The village was lively as people were celebrating the passing storm. Children could laugh again, housewives could chatter together and the men could finally hunt without any worries for demons again.
They had long since left the village but Arnold and Lucri could still hear the cheering of the people as they sent them off.
"They're really nice people, aren't they?"
"Yeah. They seem like a big family," Arnold replied, "I've never seen such a thing in other villages before. Heck, people would kill each other during times of need if they had to."
It was especially the case during wars and famine. People wouldn't just steal from each other but kill as well. The women and children would be kidnapped or killed by the neighbors they thought they knew. In some severe cases, even eaten by others.
Arnold believed that it wasn't soldiers who were the problem during wars but the inhabitants themselves.
"Let's go to the town to rest first before doing the other quests."
"Ah, right. It'll be wonderful to sleep in a comfy bed again~ Since most of the houses in the village were destroyed, I had to sleep on a mattress on the floor." Lucri complained while stretching his arms.
"Yeah. We can finally rent an inn. Let's hope the town has one that isn't full."
Lucri suddenly stopped just as the two of them were about to cross the bridge that was leading over a river.
"What's wrong?" Arnold looked to the side and saw Lucri pointing towards the bridge.
"I think he's here for you…"
Arnold looked up ahead and saw a familiar person standing there. He had red hair that resembled burning flames and a wild face with sharp glaring eyes.
"What a surprise meeting with the guild master unofficially." Arnold approached the bridge and spoke, "I thought we were already finished with the reports back at the village chief's house?"
Flord smirked, "You're right. But I have a feeling there's more to this story than you're letting on."
"What do you mean?"
"There had never been a demon sighting out of the twenty years that I've been in service," Flord stood in front of Arnold and looked down at him with his narrowed golden eyes, "Not only did you subjugate these monsters so easily, you managed to destroy the source from where they were coming from as well. It's hard for me to accept a simple explanation like: I just got lucky. That shit already fooled us the first time when you killed that dragon."
"…I didn't kill the dragon."
"But you could have but why didn't you? To not stand out with your power as an official fifth star knight?"
"It's a little more complex than that…"
'Won't he think I'm stupid if I say that I wanted to experiment by limiting myself?'
Just as Flord said, Arnold could've easily beaten the dragon if he used his full power. The average wild dragon wasn't that much more powerful than a 5th star knight. Arnold was in the upper stages of his ranking so he was much more powerful than the average 5th star knight from the imperial order.
His power was unlike his seniors who had only achieved the power equal to a 4th star knight. There were some exceptions but Arnold was probably in the top ten strongest of the academy.
Add his massive pool of aura to the table then he gets a ranking closer to 6th star.
"If I had not destroyed that cave, would you have thought of sending people to that world?"
Flord nodded which made Arnold smirk.
"You're not ready for the horrors of that world. No one is."
"Oh? Is that a challenge, Arnold von Berkley? Are you saying that you have seen those horrors you speak of?"
A frown almost appeared on his face. Of course he had seen much worse during his time as a player besides demons. He travelled around a lot during his early years of gameplay.
He once had a favorite farming spot where he could get lots of item drops and money. He would always go there when he was in need of money. But one day when he went farming after the DLC Hero storyline update was introduced, Liam saw things that none of this continent's people would ever imagine of seeing.
The Global Divine Extinction when angels would betray their masters and fall from the sky to slaughter millions for the sake of maintaining order. A hero had broken this balance once before so they did not allow it to happen again.
Then there was the time when a demon lord invaded this world. Even one of them could cause havoc that led to genocide. There were many other disasters that this world would experience which could destroy this nation in the process.
After thinking for a while, Arnold answered:
"…No, but I have heard about them from someone before."
Even if he found a person in this world he could wholeheartedly trust, there was no way he would reveal any future events that he knew of. His reason was similar to time travel:
One small happening could influence the future by casting a rippling effect that deviates from the normal storyline.
Him telling anyone about what could happen would ultimately break the balance. Plus, his knowledge didn't extend past the sixth arc of the game.
To avoid dying unexpectedly, he had to tread carefully. In order to eliminate his death flags, it was better to use his knowledge in a way that wasn't obvious to others.
That was why he gave a vague answer to Flord's question. Flord seemed convinced since he nodded.
"I will closely monitor the regions around this land and let the other branches know."
"That's good. You remember the deal, right?" A smirk appeared on Arnold's face as he rubbed his thumb and index finger together.
"Per your discovery of a new specie of monsters, I will make sure to reward you handsomely and assign you a higher role in the guild. Priority will also be given to your party when new quests arrive at HQ. However, I cannot increase your rank even if this discovery makes a big difference."
"I understand," Arnold knew what Flord meant by those words. If him and Lucri were to stick out too much with their achievements then discontent would arise among the other adventurers.
'Though I don't care about what others might think, my concern is in this guy.'
Flord knew that he was the city lord's son. He could expose Arnold if he wanted to. Causing strife in the guild would probably be one of the reasons that could push him that far.
"Do you want to add anything to your reward?"
"Well…" Arnold looked back at Lucri who was standing at the start of the bridge, looking over this way. "I'd like to buy some equipment for our party but there's no way of knowing which store would be the best. We don't have a magic tower license to buy from a Magic Tower either so…"
"You want me to get you the equipment, huh?" Flord asked with a raised eyebrow, "What kind of equipment are you looking for?"
"Hmm… A magic robe imbued with flight magic, a staff, magic spell sheets and enchantment talismans. That should be it."
"You're only buying things for that boy over there? Oddly generous of a guy like you."
Arnold smiled wryly.
"Well, whatever. I'm doing this to show the guild's appreciation for your hard work. It's not my money anyway. To be honest, I thought you would treat that boy like a servant. Or perhaps a squire since you're a knight?"
"People change."
"Gyahahaha!" Flord's loud laughter shook the forest and startled the birds, "What an amusing thing to say! Humans never change! There's always that one percent of your previous self that remains. It's there even if you can't see it."
Finished with whatever he wanted to say, Flord walked past Arnold. He patted Arnold's shoulder and whispered.
"I'm looking forward to seeing your future in the Adventurer's Guild."
Then he left. He waved at Lucri who bowed deeply towards him.
After the guild master left, Lucri came towards Arnold.
"What were you two discussing?"
"Nothing much. Just some extra business we forgot to finalize back at the chief's house."
"Oh…"
"Shall we get going? Our first stop is the town before we finally go to the empire. We have a lot of quests to do before that though."
"Yes! Let's go!"
Lucri ran ahead after cheerfully shouting. Arnold looked towards the city's direction and narrowed his eyes.
'I'm having a bad feeling for some reason.'
He shrugged and began walking.
'I'm sure it's nothing.'
Thus, Arnold and Lucri headed towards the port town located a few kilometers from the village.
◇
Part 2
The port town of Colud was ruled by a gentry who belonged to the high class and owned a portion of the land surrounding the duke's territory.
The town served as a resting place for travelling adventurers or merchants. Since that was the town's biggest attraction, the rulers have built many stores over the years that catered to tourists' needs.
'Even though I haven't been here before, the atmosphere feels very welcoming that I would want to live here when I retire.'
There were races of various kinds standing by the gate. Since the two of them were adventurers, the guards allowed them to pass without waiting in line.
'I thought demihumans were just people with animal ears and tails but I was wrong,' he looked at a person with a rabbit's face who was standing in line. There was also a person with full-body scales and had a crocodile's head.
They were probably from the Republican Province of Zrek. Only that nation allowed all races—including some half-demon offspring like dark elves—to receive equal rights to humans.
'The first beastman I've ever heard of was the Lion King who rules the Demihuman Kingdom.'
He was a beastman with the head of a lion but the body-shape of a human. Although he was bipedal, he had fur all over his body. That was why he was known as a beastman and not a demi-human.
A demi-human was someone with partial features of animals and humans while a beastman less humane features than they had of beasts.
*
Arnold and Lucri arrived at the plaza where all the shops were located at. He began looking around to see if he could spot a blacksmith.
'Using a sword other than my Aura Sword is tiring. It always needs maintenance.'
Although the sword was made from aura, his Aura Sword's durability was even higher than any S rank weapon on the market. Perhaps it could compare to an SS rank weapon as well.
"We should stock up on supplies first," Lucri pointed at one of the markets on the street.
"Right. The journey is a day trip to the empire."
They were planning on leaving tomorrow morning after finishing the quests. It was still noon at the moment so they would have enough time to take up and finish the quests they took in the city.
"Eh?" Before Lucri left, he stood still while gazing at a certain direction. Arnold looked as well in curiosity.
"Miss Sylphy!" Lucri called out towards a certain someone after he ran ahead of Arnold.
"Hey!" Left behind, Arnold shouted.
The person Lucri called out to was familiar.
"Oh, Lucri!" The elf looked surprised but a smile soon emerged on her face.
"What are you also doing here, miss Sylphy? I thought you returned to your settlement?"
'Settlement?' That word interested Arnold. 'Does she still live in the elven forests? I thought she was banished?'
One of Sylphiala's ears were cut in half. That was a kind of symbol of scorn in the elf race. Sylphiala most likely committed something that made other elves abhor her.
He approached the two of them.
"I'm just stopping by the town first before leaving. Huh? You're still an adventurer?"
She noticed Arnold standing a few meters away. Arnold spoke after coming closer.
"Yeah. I came back yesterday. Why do you look so surprised?"
"Well, everyone thought that you disappeared because you didn't want to be an adventurer anymore. Many people who have fought against dragons have felt this way after feeling a dragon's power."
"I won't lie. That was the toughest fight I've ever experienced by far. But it wasn't enough to make me give up being an adventurer just because of that."
That was obviously a lie. Lancelot was his most dangerous adversary by far. The dragon was an ant compared to an elephant like Lancelot.
Sylphiala rolled her eyes, "Let me guess, because you haven't fought enough strong opponents yet?"
"Exactly. My motto is challenging strong people and monsters."
Hearing his confident words, Sylphiala lifted an eyebrow.
"Oh? Is that right? It just so happens that someone in town is looking for competition."
"Huh?"
When Arnold was about to ask what she meant, she pointed towards a certain crowd of people. They were standing outside a bar while shouting and throwing money.
"Go look for yourself what I mean."
Though he was confused, Arnold headed towards the crowd of people in curiosity. They were standing in a circle with two people in the middle.
Sounds of swords clashing reverberated along with the cheerful laughter of a young man.
"Come on, old man! I thought you were strong with your title of adventurer!"
Said a youth with medium short red hair and blue eyes. He had a wide smile on his face as if he was playing around with his opponent.
His opponent was…
'Clint!?'
Arnold could see a heavily injured Clint swinging around his sword with difficulty. His shield was busted and laying on the ground. Even his armor was on the verge of breaking.
"Who the hell are you calling old, you fucking runt!?" Clint charged at the youth and activated two martial skills, "[Body of Castle]! [Apply Aura Enhancement]!"
A yellow haze surrounded his body and his speed increased immensely. The average human shouldn't be able to see his moves.
"Haaaaah!" He jumped powerfully and was about to strike down his sword but the young man had already disappeared.
"Huh? Where did he go?"
"Did he run away?"
"Shit. I bet good money for when the kid won."
The crowd of people were confused as they looked around.
'Behind you, you idiot!' Had Clint not gone berserk then he would've been able to read the young man's amateurish fighting style rather easily.
All he had going for him was his monstrous agility and physical power. In a sense, he had no technique behind his footwork. Even a novice swordsman like Liam could tell that.
Clint was defenseless in mid-air.
"What!?"
"Take this!" The young man pulled back his arm, a white essence surrounded his hand when he punched.
A dull sound echoed when his fist connected with Clint's armor.
"!!!" Clint flew back into the crowd, his body twisting and turning as he rolled on the ground. He finally crashed into one of the carriages that were standing outside.
The people cheered and surrounded the young man. The young man swept back his hair with a cheeky grin. It was an expression of pure arrogance.
"Not only is he handsome but strong too!"
"I know, right? He defeated so many warriors in just three days after he came here."
"This kid is a monster, I tell ya."
The people were singing the young man's praises and fawning over him.
"That's a little sad. I thought adventurers were strong but I guess I was wrong?" The young man sighed exaggeratedly, "Well, I need to leave anyway since there's no reason for me to stay in this dump anymore."
'Who the hell is this?' Arnold had never seen the boy before. With that kind of power, he should be able to stand out.
How could someone defeat an A-rank adventurer so easily?
"That kid's name is Leonard." Sylphiala spoke from beside Arnold, "He's been a hot topic lately ever since it was announced that a country boy would take part in the Imperial Gladiator Tournament."
"The annual tournament that is held for all nations, huh…"
Anyone could take part in this tournament. All martial arts and forms of magic was also allowed. The gladiator tournament was actually illegal in the past when Sebastian was still a mixed martial artist.
Only nobles from the underworld could watch the fights and it was them that kept it alive ever since its first pay per view match.
Since there weren't a lot of entertainment in the past, fighting became a popular sport for mainly human males before its popularity spiked.
The tournament accepted any and all humanoid lifeforms to fight. Insectoids, heteromorphic beings and demihumans were all welcome to make their names known. Since humanoids were commonly stronger than humans, the people who participated to fight strong people would have their wishes granted.
"Why don't you try and take him on?" Sylphiala grinned.
'Your leader is injured on the ground. Why aren't you doing anything?'
Besides that thought, Arnold thought it might be educational for him to teach this arrogant brat a lesson.
'I have a new martial skill I want to try too. This kid is the perfect experimental subject.'
It was a single target skill so he couldn't use it against the Imps when he was fighting them.
"You know what? I guess I should."
"Eh!?" Sylphiala's cheeky grin disappeared as she exclaimed in shock, "I-I was only joking, alright? You'll seriously get hurt. Even our leader couldn't beat that kid."
Realizing that he wasn't listening, Sylphiala called out to him as he walked away.
"Hey! Are you getting cocky now that you're famed as a dragon slayer?"
Arnold responded with a silent smile as he walked away.
He could hear her muttering something, "Cheeky bastard."
'What a foul mouth. She reminds me of Flora a bit.'
Sylphiala gave him an impression of a cool and calm elf who was aloof to many things. She was headstrong and could lead others far better than her own leader could. She was the first person in this world to resemble his guild's guild master.
'I should get to know her better. Befriending an elf might come in handy for when I go to the Great Forest of Tiliu.' Arnold finally arrived behind the young man who was mocking Clint, 'I'll think about that when I'm done here.'
"Hey."
Arnold grabbed Leonard's hand when he was about to slap Clint. Surprised by that action, the young man's neck creaked to the right. A disgusted expression emerged on his face for a second before a smile appeared.
"Oh! Are you here to challenge me too!? I was wondering if there were any more strong people left!"
Shoving Clint's face aside, the young man turned around and faced Arnold with a confident grin. Something about his smirk was getting on Arnold's nerves.
"Though it must sound hypocritical of me, flaunting around your strength is just looking for trouble," Arnold unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the young man, "I challenge you to a duel. There are no prizes. It is simply a normal fight to test our power. You're fine with that, right?"
A sadistic grin appeared on the young man's face. He took out his own sword and got into a stance.
'I knew it. He has no training whatsoever so he must've overwhelmed Clint with power alone.' As the crowd was getting excited about seeing another fight, Arnold analyzed the young man.
He seemed to be no older than 16 years old but his fighting techniques was frightening even from a martial artist's perspective. Imagine how strong the boy would be if he actually used martial arts? But even martial artists could overwhelm someone inexperienced in the profession. It doesn't matter how strong you are.
'Well, I don't know a lot of martial arts either so I guess the two of us are similar.'
Without his aura he could only use Elementary Swordstyle[G]. Since he didn't want to use aura unless necessary, Arnold covered his body in Sword Intent instead.
"Oh! I've never seen that before!" Leonhard's eyes sparkled, "Are you a sword master!?"
"Hahaha. Nothing of the sort." Arnold chuckled in amusement.
'Comparing me to a sword master is laughable. There's no way I would win in pure swordsmanship.'
"Are we going to start immediately or—"
Before the young man could ask, Arnold took out a coin.
"Aha! We begin after it falls to the ground, right?"
"That's right." Arnold flicked the coin.
The young man's eyes followed the coin as it travelled up into the sky. The crowd looked up as well.
Arnold activated his martial skill just as the coin was about to fall. It was mere centimeters away from the ground.
His field of vision changed as if he was travelling through a warp portal. A force made his body shoot forward with extreme speed.
The coin fell to the ground in a single breath. Time flowed normally again. Arnold's sword was inches away from the young man's throat.
"Wha…?" The aura of Sword Intent radiated and dug into the young man's skin, thereby causing it to tear and bleed.
"W-What just happened?"
"Did a gust of wind just pass by?"
"That wasn't wind, you idiot."
The crowd were astonished at the incredible speed that Arnold moved at. Even Sylphiala's mouth was gaping. Lucri was looking at the scene with a smile as if to say, "As expected of sir Nova!"
"What…just happened?" Leonard's eyes were blank as he gazed down at the sword aiming for his neck.
Any normal person would've been scared shitless and crying on the ground in fear but his reaction was unexpected. It was more like disbelief.
"If I wanted to then you would've been dead, kid," Arnold sheathed his sword behind his back, "Take this as a lesson to never, ever try to duel a martial artist if you aren't experienced yourself."
That was a warning to him. Do this next time then you'll die.
"Even if you're stronger than your opponent, they might have martial skills that you wouldn't be a match for. See what I did before? That was an elementary martial skill called [Dash]."
"….." Leonard was still blankly staring.
"I'll leave you with a piece of advice," Arnold turned his back, not fearing that the young man would strike him from behind, "Don't fight in a tournament you're guaranteed to lose. If you rely on pure power alone then you're not worthy to be a warrior."
The crowd separated and made a pathway for Arnold to walk through. They were still looking at Arnold in disbelief.
"W-Whoa…" Sylphiala was astonished, "H-How, err, did you do that?"
"You were hoping for me to lose, right?"
"….." Sylphiala silently turned her face to the side, acting ignorant.
'Ah, she's still mad about that day.'
"As expected of sir Nova! You never fail to amaze everyone!" Lucri shouted cheerfully.
"Hahaha! Of course! I am the strongest swordsman on this continent!"
Leaving behind the crowd who slowly dispersed in disappointment, Sylphiala, Arnold and Lucri took Clint and began walking away. The supposed leader of the party was beaten black and blue. Even his armor was broken beyond repair.
"Did you guys book a room at an inn yet?" Sylphiala asked Lucri.
"Nope. We just got here and were about to go to an inn before we ran into miss Sylphy."
"Is that so? What have the two of you been up to up until now?"
"Well…" Lucri looked at Arnold to confirm whether it was alright to tell her. Arnold nodded wordlessly, "We made a huge discovery at a village located thirty minutes from the city."
The inn finally came into view. The three of them—with Arnold carrying Clint—headed towards it.
"What do you mean, discovery?"
"Has miss Sylphy ever heard of demons?"
A frown instantly appeared on Sylphiala's face.
"…Can we put Clint in the room first before we continue?"
"Okay."
Sylphiala took Clint upstairs. Though he was conscious, it seemed that he was far too weak to walk by himself. Arnold turned towards the inn owner who was sweeping the floor.
"Excuse me. We would like a room please."
"Ah, customers…" The lady immediately headed towards the register and welcomed the two, "Welcome to my humble establishment. Would you like a drink while I have my daughter prepare your room?"
"Ah, that would be nice." Arnold took out a two silver coins and gave it to the inn lady, "Hm? Why are you giving one back?" The woman slid the coin back towards him.
"Adventurers get half price on everything in this town and many other places. This is because we know how hard it is to fight monsters and protect the people to gain income."
"Ah, I see. Does that include magic stores as well?"
"Of course. There's one two blocks from here. Would you like to buy something there?"
"Ah, just a few practice scrolls for beginners."
"I see. The highest quality scrolls the owner has is 2nd rank magic spells."
'Ugh… I guess it's better than nothing.'
"How much are they?"
"Well, after the industrialization era that started not too long ago, all products including mass produced items such as scrolls were made cheaper since easier production methods were invented. They were originally ten big copper two years ago but now they are less than four small copper."
'Holy shit. What kind of economy growth took place while I was absent from the game?'
He had never heard of this industrialization before.
'I should find out more from the eldest son of the Rynals. Rein should be able to explain to me.'
After thanking the inn lady, Arnold headed towards one of the booths where Lucri was sitting.
"I wonder where the other two members of the party are…" muttered Arnold.
"They must have gone back home for a while."
"Really? Then why is Sylphiala and Clint still together?"
"She's most likely accompanying him before she goes home as well."
"By home, you mean…"
Lucri nodded, "Miss Sylphy stays in one of the settlements in the Great Forest."
"Is that so…"
He had been looking for a guide until now for when he eventually went to the Great Forest that was untouched by human hands.
"Hey, Lucri. Is there any way to buy elven slaves?"
That was his first choice. Buy a slave to guide him.
"No way. Multi-racial slavery is banned in legitimate slave trader markets. But there might be ways to buy one in the underworld…"
'I should rule my first choice out then.'
His reputation would plunder if others knew that he bought a slave through illegal means. Plus, his relationship with Sylphiala would also be destroyed which hadn't even progressed yet.
Being on friendly terms with an elf had many benefits which he would like to have. His reputation as an adventurer was also important for the future so there was no way that he would tarnish it.
"Why is sir Nova interested in elf slaves?"
"Ah, no reason." He couldn't just tell Lucri that it was because he was searching for something.
That something was related to his business with Serz.
"Ah, here comes miss Sylphy."
"Phew. Our big leader is so depressed. It's kind of sad how much of a loser he's become." Sylphiala plopped down next to Arnold. "Now then, where were we?"