After closing my eyes, my entire vision went white and Ai appeared in front of me inside my soul space, in her little girl form.
"I'm sorry, Ai. I tried my best."
"It's not over yet." Said Ai as she moved her hand in a swiping motion and a mirror appeared in the air, showing my body on the ground inside the forest. As I was about to ask her what she meant, I saw a magic circle slowly appearing on the ground around my body. After the circle was completed, I saw the image in the mirror change as my body appeared inside Anise's laboratory. I watched her casting spell after spell on my body before taking the swords out and starting to cast another set of spells.
"What? But, how? I don't understand."
"The contract is also a spiritual connection between the summon and the summoner. She probably felt that you were in trouble and used her ability to summon you to save your life. The first spells she cast froze your body's condition, stopping your hp from decreasing further and she is now working to repair all your damaged organs with healing spells."
I kept watching as she cast spell after spell with a serious face and no change in expression for a full two hours. Sweat kept dropping from her forehead but she never stopped. Seeing her toiling to save me, a person she didn't even know all that well, a complex feeling started budding up inside my heart. After she was done, a smile appeared on her pale face and she passed out right next to my body.
"Why would she do that?" I asked softly while looking at the mirror with a complicated expression.
"If you would die she will lose her summon and the favor you promised her."
Ai's answer might be right but I just felt that it was not that, my favor is not worth that much.
"I think she's just a very kind person." I said to Ai before asking "Can you send me back?"
As soon as I finished my question I was back inside my body. Turning my body to the side, I saw the exhausted and pale faced Anise laying down on the ground next to me. I slowly sat up and walked out. As expected, the butler was waiting by the door.
"The young lady just passed out from using all her mana. Could you take her to her room to rest?" I said to the butler.
The butler didn't say a word but I could see an unfriendly look in his eyes as he passed by me and picked Anise up. I ignored his look as I watched him carry her to her room and closed the door after him. Sitting back down on the couch, I stared at the ceiling and started sorting through my thoughts.
'Ai, how come I came here to save this world and all I do is get saved by people around me? I.. I think you made a mistake. I'm not the right person for this job."
[There is no mistake. The instructions left behind by my Lord can't be wrong.]
'They are wrong. I'm just a normal human, a simple man who cowered in front of all the bullies in high school, a coward who never stood up for himself and just took everything life threw at him. I'm no hero, Ai.'
[Suffering and having difficulties is part of life. My Lord also failed a lot in his rise to power. The only easy thing in life is giving up. He also failed a lot and learned from those mistakes, so the fact that you failed a couple of times doesn't meant you can't do it. You just have to get back up and try again.]
'Wasn't your Lord the strongest person in the whole multiverse?'
[Not at the start. He started his journey because his whole race was destroyed, leaving him the only survivor. He kept walking forward with the hope of finding a way to bring back his people.]
'Did he do it?'
[No. The last thing I have inside my database is him coming up with a suicidal plan and creating me as a backup in case he never came back and the fate system will run out of energy.]
'So an omnipotent God also failed..'
[That is the logical conclusion, even tho it's not confirmed.]
'So, do you really think I can do it?'
[I don't know, but you are the only one who can now, the only one with a chance.]
'Can't the people of this world save themselves?'
[The fate system has the ability to read the causality of the world. If it chose to give up on it, it means that there is no hope for the people in the world of saving themselves.]
'I see, but I'm too weak. I will need help. You said I can't talk to other people about you, can you explain why?'
[If you tell other people about me or our goal of saving the world, the world's Will would find out through those people and expel us.]
'But, we are trying to save it. Why would it do that?'
[Because it's programmed to expel any other system that try to interfere with it except the Fate System. My Lord had not time to modify all the worlds in the multiverse before putting His plan into action. He only had time to create me and even that was in a hurry.]
'I see.. Can't I at least tell anyone that the world is in danger?'
[You can, but I wouldn't recommend it. The world's Will doesn't know that it was abandoned by the Fate system and we don't know how it will react if it finds out. A person that appeared on it's world from outside, claiming that the world is in danger will probably make it come to a conclusion that you are helped by another system and expel us both just to make sure.]
'But, since that Will knows pretty much everything, won't it also know that it's destruction is near?'
[It does but according to it's instruction it just has to wait for the Fate system to intervene.]
I was planning to let Anise know and maybe get her to help, but that plan doesn't seem viable anymore.
'Whatever. I'll get back trying to get stronger. If I fail so be it. I will just keep trying. Thank you for always being my shoulder wise man, Ai.'
[I don't know what that is.]
'Doesn't matter. I'm going to sleep now. Can you wake me up if Anise comes here?'
[Affirmative]
With that, I closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep. Anise healed my wounds perfectly but I still felt completely exhausted. Next day, around noon, the door to the laboratory opened and Anise walked in carrying a tray full of food.
"Thank you for saving my life again." I said while bowing towards her.
She snorted and put the tray on the table before saying: "How did you end up stabbed twice so soon after leaving the academy?"
I scratched my head in embarrassment and said: "I joined the adventurer's guild and bit more than I could chew."
I could see rage building up in her eyes as she said: "Was I speaking to myself when I told you not to join the adventurer guild?"
"Sigh.. I know, but it was honestly the best choice for me as I am already level four and I need to get stronger."
[Five. You leveled up when you killed the two swordsmen and I added your free point in vitality to keep you alive. It helped you hold on long enough for Anise to summon you at her location.]
That was unexpected so I checked my status right away.
[
Name: Ethan Knott
Age: Avatar 18;
Race: Avatar Human;
Experience: 2/800;
Health Points: 80/80;
Mana Points 50/50;
Level: 5;
Vitality: 8;
Strength: 9;
Dexterity : 7;
Intelligence: 5;
Resistance: 7;
0 free stat point
———
System Points: 0;
Spirit: 420;
]
'So I was three exp away from death?'
[Affirmative. Your health points reached 7 at the lowest. Without the twenty HP from level up you will be dead.]
Anise's seems even more enraged after hearing my words: "Do you think that being level 4 is such a big deal? Even adventurers ten times your level die daily from doing quests for the adventurer guild. That place is full of desperate people or suicidal lunatics. Do you know I had to use up the summoning opportunity provided by the contract to save your life? Now that the contract is fulfilled I can't summon you anymore and everything was for naught."
I kept feeling worse and worse as she kept yelling at me but I couldn't really refute her words as everything she said was the truth and it was my fault. I can only hang my head low, like a kid being reprimanded in front of the class and let out a weak "I'm sorry!" after she was done venting.
"Oh, you're sorry? Is that supposed to make me feel any better?"
Seeing me lowering my head even lower, she stopped reprimanding and sighed before saying.
"What mission did you take that left you in that condition?"
I really wanted to avoid answering, afraid that I will get yelled at again but had no choice and told her about the mission to clear out the bandits in the forest.
"YOU DID WHAT?" and as expected, she immediately snapped again before sitting down on the couch and covering her face with her hand. She took a deep breath to calm down and continued in an exasperated tone:
"Does that brain of yours only purpose is to stop rain from falling inside your neck? To have a group of bandits robbing so close to the city they must have a strong backing. Can't you even figure that out?"
Now that I heard her say it, it actually made sense. It also explained the two swordsmen and the magician. Seeing me not answering she said again:
"Tell me what happened exactly when you attacked them."
I started explaining everything. How I took out the scouts, how I killed all the bandits silently at night and about the swordsmen and the magicians. Hearing my explanation she had a dumbfounded expression on her face.
"So, you saw a camp of more than 100 bandits and decided to attack them while knowing nothing about how strong they were instead of retreating?"
"I.." I didn't really know how to answer again so I just kept mum again.
"Damn, wait here. I'll be right back."
She just stood up and left the room without saying another word. Thinking that she just wanted to vent some more, I sat down and started eating the food on the table. Halfway through my meal, she came back, dressed in a blue robe and carrying a staff. She looked at me while I was eating, threw a new set of clothes towards me as the old ones were stabbed and full of blood, and said:
"You'll have to eat later. Let's go." I quickly changed my clothes in the bathroom and followed her, confused by the sudden turn of evens. While we were running through the halls, I asked her.
"Where are we going?"
"To that bandit camp of course, even tho we are probably too late."
I was stunned by her answer and asked: "Why?"
"To see if we could save those women. You said that only the bandit leader and maybe some scouts were left alive. If so, he might choose to cut his loses and kill all the hostages before leaving the place. We'll just go and see what the situation is. If they are still alive we can try to save them, but if they are dead we'll just return."
"Okay, but don't you need permission to leave the academy?" I was a bit surprised by her reason but I soon understood. She was the type of person that couldn't just sit idle while other people are in danger.
'Maybe she is the real hero and I'm just a sidekick..'
"We'll just say there's an emergency at the gate and I'll explain what happened to mother later."
We both rushed out of the academy as passed through the gate without any issues. When we reached outside, she cast a spell on both of us that seemed to increase out speed and said:
"Do you know the way towards their camp? The city is north-east from here."
'Ai?'
[Go north for now. I will adjust the direction as we reach the forest.]
After getting my instruction, we both started running north at full speed. Surprised that she could keep up with me, I asked her:
"Are you also an adventurer? What level are you?"
"We can check and increase out levels at the academy as well, so I am not registered as an adventurer. This reminds me that you still haven't explained how you are already level 4, but we'll leave that for later. Oh, and I'm level 14"
'Doesn't this mean I'm the one dragging her down?'
[Yes, she is obviously slowing down her pace for you to keep up.]
Not willing to slow her down too much, I shut up and started running as fast as I could. When I would get too tired, she would cast a revitalization speed on me and we would continue. Two hours later, we reached the edge of the forest. Following Ai's instructions, 30 minutes later, we were just outside the bandit camp. What we saw left us both stunned.
Soldiers, there were around ten soldiers piling up dead bandits and burning them in a dug up pit. Looking around, I spotted the bandit leader sitting and speaking with another middle aged man. I pointed towards him and said to Anise:
"That is the magician leader over there, also, I didn't see the old man last night. The same could be said about all these soldiers."
Anise looked at the sight in front of us and then at the leader before she frowned and said:
"This is bad. I didn't expect that he was involved in this."
"Do you know him?" I asked amazed, but I also thought it made sense since they were both magicians.
She nodded and continued: "That's Zen August. The son on the city lord and that old man speaking with him is the city lord himself."
I almost fell down the tree when I heard her words.
"What do we do now?"
Anise immediately picked up a crystal from her robes and starter chanting an incantation as silently as possible. After she was done casting, the crystal lit up and she started moving it around. Once she was done. She put the crystal back in her pocket and said.
"Let's go. There is nothing we can do here anymore."
I followed after her as we made out way towards the gate in silence. Once we reached out destination she passed the crystal and a medallion to me, and said:
"There is no way for us to take on the city lord and his guards. Now I'm even more impressed you managed to escape alive, as Zed was level seven the last time I saw him. He was also a student at the academy but quit as soon as the war started. The crystal I just gave you is a memory crystal that I used to record everything we saw there. Go to the adventurer guild and ask to see the guild leader before passing the crystal to him. If they bar your entry, show them this medallion and they will let you pass. I must go to the academy and also inform them about it."
"But, don't you need the crystal as well?"
"I made a copy on the way, don't worry. I must hurry towards the academy. Take care and only show the crystal to the guild master, don't let anyone else see it."
Seeing me nod my head, Anise left in the direction of the academy at full speed. She was so fast that I could only see a shadow dashing away from me.
I turned around and entered the city, making my way towards the adventurer guild. Once I entered, the same atmosphere as last time welcomed me. Feeling that it was an emergency, I skipped the queue and walked to the person at the counter. Ignoring the jeering from behind because I skipped the queue, I quickly said, while showing her the medallion I received from Anise:
"Is the guild master in? I have something to inform him."
The clerk looked at the medallion for a moment before pointing towards the stairs:
"Go up to the third floor and show the medallion to the guards. They will let you in."
I thanked him and climber to the third floor, stopping in front of a door with two guards posted outside. After showing them the medallion, one of the guards knocked on the door and said:
"Sir, there is someone here with an academy medallion looking for you."
A strong voice came from inside: "Let him in."
The guards opened the door and I stepped inside the guild master's office. Inside, a middle aged man was sitting behind a desk and writing something on some papers. Without lifting his head from the papers he asked:
"Did my wife send you? What happened?"
Figuring out that Anise was probably too young to be his wife I said.
"No, sir. Miss Anise sent me with a message for you."
He finally lifted his head and looked at me. Looking back at his face, he seemed to resemble Anise a lot, or more like Anise resembled him.
"My daughter? Why?"
Now I finally understood why she told me to only show the crystal to the guild master. Taking out the crystal from my pocket and placing it on the desk I said:
"You will better see for yourself."
The man was confused but still picked up the crystal and focused his mana onto it. Images of what we saw in the forest started playing out. He frowned slightly at the guards burning up the corpses that looked like bandits or thieves but soon noticed the city lord and his son and his expression went completely dark. He looked at me with the same dark expression and said:
"Explain."
Under his stare I could only explain everything. How Anise summoned me, how I joined the adventurer guild, how I took a quest to kill the bandits, how I was saved by Anise and about how she went back with me to check on the captives and recorded the whole thing before going back to report to the academy.
"So that's how it." He closed the crystal projection and yelled towards the door. "Guards, call the other guild masters for a meeting."
After the guards outside acknowledged the order he turned back towards me and said:
"You did a good job and will be rewarded accordingly, but for now I must deal with this mess. Come back in a few days time to get your reward. You are free to go."
I bowed towards the guild master and left his room. While I was making my way towards the inn I realized that I left my coin bag at the base of a tree in the forest.
Sighing, I turned back and went straight to the quest board, hoping to get some silver to pay for a night at the inn. I started browsing through the F rank quests, hoping to get an easy one inside the city. As I browsed past all the hunting quests and others outside the city, I soon found a quest that actually piqued my interest.
//Sorting the books inside the public library//
//We just received a new supply of books from the capital city and we're looking for someone to help with carrying the books and sorting them.//
//Two days quest at minimum.//
//Reward from 5 to 10 silver coins according to speed + access to the books on the third floor.//
The money was not bad and I could use this opportunity to increase my knowledge of this world. I walked up to the counter and registered the quest before following the clerk's instructions and making my way towards the public library.