《I am the shadow Villain》 Chapter 0: Intro Somewhere in Europe. The skies were pure blue and clear. A refreshing change since most of the time they were laden with chem trails. The sun shone brightly, and the grass seemed greener than ever. ¡°What a lovely day!¡± exclaimed Gorn. The gentle breeze was caressing his face, bringing a very soothing feeling along with it. The surrounding nature was vibrant with life, making everything else even more beautiful. Gorn walked leisurely towards a nearby wooden bench. Sitting down, he let out a long sigh. ¡°It''s been a long time since I came to this park¡­.¡± The place was a little more secluded, so there weren''t many people around. The absence of human noise made it much easier to relax and contemplate important aspects of life. Suddenly, a loud noise startled the surrounding birds. ''I tolerated that behavior for long enough!'' thought Gorn while slamming his hand on the wooden bench. Sharp pain and a tingling sensation followed. This kind of behavior was rare for him, provided that he was generally a very calm person. Breathing in, and exhaling powerfully, Gorn released some built-up tension. Being a young adult was certainly not easy. ''It is time to change jobs. Surely there is something decent out there.'' Part of his anger came from the behavior of one of his work colleagues. It was toxic beyond words, and to make things even worse, the culprit was a lot weaker than him physically speaking. ''Or I should just beat the shit out of that person to see if I can correct that attitude.'' Gorn tried numerous times to talk things out politely, but to no avail. What remained now was either to use brute force or to avoid the person. The first option was very tempting, and he almost succumbed to it a few times. After more careful consideration, Gorn abandoned that plan, deciding to stick to the second method. ''I want something more!'' Deep down, he yearned for something much greater than a good job. ''I think it''s time to dig deeper into what I truly want.'' Taking advantage of the beautiful surroundings, Gorn relaxed for the rest of the day and at the same time made some order inside his mind and heart. . . . In the blink of an eye, it was already evening. A lot of things were still weighing down on his shoulders, waiting to be solved and fixed. That, however, was something that required more time. Extending his hand, Gorn grabbed his laptop from the nearby bedside. His room was simple and nothing to brag about, having only the necessities. It was after all a rented place that he was currently using for the time being. Browsing through the internet, Gorn read a story that he liked. There were only a few new chapters available, so he finished quite fast.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Can I find something else interesting to read?¡± After half an hour of searching, Gorn abandoned that idea. At this point, he already finished most of the things that he deemed worthwhile. Searching for more became a heavy chore for him, so he stopped. ¡°I''ve had enough of this.¡± Furthermore, after a long period, his interest in fictional stories, mangas, and things of the sort was reaching an end. Thinking back, he was even ashamed of reading, and viewing some of them. ¡°I must have been brain-dead to read and watch some of those things.¡± Thinking about his past actions allowed Gorn to make a real image of himself, and improve. ¡°I wonder what it would be like to live in a world similar to those fictional stories I read.¡± Since it was getting late, Gorn put his thoughts to the side and went to sleep. . . . After an unknown amount of time, Gorn''s eyelids twitched and his eyes opened slowly. ''I didn''t sleep so well since I was a little kid,'' thought Gorn while stretching his arms. ¡°What?!¡± It didn''t take more than a few seconds for his eyes to clear up and see the surroundings. ''Where am I? What happened?!'' He was not inside his room anymore. Springing out of the bed, Gorn got dressed with the clothes that were thrown to the side, not caring if he was or not the real owner. The room had a simple design, very similar to his own, but the shape, and the color of the furniture, plus their location was entirely different. Noticing a nearby mirror, Gorn hurried towards it. Nothing looked out of place, besides the fact that his face seemed somewhat younger. His heart started to beat faster and faster. Eyeing a nearby wooden chair, Gorn took it and smashed the mirror as quietly as possible into multiple pieces. Wrapping his hand in a piece of cloth, Gorn took out a sharp piece of glass to use as a weapon. With utmost attention, he started to inspect his room and then the rest of the place. . . . After half an hour. ¡°I am the only person currently in this house.¡± There were a few other simple rooms with a similar design. By the look of things, the other places were occupied by women. There were signs of recent activity, so he had no idea when they might come back. Gorn sat near the window that offered the best view of the surrounding area. In his hand, he held a photo that he picked up from one of the rooms. Everything looked unfamiliar, making it very difficult to ascertain the situation. Gorn''s brain was trying his best to make sense of the situation. After a few minutes, the photo in his hands dropped to the floor. Inside the photo were six people, him included. A pair of twins, a little girl, a woman, and a man next to her. Last but not least, his mug was also present in the photo, next to the man. He looked even younger, and very timid, judging by his facial expression. ¡°That is a plane, right?!¡± exclaimed Gorn while following with his gaze to something high up in the sky. It was very far away, so he could not see exactly what it was. The more he looked, the more that thing looked like a living organism and not a plane. After a few more minutes, the unidentified object disappeared into the distance. Gorn grabbed the photo from the ground. ¡°What is happening?¡± He had no memories of those people, and they were most definitely not his family or relatives. ¡°It seems like this guy who looks like a younger version of myself has been living with them for a few years already.¡± Beside his room, there were no signs of the presence of other men. Putting the photo back, Gorn returned to the window, analyzing everything with care. The buildings, the cars, the streets, everything had a different design to it. It was like being in a foreign country, and in a different timeline. ¡°What?!¡± Gorn just witnessed a man running on the streets. It wasn''t that unusual for someone to run, however, this person was as fast as a car, something he saw only in movies. ¡°Alright...I see where all this is going....¡± . . . After an hour, he was still alone in the house. Getting outside, Gorn explored the surrounding area, being careful not to get lost from the starting point. After a few dozen minutes, he froze in place. In his line of sight was a huge wall, and far beyond that were gigantic trees and mountains so enormous that the peak could not be seen despite the clear weather outside. ''I guess I will be able to satisfy my curiosity after all,'' thought Gorn while shuddering. At this point, it was clear to him what was happening. Chapter 0.1: Intro part II ¡®This is either some very far away place, cut off from the rest of the world, or¡­¡¯ pausing for a moment, Gorn took a deep breath. ¡®Or I was transported to a different world, exactly like in those novels I used to read¡­¡¯ There were a multitude of similarities in structures, vehicles, clothes, and so on, yet still, everything appeared to be different. ¡®What happened to me? How did I get here?¡¯ The last thing he could remember was browsing on the internet before falling asleep. There were no signs of being kidnapped by the use of force, or drugs. Not even something magical like a portal appearing in his room, and absorbing him to this location. Nothing. Currently, he had absolutely no clues as to how or why he was there. Some wild ideas came to his mind, but there was no real evidence to support any of them. Because his thoughts were quickly becoming a mess, Gorn stopped pondering over something that he had absolutely no proof about as of that moment. ¡®No matter what, I first need to gather some information.¡¯ Clenching his fists, Gorn felt excitement running through his veins. Solid information was a must at this point. Running left and right could allow him to discover a few things, however, that wasn¡¯t the smartest thing to do, and he knew it. Walking around like a chicken, with no real idea about what was going on, could prove to be very dangerous. Taking one more glance at the far away gigantic mountains, and trees, Gorn quickly returned to the house where he woke up. ¡®There is no one here yet¡­good.¡¯ Unlike the guy that ran like a car, his body seemed to be that of a normal human. No extraordinary speed, strength, or anything supernatural.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡®What now?¡¯ The answer to that question quickly came to his mind. ¡®Now, it¡¯s time to act like nothing unusual happened.¡¯ A simple and efficient strategy since he appeared to be part of the family, and no visible signs of hostility could be seen. Cleaning the mess he caused with the mirror, Gorn took a few more glances throughout the small house, then went to ¡®his¡¯ room, waiting patiently. Slowly, but surely, the time started to tick away. While waiting, Gorn prepared himself for various bad situations. ¡®If things will get very out of hand because of my lack of information, telling them that my head hurts, and I don¡¯t feel that well should be a decent strategy.¡¯ If he was really part of the family, this kind of approach was almost surely to work to some degree. ¡®I doubt that will be the case,¡¯ thought Gorn, analyzing some information he already knew. The fact that he had a room of his own, and was present in that family photo, was more than enough information to rule out some worst case scenarios. ¡®Was I adopted into this kind of family? If that¡¯s the case, where was I before? Is this really my body? It appears to be a somewhat younger ¡®me¡¯¡­'' Just by looking at that photo, he was more inclined to go for the ¡®adoption¡¯ theory. Firstly, he knew very well his real family, and secondly, his appearance was rather different from the rest of them. If it wasn¡¯t for the strange situation, such questions would be quite silly. Gorn waited patiently. People weren¡¯t killing each-other on the streets, and he already had a place that could be called a base. In short, there was no need for haste, which could potentially ruin his situation. At least, not at the moment. ¡®What a bizarre situation¡­ Interesting¡­¡¯ a sense of adventure and curiosity built up in his heart, overcoming a great part of the negative emotions. After a few hours, Gorn could finally hear some movements inside the house. ¡®Someone came,¡¯ his heart started to beat faster, and it got a little harder to keep a straight face. After hearing a few more noises, it became quiet once again. A few dozen minutes ticked away, but no one came to his room, nor did he hear anything else. ¡®Should I go check things out?¡¯ Gorn felt that it wasn¡¯t the right time for that, so he waited patiently. The chances of the other party being strangers, or robbers, were very unlikely. There was hardly anything that looked of great value inside the house, not to mention that it was basically in the middle of the day. Just in case, Gorn already envisioned himself going for the wooden chair next to him, and smacking it into the head of whatever enemy might appear. After a few dozen minutes, the sound of the front door could be heard yet again. This time, it was accompanied by a loud voice. ¡°I am hooome!¡± Chapter 0.2: Intro part III The voice seemed to belong to a little girl. ¡®Is she the little girl from the photo?¡¯ Unlike before, this time, the new arrival made a lot of noises. Slamming the doors, shouting and throwing stuff around. ¡°Why not?!¡± Dissatisfaction could clearly be noticed in those words. The loud noises resumed. This time, they were coming towards his room. ¡®This is it¡­¡¯ thought Gorn, trying his best to put up an act. With a loud bang, his door was slammed opened. In front of him was now a young girl dressed in overly large pants and a dark blue t-shirt. She had very long black hair, and her black eyes shined with energy and anticipation. ¡°You will play with me, right, Gorn?¡± Gorn quickly analyzed all the details. The girl seemed to be the same little girl from the photo. Looking at her face, she was obviously not that old, but her height was certainly above what he had imagined her to be after seeing that photo. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m feeling a little tired,¡± said Gorn, his facial expression remaining rather neutral. The girl made a sad face: ¡°But¡­ You usually play with me from time to time. It¡¯s been quite a few days since we last played, so I thought¡­¡± Her eyes became teary, and she looked like she was going to start crying at any moment. Gorn removed the blanket, and got to his feet. ¡°I guess we can play a little bit¡­¡± Hearing his words, the girl¡¯s sad appearance vanished, and was quickly replaced by a happy one. ¡°Perfect!¡± Gorn was a little stunned by her beautiful smile. In the next second, she jumped at him, embracing him tightly. ¡®¡­¡¯ It was rare for someone to be so happy over such small things. Patting her on the head, Gorn asked: ¡°Alright, what do you want us to play?¡± he found it hard not to give her a large, warm smile.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Letting him go, she started to talk with great enthusiasm: ¡°We learned a few interesting games at school¡­¡± Gorn listened to her carefully. Either she didn¡¯t have a decent conversation in a long time, either she was very talkative. Even without asking, Ella started to talk about various things. ¡®This is easier than I imagined¡­,¡¯ thought Gorn while keeping the girl company. Just by playing a few simple games with her, he could find out a ton of useful information. On top of it all, he even thought that the games were interesting. Time flew quite quickly. Before they even realize, it was already quite late. The wooden door of his room opened yet again. ¡°Stop bothering Gorn so much. Come, it¡¯s time for dinner,¡± the girl who spoke was one of the twins. Leaving these words behind, she left. ¡°Stop bothering Gorn so much,¡± Ella started to imitate her words mockingly. ¡°Let¡¯s go eat!¡± turning her head, she said towards Gorn with a smile. It was a little weird seeing her switch her facial expressions so effortlessly. Gorn followed her silently. After a few steps, they reached the first room of the house. It was larger than the rest, and from there, each family member could go to their own room without bothering the rest. Apart from his chamber, there were three more rooms. ¡°Why are you so late, don¡¯t you know we eat at this hour?¡± ¡°Sorry mother, we just had some fun playing some game,¡± her face was without a shred of remorse. Elisa sighed: ¡°Take a seat, let¡¯s eat before the food gets cold.¡± Gorn tried to act as normal as possible. All four women were extremely beautiful, making his task a little harder than it should have been. On top of her beauty, Elisa had a few wrinkles, and her face betrayed exhaustion. Furthermore, the twins seemed out of energy as well. Except the youngest, all of them were going through some hard times. They tried to hide it, but it was painfully obvious. ¡°How was today at school?¡± asked Elisa. ¡°It was fine, nothing unusual. Same as every other day,¡± answered Nora without any enthusiasm whatsoever. ¡°I see¡­¡± Elisa let out another sigh. By the looks of it, she felt that something might be wrong. ¡°What about you, Ella?¡± ¡°Well, today was quite fun, we learned a lot of things, such as¡­¡± Ella started to talk with great passion while eating at the same time. Thanks to her, the atmosphere turned a little livelier. The food wasn¡¯t anything spectacular, but tasted great nonetheless. A vegetable soup, and rice with cabbage. The uncomfortable questions never came. Except for some small talk, nothing appeared to be out of place. It looked like he was indeed part of the family. ¡®What is wrong with these girls?¡¯ thought Gorn. The family was clearly going through some very hard times. After finishing eating, everyone cleaned their dishes then went to their rooms. Gorn did the same. Falling on the bed, Gorn pondered over everything that happened. Thanks to Ella being so talkative, he found out a ton of useful information. ¡®Is this her way of coping with the sad atmosphere?¡¯ It was well hidden, but Ella¡¯s sadness could not escape his eyes. Chapter 0.3: Intro part IV His initial excitement settled down considerably. ¡°A city surrounded by wilderness¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t any kind of wilderness. The vegetation, and the terrain, was vast and majestic, beyond anything he previously saw. Those short moments when he went outside were enough proof to confirm the information he got from Ella. ¡°By the look of things, humanity seems to be on the brink of extinction¡­¡± The reason the city was still standing was thanks to some mysterious power that kept the monsters away. The common people did not have access to detailed information, but this fact was among the first things someone learned while going to school. A world full of wonders, unfortunately, deadly for most people. Despite this, there was still hope. Some people could get way stronger than normal, and were able to fight the wild, ferocious monsters that lurked beyond the city walls. Magical abilities were also a thing. Most of the information he found out led to this conclusion: ¡°A lone city in the middle of nowhere¡­ Surrounded by a mysterious forest, gigantic mountains, trees, and baffling monsters that could kill you before you even manage to blink. How wonderful¡­¡± His body trembled involuntarily. It still seemed a little surreal. ¡®Maybe I will wake up tomorrow back in my room?¡¯ This time, Gorn got lost in his thoughts. There were so many variables, and possible answers, that it drained him completely of energy. In the end, he fell asleep. . . . Gorn¡¯s eyelashes trembled, and his eyes slowly opened. ¡°This is?¡± He was still in that unfamiliar room: ¡°So everything that happened yesterday was not a dream?¡± Happiness and sadness were both present. Even though it was morning, excitement started to surge yet again. ¡°This should be interesting¡­¡± A part of him was very eager to unravel every single mystery that came towards him. ¡°Time to go to school, right?¡± Education was a very important aspect inside the city, and a great tool to potentially change one¡¯s fate. Since he now knew there was some order in place, roaming around a little wasn¡¯t going to be a problem as long as he acted humble, and respectful. Jumping to his feet, Gorn got dressed into a black pair of pants and a thin, violet sweater. The clothes appeared to be made of low quality linen, but were acceptable nonetheless. It was very quiet inside the house. By the look of things, everyone was out already. As he exited the house, Gorn¡¯s heart started to beat increasingly faster.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Once outside, he was greeted by the sight of numerous people walking in all directions, apparently busy with their own agenda. There were also vehicles that looked like cars. ¡°How intriguing¡­¡± The roads were not made of concrete, but from some sort of stone, mixed with a few other things. At least that was what he thought it was. The cars were extremely simple compared to what he was used to, and their design was rather lacking. Some people had huge swords on their backs, and were dressed in what looked to be different kinds of armor. For a moment, Gorn thought he was watching some sort of cosplay. Old and new seemed to intertwine in a weird, but beautiful way. Walking for a few minutes, Gorn was mesmerized by the beautiful nature, as well as the complex ornaments that existed through-out the place. Some houses looked shabby, while some appeared to be out of some sort of fantasy book. ¡®Strong and weak, rich and poor,¡¯ thought Gorn, while carefully observing everything in his path. It took him only a very short amount of time to figure out that the social hierarchy in that place was very uneven. The weather was almost perfect, allowing him to see far away into the distance. The enormous mountain, and trees far away, were a fearsome sight. Some of them were so tall, that he actually couldn¡¯t see the top. Seeing such fauna made his heart tremble with excitement. Just imagining himself exploring that place brought forward a great deal of exhilaration. Hour after hour went by, and Gorn was still exploring, and analyzing everything in his sight. His face was covered with a smile almost the entire time. Eyes glowing with enthusiasm, the journey continued. At this point, it was too late to go to school, nor that he planned on going there anymore. Taking his time, analyzing the location took priority. Before he even knew it, it was already getting late. ¡®Let¡¯s go back for now.¡¯ Without any problems, Gorn found his way back. It wasn¡¯t hard to mark a few buildings as checkpoints, thus making it very simple to keep track of his position. He never had trouble with orientation before, nor was he going to start now. After some time, he reached his home. Just one look at it was enough to see that it was among the simplest houses that he saw. He had no issue with that. ¡®I wonder if it¡¯s going to be a problem that I got home so late¡­¡¯ His concerns soon turned out to be speculative. The house appeared to be empty. At a second glance, shoes that weren¡¯t present in the morning were now neatly arranged at the entrance. Two identical pairs, and one smaller. The girls were home. ¡®How quiet¡­¡¯ It was awfully quiet. The atmosphere was also a little depressing. ¡®Fuck!¡¯ cursed Gorn, his excitement settling down yet again. Going to his room, Gorn sat on the bed, and made some order with the information he found during that day. ¡®In a way, this is just like any other city¡­¡¯ There were striking differences, ranging from architecture and nature to how the people dressed, what they did, and of course, what was beyond the city walls. As he was deeply immersed in his thoughts, one of the twins came to tell him that it was dinner time. ¡°I¡¯ll be there in a moment,¡± said Gorn. Changing into other simple clothes, he exited the room. This time, the dinner was even more awkward than the day before. Ella was also rather quiet, resulting in a stale state of affairs. The hard situations Gorn initially thought about never came. No one appeared to have any doubts about his identity, or have any suspicions regarding his behavior. They were just too busy with their own problems. After a short time, the room was empty. Each one of the girls went to their rooms without saying anything much. ¡®This is too depressing¡­¡¯ feeling the need to do something, Gorn went towards Ella¡¯s room. Knocking gently on the door, he asked: ¡°Want to play a few games before going to sleep?¡± In the next instance, the door was opened, and Ella greeted him with a smile: ¡°I do!¡± Chapter 0.4: Intro part V Just like that, a few days flew away. Exploring during the day, having dinner in the evening, and playing with Ella different kinds of games while also talking about various things. This kind of schedule allowed him to quickly find out the basic information that he desperately needed, including the school he was supposed to attend. ¡°A new morning, a new me!¡± Full of excitement, Gorn washed up, got dressed, then exited the house. Unlike before, he now knew exactly where to go. In around ten minutes, he reached what looked to be a bus station. The vehicle soon arrived, and Gorn, together with other boys and girls, quickly embarked. The others looked just as normal as him, nothing unusual showing on the outside. The ride was smooth, allowing them to reach the destination pretty fast. Getting down of the plain looking bus, Gorn marveled at the huge, and exquisite building that was now in front of him. Such a structure seemed a little out of place. ¡°So this is a school here¡­¡± Entering the building, Gorn felt some nostalgia hitting him. After all, his school days were supposed to be already behind him. ¡®How odd¡­¡¯ his feelings were mixed. The interior was clean, and had a luxurious vibe to it. There were various rooms varying in size, and numerous students walked to their respective classes. Gorn¡¯s gaze shifted to his hand. There was a small, round piece of wood there. His name was on it along with his class designation. Using that, and his good orientational abilities, Gorn was quickly able to come in front of the door that lead to his class. The door was wide open and people went inside while chatting. Stopping for a second in front of the door, he examined the class. The room was very spacious, and had a multitude of chairs, and desks. ¡°Out of the way!¡± At the same time he heard these words, he felt a hand on his shoulder, pushing him away. ¡®The fuck?!¡¯ The force was something that he could not handle. His body was almost sent flying several meters to the side, landing in a very unnatural position. Laughter soon came.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The person who pushed him was a young man with no noticeable physical features. Bland like a door. His action was seen as nothing unusual since it took only a few moments for everyone to continue whatever they were doing, ignoring him, including the guy who pushed him. ¡®I see¡­¡¯ Gorn took a very careful look at everyone involved. After that, he also acted like nothing of great importance happened. Finding a seat at the back of the class, he waited patiently. The commotion died down the moment a teacher entered the class. It was a half bald middle-aged man. The man took his time getting comfortable, then started to talk about certain creatures. Gorn listened carefully. Hearing about certain features of those creatures made him tremble inside. ¡®This shit is for real¡­¡¯ The class was soon over. Gorn was in a strange state. Despite everything that happened, it was still a little hard to accept the facts. All of a sudden, a shadow appeared on top of him. Looking up, he saw a very muscular boy that had blonde hair and blue eyes. Unlike the dude before, he had a great deal of charm. Being almost two meters tall, and having a huge amount of muscles, posed for quite the sight. This new individual was blocking his line of sight. Taking some money from his pocket, he put it on Gorn¡¯s desk. ¡°Go buy me some snacks.¡± After saying those words, he left. Gorn looked at the money, then at the departing silhouette. While the words were disrespectful, the tone was rather calm. ¡®What should I do?¡¯ After some brief consideration, he took the money and went to buy the man some snacks. Since he already saw a shop on his way to his classroom in the morning, the process was quite smooth. ¡®There are little chances I used to stand up to this kind of person,¡¯ thought Gorn while bringing the snacks to the blonde hair dude. As long as things didn¡¯t go too far, being humble for some time could prove to be a smart decision. Gorn put the snacks and the change on the man¡¯s desk. ¡°Thanks, you are free to go.¡± The answer was a little surprising. ¡®Is this what you call a polite bully or what?¡¯ Not wasting a second, Gorn went to the back of the class yet again. ¡®It sure is nice to have power¡­¡¯ . . . Day after day went away. Gorn spent most of his time trying to find out as many things as possible. After all, information meant power. Thanks to his lack of physical prowess and status, Gorn was bullied periodically by his classmates. The bullying varied, but it wasn¡¯t anything that he couldn¡¯t handle. At this point, he kind of understood what the twin¡¯s problem might be. Gorn was currently doing some push-ups in his room. ¡®I¡¯m just too weak. There must be some faster ways to get stronger.¡¯ For the first time since arriving to this place, Gorn felt an overwhelming desire to get stronger. All of a sudden, something popped up in front of his face. Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 0/10 targets. Power level: 15 Abilities: None Equipment: Normal clothes. Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 0 Tip: 1. To access the information panel, say out-loud ¡®status¡¯.
  1. To acquire a target, just say ''select'' while looking at someone.
Gorn¡¯s whole body shuddered: ¡°This is?!¡± Chapter 1: A new place Star city, a city bustling with activity, and life. People moving towards their jobs, kids going to school, merchants selling different kinds of stuff in marketplaces, and much more. A pretty normal city, you would say, except it wasn''t anything like that. From time to time, giant flying monsters would fly in the distant skies, making the surrounding city walls look rather useless. Fortunately, none of them attacked or even got anywhere close to the city to pose a real threat. ''How the fuck did I get here?'' thought Gorn while taking a bus towards his school. It has already been a few weeks since he woke up in this new world. To make things even more complicated, he became eighteen years old again and gained a special ability the previous night. "Status!" Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 0/10 targets. Power level: 15 Abilities: None Equipment: Normal clothes. Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 0 Tip: 1. To access the information panel, say out loud ¡®status¡¯.
  1. To acquire a target, just say ''select'' while looking at someone.
''What a pathetic status,'' thought Gorn, with a strange smile on his face. "Shop!" Power up potion (Lvl1): +10 power. Cost: 1000 gold. Limit: Can increase power to a maximum level of one thousand. Leather armor (Lvl1): A normal piece of armor with decent protection. Cost: 1000 gold. Black sword (Lvl1): Sharp sword made from low-quality black steel. Cost: 500 gold. Skill level-up voucher (Lvl1): This can increase the level of a skill. Only works on level-one skills. Cost: 5000 gold Healing potion (Lvl1): Can speed up the recovery of the body. Cost: 100 gold. Reading all of this stuff brought a big grin on his face. ''Now it''s time to try something new.'' Looking at someone who was on the same bus, Gorn said quietly. "Select!" Race: Human Talent: Low Power level: 15 Abilities: None Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 15 gold. Confirm target? Yes No After confirming, the screen disappeared. The new target was now present in his auto farming system with the option to ''attack''. Stroking his chin Gorn chose that option. What followed next was the appearance of a timer. 09:59:59...09:59:58... ''So in ten hours, I will be able to see the results. That person has the same power level as me so the chances of winning are not that bad.'' The situation was very similar to playing a simple game. An area Gorn was by no means unfamiliar with. ''If that power-up potion actually works, then¡­'' Just thinking of the new possibilities was somewhat overwhelming. Calming himself down, Gorn looked for additional targets. "Select!" Race: Human Talent: Medium Power level: 55 Abilities: None Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 55 gold Confirm target? Yes No ''That fucker is almost four times stronger than me...'' After pondering over the situation for a bit, Gorn did not confirm this target, instead, searched for someone weaker. After a few more minutes, all ten of his spots were occupied by people with the same power level as him. Attacking all ten at the same time was possible, so he did just that. Now it was time to wait. Analyzing the other people, Gorn discovered that no one had a power level of over one hundred or any special abilities. ''I guess I''m at the lower end of the ladder momentarily, without anything special. But that might change really quickly.'' The bus stopped and everyone disembarked. A huge, fancy building was now occupying most of Gorn''s line of sight. It was none other than one of the few schools present in the city. From eighteen years old, almost everyone attended such a school. It was free, and it provided precious knowledge and resources, especially to those with special skills and talents. It was a necessary situation for humankind and a great opportunity for normal people to turn their lives for the better. Unfortunately, special talents were incredibly rare.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. After a few quick glances, Gorn proceeded towards his classroom. The first few days were hard. Luckily, that problem was swiftly taken care of with various lies and a few inquiries. One important factor in all this was the great similarities between this city and a normal city that he was used to. In a short time, he arrived inside a fairly spacious room full of desks. "Out of the way!" Without any notice whatsoever, Gorn felt someone pushing him. The force was so great that he was literally sent flying across the floor a few meters away. ¡®This shit again?!¡¯ "If you block my way again, I will beat the shit out of you!" The girl who spoke was none other than Lora. She had long red hair coupled with large brown eyes, beautiful facial features, and a body that could induce desire in most of the men. She was one of the prettiest girls in his school. On the other side of the coin, her temperament was awful. Always angry, and in a bad disposition. At first, Gorn learned the hard way how unreasonable she could be if someone got in her way. Attending a certain minimum number of classes was mandatory for a few years, with very few exceptions. Since he had no real talent, he could not harvest all the resources that the school provided free of charge if you met certain conditions. However, that was different now. Before, he had no solid solutions to such situations, but now, with the help of the newfound system, things were different. He wasn''t completely sure if it worked, but his gut feeling told him it did. ''The time has come for a few changes,'' thought Gorn with newfound resolve and determination. The first thing he wanted to do was swear at Lora. Race: Human Talent: High Power level: 170 Abilities: Fireball (Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2) Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 170 gold; Fireball (Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2) Confirm target? Yes No Looking at her status, Gorn held it in, forcing himself to calm down. Going against her at this point would be like throwing an egg against a rock. ''Well, I need to be patient just a little more.'' Making a decision, Gorn did not say anything. Lora went on her way, ignoring him. On the other side, he now knew that skills could also be looted, unfortunately, he had no way to obtain them at this point. Taking a seat somewhere in the back of the class, Gorn analyzed all of his classmates. Most of them were stronger than him, with few exceptions. Besides Lora, two others attracted his attention. Race: Human Talent: Medium Power level: 50 Abilities: Regeneration (Lvl1) Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 50 gold; Regeneration (Lvl1) Confirm target? Yes No There were a few others with such a power level, but what this guy had and they didn''t was a skill. Race: Human Talent: High Power level: 200 Abilities: Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2) Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 200 gold; Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2) Confirm target? Yes No This was none other than Sebastian, another class bully, and apparently, the strongest. Even though he was a bully, he had charisma and knew how to talk to make you feel better. In addition, the bullying part was not that severe, mostly sending people to do certain miscellaneous tasks for him. Tall, muscular body, blonde hair, blue eyes, and overall beautiful features, coupled with a strong family background, made him one of the most desired men in the school. Having analyzed all of them, Gorn just sat leisurely. ''What I need now is time...'' With that in mind, Gorn tried to not attract too much attention to him, the same as usual. Unsurprisingly, that was incredibly simple in a way. . . . Ten hours already passed. It was time to check the results of his ¡®farming¡¯. Battle report: 6 wins; 4 losses Total loot: 90 gold Attacking the same people again was possible, so he did that. Doing a few calculations, to reach one thousand gold he would need around a week. Without any other better options, Gorn waited patiently for another week. Going to school, analyzing all the people he could, then going back home. A simple routine. . . . It was now saturday evening. Gorn sat on his bed with a weird-looking bottle in his hands. After taking a sip, no results could be seen. The stuff had a great taste, like some kind of weird juice. Drinking all that, a message appeared in front of him. +10 Power Gorn felt a surge of energy throughout his entire body. Getting down on the floor, he started to do push-ups. ''Shit, I can actually do many more than I could before taking this potion.'' Doing a few more tests, Gorn confirmed that his strength, and endurance increased greatly. Without being able to contain his happiness, Gorn laughed out loud. "Great!" Next, he quickly put the auto-farming system back to work. With his increase in strength, he was expecting a total victory. While waiting for the next results, Gorn played with his inventory, and did various exercises. . . . Battle report: 10 wins; 0 losses Total loot: 150 gold "Fuck yea!" . . . Three days later, he drank another power-up potion. "Status!" Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 35 Abilities: None Equipment: Normal clothes. Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 50 Being able to improve so easily at such a fast speed was a wonderful experience. Since he got stronger, it was now time to be more efficient. Walking around the school, Gorn soon found someone with a power level of thirty. ''I wonder if I can select the same person multiple times.'' To his surprise, he could select the same person multiple times, making his job easier. ''The difference is only five power, I wonder if I''ll be able to achieve a full victory.'' Without much delay, Gorn pressed the ''attack'' option. ''To make things even more efficient, next, I''ll buy myself a sword.'' Having done that, now it was time to go to classes. Knowledge about the new world was also important. Chapter 2: Main teacher Things were more quiet than usual. Paying attention to a few of his classmates, Gorn soon found out the reason for that. Sara, the main teacher that was responsible for their class, finally arrived from a recent expedition outside the city walls. ¡°Hello, everyone, glad to see you again!¡± Gorn remained stunned for a moment, it was the first time seeing her. ''Well, I guess she takes the spot for the most beautiful and sexiest woman that I have ever seen. Let''s see if her capabilities also match.'' ¡°Select!¡± Race: Human Talent: High Power level: 1020 Abilities: Flight(Lvl3); Wind resistance(Lvl3); Lightning bolt (Lvl4); Durability (Lvl4) Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 1020 gold; Flight(Lvl3); Wind resistance(Lvl3); Lightning bolt (Lvl4); Durability (Lvl4) Confirm target? Yes No ''Man, I almost want to say it''s not fair.'' Sara had long black hair that in combination with her dual-colored eyes and white skin brought a very mysterious aura around her. ''One eye is blue while the other is black. I only saw such a person a single time in my life.'' Unlike Lora, her body was completely developed, and the charm that she exuded was that of a mature woman. Not to speak of their temperament, which was miles apart. Gorn turned his head towards Lora, then back towards Sara, comparing the two of them. His actions were somehow noticed by Lora. ''Shit!'' Turning his head away, Gorn acted like nothing happened. It was not time yet to deal with her. ¡°I''m sure you are curious about the expedition, so raise your hand if you want to ask me something,¡± said Sara with a smile. In the next instant, everyone except Gorn raised their hands. Surprisingly, Sara looked towards him. ¡°You have no questions?¡± She was clearly curious. Everyone''s gaze turned towards him. ''If I knew this would happen, I would also raise my hand...'' Being stared at by so many people, including a couple of beauties, was a little intimidating. Most of the gazes were full of scorn and superiority. ''Ha, a bunch of nobodies, I will leave you all in the dust very soon.'' ¡°It''s not that I don''t have any questions, but I believe that the important things are confidential, as they should be, of course. As for my other curiosities that can be answered, I''m sure someone else will ask them.¡± Sara made an approving gesture: ¡°You are not wrong. But can you tell me one question that I can''t answer you?¡± Gorn grinned slightly: ¡°I can''t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked Sara with great curiosity. First impressions were important, so Gorn dropped the facade. Even though it could bring him unwanted attention, he chose to be honest. ¡°Because I don''t want to.¡± Total silence. ''What gives him so much confidence? From what I remember, he is just a normal person with poor talent.'' ¡°Alright then, nothing we can do about that. What about you?¡± Sara''s attention turned to another student, dispersing the awkwardness. Unbeknownst to Gorn, Lora looked at him with some acknowledgment. The situation turned exactly as he said. What followed was a series of normal questions and answers. The questions that could not be answered truthfully were tactfully handled. Nonetheless, it was somewhat captivating. ''So the reason strong monsters don''t approach the city is yet to be known. Furthermore, the same could be said for quite a big area around the city.'' Gorn sank into thought.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ''They still suffered injuries, and someone even died.'' From this, Gorn came to the conclusion that he needed at least a power level of one thousand in order to be somewhat comfortable outside. ''There are always exceptions, and things change constantly, so there is no need to overly trust some information.'' Contrary to his expectations, everyone seemed to avoid him after what happened during Sara''s class. Something Gorn was really happy with. Without anything interesting happening, the day reached its end. Battle report: 8 wins; 2 losses Total loot: 240 gold ¡°So it wasn''t a total victory after all.¡± That wasn''t such a big problem. . . . In the morning, he received another report. Battle report: 9 wins; 1 losses Total loot: 270 gold He now had more than five hundred gold, it was time to go shopping. With great enthusiasm, Gorn purchased the black sword for five hundred gold. The item went directly to his inventory. Taking the sword out, he took a good look at it. Black sword (Lvl1): Sharp sword made from low-quality black steel. Equip As expected, there was an equip and unequip option. After equipping the weapon, Gorn put it back in his inventory. ¡°Status!¡± Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 35 Abilities: None Equipment: Black sword; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 60 ''Even though the sword is back in the inventory, it still shows in my status. With this, I should be able to achieve much better results.'' After eating breakfast, Gorn headed to school. ''Everyone looks tense at home. There are clearly some problems.'' The school offered free lodging to those that wanted, for the three-year duration of the studies. The reason he returned home was because his house was close to school, and much more comfortable. In that place lived a single mother with three daughters. One was ten years old, while the other two were twins and at the same age as him. They were not blood-related, and he wasn''t even adopted legally. Nonetheless, everyone was nice to him and treated him with love, especially the little girl, whom he was very fond of. ''Soon, I will be able to help them a little, but until then, there is no point in prying.'' The little girl loved to talk, so he found out some information without even asking. As usual, Gorn sat somewhere at the back of the class, far away from the others. ''In less than two days, I will be able to raise my power yet again. With a power level of forty-five and a sword, I should be able to fight the dude with the regeneration skill.'' Without many worries, Gorn raised both his feet on the table, and closed his eyes, planning to rest until the teacher came. . . . ¡°Man, I''d rather go outside the city to explore than be here listening to theories,¡± said Gorn in a low voice while yawning. At the next moment, he saw Lora sitting close to him with a rather peculiar expression. Her sudden appearance startled him. Losing balance, Gorn fell off the chair. Without being able to hold it in, Lora laughed for a short moment. ''So this vixen can also laugh, huh?'' ¡°Then why don''t you go into the wilderness then?¡± Asked Lora. -Gorn was a little surprised by the sudden visitor. ¡°I''m not able to do that at the moment.¡± Lora put her elbow on Gorn''s desk and rested her head inside her palm while analyzing him. She was so close that her knees were actually touching him. ¡°At the moment? Then that means you''ll be able to do it in the future?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± If anybody heard his words, they would laugh. ''What makes him say such things with such ease, as they are just simple facts?'' ¡°Weren''t you scared to talk so rudely to our teacher yesterday? After all, she is the precious daughter of the city lord, not to mention that she can obliterate you with just a finger if she wanted to.¡± This was the reason she came up to him, to ask him this precise question. ¡°I wasn''t scared, but rather a little nervous. After all, it''s not easy, to be honest in such conditions.¡± ¡°I see...¡± . . . The next two days, Lora came and sat next to him without saying anything. During this time, Gorn finally bought another power-up potion. Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 45 Abilities: None Equipment: Black sword; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 260 Now it was time to try to obtain his first skill. His ten slots were now occupied by the same person. ''Go!'' shouted Gorn inside his mind, face radiating with great excitement. ¡°What are you so excited about?¡± asked Lora all of a sudden. For a moment, Gorn forgot that she was next to him. ¡°I''m excited about the future.¡± ¡°The future you say...¡± Her expression turned sad for a brief moment . . . Ten hours passed in the blink of an eye. Battle report: 10 wins; 0 losses Total loot: 500 gold ''What?! Ten wins, but I did not get the skill?'' Gorn was a little angry, nonetheless, this was an outcome not completely unexpected. ''Try again.'' Ten hours later, another report came in. Battle report: 10 wins; 0 losses Total loot: 500 gold; Regeneration(Lvl1) Regeneration(Lvl1): Stamina, energy, or wounds, everything about you regenerates a lot faster than normal. ''I see, so most probably there is a drop rate for skills.'' Now that the skill was acquired, apart from gold, that person did not have any other loot. The skill was practically useless in a short battle, coupled with the fact that he had a sword, brought him a one hundred percent win rate. Since he had the money, he quickly bought another power-up potion, which he used. Next, he found someone with a power level of sixty for maximum efficiency. At this point, he already knew where to go to acquire these targets. Unfortunately, the next person in line who had a skill was a little too powerful for him. Whistling Gorn went to his class. . . . After approximately forty hours, Gorn''s status changed yet again. Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 95 Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl1) Equipment: Black sword; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 800 It was time to get his next skill. A skill with no immediate great use, but very useful in general. Chapter 3: Becoming stronger One day after another, two weeks passed, making it in total of one month since he found himself in this new, and bizarre place. Without doing anything different, nothing much changed. Lora being in his presence made him even more avoided by people. Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 535 Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl1); Night vision(Lvl1); Fireball(Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2); Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2); Control(Lvl2); Equipment: Black sword; Leather armor; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 550 Regeneration(Lvl1): Stamina, energy or wounds, everything about you regenerates a lot faster than normal Night vision(Lvl1): Can see in the dark Fireball(Lvl2): Use your energy to condense a powerful ball of fire. The greater the level of the skill, the greater the spell''s potential. Fire control (Lvl2): Can use fire skills more efficiently, and with less cost. Warrior (Lvl2): All fighting techniques that involve weapons, including the body, are learned at a faster speed. Fast learner (Lvl2): Can learn anything a lot faster. Control(Lvl2): You are very proficient in controlling your strength. Sitting on his chair, Gorn analyzed his gains from the past two weeks. Lifting his legs on the desk, he adopted his favorite position. The amount of power that he currently had was something he never imagined he would obtain. Since he was close to Lora every day, even exchanging a few words occasionally, certain rumors started to spread throughout the school. There were quite a few more minutes until class started, when a loud bang resounded throughout the entire classroom. A new figure entered their class. Green hair, short stature, and a face full of freckles. Race: Human Talent: High Power level: 175 Abilities: None Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 175 gold; Confirm target? Yes No ¡°Where is that motherfucker?!¡± With great anger, that person walked towards him and Lora. ¡°You are my fianc¨¦, why are you so familiar with another man?!¡± Lora''s veins started to bulge. ¡°Stop calling me that!¡± Gorn glanced at Lora and then at the midget in front of them, whose height was not higher than him standing on the chair. It all made sense now. ''So this is why she was so angry all this time, understandable¡­.'' Looking at that man''s face, Gorn couldn''t help himself but laugh out loud. ¡°Bwahahahahaha!¡± He didn''t hold back his laughter in the slightest. At this point, everyone around him considered Gorn somewhat of a lunatic, so they weren''t that surprised. ¡°Why are you laughing like an idiot?!¡± asked Lora''s fianc¨¦. Gorn got up, passed by Lora, and stood in front of that man. The height difference was so big that it was almost like a full-grown man standing in front of a child. Since the intruder was adamant in making things difficult for him, Gorn chose to retaliate this time. ¡°Can''t you see we stay all day together? She is clearly not your fianc¨¦, but my woman!¡± Turning his head towards Lora, Gorn winked with a mischievous smile. Lora was at a loss for words. Soon, the man raised his hand to slap Gorn in the face. ¡°Hey, look out!¡± yelled Lora towards Gorn. Gorn easily avoided the strike, and gave the midget a good slap of his own, sending him over ten meters away. His body was still, not moving at all, a clear sign he was already in the dream world. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.Total silence. Gorn jumped in place several times while looking at his classmates that were present: ¡°Time for all of you fuckers to suffer a little.¡± He remembered every single one of them, and how they bullied, laughed at him multiple times. While he had no real resentment towards them since things never escalated past a certain point, the sudden rush in adrenaline he got from slapping the green midget was like a trigger of some sort. He wanted to have a small taste of revenge. Like a ghost descending from hell, Gorn started to beat the shit out of everyone who talked nonsense about him. Thanks to his control skill, and knowledge of everyone''s current power level, he used just the right amount of force. Without these factors, he could have easily killed a few of them, taking into consideration the fact that his power was only recently acquired. In but a few minutes, almost everyone was sprawled across the floor, groaning in pain. He made sure to punch harder to those that deserved more, and softer to those who deserved less. Gorn jumped and arrived in front of Lora yet again. ¡°Mmmm!¡± closing his eyes, he enjoyed the sweet moment. ¡°Initially, I wanted to beat the shit out of you too, but you''ve been quite nice to me these days, so I''ll let you off the hook this time.¡± Taking a seat again, Gorn started to whistle happily. Except for Sara, the principal, and a few other couple teachers, no one could pose a threat to him inside the school. And even that was only temporary. ¡®Will they expel me for causing such a ruckus?¡¯ It was highly unlikely for such a thing to happen, and he knew it, after all, this was a place where strength and potential was king. And even if they did that, it wouldn¡¯t matter anymore. ''His family should have wealth, and some form of authority, however, I have potential and raw power.'' Gorn had certain plans for the city. Even though he acted a little sooner than expected, it was not a big deal. ¡°By the way, when I go outside the city to explore, would you like to come with me?¡± asked Gorn, being just curious, and nothing much. Lora was still flabbergasted by what happened. ¡°I...¡± At this time, Sara stepped inside the classroom. ¡°What happened here?!¡± As a teacher, you wouldn''t see such a sight every day. Gorn got up and greeted Sara respectfully. ¡°Hello teacher. It was me who did all of this.¡± Sara quickly analyzed the situation. Judging by Lora''s expression and known prowess, she couldn''t be the one, much less Gorn. Then who was the culprit? ¡°And why did you do that?¡± ¡°The green midget wanted to attack me first. As for the rest, it was high time I rewarded them for how they treated me.¡± The most bizarre, and puzzling thing was not why but how was he able to do it, since not that long ago he was practically at the bottom of the ladder. Not waiting for his teacher to ask any other question, Gorn said: ¡°Actually, for some reason, I became a genius. I can improve very fast, and also awakened an ability.¡± ''Bullshit!'' thought Sara. Raising his hand, Gorn focused his energy and created a huge fireball. The force of a spell was closely related to one''s power level. Sensing such a powerful aura from that fire, was more than enough proof that Gorn was capable of defeating everyone. As a matter of fact, this thing was not impossible, and very rarely someone would awaken strange powers, and improve very quickly. Finding such people was the school''s purpose after all. Despite all that, such an incredible, and sudden growth spike was something Sara had not encountered before. Gorn canceled his fireball, and continued: ¡°I feel like this is still not my limit, however, at this point, I require a powerful backer to avoid certain troubles; would you like to be that person, teacher?¡± Yet again, the situation took an unexpected turn. As the daughter of the city lord, Sara had a great deal of authority and power. Being under her wing would result in having a great backer. ¡°Do you have other skills besides the fireball?¡± asked Sara while being in deep thought. ¡°No, just this one.¡± ¡°What about your exact power level, I believe you tested it in secrecy, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I did, it''s around three hundred and fifty.¡± Telling her the whole truth would not be wise, so he lied. Sara shook her head. ¡°I''ll be honest with you. Your speed of improvement is extremely fast, but your current level is still not sufficient to be considered among the best in this city. If you can reach a power level of over six hundred anytime during these three years of school, I''ll take you under my and the city lord''s care, and protection.¡± She also had a time of fast growth at the beginning, however, that lasted only for a short period. The higher she got, the harder, and slower it became to improve, even with different kinds of special resources that she did not lack. ¡°I understand,¡± said Gorn, slightly disappointed. ''You don''t want to take any risks, I understand that, but if you don''t risk, you don''t get to drink champagne,'' thought Gorn. ¡°Even though I can''t take you directly under the city lord''s faction right now, I''ll still support you. I''ll go right now to talk with the school director to offer you a special scholarship, and status that only very few people from this school receive. In addition, I''ll also talk with the infirmary chief to take care of this situation for you, free of charge.¡± Even if it wasn''t the best outcome, Gorn was still satisfied. Her honesty was also something to be appreciated. ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Sara smiled, and before leaving, she added: ¡°You two can take the day off. Go and have some fun until tomorrow.¡± Chapter 4: Taking care of some problems "You sure managed to surprise everyone, including myself." Gorn smiled slightly: "It might be a little fun at first, but it gets old fast." Since he was free for the rest of the day, Gorn decided to walk around the city for a bit. "I have a piece of advice for you." "What is it?" asked Lora almost automatically. "Try not to be a bitch to people that did nothing to you. Everyone has problems, not just you." With that answer, Gorn left the school. Everyone that he beat today was someone who ridiculed and talked to him behind his back. Ignoring such behavior was an option, but giving them a good beating from time to time was possible too. In a way, this could be considered as free life lessons. Buying himself a coffee, Gorn got inside a bus. It was almost like having a personal driver. There was quite a diversity of architectural beauty. Many buildings were clearly made by using materials and techniques that could not be found in other places. Tall buildings were not that common, and they did not exceed a certain limit. Even though powerful monsters were flying above the city, they usually flew at a very high altitude. The cause was actually the weather, which could become very violent at times, especially at higher altitudes. Most of the full-grown people had a power level of below fifty, with few exceptions. Their jobs varied, and the pay was sufficient to have a decent life. The stronger you were, the higher the chances to get a better job, and status. City guards were also present throughout the city. The power level of an average city guard was around two hundred. Of course, there were also stronger individuals who occupied leading positions or were responsible for certain areas. They belonged to the city lord faction and ensured that peace was maintained in the city. It was peaceful at first glance, but there were always exceptions. With a certain status or wealth, you could do quite a lot of trouble to the normal public if you wanted. ''Well, I''m not a saint either...'' There were quite a few schools spread throughout the city. Not that far away from his house, but in the opposite direction was the school where Mara and Nora went. Their power level was very low, at only fifteen. Gorn knew very well how hard it was. To make things worse, the twins were quite good-looking, just like their mother. Long black hair, and eyes, oval faces with beautiful features, coupled with an attractive body, and the fact that they were twins, brought quite the envy, and desire from around them. Gorn got out of the bus. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.''As far as I know, it''s been only a few years since I came to this household. Unfortunately, I don''t understand many things, and have no way to discover them at this point.'' He had the current body since he could remember, so possessing someone else''s body was not that plausible. ''Is this another version of myself, or what exactly is going on?'' The more he thought about it the weirder, and more complicated it got. ''Forget it.'' One foot in front of the other Gorn quickly got in front of the school. It practically had the same design. ''Now, let''s see who dares to harm my cute little twins.'' With great swagger, Gorn entered the building. In half an hour he managed to find them. Both of them were sitting quietly at the back of the class while everyone else chatted happily, moving around, enjoying the break. It was clear to see that something was amiss. Blending in the crowd Gorn observed the situation. Soon enough a group of girls surrounded Mara and Nora. They were harassing and humiliating the twins by pulling their hair, slapping them in the head, and even grabbing their assess while saying obscene words. ''Women are sure more cruel than men sometimes...'' There was no point in waiting longer. "Hello you ugly bitches!" said Gorn after arriving in front of the group. "Gorn? What are you doing here?" asked Mara, clearly not expecting his presence. "I''m here to clean the trash, of course." Not being able to hold it in anymore, Gorn got to work. The strongest girl had a power level of around fifty, so it was a one-sided affair. "Quickly call the teacher!" yelled someone from the back. By the point the teacher arrived, the bullies were beaten beyond recognition. Gorn made sure to inflict as much pain as possible. "You there! What do you think you are doing?" Race: Human Talent: Medium Power level: 220 Abilities: None Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 220 gold Confirm target? Yes No Only a handful of teachers were special, as for the rest, they were exactly like this one. Nonetheless, two hundred and something was a high number by normal standards. "I''m doing your job, you old bastard." It was the first time the teacher suffered such humiliation since coming to this school. Enraged, he attacked without saying anything else. His fate, unfortunately, became the same as the other girls. "As you can see, I''ve become much stronger, so it is high time for a few changes." Mara and Nora looked at him with great surprise. Usually, they only met during the evening and exchanged very few words. Jumping in his embrace both of them started to cry. He could only imagine how much they suffered and endured. "It''s all going to be alright," said Gorn while also embracing them tightly. After a few minutes, they calmed down. "Thank you so much!" Gorn smiled: "Let''s go home!" Taking both of them, Gorn left. Surprisingly, none of the twins asked any questions on their way back. Once home they spoke in unison. "Please help our mother if you can!" Just as he thought, there were quite a few problems in the household. Talking with them, he soon found out additional details. Elisa, their mother was working very hard to pay some debts that her deceased husband left behind. Her boss found out about this matter and used it against her. He had taken a fancy to Elisa for some time already, and used this reason to harass her, becoming more and more daring every day. Luckily, the man owned just a little business, and didn''t have great power. "I''m going to bring Elisa home. Do you want to wait here or do you want to come with me?" "We want to come with you," said the twins in unison. Their little sister was in a place that was similar to a school and would come home only later. Since they didn''t have a car, the bus came into play yet again. ''I''ll need to buy myself a car soon,'' thought Gorn, forgetting for the moment that he was way faster than any vehicle the city had to offer. Chapter 5: A change in status With a clear objective in mind, the three of them soon arrived in front of the building in which Elisa worked. Gorn took the lead while Mara and Nora followed close behind. "Halt! What business do you have here?" There was a guard by the door. He knew already all the workers inside, and the fact that Gorn was not one of them. "I''m here to see someone," said Gorn with some impatience. "You can''t go in. You''ll have to wait until work hours are over." Gorn grabbed the guard by the arm and threw him a few dozen meters away like he was some sort of ball. This action wasn''t to harm the guard but to display enough power so that he would understand some things. No one blocking their path anymore, they entered the building. Soon, they found Elisa''s working place. A small room full of all kinds of papers. "Mother!" Mara and Nora quickly ran to their mother, embracing her. Elisa looked very tired, but that didn''t diminish her charm at all. "Why are you all here? Did something happen?" Gorn smiled gently. "Nora, I''ll count on you to explain some things. I''ll go real quick to the toilet." Without waiting for a response he left. Grabbing the nearest worker he asked about the location of their boss. After finding that information, Gorn decided to pay him a small visit. In just a few moments, his target''s location was discovered. A luxurious, and spacious room, at least when compared to the rest. Gorn entered, then closed the door behind him. A large variety of noises could be heard from inside. After a couple of minutes, Gorn returned, his small mission a clear success. ''Well, this should do the job.'' With that out of the way, he got back to the girls. Since that wasn''t the place for discussing important matters, all of them returned home. . . . Things were rather simple, so after a quick discussion, everything was sorted out. "I don''t want you to be under such pressure," said Elisa with a worried face. "I understand your worries. In that case, just let me handle the situation for a few days. If it''s too much, we will consider another plan then." Elisa''s eyes were a little teary. "Alright then..." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.At this moment Ella arrived, the youngest, and the most spoiled among them. "You are all home!" she yelled, radiating a great smile. With her playful demeanor, the atmosphere turned cheery almost immediately. After staying with the girls for some time, Gorn returned to his room. ''This world''s currency is also gold, unfortunately, I can''t take out gold pieces from my inventory. Not directly, at least.'' The solution was simple, he could sell something from his shop. After some consideration, he chose the healing potion and the black sword. ''Now I need to find someone to sell them for me.'' After a few moments, his mind drifted to Lora. ''Her family has quite a few shops inside the city... .'' The light of the sun marked the start of yet another day inside Star City. Everything seemed rather peaceful if one looked from above. Gorn was currently at school, inside the principal''s office together with Sara. The principal was a middle-aged man with a power level of eight hundred and no skills. His physique could put to shame most of the men. With big, well-defined muscles, coupled with his tall build the man gave quite an imposing aura. Seeing such a person smile at you while drinking some coffee was a little unsettling at the least. "Take a seat Gorn. Would you like some tea or a cup of coffee?" said the principal. "A cup of coffee please." Sara got up and poured both of them some coffee. "My name is Carl. Usually, I don''t meet with students, except for cases like this one." Taking a sip of coffee Carl continued: "From today onwards you will become a core student of this school. That means receiving more resources, including money, and protection." In the next moment, Carl took out five pieces of what looked to be red gems and put them on the table. "This is your pay for the next five months, I''ll give them to you in advance. These monster cores go for around five thousand gold each. You can use them to increase your strength or sell them for money. In addition, you are free to use all of the school''s facilities, and attendance is no longer mandatory." Gorn was a little stunned by the sweet conditions. "And what must I do for all this?" To receive so many things meant some conditions had to be met. "You don''t need to do anything. However, it is expected from you to help the city and its inhabitants in times of need." Gorn took the gems from the table. If he became incredibly strong, just his presence alone would make the city safer; provided he did not go berserk and try to kill everyone. "All of the teachers, as well as some important people will be shortly announced by the change in your status." Next, Gorn asked about moving the twins to this school, as well as the problems he caused. Carl smiled bizarrely: "No problem. As long as you don''t kill or disable anyone, the school will protect you. That is, of course, valid only for the duration of your studies. However, small fights between the younger generation are only natural, so don''t expect us to jump to your aid for small things." Until now, everything seemed to be going smoothly. "Congratulations Gorn! I look forward to your rate of progress!" said Sara. Just her presence alone made things a lot more pleasant. Wearing tight clothes, coupled with her hair that was masterfully arranged, made for quite the sight. "Thank you!" said Gorn while sneaking a few glances at her body. With most of the important stuff out of the way, Gorn left the room. Sara and the principal remained behind, they had some other stuff to talk about. ''These monster cores solve the money problem quite well.'' The debt was below five thousand gold pieces, so one monster core was more than enough to solve that. Gorn tried to absorb the energy from one core, however, his speed was very slow. Something to be expected, considering his low talent. It was the same situation when doing physical exercises. As a result, he needed to work much more than someone with better talent. Fortunately, Gorn now had other means of powering up. Chapter 6: Taking care of the family debt ''At this rate, I will reach a power level of one thousand in just a few days. The problem is how do I get past that?'' thought Gorn while going to his class. He wanted to talk to Lora about selling some stuff. Having a source of income of his own would be great. ''Hunting monsters for their cores and body parts, collecting herbs, and finding treasures are also options, however, that is dangerous.'' There was no need to rush things. Being in a great mood Gorn walked leisurely towards his destination. His reputation started to build up. Beating Lora''s fiance, as well as everyone who talked bad about him, was something already known in the entire school. When he passed everyone would become quiet and respectful, afraid to upset him in any way, especially those normal students. Upon entering the class, everyone turned their heads toward him briefly. Despite the treatment they receive at the infirmary, some bruises could still be seen. They looked at him only for a moment before diverting their gazes. "Listen up carefully you maggots!" yelled Gorn all of a sudden, his voice being so loud that it could be heard far and wide. "From today onwards I am your big daddy. If any of you dare to bully someone or misbehave I will skin you alive with my own two hands. This applies to the whole school, so make sure to spread the news." Since he had power, it was only natural to impose a few little rules of his own. At this point, Lora also arrived. "Would you look at that?" said Lora with a big smile. Her usual angry temperament was nowhere to be seen. She was dressed in long socks, together with a schoolgirl''s skirt, and a tight shirt. Gorn paused for a moment. Lora laughed mischievously: "You like what you see?" Taking into account her great figure with the clothes she wore it would be a big lie to say no. "Very much," answered Gorn with a little bit of nervousness. In the end, he was still a young man and not a cold machine. Lora blushed slightly: "Obviously, it is not that hard to guess from that gaze of yours." "I want to talk to you about something," said Gorn, turning a little more serious. "Good, I also want to discuss something with you." Remaining in class would be inappropriate so Gorn invited her out. "Let''s go somewhere else, I''m sure no one will complain too much if we disappear for a couple of hours right?" This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there."That would be best," answered Lora. Like that, both of them left the school. "Do you know any places with good food?" asked Gorn on their way out. "Yes, I''ll treat you to something good, just leave it to me." Unlike Gorn, Lora got a very nice car. "On top of looking great, you are also filthy rich," said Gorn while looking at her drive. As a response she smiled dejectedly: "You saw my ''fiance'' right?" "I sure did. So who picked him for you?" asked Gorn curiously. Lora''s mood switched for the worse. "It was some kind of agreement between our families a long time ago. It''s nothing official, and it wouldn''t be such a big deal if that pig didn''t insist so much on the matter." Gorn was not interested in all the details, which were not that hard to guess. "So, what are we going to eat?" . . . After some time both of them arrived at a fancy restaurant. Since money was not a problem, all kinds of dishes were ordered. With the help of a few jokes, small talk, and good food, the mood turned for the better. After some time, Gorn talked to her about his two products. Lora happily agreed to test their value and help him sell them. In addition, she wanted to thank him. Since receiving that beating, her ''fiance'' calmed down quite a bit. "You''ll need to be a little careful, Mattew, that pig, might come back for revenge with some help. His family is the same as mine, and actually, they have a very good reputation. Things should not get out of hand, but if you need my help just give me a call." Lora gave him her phone number: "I''ll also text you about the value of the products you gave me." The technology was way inferior to that on Earth. Nonetheless, it was very convenient and made things easier. Unfortunately, most of the things only worked inside the city, or in a certain limited area. Considering this aspect, the main direction of research went towards other areas. Transportation and communication devices were decent, but nothing extravagant or luxurious. For Gorn, it was perfect this way. "Thanks in advance," said Gorn. They spent quite some time together, and it was high time to go pay his family debt. "Thanks for the treat. I now have some other things to do, so I''ll be on my way." "Let me give you a ride then," said Lora. The look in her eyes said that she was clearly interested in him. Something Gorn clearly noticed. ''Her interest in me started to show from the moment I became more confident and peaked when I displayed power as well. Well, I can''t say that is wrong to look for someone strong, however, my first impression of her is not spectacular.'' When he was weak she treated him rather poorly. When he became confident and strong, she started to show interest in him. There were other details to take into consideration, but the bottom line was that he didn''t have a very good opinion of her. If you look from a different angle, it wasn''t that much of a deal, but nonetheless, it was off-putting momentarily. "No need, I''ll go on my own." She was disappointed in his answer, but Gorn did not care and left. Being physically attracted to someone didn''t mean becoming a total idiot. Yet again, Gorn took his trusty ride, the bus, and headed to another area. ''Man, going on the bus is very fun. Maybe getting a car is not that useful after all.'' From time to time Gorn would scan the nearby people for skills. Meeting the same skill multiple times was not uncommon. Unfortunately, it showed only on abilities, and not on the looting category. The most desired skill that he wanted to get at the moment was Sara''s flight skill. Just imagining it brought him great pleasure. Looking around Gorn saw many attractive women. There were various levels of beauty, and currently, Sara took the number one spot, without any serious rivals. Leaving the women aside for the time being, Gorn focused on the present matter. In a couple of hours, everything was solved. ''Well, that went smoother than expected.'' Having money made things a lot easier in certain aspects of life. With that problem out of the way, Gorn could focus yet again on increasing his power. The next step was simple, reach the maximum power level possible at the moment, and gather as many skills as possible. Chapter 7: What it takes to level up the system In a few days, Gorn reached a plateau. "Status!" Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 1000 Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl2); Night vision(Lvl2); Fireball(Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2); Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2); Control(Lvl2); Equipment: Black sword; Leather armor; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 600 At this point, he learned a few new things. There was a maximum number of skills that he could have at a time. That number was seven. If he wanted another skill, there was, however, the option to replace them with new ones. Furthermore, the system could also be upgraded. System upgrade mission: Kill one thousand creatures with a power level of a minimum of five hundred. 0/1000 ''Creatures? Then killing humans should also work...'' He was not a mass murderer, so killing so many humans was not an option. ''It seems I will need to make a trip outside the city pretty soon.'' Lora also messaged him in regard to the items she gave him. Surprisingly or not, their price was the same, respectively five hundred gold for the sword, and one hundred gold for the potion. As a matter of fact, both items were of good quality, and could easily be sold. The downside was, however, that twenty-five percent of the profit would go to their family. Having solved most of the things that needed attention, Gorn headed to school, with another small goal in mind. ''That flight skill could be a life-saving method, so I must have it before I go to fight monsters if possible.'' Apart from that, Sara''s other skills were of a higher level, thus more useful. Taking her skills would be quite an improvement to his prowess. Gorn stopped in front of the school, thinking how much he improved in a short period. It was almost surreal. Entering the buildings he slowly walked towards his class. By now, everyone knew him and treated him with utmost respect. On his way, he did not see anyone getting bullied or harassed. It seemed that his warning worked quite a bit. After a short while, Gorn reached his classroom. Sebastian, Lora, the twin sisters, as well as everybody else were already present. "Hey, everything fine?" "Yes, thank you very much," answered Mara and Nora. Here, no one dared do anything to them. After exchanging a few words with them Gorn headed to his usual place at the back. After a few moments, Gorn turned his head upwards. In front of him was Sebastian. His figure was quite imposing, but that didn''t affect him much. Extending his hand Sebastian said with a rather serious face: "I''m sorry for the trouble I caused you before. I want to leave in the past everything bad that happened between us until now." His face seemed rather genuine. Gorn looked Sebastian in the eyes for a few moments, then extended his hand as well. "My apologies as well, I might have gone a little overboard with my last actions." And so, with a handshake, and a few words, a lot of tension between them evaporated into thin air. Sara entered the classroom, and Sebastian went back to his seat. Gorn was pleasantly surprised by Sebastian''s actions. Without overthinking things too much Gorn looked at Sara and said in a low voice.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Select!" Race: Human Talent: High Power level: 1020 Abilities: Flight(Lvl3); Wind resistance(Lvl3); Lightning bolt (Lvl4); Durability (Lvl4) Equipment: Normal clothes Loot: 1020 gold; Flight(Lvl3); Wind resistance(Lvl3); Lightning bolt (Lvl4); Durability (Lvl4) Confirm target? Yes No Gorn did not know how or where the duel with his targets went, but at first glance, Sara had the advantage. ''No matter how I look at it, her skills are superior to mine in a direct confrontation. I hope that from ten matches I will be able to achieve at least something.'' His chances were not high, but he had to try. After putting his system to work Gorn relaxed. ''Personal knowledge such as experience, combat tactics, and maneuvers are also important. There is quite a collection of books in this regard at our school. With the experience I have had with the system until now, I concluded that this aspect is not taken into consideration by the system.'' Even though it wasn''t useful when activating auto farming, it was very useful in real life. A good example was Carl, their school principal. Gorn won all ten matches against him inside the auto farming simulator, however, he wasn''t confident at all to do the same thing in real life. Besides theory, there were also practical classes. "Today we will do combat training. Follow me!" Each professor who was responsible for a class decided how often their students would practice actual combat. Since Sara was away most of the time, what they learned was only theory. Of course, the school had special trainers for the students who had certain qualifications and wanted to improve after classes regardless of theory or combat. "It''s been so long since we did such a thing," said one student to another. Everyone followed Sara in an orderly manner. Gorn was in dire need of practical combat. Luckily he had that control skill otherwise it would have been very hard for him with the quick changes in his power. Since his power reached a stop, it was ideal to be able to fully control it even without the help of his skill. ''I could use that slot for another, more powerful skill.'' His fast surge in power brought a few dilemmas with it. ''I need to use my whole power for a more realistic, and efficient training, but if I do that, wouldn''t I attract the attention of potential dangerous people?'' The weather suddenly turned rather bad. Such a phenomenon was not unusual, and most people did not think too much of it. ''I need some life-saving methods in case someone way stronger than me wants to hurt me.'' Until he got a few life-saving trump cards Gorn thought of being more careful. He wanted that at least, however, with his character, and even in general, it was pretty hard to do that. "Alright everyone, quickly form two lines," spoke Sara. They were already inside a huge empty room. "Good, the person in front of you will be your sparring partner for the next ten minutes, after which you will switch to another one." Gorn looked curiously at his opponent. It was a girl with a power level of fifteen. She looked athletic and seemed stronger because of her height. She was almost as tall as Gorn. "Rebeca right?" The girl responded politely: "Yes." She had a great physique, in rest her appearance was pretty normal. "Can you please not fight back and let me hit you?" Gorn froze for a moment. ''What!?'' "Alright, go ahead!" said Gorn full of curiosity on what was going to happen next. Rebeca did not wait any longer. She ran towards him and started to punch and kick him in different manners. She also used a huge variety of techniques. Gorn was like a rag doll, thrown to the ground, in the air, and beaten in every possible way. ''Wow, this girl sure knows a lot of fighting techniques.'' Her theoretical knowledge and the way to apply it was impeccable. Unfortunately, the difference in power was too massive. "This is like a decent massage." Rebeca stopped, she was breathing heavily and was covered in sweat. She went all out, knowing such a practice dummy was hard to find. Gorn''s reputation was leaning towards the good side, that being the motive she dared make such a request. That, and the fact that she was a little ''wild'', to say it more nicely. Gorn sank into thought. ''I can learn a lot from her... Furthermore, she won''t be able to figure out much. And even if, she is just a nobody.'' Using his power-up potion on other people was also an option, but that was too risky and needed to be done only on people he could trust somewhat, and in a moderate way. For the time being, he left that option to the side. "Hei Rebeca..." "Yes, Gorn?" "Would you like to work for me for a few days?" It wouldn''t be bad to make some use of his ''warrior'', and ''fast learner'' skills before replacing them with other ones. Chapter 8: Training/Lora In the following month, Gorn trained in a variety of styles, and even with some weapons. He was now very comfortable in controlling his power, as well as had some fighting experience. In general, he had a decent base now. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to defeat Sara in the auto-farming system. Even if it was possible, the chances were rather slim, so he abandoned that idea for later. His current target was Carl, the perfect individual to obtain a total victory every time. The past month Gorn made a little more than half a million gold pieces. This amount of money was enough to bring five people from zero to a power level of one thousand. Of course, he did not do that. Instead, he helped the twin sisters, their mother, as well as Ella, the little cutie of the family to improve their power level to one hundred, respectively fifty for the little girl. He was afraid that if he brought Ella to a hundred too she might have hurt some other kids by mistake. Gorn even trained Ella a little. He did all this progressively, and in secret using different methods such as putting the power-up potion in a juice bottle. It was a form of thanks for them taking care of him, as well as a little test to see if it worked. In addition, two hundred thousand gold were converted through items into real-life gold, for a total of one hundred and fifty thousand gold pieces. That twenty-five percent that the buyer demanded was a little too much from his perspective, nonetheless, he didn''t plan on continuing to sell to them for the time being, or maybe at all. During this time he received quite some help from Sebastian, Lora, and Rebeca in different ways. Sebastian was way smarter and more resourceful than he imagined. Rebeca was very passionate about martial arts, so Gorn secretively gifted her one power-up potion, and some money as a form of ¡®thank you¡¯ for teaching him a few things. She was ecstatic about her increase in power, saying that was a result of her training with Gorn. She insisted on them sparring almost every day, but Gorn just ignored her. He was busy with other stuff too. The same could also be said about Lora. She was still interested in him, but Gorn made himself hard to get. That was by no means an easy feat since she was very beautiful, and attractive. Lastly, as the cherry atop of it all, Gorn spent fifty thousand gold and bought himself a nice villa with a large courtyard. "Status!" said Gorn while being on his balcony, enjoying some coffee. Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 1000 Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl2); Night vision(Lvl2); Fireball(Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2); Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2); Control(Lvl2); Equipment: Black sword; Leather armor; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 350.000 He still had over one hundred thousand gold pieces in his pockets, so there was no need to trade items or depend on others. Unfortunately, real-life gold went into his inventory, and could not be converted to system money.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "Hey Lora, want to come to my place and drink a coffee with me?" Lora''s reply to his message came shortly: "I would love to." After giving her his address Gorn waited patiently. Shortly, she arrived in front of his villa. "Hey, welcome to my new home. Do you like it?" asked Gorn while opening the door to his courtyard. Lora smiled: "You have great taste, I like it." She was dressed in tight black jeans and a white sweater. Simple clothes, but of good quality. Lora''s tight jeans were perfect to put her nice legs and ass on full display. Being around her became a pleasure, especially since her temperament made a huge turn for the better. In the recent month, she was of real help to him. After a small tour of his villa, Gorn brought Lora to the balcony to enjoy some coffee and look at the beautiful sky. "You are the first person that I know who drinks coffee in the evening," said Lora with a big grin. "That''s because I can handle it. Want me to bring you something else?" "No, It''s ok." Taking a sip Gorn expressed his thanks for her help during this time: "Thank you for helping me sell those items, and keeping it a secret." Gorn was genuinely very satisfied with this thing. "No problem, my family also made a huge profit with this as well. Unfortunately, I couldn''t bring you a better deal." Lora also drank a mouthful of coffee. "Aren''t you curious from where I got all that?" "I am, but if I needed to know I''m sure you would have told me." Gorn laughed happily: "That''s a very rare quality right there." "Thanks!" There was a certain look in their eyes that made it very obvious that they were interested in each other. Gorn got up and went towards the edge of the balcony. "I wonder how long this seemingly peaceful life will last inside this city..." Lora came beside him, and let out a low sigh. "Who knows..." Saying those words, she got closer to him. Gorn extended his arm on the side of her face and kissed her. His actions were something she desired. They stopped only after a few minutes. Both their faces were red. With galloping hearts and uneven breathing, it was a little hard to say something. "Want some more coffee?" asked Gorn with a weird voice. "Yes, yes, that would be great." All of a sudden the weather turned bad, and it started raining. Gorn and Lora quickly ran inside. "So much for admiring the city," said Gorn. Lora arranged her hair while making herself comfortable on the sofa. "I like it when it''s raining." Gorn went to a nearby window to see what was going on outside. "It doesn''t look like it will stop anytime soon." With a power level of one thousand and his night vision skill, he could see a great distance away. Even without that night vision skill, Gorn''s vision was by no means normal anymore. "You can stay here for the night if you want." Lora paused slightly. "Thanks." Part of him thought she would refuse. Gorn grinned, then jumped on the sofa. "Power, wealth, and a beautiful woman by my side. Well, you could say that I''ve hit it big right?" "You have a rather unique way of speaking." Stopping for a second she continued: "I also have power, much more wealth, and a nice man by my side. Wouldn''t you say I''m in a better position?" "Well, you might have more wealth but I''m certainly stronger." Lora laughed: "Are you sure you are stronger?" Gorn raised one of his eyebrows: "Let''s test it then. The one that manages to pin down the other to this sofa for more than five seconds wins. Do you dare?" "Why wouldn''t I?" said Lora while pouncing upon Gorn. They wrestled on the sofa for a couple of minutes while laughing with great gusto. In the end, Lora ended up on top of him and they kissed again. . . . The night slowly passed, and with it the storm as well. Gorn woke up with Lora in his embrace. They wrestled each other and kissed for a long time before falling asleep. There was a lot of physical contact, but a certain limit was not crossed yet. Chapter 9: Mercenary Guild Gorn slowly got up, being careful not to disturb Lora, and went back to the balcony to get some fresh air. The city was practically surrounded by wilderness, making it a little uncomfortable at times. ''A trip to the outside is inevitable.'' thought Gorn while looking at the gigantic wall in the distance. The place where he was situated was very close to the exit. ''One hundred kilometers long and fifty wide, coupled with a population of around one million people is not that much. Is this all that humanity is left with?'' There was no information about other cities to the general public. ''Even if there are other cities, moving so many people through a wild forest full of monsters and other unknown dangers would be quite troublesome.'' "Good morning! What are you thinking so hard about?" Gorn turned towards Lora, who entered the balcony. "About going outside the city." Lora stopped, and looked at him with weird eyes: "You are serious about this..." She wanted to ask a few more questions but held it in. "Compared to the number of the city''s total population, very few people go adventuring outside the safe zones, but that doesn''t mean no one goes out." Lora nodded: "That''s right, someone needs to go out after different resources, and knowledge. That, however, doesn''t mean it''s much safer." Gorn shrugged his shoulders: "No pain, no gain right?" Lora raised her eyebrows: "Not really." Laughing, Gorn suddenly disappeared. In the next moment, he was behind Lora. Taking her into his arms he did a backflip from on top of the balcony. "Ahhh!" Lora had no real time to react. "Let''s go eat something, I''m starving." She looked at him with weird eyes: "Your house has doors... ." . . . Lora and Gorn were currently eating a lot of good food inside a fancy restaurant. "So, do you think I should join the mercenary guild or go alone?" asked Gorn with a low voice. Letting out a sigh Lora answered: "That depends on what your real goal is. Going with other experienced people would be much safer, however, if you want privacy then going alone should be more advised. Again, depends on how far you want to go, and what your goals are." Gorn nodded, what she said made sense. Since it wasn''t nice talking while eating, they finished eating first. "I would like you to accompany me to the Mercenary Guild, if you want, of course." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there."Sure, no problem." After paying their bill, the two of them got inside Lora''s car and headed towards the higher part of the city. That area occupied around twenty percent of the city and was available only to certain people, and factions. After driving for some time, the car stopped in front of a wall that had only a small entrance, which was guarded. A guard got closer to the car. Lora took out a badge and showed it to the man, after which they were allowed entry. Parking the car in a special place, they headed towards the gate. Lora looked at Gorn and grinned. He knew that without her help it would take him some time to get inside the higher part of the city. Once they entered, it was like stepping inside a different world. The quality of everything present, being buildings, roads, or even ornamental vegetation was miles apart from everything Gorn saw until that day. It was more like a magical city than a concrete city. Tall trees, tree houses, sparkling small lakes, numerous paths of beautiful flowers, and much more. "Why didn''t we enter with the car?" asked Gorn, a little puzzled. Lora smiled mysteriously: "What do you think?" Looking around Gorn did not see even a trace of cars, buses, or anything of the sort. "Ha, you got me real good... ." Gorn was like a small child, looking left and right with sparkling eyes. "I think I''m going to burn my current home and buy myself a tree house in this place." Lora laughed: "I suggest you don''t do that." "Stop teasing me, and tell me what you know already." "How about you give me a kiss first?" Gorn rolled his eyes and kissed her. Lora laughed mischievously. "Gold is useless here. Monster cores are the real currency. And before you think of exchanging all your gold for monster cores, let me tell you that it''s not possible. The supply is just too low." "Ohh..., so how much a house is worth here?" "The minimum is a thousand low-level monster cores. In gold that would be five million gold pieces, however, gold is useless here as I already told you." Gorn thought he was filthy rich, something far away from the truth apparently. "Do you got a house here by any chance?" "No. The effort is just not worth it. We do, however, handle some business here, thus we are allowed entry. The same could be said about most of the major powers in the lower part of the city." "I see... ." Lora led the way towards the Mercenary Guild, while Gorn looked around in awe. The place occupied around twenty percent of the city, but the population living inside was extremely small. They only met a few people on the way. "The Mercenary Guild is close to the edge of the city. Since there are no cars, we need to run if we want to get there. Twenty kilometers is not much, but walking takes too long." Gorn nodded. To them, twenty kilometers was nothing. As they got closer, more and more people could be seen. Gorn analyzed most of them secretly. ''Not even a single person with a power level below two hundred.'' Most of them had on average a power level above five hundred. ''One thousand and five hundred... .'' Soon, the Mercenary Guild could be seen in the distance. It was situated at the base of an enormous tree. It was partially integrated with the tree, giving off a very imposing aura. "What do you think?" asked Lora. "A nice piece of work, simply beautiful, " answered Gorn with sincerity. When they got closer, he chose not to immediately enter but sat on a nearby bench. "You said that anyone can become a member of the mercenary guild if they had the power, right?" Lora nodded: "Yes. You need at least a power level of five hundred to become a one-star mercenary. Two stars have a power level of one thousand, and so on. The nice thing is that from two stars onward you receive a house in this area free of charge, and other exclusive benefits." Gorn was pleasantly surprised to hear that. "What do I get for being a one-star mercenary?" "You get a badge that allows you free entry in the higher part of the city, as well as the respect of a lot of people. The mercenary guild is known to be like a big family, so very few people dare to mess with any of its members." "And what about the duty of a mercenary?" Lora sat cross-legged and calmly answered his questions: "You have to simply hunt monsters. By doing that it''s only natural that a high number of resources, and monster cores would come to the city, thus raising its overall power. You can also take different missions." Gorn listened to Lora while also analyzing the nearby people for useful skills. ''Fuck! Nothing useful.'' Most of the skills were rather similar, or not that useful. All of a sudden, he got an interesting idea. ''There are lots of monsters with useful abilities. What if I can acquire those as well?'' Chapter 10: A small trip into the wilderness "You have that weird look in your eyes yet again. It''s so hard to guess what you are thinking about sometimes." Gorn grinned: "Nothing much, just got an interesting idea." Lora''s curiosity was off the charts, but she handled that well. "Let me think for a bit... ." After a few minutes, Gorn continued: "Before I join the mercenary guild I want to take a small trip into the wilderness. Just around the outskirts, and not that deep." ''So he is confident in joining the Mercenary Guild, and even exploring outside of the city.'' "What do you think about coming along with me?" "I wanted to explore the wilderness since I was just a little kid," slowly said Lora. Looking at the sky, she continued: "I don''t know exactly how strong you are, but if I remain there alone for whatever reason, I''m dead." She got up, and stretched her legs: "I only have one life, I can''t risk it in such a stupid way can I?" What she said made a lot of sense. Gorn was a little embarrassed: "Well, while I know that I can protect you, I can''t one hundred percent guarantee your safety yet." He knew these things very well, however, he was very curious about what her answer would be. Furthermore, he had some business to resolve there, not just admire nature. "We will leave that for the future then, provided I don''t die until then," said Gorn. Lora grabbed Gorn by the chest and pulled him towards her, kissing him. "Call me when you are back to the city, so we can celebrate!" With those words, she left, without waiting for any reply. Gorn watched her disappearing figure. ''Not bad at all. I like her.'' Leaving those things aside for the moment, he focused on the work at hand. Before bolting towards one of the city exits, Gorn analyzed a few more people. There were quite a few individuals with a power level above one thousand, and even close to two thousand. ''Indeed, I need some life-saving skills, otherwise, my safety is not guaranteed even inside the city.'' Another thing Gorn found intriguing was the way everyone was dressed. He saw multiple types of armor and weapons. It felt like he was at a cosplay party. Changing directions, Gorn headed towards the city exit, which was not that far away from the Mercenary Guild. At this point, he did not want to delay this matter anymore.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Going with other people could be a lot safer in a way, however, that was only valid for trustworthy people. Going alone with his current power was just fine in his opinion. At least if he did not go too far away. In a few minutes, Gorn reached the exit. It was heavily guarded, but no one stopped anyone from entering or exiting. The guards were there to deal with the monsters, and nothing else. Strong creatures did not approach the city for some reason, but the same thing could not be said about weaker monsters. From time to time there were a few of them who came too close, but that happened rarely and was easily resolved by the city''s high walls and the current guards. Gorn stepped outside the city for the first time. Seeing the vast forest ahead of him made his heart beat faster. "Let''s go!" Putting some pressure on his legs, Gorn bolted into the distance and soon disappeared into the sea of green. The terrain close to the city was rather flat, but that changed very quickly. The weather was nice, so countless mountain ranges and peaks could be seen in the distance. Some of them were so big, that the top was shrouded by thick fog, making it very hard to tell just how high they were. Gorn stopped abruptly. Sliding a few meters, dust slowly rose from his location towards the blue sky. Everything seemed to freeze. Now, the only important thing was in front of him, in plain sight. Race: Monster Bloodline: High Power level: 510 Abilities: Madness(Lvl2) Loot: 510 gold; Madness(Lvl2) Confirm target? Yes No Gorn felt like he was facing a t-rex, and it wasn''t just one, but ten of them. Extremely sharp teeth, long claws, and muscular bodies. All of them turned to look towards him. Gorn could feel their bloodlust even from a few hundred meters away. The creatures were two meters tall and a little more than four meters long. That, coupled with the fact that it was ten of them made for quite a gruesome scene. "Reapers!" Just as he finished saying that exact word, the reapers sprang towards him with great ferocity. Gorn felt a cold chill down his spine. For a moment it was like he was rooted in place without being able to react. His instincts quickly set in. Without much thought Gorn conjured an immense fireball, sending it towards his attackers. One reaper was hit squarely in the face. Blood flew in all directions. Creatures killed: 1/1000 A headless corpse greeted the dirt. Gorn had no time to be happy about the perfect hit. Sprinting towards the nearest tree, he prepared another fireball. Smelling blood, the pack of reapers turned even more savage. Their eyes turned red, and their power increased. Without much care for their bodies, the monsters smashed violently into the tree. Gorn''s pupils shrank as he saw the tree trunk obliterated. At that point, he wished he had chosen a bigger tree. Using his overwhelming power, Gorn managed to keep his balance on the falling tree and jump into the distance. But not before shooting another fireball. Creatures killed: 2/1000 His target was not random. He specifically chose the strongest monster. Unfortunately for him, the monsters did not care about the death of their kin and continued to madly attack. By jumping from tree to tree Gorn managed to kill all eight of them. He was much more powerful, however, his lack of experience was very apparent. Gorn sat on a thick tree branch while panting heavily. The amount of force he put into those fireballs had drained him quite a bit. That, coupled with the adrenaline resulted in quite an uneven breathing. Those fireballs were made at a maximum power level, clearly an overkill. Luckily, this forest was no normal forest. The potent fire from his fireball burned the nearby vegetation for some time but stopped shortly after. "Shit, that was intense!" Seeing them in real life was very different from reading about them. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, only two of the reapers had a power level of five hundred. "To think these shits are just juvenile reapers... ." Despite the recent battle, Gorn was all smiles. ''I can also farm monsters and monster skills!'' This was huge news and completed the trip''s objective. Chapter 11: Searching for special skills After carefully looking around to see if the area was clear Gorn took out his black sword and retraced his steps to gather the spoils of the war. Because he was not used to doing such things the process took longer than expected. Nevertheless, it was his first hunt and Gorn felt great joy about his gains. ''Two medium-level monster cores, and eight low-level ones. Plus some teeth and claws that are also useful.'' Gorn grinned happily. He thought about taking some meat as well, however, reaper meat was known to have a rather bad taste so he quickly abandoned that idea. Leaving the corpses behind Gorn climbed the closest tall tree. The reapers were capable of destroying the smaller trees, but trees as big as the one he was currently on could not be destroyed by mere juvenile reapers. ''This is no joke,'' thought Gorn. He was only a few dozen kilometers away from the city, and he already encountered a group of reapers. ''Now I understand why people go outside the city in groups, it''s very dangerous otherwise.'' He knew that even before, but now, after experiencing it, the knowledge fell differently in place. ''These corpses should attract some other monsters. Let''s wait for a bit.'' Gorn decided to wait some time in his rather safe spot. Soon enough, just as he expected, another group of monsters made its appearance. This time there were wolves. ''Fuck, that''s a lot of them.'' Race: Monster Bloodline: Medium Power level: 350 Abilities: Hunt (Lvl2) Loot: 350 gold; Hunt (Lvl2) Confirm target? Yes No The group of wolves was bigger than the previous group of reapers, however, a lot of them were weaker. Their size was very similar to the juvenile reapers, and their fur color varied. No matter how you looked at it, they were intimidating creatures. The corpses were eaten in a matter of minutes. What remained was only a few bones, and nothing more. The wolves disappeared into the forest soon after. Now there were two new skills to choose from, but Gorn was not interested in any of them for the time being. And so, he resumed his search. "What a beautiful forest!" Gorn found himself whispering these words from time to time almost automatically. The wild fauna was very diverse, and numerous life species were harmless or did not attack you out of the blue. ''Here, there is no limit of space and resources. Maybe when I''m strong enough, I''ll make myself a tree house somewhere in the wild.'' Sometimes, the most dangerous place could be the safest. A fact Gorn did not forget. In case the city was full of enemies, coming here was not that bad. A certain area around the city was mapped by the previous explorers. Gorn bought the map and even basic supplies that he put in his inventory in case of emergencies. These actions were done around the time he bought his villa.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The map was pretty useful for someone on his first expedition. In addition, it also had information about the area some monsters liked to roam around. Gorn had a very specific creature in mind, and that was a little monster the size of a weasel. People name it ''jumper''. It was a rather weak, and timid creature, however, it had a very special ability. The jumper''s special ability was teleportation. It was able to teleport for small distances, making it extremely hard to catch despite being weak. Even if you managed to trap it, the teleportation ability could still be used. ''That''s a very useful ability to have.'' The jumper''s diet consisted mainly of plants, thus his location could be almost everywhere. But there was a catch, the creature had a favorite type of plant that grew only in certain areas. Gorn''s plan was simple. Gather as many of those plants as possible and set them up as bait. His purpose was not catching his prey, just getting close enough to it to be able to select it. If he was too far away, the system could not detect anything. Since he had to move with great care, all of this took a great amount of time. Gorn managed to gather some plants, however, it was almost dark outside. ''Should I find shelter or should I continue?'' His power level coupled with his night vision skill allowed him to move freely in the night. While that might be possible, the night was a time when stronger predators roamed these woods, making it a lot more dangerous. ''I''ll wait until morning.'' Gorn decided to play it safe, after all, it was his first time outside. The place adventurers spent their nights at were very rarely around a fire, instead high up on tree tops. Flying monsters were found way deeper inside the wilderness, usually on top of huge mountains, thus making it way safer on top of trees since most predators'' tree-climbing skills were very poor. After finding a comfortable place high in the sky Gorn decided to rest. Easier said than done. It was too scary to stay with his eyes closed for more than a few moments. ''Sleeping in the middle of the woods is harder than expected,'' thought Gorn while being on guard. From time to time terrible noises could be heard from the deeper parts of the forest. It was chilling to the bone and made one feel very small. And so, eyes opened, and nerves stretched, Gorn''s first night outside the city passed. With the appearance of the sun, certain noises vanished completely. It was almost like he was transported to another place. Was it just in his mind or not, Gorn could not tell. Being careful to not go too deep in the wild, Gorn gathered a few more herbs and then placed them in a pile somewhere he could see them. ''Now it''s time to wait.'' Minute after minute Gorn waited patiently. The weather was almost perfect, and the surroundings were filled with life and beauty. After approximately an hour a small herd of wild boars passed through the area. Wild boars were the main source of food for wolves and reapers. An adult boar usually reaches double the size of their predators. Race: Monster Bloodline: Medium Power level: 950 Abilities: Durability (Lvl7) Loot: 950 gold; Durability (Lvl7) Confirm target? Yes No Most of them had a power level below five hundred. They moved in small, and big herds, and usually had an alpha male who was the leader of the group. The leader had many responsibilities, and his mission was by no means easy. Looking at the gigantic alpha boar covered almost entirely in scars, Gorn inhaled slowly. ''What a fucking tank!'' Just by looking at the creature, Gorn knew he had no chance to take it down whatsoever. ''A pity, I read that their meat is delicious.'' The alpha male noticed Gorn''s presence. After looking at him for a few moments, the boar continued his journey. Gorn wiped the sweat off his brows and continued to wait. Being chased by that boar wouldn''t have been a pleasant affair, not to speak about his current plans being ruined. After a few more hours of waiting, when Gorn started to think about how much time he should spend on this ordeal, a small creature appeared out of nowhere, and on top of the pile of plants he prepared. ''Would you look at that¡­'' Chapter 12: Returning to the city ¡°Select!¡± Race: Monster Bloodline: Epic Power level: 200 Abilities: Blink (Lvl3) Loot: 200 gold; Blink (Lvl3) Confirm target? Yes No Gorn quickly filled all his ten slots with this exact creature. Having finished his job, he relaxed. The jumper ate peacefully while looking around. ''That fellow is so cute!'' Fluffy white fur coupled with round black eyes, and his small stature made the jumper look very cute. The creature had a plant-based diet and was not aggressive. There were no known cases of such a creature attacking humans or other animals. After eating its fill, the animal disappeared without a trace. ''What an amazing ability!'' gasped Gorn. He was extremely eager to try it himself. That wild boar ability was also very tempting. There were quite a few monsters with bizarre abilities, however, his slots were limited, and the special monsters were hard to find. ''This blink skill will be incredible for escaping danger, and for moving around. Next, I need something for defense, and something better for offense.'' Sneak attacks or poison could not be avoided just by blinking away. You had to be alive to be able to do that. At the same time, it was pointless to be able to run away only to die later. ''What now? Should I return to the city?'' Going back until he obtained the jumper''s skills would be safer, but Gorn decided to remain. ''I also need to complete the system upgrade mission.'' Being extra careful Gorn roamed the wilderness while not venturing past a certain point. Soon, evening came, and with it the results of his battle. Battle report: 10 wins; 0 losses Total loot: 2000 gold. Sadly, he didn''t obtain the skill on his first try. ''Even though I''m five times stronger than the jumper, being able to win ten out of ten times would be impossible if the creature focused on escaping or used certain tactics.'' Taking this factor into consideration, Gorn could deduce a few important things about how the system worked. As for what he managed to do throughout the day, it was not that much. Gorn killed only one more monster with a power level of five hundred. There was plenty of prey, but most of it had a power level below five hundred. Monsters with special skills were also hard to find under normal circumstances. Then again, it was also just a single day of hunting. With each passing hour, Gorn got more confident in his ability to survive. Confidence, however, did not mean abandoning his careful behavior. In the blink of an eye, three days went by. During this time Gorn managed to hunt three additional reapers with a power level of at least five hundred. In this area, reapers were the main predators.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Battle report: 10 wins; 0 losses Total loot: 2000 gold; Blink (Lvl3) ¡°Finally!¡± Blink(Lvl3): Can teleport a maximum of three hundred meters in a certain direction. If the location cannot be seen, the teleportation place will be random. If wished, the user can also teleport something else with him, weighing no more than three hundred kilograms. Now, after obtaining the much-awaited skill, it was time to test it. What followed were two hours of constant blinking around the area. ¡°This is so satisfying!¡± The energy required to use it was minimal, and the effects were extraordinary. ¡°This skill is wonderful as a trump card.¡± The skill was perfect for a sneak attack or for escaping. Its efficiency also depended on its secrecy, so Gorn decided to try not to use it easily in public if possible. ¡°Status!¡± Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 1000 Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl2); Blink(Lvl3); Fireball(Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2); Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2); Control(Lvl2); Equipment: Black sword; Leather armor; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 422.000 Current mission: 6/1000 creatures killed After some consideration, Gorn abandoned his night vision skill. The skill didn''t make a huge difference at this power level. His abnormal sight was already more than enough to be able to see in the dark decently. During these days, Gorn encountered quite a few reapers. Their madness skill was very peculiar. Luckily, not all of them possessed it. He did not know exactly what it did, but its name and the visible effects were pretty explanatory themselves. Such a skill could prove to be problematic, so Gorn chose to let it to the side for the time being. Having finished his objective, and even more than that, Gorn decided to return to the city. It had already been almost a week since his departure. During this time he learned, and checked quite a few things. As a disadvantage, he wasn''t able to sleep at all during this time. It wasn''t very hard to spend multiple days in a row without sleeping, but it wasn''t pleasant either. One foot in front of the other, one blink after another Gorn reached the city in almost no time at all. He was very happy, and his disposition was great. ¡°Now, I just need to find a comfortable place and sleep to my heart''s content. As for the mercenary test, I''ll do it after that.¡± Upon entering the city Gorn decided to give Lora a call, to tell her that everything went well. It was only polite to do so since she might be worrying for him. ¡°What is this?!¡± As soon as he opened the phone, countless messages started to arrive from Lora. It looked like something might have happened. Gorn quickly called her. ¡°Are you ok?¡± asked Lora in a hurried way. ¡°I''m fine. Did something happen?¡± ''She surely wouldn''t make such a fuss only because she was worried about me, right?'' ¡°Mattew injured your sisters. We are currently at school, in our class. It''s a mess here so you better come quickly.¡± It was like a huge rock suddenly fell on his head. His real family wasn''t here, nor was he overly too attached to the twins, however, the idea that someone dared to attack people close to him made him very angry. The phone broke into pieces under the power of his grip. A huge rush of energy inundated his entire body. Bending slightly Gorn dashed towards school at full power. Wherever he landed a small crater was formed due to the force exerted. ¡°What is that?!¡± It was chaos wherever he passed through. Normal people could not even tell what happened. . . . ¡°As I said before, I acted only in self-defense, nothing else,¡± said Mattew while shrugging his shoulders. Behind him stood two burly men, apparently his bodyguards. Next to him was a middle-aged man, very similar in appearance. ¡°My son has a point. Based on what happened here last time to him, I propose to call things even, and move on.¡± The principal and Sara were also present. They had a complicated look plastered on their faces. ¡°Are you fucking stupid?!¡± yelled Lora from the other side of the classroom. ¡°Just look at these girls. It''s already been a few days, and their injuries still look so bad. Furthermore, it was three versus two, and those two gorillas are not from the younger generation.¡± Mara and Nora were beaten almost beyond recognition. Their beautiful faces looked now more like a pig''s face than anything else. ¡°Calm down Lora,¡± said Carl, the school principal. At this point, the window shattered to pieces, and Gorn landed right in the middle of the classroom. Chapter 13: Angry Looking around he saw the twins and their miserable appearance. Within the next second, he appeared beside them. "Here, drink these, it will help you." Gorn gave them a few healing potions. "Thank you, Lora!" He was very grateful to her. From his swift movements, it was clear that his power level was beyond what he previously told them. Gorn straightened up while laughing weirdly. "Would you look at this?! A group of six animals bullying three girls." "How dare you call us..." retorted Mattew. Unfortunately, he didn''t manage to finish his words. The nearby air started to distort, and it was getting increasingly hard to breathe. Everyone looked in shock at the fireball that was forming in Gorn''s hand. Strangely, the heat avoided the twins and Lora. This was thanks to his fire control skill. In the next moment, without any notice whatsoever, Gorn launched the ball of fire. Sara quickly reacted with a lightning bolt. The Impact of the two powerful attacks caused a thunderous sound, and the force created blew away everything in the proximity. Sara''s lightning bolt was slightly more powerful than his fireball, so a part of her attack went through and hit Gorn. A violent force went through his body but was swiftly suppressed by his energy. It was painful but tolerable. Part of the building started to collapse, the force used was just too much. Gorn took advantage of the chaos and grabbed the girls. In the next moment, they disappeared. ''What in the world is this?'' thought Lora full of incredulity. They suddenly appeared outside the school in the blink of an eye. Before being able to say something they disappeared again, and again. In a very short time, they were very close to the higher part of the city. "Do you perhaps have a spare phone?" asked Gorn. "I...no." She was focused on the present weird situation so his question was too trivial. "I broke my phone so I''ll go buy another one real quick so you can call me if something happens." Nora took out her phone: "Here, use mine." "Thank you, I will buy you a better one after we deal with this situation." Mara also looked towards him. "You saved us yet again." Gorn was a little embarrassed. "I did, but this happened because of me in the first place, so I don''t know..." "Stop, there is no need to say those things. We are a family after all." "Yes, we need to be united no matter what," continued Nora. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Lora also felt bad but did not say anything. Her facial expression and actions spoke more than words. "Listen up girls. There is no point in staying in this shitty place anymore. From now on we will live in the higher part of the city." Pausing a little he continued: "I''ll quickly go bring Elisa and Ella. We will talk about the details later." . . . A few moments later, all of them were gathered in front of the Mercenary Guild. "I''m sorry for the sudden changes. This, however, will be the start of a new and better life for all of us," said Gorn with confidence. "This place is so beautiful. Can we please stay here from now on?" asked Ella with big round eyes. Her reaction was very similar to Gorn''s when he first came to this place. The others were also stunned by the beauty of the place. They had a lot of questions, but the answer to some of them was easy to figure out. "Come here for a moment," said Elisa while going to the side. "Those who did this to my precious daughters...they will pay right?" whispered Elisa. Gorn smiled slightly: "They will!" Her serious face turned calm yet again: "Do what you need to do, we will support you until the end." "Thank you!" It was heartwarming having such people next to you. Without delaying any further Gorn entered the Mercenary Guild while everyone else waited eagerly for him. The inside was very spacious, and a lot of people were moving around doing various stuff. What first caught his attention was the big board placed in the middle. Missions! There were a lot of missions written on top of it and a number next to them. Their difficulty was rated with stars. All around the wall were multiple rooms with special purposes. After a glance, he noticed what he was looking for. Mercenary test! Gorn entered the room. Once inside he saw a man yawning at a desk. "That is the punching machine. You need a minimum of five hundred to become a one-star mercenary." The room had no other people in it. Gorn analyzed the device. ''I''m not that unfamiliar with such a thing.'' Wanting to finish this whole process as quickly as possible Gorn stepped in front of the device. Focusing, he struck with all the might he could muster. The sudden noise from the punch startled the nearby people. They knew what it meant. The numbers kept going up and finally stopped at one thousand and one hundred. It wasn''t perfectly accurate, but close enough. "Congratulations sir!" The worker''s bored expression vanished almost instantly. "I need to go inform my boss so please wait here for a moment." Rushing through the door, the worker disappeared into the crowd. Soon, he came back with another man. "Hello sir, please follow me." Gorn followed the middle-aged man. They got closer to the tree trunk, and using the stairs climbed towards another area under the curious gaze of quite a few individuals. In a few short moments, they entered a room that was situated a few dozen meters above the testing area. The room was very extravagant and had walls made of glass, something that allowed a great amount of light to come inside, and at the same time made it very easy to see what was happening outside. "Congratulations on becoming a two-star mercenary!" The man then handed Gorn a badge with two stars carved on it. At first glance, the item seemed to be made from a certain rare, and durable mineral. "I must inform you of a few rules, as well as tell you about your new benefits." Gorn listened carefully. Thankfully, the whole process didn''t last long. Most of the rules were of a common sense. What interested him the most were the rules about the mercenary''s family. You were able to bring them with you, and their protection was guaranteed by the Mercenary Guild inside the higher part of the city. A very important aspect of that place was that no matter what each member did, their family would not be involved, and their protection would still be valid. In case of the mercenary''s death or disappearance for a very long period, his family would still be protected for a certain amount of time, depending on the individual''s contribution. "Next, I will need some basic information about you, and your family members. Additional information such as skills and abilities are optional." Gorn was satisfied by how things proceeded. "All the missions that you complete will be recorded. If you become inactive for a long time, your status will be nullified, and you won''t be able to become a mercenary for a certain period." "I understand!" said Gorn. It was only natural to do something for all the benefits received. Chapter 14: Wreaking havoc While Gorn was busy with choosing a new home, his enemies were restless. "You stupid little shit!" Mattew flew across the room like a ball being kicked away by a professional football player. "I TOLD you to be careful when doing this kind of shit!" yelled Mattew''s father. After what happened at school he felt like aging at least ten years in just a few moments. To make things worse, the two bodyguards were nowhere to be seen. As the head of the Green family, this was the first time since facing such a danger. Superhumans were no joke. A single one of them could cause massive damage. . . . "The kid got strong so fast. This is unheard of, surely there must be some kind of secret to all this," said Carl while sitting on his chair. Sara frowned: "You might be right. Unfortunately, I don''t know if we can deal with this situation anymore." At this point, she remembered Gorn asking for her backing a while ago. Furthermore, she also remembered how she neglected the twins and leaned towards Mattew''s family despite knowing the truth. Sara started to regret her actions and her lack of decisiveness. ''Since when have I become so soft and undecisive?'' "We can''t, it''s too dangerous now. What a pity...," sighed Carl. Sara looked at him weirdly: "What a pity!? What the fuck are you thinking about?!" "Nothing. Anyway, we have offered some support until now so things should not be so bad." "What support? A few low-leveled monster cores?" Sara got up and left. . . . Gorn walked leisurely towards the Green family. They were wealthy and had quite a villa for themselves. Guards, a lot of land, maids, and many other commodities. Stopping in front of their gate Gorn spoke to the guards: "Do you know who I am?" They didn''t, it was clear from the looks on their faces. With a swift move, Gorn went past them and kicked the gate. The gate flew dozens of meters away, crashing into a nearby building. "Come out quickly before I blow up this entire place!" yelled Gorn. For the guards, it was crystal clear they didn''t have a chance. Gorn''s arrival startled the whole family. Soon, Mattew''s father came out in a hurry. "Shut up! I want everyone from this place to be here in a maximum of five minutes." Gorn stopped the man from speaking before he even had a chance to say something. As instructed, everyone gathered before him in a matter of minutes. Forming a huge fireball Gorn launched it at a nearby tree in a display of power. The tree fell in the next moment. "Do you know what you did wrong?" asked Gorn while looking at Mattew. Mattew started to cry and beg for his life. "Many things that you did were wrong, however, choosing me as your target was your biggest mistake." Clenching his fists Gorn started to beat the crap out of Mattew. After breaking a few bones he took out the sword from his inventory, then cut one of Mattew''s arms. A few of the maids screamed in shock at the gruesome scene.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. "Please don''t kill my son!" Gorn swung the sword to the side, making so that all of the blood on it flew to the ground. "I heard that you have a decent reputation with your business." Gorn swept everyone present with his gaze. They looked pretty terrified. "You have one more chance to properly educate your son. He is to be on house arrest with minimal conditions and beaten regularly for the next year. If I see him anywhere else, or I find out he is misbehaving in any way I will kill both of you and put someone else in charge of your business." "Thank you! Thank you! I will not disappoint you!" Gorn was a little surprised by the situation. He thought they would at least put some sort of resistance. ''Then why did Sara and the principal act so troubled by the situation? Was it because they thought I was less important than them?'' Just as expected the two bodyguards were nowhere to be seen. Preparing to leave Gorn noticed something flying in their direction. It was none other than Sara and in her hands two unconscious men. In a few short moments, she landed in the courtyard. Throwing those two men towards Gorn she said: "Do whatever you want with them." At the same time, a few city guards arrived at the scene. Seeing Sara, they did not say anything but waited patiently to the side. Gorn went to the nearby fallen tree and took out a thick branch. Approaching the two unconscious bodyguards he started to beat them up ruthlessly. The sleeping men awoke in a matter of seconds and started to scream like pigs to the slaughter. Everyone watched in shock and terror at what was unfolding. After venting some of his anger Gorn cut off one arm of each one of them and then looked towards Sara. "I want them in jail for a few years, with ''proper'' care of course!" Sara looked at the nearby city guards. "You heard the man!" "Yes!" The city guards took the two men away. "You are also dismissed!" commanded Gorn to the nearby people. Everyone quickly disappeared from there, afraid something else bad might happen. "A little late," said Gorn while looking at Sara. "My mistake, this needed to be done from the start. Are you still interested in joining the city Lord''s faction?" Gorn snickered then took out his two-star mercenary badge. "Ohh... ." "I don''t get it. You are so powerful yet you hesitate on such simple things," said Gorn with great disappointment in his voice. "I..." She had prepared a few excuses, but could not voice them out in the end. ''Why am I so ashamed...'' "How about YOU come and work under me? I''ll be sure to help you resolve some issues that you are having." With those words Gorn left, not waiting for a reply. . . . A few moments later Gorn entered Carl''s office. Taking out six low-level monster cores he put them on the desk. "I don''t need your support anymore you old fart!" Leaving those words behind, Gorn left without a second thought. Doing all these things made him feel very refreshed. His good mood slowly returned. Walking on the streets he soon reached his home from the lower part of the city. ''What''s this?'' In front of his house was a woman with two small kids resting on the cold stone. "What happened to you, lady?" The woman looked at him, trying very hard not to cry in front of her children. "Nothing serious. It''s just that I need some time to find myself a new job, and a place to stay." The situation seemed way more serious than what she made it look like. "What''s your name?" "Olivia." "It so happens that I''m looking for someone to work for me. Are you interested in a job?" Olivia quickly got on her feet while trying to look as presentable as possible. "Of course sir. I''m a quick learner so anything will be fine." Gorn smiled: "Take your kids and come with me." Taking out his keys Gorn opened the gate to his villa, which was only a few feet away. "Is this your house mister Gorn?" "Yes. Most of the time I''m away so I need someone to keep this place clean. I will provide you with a room to stay, and a decent salary. Are you interested?" Olivia was stunned by the sudden opportunity she got. "Yes, yes, of course!" "Good." Gorn chose a spacious room on the first floor. "This is your room from now on." Next, he took out a great pile of gold pieces and put them on a table together with a spare set of keys to the house. Splitting the pile of gold in two Gorn said: "Half is your salary for the next year, and half is to buy anything necessary for the house." Olivia stumbled: "This...this is a little too much gold..." "If you don''t want it I can go ask someone else." "No! No need to do that, I''ll do it!" Gorn nodded: "Feel free to use everything in this house, I will be away most of the time. Now, please excuse me, I have some other business I need to attend to." Whistling, Gorn headed towards Lora''s place. Chapter 15: Visiting Lora By this time he already had a brand new phone. It was one of the newest models and looked way better. Lora''s family wasn''t that much different from the Green family in terms of wealth. Both of them had various businesses up and going. "Halt! What business do you have here?!" Gorn was, of course, denied entry inside Red''s family residence. In a way, it was funny how both families had surnames based on the color of their hair. This, however, wasn''t something too unusual in Star City. Taking out his mercenary badge, and slowly arranging it to his leather armor that he was wearing, Gorn spoke: "Go tell the family head that Lora''s boyfriend came for a visit." After seeing the badge, the guards jumped in fright. "Of course sir! Just a moment!" One of them ran in the opposite direction, while the other looked weirdly at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "Relax man, I already raided a family today, so I''m not hungry anymore." "Excuse me, mister? I...I don''t understand..." Gorn''s words frightened the guard even more. Such important people weren''t seen under such poor circumstances. Their arrival was known beforehand, and proper arrangements were taken care of. The possibility of the badge being fake or stolen was almost non-existent. Doing such a thing could get you killed in the blink of an eye. In addition, it was easy to notice that the badge was made from extraordinary materials. Even a fool could tell it was real. Gorn waited patiently while looking at the setting sun. ''How beautiful!'' In a short time, a small group of people could be seen approaching from the distance. A cool breeze of wind blew in Gorn''s face, calming him greatly. ''Ha, who would have thought a day such as this would come?'' "Hello young man, my name is Andrew. Welcome to our humble place!" Andrew had a charismatic aura and appearance that was on a completely different level than Mattew''s father. Surprisingly, his hair was black and not red, something Gorn did not expect. Beside him were a group of elegant maids, and butlers. Their appearance and behavior were impeccable. "I''m Gorn, nice to meet you, sir. My deepest apologies for arriving unannounced." While Gorn''s words were a little flamboyant, his sincere attitude was still there. He didn''t come with bad intentions, something, someone of Andrew''s caliber, a man with ample experience could easily perceive. "No problem at all. Please, let''s go inside." The maids and butlers followed behind in order as Gorn and Mattew headed towards the main house. There were a lot of beautiful red flowers carefully and strategically planted all around their big courtyard. Andrew''s power level was close to three hundred while his talent was only medium. No skills to be spoken of. "So many nice flowers you have here," said Gorn while appreciating their beauty. "This is my wife''s hobby, you see, she is quite obsessed with such type of things." There were multiple buildings, each with a specific function, making things easier to manage. They headed towards the biggest one. It was big, but not gigantic. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "It''s nothing special, but I hope you like our home," said Mattew while they stepped inside the house. Gorn looked around with curiosity. Every single piece of furniture was of the best quality that one could find in the lower part of the city. Nothing was random, everything was carefully put in different places so that the overall look would be better. Flowers were present even here, along with different kinds of trinkets that brought another level of charm to the place. "I like it very much." Mattew chose a nearby table, and they sat. At the same time, maids brought tea and cakes. "May I know how you met our daughter, if it''s not too much asking of course." For a woman, being beautiful was dangerous unless having a certain power level or status. Andrew''s heart jumped in his throat when the guard said that a two-star mercenary was at their gates, claiming to be the boyfriend of one of his daughters. When he saw Gorn, Andrew was relieved not to see an old man before him, or some kind of horrendous-looking individual. "We are classmates at the same school." Andrew made a very weird face. For a moment he could not react. "You reached such a high level of power at such a young age? Your future is limitless young man!" Being praised so highly was very nice. "Your daughter was of real help to me lately, and our current relationship is a little more than friends. My purpose for coming here is to know if her engagement with the Green family is genuine and of her own accord." Before Andrew could respond, someone else spoke. "We had such an important guest and you didn''t tell me anything." The person who spoke was none other than Lora''s mother. "Greetings young man, I''m Amelia, Lora''s mother. Our daughter is not engaged with anyone, that was merely a few empty words, and rumors of some sort of dubious people at best." Gorn got up: "Greetings madam! My name is Gorn! Seeing you I now understand why Lora is so beautiful." The woman before him was more beautiful than Lora, and even a little more beautiful than Sara as well. It was quite the sight. Lora''s red hair was taken after her mother, as well as her fireball, fire control skill, and talent. Despite being more talented, Amelia''s power level was lower than that of her husband. Amelia''s hair was beautifully arranged in a coque with the help of a few silvery long needles. Her face had the right amount of make-up, and her clothes were of the best quality. No sign of wrinkles, body fat, or other clues that would indicate she was already past a certain stage. Amelia wore a long light green dress that looked tight, and comfortable at the same time. The slit on the left side of the dress exposed part of her leg, bringing that extra charm to her appearance. A silvery pearl necklace was wrapped around her neck, as well as a smaller one on her ankle. That with the silvery needles used to hold her hair made for quite the impression. Gorn gulped, losing part of his domineering aura. ''Fuck!'' Amelia laughed coquettishly, clearly noticing Gorn''s stunned expression. "Thank you!" Hearing her answer about the engagement settled things. If her family insisted on the nonsense he was going to kidnap her regardless of what they thought. "I''m glad to hear that those things are just rumors. Well, I''ll excuse myself then. Hopefully, my visit wasn''t too troublesome." Gorn felt a little weird and wanted to bail out. "Leave? Troublesome? Gorn, please don''t say such harsh words. How can we let you leave like this? At least you should have dinner with us." "I..." "I won''t take no for an answer!" ''Well, fuck it then, might as well go all in now!'' thought Gorn. "Ok then!" Amelia smiled sweetly, then ordered a few maids to prepare dinner right away. "What''s all this commotion about?!" yelled someone from upstairs. Soon, another woman made her appearance. "Emma, behave yourself, we have an important guest!" "And who might this guest be?" asked Emma while coming down. "It''s Lora''s new boyfriend." "Boyfriend? Hahaha!" Her laughter stopped mid-way after noticing her mother''s harsh gaze. Looking around she saw Gorn, then his two-star badge, and she froze for a moment. "Please excuse my daughter''s lack of manners." Gorn was amazed yet again. Emma wore a casual crew neck dress that was way above her knees. She was gorgeous and had black hair like her father. Attractive and beautiful at the same time. ''Would you fucking look at this?! This house is full of bewitching women!'' "No problem," said Gorn while analyzing her. At this point, he tried to maintain a neutral expression. Emma stared at Gorn without saying a word, clearly not expecting such a situation. "Alright ladies, take a seat, and stop bothering Gorn," said Andrew while also sending someone to bring Lora, after all, Gorn was here for her. All of them sat at the table while drinking some tea and talking about various mundane stuff while waiting for Lora and the food to arrive. At this point, Lora came. Seeing all of them at a table she froze in place. Chapter 16: Unexpected reactions "Gorn?! Why are you here?!" Compared to her mother and sister, Lora was a little lacking. Normal clothes, no make-up or other jewelry, hair not arranged in any way. That, however, didn''t make her ugly. Her natural beauty and attractive body shape were still there. "I..." Gorn was not expecting such a strong negative reaction. Just by looking at her face, one could tell she was very angry. "You should have told me that you are coming!" Gorn did not know how to react. This kind of situation was a first for him. "Should I leave and come back another time?" Lora was incredibly angry: "Yes, you should!" Gorn was trying to maintain a certain dignified attitude and behavior, but that was not easy. It''s been only a very small amount of time for a lot of big changes he was not used to yet. The situation was very unpleasant. After everything that happened he thought that their relationship was somewhat special, clearly not expecting such a reaction. ''Coming uninvited was a bad idea after all...'' The situation became extremely weird in just a matter of seconds. His intentions were good, but the execution failed gloriously. Gorn felt embarrassed, like wanting to hide under a rock. Not feeling capable of staying longer, Gorn took out six medium-quality monster cores and put them on the table. "This is a little thanks for helping me out recently. Sorry for the unexpected visit!" Without being able to stay a single second, Gorn blinked out. He had no idea how the situation would develop but was in no mood to continue being there. Furthermore, at this point, he couldn''t care less about exposing his skill. "Unexpected visits only to enemies. Noted!" With a few more blinks he was already far away. His family was now fairly safe, and the same thing could be said about him. "I can act more freely from now on. No need to hide my abilities too much or the effects might be opposite from what I want." Gorn sat comfortably on a random rooftop while digesting everything that happened recently. ''Cutting those arms was so easy...'' After pondering for a while Gorn got to the conclusion that there were quite a few things he could have done better. ''Not acting based on your emotions is very hard. I wanted to kill them directly.'' At this moment, his phone rang. It was a message from Lora. "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean what I said. Please come back!" The situation was at the least weird. "It''s a little awkward to do that, don''t you think?" There were many options, but Gorn decided to reply truthfully, after all, she deserved that much. "I know that, that''s why I''m sorry. I can''t believe I acted in such a manner..." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Can you tell me the reason you were so angry?" asked Gorn, wanting to know if it was the same thing as what he thought. The answer came shortly: "I didn''t want you to see me in such an ugly state in front of my family." ''Is that everything to it?'' Gorn thought that might be part of the motive, but he also suspected other things. To make things worse, everyone else was dressed very extravagantly. Everyone except him. "Did you take a look at my leather armor? It''s very durable, but it''s by no means very good-looking." He understood that such things were more important to women, but still. "I know..." After having some time away from everyone, Gorn''s emotions returned to normal. "Let me think for a bit." ''What to do now?'' Gorn glossed over everything that Lora did until now. At first, her behavior was not that great. What followed was a decent time when she acted in a very pleasant and helpful way, and then this. ''Looks like I can''t figure her out yet.'' After putting everything into balance, Gorn concluded that this mistake wasn''t enough for him to just walk away. ''I''ll take it like some kind of emotional training. This should be interesting.'' "I don''t want your monster cores. If you want to thank me for helping you, then forget what I said and come back here." Gorn read her message and replied: "I''ll come in one hour. I''ll use my ability so no one will even notice that I left." "Thank you!!" Gorn could not see any of her body language, but he could guess. . . . After one hour, he appeared yet again inside Lora''s house. This time, he wasn''t wearing his normal leather armor but a very nice black suit. There were certainly better clothes in the higher part of the city, unfortunately, he did not have enough monster cores for that. Gorn wasn''t ugly, and a little care for fashion and appearance made for quite a positive change. This time, everyone was present, and Lora looked different. She wore a body-con mini sweater dress, while a few strands of her hair were braided, and secured with sparkling black-colored accessories. Lora looked marvelous. Coming in front of him she kissed Gorn: "You look great!" Her eyes contained some remorse for her previous actions. Gorn nodded while both of them sat at the table again. Everyone acted like nothing happened. It was a little weird, but at this point, Gorn got used to it. "How was your trip outside the city?" asked Lora while drinking some tea. Gorn started to tell them some of his experiences and thoughts about the wilderness. The Red family listened with great attention. "My little daughter managed to get herself such a capable man. I''m proud of you darling!" said Amelia while looking with affection at Lora. Her behavior was a little strange. "What do you think of my older daughter Emma?" Gorn looked at her for a moment. Since noticing him she didn''t say a single word. "There is a saying from where I come from. Beautiful parents, beautiful children. More than that I don''t know, this is after all the first time I''ve seen her. Andrew''s face twitched slightly, for some reason he started to become a little uncomfortable. Lora had the same reaction. Soon enough, Gorn found the reason. "How about you take Emma as your woman as well?" The tea remained stuck in his throat. Coughing, Gorn unintentionally looked towards Emma. She was staring at him straight in the eyes with an expectant look in her gaze. ''Don''t tell me she agrees with her mother??'' "I can''t abuse my power to force myself onto her, even though she is such a beautiful young lady. It''s against my principles," answered Gorn, hitting the matter right into its core. "I''m willing to become your woman!" said Emma all of a sudden. Gorn remained speechless for a moment. Looking at Lora, and her father he saw two complicated gazes. "Darling, these kinds of things can''t be decided in such a short time." He was trying his best to alleviate the situation. "What do you even know? Just shut up, and let me talk about this matter." Amelia''s facial expression switched between smiling to angry and back in a very scary fast manner. At this moment, Gorn understood Lora and her strong reaction when she first saw him here. ''From the looks of things, I suspect it wasn''t just the clothes...'' "I will think carefully about this." "See? This gentleman thinks more like me than you." Gorn took the initiative and led the conversation in such a way that would allow everyone to feel good. Or at least he tried his best. After several more minutes, it was time for a change. "I forgot such an important thing..." Looking towards Lora, he continued: "I''m in a rush to do some things and I need your help. Can you come with me for a few days?" Gorn extended his hand towards Lora while smiling. She immediately understood his meaning. Quickly grabbing his hand she responded, afraid that he might change his mind. "Yes!" Gorn looked towards Lora''s family and said with gratitude: "Thank you very much for the warm welcome. Unfortunately, there is something urgent I need to take care and I must go." These words were spoken rapidly, not leaving any space for a reply. In the next moment, both of them disappeared. Chapter 17: Surprise! "This ability is so mysterious and useful. I don''t know how freely you can use it but honestly, I''m jealous," said Lora while both of them landed on top of a rooftop far away from her home. Even now she was trying her best not to ask how was it possible for him to have such power and abilities. Lora wasn''t stupid, she knew very well that in these kinds of situations, there were usually some hidden factors in play. On the other hand, it was also very basic knowledge that such matters were kept secret, and even killing people to silence them was not uncommon. ''Will he try to kill me?'' thought Lora while looking at Gorn with a hint of fear in her eyes. ''He is not that kind of person, right?!'' Gorn noticed the subtle changes in her behavior: "What? Are you afraid that I might silence you?" Lora made a very weird face while at the same time backing away a few steps. Seeing her reaction Gorn wanted to laugh, but could not muster even a single smile. What he said was just a joke, never thinking that might be the case. ''Was it a mistake to use my skill in public?'' Initially, he wanted to keep this particular skill as a trump card. However, he changed his mind sometime after that. The skill was just too useful to keep it under the bed, unused. ''No one knows the limits of this skill. I also need to increase my image. It might cause trouble, but at the same time, paradoxically, it could also keep trouble away. I surely wouldn''t want to fight with someone that has peculiar abilities.'' At the same time, this wasn''t the only possible trump card to be had. With seven available slots, other useful skills could be acquired and kept more hidden. "You push me around, then you are very interested in me and want to be together. Next, you push me away, after which you want to be together again, and now, you are afraid that I might kill you." Gorn sighed: "It is alright to be careful no matter what, I understand that, and I don''t blame you. I also understand that you have a very special situation at home." Lora''s eyes became a little teary: "I want to make things work. I want to become that perfect companion, but things are starting to become less and less controllable, and I don''t like that." From the little time spent at her home, Gorn could see that her mother was in charge, and in a rough way at that. It was, however, a different situation. Being together with someone for years versus being together for a short time was a very big difference. Nonetheless, Gorn had a limit on tolerating certain situations. This was such a case. ''I think that, after all, she is still a little far away from being compatible with me. Well, I tried...'' She wanted to be able to control the other person, just like her mother, but that wasn''t something he wanted. ''I don''t need this kind of drama,'' thought Gorn. "If you need my help, feel free to send me a message." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "What do you mean?" asked Lora, puzzled. "I mean that from now on we will be just friends and nothing more." It was very hard to say those words to a beauty, nonetheless, it had to be done. ''Taking advantage of such a person could be possible, but I don''t want to become that kind of man, nor do I have the disposition.'' "No!!! I don''t want that!" yelled Lora. "Until you are very sure of what you want and the risks involved, there is no point in continuing." "You are joking right?" Looking at Gorn she went into a frenzy: "How dare you, you piece of shit!" All the accumulated bad emotions started to erupt. Lora started to punch and kick him like mad while swearing at him. ''There were moments when she was so calm and calculated, and now...well, she looks like a different person.'' Her punches were a little painful, but Gorn endured it. The process lasted for a few minutes, after which she calmed down.vRushing some things could work out, unfortunately, this wasn''t such a case. Gorn stayed with her until she calmed down, then walked away. Feeling somewhat tired Gorn returned to his new home in the higher part of the city. On the way, he grabbed a few snacks for his family. The monster cores he gave Lora remained on that table. Despite the fact she told him to take them back, Gorn did not want to do it. Such a thing would ruin his mood, and he did not want that. In addition, she earned them. His new home was built on a big tree fairly high in the sky. The quality of the materials used, as well as the tree being there as a support allowed for the houses to be made at a higher altitude than the standard recommandation. There were multiple houses on a tree, and each one of them could be accessed without invading the neighbor''s intimacy. Furthermore, there were specially protected passages built to make it safe to move during bad weather. The passages were made out of special glass that allowed one to see outside, but at the same time made it very difficult to see what was happening inside. Gorn chose his house with a similar design. There were of course curtains in case you didn''t want the sun to get inside or you felt too weird. There were also a few other big facilities built for everyone''s families like a cafeteria, a private school, a kindergarten, and relaxation places. All these were free of charge and optional. The quality of all of these things was decent, and miles apart compared to what one could receive in the lower part of the city. Of course, the more premium things were not free and needed to be paid for. "What a wonderful system!" thought Gorn to himself while looking around. Except for certain places, this part of the city was not crowded at all, giving off a very pleasant vibe to it, or at least to Gorn, who liked such an atmosphere. Entering inside his new home Gorn was in for quite a treat. "Surprise!" Different kinds of balloons and colored papers flew all around, while four girls looked at him with great love. "Welcome home!" At the front table was a delicious-looking cake waiting to be eaten. Smiling, Gorn closed the door behind him. . . . After a few hours of ''partying'', the family''s little princess Ella went to sleep together with her sisters. It was already late in the night. The house had multiple levels and plenty of space for everyone. "How are you feeling?" asked Elisa while sitting next to Gorn. If it wasn''t for the last few years of hardships Elisa could have blended in among the twins with no problem. The twins looked almost identical to their mother. Long black hair, clean white skin, clear eyes, and an attractive figure. Their clothes were of the simplest, and no fancy accessories or any form of make-up was present. "I''m feeling good. A little stress from all the changes, but nothing serious other than that." "Come here," gestured Elisa, while touching her leg, and indicating he should put his head there. Gorn did just that. Next, Elisa started to massage his scalp with great care. "This feels so good!" exclaimed Gorn automatically. Elisa smiled gently, and after a few minutes she asked: "So, what happened to the people that hurt my girls?" "I beat them ruthlessly, breaking at least half of their bones. Then I cut one of their arm and put two of them in jail, and one on house arrest. They are to receive ''proper'' care for the future, or else I plan to kill them all." He was very sincere with his answer, curious about how Elisa would react. "You did good!" ''Oh?'' Gorn was a little surprised by the answer. He somewhat expected her to say that he went overboard. "What would you have done in my stead?" Gorn''s curiosity was boiling inside him, so he had to ask. Elisa''s hand stopped for a moment: "I would have cut all of their limbs, and their necks after that!" Chapter 18: Encountering a new monster ''What?!'' Looking in her eyes, one could tell that she was dead serious. Gorn was trying his best not to show his bewilderment. Elisa''s smile returned quickly as she was caressing Gorn. "What do you think, would that be too much?" asked Elisa while looking at the stars through the glassy walls. "Hard to say..." She glanced at him with an approving look. A few more moments of silence followed. "Who is the lass with the red hair? Is she your girlfriend?" Gorn sighed. Elisa waited patiently for him to speak. "Well, things are like this..." He then started to tell her everything that happened between them, as well as some of his thoughts. Elisa smiled widely, almost laughing: "Why would you even date a girl that used to beat you up? Are you into that weird stuff or?" Gorn''s face became red almost instantly: "No, of course not!" Elisa raised one of her eyebrows, clearly not believing what he was saying. "I was just kidding. What you did was reasonable, so you don''t have to feel bad." She gave him a few more pieces of advice on the matter, helping him alleviate some of his bad feelings. "These days must have been hard on you as well," said Gorn feeling a little responsible. Elisa sighed: "I''m fine, but as you have said previously, these changes are a little stressful. Don''t get me wrong, reaching this point is a dream come true." After talking for a few more moments, both of them went to sleep. . . . The next day. While the girls explored the surrounding area, getting accustomed to their new home, Gorn decided to earn some money. "Status!" Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 1000 Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl2); Blink(Lvl3); Fireball(Lvl2); Fire control (Lvl2); Warrior (Lvl2); Fast learner (Lvl2); Control(Lvl2); Equipment: Black sword; Leather armor; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 521.000 Current Missions: System upgrade mission: 6/1000 creatures killed "The next skill I plan on replacing is that warrior skill." Walking towards the Mercenary Guild Gorn thought about a few possible changes he could make to improve his overall power. In the end, the best solution for that was raw power and special abilities like his ''blink''. Entering the guild''s main area, Gorn went directly to the missions zone. For half an hour he scanned through everything. There were different types of missions, ranging from collecting certain herbs to fetching body parts from certain monsters, excavating special stones, and many more. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. After some consideration, Gorn made a mental note of a few of them. There were also a few missions more important than others. Those were highlighted, and additional information about them was given. Hunt Reapers: In the last few months more and more reapers started to appear closer to the city. Their arrival as well as their behavior is extremely dangerous towards every living creature. To avoid creating an imbalance in the surrounding area, hunt as many of them as possible. Take note of their special ability that increases their power, and the fact that they are usually pack creatures. 1 set of reaper claws=10 contribution points Contribution points were on par with monster cores as a form of currency. If you weren''t a mercenary then obtaining them wasn''t possible under normal conditions. One contribution point was equivalent to one low-level monster core. The mission was dangerous, but the reward for it was very generous. There was quite the activity all around him. Various groups were being formed to provide maximum safety and efficacy during a mission. With the help of his ''blink'' skill, Gorn was confident about going alone yet again. Making a few more trips, he bought all the miscellaneous things required. . . . "Please be careful!" said Elisa while looking at him with great affection, and worry. The twins and the little girl offered a few encouraging words of their own. No one tried to stop him for they knew deep down that doing such a thing was necessary. Gorn blinked out. In a matter of minutes, he was very far away already. With his previous experience, things proceeded a lot more smoothly. In a short period, a small group of reapers was encountered. Gorn was the first one to notice them. Using this to his advantage he killed the strongest one between them from afar with a fireball. As for the rest, he used the black sword to cut them up. It wasn''t exactly clean, but the results were nonetheless the same. Taking his spoils, Gorn resumed the hunt. His plan was simple. Go from his position all around the city in a circle while maintaining a safe distance. . . . After a few days, Gorn killed numerous reapers, as well as gathered a few edible fruits, known as a sort of delicacy inside the city. "Ella will love these." The more he killed, the better he became at it. Gorn also encountered a few other groups of adventurers but avoided them. Joining such a group wouldn''t bring him any benefit except the fact that he could maybe sleep a little. Another exception would be if the other people were as strong as him, and had special abilities, which wasn''t the case at this particular moment. The inventory was indispensable and extremely useful. Just imagining carrying so many things brought him a headache. ''What is that?!'' Gorn was currently a little deeper inside the forest, at a higher altitude. He was basically at the base of a gigantic mountain range that started from that place. With his peripheral vision, Gorn noticed something bizarre. When turning around he saw a fox the size of a full-grown male wolf. The bizarre part was that the creature had two tails, and it was walking in the air, towards a nearby enormous tree. The distance was a little too big. Gorn weighed the pros and the cons of the situation and decided to risk by teleporting in the proximity of the creature. The enormous fox froze in mid-air, clearly surprised by his sudden appearance. "Select!" Race: Monster Bloodline: Epic Power level: 820 Abilities: Fire manipulation(Lvl4); Air steps (Lvl4); Fire resistance (Lvl5) Loot: 820 gold; Fire manipulation(Lvl4); Air steps (Lvl4); Fire resistance (Lvl5) Confirm target? Yes No ''So that''s how it is...'' Gorn quickly filled all ten of his available slots while falling towards the ground. The fox looked at him while at the same time emanating strong heat from its entire body. This was a special type of animal found only in the deeper parts of the wilderness. It was extremely smart, and one of the strongest creatures recorded in the bestiary. What was in front of him was a very young specimen with only two tails. Not wanting to disturb or provoke the fox anymore Gorn disappeared into the distance. His face was all smiles. "Nice! Very nice!" A skill that would allow him to walk on air just like that fox was a heaven-sent match to his ''blink'' ability. ''Now, I won''t need to experience free-falling every time I teleport in the air, and I will be able to enjoy the scenery in a calm, unrushed manner,'' thought Gorn with a lot of excitement. It was in a way very similar to being able to fly. Thus, having both abilities would be an overkill. The other two skills were also very good. For the first time, Gorn felt uncomfortable about how to choose and sort out his abilities. Chapter 19: Dangerous creatures Gorn''s inventory was steadily getting filled with reaper claws and other good-quality stuff that he found in the forest. During all this time, his auto-farming system was working without rest. Everything was going smoothly, and potentially dangerous situations were swiftly avoided with the help of his blink skill. . . . While Gorn was busy hunting and scavenging, the girls were also busy with their own things back in the city. Being very sociable and easy-going, Ella had already found her place at the nearby school, which had special classes and activities for children of her age. She even made a few new friends. Mara and Nora also attended a few classes and were surprised to find out that the teaching quality was way better compared with what they were used to. The most important factor was, however, the fact that they could come or leave whenever they wanted, and nothing was mandatory. Leaving school aside for the moment, the twins joined their mother, and the three of them explored the surrounding area. Besides the free facilities offered to the mercenary''s families, there were numerous other stores, and places full of extravagant clothes, food, miscellaneous stuff, and everything else that one could need. They were, however, not free, and some of them were very expensive. . . . After a few days, Elisa stood at the table drinking some tea, while the twins stood in front of her, doing the same. During these days they learned a few new things. "This is even more than what I expected," said Elisa while putting one leg on top of the other. Everyone was polite towards them, and no signs of fighting, yelling, or anything like the sort happened in their proximity. Something possible only due to the many guards present in different locations. Unlike the guards that they were used to in the lower part of the city, these took their job very seriously. The place was extremely beautiful, and everything was of a very good quality. For people like them, who were used to a harsher life, these were quite big changes. The twins nodded, having the same opinion on the matter. Elisa took another sip of tea and continued: "I hope you also understand the fact that our increased power level is not due to our talent, but rather because..." "You mean to say that Gorn..." jolted the twins at the same time. "Be quiet! Some things cannot be spoken so easily. Remember to not talk about this with anyone," said Elisa with a harsh tone. "We know that..." "Good! You are smart girls so I want you to act accordingly. It is better if some things remain secret, so less talk, and less questions about sensible stuff." Elisa spent a great deal of time with them making sure some things were clear. She planned on doing the same with the little one as well. This was something that she deemed mandatory. "All these good changes are possible thanks to Gorn, don''t forget that. Be grateful, and enjoy them while they last. Remember, we are not blood-related, nor is he officially part of the family. As a matter of fact, until recently we barely even spent time together, so don''t expect that all these good things are something that we one hundred percent deserve, or he is in any way compelled to give us something. Paying that family debt was more than enough as a form of gratitude for receiving him in our house two years ago." Neither Mara nor Nora had any objections. What their mother told them was just common sense. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. . . . Gorn kept hunting reapers inside the wilderness, having no idea what was happening in his absence. "My inventory is pretty full. I think it may be time to go back." Today marked a week since he left the city. During this time Gorn hunted sixty reapers of which ten had a power level of at least five hundred. After adding a few wild berries, and the meat of a wild boar he caught wandering away from the main pack, his inventory was rather full. "If I add everything except the meat, and the berries, then my gains during this trip should be around eight hundred low-leveled monster cores or eighty medium-leveled ones. Of course, if I convert the contribution points to monster cores. Sweet!" thought Gorn while making a summary regarding his trip. Of course, five percent of the contribution points gained would be given to the guild as a form of support for the protection, and all of the other free facilities offered to his family. "What the hell?!" Because of his good escape ability, Gorn''s hunting area was a little further away than that of the normal mercenaries. Loud noises could be heard from a few kilometers away. The difference this time was that those noises were becoming clearer and clearer with each passing second. "Something big is coming this way." Gorn immediately moved to the top of the tallest tree in the vicinity. The tree was enormous, and stood at a height of around seven hundred meters, giving off the sensation that everything else wasn''t important. Soon, something big could be seen approaching from the horizon. It was an adult reaper. The animal was gigantic, comparable to a house. "What a beast!" exclaimed Gorn, a little taken aback after seeing something look so threatening. The arrival of the reaper didn''t go unnoticed. Gorn saw a blur descending from the top of the mountain that was shrouded in mist. It was a four-tailed red fox. It stood in mid-air while everything around it distorted from the intense heat. The flames were so hot that their color went from orange to white-blue in a matter of seconds. A horrendous shrill followed. Gorn felt pain in his ears and immediately covered them with his hands. Wanting to see what would happen he stood his ground. As long as it was something he could endure, he was adamant about staying a few more seconds. Each tail signified an increase of around five hundred power. The red fox had double his strength, and the same thing could be said about an adult reaper. The reaper also roared madly but stopped his advance. After such a confrontation, the reaper turned back to the place he came from. The four-tailed fox also disappeared on the top of the mountain yet again. "How savage!" Gorn felt a shiver down his spine while adrenaline was pumping through his body. These kinds of monsters were very rare seen so close to the city. Both of them had a similar power level, but unlike most of the humans, monsters were not that all-rounded. This situation was a perfect example. The reaper was far from being a match to the red fox in terms of speed and skills. On the other hand, its raw power and stamina were incomparably stronger. It was apparent just by looking at how their bodies were built. "I dearly hope that the city''s defense mechanism is not losing its power and that the lord of the city or the guild master can handle such monsters." All of a sudden his blink ability seemed less reliable. "I''m confident in escaping that adult reaper but if that fox wants me dead, then my chances are not that great with my current level of ''blink''." The energy consumption for blinking away was not much, and the skill could be used a lot, however, the distance was small. Furthermore, even if it looked fast, there was still a small delay between each blink, it wasn''t instant, technically speaking. From what he saw, the fox could ''teleport'' three hundred meters without any skill whatsoever. Just raw speed alone. Thus, his escape ability was useful only up to a certain point, and under favorable terrain. "Might as well make that fox the city lord," laughed Gorn while moving towards the city. All of a sudden, certain things seemed less serious. ''I can''t wait to see what lies beyond those mountains,'' thought Gorn while arriving in front of the city gates. Looking at the guards Gorn sank into thought for a moment: "Did you by any chance hear a loud sound half an hour ago?" The guards looked at him puzzled: "We didn''t hear anything." What he said made sense, for all the time spent in the city Gorn didn''t hear anything too loud, at best some distant, unclear noises. ''Whatever stops the monsters from invading, seems to do a few more extra things.'' Chapter 20: Doing some investigations Gorn proceeded towards the Mercenary Guild to empty his inventory and claim the rewards. The claws could be forged into weapons or other miscellaneous objects. ''It is adamant I know as fast as possible what is protecting this city and for how long.'' Seeing those powerful monsters was like a type of pressure that weighed down his shoulders. If one of them invaded, thousands upon thousands of people would die helplessly. Gorn sent a message to Elisa, telling her that he returned, and everything was fine. In a short period, he was in front of the enormous tree that was the base for the guild. From time to time he scanned some of the people that were nearby. There were a few weird skills that attracted his attention, however, their level was either too low or the person too strong for him to be able to win. Shortly, Gorn got to the area that was responsible for receiving all the completed missions. The person in charge was the same middle-aged man who gave him the mercenary badge. Gorn started to take out all the claws he gathered, for a total of sixty pairs. The man looked at him with surprised eyes. It wasn''t because of the claws, but rather because he took them out of thin air. From the man''s perspective, this was a special ability. He knew a few other people with such an ability to store things, but the capacity was very small compared to what he was witnessing. Hiding such information was possible, but Gorn had no desire to go through all that trouble. "Sixty pairs. Is that all?" Gorn nodded. "That would make for a total of six hundred points. Minus the tax of five percent, the result is five hundred and seventy contribution points." All this was recorded on a special type of paper that was very durable. Doing it this way was the best option available after careful consideration over the last few years. "Do you want to receive the pay now?" "Yes." "Cash or monster cores?" The same type of paper was also used to make the points easier to use. "Medium monster cores." His reward arrived shortly. With that being said, Gorn took his leave. After he left, the middle-aged man made a quick call. . . . "I''m home!" Entering the house, Gorn was greeted by the whole family. "Welcome home!" said Elisa while inviting him to eat. She had prepared quite a few delicious-looking dishes. The ingredients used were from the free stuff one could receive. "Did you bring something for me?" asked Ella with an expectant gaze. Elisa sighed, she told her not to do that. Seeing her innocent and serious face, Gorn smiled happily: "Of course I did!" Hearing his words, the twins looked towards him with great anticipation as well, but did not dare to say anything out loud. Elisa sighed yet again, a little unhappy with the reaction of her daughters. Going to a nearby empty table, Gorn took out all the wild berries he collected, as well as the meat from the wild boar. Everything was just as fresh as they were the moment he put them inside. In addition, he also took forty medium monster cores, putting them slightly to the side. The cores shined brightly under the light of the sun. It was like looking at some precious marble. The table was full of good quality stuff that could be obtained only by a very few selected individuals. Everyone stared at the table with mouths open. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "This..." Elisa was at a loss for words. "Ten pieces of monster cores for each one of you, as for the rest, we are going to have a feast!" Ella was the first to react. Using her agility, which was five times stronger than a normal adult, she swiftly grabbed ten pieces of monster cores. Storing them inside her pockets, she then jumped in Gorn''s arms, kissing him on the cheek and hugging him. "You are the best!" Elisa wanted to say something but stopped shortly. The twins also took ten pieces each while closely examining them. "These are so beautiful! Thank you!" It was their first time seeing something like that. "You can use them to buy whatever you want, or you can absorb the energy inside to get stronger." With their low talent, gaining twenty power per year was possible with some effort. Taking into consideration that the monster cores were of medium quality, those numbers were a little more generous. The limit, however, was around five hundred before the power increase became minimal. To change that, one needed, of course, a monster core of a higher quality. "One low monster core absorbed equals one power, right?" asked Ella. Elisa was surprised: "From where do you know this?" "I learned this at school a few days ago," answered the little girl, feeling very proud. "Then how much power can you obtain from the pieces I gave you?" asked Gorn in a challenging manner. "One hundred!" Her answer was prompt, clearly wanting to show off. "Not bad!" said Gorn while gently caressing her hair. At this point, Elisa cut in: "Let''s talk more after we cook this meat." Just looking at her face, one could tell that she was extremely eager to try the new ingredients. And so, the girls got to work, sorting and preparing everything. Gorn also helped them, even though Elisa insisted him not doing anything. Soon, a great feast was prepared. Everyone was relaxed and had a very good time. . . . The next day. Gorn got up early, ready to do some investigations. His first target was the library. Thanks to his new status, he had access to every book in there. The next week was spent mostly inside the library. There was a lot of useful information, but sadly, nothing on the matter that interested him the most. Meanwhile, the winning rate of his farming system was around fifty percent. This improved drastically the moment he got the fire-resisting skill. His objective was still standing, so Gorn resumed his studies. . . . Another week passed in the blink of an eye. "Still nothing!" He even asked the librarian and a few other people, but to no avail. Gorn''s patience was already exhausted. It was time to look elsewhere. Unfortunately, no matter where he looked or who he asked, no one had an answer to give him. Individuals such as the guild leader or other more important people could not be reached by normal means, and forcing the issue on them was not something he wanted to do just yet. The good news was that, after all this time, Gorn managed to obtain all the skills from the red fox. "Status!" Name: Gorn Talent: Low Auto farming system (Lvl1): 10/10 targets. Power level: 1000 Abilities: Regeneration(lLvl2); Fast learner(Lvl2); Blink(Lvl3); Air steps(Lvl4); Fire manipulation(Lvl4); Fire control(Lvl2); Fire resistance(Lvl5) Equipment: Black sword; Leather armor; Shop (Lvl1) Inventory: 10 cubic meters Current Gold: 700.000 Current Missions: System upgrade mission: 16/1000 creatures killed* (expand to view more information) Warrior, fireball, and control skills were discarded to make space for the new ones. Another huge discovery was the fact that his current gold stopped increasing after reaching seven hundred thousand. ''Sadly, there is indeed a limit...'' Completing the mission to increase the system''s level was harder than expected. Gorn hoped that during all the time it took to do it, his gold would steadily build up allowing him to afford to buy all the new changes that might result, alas there was a limit to that. Fire manipulation(Lvl4): You can turn your energy into fire and manipulate it freely. Air steps(Lvl4): You can walk on air. Fire resistance (Lvl5): Your body is naturally more resistant to fire. After blinking a few times upwards, Gorn remained motionless for a moment before walking around with a big grin plastered across his face. It was just like walking on the ground, except there was no ground. This ability could easily be activated or canceled if he desired to free fall. Next, he used some of his energy to create a fireball by using the fire manipulation ability. This ability was very flexible, allowing him to create fire spears, arrows, and basically whatever he wanted. There were, of course, some limitations. The more detailed or complicated the thing that he wanted to create, the harder it was to accomplish. Extending his right hand, Gorn created a fireball. Focusing, he poured more, and more energy into it while maintaining its size. With each passing second, the flame became hotter. At first, the flame color was orange, however, it soon turned to white blue. Gorn''s clothes were reduced to ashes. A small portion of them survived only due to his fire control skill that helped direct the heat in other directions. The fire resistance skill was also crucial, and Gorn did not receive any injuries. Unlike the previous fireball skill, he could put his entire energy into one attack. That took time and left him pretty much exhausted, however, the force created was massive. Gorn stopped and slowly dispersed the dangerous fireball he just created. His breath was out of place, and his energy reserves were almost depleted. Chapter 21: Sara comes for a visit After a few minutes of recovering, Gorn bought himself a new leather armor. "At this point, I think I have reached the maximum power I can acquire with this system''s present level." His current skills were more than decent and had a special synergy between them. Gorn felt no need to change them with something else for the time being. Looking at the city below him Gorn thought about Sara: "She is the daughter of the city lord, surely she must know something." If he could obtain some information out of her was unknown, and less likely to happen. At the very least, he had to try it. Gorn spent some time recovering his lost energy while enjoying the scenery, and the nice breeze that blew in his face. Releasing his skill, Gorn started to free fall towards the ground. His speed increased with each passing second." This feels so great!" shouted Gorn, excitement flowing through his veins. A few moments later, he was walking towards his home like any other normal human. "Today I will take the day off, all that learning made my head feel dizzy." Whistling happily, Gorn opened the door to his house. After taking a few steps, he froze. Inside his living room, on his comfortable couch stood none other than Sara. Gorn''s pupils constricted while his energy converted to heat instantly, as a form of response to his emotions. The surrounding temperature increased sharply. "Please calm down, I''m here to talk about something important," said Sara while raising both her hands, signaling she had no ill intentions. Gorn suppressed his anger while walking up to her. Grabbing Sara by her right wrist, Gorn sat next to her. Part of her long black hair cascaded over the shoulder, while most of it was tied together with a red ribbon. Sara wore a white camise that showcased her ample bosom. Together with her short black skirt and a pair of stockings made for quite the view. She was dressed like a professional office worker. Great beauty coupled with great attractiveness was a real killer. Looking at her dual colored eyes, Gorn said: "You have my attention." "Can you please let go of my hand first?" It was the first time since she was grabbed in such a direct manner by a man. Furthermore, he was very close to her, making Sara uncomfortable. Gorn got back a little, giving her some space. However, he did not let go of her wrist. "If you need something, feel free to call me," said Elisa while tactfully leaving the room. She was the only person currently at home. "Thank you," said Gorn with appreciation. Looking towards Sara, he continued: "I can''t let you go. If you were to suddenly do anything weird, I must be able to stop you." As long as he had some physical contact with the other person, Gorn could use his blink ability to teleport them away, confusing his opponent and giving him some time to react accordingly. "Do you think I am that kind of person?" asked Sara while her eyes opened wider. She was offended. Gorn felt some anger building up, and his voice became a little louder: "Do I need to remind you what happened back at school?" Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. If it wasn''t for the fact that he also needed her, then throwing her outside his home wasn''t so far-fetched, since he didn''t like unexpected guests. Sara diverted her gaze in shame: "Alright... But can you at least grab my hand instead? Holding me by the wrist is very uncomfortable..." "Ok," answered Gorn while grabbing her hand instead of her wrist. Sara jolted slightly, experiencing a weird sensation. Feeling her soft hand and looking at her face, Gorn had a similar reaction. Silence. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Gorn, diverting some of the awkwardness. Sara made a more serious face: "I''ve heard that you have an ability to store things, is that right?" "That little weasel!" exclaimed Gorn while thinking of the middle-aged man from the Mercenary Guild. Sara jolted again while making a strange expression. Realizing that he was squeezing her hand very hard, Gorn relaxed: "Yeah, that''s right." Getting herself together, yet again, she continued: "How big of an object can you store inside?" "Give me a break with these questions. Just tell me how big is the thing that you want to transport, and I will tell you if it''s possible or not." Sara coughed in embarrassment: "Five meters both in height and width. It is, however, extremely heavy, around one hundred tons." His response was fast and direct: "I''m ninety percent sure that I can do it." He never tried storing something so heavy inside his inventory, so Gorn wasn''t completely sure if it was possible. ''If there was a weight limit the system would have told me most probably.'' "Great! Let''s quickly check it out, then we can leave tomorrow," said Sara with great enthusiasm while getting on her feet, pulling Gorn''s body along with her. Gorn kept quiet while looking at her smiling and being so happy. After daydreaming for a couple of minutes, Sara realized something and then looked towards him with an unnatural face: "You will help me, right?" Gorn started to laugh while crashing onto the sofa again, dragging Sara along with him. She landed next to him in a weird position, but that wasn''t important, what was important for her at that moment was Gorn''s answer. "What do I get for doing this?" "You will, of course, be heavily rewarded!" "With what?" Sara looked him in the eyes: "Monster cores or contribution points, a lot of them." "Not that interested in them." "Then what do you want?" Gorn waited for this exact question: "I want information about the city''s secrets." Sara frowned: "More exactly?" "I want to know what stops powerful monsters from getting close to this place, and everything else regarding this matter." "This... This is very classified information that only a handful of people know about." Gorn grinned and waited patiently: ''She might have information about this matter.'' After a long time, Sara finally spoke: "If you manage to store the device, and agree to help me transport it then I''ll tell you." "I want to know what that device is, and where you want me to transport it before deciding whether to do it or not. In addition, I want my reward paid up front regardless of my decision." Unlike Gorn, Sara started to become a little restless: "You will receive the reward after you complete the mission. That is common sense." "I don''t care what is common sense or not. My reward upfront or we don''t have a deal." Sara gritted her teeth in annoyance: "Fine!" "Lovely!" said Gorn with a big smile, clearly satisfied with the outcome. Getting up, he went towards the kitchen. "Where are you taking me?" asked Sara. "To the kitchen. I want to eat something, then we can go check up on that device of yours." Wherever he went, she had to follow. "Hold this for a second." Since doing certain things with only one hand was annoying, Gorn borrowed Sara''s free hand. She was a little reluctant at first but then became cooperative. "We make quite the good team," laughed Gorn. . . . Half an hour later, both of them left the house. Gorn released her hand. "I don''t like unexpected guests, so next time give me a call before coming." "Understood," said Sara while both of them exchanged phone numbers. "Lead the way!" Sara walked for a few dozen meters, then stopped: "Do you mind if we fly there?" "I don''t." He could walk on air and also teleport. If she decided to drop him from the sky for whatever reason, then surviving was no problem. Agreeing to such an ordeal without a safety measure wouldn''t have been wise otherwise. Sara extended her arm, and yet again they held hands. This time it felt less awkward and more pleasant. Without any further delays, Sara headed towards the sky. Chapter 22: The citys secrets Flying was a wonderful experience for Gorn. Being carried by someone during such a time was somewhat funny. Sara sneaked a few glances at him, curious to see if he was afraid or not. There were no reasons to be afraid so his face was serene, without any negative emotions. The city was way smaller than what he had imagined at first. ''Humans are barely surviving in this hostile place,'' thought Gorn while at the same time comparing this place to Earth. The majority of the population was very weak and vulnerable. One adult reaper was enough to eliminate most of them and bring ruin to the city. While the monsters were outside and could not get inside for the time being, the same thing could not be said about humans. There were quite a few individuals with a power level above one thousand, and even greater. If such a person decided to do bad things then the weaker individuals were in for quite the ugly surprise. A good example was Gorn. He could use his blink abilities and kidnap almost anyone, bringing them outside the city, and practically doing whatever he wanted with them. Living in such a place without much power could be a real nightmare. ''If you look at things from this perspective then Earth is the better choice.'' Even so, a terrible amount of bad deeds were happening on Earth despite the small difference in physical power. Gorn didn''t even want to think what would happen if a part of Earth''s inhabitants suddenly got superpowers. While Gorn was analyzing the city, and at the same time comparing it to a normal one, Sara flew closer to the ground. She didn''t travel at her fastest speed, but they almost arrived. From the sky, and even before arriving closer, one could easily tell that the city was delimitated in three. Roughly sixty percent of the space was used by the majority of people while the rest was used in an even proportion by the Mercenary Guild, respectively the city faction group. The latter wasn''t separated by an inside wall, nor had any fancy house trees, however, the buildings, as well as everything else built by human hands were of top quality, and beautifully organized. This part of the city was in a way the opposite of the Mercenary Guild area, relying less on nature, and more on pure human architecture. Different, but beautiful in its way. At this point, it was more about the taste of each individual. Gorn examined as much as he could until they landed. "We are here," said Sara while arranging her camise. Gorn felt rather strange, the atmosphere was eerie and bizarre. "Follow me," continued Sara after finishing what she was doing. Gorn followed her in silence. There were almost more guards than normal people. ''What is going on here?'' The few people present had fear plastered all over their faces, visible even though they tried not to show it. The same thing could not be said about the guards. All of them had poker faces, devoided of any emotion whatsoever, it was like they were statues and not living organisms. ''I hope I''m not way over my head in some kind of muddy waters,'' thought Gorn while at the same time becoming even more vigilant. The weakest guard had a power level similar to his, so escaping in case of some sort of emergency was possible only by relying on his peculiar skills. ''Thankfully no one I saw can fly, or something similar to that.'' This fact brought some comfort in the uncertain situation. After some time Sara stopped in front of a big villa. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "This is my place." Gorn looked around with interest. Everything seemed expensive and spacious. "Come!" There were multiple guards around the place. These people, however, looked normal compared to the other guards he had seen previously. Gorn followed Sara inside without saying anything. She brought him through a few rooms and stopped inside what looked to be a spacious library. Moving a certain book, a secret passage revealed itself. It was a small tunnel that led towards the underground. ''How convenient,'' thought Gorn. After a few more minutes, both of them reached what seemed to be a huge underground cave. Surprisingly or not, the place had various facilities built in, and lots of people working on different matters. Following her even further, Gorn entered a big house close to the cave wall. In the middle of that place was a cube, roughly five meters tall and wide. "This is the device, please verify if you can store it or not." Gorn went closer to the cube. It looked very mysterious and simple at the same time. It had two big buttons on it. One green and one red, except that there was nothing else. Putting his hand on the cube Gorn used some force to try and push it. The thing didn''t even budge, confirming what Sara said about its weight. Next, Gorn tried to store it. In the next second the cube disappeared from their sight. Sara''s mouth opened wide in amazement then she jumped at Gorn, hugging him. "This is so amazing!" she was very excited and emotional at the same time. Her actions took Gorn a little by surprise. Grabbing him by the shoulders she said with serious eyes: "Gorn, this is a great opportunity!" Taking him by the hand Sara brought him to another room without waiting for any reply. Taking out a map she pointed at a certain place. "At this location, there is a huge floating island. This is the spot we must bring the device to." Gorn tried to remain as calm as possible through all these new chains of events. "There is a gigantic mountain located there, but I don''t know anything about a floating island." Gorn read about quite a few matters in the last weeks, so his general knowledge was not the same as before. "No one knows about that place except you and me," said Sara while moving forth and back. Gorn touched his chin: "I want to hear more details." At this point Sara had to go all in, otherwise, things could backfire on her. Taking a seat she started to explain. "Alright. To make things shorter, what protects this city is a type of energy that is harmful to monsters. This energy comes from a special type of crystals that are deep under the city." Taking a deep breath Sara continued with a somewhat trembling voice: "That big cube can store that kind of energy and transport it. Furthermore, it can also use that energy to form a bigger crystal, greatly expanding the area of effect and its efficacity." Gorn looked at Sara with great attention. She was uncomfortable telling him all this. ''She is clearly in a tough situation since she has to tell a stranger like me all these things and rely on my help...'' "How many such cubes are there?" "There is a bigger one under this city, which was built directly on that spot, and the one you stored. Just these two as far as I know, since they require an astronomical amount of resources and time to build." "So you want me to bring this cube to that floating island to do what exactly?" Sara paused for a moment: "That floating island also has this kind of protective energy. I want to take that energy and bring it to our city." "You just want to further upgrade the size of this city or perhaps there is something wrong with the energy here?" asked Gorn in a rather serious tone. Sara stopped and looked him in the eyes: "The truth is that the energy in our city started to diminish sharply since a few months ago. At this rate, the city is going to shrink considerably and possibly..." "And the cause for that is?" "We do not know exactly what has caused such a phenomenon." Loud, and constant noises were coming from outside. People were extremely busy doing all kinds of research in that underground cave. "And how can you be so sure there is such an energy on that floating island?" "I have a special device that can detect the energy emitted by those crystals." Gorn got up, stretching his legs a little: "You flew to such a dangerous place all alone?" "I was accompanied by a team pretty close to that area. But yes, I flew alone, since I''m the only one who has this ability. This happened half a year ago, and I didn''t tell anyone about this matter." ''Good to know,'' thought Gorn. "Isn''t it a little hard to miss a floating island?" "The weather is a little...special there. Furthermore, the island is high in the sky and the energy emitted by those crystals acts like some type of cover, making it very hard to spot that place unless you are close enough... ." "Then how did you discover it? or is the range of that searching device that great?" asked Gorn, wanting to know as many details as possible. "The range of the device is not that great. Long story short I stumbled upon that place by accident." Sara was becoming less and less patient. Chapter 23: A new option Gorn sat down yet again: "I understand. Sorry for all the questions, it''s just that these things are important, and I want to clearly understand the situation." Sara put her hands on the table and leaned toward him: "I gave you the information you wanted, now it is time for you to keep your part of the bargain." Gorn sighed: "The place you indicated on that map is very far away, and the chances of dying are not small...." "It is indeed dangerous, but this is for the greater good. We can''t just wait for everyone to die without doing anything." What she said made some sense: "I can''t trust you so easily, I need to see that cube that is underground and the crystal to confirm that what you said is true." "This again?!" screamed Sara. Gorn remained calm: "If I know about it, why can''t I see it? It shouldn''t take long to do that." Sara started to walk around the room, restless: "Commander Norman blocked all access to that place. Even I can''t go in there at this moment." "Your father is the city lord, I''m sure you can convince him somehow," said Gorn in an even tone. Tears started to fall from Sara''s eyes to her cheeks and down to the ground. "My parents, together with a few other people, left the city a long time ago, and never came back...." Gorn got up and hugged Sara: "It''s ok, they will come back eventually..." A lot of things happened lately for her, and the pent-up emotions exploded at this moment. She cried in his arms for a couple of minutes before stopping: "I''m sorry, it has been a little hard these days." Gorn smiled gently: "Don''t worry, there is a solution for every problem." After a few more moments, things settled down. "This may not be a good time to talk about this, but I think that something is very rotten in all this. I''m pretty sure you figured this out a long time ago." The situation could not be taken lightly anymore. Sara stared aimlessly at the wall. "The city''s protective energy started to diminish at the same time that Commander Norman restricted all access to the crystals. Furthermore, many of the guards from this place look like machines. It''s like they have been brainwashed...." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "That is surely suspicious. Then what about the people from the Mercenary Guild?" asked Gorn with some concern. "A few strong individuals left the Guild and joined Norman''s forces... The Guild master left with my parents a long time ago, so I''m afraid no one can fully stop Commander Norman at this point." Gorn made an unsightly face, the situation was worse than imagined. "How strong is this Norman guy?" "As far as I''m concerned, he is the strongest person in this city at the moment. I don''t stand a chance against him," answered Sara with a serious face. Gorn started to walk around the room, thinking. "There is a connection between all these things. If what you say is true, then using that device to bring energy to this place would be a bad idea." "Then what?! Leave all these people to die?!" she was concerned about the well-being of everyone. Gorn calmed himself down, then replied: "Why are you in such a hurry? I don''t see any monsters attacking the city yet, so please calm down." Sara breathed in a huge amount of oxygen and then exhaled slowly, calming herself down. "That''s better! If you think carefully about it, then it makes no sense for someone to fully destroy whatever protects this city. What concerns me the most is why those strong guards look like vegetables," said Gorn. Sara didn''t say anything and waited for him to finish his idea. "Unfortunately, monsters are not the only threat to humankind, other people are too. From my perspective, losing your freedom is worse than dying. What is the use of the city being safe from monsters if you are brainwashed or forced to do certain things?" Sara looked at him with eyes opened wide. "If the opponent is too strong, then we will have to run away. That island is the perfect place to build another city. A city where our enemies won''t be able to reach us easily. Destroying such a place would be a bad move." Gorn scratched his head while adding: "With the information that I have, and the current state of things, there is no way I''m going to take the energy from that place and bring it here." "Are you serious?" asked Sara with a rather calm tone. Gorn nodded. "So you want to say that me opening myself to you, and everything that I told you so far was for nothing?" the volume of her voice increased with every single word spoken. Gorn felt rather weird: "It wasn''t for nothing. I will build a new city there. That place will become a new safe zone for many people, including yourself." Sara became speechless for a few moments. "Wait, what?!!" Seeing his serious face, she shouted: "You asshole!!!" Gorn grinned, making Sara even more annoyed. She launched herself at him, wanting to punch his face. The strike was swiftly avoided. "Don''t even dream about leaving this place!" cried Sara. "I will call you in a few hours to discuss further, I hope you calm down until then," said Gorn then disappeared. A short moment later he was already high in the air, above the city. Since his ability didn''t make any noise, and people weren''t usually looking upwards, no one noticed him. After a few more seconds, he left the area. That place had an unpleasant feeling to it, making it hard for him to linger any longer. It was only a matter of minutes until his phone started to ring like crazy. Ignoring the phone, Gorn landed on a huge tree in the upper part of the city. A few moments later, he bought several power-up potions and then headed towards his home. ''I want to test something about this potion.'' More exactly, Gorn wanted to know if the potion could be used to bring another individual to a power level of one thousand, the same as him, or if there were some limitations involved. ''I will build myself an army as well,'' thought Gorn while speeding towards his house. Not abusing such a thing would be a wasted opportunity. Of course, some basic rules had to be followed. For example, he had to be the strongest to ensure everything went his way.