Chereads / Dropped*' / Chapter 10 - The lonesome road ahead

Chapter 10 - The lonesome road ahead

Slowly stepping out of the cave I was met by a beautiful view of the outside world. The only word for it was 'Untouched', The air was fresh and there were little to no signs of human cohabitation except for the odd dirt road.

Vast trees of all different types and sizes could be seen from my vantage point along with fields full of flowers. Looking down I was met by a deep drop to the floor. It seems that I was at the top of a mountain. To my sides were small paths that would be troublesome to traverse, however I had no choice in the matter. In the distance was what looked like a city so I would head in that direction so I could gather information on the date and where I actually am.

I looked for anything in her dimensional space that could help me traverse the steep cliffs but to no avail. I was hoping for a grappling hook or a hang glider of some sort.

Any magic that I had for traversal E.G: Air steps and flight needed a higher magic stat for me to be able to maintain them.

With no other choice I coated my hands and feet with a thin layer of mana and began to scale down the mountain.

This took hours, hours that I didn't have causing me to become more impatient. Except from the occasional break to regenerate my mana I continued to plunge down the mountain. When I finally reached the bottom I was met by a worn dirt path that led to two directions. I chose to turn to the right as the city I saw was in my right hand peripheral from the view on the mountain.

As I walked I adjusted to my body, letting the mana flow freely and tensing my muscles one by one to achieve a balance between my movement and my reaction times. Since I was used to battling at a high rank my body didn't move as fast as I wanted it to as my limited strength would not allow me. This could easily get me killed if I went to hit someone or perform a feint and my body couldn't react in time.

Turning around I pulled out her scythe and prepared for battle. It had been watching me ever since I finished climbing down the mountain. I could feel it's deep bloodlust even though it tried to hide it.

Channelling aura into the scythe I swung in a wide arch creating a blood red aura blade to slash into the greenery. A whimper filled the silence however I kept myself on guard waiting to see if there would be another ambush.

Walking closer I was met with a corpse. Cut diagonally in half blood and guts flowed from the poem wounds. Torn tendons barely linked to each other. It seemed that I had gone overkill, however it was necessary due to the unknown rank of the creatures in the area.

As I got closer the scythe began to let out a subtle glow as black bist emerged from the grip covering the monster. The blood on the ground and in the beast began to glow into the blade and I could feel the blood partially seeped into me.

It seemed that the scythe reacted to my wish for blood and power and diverted most of the monster blood to me while leaving some blood to strengthen itself. I could feel my strength rise although only by a tiny bit yet every morsel of strength mattered. I would have to kill hundreds of not thousands of low rank monsters to rank up and that would take too long.

I was not sure of the rank but it must not have been anything above low F rank for such a pitiable amount of strength. I should be able to go against one low D rank foe or multiple E ranks similar to my strength.

Stepping away from the corpse I continued to travel down the dirt path killing low rank monsters that tried to ambush me. It seemed that not many people used this path if monster ambushes were frequent otherwise they would have learnt to stay away.

Pushing my way down the path a gate appeared in my vision from beyond the brush and trees. A pair of guards stood on point ready to defeat any foes and defend the gate. High wood walls covered my view stopping me from seeing what was inside, however from all of the hustle and bustle beyond the wall I could tell it was densely populated.

Walking up to the gate the guards seemed on edge the closer I approached. Pulling out what looked like a spear they pointed them at me with slight hostility. Walking closer I put my hands up to show that I was not hostile.

"State your name and intention"(Guard)

"I am Noir a humble traveler. I was lost in the mountains and I have come for food and rest!"

Acting all old times seemed to change their demeanour. Maybe they thought I was a noble.

"You are allowed access sir, but you must pay an toll for entrance. If you have a guild badge you can enter for free or an ID."

"I'll pay. How much is it for entrance?"

"5 Silvers for entrance"

Shit I only have gold coins.

"I only have gold coins. Can I get past if I pay you?"

Their eyes widened at that fact and I could tell that their misunderstanding had increased.

'Don't worry about it young master you can enter."

Knocking in a sequence the gate opened before the guards parted allowing me entry.

"P-please enjoy your stay!"

Walking inside I could finally see the bustling town. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Beastmen and lizard-like creatures roamed the paths however the majority were human as far as I could tell.

Walking further in I asked for directions to the closest inn and a guild of some kind. Information was imperative for my survival.

Stepping into the inn I was met by people with swords sitting and eating food while being all merry. Walking past then I found a counter with some form of staff member behind.

Hello could I rent a room please also can I order some food?

"Sure! It's 10 silvers per night for a premium room and 10 coppers for a standard meal."

Pulling out a gold coin I put it on the desk.

Can I have as many nights as possible and a meal please.

"O-ok Umh 9 nights stay and a meal."

Waving over a waiter they escorted me to an open table where they said that my food would be out shortly.

It's definitely not normal to have gold in this area. I need to be careful so that I don't bring unnecessary attention to myself until I am stronger. I should find some way to exchange the gold for silver and copper coins. Things aren't going to be easy.

A steaming plate of meat was placed before me with a side of greens and what seemed to be rice porridge. Taking a bite of the meat was tasty with a nice mix between chewy and melt in your mouth.

The other food was bland, like eating plain wheat portage, neither bad nor good. It dawned upon the reason why. I need blood to survive so the blood left in the meat must have added the flavour.

I would need monster blood and a way to store it. I bet she had some way to store blood in her storage. It would be best to look when I'm alone, who knows what people may think if I pull a mystery liquid out of a dimensional space. Is dimensional magic normal?

With too many questions I headed to the room provided to me and unlocked it with the key given to me at the counter. Flopping on the bed I fell into a light slumber. This day was exhausting.