Dagon started swinging the sword, specifically the chop. He remembered a swordsman doing that 1000 times a day in one of the books he read. His swordsmanship was rough, and he wasn't in the best shape of his life. After a few hours his body felt like it would break, but he didn't stop for anything but food and water. After the 867th swing a message and strange voice popped up in his head.
[One-handed sword proficiency has reached 2%]
The message startled Dagon as he dropped the sword
"What the hell. I'm living in a fantasy book right now," Dagon thought. "I wonder if I can see my stats too."
As soon as he thought it another message popped into his head.
[Dagon]
[Level 1]
[Health: 10/10]
[Stamina: 1/5] [Strength: 5]
[Magic: 15] [Agility: 5]
[One-handed sword proficiency: 2%]
"Damn my stats are low as hell, except for my magic at least," Dagon thought to himself. "I wonder why my magic is so high though."
As exciting as it was to have a video game status screen, Dagon couldn't stop here. He had 133 swings left until he could sleep.
It took another hour of blood, sweat, and tears to finish the last 133, but they did seem more fluid. It was a slight change, but a change nonetheless. Dagon immediately put everything back in the ring and fell asleep on the forest floor.
For the next 2 days Dagon repeated his 1000 chops, and added 1000 slashes as well. Along with sleep, these took up most of his day. Saving the book for later, he really didn't have much else to do anyway.
His sword proficiency reached 8% at the end of the second day. Figuring that was enough, Dagon put away the sword, and took out the bow.
Dagon used to shoot archery with his family when he was young so he didn't plan on spending much time with it.
The storage ring had a quiver with 20 arrows, enough to last him a few jobs hopefully since he was dead broke.
Unlike his swordsmanship, Dagon was good with the bow. After his first shot a message popped up.
[Longbow proficiency has reached 20%]
A whole 20% in one shot. Dagon was confused, but figured the practice in his younger years had given him a head start. "At least I don't have to do this for another 3 days again," he thought with a chuckle. The swordsman ship had been tough on his body, he desperately needed a break.
Dagon only shot for a few hours before calling it quits for the day, his proficiency went up to 30% though. Already being good at archery helped him tremendously, he was around 90% accurate within 50 yards.
Dagon spent the rest of the day exploring the woods and reading the adventure guide. It explained how to survive in the different areas around Valios. Including what you can eat, and the different types of monsters in different areas.
Luckily, Dagon was at the edge of the forest, in a safe area, as he never considered the monsters being near him. "I gotta think more in the future if I want to survive this place," he realized.
After a good nights sleep, Dagon readied to leave. According to the map, he should reach Harkon city within half a day. Dagon put away everything but the sword. There weren't anyway monsters on the way, it was more for intimidation. He didn't know what kind of people he would meet on this journey.
As Dagon left the forest, he was met with green grass as far as the eye could see. A cool wind flew in, blowing the grass to the side as it went. The sun barely over the horizon as it lit up the land in an orange hue.
It was beautiful.
"You don't see that on earth really anymore," he thought.
It was almost midday before Dagon saw a road. It was made of stone, like something from medieval times on earth.
It wasn't much longer before Dagon began to see what looked city walls in the distance. As he got closer, he could see how big the city was. The walls rose 30 feet in the air, and circled around the city. There was a large drawbridge, with 2 guards standing watch on either side. They looked like typical knights. Full set of armor, a sword at their hip, and a shield on their back.
The scene blew Dagon's mind. He kind of knew what to expect, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. It wasn't until now that he really understood he was in another world. There was no more earth for him. This was his home now.
There was a short line of people and carriages entering the city. Some were stopped, others walked on through. "Probably locals the guards already know," he assumed. The guards stopped Dagon as he came to the gate.
"Halt. State your name and business traveler."
"The name's Dagon, I'm looking to join the Harkon City Adventures Guild," he said somewhat nervously, as it was his first interaction as a human of this world.
"Take the second street on the right, you'll see the large white building with the name on the sign. Can't miss it. Good luck."
Dagon entered the city with eyes full of curiosity. There were people everywhere. He knew from the book that Harkon was a large city, but still he didn't expect it to be this lively. It was as loud as New York City, just without the cars. Carriages drove by occasionally as they headed toward what looked like the market. There were so many stalls. The owners of those stalls were constantly yelling out their goods to get people's attention as they walked by.
The buildings were all made of stone, but they looked much better than the ones in history books. In fact, the whole city looked better than anything from the past he'd ever seen on earth. It wasn't dirty. Neither were the people.
He saw a woman cleaning he clothes a few houses down with magic.
"Magic must be a huge part of this world. To use it for things as simple as cleaning clothes never crossed my mind."
Dagon followed the directions from the guard as he studied the city. He felt like a kid on Christmas, excited about every new thing he saw.
Finally, after slowly walking around the city and taking it all in, he found the building he was looking for. It was the biggest one he'd seen yet. It looked like a mansion. He checked the name on the sign out front just to be sure, because it almost seemed too big.
As he opened the door, he was met with the sounds and smells of so many people. There were probably 30-40 tables almost all full of people. Some eating, some just talking, some just drinking. A few gave him a quick look over, but no one really paid much attention to him.
He made his way to the front desk to find a beautiful young woman, probably his age, doing paperwork. The woman didn't notice him until he spoke, "Hi, I was looking to join the adventures guild."