighttime.


    2 hours later.


    They had finally made it.


    Though the sun had set, because the sky was clear of clouds many stars and the moon illuminated everything around.


    Standing in front of the outer walls, Kai finally comprehended the massiveness of the walls. The white stone walls were at least 20 meters in height, and felt accordingly thick as well. The front gates left an immense impression as well with its intricate design.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.Though the gates were open, there was a guardpost with guards standing on each side of the road. Though the other gates were protected as well, the two had incidentally arrived at the main, biggest gate of the city, the reason for its almost unreasonable presentation.


    "Good evening and good work," Kai, while slightly panting, greeted a guard. Sophie was actually a bit behind, and even after she had ditched her broken metal armor, she couldn''t keep up with Kai.


    "Good evening," the guard looked at Kai slightly suspiciously, "what brings you here this late?"


    "Aah--, it was a real trouble, you see, me and my companion, where is she anyway..." Kai looked back and could see Sophie a bit away, "ah, there she is. Anyway, it was a really troublesome thing you see, so we had to circle around the city and could only return now. It took such a long time..."


    "Ah, I see," though Kai didn''t really say anything comprehensible, the guard didn''t feel that Kai was a bad guy.


    They waited for a minute until Sophie arrived, too, out of breath. Her arrival removed all apprehension towards the two. The guard was mesmerized by Sophie''s beauty ¨C her delicate face covered in light sweat only added to her allure as it glistened in the moonlight.


    After a short conversation on what their purpose was within the city, the guard let them pass.


    Being almost dead tired, at least the case being for Sophie, amazingly Kai looked okay, their first objective was to find a place to stay for the night. The problem was, that this late inns might already be booked and finding a free place might take time. And even besides that, the inn might possibly be a bit lower grade because the better ones would be filled.


    That being the case ¨C they started searching nearby, but naturally all the inns near the main road were already full. They had to go further, or perhaps through some alleys. They chose the latter.


    Actually, there was another option. Namely, going to the adventurer''s district where they''d have a high chance of finding a place to stay since in that place, accordingly, there were many inns and lodgings designated for adventurers. Unfortunately, the district was on the other end of city and it''d take another hour to reach there.


    So, after a bit of searching, the two finally came upon an inn which still had some free rooms. But on the other hand this inn was a few streets away from the main road and through an alleyway, thus being fairly separated from most of the liveliness. While it wasn''t rundown per say, it wasn''t on par with the average inn either. Still, it was a chance to get a good nights sleep.


    When the two walked into the inn, they were immediately greeted by evaluating eyes. They belonged to a group of rough looking men. If not for one of them wearing a visible adventurer''s badge, one might easily mistake them for a group of bandits, however unlikely it''d be to find one in the city.


    As Kai was in the front, he was seen first. But it took them only a moment to regard Kai as someone insignificant ¨C a worn mantle, dirty clothes and boots, and messy hair, his impression wasn''t something to take heed of.


    However, on the other, after the gazes fell on Sophie, they were stunned. They really hadn''t expected to see such a beauty in a secluded place like this, she stood out like a sore thumb, in a good sense if you could say that. Then again, how would one feel being looked upon by lecherous eyes?


    Seeing the two enter together, the people there had to speculate what their relationship was. Their looks, and the presence Kai and Sophie were giving off didn''t suit together at all. It would be something like ¨C Kai''s a low commoner, a drunkard, and Sophie''s a noble adventurer, or maybe even a knight.


    Under the observant gazes the two walked up to the counter.


    "Two rooms, please," Kai requested.


    But right after that, Sophie corrected him.


    "No, a room for two please."


    The innkeeper looked at the two with a slightly confused face, while Kai turned to Sophie questionably.


    "Why? Is that okay?" Kai asked her.


    "It''ll save some money, and it''s not like I mind..."


    "Hmmm--, heh, okay...  A room for two, then," he turned back to the innkeeper.


    They were also offered an option to wash themselves, which they promptly took. All together it was just 2 silver, very cheap actually. In comparison, a night at the average inn usually costs 5 silver.


    Now, there was a bit of problem ¨C Sophie had left whatever coins she had back at the camp before delving into the labyrinth, and although Kai carried his valuables with him, he only had gold coins. Thus, when Kai took a pouch from his hip and opened it, people''s eyes widened at the pouch filled with gold coins. Being so open with his wealth was a mistake of which Kai would later have to face the consequences of. A gold coin was traded for 98 silver and a room for the night.


    - - -


    The room was decent. Everything necessary was there of course and the conditions were acceptable, but you wouldn''t want to stay there for longer than a night or two.


    The two had their turns washing. Unfortunately, they had not spare clothes, so they after washing their current sweaty ones and leaving them to dry for the night, they had sleep naked under the blankets. Oh, the beds were separate, of course.


    Since they were fairly tired, they fell asleep quickly.


    Some time during the night.


    Sophie was sleeping soundly, but Kai had waken up due to some rustling behind the door. He could hear some whispering.


    "Hey, this is the place, right?"


    "Yeah, that guy was carrying a huge load of gold. The woman will also fetch a very high price."


    The room was suddenly broken into. Or rather, the door was quietly opened and in walked 2 shadows.


    "Here, this is the Deep Sleep spell scroll," one of them whispered.


    "I''ll use it right away," the other responded.


    They seemed to be up to something.


    As one of them started going over to Sophie, Kai judged it was time to take action. A *thump could be heard a moment later. The one next to Sophie turned around and saw something unexpected ¨C a completely naked man standing next to his fallen comrade.


    The invader was puzzled by the current development, but when he noticed the second bed being empty, he understood. He almost said something from surprise, but before he could, Kai had appeared right next to him. An elbow hit the man right on the temple and knocked him unconcious.


    ''Now, where are their companions? Robbery and kidnapping isn''t really a two man job...''


    Kai peeked out of the window and saw another two men right under it. The plan was probably to use some spell to keep them from waking up and then drop them to the two guys waiting outside. But the plan had clearly failed due to underestimating the target.


    ''Now, what to do?...''


    Kai sneaked out of the room, downstairs, and outside. He quietly sneaked behind the two men waiting under the window and knocked them out instantly, too.


    ''So, how to dispose of them?...''


    Because killing them or taking them too far away felt troublesome, Kai just thought to drop them near a guardpost. Before started to move them, he wanted to try out the magic scroll the men were aiming to use.


    Using mana on the scroll, it made a small beam of faint light, and when directed towards a person''s head, the light went into it. The spell was succesful, the men shouldn''t wake up for quite some time now.


    Kai first picked up the two guys from the inn and then heaved the other two over his shoulders also. Like that, carrying 4 heavy men, Kai started walking towards the main street, while still naked.


    On the way there was nobody, but at the guardpost, which was like a police booth, two guards were having a night shift. Kai went as near as possible and then threw the four men right next to it. As they landed they made an audible noise, prompting a guard to investigate it.


    "Huh? Ah, who''s there?" the guard asked, but received no answer.


    Kai eavesdropped the guard''s conversation and then left.


    As a side note, after some investigation the next day, it was found out that the four were actually bandits that had snuck into the city disguised as adventurers.


    Also, the bandits were in no way beginners, but perhaps through luck and maybe skill Kai had managed to take them by surprise and knock them out before they could react.


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 Chapter 6 – Grand plans

    Chapter 6 ¨C Grand plans


    Dawn.


    The sky was getting brighter and soon the sun started to shine over the walls onto the city.


    Kai had climbed to the roof of a taller building and was drying the clothes there in the wind, all the while enjoying the sunrise and warmth that accompanied it.


    ''I guess it''s time to return to the inn,'' Kai thought as he looked down on the streets. A few people could already be seen bustling about.


    He put on his clothes, until now throughout the night he had still been naked. Luckily the clothes were almost dry, good enough to wear and not be uncomfortable at least. Then he jumped down from the roof softly into an alleyway without anyone noticing.


    During the 15 minutes Kai took to get back to the inn the city had gotten quite lively very quickly.


    In the inn he was welcomed by the master, who was cleaning and setting tables and chair.


    Kai walked up the stairs, went next to the door leading to his room, and opened it without hesitation.


    "Eh! Kyaah--!" Was what welcomed him. Sophie screamed in surprise when the door was abrubtly opened and Kai walked in.


    She had just woken up and had been looking for her clothes. She was standing there almost naked, only covered by the blanket from the bed. However, the sheet didn''t hide her figure. Her toughened muscles, nice hips and well developed chest combined creating an extremely sensual body.


    "Good morning! Here are your clothes. I took them outside and now they''re almost dry," Kai finally said while smiling, but only after having taken a good look at her. Sophie had just stood there embarrassed, not being able to react.


    "A- ah, thank you..." flustered, she finally managed to act.


    She wanted to change, but Kai just stayed there, leaning against a wall.


    "Turn around! And no peeking!" Sophie demanded, with a red face.


    "Heh, yes, yes. I''ll go downstairs and see what''s there to eat," Kai said as he left.


    Some time later.


    After eating breakfast, which unexpectedly was good, the two took what little belongings they had and set out.


    What were the plans? Currently there wasn''t anything specific in mind, but the one to decide what to do next would probably be Kai. Sophie had said that there was nothing for her to do and that she''d just follow Kai on his adventures, at least for some time.


    The immediate course of action was to buy equipment and supplies necessary for travelling. Well, the more important things were a knapsack and spare clothes, after those armor and weapons. Though, Sophie was the one who used a weapon, Kai said that he didn''t need a weapon, he fought with his fists.


    Sophie acquired some durable clothing and a set of light leather armor. She now looked very much like the average adventurer with her trustworthy sword, except for her fair face of course. On the other hand Kai strongly objected to wearing armor himself, saying something like "wearing armor weakens my buffs". In the end he just got some normal but durable clothes.


    By the way, all of the things were paid for by Kai. Sophie had suggested to earn some money with some small quests first so she could pay for herself, but Kai rejected that idea, saying that he didn''t mind and that she should accept the generosity. Also, he got his money from the labyrinth anyway.


    Around noon they had a lunch break.


    "Ah!? Cat ears! And a tail!" Kai''s eyes were fixed on a certain person walking along the street.


    "Hm? What about it?" Sophie couldn''t understand why he got visibly excited.


    "Eh? But I haven''t seen one before. Is she a beast race?"


    "No, she''s a half-beast to be exact... But how could you not know about them?"


    "Well, I remember only learning that there were different humanoid races. Now that I think about, they didn''t really teach us about them, they only mentioned that they existed..."


    Sophie couldn''t understand what Kai was saying, his explanation was odd. Seeing her perplexed Kai accurately added,


    "Ah, I haven''t told you yet, but me and the companions I have mentioned, we''re actually people summoned from another world..."


    Sophie''s eyes widened in surprise, however, it wasn''t something totally unexpected.


    "Is that so..." she said having recovered from the surprise, "That explains a lot, why you didn''t know much about this world and such..."


    "You''re not surprised?"


    "Well, I am, but people have been summoned from other worlds in the past, too. And I suspect it''s the same reason, that is the upcoming war against the demons I guess..." Sophie presented her theory.


    "Wow, it''s exactly that, that''s exactly the reason they gave why we''re here... And keep it a secret, please, me being from another world that is."


    "Yes, I understand."


    "But enough about this," Kai closed the topic, "more importantly, about these..."


    Then, Sophie explained a few things about the different races of the world.


    Basically, all the different races can be found anywhere in the world, but there are also areas where their main habitat is. Unlike humans, most other races tend to not form countries, but rather gather in tribes.


    The beast race, who appear humanoid with the addition of other animal characteristics, are mostly gathered around in the tropical forests around the equator. But some tribes can also be found elsewhere, lizardmen in marsh areas for example.


    Elves form tribes all around the world. The highest population is the woodelves, found around forested areas respectively. There''s also a nation formed by highelves, located in the southern end of the east half of the main continent. The main continent, as the largest one, is called Luheim.


    Dwarves can also be found on Luheim, however, their main residence is the separate western continent over the Amber ocean.


    There are also some other mythical races. Though all of them are intelligent and sentient, some are actually considered monsters due to their hostility. For example, mountain giants around mountain ranges are generally peaceful, but are hostile when their territory is intruded upon. Dragons on the other hand, roam around a fairly large area and on whim might attack whatever they come upon, but still they tend to stay in the vicinity of their lair.


    At some point Kai noticed that Sophie mentioned a lot less races living in the west half of the main continent. When he asked about it, he got such an answer,


    "Actually, the idea of human superiority is much more prominent in the west half. There are some nations that even strongly discriminate against non-human races."


    It should be mentioned that that wasn''t the case for Sophie.


    However, from what he heard, Kai felt that halfs of different races were looked down upon everywhere. It seems that being a pure-blood was quite important, though he couldn''t understand why the half-races were deemed worse than others.


    Should also note that the half-beast from earlier was most likely a slave. Halfs were very often enslaved, and the main articles of the slavery business were half-races. Sophie didn''t go into that topic too much, she looked fairly indifferent though there was slight disturbance that could be felt.


    Amazingly, while talking about the various races, time passed very quickly. It may be around 3 hours past noon already.


    They decided to start heading towards the adventurer''s district to find an inn and on the way buy some camping equipment. Kai said that he would just wander around the world for now and look for something purposeful at some later time. Sophie was okay with that.


    The next day would be spent on looking for a general direction to go towards and then buying food supplies accordingly.


    At some point on the way.


    Since the royal palace was in the middle of the city, they had to walk around it to get to the adventurer''s district in the northern part of the city.


    Then, as they were walking along the road, a voice suddenly could be heard,


    "Princess Sophie, is that you?"


    Looking back, there was a person stepping out of a carriage they had just passed. The person was no doubt of nobility with his fancy clothing and 2 servants that stood next to him.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!"Ah! Uncle Roland!?" Sophie was a bit taken aback, but then made a slightly troubled smile.


    "Aaa--, you''re alive, princess! What happened? Three days ago your and the expedition captain''s beacons suddenly stopped transmitting. Such a thing would be impossible unless you died, so... such was presumed to have happened..."


    "Ah, how do I explain this... Well, I might have died, but I was saved at the last moment. The others are dead..."


    "Really?" the man''s face was a bit sad but happy at the same time, "It''s good that at least you are alive," he looked at Kai, who had been standing there with an amused face, "And, who might this person be?" he asked.


    "Ah! Let me introduce you, this is the very savior of my life, Hoshino Kai. And this is Uncle Roland, Minister of Education."


    "Hello!" Kai lightly greeted.


    "Very nice to meet you, I''m truly grateful for saving princess Sophie''s life."


    "No, no, I just happened to come across the situation and did what I thought was best," Kai responded modestly with a polite smile.


    "Now, of course you''ll be rewarded, but also I have to request that you''d keep your affiliation with the princess a secret. Please, there''s a reason for that..."


    "I understand, and there''s also no need for a reward. I didn''t save her with that purpose in mind," Kai complied without hesitation.


    "...Very well," the man turned to Sophie, "Now, princess, would you please accompany me to the palace, the other''s would be happy to see that you''re still alive."


    "Yeah, but... You know how we get along, I think it''d be better if you just said that you met me and that I am alive and well," Sophie replied.


    "But... Alright, I understand, I will relay the message. Really, it''s good to see you alive. Now then..."


    After the man left, the two started heading towards the adventurer''s district again.


    It was a somewhat awkward silence. Though Sophie was grateful that Kai didn''t inquire about her identity, it still felt a bit weird. However, suddenly,


    "So, princess Sophie..." Kai shamelessly said.


    "...Please don''t address me that way, Sophie is fine," she made a bitter face.


    "Hmhmm, I was just teasing. And don''t worry, I won''t ask about your personal life unless you want to talk about it either."


    "...Thank you," Sophie said with a relaxed expression.


    Some time later.


    They had quickly found an inn with free rooms. The inn was quite spacious, made for serving large amounts of people. On the first floor was a big hall where the visitors could eat, drink and even have meetings. There were quite a few waitresses and the master of the inn was observing the workings by walking around and chatting with people. The atmosphere was very nice in there and the security was good too.


    Yet again Sophie caught a lot of attention, but this time they were more friendly looks. Some tried to talk to her, but she excused herself with a few apologizes.


    "Um, would the princess like an VIP room?" Kai asked with wry smile.


    Sophie almost protested, but seeing his expression, she understood that he wasn''t serious.


    "No, a normal room for two is good too," she answered quietly.


    They got a room for two for 5 silver for one night. Kai reserved the room for 2 days so they could come back there the next day too and paid 10 silver for it. This also included the option to wash themselves.


    Night arrived soon and it was time to sleep.


    The next day was for making plans for what to do next.


    Kai went to the city''s grand library, which also served as the main library of the whole nation. Sophie followed in suit. She wouldn''t want to miss any plans Kai made, as she had decided to be his comrade adventurer until she had helped him in an amount suitable for one''s savior.


    In the end they spent most of the day in the library, only going out to eat and for other necessities. Kai went through quite a lot of books.


    Now, the results.


    First they''d start heading west. The destination was the Ancadian Mountain Range. Sophie already had a problem with this idea. That being ¨C the mountain range was a known habitat of giants, and sometimes even some dragons have been sighted there. But Kai stated that that was exactly the reason he wanted to go there ¨C he wanted to see giants and dragons firsthand.


    Was he foolish, or was he so absolutely sure of his abilities that he could possibly go against giants? Either way it wasn''t a good idea at all, or that''s what Sophie said at least. Still, Kai was stubborn and thus it was decided. He claimed that going with good intentions and without any hostility would allow them to get close without conflict, but they''ll see how that goes...


    Secondly, if possible they''d go south from there and visit the Walhaven Empire. Though the empire wasn''t that big, it was thought of as the strongest force on the east half of Luheim. Its capital, also named Walhaven, was one of the greatest cities in the world, it was a true metropolis. Advanced technology, high culture, powerful magic ¨C all of it can be found there in the capital. Its grand architecture and the royal palace was a must see sight.


    At this point the trip would take around 3 months on foot, and add to that the time spent around the mountain range. That is, if there were no interruptions. On horseback it''d be even faster, probably they''d be at Walhaven in around 2-3 months. The horses and other transport animals of this world were incredibly strong and fast, while also having great stamina. Of course, this was the effect of magical assistance.


    In both cases the amount of time was actually very short, considering the whole distance was arouond 4000 kilometers. As a side note, the measurement system of this world was awfully similar to Earth''s, so Kai could fairly easily recalculate the distances to his own convenience. Coincidentally the time measurement system was also similar...


    Then, from Walhaven they''d head further west all the way until the Fateyin ocean. From there they''d take a ship and go to the Nibeian islands for some time. Sophie added that the Nibeian nations have always been hostile to each other and there''s a high chance to get caught up in a skirmish. Kai was already aware of that.


    Then they''d set out towards the middle of the main continent, but first on the way they''d stop by the only elven nation of Lozenlev on the southern end of Luheim. There''s also a great labyrinth there that Kai wants to explore.


    And the journey ends with going over the Azure sea to the exotic city of Balger, the chokepoint between the two halfs of the main continent.


    Kai had made some really grand plans.


    All together the journey was estimated to take around 9 months, but that is only if everything goes according to plan and there were no interruptions. But, as life goes, it was inevitable that some some things would take more time than initially planned.


    Maybe the horses got sick, or the winds were unfavorable, or they were attacked. Walhaven could perhaps be more interesting and enjoyable than presumed. Perhaps the Nibeian nations were in great turmoil. Maybe they''d have a run-in with a mythical creature. All sorts of unexpected things could happen.


    Sophie actually got a bit excited at the prospect of going on a such an astounding journey.


    "Don''t get too excited now, there''s no knowing what might happen on the journey," Kai warned her.


    "I know, but... It''s just that, I actually became an adventurer not that long ago, but I''ve dreamed of travelling around the world since I was a little girl."


    "Yeah, well, I do hope for the best. Even with this plan we''ll see many different places and people. I look forward to it."


    "Yeah, me too."


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 Chapter 7.1 – First mess

    Chapter 7.1 ¨C First mess


    The next day.


    It was a clear morning, the cool fresh breeze while the rays of the sun warmed the skin was a wonderful combination.


    The morning activities were like on any other day. But Kai and Sophie were also making preparations for their journey. They packed their belongings at the inn, but before looking for a horse, there was also need to buy some food.


    The food of this world could be made to last for a fairly long time thanks to the use of magic. The best way to preserve food was to store it in an enchanted container, which could be a small bag or even the size of a small room. The highest grade enchantment for it would be something that slows down time within its area of effect, which, if you think about it, is almost an unbelievable notion, yet it is done.


    However, a bag with such an enchantment is incredibly expensive due to the fact that the enchantment itself is very complicated and also requires vast amounts of mana to create. What Kai could afford were some magic crystals, which when around food slowed down spoiling. Both the methods allow one to buy otherwise quickly rotting food and keep it for a longer time, but still not indefinitely of course.


    So, after buying a large variety of foods and storing them in a bag together with some of the magic crystals, the two started heading towards the stables near the western gates, as that''s where they''ll be leaving from.


    Noon.


    Finally the two were at the gates and ready to leave.


    As for the horses, they bought two. Though the horses of this world were strong and versatile, capable of traversing all kinds of terrain, some were still more suitable for long-distance travel while others were meant for shorter and faster trips. Kai requested the former kind.


    Also, perhaps from training, but the horses were quite obedient and friendly. They recognized Kai and Sophie as their new masters almost right away, and during the time it took to get from the stables to the gates, Sophie got a bit attached to her horse already, too. In Kai''s view it seemed kind of weird, but perhaps it''s just one of the peculiarities of this world.


    Anyway,


    "The first step, huh?..." Kai closed his eyes in thought, then continued, "You know, this is a memorable moment ¨C the first day of a journey around the world that will leave its mark in history..."


    "What are you saying? Shouldn''t this be a normal tour to go to and see different places and cultures?" Sophie was a bit puzzled by Kai''s choice of words.


    "Well, you never know what might happen..." Kai responded with a really mischievous smile.


    "Haa--..." again, she couldn''t comprehend the meaning behind his words.


    "All ready to go?" Kai asked.


    "Yes, I look forward to travelling with you," Sophie answered in an honest tone.


    "Heh, yeah, me too."


    And thus they departed.


    - - -


    Let''s skip to evening as during the day nothing notable happened.


    By evening Kai and Sophie had arrived at the western bank of the Aresi River. It was a town of decent size, but most houses were wooden and the architecture was perhaps a bit low-grade.


    The main attraction of the town, though, was the great stone bridge that connected the two sides of the river. Even if the great river was constantly flowing against its support, the bridge was in good shape and well-maintained. It was big enough that there were even some luxury houses located on it.


    Actually, along the river were many such bridges. The river split the nation in two, so bridges were necessary to have a good connection with the nation''s borders.


    The two spent the night in the western town as they found an inn there very quickly.


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    2 days later.


    The two arrived at the border between the Kingdom of Lazure and Kingdom of Camberth.


    Sophie mentioned that the two kingdoms were on not-so-friendly terms with each other. The reason for it was the fact that Camberth Kingdom held no territory over the Aresi River, thus having only roundabout access to the Azure Sea, which the Aresi River flowed into.


    Though the two kingdoms were once united as an empire, there was a civil war and the nation split up due to opposing opinions. It was a bit sad story.


    Now the kingdoms had conflicts, that is battles every year, where they bet some portion of their territory and the winner acquired it. It wasn''t really a war, more like a quarrel, even though lives were lost in the battles. At least, that is one way of seeing it.


    Still, as more lives were lost, the more the citizens viewed the other side with hostility. They were the ones who killed their friends and husbands. Nevertheless, the agreed-upon battles were necessary to prevent a full-blown war.


    Anyway, in the end it didn''t really matter to Kai and Sophie. She said it to remember to just take care to try to not mention anything about Lazure Kingdom in Camberth, if just for general wellbeing.


    They spent the night still camping in Lazure Kingdom.


    Another 2 days later.


    The two were nearing the capital of Camberth Kingdom and would arrive there some time in the evening.


    Camberth, as the capital is also named, wasn''t an important checkpoint on the way. As Kai still had money left, he would restock on food, but nothing else was important. They''d set off again the very next day.


    Forth from Camberth there are only small towns and villages, and away from the Kingdom of Camberth there are only some smaller nations and nomadic tribes.


    However, around noon, when they had stopped to take a break and eat some lunch, there was some sort of change in the atmosphere in the woods. Even if along the road there usually weren''t many animals, bird songs and crickets could almost always be heard. But now all the birds had stopped chirping and the forest got eerily quiet.


    "Huh, what''s wrong?" Kai asked obliviously, when he saw Sophie tensing up slightly.


    "...It''s odd, there are no birds singing anymore..." Sophie was cautiously looking around, "there might be some monster in the area."


    But her caution was useless, because suddenly she was hit in the neck by something sharp. She immediately took ahold of whatever it was and pulled it out, luckily it didn''t pierce deep. Unfortunately it seemed to be a dart with some liquid coating, it was probably poisoned.


    Before she could take any action and warn Kai, she saw the same had happened to him, too, but he was already laying on the ground. Just a moment later she felt a bit lightheaded, she lost balance, and in the last moment before hitting the ground, she lost conciousness.


    From the woods came 3 men, all dressed in clothes that camouflaged them in the forest environment. They walked up to the two laying on the ground.


    "Both targets taken down successfully," said one.


    "Guess the man wasn''t a ranger or anything. Or we''re just so good!" said the second one.


    "Anyway, tie them up, grab their belongings and let''s take them back before someone else passes by here," said the third.


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 Chapter 7.2 – First mess

    Chapter 7.2 ¨C First mess


    From Kai''s perspective. A little before the attack.


    ''Hmm... Though I tried setting myself up for the long days of constant travelling, it really is a bit mind-numbing. Well, it might be better to just sit mindlessly as the horse trots along, but I''m just not used to it, I need more variety...''


    ''Hm? I wonder what got Sophie so attentive?''


    ''A monster? I thought the roads were supposed to be relatively safe, maybe one wandered off or something...''


    ''OW! The hell is this!? ...A dart? ...Ugghh, I feel a bit dizzy. I should probably cast detoxification magic to neutralize the poison.''


    ''Okay now, that sure was a fast acting poison. ...Humm, I''ll pretend to also be taken out and, if whoever is behind this intends to kill us, I can act then.''


    - - -


    Some time later.


    ''I''m tired of this already! How long do I have to keep acting unconcious? Where are they taking us anyway, to their encampment?'' Kai thought.


    One of the men was carrying Kai on his shoulder, it was quite an uncomfortable position to stay in for a prolonged period of time, especially if you had to conciously endure it.


    Still, whatever the men were planning to do would come later. Kai was fairly confident, warranted or not, that he''d be able to take care of the three men if needed, so for now he just stayed silent and relaxed. A thing he was grateful for was that Kai''s and Sophie''s belongings together with the horses were also brought along.


    After a short while Kai started hearing some noises. There was some chatting coming from people other than the three. He could hear some fire cracking and smell meat roasting over the fire. They had probably arrived at their destination ¨C the presumed bandit''s camp.


    They came to a halt.


    "Boss! We have returned with the targets!" one called out.


    Some heavy footsteps could then be heard and after a moment a door opened with a creak.


    "Ooh, very good!" someone with really low but clear voice said, "Take them to the cell. Also, take away their armor and weapons, and have someone keep watch until they wake up."


    They were carried somewhere again. The cell, as it was called, seemed to be at the other end of the relatively large camp. Kai and Sophie were dropped into some room, then there was a bit of scuffling noise, then a clang and then the men probably left.


    Kai listened closely. It seems that one person did indeed stay behind and was sitting nearby. Kai very slightly opened his eyelids and peeked through.


    It really was like a jail cell with he and Sophie thrown behind bars. Daylight was shining through some cracks in the door and through a small round window above it, lighting the room up ever so slightly. Otherwise it was fairly dark.


    Kai could then confirm that someone was sitting at a desk next to the door, but he was turned around so he couldn''t exactly see Kai. He also glanced at Sophie and saw that she had been stripped of her armor and sword. Fortunately she still had her clothes.


    ''What now?...'' he thought.


    ''I guess I''ll just wait for Sophie to wake up, then I''ll know the poison''s effect had probably worn off.''


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.Thus he started waiting.


    Fortunately he didn''t have to wait long until Sophie made some pained noises. It had probably been just around an hour. When the watchman also noticed it, he went away, probably to call for the boss.


    Before anyone returned, Sophie woke up, and together with her Kai did too.


    "Ughh, my head! What happened?" she asked while groaning in pain.


    "Well, it seems we were kidnapped," Kai was really calm about it.


    As he said this the door opened, too.


    "Now, now, it''s not something that awful at all," said the man with a low but clear voice. Looking at him, he was different from others who were on the rough side, while he was relatively clean and well-dressed.


    "My name is Bosuichi, the leader of this group," he introduced himself.


    Sophie stayed quiet, but Kai wore a polite smile and responded,


    "My name is Kai, nice to make your acquintance."


    The leader, Bosuichi responded with a smile, too. He then looked at Sophie, observed her for a moment and then nodded approvingly.


    "All right, everything''s okay. You''ll have to stay here for a bit, so make yourselves comfortable. Tomorrow you''ll be... free to go," the man continued, still smiling, but his words felt a lot colder, "But please, don''t try to escape, and you won''t be able to undo the bindings either."


    He turned around and started leaving. Before he had exited, Kai quietly commented,


    "But that really makes me want to try."


    The place was cleared, leaving only Kai and Sophie in their cell. For whatever reason they probably thought there wasn''t need to keep watch.


    "So, I guess we''ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what''ll happen next."


    Kai was as calm and carefree as ever. But Sophie on the other hand, after struggling and failing to get her hands free, became a bit anxious.


    "How can you stay clam in this situation!? Kidnapping basically means they''ll either want ransom from somebody or in the other case slavery!" though she was anxious, she managed to stay relatively quiet.


    "And, what of it?" Kai''s attitude was astounding, "What is there so horrible that they can do?"


    "No, slavery really means that you can''t disobey orders. There''s a spell, a mark, which when cast on someone binds that person so that they can''t disobey a specific person''s orders. You''d completely under the control of someone else''s whims," Sophie said dreadfully.


    Maybe it really was something horrible, or maybe it was worse specifically for Sophie, but she seemed to make a bigger deal out of it than necessary. At least, that''s how Kai saw it.


    "Ee, don''t worry, I can break these cuffs if I want to," he tried to calm her.


    "Then, why not do it immediately!?"


    "Because it seems interesting," Kai said with a straight face.


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 Chapter 8.1 – Bloody brilliant comedy

    Chapter 8.1 ¨C Bloody brilliant comedy


    Morning arrived.


    Since the weather in this region was warm all year round, Kai and Sophie could sleep without getting cold. Well, cold was one thing they didn''t have to worry about, but on the other hand there wasn''t really a bed in the cell. There was only one long bench to sit on and it also barely fit one person when they laid down. So, at night Kai had to bear the wooden floor, while Sophie was on the bench.


    Anyway, all of it was irrelevant to Kai as he could basically sleep anywhere. Kai woke up well-rested and refreshed, while Sophie was still a bit drowsy. She couldn''t sleep well at night, she couldn''t stop worrying about what the next day would bring.


    Sophie''s stomach growled.


    They hadn''t been brought anything to eat the day before nor this morning, so they were both quite hungry. Actually, they had gone without eating for more than a full day, because when they were ambushed they had been just starting lunch.


    It was noon already, too. Then Bosuichi came.


    "Hello, I''ve come to release you from this prison," he directly said, "The client will be arriving shortly, then you will be given over to him," he was addressing just Sophie, rather than both.


    "What will happen then?" with a grim expression Sophie asked, thankfully she was calmer than the day before.


    "Well, that doesn''t matter to me... However, I can say that the client is a certain noble with some peculiar fetishes. I think you''ll find out yourself later on."


    A shiver ran through her spine imagining the possible future.


    Kai couldn''t comprehend why Sophie was so terrified. Were the people of this world that cruel? Were the people capable of some special brutality? Twisted minds should basically be the same everywhere. Still, Kai would later see what this world could offer...


    They were both taken out of their cell, their hands still binded.


    When they were taken towards the entrance of the camp, they could finally see the place they were at. Rather than calling it a camp, it was actually somewhat of a small settlement. There were decent wooden houses and a well, and everything was connected with paths. There were even some women there. In the half that they walked through there was maybe around 200 people.


    They arrived at the entrance, where a good looking carriage was also stationed. Beside it was standing a self-important looking fat man with some fancy clothes, and next to him there were two other people. One was wearing a butler suit, probably the man''s servant, and the other, a tall, muscular and armed man, a bodyguard perhaps.


    "YOU MADE ME WAIT SO LONG!!" the fat man was really loud.


    "I apologize," Bosuichi bowed slightly, then pointed towards Kai and Sophie, "Here are the goods you have requested, princess Sophie and... probably her companion in travelling."


    "Actually, it''s the other way around!" Kai pointed out with an easygoing smile.


    "WHAT! A MAN? I HAVE NO USE FOR A MAN! But the princess on the other hand, guhehehe-," a sort of perverted smile started to appear on his face.


    "Ee--!? You don''t want me??" Kai cried out, but was punched in the gut as a result.


    "Then, about the man," Bosuichi asked.


    "I DON''T CARE, DISPOSE OF HIM," as he said they started dragging Kai somewhere, "Now, the enslavement contract for the princess..."


    "NOO--!" Sophie screamed, trying to shake herself free, but the men had a firm hold of her.


    Some sort of parchment was brought out. Sophie''s clothes were ripped so that her well-developed chest was revealed. The presumed noble held the paper in front of her and started chanting something, it wasn''t the normal language, but a magical one. Sophie struggled, but understood its meaninglessness, her face stiffened in fear as the man continued, and despair and horror were reflected in her eyes.


    "This is enough, I guess," someone muttered.


    Then, there were two thuds, there was also another scream, but it was cut short. The noble and the others looked at what had caused the commotion, and saw this ¨C Kai was standing there and beside him laid three dead men, their heads detached from their bodies.


    The noble looked at the sight dumbfounded, but Bosuichi was quicker to react.


    "GET HIM!" the leader, Bosuichi quickly called out to the other bandits around.


    Everyone had their weapons already at hand, they encircled Kai swiftly and efficiently, showing off their well-practiced teamwork.


    "Eeh, they were weaker than I thought... As I''ve already started this way, might as well finish by beheading everyone..." Kai pondered out loud enough that the others heard him.


    His confident words were unnerving, forcefully striking fear into the just recently decisive men, however, their leader quickly reassured them,


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version."He must hiding blades somehow or he''s a beast race that can transform! Take him out with numbers!"


    Still, it was the wrong call. Or perhaps it was right? Either way it didn''t matter as evidenced later on.


    When one tried a sneak attack from behind, almost as if he had eyes on the back of his head, Kai dodged the sword flawlessly. With two quick steps he was instantly behind the man. He grabbed his head and made an insanely fast motion. The next moment the body dropped on the ground, while Kai was still holding its head.


    Unable to stop halfway, another two attacks were already coming. Kai dodged a spear, grabbed it during the thrust and threw it through the head of a man standing on the opposite side. He also ducked under a horizontal sword slash and, as he stood back up, striked the guy''s chin upward with such force, that the head snapped back, almost tearing off from the neck. Needless to say the man died in an instant.


    There was a moment of hesitation in the men, seeing Kai''s incredible power. However, apparently they still believed they could overwhelm him with numbers.


    Thus the battle started.


    Well, it was really just a one-sided massacre.


    Noone could even scratch Kai while he was able to dodge effortlessly, and at the same time he used two swords that he had picked up, and was like a whirlwind swinging them wildly. But to the men it looked more like a dance of death, a dance that resulted in death when seen close up.


    Heads were literally sent flying as Kai easily cleaved them off.


    Lives ended at an incredible pace. The horrible show that Kai made lasted perhaps only 5 minutes, but in the end already around 50 men had died.


    However, it was still not enough. Now the men started attacking out of fear. In front of them they only saw a blood red demon that had come to kill their friends and comrades. Thus the attacks continued.


    What was going on in Kai''s mind?


    Simply ¨C dodge, slash, sidestep, strike, dash, slash, ...throw?, and repeat. He had almost become like a mindless killing machine.


    But it must be said, he wasn''t particularly enjoying himself. He didn''t enjoy killing weak opponents. For him, there must be thrill in battle. In battle one should fear for his life, but right now he was cold, he coldly predicted and countered, efficiently executing techniques.


    10 minutes had passed.


    The enemy numbers seemed to be slowly dwindling.


    Now, after around 20 minutes since the beginning of the battle, the place quieted down. There weren''t any cries of pain, just the heavy breathing of one man.


    Kai was drenched in blood, and he was standing in the middle of countless headless bodies. He looked at the sky, and sighed.


    He was out of his battle frenzy. When he looked around himself, he saw the outcome. What did he feel seeing such a sight? Perhaps one would think he felt nothing, considering his earlier behaviour and demonic slaughtering of everyone around, but one would be wrong. As he stood there, tears started falling. He was crying.


    Kai was crying, but he wasn''t bawling. He didn''t make any sniffing sounds either, just, tears constantly flowed out of his eyes. It took a moment for him to compose himself.


    He then noticed the fat noble back at his carriage. Maybe he had been too afraid to move earlier, but just now he started trying to get away. But when Kai noticed Sophie laying on the ground unconcious, maybe she was hit during the scuffle, he started approaching the guy.


    Kai didn''t conciously adopt any expression, but the noble''s face twisted in terror when he saw Kai approaching.


    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? PROTECT ME!!" the man called out to his bodyguard.


    A tall man, a bit over 2 meters probably, stood before Kai. He was wearing platemail and wielding a twohanded sword. He should have considerable skill, as one could feel from his imposing figure.


    "An enemy?" Kai inquired dully.


    The man took a moment to answer, "If I could, I''d rather continue living..."


    "Then step aside," Kai commanded.


    "I can''t do that."


    "...Then, is a compromise possible?" Kai asked with a sudden polite smile.


    Kai took the man''s silence as a ''yes'', "Then, I have some questions for the nobleman. As for what will happen to him... I''ll leave that to Sophie, when she wakes up..."


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 Chapter 8.2 – Bloody brilliant comedy

    Chapter 8.2 ¨C Bloody brilliant comedy


    The fat noble was stopped from leaving and was tied up.


    Before asking questions, Kai wanted to wake up Sophie, so that she wouldn''t miss anything important.


    "Oh, welcome back!" Kai greeted as he was leaning towards Sophie to get a better look at her.


    But the response was totally unexpected, at least for him. The thing is, he was still covered in blood from head to toe, and seeing such a sight as Sophie opened her eyes, she thought the Devil was standing before her.


    Amazingly, her first reaction was to throw a punch, or maybe she just aggressively raised her hands in defense. And, amazingly again, it hit Kai straight in the chin. He seemed unfazed though, probably realizing the cause, he went looking for water to clean himself.


    When Kai was returning, she noticed the huge amount of corpses and heads laying on the ground. Actually, she somewhat knew what had happened. During the fight the bandit''s leader, Bosuichi tried to use Sophie as a hostage. But it was useless ¨C Kai only glanced at him, after which there was some sort of glint from Kai''s direction and the next moment Bosuichi''s neck had been pierced by a sword. That was how the leader met his end... Then, as he fell he shoved Sophie making her trip and probably hit her head, thus fall unconcious.


    Kai got to questioning the nobleman.


    That guy sure was pathetic. When they first met him he was really loud, arrogang, making himself look all important and such. But now, in front Kai, he was quivering like some small afraid animal and could barely speak. He even pissed his pants.


    Was the man''s reaction perhaps normal? Let''s think about what he had seen ¨C first there was a man who looked no more than some weak commoner, who even dared to be carefree when he was about to be killed. But in the next moment that commoner had killed three men in an instant. The man was first confused at the sight, but after that commoner proceeded to single-handedly slaughter everyone around, fear overwhelmed him. ''Was he going to die in this hellhole?'', he thought. ''He has better things to do, like torture,'' he thought.


    Anyway.


    Since his name is irrelevant, let''s just keep calling him nobleman.


    So, the result of trying to talk to the nobleman was this.


    He first went on to threatening Kai with something like "I''m an official of the state! I can make your life a living hell, if you so much as even touch me!" But it wasn''t effective.


    Then he started to beg for mercy and tried to bribe Kai "I''m rich! I can make you live like a king for the rest of your life, if you spare me!" This, too, was ineffective.


    That was when Kai finally got to asking questions, which was what he just wanted to do in the first place.


    The man was supposedly quite high nobility and also a state official, a minister of something, and was quite influential. What was a person like him doing here in the forest? Well, though he was hesitant, he somewhat revealed that he likes to ''break the minds of strong-willed women, especially of those of nobility'', or that''s what could be concluded from his incoherent words.


    Then, a week ago a certain hidden princess, that being Sophie, returned. The nobleman was in the vicinity when she and Roland, the Minister of Education, met. That was when he requested the band Red Leaves to capture her.


    Here''s where a little backstory is required. Though Sophie was of royalty of the Kingdom of Lazure, ever since she was little she was a bit different from others. What''s of relevance here is that unlike other girls of her age, she was fairly strong-willed and more drawn to swordmanship than some ladylike activities. So, one time when the nobleman was visiting the kingdom, he heard of her, and when visiting the palace, he saw her training with such focus, that he immediately wanted to make Sophie his.


    Sophie shuddered at hearing his explanations, but she was also disgusted by him.


    "Now, one more thing," Kai continued, "If you so like to ''train'' these women, as you said, you must have a base of sorts, right?"


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    "N- No, I can''t tell you that!"


    "Oho--, you know, I could use some creative ways to ''convince'' you to reveal it..." Kai tried to smile, but to the nobleman it was something like a demon wanting to eat him.


    "Pl- Please, I''ll tell you! I''ll tell you! Just spare me--!" he cried.


    Surprisingly, or maybe not, the place where he kept the captured women was his own villa at the outskirts of the capital, which was about a half day''s distance away.


    "So, what do we do with him?" Kai turned to Sophie, who had been quietly listening so far.


    "What do you mean?" she didn''t underestand why he was asking her.


    "Well, kill him or not? I don''t care about it either way..."


    "...As detestable as he is... We can''t kill a harmless man," was her answer.


    "Fine with me," Kai turned to the nobleman, "You''ll be guiding us to your villa, then," he said with a commanding tone. The nobleman didn''t have much of a choice.


    "But before that," Kai started walking towards the biggest building of the, let''s say, village.


    Before heading out, one should prepare supplies for the travelling. Because Kai''s and Sophie''s equipment had been confiscated, it was time take them back.


    Actually, the villagers had been watching all this ordeal as they hid in the houses. When Kai started walking towards them, they thought that he would kill them like he had killed the warriors.


    The band Red Leaves, as it was called, wasn''t really a bandit group. Sure, they sometimes attacked caravans, but they tried to refrain from killing anyone. And from the 500 or so people that lived in the village, only about 150 were actually warriors that went out on the rare raids, the rest of them were normal people, farmers, lumberjacks, tailors and such.


    There was a reason for living in this secluded hidden village, but that''s not important right now. And, as for the kidnapping, that was one of the specialties of the leader and a small group of his subordinates. Kidnapping can be actually quite profitable, and it was deemed as necessary in order to acquire a living.


    "Please, great warrior, please spare the lives of these poor villagers," an old man came out of the largest house. He was probably the elder of the village and had to take up the courage to confront the stranger known as Kai. He continued, "These people just want to live peacefully, the leader and his group of brigands were the ones committing evil deeds. Us normal people are innocent," as he explained.


    There was probably more to it, the old man would naturally hide some things and lie about others. However, none of this was relevant to Kai right now.


    "Umm, sure, I won''t kill you, if you don''t attack me. I merely want to get our stuff and horses back, then we''ll leave," Kai responded without a care.


    The old man was really grateful for it. Noone would attack Kai after seeing what he''s capable of. However, on the other hand, the village had lost its protection against wild beasts and monsters, and some women had also lost their husbands, so Kai was still looked upon with hateful eyes.


    After having retrieved their belongings, Kai brought their horses from the stables and gathered back at the entrance of the village.


    "Ready to go?" he asked.


    "Yeah, but, I must ask, why do you want to go to the villa yourself? You could report it to the authorities, I think whatever has happened there wouldn''t be ignored," Sophie said.


    "Ee, this is like an event! Therefore I must complete it myself."


    "Event?" perplexed, Sophie tilted her head in confusion.


    "You know, saving women from their misery and becoming their prince on a white horse," Kai declared, puffing up his chest majestically "...That sort of thing..."


    Hearing his reason, Sophie momentarily thought he was delusional, but besides that, his optimism also gave a little hope. Oh were both of them so wrong...

 Chapter 9 – Enjoying life

    Chapter 9 ¨C Enjoying life


    They were on the way to the villa.


    The carriage was driven by the nobleman''s servant, while Kai, Sophie, the nobleman and his bodyguard were sitting inside.


    The bodyguard was actually just a temporary mercenary hired by the nobleman only for the trip to the forest village and back, so he had no deep connection or sense of duty towards him. That was a good thing, since due to Kai''s willingness to compromise the mercenary could keep his life without feeling much quilt about not totally earning his pay.


    There was also another thing.


    What did Sophie think of Kai now? Let''s take a look back at the events that happened.


    The fight had started with a good reason. She was about to be enslaved with a binding contract, when Kai easily freed himself and fought back against their captors. However, though she was thankful to Kai fighting so tenaciously, she was being saved by him yet again.


    Now, though the battle had started off with a good reason, it soon turned into a one-sided massacre. Kai''s skill and power was overwhelmingly greater than those of the opponents''. From the side she could see that the bandits were also fairly skillful, but it didn''t compare to Kai.


    Kai''s killing method was gruesome. He only aimed for the neck in order to decapitate them, or was aiming for the head in general. Heads flew off, and some had their skulls crushed with a pommel strike, causing brain matter to splatter around.


    But where did his power come from? He might be magically strengthened by support buffs, but he seemed to be enjoying this slaughter, as a smile had appeared on his face. It was as if he was possessed by a demon, only longing for blood and death.


    That was when she was tried to be used a hostage but to no avail. Her last sight of Kai at that time was of a bloody whirlwind that cut apart everything in its vicinity. And the next moment she saw him he was still covered in blood. She didn''t immediately realize it was Kai and tried to defend herself against the monster before her. Then, after she had calmed down a little, Kai had proceeded to calmly start asking questions from the nobleman.


    Why was he interested in such things? Saying that it''s like an event... Just what was going on in Kai''s mind? She couldn''t comprehend Kai''s personality at all ¨C mostly he''s carefree, he might tease her in some ways, but when he gets irritated he easily blows up, and in battle he is a killing machine sparing no mercy towards his opponents, but then doesn''t care about the nobleman, who was the reason all this happened in the first place.


    On one hand Kai was truly mysterious, but at the same time his unpredictability made him frightening. Sophie decided that, for now, she would keep following him and try to find out what kind of person he really was.


    Anyway.


    At some point on the way the mercenary departed and went his own way, thus the ones still heading towards the villa were the nobleman and his servant, and Kai and Sophie. The purpose was... still the same, Kai was hoping for something interesting to happen.


    It took a few hours. When they reached their destination it was starting to get darker.


    The place was maybe about 2 hours of walking distance away from capital, which they passed on the way. It was located inside a forest, there was a big garden and the whole place was surrounded by a fence to keep wild animals out.


    There was guard post at the entrance with one guard on duty. The nobleman said that he needed to get out of the carriage for a moment and show his face to proceed. He was clearly acting suspicious, but it didn''t really matter. And as soon as he got out of the carriage he ran off, telling the guard,


    "They''re intruders! Hold them off as long as you can!"


    Which was another suspicious thing. Was the guard so strong that he''d able to go against Kai, or was there another reason to keep them busy?


    Since there wasn''t much need to kill him, after a short bout the guard was knocked unconcious by Sophie.


    "So, what now?" she asked.


    They were standing before a large mansion. There weren''t anymore guards, at least, they couldn''t see any at this moment.


    "Eeh, I guess first we''ll just walk in the front entrance..." Kai said.


    So he did.


    From outside it was visible that the lights were on, but no movement could be seen, so it could''t be determined if someone was there or not.


    There was noone in the lobby, but chatting voices could be heard from the room next door, there was also some kind of disturbing sobbing-like noise coming from there.


    Kai kicked the door and opened it with a loud bang, followed by shouting quite loudly,


    "GOOD EVENING--! I''M IN THE HOOUUUSSSEEE--!"


    At first sight one could see a few men eating and drinking, like a banquet. They were naturally surprised by Kai''s sudden appearance.


    "Who are you?!" one of them asked.


    "IT IS I! ME!"


    "What?"


    "What?" Kai asked back..


    "Get lost, you have no business here! GUARDS!" the man called out.


    While Kai was standing there importantly, Sophie peeked through the crowd and saw a quite horrible sight.


    Three naked women. One had her hands tied and was hanging by the rope in the air, she had been whipped until flesh had been shaved off and bone was visible. The second was nailed to a table and her body was cut in various places, her guts were slightly hanging out. And the third was... already dead, with her arms and legs broken, and her neck probably too.


    Sophie immediately threw up, causing Kai to direct his sight towards whatever Sophie had been looking at and notice the tortured victims too. What was his reaction? He smiled.


    "My, my, what do we have here?" he began speaking dramatically, "How could you do this to these poor and pitiable women?"


    "Kh, it has nothing to do with you."


    "Oh, but it does, you see-"


    That was when another two guards came.


    "Take these two intruders away!" the man commanded.


    Needless to say, the average guard was now match to Kai nor Sophie. This time when one attacked Kai, he didn''t straight up murder him, but like Sophie did, he knocked him out.


    It was easy to judge the situation ¨C the people there were probably some twisted nobles, who enjoyed torturing others. And today just happened to be one of those ''events'', where they had gathered together to satisfy that ''need''.


    The men hadn''t anticipated any violence directed towards themselves, so when the guards were taken care of in a moment, they got afraid. They, too, tried to first threaten Kai and Sophie, after that then turned to bribes, but both were useless.


    Kai calmly walked up to the tortured women and inspected them. They really had been treated horribly. It was disgusting how before the they were happily torturing the women to death and now, facing a man who could easily kill them, they started quivering and wanted to save their own hides, at least that''s how Sophie saw the situation.


    "There''s something amiss..." Kai quietly said.


    Sophie wondered what he meant by that, but then suddenly there was a wave of unease that ran over everyone. It was something familiar to what she had felt just recently. It was the same as she and Kai confronted the demonic minotaur, that feeling of being in the presence of something strong and terrifying.


    Then the ceiling broke and someone fell down. The shadow stood up, its height about 3 meters, it had a humanoid body, but after the dust cleared he looked more like a demon. Its armor was black with glowing red lines running along it and it was holding a twohanded sword. Sophie remembered a chapter from the book "Guide to Greater Demons", and recognized the being in front as Dread Knight.


    It didn''t say anything, but just glanced at Kai, who was standing the nearest to it, and attacked without notice. Kai took the blow, amazingly the sword didn''t cut, but he was blown away. The demon didn''t stop and now cut the nearest noble in half. It started laughing.


    "Hahahahaa--, it''s been too long since I''ve tasted good blood. I''ll make you all a sacrifice to the great God of War!"


    The only ones in the room who might perhaps be able to fight against such a demon were Kai and Sophie. Actually, the latter wasn''t so sure about that. Though she was somehow able to get into a battlestance, the demon''s presence itself was horrible and her legs started to shake a little. She knew from that that she couldn''t possibly defeat such an opponent.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.Then, something unexpected happened ¨C she suddenly felt a surge of power, it was so incredible that her head started to spin from the overwhelming energy.


    "Sophie, I don''t think it''s a good idea for me to get into a battle right now. You''ll have to beat the demon yourself. You can do it with these buffs, right?" Kai said while sitting near the wall which he had crashed into.


    So the reason for this power was his buffs, but how? However, this was no time to be thinking about such things.


    "Hey demon!" she yelled, drawing the target''s attention.


    "Huh? A worthy opponent!"


    Strong beings could usually estimate other''s power. If the demon judged Sophie to be of equal strength, then how much stronger did she really get? It was true that at the moment Sophie felt incomparably stronger than ever before, the power was overwhelming, she was confident.


    The demon was first to make a move. As it came dashing towards Sophie, she could see his movements. There was a sword slash and she could easily parry it. Not only were her reflexes enhanced, so was her physical strength. When the blow would have broken her stance before, she now was able to redirect it smoothly.


    When she tried to counter-attack, the demon managed to deflect her strike as well. The opponent had very high abilities as well. Thus began an exchange of strikes and parries.


    Both had good stamina, though Sophie''s was in an enhanced state, so the continuous strikes lasted for a few minutes. Incredibly, the demon''s defense started faltering first. The buffs Kai had given also removed fatigue and increased recovery rate.


    After some vicious blows there was an opening in the demon''s defens, which Sophie quickly took. Her sword pierced straight through the platemail into the demon''s body. It should be mentioned that her sword was also a special one ¨C it was made of light and durable mithril and it was enchanted with increased cutting power.


    After the first successful hit there were more and more openings, and before long, there was a fatal one and Sophie managed to cut the demon''s head off. Sophie emerged victorious.


    "You did well," Kai complimented her as he came towards her.


    "Yeah, thank you..." the excitement of the high-speed fight disappeared as she took a deep breath, "But, I couldn''t have done it with your help," she regretfully admitted.


    "Well, if you weren''t skillful enough, it could have ended worse, you know," Kai tried to comfort her.


    "Anyway, while you were busy, I gathered and tied up the nobles, they must have their retribution."


    Now that Sophie looked at it, the men were really tied up and gathered into the corner of the room. Though she hadn''t noticed, the nobles had tried to escape during the clash, but to their misfortune Kai was still capable of moving, thus the result.


    "What do you mean by retribution?" Sophie asked. She wasn''t asking ''why'', but rather ''how'', because she as well thought that they deserved some punishment.


    "We''ll see about that..." was Kai''s answer.


    The two tortured women were conscious and had seen everything. Because they weren''t thinking very clear, they shivered at the sight of Kai approaching them.


    "How are you?" Kai asked.


    Was it a stupid question? Seeing their condition one should have a quite a good idea of how they felt. Still, it was just out of consideration. They stayed quiet, without light in their eyes, they were taking their last breaths before death.


    "Do you want to live?"


    When he said those words, he saw a glint of hope in the women''s eyes. They hadn''t totally given up hope, they didn''t want to die.


    Kai raised his hand to which the women flinched. However, the opposite of what they expected happened ¨C when Kai held his hand towards them, they were overcome by warmth and energy. Their wounds quickly disappeared and left no trace. They looked at themselves surprised, and then looked back at Kai, and tears started flowing. Their quiet sobbing was their expression of happiness over living and gratefulness towards Kai.


    It took a moment until they calmed down. After Kai gave them some blankets to cover themselves, he asked,


    "Now, this is a chance, a chance to pay back everything that was done to you. What will you do?"


    How strong were their feelings of hate towards the noblemen who had tortured them? Did they hate them so much as to wanting to kill them? Absolutely. However, in the end they didn''t do it. Was it because the men were too resilient and the women too weak, or perhaps due to some unconcious reason? They sure gave them as much of a beating as they could with their relatively frail bodies, but they stopped in a few minutes after getting tired and calming their rage. It was enough.


    That was when there was another unexpected occurence.


    The dead demon''s body burst into flames. However, rather than burning to ash, it started moving. It slowly stood up and spoke these words.


    "You stand before the God of War, Walhgor!" he turned towards Kai, "You have done well, mortal. I''ve been observing you ever since you killed my minion at the Olec outpost. You are quite strong, prove yourself to me and I will make you my apostle and grant powers beyond your imagination! What do you say?"


    "A god of this world, huh, interesting..." Kai quietly muttered. Then, with a wry smile, he responded "I have no interest in being a lowly messenger." He continued with a strong tone, "Rather than being just a minion, I will come and conquer your domain, and I will succeed you. I will become the God of War!"


    "You dare threaten me!!?"


    "Heh, there''s nothing to dare even... If you think you have what it takes, come take me yourself!"


    The demon burned even more intensely and with a roar of rage disintegrated, leaving behind nothing but ash.


    Everyone besides Kai, who stood there calmly and relaxed, were stunned.


    Just now a true god had manifested itself before them and had offered a mere human to become its apostle. It was an unbelievable chance. But what was more staggering was the fact that the human refused the offer, and then even went on to threaten and provoke the god. That was pure insanity!


    "What were you thinking, provoking a god like that!?" Sophie yelled.


    "Ee, nothing really. I just didn''t like his arrogant attitude."


    Kai''s response left Sophie''s mouth gawking, she couldn''t underestand him at all.


    Then the next moment there was an explosion somewhere nearby. The building shook and almost collapsed. The ceiling burst into flames and they were spreading very quickly.


    "Get outside, quick!" Sophie reacted quickly.


    Noone bothered to carry the noblemen with them, if they were to die there, then they deserved it. Perhaps burning to death in the flames of hell was a suitable punishment for scum like them.


    When they got outside, they saw what had happened. A meteorite had fallen onto the house and blown away half of it, leaving the other side burning. They were lucky it didn''t fall directly onto them.


    So, what now?


    As for the women, they can head back home, and because the nobles who had them captured have died, they don''t have to worry about being come after again. At least, hopefully...


    As for Kai and Sophie, they''ll be heading to the capital, Camberth, where they''ll rent an inn for the night and continue their journey the next day. This was what Kai decided straightforwardly without any care for the recent incident. His words were, ''The event has ended''.


    So, as the sun was setting, the four were on their way toward the capital.


    - - -


    PS


    <del>This story (Silent Wrath) will probably be discontinued, or perhaps updated very rarely.</del>


    Okay, after some heartwarming feedback I won''t be dropping this entirely. However, I will update when I have an idea how to and the time to do it, i.e infrequently.


    I''ve been trying out different writing styles and will be posting a complete new story soon. Look forward to it!


    Best wishes!