Chereads / Becoming a Master of Combat / Chapter 3 - Rank up for fun?

Chapter 3 - Rank up for fun?

As he looked at himself in the mirror he began to stand in strang poses, at one point he was standing straight but leaned back rather far, pointing to the mirror before taking a menacing look, causing his aura, even if it looked like colorless liquid to cover along his body. He grinned like an idiot before stopping it, standing straight he shook his head. "I never really considered myself to be a weeb, but I did watch anime with a few friends, the only real trouble I had was newer music, older time music from Celtic, orchestra and such I could do, I was even fond of jazz, but the moment it came to the country, rap, or anything really with words I struggled, I can make a good melody, can't make a sing-song worth shit though, though I think with this new voice, a deeper more full then my previous one it should sound pretty good, maybe even better than my old voice when singing.''

He massaged at his throat in thought before he took a look around the room, around him was a rather small room, actually, it was about the size of the space in his inventory, there were two chairs and a table, a mirror and dresser, a chest at the foot of the bed, and a rather comfortable looking bed. Seeing a door inside his room he looked into it to see something that surprised him. It was a rather modern-looking bath, without the pipes or knobs, but with magic, anyone could create any kind of temperature water they enjoyed. He examined it a bit before he nodded. "Sleep first, then bath."

With that he turned and walked forward, falling onto the bed he didn't bother getting beneath the blankets, he just inhaled the scent of the bed, it was fresh hay for the mattress and some sort of fluff substance that looked like wool but felt many times softer, which was weird. Leaving it that he passed out.

He awoke to the sound of laughter, noises of dinner, and the clinging of mugs. He took a breath to take note of how he smelled and recoiled. 'fuck, goblin blood smells horrible, need to bathe.' With that thought, he left the bed and removed his clothes. Stepping into the bath he began to take one. After he had finished he noted he should get soap and other necessities later. Once he finished bathing himself he washed his clothing and treated his armor properly. Once he finished he wore his casual clothing. Stepping out of his room he locked it behind him before sending the key back to his storage. Once he did he made his way down the stairs into a large what looked to be a party.

Seeing the woman from before dancing practically between tables, dodging mugs and possible spills he took a seat at an empty table more towards the corner. Soon he saw the small child from before come charging over towards him screaming ''HELLO HANDSOME MISTER!" He grunted, feeling like he just got stabbed. When he spoke, he was thinking of something entirely different.

''Hello cute missie, are you here to take my order?" 'I would slay all who oppose your rule child, find yourself a proper man that will treat you right or I will skin him and offer his skin to the Gods.'

She beamed at him, having no idea of the murderous thoughts he held to protect her. ''Mhm! I take orders and then bring them back to the kitchen for Robert!''

His face flickered a bit hearing that name, sending an apology to whoever was cursed with such luck before smiling again. ''Robert? Does he cook good food?''

The girl seemed to stop and think. ''Well, his cooking is good, but not as good as Mama's, and even Mama says her cooking is nothing compared to Dad's, but since he passed away Robert's been helping.''

Hearing that there was a click, a feeling in his mind. The Milf was widowed. ''I'll take the usual of what everyone here eats.''

With that, the girl nodded before charging off. Once she was gone he leaned back at his table and watched over the place, he relaxed without meaning to. Even if he was surrounded by strangers, he would later realize this was the most comfortable he has ever relaxed in both lives. Finally, the woman came over to him with a platter. Setting down stew, bread, butter, and even extra meat and cheese she had to lean towards him to place a mug down as well. Catching her scent he felt something rumble in him. He felt it was a hunger, a hunger for more than food but he stifled it down. He had no reason to seek carnal pleasures yet, not until he was sure he had the strength to do so. ''Sorry for the wait, it's usually always busy at night.'' Alex shook his head. ''Don't worry, after so long traveling it was good to relax for once.'' She smiled at him, fuck was she pretty. Once she set his meal down she left to continue her work. The first thing he tried was the bread plain, it was still slightly warm so it must've been fresh. Trying the butter next he took another bite.

'Damn, that's actually smackin'.'' He then moved to the stew, occasionally soaking his bread, and using it to push more soup into his mouth he rumbled. 'The little one was right, Robert ain't too bad a cook. I'll have to see if there are any condiments that I can get along with spices.' Soon he had finished the bread, the soup, and downed the mug. It was an ale, not strong and rather smooth, going well with the soup. He put the smocked and cured meat into his storage for a snack for later. He had watched things going on around him for a bit like he was watching a good show, letting his food settle.

He had watched someone try to grab at Rosie's rear, which was grabbable for sure in his eyes as well, but before he got his hand out, the guy was sucked punched by another guy sitting at the table, laying him out. Starting off on a rant on how you don't disrespect Rosie in her own place. Alex gave a nod as he backed them p without getting involved before he stood to begin walking out, dodging to the side as the guy from before was hurled out onto the street. He watched the man land into the gravel with a wince. 'Looked like that hurt, I'll leave him to it.'' He then turned and began to walk along the road, taking a look at the sky he froze. The skies at night were beautiful, he didn't pay much attention to it during the day, but the number of stars he could see, the beautiful moons above his head were breathtaking. He stared at it a long moment, simply enjoying the ability to stare at the stars so easily. He smiled before he continued his walk, as he walked he kept an eye out, he was looking for people moving through the shadows. And after a while, he did see quite a few, and they all seemed to be wearing the same kind of garb, there must be a shadow branch in the town.

Shadow branches were just this world's version of the underground network. Taking note there was a branch he decided that he would look into it later if he wanted strength, underhanded means was one of the fastest ways to get it. After a while he made his way to the town limit, let through by the guards with ease he made his way towards the forest as he thought of his request. A few gathering ones, two subjugation ones. He had no reason to go out during the night, and it was more dangerous, of course however he wanted to test his abilities at night, and his luck.

Once he got into the forest he was much more careful then he was during the day, simply slowly making his way through, now that he was being sure, and moving slowly he found many more things, herbs, berries, toxic herbs, rocks, and even a rather shiny rock. He looked at this rock before he raised a brow, it kind of looked like a mana core, but it was still a rock, for now, he slid the rock into the inventory and simply walked off. Continuing his stealthy approach, soon he came across a group of goblins, one was wearing a robe.

He stopped to watch, raising a hand he pulled a rock, giving it a gentle glow before he tossed it forward. The moment the robed mage noticed it he fired off a large fireball towards it. Moving suddenly Alex killed the mage first, then moved to the rest of the group. It was a quick and simple thing, other than the mage everything else was just a normal weak goblin, taking their ears, and cores he was about to leave but he took a look at the robe. Rubbing his hand against it he rolled it up. 'Feels magical, I'll have to take it to a shop to get it appraised properly. Appraisal magic exists but it's tier 1 and I barely have tier 0 down.'

Once he got everything he needed he looted a few coins as well before he began to use his sword to tear into the goblin's flesh and cuts, spraying it around onto the trees and bushes. Once he did he looked up to a tree. 'You know... it's technically a weapon?' Suddenly a nasty hook appeared in his hand, a chain falling to the ground until it leads up, the end of the chain in his other hand. Grinning he looked up, and a quick spin, and a few failed attempts he caught a thicker branch above, soon he pulled himself up, the chain and its hook desummoning as he then waited. Goblin's blood would attract the wolves he needed.

He became very still, his heartbeat slowing as he slowly relaxed with the tree, keeping his awareness out as he closed his silver eyes, they glowed in the night and that would give him away. It was about an hour later until he heard a few movements, soon wolves gathered where the slaughter had happened, sniffing and looking around wearily before they began eating. They actually looked rather small for a wolf, smaller than the ones he was used to. Slowly reading over the beastary within his inventory he thought in silence.

'Wolves here are weaker than they are from Earth? Strange, but they still have their uses. Apparently whereas their weaker and far less powerful, or even vicious. Their bones were hellishly sturdy, and their teeth were just as hard. Their fur was soft and was good insulation against the cold, and their leather could be studier than what I'm wearing currently, a small upgrade for my current gear.'

Though even with that, he felt it strange they were weak, they had the ability to be far stronger than earth's wolves, even despite their size, but they were weaker? Either way, not his problem. He slowly summoned two daggers. Watching a long moment before he jumped from the tree, falling down he caught one wolf, with a quick move he cut along its throat, bleeding it right there he immediately moved to the next one, there was no flair to his movement. He cut their throats one after another. Soon the rest of them scattered as he now had five very well preserved corpses, sending them into his inventory he then washed himself a bit to get rid of the scent, squishing some berries he rubbed along his armor to help cover the scent of blood. He then took off into the night.

Once he was quite a bit away he continued to travel all the way back to the town, once he had returned, getting through the gates easily he returned back to the inn. Once he got there he took a quick bath once more cleaning his clothing and armor before he went to once again lay onto the bed. 'Night combat is far more tiring due to the strain of needing to stay aware at all times, I will still occasionally do it however, I need to learn more about this place as in-depth as I can. I will need to pack away for up to a few weeks of rations and preparation for the dungeons and my... We'll just call them experiments.'