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Today I am 15 years old and I am on the outskirts of the Crossroads Village.
I was thinking of going back to the capital, but halfway there I panicked and decided to stay away from them a little longer to make sure I'm not really cursed.
All in all, a few weeks more or less won't make much difference, and they can help me to get rid of the doubt.
Besides, I thought it would be interesting to go back to the place where I spent my first years of life for my birthday.
And while I'm at it, I can put my new skills to practice in the labyrinth.
After having trained during these 8 months with Teresa and Gideon I have gone up a lot of levels, both in my classes and in some of my skills.
Sorcerer Lvl 64
Warrior Lvl 64
Adventurer Lvl 64
Hunter Lvl 64
[Spirit]
[Fire (minor)]
Strength 77
Constitution 76
Agility 77
Intelligence 15
Willpower 77
<0 stat points available>
[Imbued Weapon Lvl 9]
[Azur Lvl 9]
[Magic bullet Lvl 8]
[Mana bomb Lvl 1]
[Piercing magic bullet Lvl 1]
[Spiritual fusion Lvl 3]
[Inspect]
[Sword specialization Lvl 8]
[Dagger specialization Lvl 4]
[Magical Sense Lvl 4]
[Dimensional storage Lvl 6]
[Bounty Hunter Lvl 6]
[Survivor Lvl 4]
[Accelerated Balanced Growth]
Now that I have a better handle on mana bullets and that, as a result, they cost a lot less mana to form, I guess it's pretty much worth it to try leveling the Intelligence stat.
From now on I'm going to start using all the stat points I acquire on that.
And, while training with Gideon has been mostly swordsmanship, I would sometimes use the dagger as a support weapon. Whereupon my dagger specialization skill went up to level 4.
After spending a few moments observing the monument with my parents' names inscribed on it, I go to the adventurers' guild.
The guild building is small. Attached to the fortress wall that covers the labyrinth.
The design seems odd to me, as I see no reason to make two buildings instead of one. But I suppose there is no reason for all guild buildings to be the same.
As I enter, I head towards one of the counters where the receptionists attend to the adventurers.
There are far fewer people queuing than there normally are in the capital. So, after a short time in the queue, it's my turn.
"Hello, I would like to sell the bodies of 327 goblins, 51 wolves, and 12 giant spiders. Plus, the goblin weapons and armor" I say in a calm voice, as I look curiously at the other adventurers.
"H-how many did you say?" asks the receptionist, with a dazed face and booming voice, drawing the attention of the rest of the people in the building.
I repeat the number and, after showing her my ID, the receptionist takes me to a storage room outside the guild where I can drop off the bodies.
As we leave the guild, I feel the piercing gaze of the rest of the adventurers on my back.
I guess I shouldn't have sold everything at once so as not to draw attention to myself.
After checking the state of the bodies and objects, we return to the guild building. Where the receptionist paid me 18 platinum coins for everything.
That, added to what Regis gave me, makes a good sum of money.
But considering how much the mithril dagger cost me, I'll have to start saving if I want to change my equipment for something of a better level.
Since, even though my sword auto-repairs over time due to my interface, it's getting dented easier and faster due to my strength.
Which limits what I can do with it.
But I'll have to wait until I get back to the capital for that, as the most they seem to sell here are steel weapons, similar to the one I use.
As I leave the building, I meet the village headman of the village we took the wine presses to, who seems intent on entering the place I just left.
He notices me first and says "Hey, Xelean. How are you?"
"Ahh, hi. I'm fine, how are you? What are you doing around here?" I ask, puzzled that the village chief himself would come to Crossroads Village, being that he could send other people to run errands.
"I came to the village with some other people to sell some barrels of beer and wine" he explains, as we move away from the guild entrance so as not to obstruct the flow of people "With the money we were thinking of hiring a group of adventurers to clear out an abandoned mine. I'd like to see if it can be reactivated. I almost didn't recognize you with that hair color, but your companion is unmistakable."
"Ahh, yes. This is my original hair color, but more importantly, why do you need adventurers for that?" I ask without understanding "Wouldn't it be better to hire miners for that job?"
"No..." he says and explains to me what is going on in the mine.
Apparently, the mine has a problem that they don't know the cause of.
Everyone who enters runs away in terror soon after entering but, when they leave, they don't remember why they ran away in the first place.
The village chief suppose that it must be caused by a monster that performs psychological attacks, so he thought the best thing to do was to come to Crossroads Village to hire adventurers to solve the problem.
After the explanation, I offer to help him.
And, after talking it over with the other villagers who had come with him, and having them evaluate Azur and me with their eyes, they accepted my help.
I guess they took Azur's appearance, who was in his draco form with a size similar to a horse, very much into account.
But my appearance has also changed quite a bit during these months of training.
Probably due to the drastic increase in my stats, which must have accelerated the normal development of my body.
Whereas before I was a rather short and thin guy, I now have a more muscular build, and my height must be over six feet tall, although I haven't measured myself to check.
We decided to leave in the direction of the village riding Azur, in his draco form so as not to attract attention.
While the rest of the villagers stayed behind to sell the merchandise.
This way we can get there sooner and solve the problem.
When we get a little away from the village, Azur changes to his dragon form and we continue our journey, but now flying.
The village chief rides behind me in the saddle and seems delighted with the experience, and I hear him say quietly as if to himself 'haa, if only I could have bought this creature.'
As he gazes raptly at the scenery he asks "I haven't asked you before due to the surprise of meeting us, but how are your friends?"
Thanks to the saddle's enchantment, I can hear the man's voice perfectly. Even though the wind should make communication impossible due to the speed we are going.
I tell him what happened, and I can't help but be gripped by sadness as I recall what happened.
After finishing my story, the old man pats me on the shoulder.
"Ahh" he says in a tired voice "I already figured you might end up like this when I saw how you took your chances against the ghouls that time. It's a shame..."
"and why do you want to clear the mine?" I ask to change the subject, trying to control my voice trembling with emotion.
As I am asking the question, we see a carriage driven by an elderly couple being pursued by four riders who seem to be chasing it to attack it.
We rush to their aid and drop down from the sky with Azur on the pursuers.
We defeat them without much trouble.
Our initial intention was to capture them without killing them, but the bandits did not want to surrender and we had no choice but to take their lives.
After storing the corpses of the bandits in my inventory and checking if the owners of the carriage were okay, we resumed our journey.
"agh, I'm already too old to fight..." says the old man, after being silent for a while, stretching out in the saddle. I'm surprised he says that even though he defeated one of the bandits practically single-handedly "That's one of the main reasons I want to reactivate the mine. The roads are no longer what they were since the labyrinth fell a year ago in the Crossroads Village. The kingdom is reorganizing the soldiers that they used to dedicate to other tasks to adapt to the situation, and that leaves many roads with less surveillance and protection. For that reason, many people have appeared who take advantage of the chaotic situation to profit at the expense of travelers."
"And what does that have to do with the mine?" I ask without understanding the connection.
"Well, since there is more risk on the roads, the prices of things are going through the roof. If we could reactivate the mine we could manufacture many things we can only get through trade. Haa, look! I can already see the village from here…"
As we descended into the village, the chief told me that the village is called 'Flower's Village' because of the large number of flowers that can be found throughout the year.
And that the nearby forest is called 'Hill Forest', since in its center there is a small hill where no trees grow.
Information that we didn't ask the first time we came, as we didn't think we would come back.
And I didn't ask the second time I came either, since I was looking to avoid people. So, I talked as little as possible with the people I interacted with.