After the explosion, they navigated to a village-side harbor. As they docked, they crashed their boat into the land. Each crew member got out and carried the boat into the forest, hiding it well. Entering the village, Alaric was shocked by the sight. The village appeared straight out of the medieval era, unlike anything modern he had seen.
When he asked Captain Zolo about it, Zolo explained, "Yes, this village is medieval in style. We call it 'The Marda.' It's located in the northern part of this kingdom. Though it looks medieval, if you enter the houses, you'll find modern amenities like TVs, ACs, and fans. People use mobile phones too. The villagers dress in traditional clothing, but everyone else wears modern outfits. This village was established by an ambitious person who loved the old ages, so he built it this way. It's a big tourist attraction now."
First, they headed to a tavern to book some rooms for the night. Alaric questioned, "Isn't a tavern an old medieval hotel? How do they still exist?"
Captain Zolo replied, "You're right, but in this village, there are no regular hotels. We should go to a restaurant first because we haven't eaten in a long time."
Alaric agreed, "Yes, I can feel the hunger."
At the restaurant, Captain Zolo asked, "Have you ever had beef stew or medieval beef stew?"
Alaric, unfamiliar with the dish, asked, "What is that?"
Captain Zolo responded, "As I expected, royals like you never taste these things. This is medieval food, now considered a type of street food here. The expensive, spiritual foods you eat at the palace are quite different. Beef stew is a simple, hearty dish. Why don't you explain what beef stew is and how it's made?"
Sure! Beef stew is a classic dish that consists of beef chunks simmered with vegetables and seasonings. It's typically made by first browning the beef to develop flavor, then slowly cooking it in a liquid, often beef broth or wine, until the meat becomes tender. The stew usually includes vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. Seasonings can vary but often include garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. It's a comforting and filling meal, perfect for warming up on a cold day.
To make beef stew thick, sometimes people used wheat or grains. But nowadays, beef stew is usually made with large chunks of beef and fresh potatoes, rather than the root vegetables commonly used in medieval times. Today, we use carrots, potatoes, and other ingredients. Even back then, they used similar vegetables, but mostly they relied on root vegetables. Adding wheat and grains made it more like a porridge. Nowadays, people prefer it without grains or wheat, keeping it more like a thick soup. It was very popular with brides. I don't know if you'll like it as a royal, but you should try it.
After entering the restaurant, they sat down. Captain Zolo said, "We've come here to this village because the explosion will attract a lot of attention. We have to hide here for at least a week. I have twenty thousand dollars left with me. It will be enough for us to stay here for one week. After one week, we will leave and go somewhere else. First, we will book three rooms at the tavern for the week. The reason we came here is that they won't suspect us to come to a village or remote area. Here, we can also blend in with tourists. Usually, criminals don't hide in places like this, so they won't suspect us. But we still need to be cautious and alert. Five of us will always be on guard duty, roaming around the city. If anyone sees anything suspicious, we will alert each other."
While they were talking, their food arrived. Alaric saw that it looked very different from the royal food he was used to. Royal foods were well-decorated and designed with spiritual power and artificial cooking techniques. When he took the first bite with the bread, he felt the deliciousness. Seeing his glowing eyes, Captain Zolo asked, "How is the food? I hope you like it. I don't think you've ever eaten anything like this outside of royal food."
Despite the lack of spiritual powers, the beef stew was made with care and tasted incredibly delicious. Alaric had never had anything like it before, and he enjoyed it immensely.
While eating, one of the crew said, "Even if we have come here, why do we have to stay so alert? We already put artificial bodies in there." Captain Zolo replied, "Even though we put them there, remember, they are none other than the Supreme Militant Force. If they find any fault, they can easily identify those bodies as fake. We have to be very alert. I think they have already reached the explosion site. We also need to gather information about this from the media, but we must keep a low profile. First, we'll go to the tavern."
They headed to the tavern and booked three rooms. When Alaric entered his room, he saw it was designed in a medieval style but had a TV, fan, AC, and a modern bathroom. He was a bit confused. The other two rooms that Captain Zolo booked had bunk beds. Alaric asked, "Why is my room like this and your rooms like that? Am I staying alone in the room?" Captain Zolo explained, "Yes, you are. We are staying together because we are 10 people. That's why we had to take two other rooms."
When he entered the other rooms, he saw everything was similar except there was only a fan without AC. He said, are you guys going to sleep together? You can sleep with me." Captain Zolo insisted, "You need to rest. Even if your body is healing faster, you need to take it easy. You haven't slept the whole night." Alaric didn't argue much and went into his room, falling onto the bed and quickly drifting off to sleep.
When he fell asleep, after some time, he woke up, but not in his room. It was very dark. Suddenly, a message popped up in front of him: "Welcome to the system training ground. Finish. Training ground. Atmosphere chosen. Abundant city. Training will start in 10 seconds. 1, 2, 3..." It continued counting down. As it hit 10, an error message appeared. "What is happening? Where am I?" Alaric wondered.
Suddenly, after 10 seconds, a monster appeared in front of him. He got very scared and tried to run, but an invisible barrier blocked his way. Everything around him turned into an abandoned city. The monster, with tentacles, ran towards him. One tentacle flew towards Alaric's head. Before he knew it, the tentacle hit him, and Alaric woke up again.
A new message popped up: "Respawn. Player has been respawned. First attack failed. Second chance initiating." The monster reappeared. Alaric realized he was in a virtual system training ground, like a game, and the system was training him while he slept. He also realized he had infinite respawn points, giving him some courage.
He faced the tentacle monster again, but was immediately killed. Each time he respawned and approached the monster, a message popped up: "Failed." In 100 th time Alaric grew very angry. In a fit of rage, he rushed towards the monster. This time, he knew how the tentacle monster would attack and managed to dodge every attack. He then swiftly delivered a punch to the monster's head, and it finally fell down.
A message appeared: "First monster in training ground has been killed.In my life I have killed the monster first time. Another message pop up you have leveled up. Reward: a weapon." Alaric received a small knife and felt disappointed. "How can I kill a monster with this knife?" he thought at least it is better than nothing . Another message followed: "System training ground time has ended. Player is going back."
When he woke up and saw the system window, he realized he had indeed leveled up. He understood that fighting in the Dream world allowed him to become stronger in real life too. He received attribute points to distribute, and as he recalled the last fight with the Tentacle Monster, he noticed that his speed and agility were lacking. With four points available, he used two to increase his speed and two to boost his agility. Instantly, he felt a bit stronger and more agile than before.
Alaric now understood that by training and fighting in the dream world, he could gain real strength. If he continued to train and level up, he could become the strongest man on Earth by relying on his raw strength , even if he couldn't store too much chaos energy. This realization gave him a renewed sense of determination and purpose, knowing that this was his key to immense power and revenge.
He could train in his dreams with the help of the system.
(Im sorry my Dear readers for 2 days late. To compensat your patience im going to upload 2 chapter in a row tomorrow.)