After the completion of the bridge, Adam and the others gathered with the knights and workers for a day of celebration.
"To Ruitaria!" [Captain]
"To Ruitaria!" [Knights]
They set up several tables using earth magic, and provided unfamiliar food accompanied with alcoholic drinks.
"Can you drink?" [Captain]
"No." [Adam]
"Really? How old are you?" [Captain]
"Sixteen." [Adam]
"That's drinking age! Have some!" [Captain]
The knight shoved a large wooden mug filled with some kind of brown liquid. It foamed as it sloshed around, but died down when still. Just the whiff of it made Adam gag considering how horrid it smelled.
"Go on, drink!" [Knight]
Adam stared at the brown liquid, contemplating his decision.
("Here goes nothing…") [Adam]
With a deep breath, Adam brought the mug to his lips and drank it.
"Ngh!" [Adam]
It was bitter. Very bitter. If the taste wasn't enough to make him choke, it was the burning sensation hitting the back of his throat. Adam spat out the drink coughing, while the knights around him laughed.
"Try again! You've got to get used to it!" [Knight]
Adam shook his head.
"Nope. I've had enough for today." [Adam]
He got up and looked for anything to overwrite the terrible experience. Water, meat, vegetables, anything. Adam would eat it up to replace the bitter taste.
"Wow, are you alright?" [Felix]
Approaching from behind, Felix tapped Adam on the shoulder.
"Yeah… I just drank some of their weird drinks is all." [Adam]
"Oh. That." [Felix]
He made a strained face.
"You too?" [Adam]
"Kind of. I used my ability to hide a rift in my mouth. Thankfully, I was able to send the drink away." [Felix]
"You cheater." [Adam]
Felix grinned.
"Did you fail to drink it all? Looks like we finally found something you couldn't brute force." [Felix]
"Yeah, yeah… You must be SO happy about that." [Adam]
"Very, actually." [Felix]
Adam gave him the sideeye.
"By the way, have you seen Tif- I mean, Til?" [Adam]
"Yeah. Over there." [Felix]
Aiming with his thumb, Adam could see Tiffany casually mingling with the workers. She was flipping through the dictionary that Felix had given, but appeared to be managing conversation well.
"...Is she a genius or something?" [Adam]
"It's pretty impressive, I'll give her that." [Felix]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The next day, Adam and his companions parted ways with the knights. They crossed the bridge which led into a thick forest.
"I don't suppose we'll run into any fantasy-eqsue monsters right?" [Adam]
Just as he said that, a short human-like figure jumped out.
"Woah!" [Adam]
"Enemy?!" [Felix]
They readied themselves for combat. Adam brought out Krino, Felix took out his staff, and Tiffany's living armor summoned itself.
"Gii!" [???]
"Wait, isn't that…?" [Adam]
The small figure turned out to be some kind of green skinned humanoid. It had skinny and short limbs, with a long nose accompanied by pointed ears. It also had sharp teeth and only wore a ragged loincloth. They also carried a makeshift stone axe or wooden club. It was of worse quality than the spears guards held at the villages Adam had passed.
"A goblin?" [Felix]
Then came more of them. Five more jumped out of the brushes to confront the three.
"Goblin(s) I guess." [Adam]
The goblins let out a bunch of strange high pitched noises as if they were trying to intimidate them.
"...Do we um…" [Adam]
He gave his allies an awkward look as he did a neck slicing motion.
"Do that to them or not?" [Adam]
"Can you understand them?" [Felix]
Adam stared at the goblins and waited for them to speak.
"Gii!" [Goblin]
"Nope." [Adam]
"Maybe they're not hositle?" [Tiffany]
Is what she said right before one of them struck Adam's shin.
"...Ow." [Adam]
"Okay, let's get rid of them." [Felix]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It didn't take long to defeat the goblins. One stroke of Adam's sword was enough to cleave a goblin in two. By the end of it, they simply moved on.
"You know, it was kind of like killing voidlings." [Adam]
"Except easier." [Felix]
Adam had to agree with that.
"By the way, doesn't this really feel like a game to you?" [Adam]
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we got exp from that." [Felix]
That's when Tiffany spoke up.
"Um, guys? Have you checked your status'?" [Tiffany]
"What?" [Felix]
Without further ado, Felix and Adam opened their status panels.
"I leveled up!" [Felix]
"So did I." [Tiffany]
"What?! No way!" [Adam]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name: Adam Bricks
Race: Human
Class: N/A
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Level: 1
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Contrary to his expectations, Adam did not gain a level.
"What's wrong?" [Felix]
"I didn't level up! This game is bugged!" [Adam]
"This is real life though." [Felix]
"You know what I mean!" [Adam]
Though the status itself didn't seem to do anything, Adam still would have liked to not be level 1 in general. With a heavy sigh, he moved on.
"Let's just get this world over with." [Adam]