《From Dragon Slayer To Kingdom's Sovereign》 Prologue Osborn Godfrey, a normal man in his twenties whose parents gave a rather strange name, heads to his 9 to 5 office job on what would typically be a normal Tuesday when a female voice he has never heard before resonates through his head: ¡°You should do nicely¡± ¡°What the hell!?¡± He screamed. He was so spooked by the sound that it caused him to swerve off the highway towards a tree, his last thought being (So this is how it ends huh.) He hits the tree, killing him instantly... (Wait, I thought I died, where am I?) ¡°Welcome.¡± Said the same voice that he heard before he died. He opens his eyes to see a strikingly beautiful purple¨Chaired woman dressed in a black outfit with purple outlines. This strange person appears to be looking him up and down, making him feel like he is a lab rat that was just tested on. He takes in his surroundings and sees that he is in a library that stretches on farther than he can see, filled with books that he can¡¯t even read the titles to. ¡°Where am I, and who the hell are you?!¡± he shouts. ¡°You are in the Elysian Library. I am the goddess who summoned you here, Mana, the goddess of magic and knowledge.¡± She responded ¡°What do you mean magic¨C no that''s not important, why am I here?¡± ¡°I detected a soul with the drive for knowledge that nearly matches mine, of course I would be interested.¡± ¡°So you summoned me just because I¡¯m a nerd? I died, or at least I think I did, just because you were curious about me?! THAT''S BULLSHIT!¡± ¡°WATCH YOUR TONE MORTAL! Remember, you are speaking to a deity.¡± Her shout pierced through the man like a spear, he had been afraid before- gone camping and a bear attacked him for instance. But this was something even more primal than mere fear, it was pure terror and it shook him down to the very core. Falling to his knees, he knows that he will not be getting another chance. ¡°M-My apologies Miss, I shall watch myself from now on.¡± He said while bowing his head. (This should get her to calm down a little bit) He thought. ¡°Ha¡­ ha, hahaHAHA, oh mortal you really are amusing, I wish I could keep you around! But alas, I cannot.¡± ¡°Why is that my lady?¡± (If I cozy up to her maybe I can get something out of it) Being an office worker and a sort of child prodigy, he has always thought to get the most out of every situation. ¡°Wow, I was not expecting a full 180 that fast. Anyways, I have realized that one of the realms that me and my siblings govern over has become the epicenter of an attack by some outer god. And as there is still knowledge to be gained from that realm I shall be sending you to help out, as it is a bother to go myself.¡± ¡°With all due respect my lady, you want me to save an entire realm? That does not seem possible in my current state.¡± ¡°Worry not, I do not expect you to do that much, just enough to gain recognition, and of course, learn as much as you can.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°What do you wish for me to do exactly Miss?¡± ¡°Slaying an accent dragon should do.¡± She said nonchalantly ¡°Once again, with all due respect, how do you expect me to do that?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever read your world¡¯s Manga? This is usually that part where the pretty goddess grants the mortal ¡®overpowered¡¯ abilities, I believe.¡± She says while raising the palm of her hand to his forehead. ¡°I shall put these powers to good use- in your name.¡± She seemed to be ecstatic to have gained such a devout follower- his plan to cozy up to the goddess was working. ¡°Your abilities shall be¡­¡± Ozborn was practically shaking in excitement, but of course he could not actually do that for that would tarnish what little favor he has with the god that stands before him. ¡°Firstly, what every hero gets when entering this realm: Appraisal to help you understand the world around you, Limitless growth so that you shall see no limits to your strength, Accelerated growth because your being here is urgent and you need to act quickly, and ageless immortality so that should you be successful on your journey, you may return to me or live forever as the ruler of that realm.¡± (Did she just casually talk about giving me immortality, that¡¯s crazy!) ¡°And for my personal gift for you¡­ True Magic Affinity should be sufficient.¡± She said while making a suspicious smile. (That seems to be a pretty overpowered skill but¡­ why does her smile look so evil?) Mana reaches her hand out towards Osborn¡¯s forehead and a bright beam of light shoots out of it and when it hits him he can feel the powers circulating throughout his body but something was missing- ¡°My apologies but, it appears I did not receive the True Magic Affinity ability that you spoke of.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because it is very special and requires a little bit of preparation.¡± ¡°What kind of preparation if you don¡¯t mind my asking?¡± She smiles that devious smile again. ¡°You see, this ability comes with the full knowledge of all magic- so much knowledge in fact that you might just get vaporized on the spot due to your brain being overloaded.¡± She said in such a laughing tone that you would think that it was the funniest joke that you have ever heard. But deep down Ozborn could tell that it was no laughing matter for him- she was being dead serious. ¡°What do you me-¡± ¡°Haha, HAHAHAHAHA I CAN¡¯T WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS!¡± Despite her best effort to appear refined and ¡®normal,¡¯ her true side always shows when there is more knowledge to be gained. To Ozborn, she looks more excited than a kid that just figured out that they are going to DisneyLand, although much more sinister and foreboding. Before he could ask what was wrong she formed a ¡®ball¡¯ in her hands that has no true shape or color and thrust it at the thoroughly terrified mortal in front of her. (Wait!) He didn¡¯t even have time to voice his concerns before the mass in her hands was shoved through his head. He blacks out for an unknown amount of time- as time isn¡¯t really a concept in this realm- and once he wakes up Mana is standing over him, practically drooling in excitement. ¡°What happened?¡± He gets up confused. ¡°Subject seems to be disoriented but seems physically okay, continuing observation.¡± She has changed into her lab coat and is writing notes on a magical stone tablet. ¡°How do you feel?¡± she asks. ¡°I have a really bad headache and I feel really drained.¡± He responded, still half in a daze. ¡°Okayyy¡± She says while writing that down. ¡°It appears your Limitless Growth and Accelerated growth skills just barely managed to protect your mind from collapsing!¡± She says while giggling. She whispers ¡°Interesting¡± to herself a couple times before snapping back to reality. ¡°Ah! I have to send you to your new world now, though I do wish I could keep you longer.¡± (Again with that evil smile.) ¡°Before you send me off, it doesn¡¯t feel like I learned everything, is there a reason for that or¡­¡± (I can¡¯t keep up the whole ¡®my lady¡¯ act with her after that) ¡°Oh yes, I predict your body possesses the knowledge, but your mind has yet to absorb it for it¡¯s at its limit right now, overtime it should be absorbed into your mind and you will know more.¡± ¡°Okay, I think I¡¯m ready now.¡± ¡°I wish for your return after your mission is complete, there are still a few tests I want to try.¡± A chill is sent down Ozborn¡¯s spine on the word ¡®tests¡¯ ¡°Alright then, here¡¯s this, and off you go!¡± She hands him a simple iron sword (This all feels so fast) thought Ozborn as he closes his eyes and is sent off to a new life in a new world. Chapter 1 When he opens his eyes it is very bright but once his eyes get used to the light he sees that he is on a beach wearing commoner¡¯s clothes that he has seen in plenty of medieval movies along with an iron sword on his hip ¡°This is really another world isn¡¯t it? I should take in my surroundings for now.¡± He looks around a little bit on this seemingly deserted island to take in his surroundings. Towards the center of the island there is a giant mountain range that stretches into the clouds and although nothing seems to be wrong with it there is a sort of foreboding air that surrounds it, confirming what the goddess told him. Between him and the mountain is a very thick woods with great big trees and fauna that he has never seen before. Just off the beach lies the rough waters of an ocean that seems to go on forever. He walks up to the water and looks at his reflection in it and is shocked. ¡°My hair! It¡¯s purple!¡± He shouts. (It¡¯s the same color as Mana¡¯s so it definitely has something to do with her) He thinks. Looking at the rest of his body he sees that it is pretty much exactly the same except for some scars that he had before were now gone. His attention gets drawn to the sword at his hip and he uses one of the skills that he got: Appraisal [Simple iron sword- indestructible] (Sweet, I could tell it was special but I wasn¡¯t expecting that much, thank you appraisal!) He continues to take in his surroundings and wanders around on the beach for a while until he finds what he was looking for: a river. He heads over to check it out. The river is roughly 430 feet wide at its mouth and is moving at a slow but steady pace. (Appraisal, do your thing!) He thinks excitedly. A voice resonates in his head ¡®Freshwater river- mostly clean, safe to drink¡¯ (I don¡¯t even have to test it or anything, thank you goddess!) He takes a sip of the river water and although it doesn¡¯t taste very good, it is still drinkable Ozborn is setting up a tent that he saw while watching his favorite survival shows. Once the tent is pitched he shouts ¡®Camping is the best!.¡¯ Back to reality, he thinks back on his knowledge of the woods and decides to make a knife to use to clean animals and other things that are too precise for him to do with a sword. He finds a chunk of flint in a pile of rocks by the river and sets it on a large rock and smashes it with another until it is small enough and sharp enough to be useful. Then he uses his sword to chop a branch off of a tree and chops it small enough to be a handle and adds a slit on the end and jams the chunk of flint into it. ¡°Ta-da!¡± He shouts. He then grabs a bunch of dead sticks and makes them into a campfire on the beach. Now that he has a knife he does something that he has been itching to do sense he got here: test out his magic. He feels the mana in his veins and gathers it at his fingertips and thinks of fire. It takes some effort and extreme focus but after a few seconds a ball of fire appears, hovering above his hand, no bigger than a baseball and he uses it to light the campfire that he set up. ¡°Yes! This is awesome! Hahah-¡± suddenly a huge wave of exhaustion hits him and he falls over feeling more exhausted than he has ever been. ¡°That goddess¡­ she could have warned me that my mana capacity would be so low¡­ ¡®cough¡¯ ¡®cough¡¯¡± He manages to sit up and he rests by the fire for a couple minutes. His stomach starts to rumble and he gets hungry so now that he is rested enough he goes to see what he can find in the woods. After a while he sees a deer in a small clearing. (It¡¯s probably not too scared of humans because it has never seen one so I should be able to get closer than the deer from my other world) As he gets closer he realizes that instead of two horns on its head it has one jagged horn. (Appraisal, what the heck it that) [It is an elemental deer- uses water magic to defend itself] He creeps closer and it notices him but does not run and appears to be checking him out to see if he is friend or foe. Before the deer gets to do something he jumps out of the bushes and stabs it through the chest and through the heart. It flails for a bit and cuts him on the arm with its horn.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. It''s not a deep wound so he just rips his sleeve and ties it around his wound. (I need something to drag this thing back so that it doesn¡¯t get too torn up on all of the branches and the like on the way back) He breaks a chunk of bark off of a big tree nearby and he is just barely strong enough to pick it up, because it is a decent bit bigger than a deer from his other life, and puts it on the piece of bark. (That should work) He rips a vine out of a tree and ties it around the deer¡¯s neck and pulls the deer on the piece of bark back to his camp down by the ocean. Using the knife he made, he dresses the deer at the river and brings it back to the fire that is just bareilly lit After adding some sticks to the fire he hangs the deer up off of a branch on a tree nearby using the vine that is tied around its neck. (I need some bigger firewood than this if I want to cook this deer) Then he tries to chop down a thin tree with his sword. (Lets see if this works) After a lot of effort he gets nowhere. (Whelp, that didn¡¯t work) He picks up a bunch of sticks in the vicinity, all while his stomach is growling. When he gets back, he adds the sticks to the fire and he uses the knife he made to skin the deer. He also cuts a chunk of thigh meat off and sets it over the fire to cook. (I think I can muster up another spell. This one should work.) He tries to use a purification spell by reaching his hand out and directing his mana to clean the deer-skin and it turns into a fine leather that he can use later.. Right now he is too tired from that spell to do much of anything and he makes himself walk back over to the fire and takes off the, mostly, cooked meat and eats a bunch of it. (Ugh, I wish I had some seasoning) He thinks to himself. After a while he is rested and well-fed and when he gets up to get a drink of the water he sees that the sun is almost down and after he gets a drink he sets up a simple lean-to with a giant branch that he found on the ground and a bunch of smaller branches that he cut off of a tree. As he drifts off to sleep, he thinks of what he should do next. For a whole week he practices his swordsmanship and magic and in any time that he gets free, he works on a fish net using the thin stringy underbark on a tree that appraisal calls a ¡®thread tree.¡¯ On the third day that week, to stop the meat from rotting, he turns it into jerky with a dry spell. Early on the morning of his seventh day on the island, he is seen wiping the sweat from his brow after his training. He is pondering about what he should do next when he hears a roar from within the woods that sends a shiver down his spine. Scared but determined he grabs his sword and heads into the woods in the direction of the noise. When he gets there he sees what appraisal calls a [great bear lord and a giant king cobra] locked in an intense battle. He climbs a tree a ways away from the fight that seems to shake the earth every time they clash. (I probably would have peed myself if Mana hadn¡¯t yelled at me, it still is scary to think about.) He stayed for the duration of the fight which ended up going on for several hours. The result: a massive snake lays on its back with it¡¯s heart and lungs torn out with the exhausted bear standing there eating the meat on the inside. After about another half an hour the bear is full and heads further into the woods, probably back to its cave. Once he knows the coast is clear Ozborn climbs down from the tree, stretches and then goes to get a closer look. When he gets to the giant crater of destruction that was left behind by the clash of the two titans he decides to get a closer look at the snake. Walking up to the snake, he notices something strange: despite the snake being completely torn open, most, if not all of the snake''s scales are completely in-tact. (That¡¯s so weird. Appraisal, are these special or something?) [The scales and bones of the Giant King Cobra strengthen and harden as it ages. Meaning that even if the snake itself is weak, if it lives for long enough it can become completely impervious to attacks. The scales of this snake are that of a 243-year old specimen.] (Wow, how old can they get?) [They can live up to 1500 years.] (Hmm, that means that if this snake was 1000 years old, that fight could have gone on for years, provided they had food and water during that time.) [Incorrect, their major flaw is that even though their bones and scales can hold up to the force, the skin and organs can¡¯t.] (I kind of feel bad for it now.) ¡°The jack of most trades, master of bad evolution, you will be missed.¡± He says jokingly. (I might actually be able to use this to my advantage.) He picks up a scale, each the shape of a kite shield, and tears a thin, sharp bone out of the snake and attempts to jam the bone through the scale. After a bit of force the bone goes cleanly through it. (Haha, nice, this will work.) He says while making a dubious smile. He gathers a lot of the scales, each in the shape of a kite shield, and heads back to his camp. Once there he sets the scales down and begins to work on the last little bit of his fishnet all the way until night. The next morning he wakes up excited. ¡°It¡¯s finally done!¡± He yells. He grabs his now finished fish net and rushes over to the river that he has been drinking out of. (I saw some fish that looked like salmon in here, as long as they aren¡¯t some type of monster fish, I can get infinite food without having to wander through the woods for hours.) The net itself is roughly 16 feet in diameter and the rope that he holds is 75 feet long. (The rope was a real pain in the ass to make but I¡¯m going to need it to reach even close to the bottom of the river here. You wouldn¡¯t want to make a rope this long at all in my other world but with my enhanced strength, it should be manageable.) Walking up to the mouth of the river he uses the technique that he used in his past life and throws the net about 15 feet off shore, where the water is, according to Ozborn, estimated to be 80+ feet because of the quick river constantly circulating in this area. For a half an hour he pulls out nothing but seaweed until his 14th toss when he feels weight in the net. ¡°I think I finally got something!¡± He screams excitedly. Pulling in the rope, he is met with resistance, confirming the fact that he has something in the net. When he finally gets to shore it turns out that he actually managed to get a few fish that appraisal identifies as two Sabertooth Salmon and a Shining Carp, each are roughly 13 inches long. ¡°Nice, it didn¡¯t even take that long. This should last me two to three days!¡± Using his knife he flays the fish and tosses the remains into the river. (Now that I know what type of fish are down there, I know what bait I might need if I decide to switch to a fishing pole and I can gather the right herbs to make them taste amazing!) While heading back he grabs some firm sticks and a flat rock along the shore. (I¡¯ll need these to cook the fish) When he gets back it is around lunch time so he eats some jerky and freezes the fish flays with an ice spell. (Man, magic is so useful, if only I had it in my past life) He goes the rest of the day like usual but is in way higher spirits than usual. Chapter 2 That night he hears a sound, first from afar, barely waking him, but gradually getting louder until he can¡¯t put it off as just part of a dream he might have had. (Alright, what is that) He thinks while sitting up. ¡°Awoooo!¡± (Ugh, it¡¯s so quiet, must be far away, I should just get back to sleep) Not even twenty minutes pass before he hears it again. ¡°AWOOO!¡± His eyes that were just about to close, flew back open in a panic. ¡°Shit! That is way too close for comfort!¡± He says while grabbing his sword. It is a very windy night, even though it is summer he had to sleep fully clothed to stay warm. As he looks around he can see that a lot of trees are bent over in the raging wind, some of the smaller ones almost going parallel to the ground. It is a very clear night and the moon is full and that combined with the still red-hot coals burning in his fireplace allow him to, somewhat, make out his surroundings. Even with the deafening wind raging around him, the howl that he heard was as clear as day. (Where are they! Do they know I¡¯m here!) Terrified, he frantically grabs a stick and some leaves off the ground and attempts to make a makeshift torch, to no avail. The wind is just putting out the fire the moment it catches, along with any hope of fighting with any kind of visibility. (Maybe they didn¡¯t notice me, the wind is blowing my scent out over the ocean and I don¡¯t think they heard me) He says while calming down. He goes right to the edge of the woods and lies down flat on his chest, just in case they go towards him. He tries to go back to sleep but his heart won¡¯t allow it. It somehow feels different from the other times he was scared, his instincts were screaming at him one thing ¡°you are being hunted.¡± The wind starts to die down a little and he hasn¡¯t heard a howl in a while but the feeling does not go away. (Come on, they must be gone now, why won¡¯t this feeling go away?¡± He says while trying to reassure himself and to calm down. ¡°CRACK¡± He hears a stick break not even 20 yards from him. His senses instantly sharpen as his whole body goes into ¡®prey mode.¡¯ (Come on, you are stronger now, you have a weapon, YOU CAN FIGHT) He says to himself, stealing his resolve and pushing away the doubts in his mind. He stands up, sword in hand, and goes down to the water, just barely on the edge of it, and waits. It feels like an eternity for him, just waiting there, the wind howling and the cold biting at his face, the water splashing behind him, and the light russell of the bushes where something waits, sizing him up. 5 seconds¡­ 10 seconds¡­ 30¡­ neither one of them makes a move. (Come on! Show yourself!) He thinks but dares not say aloud. After about a minute the leaves stop rustling but Ozborn dares not lower his guard for he knows how cunning these creatures can be, even if they are from a different world, that fact should be the same, as were his thoughts. Suddenly, a shadowy object comes flying out onto the beach, followed by 4 others. Ozborn tries to stay calm and starts to cast magic. ¡°Light orb!¡± He shouts while casting a low-level light spell.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. It illuminates a small area around him and floats through the air. (I have a little over a minute before this spell runs out, I have to finish this before then.) [These are shadow wolves, they can travel through shadows over short distances and are nearly impossible to see in the dark] (That¡¯s good to know, I¡¯ll have to look out for that.) The wolves make the first move, one of them attacks him from the right side- his strong side. With two hands on his sword, he swings it into the wolf¡¯s neck, slicing across it and slitting it¡¯s throat. (Nice! That¡¯s a killing blow. I knew I was stronger wi-) His thought was interrupted by another wolf jumping at him when he was right at the apex of his swing. The wolf¡¯s mouth, wide and dripping with saliva, almost gets to his left arm but right as it¡¯s about to close it, he uses a speed boost spell on his arm. His mana wraps around his arm, causing his muscles to tighten and he pulls his arm out of its mouth with insanely fast speed. So fast that it nearly causes him to do a full 180. ¡°Woahhh, too fast! Too fast!¡± He says, but then realizing he can use this to his advantage, readies his right arm and pivots onto his left foot. As he is spinning he swings his right arm and hits the wolf in the neck with his sword. (Haha, yes! Is what I would say if this was some stupid cartoon, I can¡¯t put any weight behind this swing) His prediction proves to be right and though he injures the wolf, it is far from dead, just barely managing to knock it off its feet. (If someone was watching this, I would be so embarrassed, why did I even think that would work?) Readying himself again, he braces to fight. (Okay, just three left¡­ wait three?) He realized much too late that one of the wolves, the biggest one, which was probably the leader, vanished into its shadow and appeared behind Ozborn, slashing at his back. (Crap!) He spins to fight back but knows that he will be too late. (I hate to use this much magic but, I have to.) ¡°BARRIER!¡± He flicks his left wrist towards the wolf¡¯s claw and makes a barrier of magic in between him and the monster that is a quarter inch thick and roughly the size of a dinner plate that the beast¡¯s claws slide off of. He uses that to his advantage and attacks the wolf, only for another to slam into him at max speed, sending him flying. ¡°Ugh, ¡®cough¡¯ ¡®cough¡¯¡± he spits out some blood as he slowly stands up, while he is crouched over the pack charges him and just as one of their claws is about to reach his neck, time stops. ¡°Tch, to think they would send something of this level just to feel you out, I guess they just couldn¡¯t overlook your presence on the island. I can¡¯t have you dying just yet, here take this, you owe me.¡± Mana¡¯s voice and Ozborn¡¯s thoughts are the only things that do not seem to be stopped at the moment. (Wai- ugh, what is¡­ AHHH! IT BURNS!) Something is being carved into his soul, typically something like this would be too much for any normal person to handle and they would die from the pain alone. But, as he is a hero sent by the gods, he just barely managed to stay awake. [Skill gained- Limit Break, it allows you to push far past your limits for a short amount of time but once it is over, all of the exhaustion and pain you feel during the time that the skill is active will be multiplied 10-fold.] Just after the explanation from appraisal, time begins to move again and the Limit Break skill activates, causing Ozborn¡¯s senses to be heightened to a degree that should not be possible, as well as causing every muscle in his body to tighten, allowing for much stronger and explosive movements. Just as the claw reaches his neck the wolf¡¯s head is lopped off at breakneck speeds {Get it lol} and causes the air itself to shake- nearly causing a sonic boom. (One down, three more to go) His thoughts are completely taken over by the instinct to kill and the only thing that he is thinking about is how to kill the enemies in front of him as quickly as possible. The wolves, sensing a change, take a step back, the pure killing intent pouring off of Ozborn was nearly enough to scare them away. ¡°You''re not getting away now.¡± He says in a cold, dark tone. Thoughtlessly, he began to move. He launches himself off to the right of the closest wolf so that he can see its broad-side. Then he spins and flies right at it, the tip of his sword aimed right at its midsection. The wolf didn¡¯t even have enough time to react as the sword hit its center-mass, cleaving it apart and causing its innards to go all over the place, splattering Ozborn with blood. Even though he guts deer and animals all the time, the sheer malice and ferocity in which he did this would have been enough to make him queasy, had his mind not been consumed by the thought of killing the creatures in front of him. Continuing with his momentum, as if he never hit anything at all, he flies at the next wolf, this time with his sword aimed at its neck. This wolf had the poor fortune to back up at the wrong moment, causing the tip of the sword to just barely graze its neck, effectively slitting its neck, and causing it to die by choking on its own blood. The last wolf, the alpha of the pack, shadow travels to the edge of the woods. Ozborn barely catches this at the corner of his eye and so the moment he touches the ground, he leans forward and jumps toward it with every muscle in his body. Just as the wolf touches the bushes it erupts in an explosion of blood and gore. (That makes 5 in total) Ozborn thinks, his thoughts slowly coming back to him. Then, while standing under the moonlight, staring at the stars, covered in blood with an absolute masacre of a scene around him, one thing is heard: [Warning, ability ¡®Limit Break¡¯ is deactivating, you can feel exhaustion and pain again]. He couldn¡¯t even think a single thought as he fell over, the world fading to black. Chapter 3 His eyes fly open as he wakes in excruciating pain as though he is on fire, being stung by thousands of bee stings, and being skinned alive all at once. ¡°AHHhhough¡± He tries to stand but has just enough time to flip on his side before he pukes up his dinner and an unhealthy amount of blood from the immense torture he put his body through. Shaking and still in pain, he somehow manages to stand with the help of the tree that he passed out next to. Before he could take in the carnage that he caused he doubles over and empties the last of his stomach in a bush that was at his feet. Finally, with the pain slowly subsiding, he is able to take in his surroundings. First he checks what time it is by where the sun is in the sky, he judges it to be just past noon, assuming it was just past midnight when he passed out, that is a whole 12 hours of pain so intense that he couldn¡¯t even think. Looking down the beach now, he tried to recall anything that he could from last night. His memory of what transpired stars to come back to him as he takes in the scene that is before him. The utter carnage was enough to make him want to puke again, but he would have to have something left in his stomach to do that. Going in order he checks out the wolf that he killed first It¡¯s laying on its side with a smooth cut across its throat and most of its blood drained. For any hunter in his past life this would have been the perfect kill. The problem was the rest of them, the next one he killed lies at the end of a massive blood streak, its head is much farther out, at the edge of the water. You could tell that there wasn¡¯t any technique behind that swing because rather than it being a nice and smooth cut, it looked more like he used the flat side of his sword and just tore through it. The third wolf he killed doesn¡¯t even have the middle of its body and its guts are spread out all over the place, lying 10 feet away at the farthest. The fourth wolf that he killed didn¡¯t die instantly so the area around where it lay is all torn up and it wore one of the most painful faces he has ever seen. Wondering where the last one was, he looks around and spots a puddle of blood nearby where he remembers hitting it. ¡°T-t-that can¡¯t b-be it can it?¡± He says. His voice is shaky from the pain that he is in as well as the terror of being the one that caused this utter massacre. Falling to his knees, he grabs his head, thousands of thoughts rushing through him. (I-I¡¯m a monster. WHAT HAVE I-... no¡­ I did it to survive.) Calming down a bit, he lays down for a while to collect his thoughts. After about a half an hour he gets up, practically starving. (I¡¯ll eat something and try to make my way to the river to wash up and get a drink) He says, trying to get himself moving. After getting up, he walks to his camp, grabs some fish, and heads down to the river. He washes off and takes a drink once he gets there and stays a while to eat the fish he brought. Once he is done eating he heads back, head down, pondering about what he should do next. Deciding to distract himself from the mental and physical pain that he is in, he starts to work on something using the snake scales that he grabbed. (I should turn this into some armor. It¡¯s probably the best material for it.) Using the sharp piece of bone that he grabbed as well as some string, he starts to stitch the scales together. Each scale, even with the bone as a needle, requires a decent amount of force to puncture and with every hole he makes, he nearly screams in pain because of how sore he is. Deciding that that was too tough for his body to handle in its current state, he decides to stop after connecting just four of them. (I have to use my strength to survive but using my strength might kill me, or at least make me want to die to escape it. It¡¯s quite the catch 22 ha.. Ha¡­ hm.) He thinks while trying to laugh about it to hopefully raise his spirits, to no avail. Three days go by with him just going through the movements and trying to use as little force as possible. He is finally well enough to fish again, having nearly eaten all of what he had stashed away, he decides to stock up again. After fishing for nearly half a day, he catches 14 decent size fish and an absolutely massive one that lifts his spirits tremendously. By the fifth day he is a little sore but able to do everything that he could before. In fact, he was actually stronger than he was before because of his growth skill that not only massively helped with his recovery but also by practically turning his pain and suffering into strength. For the next four days he worked on and finished his ¡°scale-mail¡± armor. ¡°Nice, I was able to make a chest-piece and pants with just a couple scales left over.¡± Having finally put that experience behind him as well as cleaning up the beach by throwing the corpses into the water about a half-mile away, Ozborn starts working on his biggest project yet.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°IT¡¯S TIME TO BUILD A HOUSE!¡± He shouts into the woods, having returned to his normal self at last. Using an axe that he made he clears out a section of the woods a little ways away from the river, right where the beach meets the woods. Then, using the stumps and some logs that he drives into the ground a little ways with his now freakish strength, he is able to make a pretty strong foundation. (I¡¯m honestly surprised that I don¡¯t look like some giant muscly mass at this point. Why is that?) [That is due to your being a hero of a god. When a god reincarnates someone they may choose their appearance. And aside from some minor changes like scars or major ones, the loss of a limb and the like, they will typically stay within the parameters that are set by the god upon rebirth.] (Hm, interesting. I guess I¡¯m glad for that but did she really have to give my hair this purple hue?) [That is common among heroes, for their god will typically choose their own hair color as their summon¡¯s to make them stand out and to prove that they are theirs.] (Oh, so It¡¯s like a trademark? Anyways, this is getting pretty off topic, I have a house to build!) Gathering his courage, and some building materials, he starts working on the floor of his soon-to-be log cabin. He uses a joinery technique to put it together since he does not have nails, although this does take much longer. (I¡¯m glad I made this hammer and chisel earlier, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do this at all without them) Ozborn thinks to himself. Throughout the day he of course has to get food and water, but due to his newfound strength he doesn¡¯t get tired and doesn¡¯t need to take breaks at all. By sundown he has a quarter of the floor done- a 125 square foot, rectangle on the ground supported and leveled by the stumps and logs that he drove into the ground. Going to sleep, he awaits tomorrow. It takes him two days to finish the 500 square foot floor, make sure it¡¯s sturdy, and plan what to do next. He ended up chopping a 4 square foot hole through the floor on the far side of the house to make room for a fireplace. The next day he cuts and chisels out two sections on the beach-side of the house to fit in the door frame as well as make a very small porch off the front of the house, complete with a small railing and a doormat made out of the one good wolf carcass that he ended up keeping. ¡°Not too bad if I-do-say-so-myself.¡± He says, patting himself on the back. (Now for the walls, uhhhh this is going to be such a pain.) It takes a whole week for him to finish the walls of the cabin, with nothing else of note that happens. (Now we have the roof to work on. No clue how I¡¯m going to do that so I¡¯ll just wing it!). 2 days later, after going on a hunt for food because Ozborn got tired of eating nothing but fish, he spots a raft with someone on it. Dropping the 3 horned rabbits that he managed to catch he shouts ¡°HEY, ARE YOU OKAY!¡± He starts running towards the person but then slows down, in case it¡¯s just a trap. Once he gets close enough he realizes that the person appears to be a young woman who is dressed like a ninja. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± He says while cautiously reaching down and shaking her. Not receiving a response has him worried as he slowly grabs her wrist to check her pulse. (Her heart is beating and I think I can see her breathing so she should wake up in an hour or so, depending on how long she has been here) Slowly picking her up, he heads to his house and lays her down in the middle of the floor. Then heads out to clean and cook the rabbits that he caught. Roughly 40 minutes later he hears the woman get up and gets on guard. (Anyone dressed like a ninja probably knows at least 100 ways to kill someone, I should be on alert) The woman gets up and upon seeing Ozborn standing a few yards away, holding a knife, grabs her hidden weapon that was under her clothes at her waist. ¡°Woah, calm down. I found you washed up on the shore so I carried you to my house. My name is Osborn Godfrey. What''s your name?¡± (I should have checked for hidden weapons, this could get ugly pretty quick) ¡°What?¡± She says something in a language that Ozborn couldn''t understand. (Appraisal, can you help me out here?) [Confirmed, translating.] ¡°Who are you! What language is that?!¡± She says ¡°Calm down, I found you washed up on the shore so I carried you to my house. My name is Osborn Godfrey, what''s yours?¡± ¡°:...I am Iris Gregory, I am in your debt sir Godfrey. But before that, do you mind telling me where I am?¡± They both start to ease up a bit but still remain cautious. (She must be some noble¡¯s daughter with how fancy she talks.) ¡°To be entirely honest, I have no idea where we are. And you have no reason to be so formal with me, I¡¯m just a normal guy that randomly woke up on this island.¡± ¡°Does that mean that you were banished too?¡± ¡°Banished? I don¡¯t know, I have no memory of anything before I woke up 2 months ago.¡± (If I tell her that I was sent by the gods she would probably call me a blasphemer and kill me on the spot.) ¡°You seem to know an awful lot about survival for someone who lost their memories.¡± She says accusingly while gesturing to the house and the fire. ¡°I just did what felt right.¡± (Of course she would be suspicious of me) ¡°At the very least, I mean you no harm.¡± ¡°I will choose to believe you for now then, but should you pose a threat to me, I will not hesitate to kill you.¡± She says while finally putting her weapon away. Ozborn also untenses and sets down the knife that he had clenched in his hand. (I shouldn¡¯t get on her bad side, I can tell by how she stands that she is a trained warrior.) ¡°Fair enough, and am I right in assuming that you are an assassin or something along those lines?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± ¡°And if you don¡¯t mind me asking, what do you mean by being banished here?¡± ¡°That is a private matter.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ are you hungry or thirsty? I just caught a horned rabbit that I¡¯m about to cook.¡± (If she is some sort of criminal I might just die in my sleep or something.) He thinks. ¡°I am hungry, but afterwards I am going to leave.¡± ¡°And go where? This island is uninhabited, excluding me, and it¡¯s just ocean as far as the eye can see.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not just going to take your word for it, you may be my savior but I have no idea who you really are.¡± They sit down around the fire, on opposite ends, and Ozborn starts roasting one of the rabbits. Not a word is said between them until they are done eating. (Man, this is awkward.) ¡°Alright, we have eaten, I shall be on my way.¡± She gets up to leave but is stopped by Ozborn. ¡°At least take this with you.¡± He says while giving her some of the jerky he made. ¡°You have saved me and fed me, I couldn¡¯t possibly take your food.¡± ¡®Don¡¯t worry I can easily get more and you are probably going to need it more than me.¡¯ ¡°But-¡± She starts. ¡°Just take it, you''re the first person I¡¯ve talked to in what feels like forever. You seem to be a good person as well, I don''t know why you got banished but I don¡¯t think it was something too bad.¡± Clearly embarrassed she takes the food and leaves. Chapter 4 Ozborn is sitting down on the beach, right on the edge of the water, admiring the view. ¡°You know, if I weren''t stranded here, this would probably be one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen.¡± The sky turns yellow, then orange, and finally black as Ozborn slowly drifts off to sleep in the warm sand. The next morning he wakes up and remembers that he hasn¡¯t washed himself in a while. (Man, a pretty girl showed up and I smell and look like this, I should really try to be more civilized.) He thinks while recalling her slender yet fit body, silver hair, and purple eyes that look much like his own. (I hope she is doing alright, she¡¯s the only one I have to talk to out here.) He thinks while looking down. ¡°Well, first things first. Let¡¯s take a bath!¡± He says, suddenly excited. He grabs some ashes from his fire and mixes it with some river water on a rock down by the water and then adds some leftover fat from the animals that he killed, mixes it, and now he has some wilderness soap. ¡°There we go, now it¡¯s time for my transformation!¡± He shouts while throwing off his clothes and diving into the water. Though he is still careful because he doesn¡¯t take off his scale-mail. While cleaning up his body he also washes his clothes and decides to try to make some new ones as well because of how tattered they are. ¡°Alright now that I¡¯m clean I¡¯ll just dry off-... I didn¡¯t make a towel did I¡­ DANG IIIIITTTT!¡± He says while shivering and air-drying himself. Once that ordeal is over he goes back to his daily activities: whittling some dishes and utensils for himself, fishing, and doing anything he can to train and get stronger for the fight that lies ahead. A couple more days go by and Ozborn sees something, or someone, approaching from a distance. (Is that who I think it is?) ¡°HEY, FRIEND OR FOE!¡± She gets a little closer and he can tell that it¡¯s Iris and that she is not doing too well and then she falls over in the sand. ¡°ARE YOU OKAY!¡± He shouts as he runs over to her. When he reaches her he hears a strange noise: ¡°Guurg, guur.¡± ¡°What is that sound? Are you okay, were you poisoned?¡± ¡°Spspsp¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Hu-hungry¡­¡± He hears the sound again, realizing that it was her stomach rumbling. Suppressing his laughter at the fact that he thought that she was poisoned, he carries her back to camp where he gives her some food and asks what happened to her. Having eaten and feeling much better she reluctantly tells him about what happened.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. On the first day that she was gone she ate all the food that Ozborn gave her and just walked all day and ended up sleeping on the beach. The next day she was caught out in the rain while trying to hunt for food and had to take refuge in a hole in a very large tree. As she says that Ozborn also remembers having to stay inside that day but since he had his fireplace and a few wood-carving projects, it was actually quite nice. The third day she was absolutely starving and managed to find a berry bush that she was able to eat several large handfuls of berries off¡­ and then puke it all up a half an hour later because it turns out that they were poisonous. She spent the next two days heading back and got lucky by catching a mouse about halfway here and it helped hold her off until now. ¡°Wow, that really sucks, at least you made it back here without collapsing though.¡± Says Ozborn after hearing her story. ¡°For that, I am indeed grateful for.¡± She responds. ¡°What will you do now?¡± Asks Ozborn. ¡°If you haven¡¯t changed your mind, and aren¡¯t opposed to it¡­ I would like to stay here and help you out.¡± She says shyly. ¡°Of course you can stay here. I have just two rules that you must follow though: you must not attack me and try to steal or cause harm to any of my belongings, and you must pull your own weight. If you can do that, then there is no issue with you staying here.¡± ¡°I accept these conditions sir Godfrey.¡± ¡°Okay then, and you don¡¯t need to call me that.¡± ¡°You are now in charge of me, calling you anything less would be rude.¡± ¡°I said it¡¯s okay, do you want to disobey that order?¡± ¡°No sir¡­ Ozborn.¡± ¡°There, that¡¯s better, now let¡¯s get to work.¡± He shows Iris around and teaches her how to fish, whittle, and hunt so that she can help him better, which takes until dark. ¡°Now for the most current problem, sleeping arrangements.¡± Said Ozborn. ¡°I know you''re not a bad person but I won¡¯t be comfortable sleeping next to you, no offence.¡± ¡°That¡¯s understandable, no one would want to sleep with someone after talking to them twice. I¡¯ll sleep out on the beach and tomorrow I¡¯ll make a new bed. We might need to go hunting for more pelts for the mattress though.¡± ¡°Thank you very much sir¡­ Ozborn.¡± She says blushing. ¡°No problem, ¡®night¡± ¡°Goodnight.¡± They say, going to their respective sleeping areas. The next morning Ozborn wakes up before Iris does so he heads down to the river to wash the sand off, remembering to bring a towel this time. After he gets dressed he starts cooking breakfast and by that time Iris also got up and sat nearby, exchanging small talk with Ozborn. When they are done eating they both go out hunting and when Ozborn spots a deer he instructs Iris to sneak up to it and kill it. ¡°Understood.¡± She whispers while putting her hood up and drawing her dagger. (What! Where did she go?!) She had disappeared right in front of him; the only thing he could see was the occasional branch being bumped and a footprint or two appearing as she made her way over to the deer. When she gets within striking distance she uncloaks herself, dives forward, and plunges her dagger right in front of the deer¡¯s shoulder, a perfect heart shot. The deer falls to the ground, killed instantly. (That¡¯s crazy, I¡¯m glad she didn¡¯t try that on me, I would be quite the dead man if that happened) ¡°Nice, that¡¯s quite the skill you have there, do you mind taking this one back to camp while I continue hunting?¡± Says Ozborn. ¡°Yes sir.¡± She says, grabbing the deer by the legs and dragging it in the direction of the beach. (Alright now I can keep hunting after a big kill like that.) He returns after an hour of hunting and got two rabbits and another deer. When he gets back he sees Iris making a sand castle on the beach and the deer she hunted laid out by the fire. ¡°Ah your back!¡± Iris says, clearly embarrassed that Ozborn saw her playing in the sand. ¡°What are you, a little girl? Hahaha¡± Ozborn says ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t laugh at me, you took forever!¡± She responds, trying to salvage her reputation. ¡°Alright alright, let''s get to cleaning these animals.¡± Ozborn says while wiping the tears out of his eyes. They clean the animals and Ozborn makes another bed and puts it in the house. They hang out and talk about the day as the sun goes down and when it¡¯s gone they gaze at the stars until they get tired and go to bed.