"Grace are you alright?" Alex asked concerned as he came into the small clearing near their camp.
He was shocked and confused to find another person near his squatting Grace, who was unintentionally giving the newcomer a view of her pussy. Luckily the newcomer was out cold, so he couldn't see and Alex quickly got her up.
She continued to poke the unknown man with a stick, scratching his bushy beard and making the now snoring man's nose twitch. Alex tried to get her to stop but was drawn to the strange markings on his face.
Alex narrowed his eyes, as these were similar markings to a certain gang member of the late Don the skullcrusher! Marie was able to clear out all the gangs in the Floren branch of the AG but that didn't mean Alex would let her do it herself.
He also became a nighttime vigilante, just not as fast or as careful as Marie back then. One of the people he ended up killing was the woman known as Carla, one of the 'bodyguards' for Don. She had similar fading blue tattoos around her eyes like this burly man that snored loudly.
Alex was wary already, as he could still remember beating that muscular pixie cut woman black and blue until she was unrecognizable, before freeing her head from her shoulders. It made his blood boil, as she spoke of the organization backing her but he didn't care until now.
If this careless man before him was a part of that same organization, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. However, the issue was that Alex could feel parts of his aura... one stronger than his own.
It reminded him of Alan, less potent yet more bloodthirsty. He still wasn't able to figure out exactly what his stats were like, since that kind of 'power' took decades to learn so just feeling his aura and getting an estimation was good enough already for the newcomer barely 7 months old in this world.
"Grace go back to the tent." He narrowed his eyes but she surprisingly didn't leave.
"Master, Grace doesn't think he is an enemy. He was awake when he first got here and said he was hungry."
Alex blinked a few times to make sure he heard that right. Did he really come close to losing Grace already? He didn't want to believe it so he pushed it to the back of his mind to focus on what was sleeping before him.
"He's an enemy until I say he isn't, but you can start cooking while I watch him if you want." Alex answered back without taking his eyes off the burly man.
Grace nodded and began to start cooking as Alex watched this strange man that continued to sleep without care. He had to admit, that it was admirable that this guy could sleep in such conditions.
This was a dangerous forest and while higher Rings wouldn't feel as threatened by the creatures of these woods, they could still get hurt. Yet this guy was sleeping loudly without care.
Alex got a better chance to look at those strange tattoos around his eyes since he was too busy killing the muscularly Carla back in Floren. The tattoos reminded him of Vikings and Norse Mythology back on Earth, ones that looked similar to their old form of runic writing.
While he never bothered to learn what those were, since Vikings were long gone, it was still familiar and he hoped to learn more. Maybe at another time though.
Those symbols were under and above his eyes, for a total of 4 with a few other random-looking markings on his nose or temples. He had a reddish brown bushy beard and similar-looking long hair that was tied up roughly behind his head.
His hair was messily braided on top and he definitely looked like a Viking to Alex now. He wore simple and worn leather armor, probably only Rank 1 armor which was basically trash.
Alex couldn't find any weapons on the guy, which was strange, and even took off his boots to check inside. That was a bad idea since although the sleeping Viking didn't react, his feet smelled awful. Like he hadn't taken a bath in years and he wouldn't be surprised if the Viking had a bunch of fungus in his toes.
The Viking was a bit shorter than he was, maybe right around 6 feet tall, and soon his mind drifted over to his stomach as he smelled the food Grace began to cook. The girl with a photographic warped mind learned how to cook from Kaya and Sharla, who both wanted to make sure Alex and the slave girl were eating right on this journey.
They would undoubtedly have to sleep outdoors sometimes so it was inevitable that they would need to make their own meals. With Alex and his habits of eating any and everything, no matter how old it was as long as it looked good, similar to his horrible fashion sense, they made the slave learn from them.
Grace fought back plenty of times, but with the two cooks constantly reminding the slave that this was for her master, she eventually got through it. She didn't get the skill for it yet, but that was a given since it took pretty much Kaya's entire life, since she was young when she first started cooking, to get the skill.
She was also talented as a cook and even Sharla thought of making her a head chef but that was a story for another time.
Soon, Alex noticed the Viking's nose twitch, probably at the smell so he pulled out his weapons, not caring for this guy's reaction, whatever it may be.
Suddenly, the Viking's eyes shot open and he quickly blurred and jumped off his feet to dash toward Grace. Alex was prepared so although it was hard for him to see the Viking move with his incredible speed, he was able to knock the Viking back using the flat end of a sword in his hand connected to a chain.
Like he was a tennis player, Alex hit the Viking ball back, making the guy go flying. He hit a tree and then the dirt hard, but except for his face and clothes being dirtier than before, he didn't look injured.
This made Alex narrow his eyes, as he definitely would have broken the ribs of a 3rd and maybe 4th Ring. This meant that this guy was at least a 5th Ring or a really tanky 4th Ring! Alex got himself ready again, also speaking in his mind for the Ego chain so it was ready to strike if necessary.
Alex watched the Viking carefully, as he slowly got up like he was dizzy before suddenly blurring again and charging toward Grace. Alex did the same as before, however, he widened his eyes as it felt like he was hitting that pillar of Adamantium back in the Setter's training room!
His arm went numb, making his grip loosen enough for the Viking to shoot past him. He was shocked, not only for how strong this guy was but also because he swore he saw the Viking block his sword with his head!
This Viking headbutted his sword and got out unscathed! Was that even possible? Alex had no time to dwell on it as the Viking shot toward Grace.
"Grace watch out!" Alex yelled at her but it was too late.
The Viking shot over to her and... knelt down in front of the pot of food...
The Viking drooled like a dog as his stomach grumbled while watching the simple pot of stew bubble slightly in the cauldron. He grinned stupidly as he reached a hand toward it.
*smack!* "It's not ready!" Grace brought out her poking stick and smacked the Viking's hand.
Alex thought this would be the end of her, but surprisingly, the Viking listened. Pulling his hand back like that smack actually hurt as he rubbed his hand.
Alex carefully made his way over as the Viking pouted cutely? It wasn't very cute to Grace at least who saw this burly man as more of a bear or something.
"Is it ready yet?" The Viking squirmed around while resting on his knees as Alex came around confused.
Alex was thinking he was about to have some fight to the death where he defended his woman, and broke past his limits again. Instead, this opponent of his was begging for food from a barely 2nd Ring sex slave!
Such a thing should not have been possible, yet this Viking seemed oblivious to the metal collar around Grace's neck. Alex kept watching him, close to Grace in case something would happen since he couldn't trust this unknown man.
Grace soon finished up, filling a bowl with stew and handing it over to the drooling Viking whose beard was a mess of slobber. The man's eyes widened as he admired the bowl for a second, like this meal was the best thing he has ever seen before he gulped it down instantly.
He didn't bother chewing at all, even with the meat chunks, and it all went into his stomach as he came up for breath with a disgusting burp.
"More please miss." He presented the bowl back to Grace.
Grace turned to Alex to ask for his thoughts, and the latter just nodded slowly, Curious as to where this was going now.
In the end, the Viking ate the whole pot by himself, which was definitely over a gallon or two of stew at least. His belly bulged but he seemed just fine and just sighed in relief.
"That hit the spot! Thank you, Missy, I thought I would die!" The Viking didn't bother to wipe off his messy beard or face, only sticking his tongue out every once in a while to eat what he was 'saving for later.'
"Who are you." Alex didn't let Grace respond, flaring his aura slightly and making the Viking turn.
However, instead of looking angry or haughty, the Viking just smiled brightly.
"Oh! I'm Olvar! Thank you friend for the food! I got lost in this place for.... well I don't know how long haha!!" The Viking laughed heartily.
Alex raised an eyebrow, not really expecting this reaction and a bit unsure about how to react.
"It's not possible to get lost here," Grace interrupted, "They have signs throughout the forest to tell you which direction you are going."
"Oh... well I didn't know that! Thanks for the new knowledge!" Olvar laughed again and smiled behind his bushy beard.
Grace's eyebrow twitched and Alex sighed. He was getting the feeling that this Viking was the definition of a muscle head, and he got himself stuck here somehow.
"So? How are you going to repay us for the food? Also, what were you doing here that took so long for you to run out of food?" Alex narrowed his eyes again as Grace continued making more food for her and her master.
"Oh I didn't bring any food with me," Olvar answered easily like he didn't care, "I can't cook so why bring food?"
"You could have bought food..." Alex looked at this guy with a disappointed look.
Olvar widened his eyes while slapping his forehead.
"Why didn't I think of that? You're so smart, friend! No, Brother! I could have bought food haha!" Olvar laughed again while holding his bulging belly.
"I'm not your brother and it's common sense to bring food with you when you go out camping. Did you bring anything with you?" Alex sighed and asked this idiot more questions.
"Well I'm your brother so you can call me bro or Brother Olvar if you want," The Viking grinned while pointing at himself, "and I didn't know it was commonsense that's new knowledge for me. Plus why would I need anything other than these?"
Olvar curled his hands into fists and did a few shadow boxing moves as his belly jiggled.
While Alex continued to try and get valuable information out of the stupid Viking, Grace narrowed her eyes at the man who ate her and her master's dinner by himself.
However, instead of being angry, she felt a strange sort of kinship with him...